Freycob

"Good Food Made Easy"

Lamb Keema

by

Such a simple but deliciously easy dish to prepare using a well stocked store cupboard’s ingredients is my lamb keema recipe.  When I worked for an accountancy practice, one of the clients I used to go out and visit would often feed me some of this for lunch that his wife had made. Bear in mind that they had two young girls who ate this – it would have me almost in tears with the heat – I’m such a wimp!  Be assured that mine is nowhere near as hot as that, but it can be if you want it to!

  • 2 medium onions
  • 15ml Rapeseed oil
  • ½tsp Cumin seeds
  • 2 Bay leaves
  • 1-2 chillies (according on taste)
  • 200g tinned tomatoes
  • 2tsp Garlic & Ginger paste (or 1tsp of each)
  • 1tsp Turmeric
  • ½-1tsp Chilli powder (according to taste)
  • 1tsp Garam masala
  • 500g Lamb mince
  • Salt
  • 50g frozen Peas
  • Cup water
  • Fresh Mint
  • Fresh Coriander
  • 4tbs natural yoghurt
  • 2tsp Mint sauce concentrate
  1. Finely chop the onions.
  2. Heat the oil in a large pan.
  3. Add the cumin seeds and bay leaves and fry off for 30 seconds.
  4. Add the onion and cook until starting to brown.  This should take 3-4 mins.
  5. Add the chopped chillies and the tomatoes.
  6. Stir through thoroughly and cook for 1 minute.
  7. Add the ginger and garlic paste, the turmeric, chilli powder, garam masala and mince.
  8. Stir, breaking the mince down to separate it.
  9. Add ¼ tsp salt and the cup of water, along with the frozen peas and stir thoroughly.
  10. Simmer for 20 minutes until cooked and the liquid has reduced by two thirds.
  11. Chop the mint and coriander finely.
  12. Add the herbs to the keema, mix together and cook for 1 minute.

  1. Remove and discard the bay leaves.
  2. Mix the natural yoghurt with the mint sauce concentrate.

  1. Serve the keema with a spoonful of the minted natural yoghurt, along with a naan bread.

Typically Tropical Bundt© Cake

by

When you’ve been sent some bottles of refreshing Grace Foods Aloe Drink to try and you want explore what you can do with it, apart from enjoy drinking it, then what else can you do, except make a deliciously moist and tasty cake?

Grace Foods Aloe Refresh Aloe Vera Drink

Well, this is exactly what happened recently and exactly what I did. So, read on, get your apron on, your ingredients out and enjoy some time in the kitchen before tucking into a slice (or two) of this deliciously moist cake.

Typically Tropical Bundt© Cake

Cake:

Glaze:

Icing:

Typically Tropical Bundt© Cake

  1. Heat the oven to 160ºC (140º Fan).
  2. Butter and flour a 6 cup Bundt© tin.  I used the Nordicware Anniversary tin that you can find on Amazon.
  3. In a stand mixer, or using an electric whisk, cream the butter and sugar for 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy.
  4. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until fully combined.
  5. Add the vanilla extract, coconut milk, rapeseed oil and 120ml of the mango purée and beat thoroughly for 4-5 minutes on a medium speed until it has increased in volume and is creamy.
  6. In a separate bowl, sieve together the flour, salt, bi-carbonate of soda and baking powder.
  7. Mix half of the flour into the wet mixture until just combined.
  8. Add the remaining 60ml of the mango purée and fold together.
  9. Fold in the final half of the flour gently.
  10. Pour the mixture into your Bundt© tin and smooth the surface level.
  11. Bake for 65-70 minutes until the cake has just started to shrink from the edges of the tin and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the thickest part of the cake.
  12. Allow to cook in the tin for 5 minutes, whilst you make the glaze.

Typically Tropical Bundt© Cake

  1. In a small saucepan, heat the caster sugar and Aloe Vera Drink until boiling, then reduce the heat to a rolling boil and the syrup has reduced by half.
  2. Using your skewer, make a series of small holes in the flat surface of the cake and slowly spoon half of the glaze over the cake, allowing it to soak in fully.
  3. Invert the tin onto a wire cooking rack and prick the top with your skewer all over then, gently and slowly spoon the other half of your glaze over the top of the cake, again allowing it to soak in fully.

Typically Tropical Bundt© Cake

  1. Leave the cake to cool completely.
  2. Mix together the Aloe Vera Drink and mango purée, then sieve the the icing sugar into it, mixing thoroughly until you get a thickish icing.
  3. Gently pour the icing over the top of the cake, allowing it to drizzle down the outside edge and into the centre hollow.

Typically Tropical Bundt© Cake

You can find mango purée and coconut milk in the international food aisle of your local supermarket.  I tend to use my Kenwood Major Titanium stand mixer to make cakes in if it involves beating the mixture for several minutes as it leaves me to get on with setting up the next stage of my preparation.  If it’s something that only needs a very quick mix, then I use my Kenwood K-Mix hand mixer instead.

Grace Foods sent me some bottles of their Aloe Refresh Aloe Vera Drinks to sample.  I was under no obligation to develop any recipes or provide a review of their products in return for these drinks. 

Jersey Royals with Minted Lamb Leg Steaks

by

My other recipe using Jersey Royal potatoes is more of a traditional one.  For this one, they’re gently boiled and then roasted to perfection, served with Chantenay carrots and deliciously lean New Zealand lamb leg steaks, slowly cooked in a rich Barolo red wine and mint sauce.

Jersey Royals with Asda

  • 1 lemon, zest & juice
  • 1 lamb leg steak per person
  • 10ml Rapeseed oil
  • 2 Red onions, chopped finely
  • 10ml Plain flour
  • 15ml Mint sauce concentrate
  • 250ml Barolo red wine
  • 100ml Vegetable stock
  • Bay leaf
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • Rapeseed oil sufficient to roast the potatoes
  • Jersey Royal potatoes
  • Chantenay carrots
  • Broccoli
  1. Zest the lemon and squeeze the lemon juice over the lamb steaks. Toss to coat, cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours to start to tenderise the meat.
  2. Heat the oven to 180℃/160℃ fan.
  3. In a large ovenproof pan (with a lid), heat the oil and fry the onions gently until transparent.
  4. Turn up the heat and fry the lamb leg steaks until browned on both sides. Remove the lamb to a plate to keep warm.
  5. Evenly sprinkle the flour over the onions and oil and mix thoroughly to a paste (no floury lumps).
  6. Slowly add the red wine and vegetable stock, stirring constantly, to prevent lumps forming.
  7. Add the mint sauce concentrate and stir through, then add the bay leaf.
  8. Bring to the boil and reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes until slightly reduced.  Season to taste.
  9. Return the lamb steaks to the pan, stir to coat and then cover with the lid. Place in the oven to cook.
  10. Add the Jersey Royals to a large pan of salted water, bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
  11. Increase the oven temperature to 200℃, and place a roasting dish with oil in to heat up.
  12. Drain the potatoes and gently add these to the hot oil, toss to coat evenly and return to the oven for 30-40 minutes.
  13. Scrub the carrots, then slice them vertically from top to bottom.
  14. Steam the carrots over a pan of boiling water, adding the prepared broccoli florets for the last 10 minutes until both vegetables are cooked to taste.
  15. Serve the roasted Jersey Royals with the vegetables and a lamb leg steak each.

Jersey Royals with Asda

This recipe is cooked in collaboration with Asda and Jersey Royals to highlight the versatility and great flavour of Jersey Royal potatoes.

 

Slow Cooked Shin of Beef

by

I’d originally wanted to cook Ox cheek, however neither of my two local butchers had any, and only one had some British shin of beef as an alternative, so that’s what I’ve used for today’s dinner.  I’ve cooked this in 2/3 bottle of Aldi UK Fleurie red wine, from the Beaujolais region of France, but you could use an ale if you prefer.

30ml Rapeseed oil

2 medium onions, chopped

3 medium carrots, chopped

3 sticks of celery, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, bruised

2tbs Plain flour

Salt & pepper

2kg Shin of beef, diced

500ml red wine (or ale)

300ml beef stock

Handful of thyme, roughly chopped

2 Bay leaves

Stick of cinnamon

 

1. Preheat your oven to 180℃ (160℃ fan).

Slow cooked beef shin in Aldi Fleurie red wine

Slow cooked beef shin in Aldi Fleurie red wine

2. In a large casserole dish, heat 15ml of oil.

3. Fry the onions, carrots, celery and garlic until transparent, but not coloured.

Slow cooked beef shin in Aldi Fleurie red wine

4. Remove the vegetables to a bowl whilst you prepare the beef.

5. In a plastic bag, put the flour and season with salt and pepper.

Slow cooked beef shin in Aldi Fleurie red wine

6. Place the beef into the bag and toss to coat evenly. Shake off the excess.

7. Heat 15ml of oil in the casserole dish and fry the beef in batches until brown on all sides.

8. Remove the beef with the vegetables.

Slow cooked beef shin in Aldi Fleurie red wine

9. Add 100ml of the wine to the casserole dish and scrape the bottom of the dish to release all the flavours.

10. Add the rest of the wine, the beef stock, thyme, bay leaves and cinnamon stick, along with the browned beef and vegetables.

Slow cooked beef shin in Aldi Fleurie red wine

11. Give it a good stir to mix, put the lid on and put the casserole dish into the oven to cook.

12. Cook for 3-4 hours until the beef is tender and falls apart.

13. Remove the bay leaves, cinnamon stick and the garlic cloves.

14. Serve on a bed of chive mashed potatoes with some steamed savoy cabbage.

Slow cooked beef shin in Aldi Fleurie red wine

Follow Me here too

Facebooktwitterpinterestinstagramflickrmail

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to my blog and receive notifications of my new posts by email.

Categories