Herbed Cabbage

I didn't like cabbage as a child. Realising I did actually like cabbage was a sign of maturity - I was 24.

Children aren't supposed to like cabbage. If other people didn't like it then I was just certain that I wouldn't like it either... Like sprouts. They're just "urgh" aren't they?!

Umm, no. Aside from being delicious, and good for you - cabbage is also very pretty. It shouldn't make a difference in whether or not something is edible, but it totally does. 

This recipe is another I have pilfered from BBC Good Food although I'd change it a fair bit. As flavoured as this dish was, it should be more. More herbs. More garlic. More yum.

There are 3 ways of making this dish, the way the recipe says, the way I made it in these pictures, and the way I will try next time. Sorry to make it all too complicated, I know it's only cabbage.

I didn't have any goose fat as per the original recipe. I'm a bit fed up of buying expensive only use once ingredients - but I think the plan here is that you make this cabbage on Christmas day and you would already have some for your roasties. (Have you that yet? You really should.) You can buy a jar and keep it in your fridge for months, so if I can find it I will try next time, I reckon it will add some va-va-voom.

Also - the original recipe says to remove the herbs you add in once you flavour the shallots. I did a bit of both for this dish - because I left in some chopped rosemary. Next time I'm going to crush one garlic clove and add that in with even more chopped rosemary. I didn't have shallots and I used leeks as they were in the fridge. It still tasted nice, but I will probably try it with onion next time.

Serves 4- 6

Ingredients

1 savoy cabbage

1 tbsp olive oil (or 4 tbsp goose fat)

1 medium leek. (or 4 shallots, or 1 onion)

2 sprigs of rosemary

2 garlic cloves

Instructions

• Finely chop your your leek/shallots, 1 sprig of rosemary and 1 clove of garlic. Leave to one side
• Quarter the cabbage, remove the core and shred thinly
• Quickly blanch the cabbage in salted boiling water for 3 minutes

• Then tip it all into a colander in the sink, and hold under cold water till cool. Drain well.
• Heat the olive oil (or goose fat) in a pan till hot and sauté the leek/onion/shallots, rosemary and one whole garlic clove and one crushed garlic clove for 5 minutes

• Discard the whole clove of garlic, and rosemary sprig
• Add the cooled cabbage and heat through. This gets steamy!
• Season & enjoy.

I'm trying to resist the temptation of adding bacon to this. You know it would taste SO good. In fact, the bacon might save you the purchase of goose-fat. Bacon flavour that also saves you money? Well all right then. 

Sugar Crusted Lamb

This recipe is delicious and quick to prepare for a dinner party - and pretty unique too. This lamb generally comes out pink > a teeny bit undercooked so be cautious if you're thinking of serving it to a fussy eater. And a small advanced warning about getting an urge to sprinkle sugar on all your dinner - I'm sure it wont taste as good!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

8 lamb cutlets - 700g

Seasoning

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 large sprigs of rosemary

2 tbsp demerara sugar

A smearing of olive oil

Instructions:

• Preheat the grill to high, and place a baking tray underneath it to heat up
• Prepare the lamb by seasoning with salt and pepper
• Strip the rosemary sprigs by stripping the leaves off and discarding the stalk
• Mix the lamb with the rosemary and mustard - ensuring it's well coated
• On a separate plate, spread out the sugar and dip each side of the lamb cutlets onto the sugar
• Take out the baking tray from under the grill, quickly place the cutlets on and return to the grill for 10-12 minutes. Or as long as you can stand the smoking! The sugar does burn - but don't worry, it does not taste burnt.

Recipe is adapted from BBC Good Food, which is a fantastic resource.

Rosemary Chicken

This is one of the first things I learnt to make and feel very proud of. I've adapted the original recipe some what and a lot of the time it's a case of seeing what I have in the fridge. In fact - one variation was Lemon Thyme Chicken, which I think may even have been superior, but I couldn't dare to part with dear old Rosemary. A lot of people may find this quite dry, but I quite like that. This dish does have some orange in it, but for those like me, who hate a savoury orange flavour - do not be alarmed, it's barely noticeable.

Serves 2 - 4 depending on how greedy you are

Ingredients
4 chicken breasts
150g carrots, sliced
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil
A few sprigs of rosemary
10 cloves of garlic, peeled (a scary amount of garlic, but they go sweet and not stinky I promise)
500g baby onions, peeled
500g small new potatoes
1 orange, and the juice of 2
A big dash of salt and a small smidgen of pepper

• Instructions
• Preheat the oven to 180°C
• Prepare your vegetables
• In a large baking dish, place your carrots, garlic cloves, onions, new potatoes and bits of rosemary
• Drizzle over the oil, salt and pepper and mix together
• Place in your chicken breasts in the baking dish, getting them coated with the oil, and leave skin side down
• Halve 1 orange, and cram into your dish
• Put into the oven and cook for 15 minutes
• Take the chicken breasts out for a moment, and give the vegetables a good mix up and turning over before putting the chicken back in, skin side up this time
• Return to the oven and cook for a further 10 minutes
• Take out of the oven again, and mix in your orange juice. Give everything a good stir
• Return to the oven for a further 10 minutes
• Plate up, and drizzle what sauce there is over the chicken breasts

To make it cheaper, you could use different pieces of chicken, like thighs - but you will have to increase the cooking time by about 20 minutes. To make it a bit posher, use shallots rather than baby onions, and use whole baby carrots.

Sausages with Caramelised Onion Gravy

I may have called this blog British Baking - but it's more than that. I spend a long time finding great recipes, and then wandering off to find more - and forgetting the ones I have made, and loved. I want this website to host Great British Food - whether it's cakes, bread - or some lovely stodge like this dinner :) It's a bit of a faff, in time more than cooking skill - but well worth it.

Ingredients:
2 medium - large onions, about 300g (I used 1 red and 1 white onion)
20g butter
1 tbsp sugar (I used demerara - but use what you have in your cupboard)
1 tbsp thyme, finely chopped
400ml beef stock
6 sausages (I used Tesco Finest Linconshire, yum!)
Handful of mushrooms

Instructions:

• Peel the onions and halve (from root to tip, not along the middle). Cut into thin, half moon slices
• Put a pan (with a lid) on medium heat; melt the butter and add the onions
• With the lid on, cook for 10-15 minutes till the onions have softened
• Remove lid, add sugar and cook for a further 15 minutes - stirring regularly
• In the meantime, start to cook your sausages and mushrooms in a separate pan until cooked
• To finish off the gravy - add the thyme and beef stock to the onions and bring to the boil
• Simmer for 5 minutes
• Plate up together and enjoy!
  

As you add the stock, you could add a little bit of red wine, or Worcestershire sauce just to change it up a little bit.