Lamb with quince

Quinces are here.  They have some very good friends but their window of togetherness is short.  I spied quinces & figs  - enter baked tagine of lamb with quinces, figs & honey.  This was more suited to a crowd but I didn't want to launch it on unsuspecting guests if it wasn't up to the job.  So Peter & I had to eat it all ourselves.  As you know I am a dab hand with leftovers.  There is no waste at our house so I had a plan.  First the tagine.  Start a couple of days ahead. I ordered a boned shoulder of lamb because I didn't think it would fit in the tagine with the bone in.  I might try it in a large cast iron casserole next time.Then make the chermoula.  Pound 4 cloves chopped garlic, a knob fresh ginger, 1 chopped red chilli, 1 tsp sea salt to form a coarse paste.  Pound a small bunch each coriander & parsley into the paste.  Beat in 3 tsp each ground  cumin & coriander.  Bind with 3 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp honey & the juice of a lemon.  Cut small incisions in the lamb & rub the paste all over the meat.  Cover & refrigerate overnight or at least 6 hours.
Next day heat oil & butter in a tagine, add the lamb & brown all over.  Transfer to a plate.  Into the tagine, stir 2 red onions cut in wedges, & any left over chermoula.  Add 225g stoned prunes and if you can't get fresh figs 225g dried.  If you have fresh leave them until later.  Pour in 300 ml hot water & return the lamb to the tagine.   Cover & put in the oven for two hours.
Near the end of the cooking time peel, core & quarter 2 quinces.  Melt a little butter in a pan & toss the quinces until golden.  Remove the tagine form the oven & place the quinces around the lamb.  Splash over a couple of tablespoons orange flower water & drizzle a similar quantity honey.  Return to the oven a further 30 mins until the lamb is very tender.  Sprinkle with chopped parsley & serve with plain couscous & soft leafy greens.  This is truly the queen of tagines.  Save the leftover lamb, fruit, & liquid for another day.
Sunday we got some fish from the market again & I did our old standby saute potatoes & the last of the courgettes from the garden.  Probably not the last, but the last ones that were there on Sunday.
 We had a soup planned for Monday but one of you brought me some freshly caught snapper and we had to eat it immediately.  Thank you.  For a change we crumbed them & served with crushed potatoes & an egg mayonnaise.  For 250g snapper combine 5 pitted finely chopped green olives, zest of a lemon, 1 tbsp chopped parsley, 1/4 cup panko crumbs.  Cut the fish into 5 cm pieces.  Dip in lightly beaten eggs then the crumb mix.  Press the crumbs on to help them stick.  Combine chopped egg & mayonnaise with lemon juice.  Cook the fillets in a little olive oil 2-3 minutes each side.
Tuesday was left overs - Moroccan shepherd's pie.  Firstly saute a finely chopped onion, celery, carrot, garlic in a little olive oil until really soft.  Add  the roughly shredded/chopped lamb & heat through.  Pour over the reserved tagine cooking liquid & add the chopped fruit.  Throw in a splodge of Lowry Peaks Quince Splash.   Simmer a few minutes.  If it is too dry add some liquid.  Stock or water is fine.  I had a small bowl of spicy lentil stew left so I just added enough lamb mix to make a meal for 2.  I topped with me left over pumpkin & parsnip mash mixed with some mashed potato from an earlier occasion which I had thawed.  Always freeze left over mash.  It will come in handy for a mash topped pie. If the tagine was the queen this was certainly the princess of shepherd's pies.  And I have a container of the lamb mix in the freezer for one or two more pies.
We had Monday's planned soup on Wednesday.  For 4 soften 1 thinly sliced onion, diced carrot & potato, 2 cloves crushed garlic with 1 tbsp finely chopped rosemary.  Add a splash of water if the potatoes look like catching.  Add 1/2 tsp each turmeric & smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp cinnamon & 2 drained tins chickpeas.  Set a cup or less aside for garnish.  Add 5 cups stock & simmer 10 minutes.  Blend in a food processor & bring back to heat.  Heat some olive oil in a pan & saute a diced chorizo with 1/2 tsp smoked paprika & the reserved chickpeas.  Stir 1 tbsp lemon juice into the soup & ladle into bowls then top with the chorizo & chickea mix & drizzle with a little of the oil from the pan.
Now we are looking forward to the Easter cooking.  The crabapple trees actually produced fruit this year although not enough to make jelly.  I am looking for something to do with them as an accompaniment for the Easter lamb. 

Talking Stock

We started the week with the dinner that always follows roast chicken - chicken pie which could be called "Roast Chicken Leftover Pie". Basically you soften some onion (any type of onion or leek) in butter, add flour then instead of milk add some of the stock you made with your chicken carcass. Once it's thickened a little mix in your shredded leftover chicken with your finely chopped leftover veg and gravy if you have any. I usually add 1/2 a cup of frozen peas and/or sweetcorn and some finely sliced white button mushrooms. If it is too dry add some cream or more stock or even a little boiling water. Season to taste. Tip into a casserole dish and top with pastry. Bake at 175 C for about 1/2 an hour until the pastry top is golden.

This seems a good time to talk stock. You need to have a range of good stocks in your freezer. Always make chicken stock when you roast a chicken, you can get fish bones from your fishmonger and shin bones from your butcher. The basics are the same : onion, carrot, celery, leek and the herbs, thyme & bayleaf with peppercorns and even chilli flakes if you like, then for fish add fennel & mushroom and to the others you can add dried mushroom but be careful because they have a strong flavour. For a standard chicken carcass or 1kg beef or fish bones use 2-2 1/2 litres water. Bring to the boil & simmer for 2-3 hours. Simmer your fishbones or heads first for 20 mins & strain before adding veg. Roast the beef bones in a hot oven for 45 mins with some tomato puree or a squeeze of paste & water. Once cooked strain into a large bowl and when cooled skim off any fat before storing in fridge or freezer. You usually want to use 2-3 cups so I freeze in Glad 740 ml containers with a couple of smaller 280 ml batches for miscellaneous use. If you remember get it out the night before and defrost in the fridge. This saves power because it helps to keep the fridge cool and gives it a bit of a day off.

This week we used 250 ml chicken stock (chicken pie), 750 ml chicken stock (pilaf), 750 ml vegetable stock (minestrone), 1 l beef stock (French onion soup).

Can't let the week go by without mentioning figs. Two simple things to do with figs. One a starter & one a pudding.

The starter we first had at Capitol, (turn your speakers on...) one of our favourite restaurants in Wellington. Then Martin Bosley included a recipe in his Listener column this week. Cut the figs - two per person is ample - down through the stalk close to the bottom so that they open out in 4 quarters (as Nigella says "like young birds squawking to be fed worms by their Mummy"). Stuff them with your favourite blue cheese. We discovered a lovely French version of Gorgonzola, called St Agur, at Truffle - a lovely specialty food outlet tucked away at the back of Cuba St. Wrap each fig in a slice of prosciutto and bake in a very hot (250C) preheated oven for around 5 minutes. The combination of slightly sweet fruit, salty cheese and crispy ham is indescribable.

For afters, you can't go past Nigella's Figs for 1001 Nights. You will need vanilla sugar - keep a container of sugar with a vanila pod in it - and rosewater and orange flower water - don't worry about buying a whole bottle of these as we have more recipes using them to come. Nigella uses mascarpone but we have used creme fraiche.