Roasted leg of lamb

This is a biggie! It's been such a long time since we had lamb. We moved back to Brazil and here people don`t really appreciate lamb... or goat.... or veal.
Anyway, I found lamb under "exotic meat" in our local supermarket and grabbed myself 2kg of a nice leg of lamb. Here's the way we roasted it today... It was marvelous.

You'll need

For the rosemary butter
3 big cloves of garlic
4-5 sprigs of rosemary
about 50g of butter
salt and black pepper

For the gravy
135mL of red wine
about 35g of butter
the same amount of flour
The meat juices from the roast

For the mint sauce
4 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh mint
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar

For the side dishes
check leeks in white sauce!
About 6 big potatoes
cooking oil
Carrots
Brussels sprouts

Start by removing the leg of lamb of the fridge about an hour before you roast it, to get to room temperature. Meanwhile prepare the rosemary butter by chopping or grating the garlic.Preheat the oven to 350C or gas mark 6. Mix it with the butter and add the finely chopped rosemary sprigs to the mix. Add salt and butter to taste. Mash it all with a fork to be very smooth. With a sharp knife or skewer make about 30 to 40 deep incisions on the meat, wide enough to fit your finger. Rub the butter mix all over and put it inside any crevasses and the incisions, to make sure the it penetrates deep.

Put it on a tray and cover loosely with tin foil for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and let it roast for another 50 minutes for red meat of over an hour 15 minutes for thoroughly cooked lamb.

Remove the lamb and let it rest for 15 minutes before serving. Meanwhile prepare the gravy:

Heat up a heavy based pan and add the meat juices. Be careful for it will sizzle. Add the wine, the small knob of butter and the flour to thicken it. Reduce and stir until happy with the consistency.

If you want Auntie Bessy style potatoes:

Peel and cut the potatoes into big chunks. Cook it for 10 minutes. Drain the water, return them to the pan and shake it to round the edges. When you are half way though your roast put a tray on the bottom with cooking oil until really hot (be really careful!). Add the potatoes and be careful, it will sizzle. Stir then to get the oil all around and put it back on the bottom of the oven. After about 20-30 minutes turn them around to get that crisp layer all over. Remove them when the meat is ready.

When I add the potatoes, I like to add carrots to the tray with the leg of lamb, to give them the meat flavour.

super crunchy roast chicken wings

As I said in a previous post, I always buy a whole chicken and cut it myself. Which means I tend to cook my favourite parts and end up with lots of chicken wings in my freezer. I've tried loads of different ways of preparing it but the reception was always lukewarm. Until I decided to roast them as I describe below, which hit a spot here in my house. Ever since then, we look forward to have enough chicken wings to prepare this.

At least 8 chicken wings
soy sauce
1 lime or lemon (I prefer lime)
rock salt

This is as easy as it gets:

Defrost the chicken wings over night and before preparation (while you get the other things in the cupboards), spray them with a lime (or half a lemon). This is to dehidrate the skin and make it crunchier. Put them on a roasting tray and put some soy sauce on them. The sauce is NOT for flavour but to give them a brown irresistible look when roasted. I use one drop on each wing and spread it on the top surface.
Sprinkle them with rock salt.
Roast for 45 min in 180C.

That's it. It should be so crunchy that you can actually eat the tips of the wings, the bones just fall apart.

It's finger food and kids love it (and it's healthier than the fried version). I generally serve it with coleslaw, salad, bread... things like that

Sophie Grigson's crisp slow-roast duck

I bought a duck crown around new year (couldn't let the offers go by) and I've been looking for a good roast duck recipe. My husband has never been a big fan of roast duck because most of the time they taste greasy and slimy, not crispy.

I found this one and decided to give it a try for lunch today and Oh my God! It was delicious. Athough I used duck crown instead of the duckling suggested and that the duck crown was supposed to serve 4 it only served the both of us because we kept coming for seconds and thirds. We have to admit this was the best roast duck we both had.

Here's the recipe.

1 duckling, around 2.3-2.7kg (5-6lb)

500g (1lb 2oz) turnips (we used potatoes, which we roasted on the duck fat with parsnips and carrots)
Salt and pepper

Sauce

1 large carrot, diced
1 onion, chopped
2 sticks celery, diced
1 bottle fruity red wine
1 bouquet garni ( a few stalks of parsley, 2 good sprigs of thyme, 2 bay leaves, 1 small sprig sage tied together with string)
750ml (1 1/4pts) duck stock or chicken stock
2tbsp redcurrant jelly (I didn't have any so I skiped this step)

1.Pre-heat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas 7. Wipe the duck dry with kitchen paper. Prick the skin all over with a skewer, or a fork if the tines are sharp, so the fat can run out more easily as it cooks. Season generously with salt and pepper. Sit the duck on a rack over a roasting tin and slide it into the oven. Turn the heat down to 180°C/350°F/gas 4 and leave it to cook for 2 1/2hrs.

2.During that time, all you need to do, whenever you feel like it, is drain off the fat that's gathered in the roasting tin (it's brilliant stuff for sautéing potatoes).

3.Once you've got your first crop of fat, take 1tbsp of it and heat in a frying pan. Add the carrot, onion and celery and sauté until the vegetables are tender and lightly browned. Now add the wine and the herb bundle.

4.Bring to the boil, stirring thoroughly, then boil hard until reduced by half. Add the stock and boil again until reduced by about a third to a half, giving a syrupy sauce. Stir in the redcurrant jelly until it has melted, then strain into a small pan. Add a little salt and pepper and simmer for about 2 mins. Taste and adjust seasoning. Re-heat when needed.

5.Peel the turnips (or in my case the potatoes, parsnips and carrots), cut into 2cm (3/4in) cubes and blanch in boiling water for three mins. Drain and run under the cold tap. Leave to drain thoroughly.

6.About 40 mins before the duck is done, drain off most of the fat, leaving a bit in the tin. Add the turnips and turn them in the fat, then leave to roast with the duck.

7.When the duck and turnips are cooked turn off the oven and leave the door open. Let them rest like this for about 15 mins.

8.Using a sharp knife or poultry shears, cut the duck into four pieces, cutting first from head to tail end, along the breastbone and through the backbone to give two halves, then dividing each half in two.

9.Serve quickly while still warm with the roast turnips and reheated sauce.

Honey roast pork

Fit for a king!
I found this recipe here, but I adjusted it a little bit.

Time of preparation: 2 hours
serves 6-8

1kg pork belly (or any other cut that roasts and crackles|)

I used ginger chopped like match sticks (as much as you like)
cloves (a bunch, about a handful)
1 tbsp cracked coriander seeds
340g runny honey
1 stock cube
4 medium brown onions
1 bunch of sage
4 bay leaves
Olive oil
Rock Salt
200ml cold water

Preparation

Stab the pork with a sharp long knife and place cloves and the match stick like ginger in the meat. Rub a little olive oil into the pork and season with salt. Place the pork on to a wire tray and then place into the roasting dish. Roast in the oven for approximately 2hrs on the bottom shelf at 160C.

Meanwhile, make the honey glaze by adding the rest of the water, honey, coriander seeds, and 1 stock cube to a saucepan and simmer until reduced by a third. The mixture will thicken and become syrupy

Cut the root off of the onions and cut in half (take the outer skins off if preferred). Add a little sunflower oil to a frying pan, heat then place the onions in the pan flat side down. Add the bay leaves, sage and leave for a few minutes until they start to brown and caramelize. Then place the pan in the oven for 25 minutes until onions are golden brown.

To serve, using a pastry brush glaze the pork with the honey reduction. Then slice lengthwise into (about 1in wide) and arrange onto a large plate. Place the roasted onions around the meat and garnish with the roasted sage leaves.

In the recipe, the chef makes his own gravy, but since I prefer to use rock salt the juices that run from the meat are too salty and I prefer to use regular gravy that I buy at the supermarket.

It was absolutely delicious for a New Year's dish!

Spanish lamb roast

Time of preparation: 40min to an hour

700g of lamb (not the ribs)
6 cloves of garlic
a few sprigs of parsley
1/4 cup of olive oil
rock salt

with a mixer, mix the garlic, parsley and the olive oil until you get a green sauce. Massage the lamb with the mixture and salt it with the rock salt. Place it on a grill and roast it at gas mark 6 (medium high) for 40min to an hour (depending on the oven). It is done when it's crisp on the outside and pink (but not red) inside.

As a suggestion, roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips, squash or sweet potatoes on the roasting tray, under the grill. These vegetables will absorb the juices from the lamb while they roast.