Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen

Vegetable tagine à la Thursday.

On Thursday evenings I have life figure drawing class and I get home late. A vegetable tagine is always a good choice on these evenings. I make it earlier in the day and reheat it for a late dinner. I’m ravenous when I get home! Serve with a simple fluffy white rice(ok, go more heathy with full grain or wild or some other grains, but I prefer the stark whiteness of white rice ). 

Vegetable tagine a la Thursday.

  • Three courgettes
  • Four large spring onions with the greens
  • One large red bell pepper
  • Four carrots
  • four tomatoes
  • Two potatoes
  • A handful of green beans
  • can of chickpeas
  • A handful of petit pois(fresh or frozen)
  • A cinnamon stick
  • olive oil
  • Cardamom pod
  • Juniper berries 
  • Two teaspoons of curry masala
  •  Flatleaf parsley
  • A tablespoon or two of dry roasted almonds
  • About two cups of vegetable stock
  1. Wash and chop the vegetables into chunks.
  2. Mix together the spices in a mortar and pestle (except the cinnamon stick), along with some olive oil.
  3. Sautee the chopped onion with the spices.
  4. Add the carrots and potatoes and sautee for a few minutes.
  5. Add the vegetable stock and cinnamon stick and bring to a simmer for about 10 minutes.
  6. Add the tomatoes and bell and simmer until the vegetables are tender.
  7. Add the chickpeas, green beans and and turn off the heat.
  8. Taste for seasoning and adjust.
  9. Serve in a tagine, sprinkle with the fresh petit pois, the roasted almonds and finish off with flatleaf parslay.
  10. Serve with white rice or couscous.

   Serves 4 people

 

…I’ll draw, you pose…

Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen

Lamb-shanks with a curry sultana sauce

Time for a little indulgence. Although January is a month of light eating, the desire for something more substantial and velvety arises on cold, rainy evenings. Then we take comfort in slow cooking meat meals with a voluptuous sauce, where we sit back and lick our fingers and sweep the sauce from our plates with fresh chunky bread. This is a recipe from Mariëtte Crafford’s book, Sonskynkafee(Sunshine café), a delicious book filled with stories and great recipes.

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Lamb-shanks with a curry sultana sauce

  • 6 small lamb-shanks with the bone cleaned and a nice helping of meat
  • olive oil
  • 500 ml organic chicken stock
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 3 cinnamon sticks
  • 3 bay leaves
  • a chopped onion
  • a few open cardamom pods
  • 3 tablespoons masala
  • 5 t cumin seeds
  • 5 t white  mustard seeds
  • 5 t black mustard seeds
  • 2 garlic cloves, leaned and crushed
  • a piece of ginger root, grated
  • 4 tablespoons of water
  • 150 ml yogurt
  • 250 ml sultana raisins
  • salt and pepper
  • 150ml cream
  • 125 ml flaked almonds
  • fresh coriander/parsley leaves
  1. Sauté the lamb-shanks in oil in a heavy based casserole until nicely browned, cover with the stock, add the lemon juice, cinnamon and bay leaves and cook uncovered until the lams begins to soften.
  2. Sauté the onion and add to the lamb.
  3. Mix all the spices with the 4 tablespoons of water and add to the lamb.
  4. Season to taste.
  5. Stir in the yogurt and add the sultana raisins. Simmer gently until the lamb is very tender and the sauce has reduced and thickened.
  6. Stir in the cream and leave for 10 minutes to heat through.
  7. Serve with rice in bowls, pour over some sauce and finish off with a sprinkling of flaked almonds and fresh coriander/parsley leaves.

                                                  Serves six

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