I'm out and about this month promoting my latest cookbook, Bake, which is just out! It's a collection of delicious and easy recipes - including cakes and bakes, tarts and pies, quiches and casseroles and you can buy your copy now at amazon.co.uk
- Arabian Spiced Rack of Lamb with Couscous
Serves 2
This soup is delightfully rich and ?avoursome but as it contains coconut milk rather than cream it will not leave you feeling sluggish!
Ingredients
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 small cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp lemon grass, finely chopped
200g (7oz) crab meat
500ml (18fl oz) fish or light chicken stock
1 x 165g tin coconut milk
1 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)
50g (2oz) raw prawns, peeled
2 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander (leaves and stalks)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
1 In a large saucepan on a medium heat, heat the oil, then add the garlic, ginger, lemon grass and crab meat. Toss on the heat for a few minutes until light golden. Add the stock, coconut milk and fish sauce. Bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer and add the prawns.
2 Cook for 1-2 minutes (simmering all the time) until the prawns are cooked. Then add the spring onions, lemon juice, chilli and coriander, season to taste and serve.
- Arabian Spiced Rack of Lamb with Couscous
A small rack of lamb is absolutely perfect for serving two people, allowing three or four cutlets per person. This recipe has wonderful warm and spicy Moroccan ?avours, perfect for a romantic, cosy dinner for two. Spices also always raise the endorphin levels, so you feel energised! This recipe contains harissa, a versatile and very hot North African paste that can be added to dishes or served separately in a bowl on the table. It is available to buy in many shops but for a delicious fresh ?avour you can make your own. It will keep in the fridge in a covered jar for a few weeks. If you are concerned about the heat of the paste, use milder chillis.
Serves 2
Ingredients
for the harissa paste
makes about 150ml (1/4 pint)
25g (1oz) dried large red chillies
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 generous tbsp cumin seeds
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 tsp salt
60ml (2fl oz) olive oil
1/4 tsp ground paprikafor the rack of lamb
1 prepared rack of lamb (2-3 cutlets per person depending on their size and your appetite!)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
for the couscous
100g (4oz) couscous
2 tbsp olive oil
150ml (1/4 pint) light chicken or vegetable stock
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
1/2 red onion, peeled and
finely chopped
50g (2oz) flaked almonds, toasted
to serve
Greek yoghurt (optional)
Method
1 To make the harissa paste, split the chillies in half lengthways, remove and discard the seeds and soften the chillies in boiling water for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, dry-fry the coriander and cumin seeds in a frying pan on a medium to high heat for about 1 minute, tossing regularly, until the spices just begin to smoke and toast. Then grind in a spice grinder or use a mortar and pestle.
2 Place the garlic, salt, ground spices and the drained red chillies in a food processor and whiz to a paste, slowly adding the olive oil until well combined. Set aside.
3 Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F), Gas mark 7.
4 Next, prepare the rack of lamb. Score the fat lightly in a criss-cross pattern, but without cutting through to the meat. Place the lamb in a roasting tray, spread a generous tablespoon of the harissa paste over the fat and press it down onto the fat with your hands or a spoon. Roast for 20 minutes for rare to medium, 25 minutes for well done for a small rack or 30-32 minutes for a larger rack. After 10 minutes, cover the rack with a sheet of tin foil to prevent the harissa paste from burning.
5 Meanwhile, prepare the couscous. Put it into a bowl, rub in the olive oil so that the grains are coated, and pour over the hot stock. Stir and then put a plate or saucepan lid on top and leave to stand for 5 minutes, until the couscous has absorbed all the stock. Add
the parsley, mint, onion and most of the toasted flaked almonds, stir well and season.
6 Once the lamb is cooked, turn off the oven and leave the meat to rest for 5-10 minutes. Carve it by cutting through the meat between the bones to give each person 2-3 cutlets (depending on the cutlet size). Spoon the couscous on to warmed plates and arrange the lamb cutlets on top. Scatter with the remaining toasted flaked almonds, and serve with a spoonful of Greek yogurt, if you wish.
Serves 2
Ingredients
75ml (2 ½ fl oz) lime juice
2 tbsp extra caster sugar or coloured decorating sugar on a saucer to dip in
Juice of 1 pomegranate or 60ml (2 fl oz) pomegranate juice from a carton
60ml (2 fl oz) stock syrup
(To make 150ml (1.4 pt) place 200g (7 oz) caster sugar and 200 ml (7 fl oz) water in a saucepan and bring slowly to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Then boil for 2 minutes and leave to cool.)
75ml (2 ½ fl oz) vodka or Bacardi
1 cup of ice
Method
Take two martini or champagne glasses, dip the rim of the glasses in the lime juice and then into the sugar. Set the glasses aside in the fridge or freezer.
Mix the pomegranate juice, syrup, vodka and lime juice in a cocktail shaker (or jug) with the ice, shake and then strain (leaving the ice behind) into the chilled glasses.
<< Back To Recipes