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Vindaloo Curry

Goan Pork Vindaloo Curry

I do love a good, hot curry. However a Vindaloo curry from the local Indian Restaurant or takeaway would never be first choice as it simply is a hot curry. Heat a priority, flavour secondary.

Vindaloo Curry

Vindaloo originates from the Indian region of Goa. This region is heavily influenced by the Portuguese settlers. It also has a quite large Christian population meaning that pork, a meat rarely eaten in India, can be found on the menu.

So a traditional Vindaloo Curry is made with wine, vinegar and copious amounts of garlic. The name Vindaloo comes from the Portuguese language. ‘Vinho’ meaning wine and ‘alho’ meaning garlic. Quite a few people think that the ‘aloo’ in Vindaloo means potato. Strangely enough many British Indian Restaurants do put potato in there Vindaloo, just to confuse things further!

Vindaloo Curry Spices

Vindaloo Curry, How Hot Can You Go?

My recipe for Vindaloo is spicy but no where near as spicy as the dish you would get in a British Indian Restaurant.

If you want more heat it’s quite easy to adapt the recipe. Either add some chilli powder when you fry the masala off. Or add more fresh chillies. Birdseye chillies are great in this dish as are the thin Thai chillies which I believe are a type of cayenne. The other option is to add some chilli pickle towards the end. Naga Pickle, of course, is always going to add plenty of heat!

On the other hand you may fancy the sound of this dish but you’re not a fan of hot curries. If that’s the case then just add however much or little fresh chillies as you want.

But I Like Aloo In My Vindaloo?

If that’s the case then add some! Simply boil a few cubed potatoes so they’re not quite cooked and then throw them in your Vindaloo for the last 20-30 minutes of cooking.

If you like the look of this recipe you might want to check out the recipe for Lamb Madras

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Beef Chilli

Beef Chilli always seems to go down well with most people, we love it in our house.

It’s one of those dishes you can just throw together, I don’t think any two of my chillies I’ve cooked have been the same!

I have put this recipe together though to cover the basics and a few tips to help you with the cooking techniques.

Tomatoes

For me a Beef chilli has to be heavy on the tomatoes. Skimp on the tomatoes and your going to end up with a lacklustre dish. Don’t forget in some parts of the US a Chilli is referred to as ‘A big bowl of red’, well where do you think that red comes from?

I recommend using a hefty amount of tomato paste, a teaspoon just isn’t going to cut it here! I also add tinned tomatoes as well.

Spices & Herbs For Your Beef Chilli

Chilli has its origins in Mexico. Chilli Con Carne is really just a poor imitation of a Mexican Mole. Just because it’s an imitation though doesn’t mean it can’t be a great dish in it’s own right.

So thinking about the Mexican influence, the spices that you simply must have are chilli (obviously), ground cumin and oregano. I also add fresh coriander but that may not be to everyones taste.

A little cinnamon works nicely too but I’ve missed that out on this recipe. If you want to try it add a 1/4 teaspoon and see how you get on with that.

Sweet & Sour

A lot of dishes that are tomato based need something a little extra to bring it together. A combination of something sweet and sour works wonders.

For this recipe I’ve kept it simple and just used a little sugar and vinegar. You could replace the vinegar for a squeeze of lime.

Beef Chilli Chillies!

Obviously chillies are a major part of a chilli! You don’t have to use fresh though. If you have no fresh just increase the amount of dried your using.

Fresh chillies do add a nice zing though and of course you can play around with the varieties your using. In this one I used a combination of standard red chillies and Scotch Bonnets.

Also you could try getting a variety of dried chilli pods and grinding your own chilli powder. I particularly like a combination of Ancho, Pasilla, Mullato and chillies de Arbol.

Of course you could try adding one of my ‘Ome Made Rub-a-Dub-Rubs to the mix. I have 2 which are South American based and ideal for a chilli. They are Spirit Of The Jaguar Rub-a-Dub-Rub and Adobo Loco Rub-a-Dub-Rub. You can find them here omemade.co.uk

Cooking

To get the best flavours you need to cook your chilli correctly. It’s quite easy.

First off, get those onions cooked. You want to cook all the moisture out of the onions, the salt helps drawer the moisture out. You then want to bring out the natural sweetness of the onion by slightly caramelising the onion, which is why you cook it ’till it’s starting to turn a pale brown colour.

Brown your meat. Simple, it seals it and caramelises all those lovely juices. To achieve this make sure you have a pan big enough so the meat can spread out, if it’s overcrowded it will just steam.

Evaporate any liquid before adding the tomato paste, if you do you know you’re concentrating all those flavours in the pan and everything is going to be cooked out correctly.

And that’s about it, Here’s the recipe. Enjoy and don’t forget to add your own embellishments to make it your perfect Chilli recipe!

Beef Chilli

A basic recipe for a spicy, tomato rich beef chilli.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 500 g minced beef
  • 150 g dried beans I use a mix of kidney and pinto, soaked overnight. Or you could use tinned (400g tin will be fine)
  • 1 medium onion diced
  • 4 cloves garlic finely chopped or grated
  • 1.5 tbsp oil (neutral flavoured)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 each red chillies Add more or less to taste, If you like it hot, try some fresh Scotch bonnets.
  • 1 each red pepper diced
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp chilli powder or to taste
  • 1 tsp 'Ome Made Adobo Loco Rub-a-Dub-Rub (optional)
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 2 tsp vinegar White/red wine or cider work best
  • 1 each beef stock cube
  • 40 g tomato paste (a hefty tablespoon)
  • 400 g chopped tinned tomato
  • 400 ml water an empty tomato cans worth!
  • 1 tbsp fresh oregano finely chopped (use 1 tsp dried to replace fresh)
  • 1 tbsp fresh coriander finely chopped (optional)
  • 6 good turns of freshly ground black pepper

Instructions
 

  • Drain the beans and cover with fresh water plus an inch. Bring to the boil and boil for ten minutes. Once boiled turn down to a simmer and cook for a further 20 minutes then drain.
  • Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add the onion and salt. Cook gently for 10 minutes until the onion is starting to brown.
  • Add the garlic to the pan and fry for 20 seconds.
  • Add the minced beef to the pan. Stir to break up and cook until browned.
  • Add the dried spices and black pepper to the meat and continue to fry for a minute.
  • Add the fresh chillies and red pepper and stir
  • Add the sugar, vinegar and the crumbled stock cube, turn up the heat to reduce any liquid in the pan.
  • Once most of the liquid has evaporated add the tomato paste and fry for a further 20 seconds or so,
  • add the tinned tomatoes plus 1 can full of water.
  • Add the cooked and drained beans, the oregano and coriander.
  • Cook on a gentle simmer for 50 minutes to and hour, add more water if needed. Or alternatively put in a slow cooker to finish cooking, give it a t least 3 hours. Or you can put in a low oven at 100C for at least 3 hours but up to 5. Just check the liquid levels and add more water if needed.
Keyword Beef, carne, chilli, con
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Chicken Jalfrezi

Chicken Jalfrezi is a favourite curry. It’s my go to curry when I have some leftover Tandoori Chicken. In fact it’s worth making some Tandoori Chicken Just to make a Jalfrezi!

What Makes A Chicken Jalfrezi?

Jalfrezi has it’s origins in Bengal. It was a way of using leftover meat or fish that was stir fried with onions, chillies and often peppers.

The B.I.R (British Indian Restaurant) version has more of a tomato sauce but it still has the onions, peppers, chillies and sometimes tomatoes.

I also like plenty of ginger in a jalfrezi, it gives it a lovely fresh ‘zing’

I used little Thai chillies in this version that pack some serious heat. It’s entirely up to you what sort of chillies you want to use and how you present them. Some people prefer their chilli to be chopped more, which is fine.

I prefer to use normal sized salad tomatoes for a Jalfrezi, cut in to quarters or sixths. On this occasion I had run out so I threw some cherry tomatoes in, you might prefer this option though.

Base Sauce

I’ve included a recipe for base sauce for this Chicken jalfrezi. It’s a very simple one but I love it!

If you have your own tried and trusted base sauce you can use that instead of the one in the recipe. If it’s not heavy on the tomatoes though you might want to add a little extra tomato puree or some tinned chopped tomatoes.

If you don’t use all the base sauce. Just pop it in a container for the freezer for another time.

Curry Masala & Spices

I obviously use ‘Ome Made B.I.R Curry Masala & Tandoori Masala when I was making this which are available to buy at www.omemade.co.uk

B.I.R Curry Masala

You can substitute your favourite brand or your own if you have your own favourite mix.

And if you’re stuck for a Tandoori recipe follow this link British Indian Restaurant Curry

Happy cooking!

Chicken Jalfrezi

This is my go to dish when I have leftover Tandoori Chicken to use in a curry. Hot & Spicy with plenty of fresh peppers, onions and tomato.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Base Sauce 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 20 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

Curry Base Sauce

  • 4 tbsp oil (vegetable, sunflower, rapeseed)
  • 3 large onions sliced
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 cloves garlic chopped
  • 1 inch piece fresh ginger chopped
  • 3 tsp mild curry masala (you could use 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp turmeric instead)
  • 1.2 litres water
  • 1 handful coriander stalks (if you have them)
  • 1 400ml tin of tomatoes

Chicken Jalfrezi

  • 500 g Tandoori/Tikka Chicken cut in to chunks
  • 1 medium onion cut in half and then quarter each half
  • 2 whole peppers (whatever colour you have) deseeded and roughly chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic grated or finely chopped
  • 1 inch cubed fresh ginger grated or finely chopped
  • 4 tbsp oil or ghee
  • 1 tsp Kashmiri Chilli powder (optional)
  • 4 tsp curry masala
  • 1 tsp Tandoori masala
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp chilli powder
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree diluted in 300ml water
  • 1 portion base sauce mix
  • 1 tbsp Kasoori Methi (dried fenugreek) leaves
  • 4 large tomatoes cut in to 4 – 6 (or around 250g of cherry tomatoes, left whole)
  • 6-8 finger type chillies cut in half and half again if large (or leave whole if small)
  • 1 handful chopped fresh coriander
  • 1 tsp salt to taste
  • 1 tsp Garam Masala If you don't have any a grind of black pepper

Instructions
 

To make the base sauce

  • Heat the oil in a large pan. Once hot add the onions and salt. Gently fry for 10 minutes until the onions are starting to soften.
  • Add the garlic and ginger and fry for a couple more minutes.
  • Add the curry masala or spices along with a splash of water. Give a quick stir around and then add the water.
  • Bring to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes.
  • Add the tinned tomato and coriander stalks/
  • Bring back to the simmer and cook for another 30 minutes
  • Take the pan off the heat and blitz with an immersion blender until you have a very smooth sauce.
  • Put back on a low heat ready for adding to your curry. If it looks a little thick add some water. It should be the be slightly thicker than full fat milk.

To make the curry

  • heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan or karahi.
  • Once the oil is hot add the onion and peppers. Fry until they are just blistering and colouring. remove the peppers and onions from the pan with a slotted spoon and put in a bowl.
  • turn the heat down on the pan and add the garlic and ginger. Fry for a few seconds
  • Add the Kashmiri chilli and stir through. Add the curry masala, tandoori masala and other spices. mix in and fry for 20 seconds or so. If they start to catch add a splash of the water/tomato puree.
  • Turn the heat up to medium and add the Tomato paste and water. let this simmer and reduce down almost to a paste.
  • now add a couple ladles of base sauce, stir in a and let reduce. Now add 3 ladles of base sauce and let reduce. Now you can add most of the base gravy (leave around 200ml for adjusting your finished sauce) and simmer until you have a thick sauce and see little craters appearing. Don't stir to often as the sauce reduces. You want the sauce to caramelise around the edges of the pan and then the caramelised edges can be stirred in to the sauce. That's where all the flavour is.
  • Now you can add your chicken, Kasoori Methi, garam masala, tomatoes, chillies, peppers and onions. Heat through for around 15 minutes, if the sauce is too thick add more base sauce 'till you have your preferred consistency and then add your chopped coriander. Heat gently for another 5 minutes. Taste and add extra salt to taste.
  • Serve your curry with some pilau rice and Indian bread such as naans or chapatis.
Keyword Base Curry Sauce, British, curry, Indian, Jalfrezi, Ome Made, Restaurant
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Lamb Madras

I do love a Lamb Madras. The good thing about a Madras is it can be as simple or as complicated as you like.

The basics of Madras are tomatoes, something sharp & sour such as lemon juice or tamarind and plenty of chilli heat.

As we don’t have lamb curry all that often I decided to go to town with this recipe with a deep, rich sauce.

The Lamb Madras Curry Gravy

This recipe has a curry gravy which is made separately. There is enough gravy for the Lamb Madras and I had about 250ml left which could be frozen and used in another curry at another time. If you like plenty of sauce though you may decide to use all of it.

The Lamb

For this recipe I used lamb shoulder, off the bone. You could of course use leg or neck and it’s entirely up to you if you want to leave the meat on the bone.

I didn’t pre-cook the meat in this recipe. I added the lamb to 1/2 of the gravy which had been allowed to reduce so it was nice and thick. This coated and sealed the lamb before I added the rest of the gravy and allowed the dish to cook slowly, resulting in a deep rich sauce.

The lamb would be cooked after 45 minutes but in my opinion its best left for 1.5 hours so it’s melt in the mouth tender.

The Heat

We have our Madras reasonably hot but the level of heat can be altered to suit your taste with the addition of chilli powder for more heat or less chilli powder if you want something milder.

Of course you could add fresh chillies or if you like real heat try adding some Naga Chilli Pickle!

For More Curry Recipes Click Here

Click Here To Buy ‘Ome Made Curry Masalas

For my recipe I use ‘Ome Made Curry masalas. Of course the recipe will work with your own or favourite brand of curry powder.

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Slow Roasted Lamb Moroccan Style

One of our favourite meals in the ‘Ome Made household is slow roasted lamb Moroccan style. Lamb shoulder coated with a warming, earthy Moroccan rub.

Keep It Local!

We are lucky in Sheffield that we have so many places to buy superb locally reared lamb. Two of our favourites are Firs Farm and Whirlow Hall Farm.

Why Lamb Shoulder?

Lamb shoulder is superb for slow roasting on a low heat. Because the shoulder joint is fattier than the leg, it stays lovely and moist. The fat renders down to nothing and helps flavour the meat. After a 6 – 8 hour cook you are left with a piece of meat that is literally falling from the bone!

Add a marinade or rub to the cooking process and you end up with a incredibly tasty meal!

Variations

Don’t feel that you have to follow this recipe to the letter.

At the most basic all you need is some ‘Ome Made Moroccan Rub-a-Dub-Rub, or your own mix of spices, rubbed on to a piece of lamb which you put in a roasting pan, cover with foil and roast on a low heat for 6 hours.

However the more you put in to it the more layers of flavour you will get.

Also if you are using ‘Ome Made Moroccan rub it uses very little salt so you may want to season to your own taste. There is also very little chilli heat in the rub so if you don’t like things to hot don’t worry you will be fine. And if you do like heat? well pile in some extra chilli!

How to serve

Our favourite way of serving slow roasted Moroccan lamb is with Mediterranean flatbreads, Turkish Salad, yoghurt & mint or Tzatziki and a generous splash of ‘Ome Made Chilli Sauce!

However it could be served with cous cous, savoury rice, tabbouleh or even part of a more Traditional Sunday Roast.

For The Recipe Of Slow Roasted Lamb Moroccan Style Click Here

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Roasted Lamb Moroccan Style

Slow Roasted Lamb Moroccan Style

Slow Roasted Lamb Moroccan Style

Slow roasted lamb Moroccan style is such an easy recipe. You can even prepare it the day before so that you can just put it in the oven the following day. Cooked Low & Slow it means you can get on with other things during the day.

For more details on this recipe click here.

For an easy to follow Mediterranean Flatbread recipe see the ‘Ome Made Group. This bread is ideal for serving with Moroccan flavoured lamb.

Slow Roasted Moroccan Lamb

Roasted Lamb Moroccan Style

Slow Roasted Moroccan Lamb is such a tasty dish and it is really easy. Not only that, but while it's in the oven working it's magic you can get on with other things. Ideal if you're wanting some quality time with the family.
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 6 hours
Total Time 6 hours 30 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Mediterranean
Servings 8 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 whole lamb shoulder Or 1/2 shoulder (just halve ingredients)
  • 2 tablespoons 'Ome Made Moroccan Rub-a-Dub-Rub Or your own spices or other shop bought
  • 2 whole garlic cloves crushed or grated
  • 2 teaspoons salt
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BBQ Rubs & Seasonings

BBQ Rubs & Seasonings are available to buy from the ‘Ome Made Online Store!

Summer is almost upon us, hopefully bringing some fine BBQ weather.

At ‘Ome Made we have a selection of BBQ Rubs & Seasonings to suit all tastes. Perfect for all the grill addicts out there!

BBQ Rubs & Seasonings are a vital part of the outdoor, summer cooking season. If it’s perfect pulled pork you’re after or you just want to season some steaks or chicken ‘Ome Made BBQ Rub-a-Dub-Rub is an American style dry rub perfect for rubbing in to meat before it is simply grilled or smoked low ‘n’ slow.

Pulled Pork made with 'Ome Made BBQ Rubs & Seasonings.

American Style BBQ Rubs

As well as our traditional BBQ rub we now have more American style seasonings.

For something different on a low and slow brisket why not try our Wake Up & Smell The Coffee Rub-a-Dub-Rub? A blend of spices, sugar and coffee. It may sound weird but it gives a lovely deep, savoury flavour with a touch of sweetness. It’s not just for brisket though it works on anything you want to grill too!

We have our Golden Green Rub-a-Dub-Rub which is a blend of yellow mustard, dill and other herbs and spices. This is great rubbed straight in to pork or it can be made in to a paste to smother pork shoulder or brisket so that your chosen coating will stick to the meat while being cooked, giving you two layers of flavour!

If you’re after simpler flavours we have Man! Fire! Rub-a-Dub-Rub. A combination of Salt, garlic, onion, spices and herbs. Great for bringing out the flavours of low and slow cooked meats but equally suitable for just chucking over something on the grill!

For something a little more spicy ‘Ome Made Fuego Furioso Rub-a-Dub-Rub (furious fire!) is great for sprinkling on to your food before it’s barbecued or adding to other rubs to give a little more Oomph! Its a combination of different dried chilli peppers, salt and pepper that will really liven up your BBQ!

If you want something that isn’t so spicy we do a range of Rub-a-Dub-Rubs which are more traditional and great used as BBQ Rubs, we have;

Pork – Perfect for joints, steaks or burgers.

Chicken – Great for seasoning thighs, whole or spatchcocked birds.

Beef – For seasoning burgers, steaks or if you want a simple flavoured piece of brisket.

Lamb – Use to season lamb burgers, steaks or a whole shoulder or leg done low ‘n’ slow

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BBQ Rubs & Seasoning World Flavours!

‘Ome Made do a range of rubs which take influence from around the world…

Portuguese Rub-a-Dub-Rub is based on the classic flavours of Portuguese Piri Piri. We love this rubbed on to a small whole or spatchcocked chicken before cooking indirect on the barbecue.

Portuguese Chicken

Moroccan Rub-a-Dub-Rub takes all the earthy, warming flavours of North Africa and goes brilliantly with lamb. Try rubbing in to a whole leg with a little garlic, lemon juice and olive oil before cooking indirect on the barbecue… a real treat! It also makes agreat BBQ rub for chicken.

Moroccan Slow Roast Lamb

We also have Jerk Rub-a-Dub-Rub and Cajun Rub-a-Dub-Rub. Always a favourite to rub in to some chicken and throw on the BBQ for a real crowd pleaser!

If it’s Kebabs you’re after why not try ‘Ome Made Ultimate Kebab Rub-a-dub-Rub. whether it’s chicken or lamb skewers. Minced meat Donner style, skewered Chicken thighs or pork this is a great allrounder!

BBQ Rubs & Seasonings. Ultimate Kebab-Rub-a-Dub-Rub

Indian On The BBQ

We love Indian food here at ‘Ome Made!

While it might be a tad to warm for a Madras or Vindaloo, that doesn’t mean Indian food has to get shelved!

We have some Indian inspired BBQ Rubs perfect for the summer months.

Try some Seekh kebabs made with our Indian Kebab Masala or one of our favourites, some Chicken Tikka or even a whole Tandoori Chicken using our Tandoori Masala & Kashmiri Masala

BBQ Rub - Tandoori Masala

For The Full Range Of ‘Ome Made Products Click Here!

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Spicy Crispy Lamb Breast

 

 

Spicy Crispy Lamb Breast… this was an absolute winner!

I’m quite a fan of lamb breast, a very underused and under rated cut of meat.

I think a lot of people are put off by the appearance (there appears to be very little meat) and they don’t know how to cook it.

Spicy Crispy Lamb Breast I normally roll it with a nice stuffing to soak up the juices and make it go a bit further.

On this occasion I remembered seeing a recipe where the breast was cooked without being rolled so that it went nice and crispy, so I thought I’d give it a go with a nice spicy coating.

‘Ome Made Spicy Crispy Lamb Breast.

We were not disappointed! I used three lamb breasts which did me, Kit and the four hungry Kids and then there was some leftover for lunches.

It does reheat really well and goes even crispier!

The recipe below is for one lamb breast so double it for two or treble for three… There’s nothing like stating the obvious is there, sorry!

Lamb breast needs to be cooked slow to render the fat down and give you tender meat so this was cooked in two stages the first with the marinated meat cooked in a low oven, wrapped in tinfoil. The oven temperature was then turned up and the lamb finished off uncovered.

 

Before you cook the lamb breast you need to remove the thin bit of film that covers the inside of the ribs as it tends to be a bit tough. If your not confident about doing this ask the butcher to do it.

Talking of ribs the breast can be cooked with or without them.

Our Kids love the ribs when they are removed after the meat is cooked!

As far as flavourings you could use any mixture you like. I stuck with cumin, which goes fabulously with lamb, chilli and garlic as the main focus.

Of course you could use a ready bought mixture from the shop such as Ras el Hanout or of course any of the ‘Ome Made seasonings and rubs which are available at www.omemade.co.uk.

‘Ome Mades Moroccan Rub-a-Dub-Rub would be ideal for this recipe.

 

Spicy Crispy Lamb Breast 

1 Lamb breast

splash of lemon juice

2 cloves of garlic crushed

2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon chilli powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

lots of ground black pepper

A little oil of your choosing

Prepare the lamb breast removing the film and any big lumps of fat. lightly score the meat (SEVERRRN!… Sorry!) and any fat to help the marinade penetrate the lamb. Splash a little lemon juice over the lamb and rub in. Put the crushed garlic, spices and seasoning in a bowl and add enough oil to make a paste. Cover the Lamb Breast with the paste and give it a good rub in. leave to marinate in the fridge for up to 24 hours if you have the time, however the meat can be cooked straight away and still taste good! When ready to cook wrap the lamb breast in a couple pieces of tin foil and place in a roasting dish. Place in a preheated oven at 145°C/125°C Fan for around 3 hours.

 

After this time the meat should be cooked and tender and the soft fat will have rendered down giving incredibly moist, tasty lamb.

Turn your oven up to 200°C/180°C Fan.

Remove the lamb from the tin foil and place on a wire rack (if possible, will be fine if not) in a roasting pan.

Once the oven has come up to temperature put the meat back in. After 15 minutes turn the meat over and leave for another 10 – 15 minutes or until you have a nice crispy finish to your lamb.

Spicy Crispy Lamb Breast

 

Remove from the oven and let rest for 15- 20 minutes before slicing into strips to serve.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We served the crispy strips of lamb breast with some mashed potato and garlicky sautéed cabbage… Winner!

 

 


Spicy Crispy Lamb Breast

Don’t forge to check out the range of ‘Ome Made rubs & seasonings at our online shop; www.omemade.co.uk

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Sweet Potato & Red Chili Soup

 

Sweet Potato and Chilli Banner

Soup… We absolutely love it in our house. Not the tinned variety of course. It has to be ‘Ome-made! And it’s so easy to make. You take your favourite ingredients sweat them off in some butter add some stock, cook for a bit and then blitz. Not leek and potato soup though, that can’t be blitzed. That’s completely breaking the rules, that has to be… ‘lumpy’.

 

If you make your own stock it’s even better. Even if it’s chucking the bones from the leftover roast chicken in a pot and boiling for an hour, you will be left with a nicechicken stock blog base for a soup. Of course if your one of those non-meat eating types you can make a stock from those manky left over carrots at the back of the fridge any veg trimmings and some onion. If you roast the veg for 20 minutes or so you’ll get more flavour and a deeper colour to your stock too.

 

So heres a recipe for a soup I made the other day along with a recipe for some cumin, ginger and garlic croutons. If you don’t have the croutons with this soup I suggest putting the spices used to flavour them in the soup. Although this recipe has chillies and spices in it it is no way spicy. If you prefer it spicier just up the amount of red chili in the recipe.

  croutons blogcoriander and chilli blog

Sesoning Blog

 

 

 

Sweet Potato & Red Chili Soup

 

Ingredients 

 

50g butter                                                       Diced Potatoes Blog

1 medium onion roughly sliced

2 cloves of garlic roughly chopped

200g (a large baker) potato cubed

700g sweet potatoes (4 small or 3 medium)cubed

1 large carrot diced

1 teaspoon ground white pepper (or extra black if you haven’t)

1 teaspoon salt

1 heaped teaspoon mild curry massala (or curry powder)Diced Carrots Blog

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon dried thyme

2 litre of stock

2 medium sized red chillies deseeded and finely chopped

1 tablespoon chopped coriander

Ground black pepper and salt to taste

 

Method

 

Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed pan. Gently fry the onion and garlic for about 10 minutes.

Sweet Potato Sweating Blog

Add both types of potato and carrot to the pan along with the white pepper, salt, curry massala, allspice and thyme. Gently sweat all the veg off for a further 10 minutes stirring so the spices don’t stick and burn.

Add your stock which should just cover the vegetables. Bring to a simmer and cook for approximately forty minutes or until all the veg is cooked through and soft. Take off the heat and carefully blitz with a hand blender, blender or food processor.

Put back on the heat and add the remaining ingredients. The soup will be ready after 20 minutes.

 Sweet Potato Soup Blog

 

Cumin Ginger & Garlic Croutons

 

8 slices white bread

Olive oil

2 teaspoon crushed garlic

2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon ground ginger

Salt and black pepper

 

Method

 

Cut the bread into cubes and put in a shallow roasting/baking tin.

Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with the garlic, cumin and ginger. Give the croutons a good toss and then sprinkle a little more olive oil on them and toss them again.

croutons cooking blog

Put in an oven preheated to 165°C on fan setting (185°C for conventional)the croutons will take 30 – 40 minutes but you need to regularly check on them and give them a shake or turn every 10 minutes or so.

Once the croutons are cooked they can be used straight away. Once the croutons are completely cool they can be put in a sealed container where they should be good for up to five days.

Sweet Potato Soup Banner

Happy soup making!

 

 

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Peter Piper Picked A Padron Pepper…

And it nearly blew his head off!

Well maybe not. Allegedly one in every thirty, or twenty % padron peppers is a hot one. So eating them is a bit like playing Russian Roulette… but with peppers.

For those that don’t know Padron Peppers are little chilli peppers that grow in the northwest of Spain in an area called, well, Padron of course.

I first heard of them when Rick Stein was doing his series on Spain. He cooked them the classic way, in olive oil until blistered and then sprinkled with sea salt.

I thought then that they looked delicious but that was a couple of years ago and it is only now that these little tasty morsels seem to be readily available. In fact they seem to be the new craze!

They are incredibly tasty, and generally not spicy. However it’s great fun when you get a spicy one and there is no way of telling!

We simply cook them gently in olive oil until the skin starts to blister and small flecks of charred flesh appear. They are then spooned into a bowl and sprinkled liberally with salt.

The bowl is then handed round the table and we all take one. The kids always look a bit apprehensive just in case they have picked one of the hot ones. It’s great to watch them gingerly take that first bite!

We always give the children a little pot of Greek yoghurt on the side which they dip their pepper into. And of course it helps if they do happen to get a hot one!

I whole heartedly recommend anyone to try these peppers. They really are tasty and such a simple little treat to prepare as a snack, simple starter or a full Tapas blow-out.

Just remember as they say in Spain; Os pementos de Padrón, uns pican e outros non, Padron Peppers, some are hot, some are not!

padron pepper blog