PARWICH.ORG

Hi everybody! And welcome to my new monthly cookery blog post! I’m so excited I hope you will be as well when you try the dishes I have for you!

In my dishes I will be trying to use locally sourced and seasonal ingredients. If anyone trying the recipes needs help on getting ingredients I can help point you in the right direction or even share some of my own extensive stocks for rarer supplies.

For my first offering I thought it would be fun to do a complete 3 course seasonal meal! (Well it was seasonal when I started thinking about it in April, but then I had a few too many Rhubarb Mojitos!).

Among the ingredients at their best at this time of the year are watercress, asparagus spinach, lettuce, Jersey Royals, prawns, gooseberries, and purple sprouting broccoli. Growing locally you’ll find wild garlic, lamb (obviously) and rhubarb (I can point you to a few easily accessible gardens if you don’t have any growing yourself 😉

So here’s the menu-

Wild Garlic Soup

Roast Leg of Lamb on Boulangère Potatoes

Rhubarb Mojito

I had intended to include a rhubarb based dessert but then discovered this mojito and thought why bother! For those not inclined to try the full 3 courses I recommend jumping to the mojito now 👍🏼

If you try any of my recipes, or have a favourite of your own drop us a line at parwich@hotmail.co.Uk or “Leave a Comment” below.. 

Mich xxx

For ingredients and method

Wild Garlic Soup

Ingredients

• 25gbbutter or 1tbsp oil
• 300g old potatoes
• 1 litre veg stock
• 1 small onion
• 100g wild garlic leaves
• cream (optional)
• salt & pepper

Method

1. Lightly fry the onions in the butter or oil, adding the diced potatoes, cover and leave over a low heat for 10 minutes
2. Add the stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 10-15  minutes until the potatoes are soft
3. Add the wild garlic leaves, cook for 1 minute and blend in a food processor
4. Adjust seasoning to taste and optionally serve with a swirl of cream on top

Can be left to cool and reheated when needed.

Roast leg of lamb on boulangère potatoes

Ingredients

• 2 kg leg of lamb 
• drizzle of olive oil
• 2 kg large potatoes
• 2 onions thinly sliced
• 600 ml chicken stock
• 50 g butter (for potatoes)
• 20 g soft butter (for lamb)
• 3 garlic cloves, grated and 1 clove sliced (optional)
• rosemary – few sprigs (optional)
• thyme – few sprigs (optional)

Method

1. If you have time, remove the lamb from the fridge and allow it to get to room temperature.
2. Pre-heat oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
3. If you are using the garlic and herbs, make a garlic and herb butter. Add the grated garlic into a bowl with the butter. Strip the leaves off the rosemary and thyme stalks and chop finely. Add to the half to three quarters of the herbs to the bowl with the garlic and butter. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and mash to a paste with a fork.
4. With a sharp thin knife or a metal skewer, make between 30 and 50 small incisions into the flesh of the lamb. They should be large enough for you to stick just your fingertip into.
5. Work the butter into the lamb by massaging it into the meat, trying to work it into the holes that you’ve created.
6. Place the lamb in a roasting tin, cover loosely with foil.
7. Peel and thinly slice the potatoes, rinse under the cold tap and pile into a large ovenproof dish or roasting tin. Toss with the onions, the slices of garlic and the remaining herbs (if using).
8. Heat the stock and butter together, then pour over the potatoes. Cover the dish with foil.
9. Place in the lamb and the potatoes in the preheated oven.
10. After 30 minutes, remove the foil from the lamb and the potatoes. Put the lamb on top of the potatoes and leave to roast for a further 50-60 minutes (for medium) or until cooked to your liking.
11. Remove the lamb to a warm plate, cover loosely with foil and allow to rest before carving, for about 15 mins. Leave the potatoes in the oven (covered, if starting to brown too much) until ready to serve.

Perhaps serve this with a side dish of steamed purple sprouting broccoli (and plently of butter!).

 

Rhubarb Mojito

Ingredients

For the rhubarb mojito:

• A few mint leaves
• 60 ml rhubarb syrup
• 60 ml Bacardi
• Lots of Ice
• Optionally a squeeze of lime juice and slices to garnish
• Soda water to dilute (if you must)

For the rhubarb syrup

• 150 g sliced rhubarb
• 150 g sugar
• 180 ml water

Method

For the rhubarb syrup

You can store this in a jar in the fridge till needed.

1. Combine the rhubarb, sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat till the sugar is dissolved.
2. Cover and simmerfor 20 min until the rhubarb is soft.
3. Let the syrup cool before straining out the rhubarb.

For the rhubarb mojito

1. Combine the mint, lime juice and rhubarb syrup in a glass and crush the mint leaves as you mix.
2. Then stir in the Bacardi.
3. Pour into a glass of ice and Garnish with mint/lime as desired.
4. Drink it!

(Next month 100 recipes for left over lamb! 😘)