Skip to main content

Morito Mechoui meets Shelburne farms fennel.

I made this dish whilst we were up in Vermont recently, I have blogged about both recipes before but this combination of dishes worked particularly well despite one being from Spain via East London and the other being from the middle east via the middle of Vermont.
I think the fatty spicy lamb works well with the cool clean yoghurt taste and the aniseed-y fennel. The cumin in both dishes nicely brings them together

Mechoui lamb
For the marinade
2 cloves of garlic, crushed to a paste with ½ tsp salt
¼ onion, finely grated
1 tsp smoked Spanish paprika, hot or sweet
2 tsp freshly ground cumin seeds
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice

To cook the lamb
2 tbsp cumin seeds, freshly ground
½ tsp sweet paprika
½ tsp hot paprika
1 tsp Maldon salt
1 lemon, cut into quarters

Method
Mix the garlic, onion, spices, oil and lemon juice for the marinade together thoroughly in a bowl, then add the lamb chops and turn to coat them really well. Cover and leave for an hour at room temperature or overnight in the fridge.
When you are ready to cook the lamb, mix the cumin, paprikas and salt together in a bowl. Sprinkle the lamb liberally with half the spice mixture.
Place the chops under a hot grill, on a barbecue or smoking-hot griddle pan and cook for 5-8 minutes on either side for pink, turning once or twice.
Serve immediately, with the remaining cumin mixture and the lemon on the side.
Shelburne farms Fennel with chickpeas and tomatoes

 Ingredients

 1 large fennel or 2 small ones
1 large tin of chickpeas
20 cherry tomatoes
small handful chopped flat leaf parsley

 dressing

 250ml plain yoghurt
1-2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 tbs lemon juice
2tbs olive oil
Salt and pepper

 Method

 First make the yoghurt dressing.

 Combine all the ingredients and whisk together. Set to one side

 Now for the salad.

 Remove hard outer layer of the fennel, cut in half vertically, remove hard core and then either cut very finely across or preferably shave finely on a mandoline.

 Drain and rinse the chickpeas.

 Cut the tomatoes into quarters or halves depending on their size. Add the parsley
mix all the salad ingredients together then fold in the dressing until the salad is well covered.

 Now stir in some chopped flat leaf parsley
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crack potatoes courtesy of Ottolenghi. Harissa and confit garlic roast potatoes

Another recipe from Ottolenghi's Simple, another recommendation from Will Saunders.   I know its the middle of summer but who doesn't love a roastie? These little tinkers are so good that they are like crack, class A calories. The clever bit is the addition of semolina and caraway seeds which adds a new level of crunchiness to add to the delicious warm heat of Harissa. Heres the recipe These make a lovely, spicy change from the traditional Sunday roasties. They’re especially good with spiced roast meat. Serves six to eight. 2 large heads garlic, cloves separated and peeled 130g goose or duck fat 4 sprigs fresh rosemary  6 sprigs fresh thyme  2kg maris piper potatoes, peeled and cut into 5cm chunks 40g ground semolina 2 tsp caraway seeds, toasted and lightly crushed 2 tbsp rose harissa Flaky sea salt Heat the oven to 150C/300F/gas mark 2. Put the garlic, fat and herbs in a small ovenproof pan or saucepan for which you have a lid. Cover and roast for 40 minut
1 comment
Read more

Nigel Slaters deceptively brilliant monkfish

Lisa discovered this recipe in her favourite Nigel book. It is one of those fish, 'but not as we know it Jim' recipes. Not just because Monkfish is the fish that can best impersonate meat but also because of the marinade ingredients that are more often featured with lamb. It's not difficult to do but the flavour is a revelation, which makes it a perfect recipe in my book. This can be cooked on a grill pan or a barbecue. Ingredients 3 bushy sprigs rosemary, leaves finely chopped 4 anchovy fillets 2 large cloves garlic salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 large lemon, juice only 3 tbsp olive oil 800g/1½lb monkfish fillet Method Pull the leaves from the rosemary stalks and chop them finely, then tip them into a bowl large enough to take the fish. Rinse the anchovy fillets and smash them to a rough pulp with the flat edge of your chopping knife. Peel the garlic, crush it flat, then smash it to a purée in the same way. Stir together the herb, anchovy and garlic, adding a grind
1 comment
Read more

Sea Bass on mushroom potatoes with salsa Verde

I felt the overwhelming need to cook something new on Saturday night. I didn't want the tired and tested I wanted to explore new culinary waters. However combined with this desire was an equal and opposing force, driven by being absolutely knackered, that meant it had to be simple too. I returned to one of Jamie's early books, to a recipe that IO had meant to do on countless occasions but never quite got round to. I have done several versions of Sea Bass on a bed of potatoes, some that I have written about on this blog. The one question I would have is about the thickness of the potatoes and the length of time they need to be cooked through ... in my oven I reckon they need about 10 minutes more than the recipe suggests. I would suggest a bit of a trial run if you are going to do it for a dinner party ... however once you have given it a whirl I think this makes for a very easy recipe for a crowd. Here's the recipe. Roasted slashed fillet of sea bass stuffed with herbs, bak
1 comment
Read more