FLOWER POT KITCHEN: SUNDAY FAMILY ROAST SLOW BRAISED LAMB & ROASTED POTATO'S

4 Dec 2011

SUNDAY FAMILY ROAST SLOW BRAISED LAMB & ROASTED POTATO'S

IN A PAN BROWN OFF THE LAMB SHOULDER'S, SEASON WITH SALT AND ROSEMARY, ROAST IN THE OVEN FOR HALF A HOUR TO FLAVOUR THE MEAT JUICES FOR THE GRAVY, THEN COVER AND FILL THE PAN 3/4 WITH WATER AND LEAVE TO COOK VERY SLOWLY FOR 2-3HRS SO YOU HAVE FALLING OFF THE BONE FLAVOURED MEAT AND WONDERFUL FLAVOURED STOCK FOR THE GRAVY.

HASSLEBACK ROAST POTATO'S & ROAST POTATO'S IN LOCAL BEEF DRIPPING

WONDERFUL CAULIFLOWER CHEESE, WITH GUYERE, EMMENTAL, STRONG CHEDDAR & PARMESAN REGGIANO

WE LOVE BRUSSELS AND CARROTS FROM THE GARDEN

THE ROAST DINNER

Half shoulder of lamb
Salt & rosemary
Water
Beef dripping

Rub the lamb skin in dripping and brown off in a pan, season with the salt and rosemary, place in a roasting tin and roast high for 30 minutes,
remove from oven and pour in water until 3/4 tin filled, cover with tin foil really well and return to the oven and cook for approx 2 hrs.

ROAST POTATO'S
Pre heat the fat in the roasting tins ready to receive the par boiled potato's.
I normally always use goose or duck fat, but my dad asked me to do old fashioned beef dripping, and I am now in a quandary!!! I really felt they were better, now was that my cooking method or the dripping, some experiments will need to be done and then I can give my personal verdict for sure lol...
Par boil the potato's. shake to fluff up and season with salt, put in hot fat, baste and return pans to the oven. Approx 1 hour to cook.

CAULIFLOWER CHEESE BAKED

Milk approx 1 pint
50g butter
50g flour
Grated nutmeg to taste
Salt
White pepper
Gruyere Cheese
Emmental Cheese
Strong cheddar
Parmesan

Boil or steam a cauliflower for approx 10 minutes, leave to drain and season with salt. In a clean pan melt the butter slowly, add the flour and mix well to make a roux. Cook on low heat for a few minutes, then start to add approx 50-100ml of milk at a time in to the roux, stir well so all the lumps are absorbed, then add more milk, keep repeating this till you have a loose thick sauce, now slowly cook on not quite simmering for at least 20 minutes, taste, it will be bland, add the cheese and melt in then taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the cauliflower, top with a dusting of Parmesan and bake for approx 20-30 minutes.

THE GRAVY !!!

All the juices from the roasting tin, scraped in to a fat separator, the fat into the dripping bowl, and the stock back into the pan for gravy, with a knob of butter mixed with flour to thicken, bring up to a simmer on the hob and whisk well. Season to taste.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.