Romy Gill's lamb harissa

One of the most beautiful and original books that has been published recently is Romy Gill's On the Himalayan Trail which focusses on the food of Kashmir and Ladakh. Here's her recipe for lamb harissa which - surely a bonus for meateaters - is commonly garnished with a sheekh kebab. I also like the idea it's a brunch dish!

Romy writes: "Harissa is better with lamb, but it can be made with chicken, too. Traditionally, the harissa is cooked overnight and served up at family brunches – it’s a staple of many Kashmiri households. I’ve cut down the cooking time here, but the result is just as delicious.

SERVES 10–12

INGREDIENTS

SUNFLOWER OIL, FOR DEEP-FRYING

500 G (1 LB 2 OZ) SHALLOTS, THINLY SLICED

1 KG (2 LB 4 OZ) LEG OF LAMB

2.5 LITRES (87 FL OZ/10 CUPS) WATER

12 GARLIC CLOVES, PEELED

11/2 TEASPOONS SALT

2 TEASPOONS GROUND GINGER

1 TABLESPOON FENNEL SEEDS

6 WHOLE CLOVES

8 CM (3 IN) CINNAMON STICK

10 GREEN CARDAMOM PODS

6 BLACK CARDAMOM PODS

6 BLACK PEPPERCORNS

75 G (21/2 OZ/GENEROUS 1/3 CUP) RICE FLOUR

250 ML (81/2 FL OZ/1 CUP) MILK

4 TEASPOONS GHEE, TO SERVE

Pour sunflower oil into a deep, heavy-based pan to a depth of 8 cm (3 in). Place over a medium heat and heat to 180°C/350°F on a digital thermometer. Alternatively, you can drop in a tiny piece of bread: if it sizzles and browns in 15 seconds, the oil is hot enough.

Once the oil is hot, carefully add the shallots to the pan and deep-fry until crispy and brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain on a plate lined with paper towels.

Place the lamb leg in a large pan. and add the measured water. Bring to the boil and skim off and discard any scum that rises to the surface. When the broth is clear, add the garlic cloves, salt, ground ginger and all of the whole spices. Cook over a low heat for 3–4 hours, or until the meat falls away from the bone.

When the meat is cooked, remove from the heat and strain the cooking stock into a jug, discarding the whole spices. Remove the flesh from the bones and set the meat aside to rest.

Add the rice flour to the stock and whisk to combine, then place it back in the pan over a low heat. Add the milk and the cooked meat, and cook for at least 1 hour, stirring frequently, until the gravy is smooth.

Leave to rest before eating. In Kashmir, they eat it warm, hot or cold. When ready to eat, divide among bowls. Heat the ghee and pour it over the harissa, then serve garnished with sheekh kebabs and the crispy fried shallots.

For the sheekh kebabs

SERVES 3–4

INGREDIENTS

1 KG (2 LB 4 OZ) MINCED (GROUND) LAMB (IDEALLY LEG MEAT)

2–3 TEASPOONS KASHMIRI CHILLI POWDER

11/2 TEASPOONS SALT

1 TEASPOON DRIED MINT

1 TSP GROUND CUMIN

1 TEASPOON SAFFRON STRANDS

1 TSP BLACK CARDAMOM SEEDS, CRUSHED TO A POWDER IN A PESTLE AND MORTAR

1/2 TEASPOON BLACK CUMIN SEEDS, CRUSHED TO A POWDER IN A PESTLE AND MORTAR

HANDFUL OF FRESH CORIANDER (CILANTRO) LEAVES, CHOPPED, PLUS EXTRA TO SERVE

1 LARGE EGG, LIGHTLY BEATEN

TO SERVE

SLICED SHALLOTS

LIME WEDGES

CHUTNEY OF YOUR CHOICE (OPTIONAL)

Combine all the ingredients, except the egg, in a large mixing bowl. Mix together, kneading as you would a dough, until well combined. Cover and refrigerate for1 hour.

Remove from the refrigerator, then place the mixture in a food processor. Add the egg and blend to a paste.

Divide the mixture into 6 equal-sized portions. Wet your hands with cold water and mould each portion around a skewer, gently pressing and shaping each into a long sausage. With damp hands, smooth the surface of each kebab.

Meanwhile, prepare a barbecue or preheat the oven grill (broiler) to high.

Cook the skewers on the hot barbecue or under the grill for 8–10 minutes, turning them after 5 minutes and rotating them frequently until well browned and cooked on all sides.

Serve scattered with coriander and sliced shallots, with lime wedges for squeezing and a chutney of your choice, if you like.

What to drink: Romy suggests drinking chai with this (the Noon Chai in the book) but if you wanted to drink wine I'd choose a mellow aged red like a rioja gran reserva or a mature Lebanese red

Extracted from On the Himalayan Trail by Romy Gill published by Hardie Grant. Photography by Poras Chaudhary and Matt Russell

Potato boulangère

There are few totally new recipes but sometimes just thinking of one in a different way as Joe Woodhouse has done with his gorgeously crispy potato boulangère in his inspiring new book Your Daily Veg takes them to another level.

Joe writes: I used to make this with the potatoes cut into slices and all laid out flat, which works just fine. But standing the potato slices up gives a brilliant crunchy element on top, while the bottom half steams and softens, going wonderfully creamy.

When slicing the potato, a mandolin is great but by hand is fine; what’s important is to slice them as evenly as possible.

SERVES 6

– 150g (5½oz) unsalted butter

– 3 onions, finely sliced

– 4 garlic cloves, finely sliced

– 3 thyme sprigs, leaves picked

– 1.25kg (2lb 12oz) floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper or Desirée, peeled and finely sliced

– 300ml (10fl oz) vegetable stock

– sea salt flakes and black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas Mark 4.

2. Melt half the butter in a large pan that will hold all of the ingredients over medium heat and add the onions, garlic and thyme leaves. Cook gently for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the potato slices to coat well with the buttery onions. Season well with salt and pepper.

3. In a 30 × 20cm (12 × 8 inch) baking dish, roughly stack the potatoes upright along the length of the dish. Their edges should point upwards like a roughly shuffled pack of cards and they should sit snugly.

Pour over the vegetable stock and dot the remaining butter evenly over the top of the potatoes.

4. Roast the potatoes in the oven for 50–60 minutes. As they cook they will become creamy and tender underneath and the top edges will crisp. If browning too much on top, cover loosely with foil until tender.

5. Once done, remove from the oven and allow to sit for a few minutes before serving.

What to drink: You're perhaps unlikely to pair a wine with the potatoes alone but they'd be an ideal accompaniment for roast lamb or beef so match whatever meat you're serving with it or, if you're keeping it veggie take account of what you've got on the side.

Extracted from Your Daily Veg by Joe Woodhouse, published by Kyle at £22. Photograph © Joe Woodhouse.

James Martin's chocolate and hazelnut choux buns

I love the idea of a whole book devoted to butter, surely one of the most underrated and maligned ingredients, so congrats to TV chef James Martin for pulling it off. There are so many recipes that appeal to me but this indulgent take on profiteroles has a real wow factor.

James writes: "The idea of choux pastry is simple – four ingredients brought together for either sweet or savoury dishes. It is important to dice the butter into a cold pan with the water first and bring to the boil, then immediately add the flour. Failing to do this will alter the recipe, the quantity of water needed and the finished choux pastry.

It is even more important to always use good-quality flour. It may sound ridiculous to some people, but flour as cheap as 9 pence a kilo is not food, as I have found out on many a TV show when a recipe that I have made all my life fails to work as it should. It is generally the quality of the flour that is the root cause."

CHOCOLATE AND HAZELNUT CHOUX BUNS

SERVES 8

FOR THE CHOUX

200ml water

85g butter

115g plain flour

15g sugar

pinch of salt

3 eggs

FOR THE FILLING

450ml double cream, whipped

150g hazelnut and chocolate spread

FOR THE CARAMEL

200g caster sugar

100g toasted hazelnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan)/400°F/gas 6. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

Heat the water and butter in a saucepan until the butter has melted. Bring to the boil, then immediately beat in the flour, sugar and salt until the mixture is smooth. Continue to cook for 2–3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the mixture to a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until the mixture is smooth and glossy. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.

Once cool, spoon eight 12cm pastry buns onto the lined baking tray. Bake for 30 minutes until golden and crispy, then remove from oven and leave to cool.

Whisk together the cream and hazelnut and chocolate spread.

Split each choux bun in half and fill with the chocolate and hazelnut cream.

Put the sugar in a pan over a medium heat; do not stir but carefully swirl in the pan until the sugar is brown and caramelised. This should take about 3–4 minutes. Swirl in the hazelnuts. Dip each bun in carefully in the caramel to serve.

What to drink: Try a young vin santo like this one I recommended the other week or a moscatel

From BUTTER: Comforting, delicious, versatile, over 130 recipes celebrating butter by James Martin (Quadrille) Photography: John Carey

Dublin coddle

If you're wondering what to prepare to celebrate St Patrick's Day, Coddle could be the answer. Here's the version from J P McMahon's magnificent new The Irish Cookbook.

JP writes: "Coddle, or Dublin coddle to be more precise, is a dish made up of leftover sausages and bacon. Traditionally, the sausages and bacon were cut up and combined with onions and potatoes and left to stew in a light broth. Though often unappetizing to look at, the dish was made famous by several Irish writers, from Jonathan Swift to James Joyce and Seán O’Casey.

Modern versions include barley and carrots. It is essentially a dish that grew out of poverty and famine and then migrated into the working-class areas of Dublin at the beginning of the twentieth century to become a dish of central importance to the people who lived there. Often it contained a drop of Guinness (or it was eaten with plenty of pints and soda bread).

It is said that the housewives would prepare the coddle during the day and it would sit on the stove until the men returned home from the pub. The word itself is derived from the verb ‘to coddle’ or ‘to cook’ (from French caulder). With its associations of poverty, it is surprising to find ‘authentic’ recipes, especially given the status of the dish as being made with whatever leftovers were to hand (as in pig’s trotters/feet, pork ribs, etc.). Some associate it with the Catholic Church’s insistence of abstaining from meat on a Friday.

Coddle was a way of using up the bacon and sausages on a Thursday. In this recipe, I fry the ingredients before covering them with the stock, but traditionally they were just layered and simmered until cooked.

Preparation: 20 minutes

Cooking: 1 hour

Serves: 8

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tablespoons rapeseed (canola) oil, plus extra if needed
• 500 g sausages, cut into pieces if preferred
• 500 g streaky (regular) bacon, cut into pieces
• 500 g onions, sliced
• 2 tablespoons chopped thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 litre chicken stock
• 1 kg (9 medium) potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 4 tablespoons chopped parsley
• freshly ground black pepper

METHOD:

Warm the oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the sausages and bacon and fry for about 10 minutes until they have a nice colour. Remove the meat from the pan and set aside.

Add the sliced onions to the pan and a little more oil if necessary. Reduce the heat and fry for about 10 minutes so that the onions caramelize slowly.

When the onions have a nice colour, return the sausages and bacon to the pan and add the thyme and bay leaves. Cover with the chicken stock (broth) and return to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and add the potatoes. Cook for about 30 minutes.

Add the chopped parsley and plenty of black pepper and serve.

What to drink: Personally I'd go for a stout like the wonderful Gibney's stout I wrote about the other day but a glass of cider wouldn't go amiss either. And Irish food and wine writer Tom Doorley suggests a riesling kabinett which sounds spot on too.

Extracted from The Irish Cook Book by J P McMahon published by Phaidon at £35.