White Beans with Lamb Pastrami

White bean ... a healthy ingredient to eat and incredibly versatile and easy to cook. White bean is a staple in my kitchen. It is an extremely versatile ingredient that can shows up in any course, from salads, appetizers and soups to stir-fries and stews. It can also be served as an accompaniment to other foods, from grilled meats to roast vegetables. The beans can also be mashed or blended to make a savory dip that is similar to hummus.
White beans are very high in fiber, potassium, calcium, iron and a good source of protein, which can make an great meat substitute for vegetarians.
Today I'll show you some of my creations and some suggestions for this versatile ingredient.

White beans puree with pastrami of lamb
400 g pastrami of lamb
1/2 tsp ground cumin
salt and black pepper
a little olive oil, for frying

White Beans Puree
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced
salt and black pepper
2 x 400 g cans white beans
1-2 tbsp lemon juice to taste

Smoked paprika and onions
4 tsp olive oil
1 white onion, chopped
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp chopped thyme
salt and black pepper

To garnish (optional)
edible flowers
Affilla cress
2 red radishes, sliced
baby asparagus

To make the white beans puree, place the white beans, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper in the bowl of a small food processor and process until smooth. Set aside.
For the lamb, mix together, cumin, salt and pepper. Sprinkle all over the clean and sliced lamb pastrami.
Heat a little olive oil in a heavy-based fry-pan or grill and cook lamb over a medium to high heat until done to your liking (about 2-3 minutes each side).
To make the Smoked paprika and onions, in a pan, heat and the olive oil add chopped onions, smoked paprika, garlic, thyme, salt and black pepper. Give it a good stir until onions become soft.
To serve, heat 4 dinner plates. Heat and divide the white bean puree between the plates, arrange the lamb pastrami on top, then the onions and smoked paprika sauce. Garnish with sliced of red radish, baby asparagus, Affillia cress and edible flowers.

Here is another way to play with white beans. I added beetroot jus to my white beans puree and I served with Sea bass, green peas and salmon caviar.

And here we have Mediterranean white beans salad with Red Snapper and coriander tomatoes salsa.

Enjoy! :) Pin It Now!

Lamb Shanks

As I always say, time spent caring for your food is time well spent. 

I've been wanting to post this recipe for a long, long time. This is my favorite braised lamb shank recipe. To cook lamb shank it takes patience. Shank it's the lower part of the leg, from the knee down. As in any animal, the most-used muscles are the toughest ones, so the shank is one of the toughest cuts you can find on a lamb. With other cuts of lamb, you can grill them, you can roast them, you can make minced meat....etc. With shanks, you must cook them in a pot with some liquid for long time, otherwise you can not eat them. In this recipe, lamb shanks are slowly cooked in the oven with fresh herbs, garlic, red wine....etc. It has a fantastic flavor and the meat just falls off the bone. It's delicious when served with mashed potatoes. Please adjust seasonings to your own individual tastes. I sometimes add chili paste to the marinade. Hope you enjoy it as much as Primo Piano restaurant (Norway) clients do.

Here is the video recipe.

                   This video belongs to TV Vestfold, Norway http://www.tvvestfold.no/program.php?video_id=2317
Ingredients
4 lamb shanks

750ml (1 bottle) red wine (preferably Marsala)
1 liter fresh lamb stock or beef stock

2 large onions

3 cloves of garlic 

1 sprig of thyme 

1 sprig of rosemary 

2 bay leaves 

3 star anise

3-4 dry chilies - I use piri piri

green peppercorns

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

140g shallots or onions 

150g carrots 

80g celery (1 stick)

100g bacon 

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp chopped herbs (thyme, rosemary..)

To serve: mashed potatoes and  pomegranate seeds 

Method

With a sharp knife, cut about 1 inch from the bottom (narrow end) of the shank bones down to the bone and all the way around; this will help expose the bone while cooking. Set aside. 

Place the lamb shanks in the bottom of a casserole (or any oven-proof dish) with a lid. Add the sliced onions on top . Pour the wine and stock over the lamb; add the garlic, thyme, rosemary bay leaves, star anise, chili and peppercorn.

Marinate in the refrigerator overnight. 

Cover and place in the preheated oven to 160 degrees C. Cook for 3 hours or until the lamb is soft. Cool the lamb shanks in the sauce.

Remove the lamb from the pot, sieve the liquid into another pan, discard the vegetables.

Peel the carrots, celery and shallots and chop them into small pieces.

Heat one tablespoon of oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and fry the bacon, carrots, onions, and celery until they begin to turn brown.

Add the stock and brown sugar to the pot, bring it to the boil and then turn down the heat to a gentle simmer until the liquid has reduced by three quarters and become thicker, to make the sauce.

Place the lamb back into the pot and gently reheat the lamb for about ten minutes.

Add the chopped herbs.

Here, we served it with mashed potatoes and pomegranate seeds.

Enjoy.

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Curry and Lamb Rogan Josh

Most people in the world today know what a curry is - or at least they think that.
Curry is a concept rather than a strict recipe and is no particular ingredient that makes "curry." It can be customized when you use the different local spices. Even though the same meats and vegetables are used in the curry, tastes completely different in every region. The curries are mainly eaten with rice, breads (like naan or ciapati), poppadum (fried or baked crispy bread made from chick peas flour or chana) or potatoes and served on the side with pickles or chutney.

No curry is truly complete without onions, garlic, chili and ginger. These four ingredients are always best used fresh. Onions are always finely chopped and sautéed until translucent or brown in the beginning in any curry. Ginger is usually grated or chopped very fine and garlic can be sliced or crushed.The level of heat is given by the amount and the type of chili we use. Dry chili can be used instead. The heat level of fresh chilies is reduced with the length of cooking so add them earlier if you like it milder and later if you prefer it hotter.
In India, the curry is flavored with spices like clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, anise, bay leaf, coriander, cumin, cardamom, fenugreek, curry leaves and turmeric.

In Pakistan they flavor the curry, which is either mutton or chicken, with masalas powder, garlic, vinegar, cumin, turmeric, tomatoes and coriander.
Chinese curry is more watery and can be made with all kinds of meats, all kind of vegetables in a mildly spicy yellow curry sauce, and served with stir fry vegetables over steamed rice or noodles. Soy sauce, hot sweet chili sauce, may be added to the sauce to enhance the flavor of the curry.
In Japan and Korea curry is considered to be a Western dish. It is usually eaten with rice and pickled vegetables, like pickled ginger or pickled daikon -white radish.
Malaysian curries typically use curry powders rich in turmeric, tamarind, coconut milk, ginger, shrimp paste, and garlic. In Malaysian curry all kind of things can be use including lamb, chicken, shrimp, with aubergine, boiled eggs, and vegetables.
In Thai cuisine, curry it’s a dish with a sauce based on a paste made with local ingredients such as chili peppers, kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, galangal and coconut milk. Thai curries tend to be more aromatic than Indian curries. In the West, Thai curries are described by color. Red curries use red chilies while green curries use green chilies. Yellow curry is use to make "curry soup" and is more similar to Indian curries, with the use of turmeric and cumin.
In the UK’s ''curry" is one of the most popular dishes. Curry in UK means that a meat, vegetable or fish dish is cooked in a spicy sauce and served with rice or bread.In 1390 the first English cookery book was written, called ‘The Forme of Cury’. ‘Cury’ was the Old English word for cooking or boiling.So when the English merchants landed in India in 1610, the word ‘cury’ had been part of the English language for over two hundred years.Whatever the real Indian, ‘curry’ was rapidly adopted in Britain cuisine.They own creations and most well know curry in the UK is chicken tikka masala.
Here is my favorite version of Rogan Josh and this one is made by me many times with great success. Rogan Josh is one of the most important curries of India and is very easy to make. This Rogan Josh is a proper curry made from scratch without curry paste from market, with lots of flavor and creaminess from the yoghurt. The nice mix of spices like cardamom, cinnamon, cumin, chili and ginger, turns the lamb into an aromatic fiesta.
Ingredients for 10 persons
100 ml vegetable oil
2 pieces - 5cm cinnamon stick
4 bay leaves
1 large spoon green cardamom seeds
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 kg onions, finely chopped
500 ml of lamb stock
1 tbsp. chili flakes
1 tsp. cumin seeds (jeera seeds)
3 tbsp. tomato purée
2 kg lamb leg, or stewing lamb, cubed
1 tsp. salt
200 ml yogurt
1 tbsp. sugar
50 gr fresh coriander
Juice from one lemon
Lamb marinate
1 tbsp. ground cumin
1 tbsp. of ground coriander
1 tbsp. chili flakes
1 tbsp. of ground turmeric
1 tbsp. minced garlic
6 cm of diced fresh ginger
3 tbsp. of garam masala
Method
Marinate the cubed lamb meat with all the marinate ingredient and leave them aside for minimum 2 hours (or overnight.).

In a large saucepan heat the oil in a heavy-based pan. Tip in the cinnamon sticks, bay leaves cardamoms seeds, cumin seeds and dry chili flakes. When they sizzle (make sure they don't burn) add the garlic and the onion and fry until the onions are nicely caramelized.

Add the lamb and fry for 5 to 7 minutes until it changes color. Pour in 500 ml of lamb stock, cover and simmer on a low heat for 40 minutes until the meat is tender.

The mixture can be frozen at this stage. Defrost thoroughly before reheating and bring to the boil.Remove the lid and stir in the tomato puree and mix. Add the salt, yogurt, lemon juice, sugar and cook for 10 more minutes.

 When the oil rise to the top of the saucepan means the curry is ready. Stir in the coriander leaves.

Just before serving you could garnish it with chopped coriander leaves.
Serve with Basmati rice, wild rice, Bombay potato, chutney (recipe here) and poppadum.

Here the lamb Rogan Josh is served with wild rice, popadomus and mango chutney.

 Here I made the curry with Wild board and served with rice, red curant chutney and fresh mint leaves.

Here is my way of Thai chiken curry served with rice and spice banana.

More recipe of diferent curry soon.

Enjoy.

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