I don't get ill very
often, but when I do I'm pretty pathetic. In the last few weeks
everyone's been ill; My other half, my nephew, everyone at work. It
was inevitable it would get me at some point. So come Friday I was
bunged up, grumpy and generally feeling out of sorts. This is how I
deal with it:
Day One: Pretend you're
not ill. Go to work, power through, and just moan at anyone who'll
listen.
Day Two: Take to the
couch in a melodramatic fashion. Leave the house only to buy tinned
chicken soup, vitamin C supplements and pain killers. Watch films
from under a duvet, then have a hot toddy and go to bed in a grump.
 | |
| Trying to cure the cold/flu |
Lamb shanks in red
wine with spring onion mash, carrots and kale.
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| It's a bit dark this picture isn't it? |
First
toss the lamb in some seasoned flour and brown it off in a hot pan.
You don't necessarily need to add flour, but I find it helps to
thicken the sauce a bit. You want the meat to have a decent colour
all over it.
Put
the lamb in a big casserole dish. I dream of a Le Creuset dish or
equivalent which can go straight in the oven! But don't have one at
the moment.
Slice
a couple of red onions and two cloves of garlic and fry that off in
the same pan you did the meat in then add them to the casserole.
De-glaze
the pan with a bit of red wine to get any sticky bits off the bottom
then add it to the casserole, along with another large glass of red
wine, and a pint of stock (chicken or vegetable).
Mix
in a tablespoon of tomato puree, and season with some salt and
pepper. Then stir in some sprigs of rosemary, thyme and a bay leaf or
two.
Cover
it and stick in a low oven for at least two hours at 150 degrees.
It's done when the lamb just pulls away from the bone. For the last
half an hour take the lid off so the juices reduce a little bit. I turned the meat once or twice to keep it moist.
 |
| Before... |
Mine ended up being in for about three hours, as my Mum and Dad came
round. It's a very forgiving recipe though...
 | |
| After.... |
For
the mash... er, make mash. Boiled potatoes, plenty of butter, a touch
of cream and milk. To make spring onion mash stir in some finely
chopped spring onions.
The sauce should be
really rich, so I'm keeping the veg simple with big piles of
restorative steamed kale and carrots.
What to do with the
leftovers:
There
ought to be loads of lovely sauce, and it transforms into the most
amazing ragu-like sauce for pasta mid week. Once it's cooled just take any bits of fat off the top. Any bits of lamb leftover
(our shanks were enormous... I do love my butcher) just pull it apart
so it's almost shredded. Put your pasta on, heat up the sauce (and
any shredded bits of lamb) and add a load of fresh spinach and halved
cherry tomatoes. Pour the pasta into the sauce and stir it through on
the heat for a minute or two and its ready to eat. Amazing midweek
dinner, and makes your lamb shanks seem like really good value for money.
My hot toddy recipe
(no idea if it's authentic):
- Put one measure of
whisky in a mug. It doesn't have to be the nicest in the world, but
something half decent will do.
- Take a slice of lemon
and half it. Squeeze the juice out of one half of the slice into the
whisky. Stick a couple of cloves into the other half of it and put
that in the whisky.
- Top up with water
that boiled a couple of minutes ago then add a teaspoon of honey.
Give it a good stir and drink it while it's still quite hot.
Yum. It soothes the
throat, and knocks you out. What's not to love?
