Archive for Flavour
January 13, 2011 · Filed under Buy Mutton, Flavour, Mutton buying guide, Mutton for sale, Mutton Recipes, Slow Food, Taste, Uncategorized, Where to buy mutton · Tagged Buy mutton, grass fed mutton, Mutton, mutton buying guide, mutton for sale, mutton recipes, rare breed meat
This is a Classic with a Michelin twist.
We are back in the grove after selling out at Christmas and now have mutton ready for sale on the farm.
What I like about these Mutton Rennaisance recipes is that they encourage people to explore lots of different cuts and highlight the versatility of the meat.
This is one of the classic ways to cook mutton; the gentle poaching enables the meat to reach optimum tenderness. Wow your friends by serving it at a dinner party with some red cabbage and baby root veg.
SERVES: 6
INGREDIENTS
- 2kg (4lb,6oz) 1/2 leg of mutton (bone-in)
- 4 large Spanish onions, peeled and sliced
- 2 generous tsp sea salt
- 4 bay leaves
- 5ml (1tsp) whole black peppercorns
- 1/4 stick cinnamon
- zest of 1 orange
- 2 litres (3 1/2 pints) light chicken stock
- 1 bottle (750ml) dry white wine
- 350g (12oz) unsalted butter
- 60 ml (4tbsp) finely chopped shallots
- 60 ml (4 tbsp) capers
- 600ml (1pt) double cream.
METHOD
- Place the mutton into a large saucepan and bury it in the sliced onions. Add the salt. Tie the bay leaves, peppercorns, cinnamon and orange zest in a piece of muslin and add this to the pan with half of the wine.
- Cover with the chicken stock and bring to a gentle simmer. Skim off the crust that forms on the surface with a spoon.
- Simmer gently for approximately 2 hours or until tender.
- After 1 hour, take a saucepan and melt 150g (6oz) of the butter, add the shallots and capers and cook gently until softened then turn up the heat to lightly colour the shallots.
- Add the rest of the wine and cook briskly until the liquid reduces by half. Draw off approximately 1 litre (2 pints) of the poaching liquor from the mutton pan and add it to the capers and shallots. Bring this to the boil and reduce by half. Add the double cream and bring back to the boil. Reduce the mixture further until you achieve a glossy cream gravy. Adjust seasoning and keep warm.
- When the mutton is ready, transfer to a serving dish, cover and keep warm. Strain the poaching liquid from the onions but retain.
- Heat a large frying pan and melt the remaining butter until foaming. Add the drained onions and fry briskly until they turn golden and have begun to caramelise.
- Place some of the golden onions onto a plate and slice the mutton finely on top of it. Garnish with a ladling of the caper cream sauce. Note: The retained poaching liquid can be used to make a delicious soup.
MDAL.
January 5, 2011 · Filed under Buy Mutton, Flavour, Food Experiences, Meat Guide, Mutton buying guide, Mutton for sale, Mutton Recipes, Recipes, Taste, Where to buy mutton · Tagged Buy mutton, grass fed mutton, Mutton, mutton buying guide, mutton recipe
Found this lovely dish opposite here on the BBC good food website.
Also checkout this search on the BBC food website (why 2 food websites on the BBC???)
The last one in particular is a corker with 20 or so recipes.
Happy New Year!
MDAL.
December 16, 2010 · Filed under Buy Mutton, Flavour, Food Experiences, Mutton buying guide, Mutton for sale, Mutton Recipes, Recipes, Slow Food, Taste · Tagged Buy mutton, grass fed mutton, Mutton, mutton buying guide, mutton for sale, mutton recipe, rare breed meat, rare breed mutton
A hearty mid-week supper that’s delicious served on its own or with some creamy mash to soak up the juices.
SERVES: 6
Don’t forget our Mutton Buying guide “Where to buy Mutton”
Searching for other Mutton recipes I came accros this which looks delicious. Love to know what “mutton masala” is think I’ll have to research that one for future reference.
INGREDIENTS
For the Stew
- 1kg (2.2lb) diced leg of mutton
- 2 celery stalks, halved
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut in half
- 1/2 small swede, cut into 12 chunks
- 6 shallots, peeled
- 6 small turnips, scrubbed but not peeled
- 10 whole black peppercorns
- salt
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 1 sprig thyme
- 1 litre (13/4 pints) lamb stock made with 2 good quality stock cubes
For the Cobbler top
- 350g (12oz) self raising flour
- 100g (4oz) butter, diced
- 50g (2oz) capers, chopped
- 10g (1/2 oz) parsley, chopped
- 4 spring onions, finely chopped
- 30ml (2 tbsp) plain natural yoghurt
- mixed with 70ml (5 tbsp) cold water.
METHOD
- Place the mutton in a large casserole or pan with the vegetables and herbs.
- Add peppercorns and season with salt.
- Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 1 hour.
- To make the cobbler rub the fat and the flour together.
- Stir in the capers, parsley, onions and pepper.
- Add enough of the yoghurt and water mix to make a soft, pliable dough.
- Roll dough to 2.5cm (1”) thick and cut into 12 rounds or wedges. Place on top of the mutton.
- Bake at 200°C, Gas 6, 400°F for 20-25 minutes or until the cobbler is golden brown
December 15, 2010 · Filed under Buy Mutton, Flavour, Meat Guide, Mutton buying guide, Mutton for sale, Mutton Recipes, Recipes, Where to buy mutton · Tagged Buy mutton, grass fed mutton, Mutton, mutton buying guide, mutton for sale, mutton recipe, rare breed mutton, Where to buy mutton
Director of the Ivy, Mark Hix’s Mutton and Turnip Pie.
I do a fair bit of work with the Mutton Renaissance crew and one of the best things they have done is get Michelin Star chefs from some of the best restaurants in the country to come up with some recipes worthy of this fabulous meat. They have given me all the media relating to these and I will post all five recipes here over the next few weeks. See below for Mark Hix’s Mutton and Turnip Pie
First remember to use our “where to buy Mutton” guide.
Then check out the sumptuous delight that is below. Ideal with a pint or two of local real ale. My choice would be Butty Bach by Wye Valley Brewery.
The recipe below is good with either neck fillet, tenderloin of Mutton or Diced mutton. Obviously the neck fillet and tenderloin give a more tender meat. It is importnat to buy mutton specifically to your recipe and of course we recommend rare breed mutton for the fuller flavour. It really is as good as it looks and the turnip really compliments the rich mutton flavour.
The filling for this simple pie is slow-cooked to help the flavours of the mutton and the vegetables combine. Serve on a cold day with buttered cabbage, boiled potatoes or mashed swede and enjoy with a fruity red wine.
See Full recipe below.
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December 13, 2010 · Filed under Artisan, Buy Mutton, Flavour, Food Experiences, Meat Guide, Mutton buying guide, Mutton for sale, Mutton Recipes, Recipes, Where to buy mutton · Tagged food stories blog, grass fed mutton, mutton paomo, mutton recipe, rare breed mutton
I’m always on the look out for new mutton recipes. I’ll start introducing a few each month and you will be able to see every Mutton Recipe I put on here by clicking on the “Mutton Recipe” category tab on the right.
This is one I hadn’t heard of from China. Looks great and I can’t wait to give it a go, the blog is well worth a trawl through too. Some absolutely corking stuff in there:
http://helengraves.co.uk/2010/08/mutton-paomo/
Remember you can always find quality mutton if you just follow our Mutton Buying Guide.
MDAL.
October 21, 2010 · Filed under farming, fat is good for you, Flavour, General, Meat Guide, Sheep, Slow Food, Taste, Uncategorized, Welfare Standards · Tagged extensive meat production, food labelling, grass fed meat, hay making, Wildflower Meadows
You would have thought that since I produce the finest quality mutton and lamb that I would be pretty familiar with the above rule of thumb. You would have thought…
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February 19, 2010 · Filed under farming, fat is good for you, Flavour, Sheep, Taste, Welfare Standards · Tagged Decisions, food integrity
All this snow is affecting our production. With the best will in the world feeding species rich hay is not enough to fatten sheep in snow conditions.
As a result we haven’t been able to take any to slaughter for a while now.
I could take them leaner – but that would impact quality of the meat (less fat is not good).
I could feed them concentrate feed to fatten them – but then they wouldn’t taste as good.
Looks like I’ll have to wait and do a bit more selling in the spring.
Who brought up this whole food integrity thing anyway?
MDAL
February 9, 2010 · Filed under Artisan, Cattle, farming, fat is good for you, Flavour, Food Experiences, Meat Guide, Slow Food, Taste · Tagged Fois Gras, Great Food Experience, Peter Kaminski, Pig Perfect, pork
I’m reading a great Book Called Pig Perfect.
Peter Kaminski describes some remarkable encounters with pig producers and their pigs from all over Europe and the U.S.
On one of his pork related adventures in France he pulls into a yard with mud higher than his ankles and as he approaches he sees an ancient stone/brick outbuilding among the livestock sheds full of local people about to take part in a long held tradition of a community pig slaughter and feast.
He describes the scene as everyone settles down to some great wine next to an enormous fire-place, while couldrons of bean stew bubble on the fire and a pan of Fois Gras sizzles away. The mingled smells of farm animals, dogs wandering around, damp hay, wood smoke, wine and the glorious scent of the soon to be cooked feast. It sounded wonderful.
But then I thought of the regulations that now entwine our every action and wondered if this scene would be legal in Britain?
We have been pinged by the authorities just for having our dog lie by the Aga while we cook a Breakfast for paying guests – what would they think if it was pigs, sheep and cattle too?!?
There are new onerous regulations coming in to the EU about home slaughter for your own consumption – as if the regulations for slaughter that have destroyed local abatoirs across Britain were not bad enough. Could the big grocers be starting to worry about people killing their own stock and saving money on their meat bill?
Just because this scene might be illegal in Britain doesn’t mean it can’t happen. But when you tie these community events up in red tape is it any wonder that these events start to occur less frequently?
We sanitise our life at the expense of our experiences. If we want rich, warm encounters that linger in the memory (unless you had too much wine) then we really should accept that to eliminate risk is to eliminate the imperfections that make life worth living.
MDAL
Mutton Dressed as Lamb 