Savoury Lamb

Savoury Lamb


I was out of red wine this week.  Whenever I do lamb shanks I throw throw them in the slow cooker with a red wine recipe I've been using from a Marie Clare cookbook I was given for my 21st.  So I dug into the old recipe book to find something for Lamb.  The recipe that I found was for a leg of lamb but I didn't let that stop me and it was absolutely delicious.  I'll be making it again soon - and hopefully be able to take a good photo.  (perhaps transfer to a clean and not cooked in casserole dish!)

1.5 kg Leg Lamb ( I used lamb shanks)
30g butter
2 onions
2 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tblsp flour
470 g can whole tomato
1/2 cup water
1 beef stock cube
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp oregano
salt, pepper

Trim off excess fat from lamb.  Place lamb in baking dish.  Heat butter in saucepan, add peeled and chopped onions and crushed garlic, sauté until onions are tender.  Add flour, stir until golden brown.   Remove pan from heat.  Add undrained mashed tomatoes, water, crumbled stock cube, sugar, oregano, salt and pepper.  Stir until combined.  Return pan to heat, stir until sauce boils and thickens.  Pour sauce over lamb.  Bake covered, in moderate oven for 1/1/4 hours.  Uncover, cook further 45 minutes or until lamb is tender.

Notes and things I did differently;
I cooked everything in a casserole dish that does stove top and oven to save an extra dish.  If you are using shanks you need to turn them around a couple of times during cooking and they will probably need some extra time.  I also used crushed tomatoes with herbs added.

Paprika Schnitzel

When talking to Grandma about the old recipes she suggested the Veal with the Lemon.  This was the only recipe I found that had veal and lemon so I whipped it up.  It was a pretty easy and tasty meal although there was a bit of making it up as I went  as there were a few "add more" lines in this recipe!  I love how it jumps from ounces to tablespoons.  Just pretend there both the same and it should be fine!


Paprika Schnitzel
4 Slices Veal Steak
plain flour
salt and pepper
Paprika
2-3 tablespoons of butter
5 oz cream
lemon juice
1-2 tablespoons cold butter
finely chopped parsley

Dust veal steak with flour seasoned with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle them with plenty of paprika.

Melt butter and fry meat until tender. Remove and keep warm.

Add more paprika to fat in frypan and pour in cream.  Simmer until thick.  season with small amount of lemon juice and beat in cold butter.

Pour sauce over meat and serve with fried potatoes and lemon slices which have been garnished with half parsley and half paprika.

Notes and things I did differently.
The "add more paprika" to frypan - I added a teaspoon which was to much for me so I added a little extra cream.  I added a couple of tablespoons of Lemon which was needed with the extra cream.  Just keep tasting and adding to taste.  I didn't have any slices of lemon to garnish with which is a shame as it would have looked good!  I did add the chopped parsley to the sauce which was really tasty.  I'm going to have to give it another go and maybe get a much better photo!!

T-bone Steak with Tomato Soup

This recipe has been a family favourite for years and years.  It's always  somebody's birthday dinner.  It has a real "pub meal" look, but it tastes better than any pub meal I've ever had and you just can't beat the peas, carrot and mash to go with it.

I asked Grandma where the recipe came from and it turns out on one of their moves back to Brisbane (there were a few!) they stopped at a caravan park where they made friends with the managers.  This was the dinner that was made for them and it's been cooked in our family ever since.

T-Bone Steak with Tomato Soup

4 T-bone steaks
2 onions, sliced
1 cup grated cheese
1 tin tomato soup
oil for cooking
Vegies to serve

Using a frying pan large enough to hold T-Bones; cook onions in oil until browned and cooked through.  Push to one side and add steaks.  Brown steaks on both sides (about 2 mins each side).  Top steaks with onions, pour over tomato soup and sprinkle cheese over the top.  Simmer steaks gently in fry pan with a lid for 5-10 mins depending how well done you like your steak.  Once steak is cooked and cheese has melted serve with a mix of Vegetables and Enjoy!

Notes and things I did differently
I'm fairly generous with cheese and would use a cup of cheese on 2 T-bone steaks!

Hot Apricots with Sour Cream

This is a women's weekly favourite that Mum used to pull out for dinner parties.  It's quick, easy and really tasty.

Hot Apricots with Sour Cream


470g can apricot halves
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons self raising flour
1 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
TOPPING
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons butter

Combine sugar and flour, add sour cream, egg and vanilla: beat until smooth.  Drain Apricots.  Put apricots in base of 20cm pie plate.  Spoon over the sour cream mixture.  Bake in moderate oven for 35 minutes.  Remove from oven, sprinkle with topping.  Return to oven for 10 minutes.
Topping; Combine sugar and cinnamon.  Rub in the butter.

Serves 4

Notes and things I did differently


I made this dessert with the leftovers apricots from the Lamb recipe.  It's very simple and tasty and can serve more than 4!!

Recipe from Women's Weekly Best Ever Recipes

Roast Lamb with Apricot Sauce

The first recipe was a random pick from the book.  I don't remember having had this as a kid but I'll certainly be making it again.


Roast Lamb with Apricot Sauce

shoulder of Lamb
1 small onion
2 dessert spoons Butter or margarine
1 teaspoon finely chopped mint
2 cups soft white breadcrumbs
6 tinned apricot halves
6 tablespoons supafry
1/4 apricot juice
1 tablespoon plain flour
1 cup apricot pulp
1 1/2 cups water
salt and pepper

Bone the shoulder.  Wipe with damp cloth and spread flat.

Chop onion finely, fry until tender in 1 dessertspoon melted butter.  Add 1 cup (half) breadcrumbs and brown lightly.

Chop apricot halves, add with mint to onion and crumb mix. Season with salt and pepper.

Spread along centre of meat, roll up, secure with string.  Place in baking pan with (melted) supafry and apricot juice.  Bake in moderate oven until tender (approx. 30 mins for every pound of meat (500g)).

Brown the balance of the crumbs in remaining butter and pack on top of meat 10 mins before finishing cooking. Lift meat onto hot dish, remove thread carefully.  Keep hot while preparing sauce.

Drain all but 1 tablespoon of supafry from dish mix in flour.  Stir over heat until smooth and slightly coloured.  Add stock, apricot pulp, salt and pepper. Stir until boiling.  Simmer for a few minutes. Surround meat with cooked peas and carrot rounds.  Serve gravy in heated gravy boat.


Notes and things I did differently:-

The recipe above is pretty much how my grandmother typed it.  I used a 1.1kg butterfly leg of lamb which was quite tricky to roll and really ended up being folded!  A good butcher will debone meat for you.  I misread the recipe and put 1 cup of juice in the pan which worked out ok as the crumb that fell out of my meat soaked it up and cooked separately. I ended up using that as my gravy as mine failed miserably.  Needed some beef or chicken stock in the water I think. I also just chopped up some extra apricot instead of pulp which would have been fine if the gravy had thickened...

If your pan is not suitable for the stove top just transfer the roast drippings into a saucepan and then add flour, stock etc.  Works for me 9/10 times! ( this would be number 10...)  Unlike the Women's weekly recipes; I'm not triple testing prior to publishing...

As you can see from the photo I chose to serve it with Potato, sweet potato and spinach as opposed to peas and carrots.  I tossed the potatoes in the melted supafry before roasting them and they were supa crunchy and yum!

A Collection

For as long as I can remember my sisters and I have been cooking in the kitchen.  Following recipes, making our own up; sometimes successfully.  But if you ask what our cookbook looked like we would all say that it was a green folder full of typed recipes, clipping from magazines and towards the end it started to hold Home Economics homework too.

It is a book that is falling apart from use and is no longer in any sort of order.  We've wanted to organise it for a long time now and so the idea for this blog was born.  This won't just be a collection of the old recipes but also the favourites from our childhood and all the new things we've since come up with.  With any luck it won't be long before we can turn this blog into our new cookbook to share with our kids.