MY LAMB CURRY

I love Indian food, I love eating it and I love cooking it.  I have always been intrigued by it and on the purchase of my first book by Madhur Jaffrey in 1986 (!) I set about trying to learn the secrets of the spicing and the textures, all so different to the food my Mum taught me to cook…

Since then I have tried many recipes and this has become my own curry, the one I cook when I can’t be bothered to follow a recipe.  I make no claims for its authenticity so I want no howls of outrage about my technique or ingredients but we love it.

As an aside, if you love Indian food I do urge you to book into dinner at one of Asma Khan’s Darjeeling Express events – cooking the food she was brought up with and drawing on the cooking of Hyderabad and Calcutta it really is some of the best, authentic, Indian cooking you will find in this country.

This recipe gives a thick smooth gravy (apparently what ‘curry’ means) which is well flavoured but not particularly hot – if you like your curries hot add more dried red chillies to the spice mix.  I will also admit to the fact that I now buy frozen pureed garlic and ginger, makes life so much easier...

INGREDIENTS

Curry Powder - 2 tblsp. cumin seeds, 4 tblsp. coriander seeds, 1 tblsp. fenugreek seeds, 1/2 tblsp. cardamom seeds (and yes I mean the seeds out of the pod - good Indian supermarkets will sell the seeds by themselves), 2 inch cinnamon stick, 4 dried long red chillies, 12 cloves.

2 tblsp. vegetable oil

5 cardamom pods

6 cloves

0.5kg lamb shoulder, cut into 2" chunks

3 red onions

1 tblsp. grated ginger

1 tblsp. grated garlic

4 large ripe tomatoes chopped

Handful of chopped coriander

1 tbsp. tamarind paste

 METHOD

Put all the spices in a frying pan and warm over a low flame until you start to smell them – don’t try and rush this stage with a high heat as it will burn them…they should be ready after a couple of minutes.  Tip them into a spice grinder and grind until you have a fine powder.

In a large frying pan heat half the oil and add the onions, garlic and ginger. Cook on a low heat for around 10 minutes until the onions are soft.  Add the tomatoes and cook for a couple more minutes.  Once everything is collapsed blend it – I do it by putting everything in a bowl and using a stick blender but whatever works for you.

Give the frying pan a quick wipe out then add another tblsp. of oil.  Heat it then, once hot, add the cloves and cardamom. Once they are sizzling add the tomato onion paste, cook for a minute or two then add 2 tblsp. of the spice powder.  Stir everything round briskly for a couple of minutes, making sure it doesn’t catch, then add the lamb.  Keep stirring for a few minutes then add half a pint of water.  Make sure everything is well mixed then turn down to simmer for an hour.  Check from time to time to make sure it’s not getting too dry.

At the end of the cooking time check that the lamb is tender – if not, give it a bit more time.  Add the tamarind and coriander, give it all a good stir and taste – it might need a bit of salt.

I usually serve this with dal and a vegetable.  My current favourite vegetable is spinach and potatoes.  Take a large bag of spinach, put it in a frying pan and let it wilt in the heat then drain and chop. At the same time cut a couple of potatoes up into 1” cubes and boil for 10 minutes, drain.  Heat a tblsp. oil in a frying pan and add a teaspoon of turmeric and a teaspoon each of coriander and fennel seeds.  Toss the potatoes in this, once coated add the spinach, then add a dash of water and let the whole thing cook and homogenise for five minutes.  Add a bit of salt to taste.

 

 

MY WEDDING CAKE

Apologies for having neglected this blog for so long - life kind of takes over and my job has been very busy recently and I have also had something else on my mind.  Finally, Mr Redding and I can get married.  We've been together for nine years  but now he is free to make an honest woman of me.  The first time I got married was in 1987 which now seems several life times away.  It has been lovely organising this wedding, deciding exactly what we want rather than what is expected of us.  I have a lot of free time on Sundays so I decided I would make my own cake.  It's a fruit cake using Delia Smith's Christmas cake recipe and I have marzipanned the bottom two layers - the top was left naked as my eldest brother doesn't like marzipan. I used roll out fondant to ice it then decorated with sugar balls stuck on with thick glace icing.  I'm very happy with the way it has turned out, I feel it's very 'us' and that is how we want this wedding to be.  So, I will endeavour to blog more this year but for the next few weeks I will be getting married and honeymooning in Madeira.   

MEDLAR, CHELSEA

I don't do restaurant reviews but this was just so enjoyable I have to share. Neither Mr Redding nor I work on a Friday - a sign of the straightened times the charity sector finds itself in but an arrangement we have both embraced. Normally we spend Fridays looking for the ideal seaside town to retire to in a couple of years but this Friday an unexpected work engagement meant we felt justified in taking ourselves out for lunch.  I remembered seeing a couple of reviews of Medlar, and various Twitter people saying how good it was, so on a cold November lunchtime we were very happy to enter the lovely dining room - nothing pretentious, cool and neutral tones, and a gentle murmur of happy people eating...and no music, praise be.

Before we get on to food I must put in a word for our sommelier - we kind of knew what wine we wanted  but he was so thoughtful and knowledgeable, and didn't try to upsell. As someone who comes from a background where a bottle of Piesporter was the height of sophistication even though we were eating steak I can still feel a bit overwhelmed when it comes to wine but he made me feel those 6 evenings spent on a wine tasting course in Putney five years ago weren't totally wasted.

So, with a glass of champagne in hand, we read the menu, ordered and ate - it was all delicious, beautifully cooked, with magical little touches like the rissole that accompanied the venison - and the crab ravioli with its seafood bisque was something I would be happy to have for lunch every day - just the right side of grand French opulence.

I will let the pictures do the talking....

Buffalo burrata with tempura artichoke, speck, rocket pesto, vincotto and hazelnuts
   

Crab raviolo with samphire, brown shrimps, fondue of leeks and bisque sauce

Under blade fillet with shin and pickled walnut croquettes, triple cooked chips and béarnaise

Venison loin with rissole, choucroute, beetroot and braised shallot

Cheese and biscuits

Rose custard with orange, cardamom, saffron and pistachio 

Accompanying it all were delicious wines including a slightly off-dry white from Luxembourg for our starters, an incredibly deep, spicy, complex Cote du Rhone with our mains and an amazing yuzu flavoured sake to go with the pudding. Service was friendly, efficient and professional - the whole experience was delightful, down to the bag of passion fruit marshmallows and chocolate truffles we were given to take home.  When you next need spoiling go to Medlar.

SPANAKOPITA

I make no claims for the authenticity of this dish. I must have used a recipe the first time I made it but that was many moons ago and now this is the way I do it. It uses quantities of ingredients that are as I buy them so there are no annoying left over bits of packets of stuff apart from the filo - I use exactly half a packet so just freeze the remainder for the next time you make this - and I think you will. We are confirmed meat eaters but this has such refreshing yet comforting flavours you don't miss the meat.  The combination of irony spinach, with notes of dill and mint and the salty tang of feta with the crunch of the pastry and pine nuts is just lovely - I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

INGREDIENTS

450g spinach
I onion sliced finely
25g mint chopped
20g dill chopped
200g feta, broken into walnut sized lumps
Olive oil
135g filo pastry
Handful of pine nuts

7" non stick round cake tin

Heat the oven to 180 degrees

Thoroughly wash the spinach then cook until just wilted. I do this in a large frying pan, it usually takes two batches. Add a tiny bit of oil to make sure it doesn't stick, put the washed spinach in and leave on a low light for 4-5 minutes, turning as it cooks.  You won't need to add any water - in fact, after it has cooked, turn into a large sieve of colander and press until you have extracted as much water as possible. Chop finely and put in  large bowl.

Cook the onion very gently in a splash of olive oil for 7-20 minutes until it has almost melted.

Add the onion, dill and mint to the spinach, mix thoroughly then gently fold in the feta.

Pour about 3 tablespoons of oil into a small bowl and take the filo out of its packaging. If you're a fast worker that's ok, if you're not then over the filo with a damp tea towel to stop it drying out.

Use four sheets of filo, each brushed with oil, to line the cake tin.  Spoon in the spinach mixture then use another couple  of sheets, also brushed with oil, to cover. Trim and fold the filo so that the filling is totally encased. use any left over bits of filo to scrunch up and decorate the top of the pie and sprinkle over the pine nuts.

Bake for around 30 minutes. If you need a side a simple tomato and cucumber salad goes rather nicely.

BLACKCURRANT POLENTA CAKE

Along with a lot of people I am a huge fan of Dan Leppard and am the proud owner of his book 'Short and Sweet'. His Lemon and Poppyseed Cake is a triumph and should be made by everyone immediately but I am also a huge fan of his Cherry Polenta cake.

I don't make cakes or pudding very often but this Sunday I just felt like baking. As I hadn't actually planned anything I had a rake through the freezer where I found a bag of blackcurrants bought frozen from a Garden Centre on the way back from Bath in May - whenever I see blackcurrants I always snap them up as they rarely make it to grocers or supermarkets, I believe Ribena snaffles most of them up and I do love blackcurrants. We are probably talking about around 500g of blackcurrants. I pondered the idea of making a mousse, or perhaps a blackcurrant crumble but then I remembered the cherry polenta cake and thought - why not?

I halved the amount of mix for this cake as there are only 2 of us on a Sunday - I used a correspondingly smaller tin. The addition of pine nuts, as recommended by Dan, really make the cake - adding that bit of crunch to an otherwise sumptuously moist cake. I haven't given you the recipe - you'll have to go and buy the book!

CHICKEN CHILLI

I am slowly getting my cooking mojo back after a combination of events - my Dad dying in August, being crazy busy at work and getting rushed into hospital at the end of December with dried up kidneys and a digestive system in freefall. But here we are, just about back to full fitness and getting my appetite back, for both eating and cooking. I find my tastes have changed though - I can no longer eat, or particularly enjoy, large amounts of red meat, in fact large amounts of anything are a struggle.  I am making more salads, more fish and old favourites like a lump of roast lamb are taking a back seat.

One of our regular Saturday night meals was chilli con carne but in looking for something lighter I decided to use chicken thighs in the same kind of seasoning and served with an avocado relish and brown and wild rice. The end result was delicious, light enough for me but tasty enough for Mr Redding.  I used chicken thighs because I think it needs to be cooked for a while to meld the flavours and breast would become tough.

INGREDIENTS

CHICKEN CHILLI

500g chicken thigh fillets, cut into 2cm cubes
I onion, finely sliced
Couple of cloves of garlic crushed or grated
Tin of black eyed beans
4 jalapeno chillies, red or green or a combination, chopped
Dessertspoon of sweet smoked paprika
Teaspoon of ground cumin
Tablespoon of flour
Handful of chopped coriander
Salt

AVOCADO RELISH

I ripe avocado, chopped
I ripe tomato, chopped
I shallot, finely chopped
Juice of a lime
Handful of chopped coriander
Salt

Slowly sweat the onion and garlic off in a generous tablespoon of olive oil until soft and translucent, probably about ten minutes.  Add the chicken, turn up the heat, and when it has all changed colour and browned a little add the beans, chillies, paprika and cumin. Give all that a good stir, then stir in the flour making sure it is all distributed, then stir in half a pint of water, bring to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes.  Taste, season and stir in the coriander just before serving.

To make the avocado relish just combine all the ingredients 10 minutes before you want to eat and chill. I served it with  combination of wild and brown rice. The picture really doesn't do it justice!

ARTUSI

The lovely thing about being on Twitter in a place like Peckham is that there is a huge foodie and other stuff Twitter community here, so as soon as a rumour starts it gets spread round like a flash and eventually someone who actually knows what is going on chimes in. And so it was with our new Italian restaurant Artusi on Bellenden Road. Waters were muddied for a while as apparently an Italian café is opening up in what was Chaz the Hairdressers but  it soon became clear - Jack Beer, ex Clove Club  and Peckham Bazaar, our very own Balkan grill-fest (sadly closed at the moment whist it is being transformed) was opening an Italian restaurant called Artusi in our midst. There was no 'soft launch', no fanfare, they just opened with a picture of their menu on the chalkboard to whet our appetites posted on Twitter. And what a menu - three starters, two pastas, three mains, two puddings.

The restaurant is an old shop, and is now long and thin extended back into the store rooms with the open kitchen at the back. On arrival the wine list was proffered and I can recommend the house white, the Vermentino and the white vermouth - others can tell you about the natural wines on the list. My first visit was with my friend Tony, better known as award winning food blogger Theskintfoodie - we hadn't seen each other for a while and needed to catch up on new jobs and stuff.   My second visit was with another friend Heather Jordan, a local Chef and Masterchef quarter finalist and my third was with Mr Redding - at last!

The atmosphere is relaxed with very trendy but extremely efficient and friendly service. Slices of Peckham Rye sourdough from The Brick House Bakery arrive with a slab of butter. Dishes I and my companions have loved include excellent squid ink pasta filled with squid; grilled baby artichokes with the smoothest garlicky anchovy bagna cauda I have ever tasted, and, on another occasion, with the greenest tasting salsa verde I have ever enjoyed; melting octopus with wild garlic and asparagus; pork chop cooked in milk and lemon to delicious unctuousness; pappardelle with pancetta and fresh peas; pork belly with broad bean broth and glit head bream. Puddings are equally lovely - olive oil cake, proper tiramisu and ice creams including chocolate, mascarpone and salted honey.

Three courses each with a bottle of wine and a couple of vermouth comes to around £80 for two plus service, which refreshingly isn't included. Since Jay Rayner reviewed the restaurant booking is essential a bit in advance but do give it a go - thoroughly recommended.