This recipe will set your tastebuds ablaze, I promise. It is a flavour overload of aromatic mint, pungent Parmesan and fiery cayenne – all complimenting these superb French-trimmed cutlets from the lamb I bought from our local City Farm. If you prefer less heat, halve the amounts of cayenne and black pepper.
Here’s the video showing all the steps in real time, live, super HD (ish) action….
Serves 2
8 lamb cutlets, French-trimmed so that bone shows and there is no outer layer of fat (unless you like the fat – I don’t)
15-20 mint leaves
50g breadcrumbs
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2-3 glugs of olive oil
2 tbsp Parmesan, grated
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp honey
1. Blanch the mint by immersing it in a saucepan of boiling water for no more than 5 seconds. Remove and drain on kitchen towel, then squeeze dry.
2. Put the mint, breadcrumbs, cayenne, salt and pepper into a blender and drizzle in the olive oil. Pulse until combined.
3. Transfer to a bowl and add the Parmesan. Stir to combine. Transfer the mixture to a plate.
4. In a small bowl, mix the mustard and honey together, then take a lamb cutlet and brush all over. Repeat with the other cutlets.
5. Dip each cutlet in the mint/breadcrumb mixture and coat all over, pressing it on with your fingers.
6. Transfer to a foil-lined roasting tin. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4 and cook the cutlets for 8-10 mins (for rare) or a little longer if you prefer them well done.
7. Serve with buttered new potatoes and stir-fried shredded spring greens.
Sometimes this blogging malarkey ain’t all bad – and last night was one such time.
Myself and a handful of other Handpicked bloggers (RedTedArt, CrumbsFeedYourFamily and Nixdminx to name but three) were invited by toothpaste giants Oral-B to a cookalong evening with Masterchef 2011 winner Tim Anderson.
No money changed hands, and this is not a sponsored post. What I write is how I saw it, with an honest hand on heart.
Now recipes involving 34 ingredients are right up my street. But there is one ingredient that I can’t work with because it might do something nasty to me: fish. Not seafood, but the back-boned variety. So the evening got off to a bit of an embarrassing start when I saw the menu of delights that were going to test us.
The first involved slabs of fresh tuna, which looked amazing, but made my lips blister just looking at it.
After declaring my mortification and duly sat out the first of the dishes, we moved onto the next: Hen’s Nest of Tea-Stained Egg, Leek Bhaji and Chana Masala Puree.
Yes, it sounds like a mouthful – and it was. A delicious, tastebud-tingling mouthful.
Tim is famous for his wizardry, naming Heston Blumenthal as one of his inspirations, and is a lover of Japanese food.
I’m not going to publish the whole recipe, just the egg component (scroll down) because to list the whole thing would cause my fingers to seize up from typing. But the egg stands alone as a stand-alone. The most incredible yolk you’ll ever see.
But first, I asked Tim for his 3 Favourite Ingredients and how we could use them at home (one of them is beer!)
1. Cook the eggs in rapidly boiling water for exactly 5 mins, then refresh by running under cold water for 2 mins.
2. Boil the water and combine with the tea, soy sauce and saffron.
3. Allow this mixture to cool, then peel the eggs and marinate for 24 hours.
In this video, Tim shows off the finished dish.
Tea-stained eggs with leek bhaji and chana masala puree
So what was the purpose of this event? Big companies don’t invite us bloggers along to something so special out of the goodness of their hearts.
Well, they were nice to me, so I’m going to be nice to them.
They’re launching a new toothpaste called Oral-B Pro Expert. In our house, our toothpaste costs £1 per tube. Oral-B Pro Expert retails at £3.49.
So why the expense? According to the company’s super-passionate scientist – a 26 year-old called Adam – Oral-B Pro Expert has more protective and preventative ingredients than any other toothpaste on the market. It’s been in development for 20 years and, according to Adam, it will not only prevent cavities but will help you keep your teeth where they should be (in your mouth – pay attention at the back) until you drop dead – and give you a smile whiter than Simon Cowell’s porcelain gnashers.
We were given a free tube of the stuff to try for ourselves. Which was nice, though the cooking masterclass from Tim Anderson was better!
I’m gradually working my way through the Heston Blumenthal cookbook for Christmas, and this recipe is a great way to combine my present from the Christmas before last: my trusty sous vide. You don’t NEED a sous vide – just cook the lamb steaks in a hot frying pan for 2-3 mins each side, but as I’ve got one, it’s better used than gathering dust.
This recipe is a fantastic midweek supper. Serve with Dauphinois potatoes (par-boiled potatoes, sliced, then layer with garlic and onions, and drizzled with cream and grated nutmeg, then cooked a 180C/Gas oven for 30-35 mins) and steam curly kale.
(Turns out I was a bit slap-dash when posting this on YouTube, and have titled it: ‘Hoe to…’ For clarification, this vlog has nothing to do with gardening or prostitution.
For the tapenade:
170g black olives in brain, drained and rinsed (unfortunately, I bought pitted and spent half an hour removing all the stones)
70g capers in brine, drained
50g anchovy fillets in olive oil
10g mint leaves
15g basil leaves
40g olive oil
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
For the lamb:
1 tbsp olive oil
4 lamb steaks
1. Blitz all the ingredients for the tapenade in a food processor, transfer to a bowl and set aside.
2. Sous vide the lamb steaks for 1 hour at 60C.
3. Meanwhile, cook the Dauphinois potatoes and prepare the kale.
4. Heat a large frying pan until it is smoking hot, then oil the steaks and cook for 2-3 mins each side, flipping every 15 seconds.
5. Warm the tapenade through on a low heat.
6. Transfer the steaks to warm plates. Spread each steak with a generous layer of the tapenade.
7. Serve with Dauphinois potatoes and steamed curly kale.
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