The Scottish Mail on Sunday - You
Stilton, Red onion, Apple And WAlnut tARt
Lennie
These classic flavours create a beautiful tart to serve up at the dinner table. It looks great, tastes delicious and is so easy to make.
SeRVeS 6
1 sheet ready-rolled all-butter puff pastry (about 320g)
25g unsalted butter
3 red onions, thinly sliced
1 tbsp light soft brown sugar 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 heaped tbsp red onion chutney (or any other chutney for cheese) 1 braeburn or gala apple, cored and cut into thin slices
150g stilton or other blue cheese, crumbled
75g walnut pieces
10 fresh thyme sprigs salt
★ Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and place a large baking sheet inside to heat up. Unroll the pastry sheet and place on a large piece of baking parchment. Using a sharp knife, score a 2cm border around the edges, taking care not to cut completely through the pastry. Using a fork, prick the pastry all over inside the border. Transfer the pastry – on the parchment – to the hot baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes until lightly golden all over.
★ Meanwhile, heat the butter in a large heavy-based frying pan, add the onions and a good pinch of salt and fry for about 10 minutes until soft. Add the sugar and vinegar and stir until heated through and the sugar has dissolved. Set aside.
★ Remove the pastry from the oven and gently press down the centre with the back of a fork. Spread the chutney over the pastry, then cover with the onions, keeping within the border. Arrange the apple slices over the onions, then add the crumbled stilton and walnuts, and scatter the thyme on top. Return to the oven for 15 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and the pastry is golden brown.
★ Leave to cool for at least 5 minutes before slicing. It’s also lovely served at room temperature.
Lamb With Pistachio herb crust Jessie
For me, a rack of lamb is the food of love. My first Valentine’s meal with my now husband was when we were 19. In fact, our first Valentine’s Day fell two dates into our courtship a year earlier. It was a Friday night and I had made plans with my friend Amber months before to go on a single girls’ Valentine date in Brixton. So I promised both Amber and Sam I would see them and drank half a bottle of Amaretto for a little Dutch courage. As I slurred a nervous ‘hello’ to his parents in their living room, I was a bag of nerves. Should I have got him a card? Were we actually going to ‘watch a film’ in his bedroom? Would the Amaretto stay down on an empty stomach? But what really threw me was, do I eat the barbecue chicken pizza (my favourite) with the garlic dip ordered by my suitor and risk food in my teeth and foul breath before our potential first kiss? I was so hungry but I weighed up all the risks and resisted, pretending I had already eaten. After the film had finished, he drove me in his mum’s car to Brixton and there we had our first kiss, all five seconds of it, as Amber interrupted us with the fifth call of the night.
The following Valentine’s Day was our ‘anniversary’ so I rustled up a rack of lamb and dauphinoise potatoes. The dish was a declaration of love, so it made sense to try to woo domestic goddess Nigella Lawson with a rack of lamb when she guested on the podcast. I will never forget her sucking on those bones.
This dish is rather easy but looks incredibly fancy. Serve with coco de paimpol or haricot beans and greens.
Lennie
I first tasted coco de paimpol beans at Skye Gyngell’s restaurant Spring. In season during summer and early autumn, they have a wonderful creamy texture. They’re only grown in Brittany, so if they’re not available, I use tinned white haricot beans to serve on the side.
seRVes 4
2 racks of lamb, French trimmed (fat removed and bones cleaned – ask your butcher to do this)
1 tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled 150g shelled pistachios 30g fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves only
30g fresh mint, leaves only grated zest of 1 lemon 75g crustless bread, a day or two old
2 tbsp dijon mustard salt and pepper
★ Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
★ Season the lamb. Heat a heavy-based frying pan over a medium-high heat, add the olive oil and brown the lamb for 2-3 minutes on all sides.
★ Whiz the garlic, pistachios, herbs, lemon zest and bread in a food processor until finely chopped.
★ Spread a tablespoon of mustard over each rack of lamb and coat in the herby breadcrumb mixture, pressing gently so that it sticks.
★ Roast for 15-20 minutes (15 minutes will be very pink). Remove from the oven and leave to stand for 10 minutes before carving and serving.
If serving with tinned haricot beans, drain the beans and tip into a pan, adding a crushed garlic clove, a knob of butter, some chopped fresh parsley and half a chicken stock cube. Cook over a very low heat for about 20 minutes.
TiP
the garlic, herbs, vinegar, olive oil, capers, olives, apricots and prunes. Leave in the fridge to marinate overnight.
★ Preheat the oven to 200C/ 180C fan/gas 6.
★ Tip the chicken and its marinade into a roasting tin. Sprinkle over the brown sugar and add the grapes, if using. Pour the white wine around the chicken mixture and bake for 50 minutes.
★ Taste and adjust the seasoning. Leave to stand for 5-10 minutes before serving. I like to dish this up with rice that’s had some green pesto stirred through it.
You can use all thighs, which are more moist, or all breast pieces – in which case cook for a slightly shorter time to avoid dryness. Alternatively, use only skin-on bone-in thighs, which may need a slightly longer cooking time.
TiP
★ Preheat the oven to 200C/ 180C fan/gas 6.
★ Melt the butter in a large pan, add the potatoes and toss in the butter for 5 minutes.
★ Pour in the boiling water, then add the bay leaves and squeeze in the lemon juice, along with the squeezed lemon halves. Cover with a lid and cook for 15 minutes.
★ Drain the potatoes, then place in a roasting tin along with the bay leaves and lemon halves. Add the smoked rapeseed oil and toss the potatoes until they are coated in oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 40 minutes or until a good golden brown, giving them a stir after 15 minutes. Serve hot.