Happy New year everyone! 2015 has sped past at lightening pace and lots has happened offline and as well as online too. My blog has a new name and a new home and so do we, we finally decided to move ur from our tiny but very pretty flat to a new place with a proper kitchen for a change! Exciting times! I was not blogging as frequently as I would have liked to though but hope to put that behind me and regularly share my food and travel adventures with all of you. Speaking of travel I am happy to report that I started 2015 with a month-long trip to India and visited Chennai and Pondicherry apart from my usual trips to Mumbai and Pune! Very exciting and I have finally managed to write up some posts about Pondicherry – more later! We also did our first ever trip across the pond to the Big Apple and managed to squeeze in four days at Washington D.C too – was so exciting, but the best bit, of course, was that we spent Thanksgiving with our family and caught up with friends after many years – what a treat! 2015 was kind to me in other ways too, I was invited to many foodie events and met some really cool master chefs, tried exotic food and reviewed many restaurants and bars too – will soon share more as the year unfolds 🙂
On the very first of the New Year, I experimented with a cut of lamb that I haven’t before – a large shoulder of lamb that I decided to roast. Here is an easy to follow a recipe, the only tough bit – waiting for the meat to cook 😉
I wanted to use a cheaper cut than the usual ones, a lamb shoulder seemed like a good place to start – this joint cost me £7.99 per kilo from my local butcher. For that price, this cut gives some much more ‘bang for your buck’
Lamb’s shoulder is quite fatty so there is no need to add too much oil, the meat pretty much cooks in its own fat and the port wine I have used adds deep rich flavours to this very succulent cut of meat. A joint of this size also allows for a lot of leftovers and therefore a great way to make a range of other recipes – think stews, casseroles, curries, pulavs, tikkis (a mashed potato fritter stuffed with meat – a great tea time treat) and so many more. Great on the pocket and a great choice for winter recipes.
I am happy that the baster I purchased for my Christmas roast chicken is proving to be very handy. I have to say that I am so proud that my Roast Chicken turned out absolutely fab and delicious – it was another experiment and the pork and cranberry stuffing and all the sides were made at home by me with lots of chopping, peeling and cutting help by the OH.
Roast Lamb Shoulder
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup brown rice and wild rice mix
- 1 medium egg
- 1/2 a shallot sliced lengthwise
- 1 heaped tbsp green peas
- Water to boil the rice
Instructions
- In the same saucepan used for cooking the noodles, rinse and cook the washed rice The trick to cook perfectly fluffy rice each time is to use exactly double the amount of water to the quantity of rice used. That is my thumb rule and it never fails me.
- Once the rice is done set the saucepan aside
- Wipe down the wok after preparing the fish, you may need to use another wooden spatula to scrape off the sticky bits from the wok before starting out with the fried rice
- Crack an egg into the wok set on a medium flame
- Stirring continuously scramble the egg and add the chopped shallot, spritz some oil onto the wok to cook the shallots
- Ensure you keep stirring so that the egg does not get lumpy and overcooked and the shallot doesn’t burn
- Add Blue Dragon light soy sauce and stir well
- Then add the cooked rice, season with some salt, and stir and mix well
- Cook for under a minute on high heat and add in the peas and mix
- Take the wok off the heat and set aside
The lamb should now be at the ‘melt-in-your-mouth’ stage – serve with warm bread and steamed veggies on the side – ideally beans, carrots and peas, or broccoli. Hubster is not fond of peas but I would be very happy lots of them 😉
The leftovers will get a rub of my home-made hot spice mix that adds a warming touch to my curries and stews – leftover lamb curry – can’t wait to share that recipe – it’s definitely a winter warmer and a firm family favourite.
Happy New Year once again folks and a lot of new and exciting recipe and travel posts coming up! wooooohoooo!
