0 Lancashire Hotpot - made with love and a perfect winter dish

I love Lancashire hotpot and as a born and bred Lancastrian so I should, its the perfect frugal comfort food which will happily blip away in the oven whilst you get on with other things. Requiring minimal effort you can still deliver a wow dish for your supper (or in a Northerner case tea) table.

I decided recently to experiment with different ways of cooking the dish and in my opinion this is the best method so far, ideal served with a green vegetable or just the traditional accompaniments of pickled beetroot or red cabbage.

What you need

• Diced lamb pieces (ask your butcher whats the best and cheapest)
• 3 large white potatoes 
• 1 large white onion - peeled and roughly chopped
• 3 carrots - peeled and chopped
• Lamb stock ( I use essential cuisine - the best in my humble opinion)
• Splash of Worcestershire sauce (use gluten free brown sauce if necessary)
• Cornflour
• Thyme and rosemary - finely chopped
• Salt and pepper
• A little rapeseed oil

What you do

• Pre heat the oven to 160c
• Heat the oil in cast iron casserole dish
• Fry off the lamb pieces in batches until lightly caramelised
• Remove from pan to plate
• Fry in the same pan the onion and carrot until slightly golden, add the lamb back to the pan and add a tablespoon or so of cornflour.
• Stir and add the herbs and sauce, remove from the heat
• Stir again and top the vegetable and lamb mixture with potato slices
• Pour enough lamb stock to just be visible on the top of the potato topping, put lid on casserole dish and place in oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes
• Once the time has passed the vegetables with be tender and the meat cooked, remove the lid and place back in the oven for another 15 -30 minutes until the top is golden and slightly crispy.
• Serve immediately with a green vegetable (cabbage / kale is nice) and traditional hotpot accompaniments

Detail: Lancashire Hotpot - made with love and a perfect winter dish

0 Lamb Chops with roasted garden vegetables

As you have most probably gathered I love local and seasonal produce,in fact its one of the main reasons I have a blog after all. So I was really pleased to spot a new blog challenge from Elizabeths Kitchen Diary  to become involved in, the "Shop Local" campaign is all about sharing the love of local producers. This dish couldn't be any more local, it uses Lamb chops sourced from the farm just up the lane from where I live marinated in a chutney from a great local producer FATJAX  and served with  roasted vegetables all sourced from our very own garden.

The dish is as easy of falling off a log and unlike most of the other methods for cooking lamb chops doesn't fill your kitchen with acrid fatty cooking fumes, everything is cooked in the oven so its an easy week day meal.

Whilst any North West England based readers will be able to get hold of Fatjax chutney at various outlets in the area, my local farmer doesn't sell to the public, but any good local lamb should work in this dish.

What you need

• Lamb chops - I used Barnsley chops
• Couple of tablespoons of Fatjax sweet onion and chilli chutney
• Selection of peeled and roughly chopped vegetables ( I used golden beetroot, courgette, patty pan, red onion and red pepper)
• A little olive or rapeseed oil
• Salt and pepper
• Thyme - sprig picked over

What you do

• Pre heat your oven to 180c
• Whilst your heats up rub the chutney and picked thyme into the lamb chops, put to one side
• Prepare your vegetables, toss in a little oil and season with salt and pepper and place in an oven proof dish ( I use my Pampered Chef stoneware dish)
• Place the vegetables in the oven for 10 minutes and then pop in your lamb chops to bake for 35 minutes or so
• When roasted until crispy and the vegetables caramelised serve to your hungry hoards.

Detail: Lamb Chops with roasted garden vegetables

0 Malkin Pie - a true regional speciality

                        

Malkin pie was created by the talented team at "Delicious from Home" Christine and Keith in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Pendle Witch trails of 1612.

The spooky tale of witches, magic and curses in the shadow of Pendle Hill have inspired this carefully researched and deliciously imaginative pie. The Malkin pie is named after the tower  which was the home of "Demdike" one of the witches and is a new Lancashire classic.

Featuring all local ingredients the 5 layer pie has a shortcrust base infused with thyme which is then topped with locally sourced lamb, thyme, spices and mixed pulses (barley I think), this is then topped with braised leeks, carrots, swedes and celery and then marinated best beef steak and onions, another layer of dry cured bacon which is all rounded off by the wicca dumpling layer (suet crust with fresh chives).

This is a pie for when you are very hungry and is packed full of fantastic flavours, its recommended that its served with the specially mixed Spiced red cabbage chutney supplied with the pie which is a beautiful accompaniment of slow braised spiced red cabbage,apples, onions, spices, cinnamon, thyme, red wine vinegar and garlic.

You can get your hands on this very special pie at

• Sanwitches of Sabden
• Roaming roosters

and also Great Harwood farmers market (1st Sunday of the month), Barrowford farmers market (2nd Sunday of the month), Sawley farmers market (last Sunday of the month) and various other festivals and one off events. You can also order direct too via their website.

The Lancashire Food household thoroughly enjoyed their pie, reheated gently, a wonderful meal and the red cabbage providing a lovely contrast to the pie and ideal if you have been up Pendle Hill on a hike. 

Detail: Malkin Pie - a true regional speciality

0 Lamb and Butter bean casserole

The season of stews and casseroles is now well established and more and more I am craving comfort food , you can't beat that smug satisfied feeling of walking through the door after a busy day at work to be greeted by the aroma of a wholesome stew or casserole ready in the slow cooker. Lamb is one of my favourite meats as it reared so well locally , the butter beans are  to provide a lovely nutritious plumper to the casserole.

If you don't have a slow cooker don't despair this casserole also cooks beautifully in the oven too in about 2 1/2 hours, so its just a case of planning ahead a bit.

Ingredients

• Diced casserole lamb - ask your butcher for whats best value
• Butter beans - either a drained tin, or  dried and soak your own overnight until plump
• 1/2 a can or bottle of beer - I used Murphy's stout but  a mild is nice too, or even a local brown ale, just watch the sweetness of the resulting sauce
• Stock - lamb or vegetable, I used E cuisines - vegetable - 150mls approx
• 2 sticks of celery - chopped
• Tin of chopped tomatoes
• Onion - peeled , sliced and roughly chopped
• Garlic - couple of cloves- crushed
• Parsley - fresh or dried
• Thyme - fresh or dried
• Bay leaf
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Sunflower oil

Method

• Heat a little oil in a large frying pan
• Fry off the diced lamb until it is well coloured, drain and remove from pan to your waiting slow cooker. If you are using a slow cooker your  ovenproof casserole dish.
• In the same pan, now add the celery, onion and garlic and cook until softened, again add to your slow cooker or dish.
• Now de-glaze the pan with your beer, tomatoes and stock , bring this to a gentle simmer and add all the other ingredients to the pan, except for the butter beans.
• Pour this into your slow cooker or oven proof dish, add the butter beans and stir to mix together.
• Cook on high in to your slow cooker for approx 6 hours ( could be longer) or if using a conventional oven for approximately 2 1/2 hours on 150C fan
• Your casserole is ready when the lamb is melting tender and the beans soft and yielding.
• If using a regular oven you may need to add more stock if the casserole becomes a little dry
• Serve accompanied by some great bread and green vegetables.

Detail: Lamb and Butter bean casserole