Spicy lamb cutlets with harissa and mint sambal

 

This is lamb exactly my kind of way: gorgeous cutlets- those not frenched within an inch of their life - so there is the odd jewel of fat, doused in lip smacking condiments of texture and spicy kick. Its not at all prissy – this is big, gutsy, rustic flavours best enjoyed by getting your hands in there and getting involved with your food.

It works best if you let the lamb have a Cleopatra inspired bath in the yoghurt marinade. Like most good food, a wallowing in flavour ensures the meat is moist and spectacularly tasty. If time is against you, I suggest you actually reserve some of the marinade before you add the lamb, and serve this in place of the plain yoghurt just to ensure all the flavours are properly in play.

Serves 4-6

1 french cut rack of lamb

3 cloves garlic, crushed

200g yoghurt

1 ½ tsp ginger, freshly grated

1 tsp ground cardamom

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

3 tsp turmeric

2 tsp garam masala

Salt to season

Mint sambal

1 ½ cups fresh mint

1 onion, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, sliced

2/3 cup coconut

¼ cup raisins

¼ tsp salt

Juice and zest of 1 lime

Harissa

500g plum or kumato tomato, cored, roughly chopped

1/4 cup Aleppo pepper

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 garlic cloves

1 tablespoons kosher salt plus more for seasoning

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds, finely ground in spice mill

1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander

Greek yoghurt to serve.

Method

Prepare the lamb by adding all of the marinade ingredients to a zip lock bag with the lamb, giving it a quick jiggle to coat then into the fridge for as long as you can bare it.

For the harissa relish, add all ingredients to a food processor and blitz to combine and a rough chunky puree has formed. Season and set aside. This will last up to a week, covered in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Remove the lamb from the marinade. Place an oven proof fry pan over medium heat and seal the lamb on all sides. Place in the oven and cook for 10 – 12 minutes or until cooked to your liking. Meanwhile make the sambal by combining all the ingredients in a food processor and blitzing to combine.

Remove the lamb from the heat, slice into individual cutlets. Top with the harissa and mint sambal and dollops of yoghurt.

Au Revoir

Finally, I am on my way. After what seems a never ending amount of deadlines, I'm in the airport lounge, about to jump on the plane and commence my gastronomic assault on Paris. 

But nothing happens without a hitch.... few stressful moments before the flight - missing passports, bag weighing far more than it should etc etc.

This was my Sous Chef Molly seriously unimpressed that she hasn't been invited on the trip taking my bag hostage while I was trying to pack.

Guilt trips aside, my computer decided to take an early break, and this may have been me, earlier today, at the MAC help desk on George St. For a proper mental picture, replace the SJP killer hair, outfit and pearls with dark circles under the eyes, panic, tears and swearing... lots of swearing.

So to the deadlines I didn't meet thanks to my little glitch....

And in theme for my impending research, Julia wonderful Julia. I stumbled across this while reading some of her birthday tributes - she would have been 100 years this month. So Happy Birthday Jules. If only cooking shows were more like this - I think more people would watch them. Hilarious, and real and natural.

Posting may be a little intermittent while I am away but I will do my best.

An Accidentally Marvelous Dessert

I may have tempted fate and pushed my luck with the weather. This is a dessert for the warmer months, or one for right now if, like me, you enjoy eating cold desserts in the cold. Wrapped in a blanket of course. Macaron honeycomb with chocolate granita. Its quite delightful.

 

To say I devised macaron honeycomb would be a lie. Honestly I happened to be making honeycomb while scoffing down a macaron, and amidst my inability to multitask, I dropped the macaron into the honeycomb. And voila. A happy accident.

I thought for sure it would melt and become a weird almond-tasting puddle in the middle of the honeycomb but the macaron held its shape beautifully.  The best bit is you get this pop of colour, a soft texture and fruity taste in the middle of the crunch – its brilliant. I’ve added it to a chocolate granita here to serve as a dessert and it works best when you use an assortment of brightly coloured and quirky flavoured macarons. It’s actually out of this world with licorice macarons if you can get your hands on them.

Granita

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145g dark chocolate

200ml milk

120g caster sugar

65g corn syrup

540ml water

50g cocoa powder

Honeycomb

1 1/2 cups caster sugar

½ cup honey

60ml (4 tbsp) water

2 tbsp golden syrup

2 tsp bicarbonate soda

12 macarons (various flavours)

Method

For the granita combine the milk, sugar, corn syrup and water in a saucepan and gently bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and working quickly whisk in the cocoa powder. Add the chocolate and stir continuously until melted. Allow to cool then pour into a container and freeze until required.

For the honeycomb, grease and line an edged baking tray with baking paper. Place the macarons onto the lined tray and set aside.  Combine the sugar, honey, water and golden syrup in a saucepan. Place over low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Cook, without stirring, for 5-7 minutes or until the syrup reaches crack stage (154°C) on a sugar thermometer. Remove from heat and set aside for bubbles to subside. Add the bicarbonate of soda and quickly stir until combined and the mixture begins to foam. Pour over the macarons on the tray and set aside to cool completely. Break into bite size pieces.

Remove the granita from the freezer and using a fork, scrape the top of the granita to form shards. Scoop the shards into serving bowls, top with pieces of macaron honeycomb and serve.

Tomato Tart Tartin plus winner of giveaway

Glazed, slightly sweet and oozing with flavour, this tarte tartin is what most tomatoes want to be when they grow up.

The tarte tartin, no matter its format, is one of those dishes with a charming but dubious heritage. Rumour has it that Stéphanie Tatin, a proprietor of a provincial French hotel, left apples for a pie cooking on the stove for too long. Alerted to her error by the smell of burning, the quick-thinking Madame attempted to rescue the situation by covering them with pastry and baking the pie anyway. "After turning out the upside down tart," Wikipedia claims, "she was surprised to find how much the hotel guests appreciated the dessert." Party pooper Larousse Gastronomique quells the mystique of this little anecdote with the facts - "the upside-down tart, made with apples or pears, is an ancient specialty of Sologne and is found throughout Orléanais." I’m sticking with the Madame as I feel my cooking often falls into the category of trying to pass off a mistake as something special.

Slow roasting the Roma tomatoes imparts a sweeter, deeper flavour to the tart and is something I strongly recommend doing. I used puff pastry but really the choice is yours. With Julia Child and Larousse leading the short crust party, pitted against the might of Raymond Blanc and wannabes such as myself in the puff camp, it’s an ever-raging battle – so really whatever is on hand will do.

 

 

Ingredients

1kg roma tomatoes, halved

3-4 sprigs thyme plus extra to serve

2tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper to season

3 tbsp good quality balsamic vinegar

1 ½ tbsp. brown sugar

Persian fetta to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to 125C.

Toss the tomatoes with the olive oil and thyme in bowl until well coated. Season with salt and pepper. Roast tomatoes, cut side up and in 1 layer for 2 hours.

In a small bowl whisk the balsamic vinegar and brown sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Pour over the roasted tomatoes and toss gently to coat.

Turn the oven heat up to 190.

Layer the tomatoes cut side up over the base of 1 large fry pan or alternatively 4 individual crepe pans also works well for individual serves. Spoon over the balsamic syrup. Cut the puff pastry slightly larger than the diameter of the base of the fry pan you use. Gently place the pastry over the tomatoes, tucking in the edges around the circumference of the pan. Cook in the oven for 10 -15 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and golden.To serve, gently invert the tarte onto a plate. Add a spoonful of Persian fetta, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle over a few fresh thyme leaves. Serve hot.

And a congrats to Sophie for winning the prize - lucky you. The Chinese Heritage Cookbook surely is brilliant. Sophie please DM me your details to info@thelittlecrumb.com.au

Death by Chocolate in a double chocolate marsbar kind of way....

Double Chocolate Marsbar Biscuits

A girlfriend of mine, who very inconveniently skipped off to Berlin like the creative wonder child that she is, creates possibly the most epic mars bar biscuits in existence. She keeps the recipe written down in the safe house of her mind, making it a little difficult for the rest of us to replicate the magic. So I’ve gone out on a limb and made my own here for the column this week. I’d be lying if I said these biscuits were anything other than a chocolate assault. With a combo of white chocolate, dark chocolate and salt sprinkled mars bar, they are sustaining in a fortify-the-soul kind of way. They are one of those rare food groups that go equally well with a glass of milk as they do a glass of red; and I can attest to both.

If you don’t have corn syrup (I’ve added it here because I like equal parts crunch and chewiness in my biscuit) just replace in equal weight with brown sugar.

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This dough can also be frozen for future use. I am in awe of anyone with the kind of discipline to employ this option, if you are one of these people, I think I would rather like to meet you. I think I need proof they/you exist.

Ingredients

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

125g butter, softened

160g brown sugar

20g corn syrup

150g plain flour

40g cocoa powder

½ teaspoon bicarbonate soda

100g white chocolate

100g dark chocolate

2 mars bars, sliced

A generous pinch of salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 150C.

Add the eggs and vanilla to a separate bowl and whisk lightly to combine. Beat the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add the egg mixture and beat until incorporated. Add the corn syrup and beat briefly to combine before sifting over the dry ingredients. Stir gently to incorporate then add the chunks of chocolate. Roll tablespoons of the mixture into biscuit shapes and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Gently press a slice of mars bar into the centre of each biscuit and sprinkle over a little salt.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Allow to cool on the tray before consuming en masse.