IN 'NORN Iron' we love to whine about the weather, and luckily this week has provided plenty of ammo. I can only imagine how many new years’ resolutions were put on hold instead of making that arduous trek to the gym or heading out with the running group in the darkness with the wind and horizontal rain.
What better way to avoid the bleakness outside than enjoying one of these two warming and delicious meals? The Thai mussels are a great alternative to your typical curry and a lot of the ingredients are generally hiding at the back of the cupboard after previous outings.
At our Cookery School curry class, we make the pastes from scratch but for this recipe you can easily use shop-bought and it lasts for ages so can be used again and again. I always like to serve this dish with a hunk of fresh bread to dip into the sauce.
The second dish is a shoulder of lamb which is a great dinner-party dish or a very trendy alternative to a Sunday roast. With the increase in the use of fruit, vegetables and grains in our diets this provides a completely balanced dish. The best thing is that it is delicious as leftovers – just make sure you refrigerate and store correctly.
Last time I was in London, the abundance of new flavours was really exciting and inspiring, whether Sri Lankan at Hoppers or Lebanese at Palomar, the rise of chefs such as Yotam Ottelenghi and his NOPI restaurants have brought grains and vegetables to the fore as exotic additions with subtle tastes to our staples of lamb or beef. His recipes are really easy to follow and I suggest that if you try out the lamb dish and enjoy it you really should invest in his latest books.
MUSSELS IN THAI RED CURRY SAUCE
1kg mussels
3 tblsp red curry paste
rapeseed oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tin coconut milk
4 lime leaves
1 red chilli, finely sliced
Start by cleaning the mussels – discard any that do not close when tapped on the kitchen counter or are cracked. Clean using running water. Now that the mussels are ready to cook, you want to make up the cooking liquor. Add the red curry paste to a pot with a lid with the oil and heat over a high temperature. Add the sugar and the coconut milk and stir until the paste is completely absorbed into the coconut milk; let it cook out for about five minutes.
Tear up the lime leaves and add to the paste. Next, add the mussels and cover with the lid. Give the pot a good shake with the lid on and cook for 3-4 minutes on a medium heat until all the mussels are open.
Serve with a sprinkling of the chopped chilli.
LAMB WITH COUSCOUS AND POMEGRANATE
2kg shoulder of lamb
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 pomegranate, remove seeds
1 tblsp pomegranate molasses
Butter
300g couscous
1 tsp harissa
Start by preheating the oven to 190C. The lamb is slow cooked so this will take up to four hours in the oven. Place the lamb in a roasting tray with the fat side up. Finely chop the onion and scatter over the lamb. Score the lamb in a criss-cross fashion and rub in the pomegranate molasses. Season with salt and pepper and add 500ml water to the roasting tin. Cover in tinfoil and place in the oven for four hours at the same temperature.
Once cooked, remove and leave to rest for 20 minutes. Once rested, shred the lamb – the easiest way to do this is using two forks as you would shred a Chinese duck when cooked.
While the lamb is resting, cook the couscous by placing a knob of butter, the harissa and the couscous in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper. Boil the kettle and add enough water to the bowl so that the couscous is completely covered. Cover in cling film and leave for five minutes. Once the five minutes are up, remove the cling film and fluff the couscous with a fork. Add a couple of tablespoons of the cooking juices from the lamb to the couscous and mix again. Taste to ensure you do not need any more seasoning.
Place the couscous on a large serving bowl and place the lamb on top; scatter over the pomegranate seeds and serve.
