12 hour roast lamb

I had good intentions of posting consistently this month. As you may have noticed it really hasn't happened. I have meals that I made ages ago that need to be blogged but just haven't gotten around to doing them. I think that I may have mentioned at some stage previously that I have depression and sometimes it just gets on top of me. I am really struggling with it at the moment. I usually like to "cook my way out" however even that is a struggle at the moment. Cooked meals are few and far between, well at least anything that involves any work. There has been quite a few "antipasto" plates, tins of soup and too many takeaways, mainly McDonalds.... The lack of good food contributes to the problem so it is important for me to start cooking my way out. 

Last weekend I did a pork roast which turned out really well and gave me leftovers, that I took to work for lunches. So I decided to do another roast this weekend. A couple of months ago I purchased a whole lamb, all cut up. I forgot to get the butcher to cut the leg roast in half. They are pretty big and I had been planning to save them for when I had visitors (rare) or cook and take it somewhere. However yesterday I thought that I should just cook it for myself and then I can freeze some for later. I didn't want to just do anything I wanted something a bit different. I had heard before about making 12-hour roasts and thought that this would be a perfect opportunity. All the recipes that I saw involve rosemary, which is traditional with lamb, but I really don't like rosemary. I searched all over the place but could not find a recipe for anything that I wanted to make. So I made it up as I went along. 

1 leg lamb

2 cloves garlic, sliced 

Peel from 1/2 lemon, chopped into small pieces

1 tbsp sumac

2 tbsp pomegranate molasses 

1 tbsp olive oil 

1 carrot

1 onion

1 celery stick

1 c chicken stock (some wine would be nice too) 

1 tbsp pomegranate molasses extra 

Pre-heat oven to 100 C

Pierce lamb with a knife and place pieces of garlic and lemon in the holes. Sprinkle with sumac and rub in. Combine pom molasses and olive oil brush over lamb. 

Chop carrot, onion & celery and place in bottom of baking dish and place lamb on top. Pour stock into the bottom of the pan. Cover with a double layer of foil and roast in the oven for 11 hours. 

Remove from oven, increase temperature to 200 C and place tray of mixed veg, I used pumpkin, potato, sweet potato and baby turnips, to roast. 

Drain liquid from lamb and then drizzle with extra pomegranate molasses and place back in the oven for 30 minutes. 

Skim fat off the liquid, bring to boil and reduce by half. I added some cornflour to thicken after about 20 minutes. 

Remove lamb from the oven, cover with foil and let rest until vegetables are completely cooked, another 20 - 30 minutes. 

Serve lamb with gravy, roast veg and steamed greens. 

Roast pumpkin & pomegranate salad

This is another one that I made a little while ago now. I went through a stage of doing a lot of cooking but not so much into the writing side of things. I have had a rather busy month. It has been pretty busy at work and I have other things going on. I have been trying to do a few things around the house but I haven't had too much success with getting too far on that. I have managed to pack some more stuff away in storage containers. There is so much stuff in my house as I just packed up my old house and moved every thing with me. This house is quite a bit smaller so there has been stuff shoved in nooks and crannies and there isn't a third bedroom as such because it is full of stuff. I did get rid of some stuff last year but there is some that I am not sure what to do with so I am packing it in storage containers and storing in my storage areas under the house. I plan on going through some of the stuff in my kitchen again too. Time for some stuff that hasn't been used in a while to go. 

This was a quick and easy salad to whip up to go with some chicken sausages that I got on special. I am a huge fan on pomegranates and always buy them when then are available. I think they are wonderful in salads as they add a bit of a tangy burst. 

Roast pumpkin & pomegranate salad 

1/2 medium size butternut, peeled & chopped into bite size pieces 

1 tbsp oil 

cracked pepper

1 small lebanese cucumber, peeled, quartered and sliced 

1/2 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved

handful of pomegranate arils 

marinated feta

wild rocket to serve

Pre-heat oven to 180 C. 

Place pumpkin on a roasting tray, drizzle wtih oil and grind black pepper over then mix together until each piece is coated in oil. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes or until cooked. Remove, set aside to cool. 

Once cool, combine all ingredients and mix well. Drizzle with a vinaigrette if desired, I used just raspberry vinegar. 

Spiced chicken wraps with carrot & pomegranate salad

Early last year I made Jamie Oliver's Mechoui Lamb for dinner. I have made it quite a few times over the past year now. Although I have tweaked it quite and bit and it really no longer resembles the original recipe much. I have made it for a number of people and everyone who I have made it for enjoys it immensely. I also love that I usually end up with some great leftovers for sandwiches or wraps during the following week. In fact the last time I made it I ended up freezing some of the left over meat so that I could use it at a later date. 

One night I had a couple of chicken thigh fillets to use up so I decided to use a similar mix that I had been using on the lamb and roast it in the oven. I then chopped it up and served on a wrap with a carrot & pomegranate salad. It was just excellent. So full of flavour.  I wished that I had leftovers so that I could have some for lunch the next day. 

Spiced chicken wraps

Serves 1

2 chicken thighs

pinch salt 

1 tsp thyme leaves

2 tsp butter 

1/2 tsp ground coriander 

1/2 tsp ground cumin seeds 

1 tsp harissa (or to taste)

1 garlic & herb wrap (or whatever kind you like) 

1 tbsp greek-style yoghurt 

1 tsp harissa, extra 

Pre-heat oven to 160 C. 

Place salt and thyme leave in a mortar and bash with pestle until thyme is starting to break down. Add coriander, cumin, butter and harissa and mix until well combined. Rub the butter mixture over the chicken thighs and place in a baking dish. Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for a further 15 - 20 minutes or until starting to brown. Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 10 - 15 minutes. Slice into bite size pieces. Pile meat on torn wrap and top with combined yoghurt & extra harissa and serve with carrot & pomegranate salad. 

Carrot & pomegranate salad

1 carrot, julienned 

1 spring (green) onion, finely sliced 

Seeds of 1/4 pomegranate 

handful parsley, finely chopped 

rocket, to serve 

1 tsp pomegranate juice 

2 tsp lemon olive oil 

Combine carrot, onion, pomegranate seeds and parsley. 

Mix pomegranate juice and oil to form dressing. Add dressing to salad and toss well to combine. 

Serve on a bed of rocket. 

Pork & noodle salad with pomegranate vinaigrette

I am so very tired tonight. I really haven't been sleeping very well lately and it all does catch up with me after a while. Hopefully I will get some better sleep tonight. Although one night of decent sleep really doesn't make up for multiple nights of bad. So perhaps I should wish for a week of good sleep. 

I made this dish on the weekend. It was very loosely based on a Jamie Oliver recipe that I made quite some time ago. I had really enjoyed that recipe and had always wanted to make it again. I recently bought a large amount of meat from my local butcher including several kilos of Aussie style spare ribs which I think is really belly slices. I thawed some of those for this recipe. I also changed the base from rhubarb to pomegranate. The rhubarb in my garden is not producing and it is so expensive to buy. I had purchased a bottle of pomegranate juice recently to make a punch but ended up not making it so thought that it would be perfect for this dish. I was really pleased with how this turned out and this and Jamie's original recipe will definitely remain in my mind for making again in the future. 

Pork & noodle salad with pomegranate vinaigrette

For pork:

4 pork spare ribs, skin remove and cut into bite size pieces

100 mls pomegranate juice

1  - 2 tbsp chili garlic sauce 

1 inch piece ginger finely grated 

1 - 2 tbsp honey

Combine all ingredients in a bowl (glass/ceramic is probably best) and marinate, refrigerated, for at least 4 hours but overnight would be best. 

Heat a wok over high heat and add 1 - 2 tbsp peanut or grapeseed oil. Drain meat and cook in batches until cooked through and starting to caramelise. 

For noodle salad: 

200 g packet singapore noodles

1/2 cucumber, strips peeled, de-seeded & sliced 

1/2 red capsicum, de-seeded & thinly sliced 

1/2 red onion thinly slice 

Punnet cherry tomatoes, quartered (I had home grown) 

1/4 c chopped mint & parsley

Alfalfa sprouts (or whatever sprouts you fancy) 

Place noodles in a bowl and cover with hot water & stand for 5 - 10 minutes. Drain, refresh with cold water and then drain well. Combine with salad ingredients. 

For vinaigrette: 

1 tbsp pomegranate juice 

2 tbsp olive oil 

1/2 tsp mustard 

Mix all ingredient until nicely emulsified. 

Add pork to noodle salad ingredients and pour over dressing and toss to combine. Serve immediately.

Middle Eastern Chicken with Olive, Walnut, Pistachio & Pomegranate Salad

It has been a big week at work. One that I am glad is over. Although there is still stuff that needs to be done. Records that need to be bundled up and filed. Stuff that needs to go to the accountant. One bonus though is that I can get my tax return submitted this weekend, hopefully today, and I should get a small refund if previous years are anything to go by. Anything would be welcome at the moment. 

I recently decided that I needed to make more of an effort to curb my spending habits. Less buying ingredients just in case I need them. Or think that I might use them at some point. Make a point of using all the fresh produce that I buy. Actually sit down and plan meals and make lists, consider what I already have in the pantry, fridge and freezer before deciding what to cook. Make a point of coming home from work for lunch or at the very least taking food with me to eat for lunch. I have already cut back in a few other areas. I am keen to save for some improvements to my house. I would also dearly love to purchase a Thermomix. Everything that I have seen and heard about them has convinced me that it really would be an asset in my kitchen. However, first I really need to replace my dodgy electric cooktop. Going back to gas cooking is my desire, I miss it so much. Hopefully by the end of the year I should be able to replace my cooktop and be on my way to saving for a Thermomix. 

Recently, while in the supermarket they had some pomegranates on special. I do love pomegranates. I have made a number of different things using them in the past. I really like them as an addition to salads. There was also a pomegranate, quince and raspberry sauce that I made to go over ice cream which I then added more sugar to and reboiled making a really lovely jam. This time I wanted to try something different so plugged "pomegranate recipes" into google to see what I could come up with. I was drawn to two recipes in particular and decided that they would work together perfectly since they had a few common ingredients and, more importantly, everything already in my fridge, freezer or pantry. The first was this recipe for Middle Eastern Chicken over on Not Quite Nigella. The flavours of this were just divine. My chicken was slightly smaller, at 1.1 kg, but I left all the rest of the ingredients the same. I was so pleased with this. I think I could easily eat it weekly. I served it with quinoa cooked in vegetable stock. 

The other dish served that night was an Olive, Walnut, Pistachio & Pomegranate Salad based on a recipe over at A Life (Time) of Cooking. The original recipe had green olives but I am not a fan of green olives. I do, however, adore black olives so I decided to use them instead. This salad was just incredible. The combination was just a revelation. Even the leftovers a few days later when the nuts had softened slightly were delightful. I still have pomegranate seeds and pistachios left so I am planning on making this one again tomorrow. In fact I think that I will make it as often as possible. 

Gemma's Middle Eastern Chicken 

Ingredients:  

• 1 onion, chopped 
• 2 carrots, diced 
• 3 tbsp grapeseed oil 
• 1.5kg organic chicken (I used a 1.1kg) 
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper 
• 1 tsp ground allspice 
• 3 tbsp pomegranate molasses 
• 60ml brandy 
• 1 pomegranate 
• salt and pepper 
• handful of roughly chopped, toasted pistachios

Method: 

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Heat oil in a Dutch oven over a low heat. Add onion and carrot and cook until onion is soft, approx. 10 minutes, then remove and set aside. 
• Increase heat to medium high brown chicken on both sides being turning carefully so as not to damage the skin. Ending with chicken breast side up.
• Remove from the heat and spoon carrots and onion around the chicken. 
• Sprinkle cayenne pepper and allspice on top of the chicken and drizzle with 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses and half the brandy. 
• Place lid on Dutch oven and bake for 1 to 1.5 hours. Adding water if needed to stop it drying out (I didn't need to). 
• Turn the heat up to 200C and baste the chicken with pan juices and cook for 10 minutes or until nicely browned.
• Remove the Dutch oven out of the oven. Carefully remove chicken to a serving platter and cover with foil to keep warm 
• Heat the Dutch oven over a low heat on the stove then add half the pomegranate seeds, remaining pomegranate molasses and brandy. Cook for about 5 minutes. Spoon this around the chicken on the serving platter then top with remaining pomegranate seeds and chopped, toasted pistachios. 

Olive, Walnut, Pistachio & Pomegranate Salad

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c walnuts, toasted and chopped 
• 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped 
• 1/4 cup unsalted shelled pistachios, toasted and chopped
• 1/2  cup pomegranate arils
• 2 small shallots, peeled and finely diced
• 1 red chilli (or to taste), seeded and finely chopped
• 2 – 3 Tbsp shredded parsley leaves
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbsp walnut oil
• 2 tsp pomegranate molasses
• juice of  1/2 a lemon
• sea salt 
• freshly ground black pepper

Method: 

• Combine nuts, olives, pomegranate arils, shallots and parsley in a bowl. 
• In a small bowl combine oils, chilli, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, salt and pepper and whisk well. 
• Mix dressing with salad and let stand for 5 minutes to allow flavours to develop.