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Written by Tony Carson

Category: Recipes

Created: 31 January 2021

• Takes a bit of time
• Gluten Free
• Lamb Hearts

From a very unpromising 60p worth of Yellow Sticker Lamb hearts we created a meal which we’d had happily paid good money for in a restaurant. Restaurants, remember them?!

I’ll break this recipe into sections. It looks complicated but it’s not really and cheap as chips….  

Stuffing ingredients:-

1 Onion, finely diced
2 Cloves of Garlic, minced
50g of Mushrooms, sliced
4 Sausages, de-skinned
1 Egg, beaten
Chopped Parsley
Salt & Pepper
Margarine to fry

Sauce ingredients:-

25g Margarine
1 Onion, finely diced
2 Cloves of Garlic, minced
1 Tbsp Plain Four (Gluten free for us)
1 Tin of chopped Tomatoes
75ml cheap Red Wine
175ml Beef Stock
Salt & Pepper


Main ingredients:-

4 Lamb Hearts
8 Rashers of Streaky Bacon
Margarine to fry

Method:-

(1) Get the grizzly bit out of the way first. With a sharp knife cut the unpromising pipes and walls out of the Hearts. You want a large open pocket to get the stuffing into.
(2) For the stuffing fry the Onion and then add the minced Garlic and fry until softened.
(3) Add the sliced mushrooms, Parsley and season with Salt & Pepper.
(4) Fry over a low heat until the Mushrooms have softened.
(5) Set aside to cool.
(6) Once cooled mix all the stuffing ingredients in a bowl.
(7) Stuff the Hearts with the resulting mixture.
(8) Wrap in the Streaky Bacon.
(9) Fry on all sides to seal in the taste and set aside on kitchen paper to drain.
(10) For the sauce fry the Onion and then add the minced Garlic and fry until softened.
(11) Stir in the Flour and stir to make a paste.
(12) Add the chopped Tomatoes, Stock and Red Wine.
(13) Allow to simmer for 20 minutes.
(14) Pour about half of the sauce into a casserole dish and add the Hearts.
(15) Place in a pre heated oven at 160c, cover and braise for 2 to 2 ½ hours until the Hearts are tender.
(16) The remaining sauce you have in the pan can now be gently heated and wuzzed until smooth.
(17) When you have prepared the vegetables you are serving with slice the stuffed hearts and spoon the sauce over the top.

We had mashed Potatoes with Wholegrain Mustard as the base and crispy fried Kale with Sea Salt and Cumin seeds around the edge.
 

Details

Written by Tony Carson

Category: Recipes

Created: 29 January 2021

• Takes a bit of time
• Gluten Free
• Chicken Mince

I found some Chicken mince in the discount fridge a week of so ago which has been loitering in the freezer. We’ve been a bit busy DIYing recently and not posted many recipes, but this has to be worth typing up before I go move a friend. Sue and I have both done a stretch at the well known Burger joint that sell reformed Chicken “Breast” sandwiches with Mayo and Lettuce. We thought we’d improve on that basic foundation……

The Burger Buns are Gluten free. The recipe is here - http://www.eatwellonuc.org.uk/index.php/recipes/27-gluten-free-diy-bread-buns

By way of building the Burger we went with the following “Plan” (This really was kitchen / food fun to entertain us in Lock-Down #3!)

Bun
Mayo
Salad, sliced Gherkins, Sliced Tomatoes
Chicken Burger
Crispy Bacon
Melted Gouda
Sliced Tomato
Salad
Bun

So the Chicken burger – Be warmer minced Chicken is really slimy and not great to handle….

Burger Ingredients:-

500g of Chicken mince
Fresh Bread crumbs (Gluten free in our case), sufficient to form a firm feeling meat mix
Mixed Herbs
Garlic Salt
Onion Powder
Salt & Black Pepper
Cayenne Pepper
Oil to fry


Coating Ingredients:-

2 battered Eggs, for an egg wash
Plain Flour (Gluten free for us)

Fresh Bread crumbs (Gluten free in our case)
Mixed Herbs
Garlic Salt
Onion Saly
Salt & Black Pepper
Cayenne Pepper
Turmeric
Chilli Flakes

Additions:-

Crispy grilled Bacon
Sliced Cheese, whichever you fancy

Method:-

(1) Mix all the Burger ingredients, excluding the Oil and form into Burgers of the required size to fit your buns.
(2) Place in the freezer to firm up while your prepare the coating.
(3) Put the Egg wash and Flour in two separate bowls ready for dredging.
(4) Mix the remaining coating ingredients and put them within reach of your Flour and Egg wash.
(5) Heat a frying pan with quite a bit of Oil
(6) Remove the Burgers from the freezer.
(7) Dredge each burger in Flour, then Egg wash and then coat well on all sides with the Bread crumb mix.
(8) Fry each Burger flipping regularly until they have browned well on both sides.
(9) Drain on kitchen paper.
(10 Add the Bacon and Cheese and place under the grill to melt the Cheese
(11) Assemble your Burger.

We served ours with thick hand cut chips and Tomato sauce. We’ll be eating left over Burger for most of the day, but these were really good and well worth the effort! Realistically the quantities would easily have fed a family of four.

 

Details

Written by Tony Carson

Category: Recipes

Created: 18 January 2021

• Chicken
• Season Vegetables
• Gluten Free

Sometimes it’s the ingredients which make the dish. But sometimes it’s actually the dish itself which makes the difference! We certainly wouldn’t willingly eat Fray Bentos pies but the tins are outstanding for Yorkshire Puddings!

This was Cajun and Lemon stuffed Chicken dinner with Gluten free Yorkshire Puddings, Gluten free Stuffing Balls, Pigs in Blankets, Roast Spuds & Parsnips, Carrots and Greens.

Gluten free Yorkshire Puddings:-

Ingredients:-

100g Cornflour
150ml Milk
3 eggs
Salt & fresh ground Black Pepper

Method:-

(1) Heat your oiled Yorkshire Pudding tray in the oven at 220c until the oil is smoking.
(2) Whisk all the ingredients vigorously.
(3) Pour into the tray and return to the oven very quickly.
(4) Cook at 220c for 10 minutes the reduce the temperature to 180c.
(5) Cook for a further 25 minutes.
(6) Remove and either allow to cool or serve immediately. Your Yorkshire Puddings will stand reheating if required.

Gluten free Stuffing Balls:-

Stuffing Ingredients:-

Onions, roughly chopped
Fresh Sage, chopped
Gluten free Bread crumbs
1 Egg, beaten

Method:-

(1) Lightly fry the Onions until they are translucent and set aside to cool.
(2) When cool enough to handle mix all the ingredients and form into balls.
(3) When your roast is 20 minutes from being ready pop the Stuffing Balls in the oven on a tray.

As usual our eyes were bigger than our belly and we're eating left-overs for breakfast!

Details

Written by Tony Carson

Category: Recipes

Created: 17 January 2021

• Season Vegetables
• Lacto Fermented

I do seem to have an issue with buying too much Red Cabbage. We use it to add colour to all sorts of dishes – Fried, Boiled, Coleslaw etc.  But this one was well and truly dead in the bottom of the fridge. But that’s actually a good thing for Lacto-Fermenting. Interestingly the red pigments in Red Cabbage are PH sensitive, so I’ll be able to see how the pickling process is progressing by the colour change. Cool !

Ingredients:-

1l and hot water.
4 Heaped table spoons on Salt ( I used ground pink Himalayan Salt as it doesn’t have anti-caking agents in it.) You are looking for a 2 to 3% brine solution.
Chopped Red Cabbage.
Time.

Method:-

(1) Make you brine by dissolving the Salt in hot water.
(2) Allow the brine to cool to room temperature.
(3) Force as much chopped Red Cabbage as you can make fit into a clip to jar.
(4) Us a ramekin to make sure the Cabbage is fully immersed.
(5) Pop in the cupboard and forget about it for 3 weeks or more.

Once the Lacto-Fermentation is complete these pickles will live quietly in your cupboard for months, if not years. But that unlikely here!