Pork Loin, stuffed with Frittata

Pork loin has appeared increasingly frequently on menus in this house in the past few years - something to do with its amazingly low price in Italy (presumably a reflection of the fact that after they've made all of those haunches of prosciutto, they then have an awful lot of the rest of the animal to get rid of), but at least as much to do with the range of great things that can be done with this particular cut: pot-roast with vinegar and peppercorns, or else in milk; 'larded' with vanilla and garlic, and cooked in coconut milk; wrapped in prosciutto and roast in the oven; stuffed with mustard, butter, and herbs; stuffed with swiss cheese... The list goes on. And now, this one: stuffed with prosciutto and a herb frittata, and then pot-roast in white wine. It might sound like a lot of work, but in fact it isn't. The frittata is an excellent way of spreading the flavour evenly throughout the loin, and also holds the whole thing together excellently when sliced (which, let's face it, doesn't always happen with stuffed cuts of meat, which can fall apart quite depressingly when it comes to slicing them to serve). The whole thing can be prepped to the point of roasting several hours in advance, and since the process of cooking it requires no concentration on the part of the cook, then this is a dish which lends itself well to entertaining.

For a 500-600g loin (probably enough for four servings)

Ingredients: Pork Loin; 3 Eggs; 2 tbs grated Parmesan; 2 tbs chopped Basil; 4 tbs Olive Oil; 2 tbs Butter; 4 or 5 thin slices of Prosciutto (or Speck);  1 generous glass of dry White Wine; Seasoning.

Method:

1. Slice open the loin so that it can be 'unrolled' to make a flat piece of meat, about 14" x 5". Season the meat lightly.

2.  Heat half of the oil and half of the butter in a 10" frying pan. Beat together the Eggs, Parmesan, and Basil, along with salt and pepper to taste, and pour into the pan. Cook over medium heat for several minutes, tilting the pan, to make a thin, flat omelette. When it seems pretty much cooked, put the pan under a hot grill for a couple of minutes, just to cook and brown the top. Allow the frittata to cool down in the pan for several minutes.

 3. Lay the slices of prosciutto over the flat piece of meat, to cover it entirely. Cut the frittata so that it it is the same size and shape as the meat, and place it on top of the layer of prosciutto. Eat any leftover bits of frittata, whilst contemplating the general lot in life of the busy cook. Roll the meat up, swiss-roll fashion, and tie with three or four pieces of string. (At this point, you can leave the stuffed loin in the fridge for up to half a day, if you want.)

4. Heat the remaining oil and butter in the bottom of a heavy, metal casserole. When sizzling, brown the loin all over, and then pour over it the white wine. Keep the heat high as the wine comes to a boil, and then reduce to low, as you place the lid on the casserole. Cook for an hour, covered the entire time. 

5. Five minutes before serving, take the meat from the pan and reduce the sauce over high heat, until it has clearly thickened. Slice the meat for serving, and spoon the sauce over the meat, once plated.

Excellent also next day, sliced cold for lunch.

Foolproof Roast Lamb...

 

Slow cooking in the oven is an absolute godsend for the harrassed host. In the place of precise timings and last-minute stress, this method means that the work is all done hours in advance (freeing up the time to be stressed about another course instead!). By the end of this past Christmas weekend - which, in practice turned into three consecutive dinner parties, interspersed with two consecutive lunch parties (a lot of fun, but....well, you know) - to be able to turn to this method for the main course for dinner on Boxing Day was an enormous help.  Painless, and entirely reliable. (One thing to remember, though, with this method is not to rely on your oven controls to tell you what temperature the oven has reached, but to put an oven thermometer in the oven alongside the meat and to take your readings from that - something I've learned from bitter experience!)

For one Lamb Loin (enough for eight servings):

 

1. Remove the joint from the refrigerator for long enough for it to reach room temperature, (about 3 hours before you want to start cooking). Then , using a blow torch, flame the joint all over to kill any surface bacteria. Season and tie the joint neatly. 

2. Pre-heat the oven to either 60°C (for medium, or pink lamb at the end of cooking) or to 65°C (if you prefer your lamb more cooked). Place the lamb in a dish with a piece of foil loosely laid over the meat, and cook for 3½ hours. (For those that like lamb really 'well done', set the temperature at  70°C.) If your oven has multiple settings, make sure to use the setting without the fan, as otherwise you risk the joint drying out. Once the joint has heated through, remove it from the oven and it can be 'held' until needed

3. 30 mins before serving, heat the oven to maximum. When the oven has reached maximum temperature, set the joint on a wire rack and roast until the outside is well browned, 10 - 15 mins. (If you have a gas grill or similar you can use this to brown the joint, instead).

4. Keep the joint warm while you have your first course then carve, season and serve on hot plates with a little hot sauce of your choice (I normally make a reduction of stock and red wine).

Recipe: Slow-Poached Rabbit, stuffed with Orange & Walnuts

This might sound complicated - it isn't. And I can readily state that this is the most delicious thing I've eaten so far this year. 
With only a very few changes, the recipe is from an Australian food-writer called Christine Manfield (a friend of Christian's...he sent a copy of her latest tome for Christmas - an extremely weighty volume rather worryingly bound within day-glo velour covers, which gave long pause for thought once the outer wrapping had been removed).

The secret to painless slow-poaching is to use a deep-fat fryer as a water bath, where the accuracy of the temperature control means you can wander off and leave the poaching to take place entirely unsupervised; otherwise, it's a matter of hovering nervously for the entire cooking process, and endlessly checking thermometers and adjusting heat up or down, to ensure you have the correct constant temperature. It isn't my idea, I hasten to add - I first came across it in one of Jane Grigson's books, where she advised a deep-fat-fryer as the best means of poaching fruit in syrup. It works.

If you want an example of boning a rabbit, then follow the link through from my previous rabbit recipe, here.

For six.

Ingredients: a mature Rabbit, boned (with the liver still in place, preferably, to be included in the stuffing); 2 tbs Olive Oil; 1 small Onion, finely diced; 3 cloves Garlic, minced; 30g Pancetta, cut into julienne strips; 1 tsp ground Coriander seed; half tsp ground Cumin; 3 tsp Salt;1 tsp ground Black Pepper; 125g coarsely minced Pork meat + 125 coarsely minced Pork fat; 1 tbs chopped Parsley; 50g small black Olives, pitted and roughly chopped; 40g chopped Walnuts; zest of an Orange, finely chopped.

Method:

1. Lay the boned Rabbit out flat; butterfly the breasts open, and lay next to them the thigh and leg meat, to make as evenly covered  as possible a layer of meat. Sprinkle with 2 tsp Salt.

2. Sauté  Onion and Garlic in Oil, until they start to colour, then add the Pancetta, and continue cooling until the strips have become crisp. Stir in the Coriander and Cumin, add Salt and Pepper, and leave to cool.

3. Combine the cooled mixture with the minced Pork and fat, Rabbit liver (minced), Parsley, Walnuts, Olives and Orange zest. Heap this mixture along the longest end of the Rabbit 'rectangle' closest to you, and then roll the rabbit lengthwise, to enclose the stuffing tightly.

4. Wrap the rolled Rabbit in two layers of clingfilm, expel all of the air from within the package, and then twist the ends tightly to make a 'sausage'. The clingfilm should be tight enough that it holds the Rabbit in its sausage shape, and must be a good seal, to prevent any water from getting inside.

5. Fill a deep-fat-fryer with water to maximum depth (allowing for the displacement which will take place when the rabbit is submerged) and set the temperature to 75 degrees C. Once the water is at temperature, submerge the wrapped Rabbit, and leave to cook for 2 hours (turning every 30 minutes or so to ensure even cooking). Once cooked, remove the Rabbit from the water, and leave inside its wrapping for 30 minutes before unwrapping and slicing it to serve.

6. For a sauce to go with this, the rabbit bones can be used to make a light stock, which is then heavily reduced along with some white wine or vermouth to 'spooning' thickness , with seasoning adjusted just before use. (If your Rabbit arrived ready-boned, then use any light stock you have to-hand, instead of Rabbit Stock - chicken, veal, duck...they're all fine for this)

Recipe: Rabbit pot-roast with Parma Ham & Fresh Herbs

Apparently a piedmontese recipe, this is the most delicious method I have found for cooking rabbit. Bar none. It's one of those dishes where the first mouthful is followed by an appreciative silence around the table, as conversation falls away and people devote their full attention to the seductive flavours put before them. In the course of cooking, the ham dissolves to nothing inside the pot-roast rabbit, leaving just a rich and concentrated flavour, that mingles wonderfully with the finely-chopped fresh herbs, while the cooking juices in the pan provide a sauce which is gloriously unctuous.
The only thing to be wary of in this dish is the tendency for the sliced rabbit to fall apart when served, if the process of boning the rabbit has been a little haphazard. If your boning technique isn't first rate, or you're concerned that you won't get perfect slices, then the best thing to do is to let the rabbit cool down once cooked, and only slice it once it is almost cold, when the meat will hold together once more; the old catering trick is then to serve the cool slices on very hot plates, with a spoonful of very hot sauce over the top, both of which re-heat the meat pretty instantaneously.
I have to say, when I served this the other day, and I'd had only half a rabbit to work with, my finished slices fell to pieces pitifully, but the Technical Department said the flavour was so good that the presentation was entirely irrelevant!

For four.

Ingredients: 1 Rabbit, boned (if you can get this done professionally, then it is probably a good idea); 2 teaspoons each of fresh herbs: rosemary, sage, and thyme; 4 slices of Parma Ham (San Daniele is best of course, but any good parma ham will be fine); 3 carrots, peeled; 3 celery sticks; 2 oz Butter; 2 tbs Oil; 1 cup White Wine; 1 cup Chicken stock; Salt & Pepper.

Method:

1. Take one of the carrots and one of the sticks of celery and blanch them for a couple of minutes in boiling, salted water. Drain and refresh under cold water.

2. Lay the boned rabbit out flat, neck-end towards you, and season it with salt & pepper. Finely chop the herbs, and spread these evenly over the rabbit, and then cover completely with slices of Ham. Arrange the blanched carrot and celery along the end of the rabbit nearest to you, trimming and slicing as appropriate so that there is an even strip of both carrot and celery all the way along (the idea being that once the rabbit has been rolled and roast, when it is sliced, each slice will have at its centre a piece of cooked carrot and a piece of cooked celery). Roll the rabbit up, and tie tightly.

4. In a heavy casserole, melt the Butter with the Oil, and then brown the tied Rabbit on all sides.

5. Remove the Rabbit from the casserole, and sauté the remaining Carrot and Celery, cut into 1 cm dice, for five minutes or so until they start to colour. Return the Rabbit to the pan, season it generously, raise the heat and pour over the Wine over the Rabbit. Reduce the wine by about half, and then add the Stock. Once the liquid has returned to the boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pan and leave to cook for an hour and a quarter.

Leave for about ten minutes before slicing, and serve with the vegetables and cooking juices from the casserole.

Postscript: Somebody has very helpfully sent me this fascinating link to a how-to video for de-boning rabbit. Positively mesmerising.

Recipe: Veal Stew with Lemon & Rosemary

Loosely based on Bugialli's recipe for Ossobucco alla Novese, this is an excellent 'white' stew, where the combination of lemon, garlic, and rosemary is absolutely first class, and the finished dish is substantial without being heavy. Diced veal is a relatively cheap cut (at least in Italy it is), and so this recipe has the added merit of economy.

Since duck makes frequent appearances on the menu in this household, I generally have available duck fat and duck stock (both of which are used here); if you don't have them, don't worry - just substitute olive oil for the duck fat and chicken stock for the duck stock.

If you have any stew left over, then it can be ground up and used subsequently, mixed with a little grated parmesan and some fine breadcrumbs, as a filling for ravioli (which is what we'll be having as this evening's first course...)

For four.

Ingredients: 1 kg diced veal; 2 tbs duck fat; 1 lemon (peel only); spines from 4 sprigs of rosemary, chopped finely; 2 cloves of garlic, minced finely; 2 teaspoons of capers; dry white wine - approx 15 fl oz; 2 cups duck stock.

Method:

1. Melt the fat in a heavy casserole. Finely slice the peel from the lemon, and along with the garlic and rosemary, add it to the melted fat. Sauté this mixture over medium heat for a few minutes, until it has visibly softened.

2. Add the diced veal to the casserole, turn up the heat and colour on all sides, stirring the whole time. Add salt.

3. When the veal is all coloured, add the white wine, to cover the meat, and allow the wine to come to the boil, and then simmer to reduce the liquid by about a third - this should take five minutes or so.

4. Add the capers to the mixture, then the stock. Again, bring the mixture to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover the pan and let it cook over a very low heat for two hours or more (I always place the casserole over a heat diffuser for this process, to reduce the heat to a low enough level).

5. Just before serving, remove the meat from the liquid, and turn heat to high and boil vigorously for several minutes, stirring constantly, to reduce the liquid to a coating consistency. When it has reduced sufficiently, turn off the heat and return the meat briefly to the pan, to heat through again. Check and, if necessary, adjust seasoning before serving.

Recipe: Lamb Shoulder, roast with Anchovy & Garlic

Decent cuts of lamb are definitely one of the good things about being in London! In Italy, versions of Lamb appear fairly often on restaurant menus, but it's rarely to be found on the butcher's counter - and when it is, it tends to be as cutlets, and never in the hearty trencherman's-fare form of whole legs or shoulders. For a dish like this, I have to wait until we're back in the UK.

In fact, the combination of lamb and anchovy seems to be thoroughly french - I can specifically recall versions from both Albert Roux and Paula Wolfert (who took hers in turn from Lucien Vanel) - and it isn't a million miles distant from Julia Child's recipe for Lamb Mentonnais. Anyway, whatever the provenance, the dish is delicious, and the smell that pervades the house beforehand as it cooks is almost as sublime!

For six.

Ingredients: one boned half-shoulder of lamb (not difficult to do yourself, or else have it boned by your butcher); 6 Anchovy fillets; half a teaspoon of dried Thyme; 2 cloves of Garlic, peeled and minced; 3 tablespoons of Olive Oil; Salt & Pepper; one and a half cups of good stock (veal, duck or chicken will do perfectly); half a cup of white Vermouth; 1 tablespoon of Dijon Mustard; one third of a cup of Cream.

Method;

1. On the work surface, open the boned Lamb out to make as close to a rectangle as you can; carefully trim off as much of the fat as possible and dispose of it.

2. Chop the Anchovies finely and combine in a small bowl with dried Thyme, minced Garlic, and Oil. Add half a teaspoon of Salt, and mix altogether. Spread half of this mixture over the Lamb, and then roll and tie it tightly with string before spreading the rest of the Anchovy mixture over the outside.

4. In a small pan, combine the Stock and Vermouth, bring to the boil and then reduce to an 'enthusiastic' simmer. Stir in the mustard and Cream, and continue to simmer as you roast the Lamb. (The sauce wants to be reduced to a coating consistency, and there should be about half a cup when finished - enough for a spoonful over each serving of Lamb).

5. Heat the oven to 240 degrees C, and roast the Lamb for about twenty five minutes (if you like it on the pink side, as I do - for 'medium' lamb, roast for a further ten minutes), and then remove from the oven to rest for ten or fifteen minutes before serving. If serving onto hot plates, then the Lamb can be left to rest in the open; if the plates aren't likely to be very hot, then 'rest' the meat in a warm oven.

6. Serve a couple of slices of Lamb per serving, along with a spoonful of sauce.

Recipe: Pork Loin Roast with Emmental & Prosciutto Crudo

Loosely translated from Julia Child's classic Porc Sylvie this version takes the recipe south of the Alps, with a slightly edgier flavour to the stuffing, and a sauce which without question will knock your socks off! As with all roasts of this kind, the meat is equally delicious served either hot, or cold the following day, or else carefully re-heated several days later in a 100 degree C oven, wrapped in foil.

For six.

Ingredients: boned and rolled loin of pork, about 5" in length; 75g finely sliced Emmental; 75g sliced Prosciutto Crudo (parma ham); 4 slices of fatty bacon (optional); 2 medium Carrots, finely diced; 2 medium Onions, finely diced; 30g Butter; 2 tablespoons Olive Oil; 1 cup Marsala; seasoning.

Method:

1.Heat the oven to 220 degrees C.

2. With three longitudinal cuts, open the pork loin as though unrolling a swiss roll, so that it forms a flattish rectangle of meat. Season the rectangle, then cover with slices of Emmental, and then slices of Prosciutto Crudo. Roll up the rectangle to re-form its original shape, and tie with string. (If your butcher has left no layer of fat around the loin, then before you string it, cover the loin with the optional slices of fatty bacon)

3. Melt the Butter over medium heat, along with the Oil, in a pan which can subsequently act as a roasting dish in the oven.

4. Colour the pork loin all over (takes about fifteen minutes) in the Oil/Butter mixture, then remove from the pan. Sauté the diced Onion and Carrot for about twenty minutes in the same pan, until wilted and golden, but not coloured. Return the loin to the pan, on top of the vegetables and place the pan in the pre-heated oven.

5. Roast until the meat is done - it should take about forty minutes.

6. Once the meat is done, remove it from the pan to rest for ten minutes or so in a warm oven.

7. Meanwhile, place the pan which contains the now blackened vegetables over medium-high heat and add to it the Marsala. Cook, stirring continuously, until the liquid has reduced to a consistency which starts to look syrupy (as with all sauces of this kind, you need only a spoonful of sauce per serving, so don't be hesitant in reducing with enthusiasm!).

8. Press the contents of the pan through a fine sieve, and add one spoonful of sauce to two slices of cooked loin for each serving. The combined flavours of cooking juices, marsala, and melted cheese are sensational!

Recipe: Hamburger

Nothing whatsoever to do with commercially-produced junk food, this recipe is quick and easy, and bursting with flavour. Delicious served hot, as in this version with a mustard cream sauce - but arguably even more delicious served cold, the following day, after the flavours have all matured generously, when the burgers go well with a fresh salad.

This was variously derived from Pierre Franey and Marcella Hazan, with a few variations of my own which have been introduced over the years.

For four.

Ingredients: 500g ground meat (beef, lamb, or pork); half a red pepper; half a medium onion; 30g butter; 2 medium eggs; 60g freshly-grated parmesan; half a teaspoon dried thyme; salt & pepper; 2 tablespoons olive oil.

For the mustard-cream sauce: half a cup chicken stock; quarter cup of cream; generous teaspoon of dijon mustard.

Method:

1. Melt the butter in a small pan. Finely dice onion and pepper and sauté in melted butter for several minutes, until collapsed, then allow to cool.

2. Combine the onion and pepper in a bowl with the ground meat, parmesan, eggs, thyme and seasoning, to taste (I find it takes quite a lot of salt to work to my liking). Set aside in the fridge for twenty minutes or so, to firm.

3. Heat the oil in a heavy pan, large enough to sauté four burgers comfortably without them touching each other. Turn the mixture out onto a floured board, and divide it into four. Make each one into an individual patty approx 3" across and 1" thick. (If the mixture seems quite sloppy at this stage, try adding a little flour in order to make it more resilient - if the burgers aren't firm enough, they'll fall apart in cooking)

4. Carefully place the burgers in the hot oil, and cook for about seven minutes on each side. Take great care when turning them over - the egg within the mixture should have coagulated decently by this stage, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

5. Meanwhile, in a small pan, combine the stock and cream, heat to an enthusiastic simmer and reduce the combined mixture until it is of coating density; add the mustard at this stage and continue to reduce further, for several minutes, stirring, until it's quite thick. Taste for seasoning (but it shouldn't really need any)

6. Serve, with a spoonful of sauce over each burger.

Recipe: Osso Bucco with Orange

For years I've ignored the traditional Osso Bucco recipe - which uses tomatoes - in favour of a version Bugialli calls 'alla Novese', which is a 'white' recipe, where the usual combination of tomatoes and aromatic vegetables is replaced by lemon and garlic, green olives and white wine. Light and delicious, it has always seemed to me preferable to the indistinct mess of tomatoes and chopped vegetables that risks being mistaken for the base of a second-rate pizza. I've now discovered that the simple addition of orange to the traditional ingredients changes all that, however, and the citrus flavour more than adequately counter-balances the bland sweetness of the tomato. Well worth trying.

For four.

Ingredients: 4 Osso Bucco; 150g Carrots; 150g Onions; 100g Celery; 200g tinned tomatoes; 8 tbs Olive Oil; 30g Butter; grated zest of 1 Orange (or 1/4 teaspoon Orange Oil); 1 sprig fresh Thyme; 100 ml White Wine; 2 cloves Garlic, minced; 4 tbs Soy Sauce; approx 500 ml Chicken Stock; Seasoning. Chopped Parsley, for garnish when serving.

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees C.

2. Heat half the Oil in a sauté pan and brown the Osso Bucco on both sides.

3. Remove the Osso Bucco pieces from the pan, add the Butter. Peel and dice Carrots and Onions, and dice the Celery. Add 2/3 of the Carrots and Onions to the pan, along with half of the Celery, the Orange zest (or Oil) and fresh Thyme. Sauté until the vegetables have completely collapsed, about ten minutes.

4. Add White wine, raise heat and cook, stirring, for about two minutes, then add Tomatoes, Garlic and Soy Sauce. Mix everything well together, then return the Osso Bucco pieces to the pan. Cover with Chicken Stock, put the lid on the pan, and put into the pre-heated oven for about one and a half hours.

5. Towards the end of this period, lightly sauté the remaining diced vegetables in the remaining Oil - they should be tender, but not entirely collapsed. Season lightly.

6. Remove Osso Bucco from the oven. Put the meat to one side, strain the cooking liquid and discard the vegetables. Reduce the sauce to a coating consistency, then return the Osso Bucco pieces to it, along with the sautéed vegetables, and re-heat gently for about five minutes. Check and adjust seasoning before serving.

Sprinkle with freshly chopped Parsley, once plated.

Recipe: Rabbit en croute

Loosely based on Bruno Loubet's recipe for roast Saddle of Rabbit, this dish is absolutely delicious. No one of the various strongly-flavoured ingredients which goes into the Croute dominates, and in fact it's hard even to identify them individually within the finished dish - but the marriage of flavours is first class, and the overall result is undeniably a winner.

As ever, you can use commercially produced pastry here - but the flavour won't be as good as if you make your own; and the work involved in doing so is negligible.

For Six.

Ingredients:

Puff pastry, made* with 2 cups '00' Flour, 1.5 teaspoons Salt, 130g softened Butter, 0.5 cup of water, 130g chilled Butter; 1 Rabbit, boned; 2 sun-dried Tomatoes (soaked in warm water for an hour or so, to soften them); scant tsp Green peppercorns; 1 tsp White Truffle Oil; 6 slices Prosciutto; 1 cup Flat Leaf Parlsey, chopped. Salt. Beaten Egg, to brush on the croute.

*Process all ingredients together, apart from the Chilled Butter, to ensure all are well blended; wrap and chill for one hour; roll on a floured surface into a strip approx 15" x 6 ", then dot 2/3 of this with the diced chilled Butter before folding into a package 5" x 6". Turn through 90 degrees, then roll out again; fold twice into the centre (so making a four-layer thickness of pastry) and turn and roll again. Repeat once more and leave to rest for an hour, then repeat the folding and rolliing stages twice, before leaving to rest for one more hour. The pastry is then ready to use.

Method:

1. Lay the boned Rabbit out on the work surface; thinly slice the sun-dried Tomato, and lightly crush the Peppercorns. Arrange these on the Rabbit, pushing down into creases in the meat, and then sprinkle the Truffle Oil over the top. Lightly salt, and then loosely roll the carcasse up, head-to-tail.

2. Roll half of the Pastry into a rectangle about 12" x 6" and place on a greased baking tray. In the centre of the rectangle lay three slices of Prosciutto and cover with half of the chopped Parsley, to make a bed on which to place the rolled Rabbit. Once in place, cover with the remaining Parsley and then the remaining Prosciutto. Roll out the remaining pastry, dampen the edges of the lower piece of Pastry and cover the Rabbit, pressing down to seal the edges.

3. Trim excess Pastry away and tidy up the edges of the Croute. Make three holes in the surface of the pastry, and brush all over with beaten Egg. Bake for forty minutes in a 200 degree C oven, and let rest for 15 minutes or so outside the oven before slicing to serve.

Leftover Lamb....

This is a dish which is good enough to merit cooking the lamb anyway, even if you don't have any left over from a previous dinner. If you do have leftovers, though (or have planned ahead and made sure to cook more than you needed first time round) then with very little effort it is possible to produce a result which is surprisingly sophisticated, elegant and seriously delicious. I first came across this in a little country restaurant several miles outside Carcassonne in the middle of winter, about fifteen years ago, when we were taking the four-footed of the day to visit Barcelona. On that occasion the recipe gloried in the name 'Célestine d'Agneau', and I committed it to memory to re-create subsequently at home: flavour-filled packages of meat and tiny diced vegetables, neatly bundled inside a crêpe, served with a rich and delicious sauce. I've never come across it anywhere else, or really anything very close to it- although at a stretch I suppose you could think of italian agnolotti as a kind of first cousin...As with so many dishes, the success lies in the density of the flavours, and here it is important to retain as much as you can of the cooking juices from when the lamb was originally roast to use as a sauce just before serving.

Following a no-show at a dinner party earlier this week, I had a roast lamb shank left over, and this was the result for supper a couple of days later. Ten minutes to make the crêpes; the same amount of time to prep the mirepoix , and then elapsed time while it cooked down, when I could concentrate on other things. It's very quick and easy....

For two.

Ingredients: 1 lamb shank, roast, with its cooking juices; Crêpe batter made from 1 egg, 4 fl oz milk, 1.5 oz plain flour, and a pinch of Salt; 1 Leek; 2 medium Carrots, peeled; 2 Portobello Mushroom caps; 1 oz Butter (or Duck Fat, if you have it); 1/4 cup White Wine; Seasoning.

1. Set the oven to 180 degrees C.

2. Blend all the batter ingredients together, and make 4 x 9" crêpes (I never bother to let the batter rest, I don't see the point; this amount of batter will make more crèpes than you need, but it's difficult to reduce the quantities any further - I always refrigerate or freeze the surplus crêpes for future use). Cover them with clingilm once done, to prevent them from becoming leathery as they sit.

3. Melt the Butter or Fat in a large frying pan. Dice the Leek, Carrots and Mushrooms very finely to make a mirepoix, and sauté for about ten minutes or so. Once the vegetables have all satisfactorily collapsed, add the wine, raise the heat and reduce the liquid to nothing. Taste, and correct the seasoning.

4. Carefully scrape all of the lamb jellified cooking juices into a small pan, and then remove all of the meat from the shank and cut into approximately 1 cm pieces. Give the bone to the dog.

5. On a greased baking tray, put two metal serving rings, also greased - I use some which are about 2" tall, which are perfect for this. If you don't have appropriate rings, then large ramekins, greased, would probably work pretty well, too.
Into each ring, lay a crêpe so that it lines the ring and hangs over the sides, making it easy to fill it. In the base of each crêpe put a generous spoonful of mirepoix, followed by half of the diced lamb, then finish with the rest of the mirepoix. Fold the edges of the crêpe in and over the filling, to make a neat parcel.

6. Over the top of each Célestine put a square of aluminium foil, to stop it from drying out, and then put them into the pre-heated oven for about twenty minutes. Meanwhile, heat the reserved sauce in the small pan.

To serve, remove the foil and carefully invert the Célestines onto heated serving plates, and spoon the heated sauce over the top.

Recipe: Blanquette of Lamb

Probably for ever, whiteness has been associated - in food, at least - with elegance, refinement, and luxury. White sugar and white bread in more modern times, white asparagus and white chicory before them, and all in unbroken descent from the blancmanges, syllabubs and marzipan creations of medieval and renaissance ages. I suppose the process of whitening food has always been associated in some way with removing the natural 'impurities' - although increasingly these days there would be schools of thought that go entirely in the opposite direction, and favour instead leaving the 'natural goodness' in (hence their equally baseless and irrational faith in brown eggs, wholemeal bread, and 'natural' pulses).

I've always thought of blanquettes as falling within this cultural tradition - not least from my belief that they invariably involved a stage of blanching in order to remove 'impurities' from the meat before the actual process of cooking was started. It appears not, though. In Larousse Gastronomique, mention is made of blanquettes of - amongst other things- fish, which would certainly not stand up well to the sort of blanching process one finds with blanquette de veau; LG places blanquettes very definitely at the 'refined' end of gastronomy, which fits with the earlier associations of white food with perceived luxury, but seems to accept that a blanquette is essentially a poached preparation of any white foodstuff, which is then served in a thick white sauce. I'm not entirely convinced that this isn't the sort of bastardisation of the language which should be treated with great caution - shades of the etymological slippage of things being cooked 'a la nage' (adjective) instead of being cooked 'in a nage' (which is, in fact, a non-existent noun) , which is designed particularly to make the Technical Department's hackles rise. However, I suppose at a certain point one needs to clamber free of the language and just get on with the cooking....

The success of this recipe depends entirely on the sauce. It is into this that all that wonderful flavour has gone during the cooking, and for the dish to work, you must make sure that the sauce is good and thick, and will coat the pieces of meat well - if your sauce just sits on the plate in a dispirited puddle, I'm afraid you've wasted your efforts!

For 4-6.

Ingredients: 2.5 lbs Lamb (leg or shoulder, removed from the bone and cut into 1" cubes); 2 pints Chicken Stock; 1 teaspoon Salt; 1 large Onion (studded with a clove); 2 Carrots; 1 Leek; 1 Bouquet Garni; 12 Button Onions; 12 Button Mushrooms; 3 oz Butter; juice from one Lemon; 2 tablespoons of Flour; 2 Egg Yolks; 4 fl oz Cream.

Method:

1. Soak the pieces of Lamb overnight in water that has been acidulated with a little lemon juice (this is actually an optional step - soaking will leach the blood from the meat which will give you a whiter end result, and will make the flavour of the meat milder; if these two things don't bother you and you're in a hurry, go straight to step 2) . Drain the Lamb pieces and rinse them.

2. Place the Lamb pieces in a deep casserole; pour in enough stock to cover, then season with Salt & Ground Pepper and bring to the boil on the stove. Be ready to skim away any scum which rises to the surface with a slotted spoon, just as you would when making stock. Add the Onion, Carrots, Leek, and Bouquet Garni. Place the lid on the casserole and simmer for one and a half hours.

3. Bring a small pan of water to the boil, and blanch the Button Onions for three or four minutes until softened but still firm. Drain and put to one side

4. In a small sauté pan, melt 1 oz of the Butter, then squeeze in the juice from half the Lemon and simmer the Button Mushrooms in this mixture until lightly coloured. Put to one side.

5. As the Lamb finishes cooking, make a roux in a double boiler or zimmertopf: melt the remaining 2 oz of Butter; stir in the Flour, to make a paste; add 1 pint of the cooking liquid from the Lamb, and stir until everything is well amalgamated; leave to simmer for fifteen minutes or so, stirring from time to time, to ensure it thickens evenly; finally, off the heat, stir in the egg yolks, cream, and remaining Lemon Juice.

6. Drain the Lamb of ites remaining cooking liquid, and either clean the casserole before returning the lamb pieces to it, or else put them into an unused casserole. Strain the sauce over the meat, and add the Button Onions and Button Mushrooms. Stir to mix thoroughly, and keep warm in a 100 degree C oven, with the lid on the casserole, until ready to serve. Before serving, taste and adjust seasoning as appropriate.

Recipe: Pancetta-wrapped Roast Pork

This recipe was a recent and splendid new discovery - hailed by the Technical Department as the best version of roast Pork since the classic version with a mustard-and-herb poultice that was immortalised by Julia Child, forty years ago now, in 'Mastering the Art.
I was sceptical when I first looked at this one. Having long been devoted to the Barbara Kafka method of roasting (heat the oven to smelting temperature, and then blast the meat for as short a time as possible), the idea of heating the oven to only 175 degrees C seemed highly dubious. And then the fact that the meat only cooks for fifty minutes at that temperature.... Hmmm..

But, it works! Even the slightly unexpected combination of Pork wrapped around Pork works well, as the Pancetta becomes beautifully crisp, while the loin within is tender and succulent.

Potatoes are added as an easy means of cooking a vegetable at the same time. If you wanted to omit them in order to serve a different vegetable instead, this would be fine.

For four.

Ingredients: 1 kg boneless pork loin; 250g sliced Pancetta (not the affumicata variety for this dish - and also, I suspect it has to be true Pancetta; this isn't an occasion when you can substitute bacon rashers and expect it to work just as well); 4 sprigs of fresh Rosemary; 4 large Garlic cloves, peeled; 1 kg Potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks; 8 tablespoons of Olive Oil.

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 175 degrees C.

2. Season the Pork Loin and wrap it in the strips of Pancetta; then, tie the bundle loosely with string. (Don't make too much of a meal of this task, and worry about the end result being too beautiful - the string really needs to do its job only during the period when the bundle is being seared; after that, the searing process will have caused the Pancetta significantly to stick together and adhere to the Loin, even without the help of the string. When doing this task, I was forcefully reminded of a Christmas job at Selfridges, once, spent stringing packages in the Small Electrical Goods department - which suggests exactly how much three-star skill I was bringing to the job at hand!)

3. Under the strings, insert the sprigs of Rosemary.

4. In a heavy casserole, heat half of the Oil to 'searing' temperature, and colour the bundle on all of its sides - about a minute on each side.

5. Add the Potatoes to the pan, around the Pork, along with the cloves of Garlic.

6. Generously season the Potatoes with Salt & Pepper, and pour the remaining Oil over them all. Stir with a wooden spoon to ensure the Potatoes and Garlic are well covered with Oil.

7. Place the pan, uncovered, in the pre-heated oven and roast for 50 minutes. Test for done-ness by inserting a skewer into the centre of the Loin and putting it to your tongue to see if it is hot (if not, the Pork needs to cook for longer - but this shouldn't be the case).

8. Leave the Pork to rest for 10 minutes, and then slice and serve it with the Potatoes.

If there's any left to pick at, cold, the next day.............Enjoy!

Recipe: Pork Belly slow-roast with Garlic & Star Anise

Not the most fashionable cut of meat, I find Pork Belly absolutely delicious, as well as being pretty economical. This long and slow method of cooking reduces it to a consistency where you can practically eat it with a spoon.

This recipe was derived - distantly - from Heston Blumenthal's way of slow-cooking beef over a period of 24 hours or more. His version was the subject of some debate on the Today Programme, a year or so ago - and although I didn't consider for a second clogging up the stove with something for that length of time, the cooking method and the way he talked about the process gave pause for thought.....and this recipe was the end result. Not only is it splendid once it reaches the plate, but the smell which permeates the house as it cooks is pretty special, as well!

Necessity being the mother of invention, there's also a version of it which came about when, at the critical moment, the absence of both Vermouth and Star Anise were discovered, and so Port and Cardamom were used instead. A completely different - but equally delicious - dish emerged at the end of the process.


For Four.

Ingredients: 1 kg Pork Belly; 8 cloves Garlic; 6 heads of Star Anise; half a cup of Vermouth, or Dry White Wine; Oil; Salt & Pepper.

Method:

1. Remove the skin from the Pork Belly, and trim away from the meat any excess fat. Reserve the skin for making crackling later.

2. Take a pan which has a close fitting lid - I use a small sauté pan - and smear the bottom with a little Oil, just enough to prevent the meat from sticking as it cooks. Place the Pork Belly in the pan, along with the Garlic and the Star Anise. Add the Vermouth (or wine) and bring to a simmer on the stove.

3. Put the lid in place, and reduce the heat to a level where it simmers very very gently. In practice, I actually put the pan on top of a heat diffuser to reduce the heat to an appropriately low level. Keep it at a gentle simmer for about two hours, checking from time to time to see that the liquid hasn't all gone (If the liquid needs topping up along the way, do so either with more Vermouth or with water). Turn the meat two or three times in the course of cooking, to ensure that it cooks evenly.

5. At the end of the cooking process, move the pan off the heat, and allow the meat to cool down. Remove any liquid fat from the pan, season well with Salt & Pepper, and draw the rib bones out from the meat (they should pull out easily from the cooked meat). Discard the Star Anise.

6. Make the Crackling: Smear the Pork Skin with Oil, and sprinkle generously with Salt. Put it on a baking tray, in a 180 degree C oven for an hour (longer if necessary). Once ready, cut it up with scissors and keep warm until needed.

7. To serve, gently re-heat the Pork for twenty minutes or so, then slice thinly and accompany each portion with a couple of Garlic cloves and some crackling.

Recipe: Lamb Shanks double-roast, in Red Wine Sauce

Lamb Shanks. Search for them in any traditional British or French recipe book and you'll search in vain - which is surprising, really, as they seem entirely in keeping with French peasant cooking of the Cassoulet-and-Beans type. Full of flavour, and definitely trencherman's fare! I was interested to find recipes other then my one tried-and-trusted, though, and having looked for them without success in all of the places I would have thought to find them - Carrier, Willan, Grigson - I finally resorted to Larousse Gastronomique and Mrs Beeton. And the mystery was solved. In demonstrating the cuts of lamb available in different countries, Larousse Gastronomique showed a baleful looking beast in various formats, with the dotted 'tear-here' lines indicating how things work in different countries: the French and British versions clearly have rear 'Legs' that go all the way up to the saddle, whilst their American cousin has an extra dotted line delineating the shank as a separate cut. And if you then go and consult Mrs Beeton (from an edition circa 1890), you find the same baleful beast (eerily identical, in fact) as the American Lamb, but in this instance the animal is a mature Sheep, and the cuts are for Mutton. From which one can only assume that it was at that point in history that the transatlantic difference appeared, and that the US cuts of Lamb are in fact the Victorian cuts for Mutton, as Mrs B would have clearly recognised.

Anyway.....to the recipe. This is unusual in that it is effectively a traditional roast, which is then treated as a pot-roast, and ends up having the best results of both methods: crisp on the outside and meltingly tender within. For absolutely the best result, cook this recipe to completion the day before you want to serve it, and then re-heat it, in its sauce, under some foil, in an oven heated to around 170 degrees C.

For Two.

Ingredients: Two Lamb Shanks; 1 tablespoon Olive Oil; 2 medium sized sprigs of Rosemary; 1 large Garlic Clove, minced; Seasoning; 1 large glass of Red Wine (something quite robust is best).

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 220 degrees C.

2. Strip the leaves from the Rosemary sprigs and chop them finely - you should have about a tablespoon of chopped leaves. Combine these in a small bowl with the Garlic, Oil, and Seasoning to taste. Mix well and rub all over the Lamb Shanks.

3. Roast the Shanks one hour in the pre-heated oven. At the end of this time, remove the roasting pan with the Shanks from the oven, and remove the fat from the pan.

4. Turn the oven down to 170 degrees C. Pour the Red Wine into the roasting pan, cover the whole thing loosely with foil, and return the pan to the oven for a further 30 minutes. At the end of this time, if the sauce in the pan (the wine and cooking juices combined) is still too liquid, remove the Shanks to warm plates and reduce the sauce briefly in a small saucepan on the stove before pouring it over the Lamb to serve.

Recipe: Risotto with Spinach, Asparagus & Polpette

Well, the sun may be shining gloriously in a clear blue sky, and things in the garden impatiently pushing their heads above ground, but the fact remains that it is still a long time until spring - and when the sun has gone down, it's time to close the shutters and draw the curtains against the outside world.....and hearty winter's fare for dinner is still very much in order.

It doesn't come a lot heartier then this, a recipe from Ticino, in the north of Italy - at the point geographically where slabs of Polenta and haunches of meat appear, and you can tell that the cuisine has evolved in response to an unforgiving winter climate. The local name for the dish, rather unhelpfully, is merely Risotto alla Rustica - which conveys nothing of the many flavours and textures that you encounter within it: the bite of asparagus and spinach combined in an unctuous creamy risotto, all topped with delicious veal and parmesan polpette in a light tomato sauce.

Splendid with a light red wine from Friuli - but don't plan on doing anything energetic for some time after you've eaten!

This works well for a group including vegetarians, since the vegetarian option merely means leaving the meatballs off when you come to serve.

For six.

Ingredients:

For the Vegetable Cream: 500g Spinach, rinsed; 200g Peas; 300g Asparagus (any woody ends of the stalks having been removed)

For the Polpette: 100g minced Pork + 100g minced Veal (or, if not, 200g minced Beef; 1 garlic clove, minced; 1 Egg; 3-4 tablespoons grated Parmesan; 1 tablespoon chopped Paresley; Salt & Pepper; Flour (to dust the meatballs); 250g tinned tomato Pulp; half a glass of White Wine or Vermouth.

For the Risotto: 1 Onion; 3 tablespoons Olive Oil; 1 glass of White Wine or Vermouth; 1 pint Chicken stock**; 250g Mascarpone; 200 ml Cream; half a cup* grated Parmesan; 2 tablespoons chopped Basil; 1 oz Butter.


* these are UK cup measures, rather than US ones. A UK cup is equivalent to 10 fl oz, whilst a US one is only 8 fl oz.

** if using homemade stock, remember to add seasoning to the risotto at the end of cooking; if the stock is commercially made, you'll need much less seasoning at the end.

Method:

1. Put all the green vegetables into a pan,cover with water, bring to the boil over high heat and boil for 3-4 minutes; strain, let cool and blend in a liquidizer to make a homogenous cream.

2. Combine the minced meat with Garlic, Parsley, beaten Egg and grated Parmesan; add seasoning to taste. Form these into small meatballs, no larger than the size of a large olive. Dust these in Flour, and fry over medium-high heat in Oil until done - maybe 3-4 minutes. When the polpette are good and crisp on the outside, pour in the Wine or Vermouth and the tomatoes, and continue to cook, stirring, until the sauce around the polpette has thickened.

The recipe can be done until this stage several hours in advance, if you wish.

3. Make the Risotto in the normal way: soften chopped Onion in heated oil, then add Rice, stir over heat without any liquid for a minute, then add liquid - first the Wine or Vermouth, then the Stock - by the ladleful, adding more each time the previous amount has been completely absorbed. If you run out of Stock before the dish is ready, continue with water. After twenty minutes, add to the Risotto mixture the Vegetable Cream, Mascarpone and Cream, stir thoroughly, and continue to cook the Risotto to completion. When the rice is done, turn off the heat and stir in the Butter and remaining Parmesan.

To serve, sprinkle with chopped Basil, and top with a spoonful of warmed polpette in their tomato sauce.

Ricetta: Risotto con spinaci, asparagi e Polpette

Per sei.

Ingredienti:

Per la crema di verdure: 500 g di spinaci, sciacquati; 200g Peas; 300g di asparagi ( ogni estremità dura del gambo essendo stato rimosso)

Per il Polpette: 100g di maiale tritata 100g + bovine macinate (o, in caso contrario, 200g di carne bovina macinata, 1 spicchio d'aglio, tritato, 1 Uovo; 3-4 cucchiai di parmigiano grattugiato, 1 cucchiaio di trito di Prezzemolo; Sale & Pepe; Farina (per polvere Le polpette di carne); 250g polpa di pomodoro in scatola; mezzo bicchiere di vino bianco o di Vermouth.

Per il risotto: 1 cipolla, 3 cucchiai di olio d'oliva, 1 bicchiere di vino bianco o di Vermouth; 500 ml brodo di pollo**; 250g Mascarpone; 200 ml di Crema; una mezza tazza parmigiano grattugiato, 2 cucchiai di basilico tritati; Burro 30g.


** Se si utilizza un brodo fato in casa, ricordare di aggiungere il condimento per risotti al termine della cottura; se il brodo è reso commercialmente, devi molto meno condimento alla fine.

Metodo:

1. Mettere tutte le verdure in una pentola, coprite con l'acqua, portate ad ebollizione più elevato calore e far bollire per 3-4 minuti; ceppo, lasciate raffreddare e si fondono in un liquidizer a fare una crema omogenea.

2. Combina la carne macinata con aglio, prezzemolo, uova sbattute e il parmigiano grattugiato; aggiungere condimento di gusto. Forma in queste piccole polpette di carne, non più grande delle dimensioni di un grande ulivo. Queste polveri e Farina, e friggere nel medio-alta e di calore olio fino al fatto - forse 3-4 minuti. Quando le polpette sono buone e fresco sulla parte esterna, e per il vino o il Vermouth e pomodori, e continuare a cuocere, mescolando, fino a quando la salsa intorno al polpette ha ispessita.

La ricetta può essere fatto fino a questo stadio diverse ore di anticipo, se lo si desidera.

3. Rendere il risotto in modo normale: ammorbidire un trito di cipolla in olio riscaldato, quindi aggiungere il riso, mescolare più di calore senza liquido per un minuto, poi aggiungere liquido - in primo luogo il vino o di Vermouth, allora il brodo - dal mestolo, aggiungendo più quando l'importo precedente è stato completamente assorbito. Se si esaurirà prima di brodo il piatto è pronto, continuare con l'acqua. Dopo venti minuti, aggiungere alla miscela Risotto alla crema di verdure, mascarpone e Crema, mescolare accuratamente, e continuare a cucinare il risotto a compimento. Quando il riso è finito, spegnere il calore e di suscitare nella restante burro e parmigiano.

Per servire, cospargere con un trito di basilico, e la parte superiore con un cucchiaio di polpette e riscaldato il loro sugo di pomodoro.

Recipe: Boeuf Stroganoff

First cousin to a stir-fry, this is another of those dishes where there are as many different versions are there are sources to consult. The basics are simple: quickly sautéed strips of beef in a reduced cream and paprika sauce. Some versions include mushrooms, others onion and some tomato concentrate. Personally I prefer it without any of these.
Strangely, though, one element constant to all the versions I found- which makes absolutely no sense to me - is that they are without exception written back to front i.e that the meat is cooked first and then kept warm while the sauce is made. This is bonkers! Cooking the beef only takes a minute, but making the sauce will take 5-10 minutes, or longer, depending on the power of your burners, during which time the tender strips of beef are merely getting dry in a warming oven.
My preference is to make the sauce first, make sure it is up to scratch and have it ready for when it is time to stir-fry the beef. Not only does this produce a better result, but is eminently practical for entertaining, when the sauce and the sliced meat can be prepared in advance, and thus you are away from your guests for only a minimal amount of time.

For four.

Ingredients: 750g Beef Fillet, trimmed (you can use Sirloin or Rump instead, or even Skirt); 30g unsalted Butter; 60g chopped Shallots; 100ml dry White Wine or Vermouth; 50ml Cognac; 200ml Veal or Chicken Stock; 300ml Cream (Crème fraiche or sour cream or Greek Yoghurt is best - the sauce should not be sweet); 2 tablespoons Sweet Paprika; juice of 1/2 Lemon (NB not ne, don't bother with this if you are using Sour Cream); Salt and Pepper; 60g clarified Butter*; chopped Parsley, for garnish

Method:

1. Sauté the Shallots in Butter until thoroughly wilted but not coloured. Add all the liquids and reduce to a coating consistency.

2. Dissolve the Paprika in a little sauce to break down any lumps, then add this back into the sauce in the pan and stir thoroughly. Taste for seasoning. Add a little lemon if the cream you are using is neither of the three types mentioned above.

If the sauce is going to sit for a long time, cover it with a piece of cling film to stop a skin forming.

3. Cut the Beef into strips 5cm x 5mm x 5mm.
NB1: The long side of the strip should be cut across the grain of the meat; if you cut with the grain, the meat can end up undesirably chewy.)
NB2: It helps in cutting if the meat is ice cold - achieved by leaving it in the freezer for 15 minutes or so before slicing.
NB3: I then spread all the pieces out onto a length of greaseproof paper, roll it up, and put it in the 'fridge or freezer. When I am ready, I unroll the paper and slide all the pieces into the pan. Cold meat takes longer to cook, so this gives you a little longer to sear and brown the outside while keeping the inside rare.

At this point, you can set the prepared sauce and Beef aside for several hours, until time for the final cooking and assembly.

4. Heat a large frying pan or wok until very hot. Add the clarified Butter, then add the meat and seal it all over very quickly for about a minute. At this stage, the meat must still be rare inside. Tip the meat into a colander placed over a plate. Season it with salt and black pepper. Wipe the pan out with kitchen paper to remove any oil or debris.

5. Lower the heat to medium. Add the prepared sauce to the pan and quickly bring just to the boil. Turn the heat to low. Return the meat to the pan, stir to coat with sauce and heat through for a few seconds. Garnish and serve at once on hot plates.

Ideally the Beef should still be medium rare and juicy, but if you prefer Beef well done, just cook it a little longer in the sauce.

This is best with plain rice, puréed potatoes or noodles.

* To clarify a small quantity of Butter like this quickly, put 100gms of butter in a tall plastic jug and microwave only until you hear the Butter just beginning to pop or splutter. Stop at once. Wait for a few seconds, if the Butter is not liquid, give it a second dose. Let it settle and pour off the clarified Butter you need into your pan, leaving the milk solids behind: you can add these to something else like mashed Potato or any other cooked vegetable. You need to be quick on the draw in this process: if the Butter heats too long, it can spit all over the place. You can of course use Oil, but Butter tastes better.

Recipe: Moussaka

My preferred version. It seems that there are as many ways of making Moussaka as there are people available to question on the subject. In my research on the history of the dish, I came across references to it with and without Béchamel sauce, with Zucchini, or Potatoes, instead of with Aubergine (or in some instances, with a combination of any or all of them); most recipes specify Lamb, some will allow the option of Beef, and I found one, which I rather liked, which merely referred to 'any red meat' (shades of the restaurant in Nairobi, probably apocryphally famous for suggesting that their signature dish of roast Wildebeest would go well with 'any brown wine...').
As a child, I recall we generally had a version of Moussaka made with Beef and Potatoes (Aubergine hadn't really made it to rural Kent in those days, except as a dinner party indulgence) and a crisp crust of cheese, reminiscent of the most delicious bits of a Croque Monsieur.........

For years, Beoty's, in Wright's Lane, featured an excellent Moussaka on their menu - always baked as an individual portion, and formally unmoulded at table with the aid of two serving spoons. The secret to its quality, they maintained, was the fact that the meat was never minced, but always finely chopped by hand.

For Six:

Ingredients: 1 Onion, finely chopped; 1 large clove of Garlic, chopped; 1 lb of Lamb, finely diced (you can use leftover roast lamb for this, although I think you probably get a better result if you start with fresh meat); 1/2 lb Mushrooms, chopped; 1 tin of chopped Tomatoes; 2 tablespoons of fresh Parsley; 2 tablespoons of Tomato purée; 5 fl oz of dark Stock (Beef or Duck); 6 medium Aubergines; 6 tablespoons of grated Parmesan; Salt & Pepper; Olive Oil.

Method:

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the Oil in a large pan, and cook the Onion and Garlic in it for several minutes until softened; add the diced Lamb, stir to incorporate, and cook for about five minutes until the meat has lost its pinkness.

2. Add Mushrooms, Tomatoes, and Parsley. Season, to taste, and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about ten minutes.

3. Dilute the Tomato purée in the Stock, add to the pan, stir in well, and cook for a further ten minutes.

4. Meanwhile, slice the Aubergines thinly, and fry the slices in batches in Oil in a large frying pan; the slices should be well coloured on both sides, and as each batch is finished, remove it from the frying pan and set it to drain on kitchen paper.

5. Heat the oven, at 180 degrees C.

6. Line the base and sides of a deep oven dish with slices of fried Aubergine. Check the seasoning in the Lamb mixture, and adjust if necessary. Put one third of the mixture into the bottom of the aubergine-lined dish; top with a quarter of the grated Parmesan, and cover with a layer of Aubergine slices. Repeat this process twice more, and use the last of the Parmesan to sprinkle over the top layer of slices of Aubergine.

7. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 45 minutes, or until the top has browned thoroughly.

Best left for a day or two, and re-heated in the oven, before serving.

Recipe: Lamb Shoulder stuffed with Salmon

I've been trying - completely without success - to identify the origins of this dish, in order to understand whether the unexpected combination of ingredients sprang from decadence or necessity. Was it as the result of lackadaisical boredom with all other options that somebody came up with the idea of lamb-with-salmon, or did they simply have no other raw materials to work with? (Shades of Alan Davidson's story where he once apologised to some hill-tribesmen for having tried to replicate one of their traditional dishes, when he'd been back at home, but had been forced to use peeled prawns in the absence of the more traditional ingredient, which was the inside of an Ox cheek; the tribesmen's enthusiastic response had been that they only used Ox cheek because they had no choice, and that peeled prawns would be a much better idea, if only they could ever get hold of any!)

The late great Julia gave this dish the name of 'Mentonais', although without explaining why, and for no readily apparent reason; whatever connection it was supposed to have had with Menton is unclear. In any event, the combination works wonderfully, and is all the better for using well-flavoured good-quality lamb. It's often the case that a particular dish will have a particular association, and for me, this one is of a perfectly-cooked version, pink and succulent, served at the Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, only a few months after the place had first opened...which rather dates the experience...

The recipe I use is an adaption of that from the Comtesse de Toulouse-Lautrec. She appeared to have an aversion to anchovies. I don't. This dish is all the better for their presence!

Serves Six.

Ingredients: 1 boned shoulder of Lamb; 125 g of finely chopped (or minced) lamb; 125g tinned Salmon; 4 Anchovy fillets, chopped; 1 medium-sized White Onion; 2 cloves Garlic, finely chopped; 1 small bunch Tarragon, finely chopped; 50g Butter; Salt and Pepper.

1. Fry the chopped Onion in the Butter over low heat, until completely wilted. Add the chopped garlic and cook for a further minute. Allow to cool.

2. Combine the Onion and Garlic mixture with the chopped Lamb, Salmon, Anchovies, and Tarragon. Season generously - if anything, this stuffing should be a bit over-seasoned. (Test a sample by sautéing a teaspoonful of stuffing and taste- if necessary, adjust and test again)

3. To stuff and roll the Lamb:
Unless you are used to tying up meat, it is easier to tie up a joint like a boned shoulder if you use clingfilm to form the shape of the final joint before actually stringing it. To do this:
- lay the meat skin side down on a sheet of clingfilm. (If you are not using the wide rolls of clingfilm used in catering, use overlapping strips of the narrower variety.) Trim any excess fat from the joint and butterfly any section which is much thicker than the rest. The idea is to end up with a reasonably flat piece of meat which can be rolled up into a cylinder.
- Spread the stuffing over the central part of the meat. As you roll it up the stuffing will be squeezed to the edges anyway.
- Roll the meat up as tightly as you can and overlap the cling film to hold it all in place. Use more clingfilm to form the meat into an relatively even cylinder, 4 or 5 inches in diameter. Twist up the ends by holding each and rotating the joint - somewhat like a candy wrapper. If there is any air trapped inside, prick the film with a needle in order to let the air out before you do the final twist.
- Refrigerate until the meat is cold and rigid. (If you are in a hurry, an hour or two in a freezer helps. )
- Tie the meat in the usual way, with the strings about an inch apart - you can leave the cling film in place, and pull it out afterwards, if you are worried the joint will unravel before the string is all in place.

3. Roast the stuffed shoulder at 200C for 50mins, to an hour. If you're uncertain if the joint is sufficiently cooked, test for this temperature using a digital thermometer - when done, the inside should be at a temperature of between 145 F and 170F (ranging from medium rare to well-done; 'medium' would be around 160F).

Allow to rest for 15mins, before carving. Meanwhile, remove the fat from the juices, and de-glaze the latter on the stove with some red wine, to use subsequently as a sauce for the lamb.

NB: Carve and plate the meat carefully! Stuffed joints have a tendency to fall apart, particularly when warm, unless handled with great care.

Recipe: Ossobuco alla Novese

This is a combination of two recipes from Giuliano Bugialli - the basic recipe was from one of his earliest books, and the gremolada is taken from a much later version, where in fact he was quoting a dish from Sardinia. I think the marriage of the two works well.
Outside Italy, Ossubuco tends to be associated with a rich and heavy tomato sauce. The method given here is completely different, and the flavours are light and edgy, and accentuate the taste of the veal perfectly. Generally, there is quite a lot of sauce left over at the end , which is delicious subsequently either as a pasta sauce, or mixed in with cooked borlotti beans.

It is worth getting the best quality veal you can find for this dish!

For Six.

Ingredients:

For the main dish: 6 Ossobuchi; 15 pitted green Olives; 1 tablespoon fresh Rosemary; 6 Sage leaves; 2 tablespoons Capers; 1 clove of Garlic; 1 strip of Lemon Peel; 2 cups of dry White Wine; 4 tablespoons of Olive Oil; 2 tablespoons of Butter; approx 6 tablespoons of Flour; Salt & Pepper.

For the Gremolada: Grated peel of one large Lemon; 10 Sage leaves; 15 sprigs of Parsley; half a tablespoon of Rosemary; quarter of a cup of Oive Oil; 1 teaspoon of Lemon Juice; Salt & Pepper to taste.

Method:

1. Tie each Ossobuco with string, to ensure it doesn't fall to pieces as it cooks. Flour each Ossobuco on each side. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees C.

2. On a board, combine the herbs, Garlic, Capers, Lemon peel, and Olives, and chop them finely all together. Put this mixture into a bowl and add the Wine.

3. Melt the Butter in an oven-proof heavy casserole (with a lid). Add the Oil, and when hot enough, brown the Ossobuchi for three minutes on each side.

4. Pour the Wine and herb mixture into the casserole, cover it with the lid, and place in the pre-heated oven for an hour. Half way through, carefully turn the Ossobuchi over and add seasoning.

5. While the Ossobuchi are cooking, chop all of the dry ingredients for the Gremolada and mix them thoroughly with the Oil and Lemon Juice.

6. Check and adjust the seasoning for the Ossobuchi just before serving. To serve, spread a spoonful of gremolada over each Ossobuco once it has been plated, with some of the sauce over and around it.