Saturday 5 October 2013

Lamb and flagelot bean stew (serves 5, prep time: 15 mins, cooking time: 90 mins)

This is very comforting and tasty as the nights draw in and the temperatures decline. I love to cosy up with a tasty, warming stew!

400g lamb rump steak, diced
2 medium-sized onions, diced finely
3 cloves garlic, sliced finely
Worcestershire sauce
150ml red wine
300ml stock
400g chopped tomatoes (1 tin)
800g flagelot beans (2 tins)
2 large carrots, diced
250g mushrooms, diced
1 celeriac, peeled and diced
1 tbsp tomato puree
Fresh thyme (salt & pepper if desired)



Roll the lamb rump in seasoned flour and fry it (in a non-stick frying pan with olive oil) until browned. 

At the same time, in a large stainless steel stewpot, sweat the onion over a gentle heat for 5 minutes, adding the garlic partway through.

When the lamb pieces are all browned, add those to the stewpot, too. Splash some Worcestershire sauce over the meat and allow the onion, garlic and lamb to infuse for a minute or two before adding the red wine, stock and tomatoes. 
Stir well.
Allow to cook for 5 minutes. Then add the beans, carrots, mushrooms and celeriac. 
Squirt in the tomato puree and add the fresh thyme and seasoning.

Simmer gently on the stove top for between and hour and and hour and a half to allow all the flavours to infuse. 

Strawberry cake - wheat free, sugar free, delicious

It was my son's dad's birthday and we decided to make a cake. I asked what kind of cake we should make. The answer... strawberry cake with purple icing. 
I don't recommend the icing, but the strawberry cake was good! It's wheat free, whole grain, sugar free and strawberries have a fair amount of fibre from the seeds.

200g organic stoneground, wholegrain spelt flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
100g organic unsalted butter (at room temperature)
100ml agave nectar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
A splash of milk
400g fresh strawberries, halved with stalks removed


Mix together the flour and baking powder in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, blend together the soft butter and agave nectar. I used a hand blender.  When blended into a creamy paste, add the egg and vanilla paste and mix thoroughly.

Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter/agave/egg /vanilla mixture, stirring continuously. If it starts to look dry, add a splash of milk if desired. The final mixture should be thick and gloopy, not runny but also not dry with powdery bits visible.

Put the cake mixture into a greased 8" baking dish. Put the strawberries on the top.

Bake in the oven at 160 degrees for 1 hour. Keep an eye on it so the strawberries don't burn!


in the oven




cooked   - with purple icing