Easter Lamb with a Sicilian Twist

We’re back! And we can’t believe it is already March, with Easter just a few short weeks away. This Easter, Carine is going to be heading to the wonderful island of Sicily so it was only right that this month’s recipe reflected that, albeit with a bit of a twist.

Sicilians take Easter very seriously. Not only is it a solemn and ritual-laden time, but it is also the beginning of Spring which means lots of lovely things to eat after the long, hard winter. In an area which has been invaded and inhabited by a great many peoples, Easter is a time when the leftovers of these cultures intersect, pagan rituals meeting Catholic processions. 

And the star of this week’s dish – Lamb – is common to both! The pagans would sacrifice a lamb to welcome the Spring, and before the flight from Egypt, Moses advised Jewish families also to sacrifice a lamb, smearing the blood over their doors and eating the meat with unleavened bread. But, as well as being symbolic, it is delicious and never more so than in this month’s mouth-watering dish – lamb shank osso bucco.

Although traditionally a Milanese dish made with veal shanks, Osso Bucco has become a favourite dish the world over and, like most of our favourite dishes, has been reinvented and reimagined many, many times. In this recipe we are substituting the veal with Easter lamb and serving it with delicious baked aubergines – so let’s get started!

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

4 Lamb shanks

sea salt and pepper

1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 tbsp olive oil

1/3 of Small glass of white balsamic vinegar

1 glass white vine

2 tins chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato puree

Sunflower oil

1 vegetable stock cube.

For the soffrito

1 large Carrot

1 Celery Stalk

3 small onions

3 Garlic cloves

Zest of 1 lemon

3 Bay leaves

100ml Olive oil

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180C (Fan)/ Gas Mark4.
• Peel the carrot, onions, and garlic and finely chop, along with the celery, for your soffrito
• Add these to an ovenproof casserole dish along with the bay leaves, lemon zest, and olive oil.
• Pop this on the hob and fry for 20-30 minutes on a low to medium heat, stirring every 5 minutes or so to make sure it does not burn or stick
• Season both sides of your lamb shank with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper then lightly coat them in all-purpose, plain flour.
• Heat the sunflower oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and, once hot, brown your lamb shanks all together until they reach a deep brown colour.
• Once all shanks are brown on both sides, remove from the pan and set aside.
• Add the tomato purée to your soffrito and cook for a further 10 minutes over a low-to medium heat.
• Add the vinegar, white wine, and stock cube and let it reduce for 5 minutes on a high heat. 
• Add your shanks to the pan, along with chopped rosemary, sea salt and pepper to taste and put the casserole dish, uncovered, into the oven for at least 2-3 hours.
• Be sure to check on your dish every 30-45 minutes, if it begins to run out of juice, add half a cup of water.

Once cooked, your Osso Bucco sauce should look a bit dry but the meat will be meltingly tender.

Baked Aubergines

Ingredients

3 aubergines

50g Parmesan

Handful flat-leaf parsley

1 large clove garlic

2 slices of wholemeal bread

100 ml Olive oil

1 medium glass water

Salt & Pepper to taste

Method

• Start by mixing the bread, parmesan, garlic and parsley in your food processor until you reach a crumbly texture, then set aside.
• Slice your aubergines into thick rounds.
• Then it is simply a case of layering the two up – one layer of aubergine, then olive oil, salt and pepper, then a sprinkling of the breadcrumbs.
• Repeat until you run out of aubergine.
• Add the water and top up with the remaining breadcrumb mix, keeping back just a little as a garnish.
• Bake for 30-45 min at 180C (Fan) or until cooked.

 

Serve with your Osso Bucco, the last sprinkle of your breadcrumbs and a dash of good finishing olive oil.

And speaking of good olive oil – that will be the tasty theme of Matango’s next supper club! Come try some of the finest, most fragrant olive oil you will ever taste and have a culinary trip to the Mediterranean, without ever leaving London. Tickets are available here. Keep your eyes out for more details soon!

What will you be having for Easter lunch? Get in touch on Twitter and let us know!

Winter Warming Pot Au Feu

Well, we promised you a delicious, hearty winter-warmer, so that’s exactly what you’re getting this week – it’s Pot au Feu! This classic French dish is a staple during the winter months and it’s got everything you might want on a cold January night after work. Literally translated as "pot on the fire", (doesn’t get much cosier than that, eh?!) this dish uses mostly winter vegetables and the best cuts of beef for stewing. It is one of Carine’s favourite classic slow-cooked stews - earthy; meaty and full of vegetables, served in a clear broth which is – and here we quote – “scrumptiously delicious”.

Sounds pretty good, huh? Let’s get started! This recipe serves 6 people, and can be a real showstopper, or you can simply keep it all for yourself and have it several days in a row!

Ingredients

• 1.5kg Beef (choose the best cuts for stewing – we recommend oxtail, cheeks, brisket or additional lean beef)
• Beef bones for deeper flavour (optional)
• 3 large carrots
• 2 sticks of celery
• 2 potatoes
• 2 turnips
• 2 medium leeks
• 1 onion
• 5 cloves
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Bouquet Garni (2 bay leaves, 5 fresh sprigs of thyme, parsley – traditionally tied together with cooking string, but this isn’t strictly necessary!)
• 1 beef or vegetable stock cube (optional)
• 10 black peppercorns
• Coarse sea salt (to taste)

Method

1) Tie your meat with cooking string to help it keep its shape while it cooks. If you can’t find cooking string, cut the meat into big chunks instead.

2) Peel the carrots, wash your leeks and celery, then cut all into large chunks.

3) Peel your onion and stud it with the cloves.

4) Place your meat, stock, and bones if you have them in a large pot and add 5 litres of cold water.

5) Bring to the boil and skim the broth regularly, removing the foam.

6) Once the mixture no longer forms a foam on the top, turn down the heat and add the rest of the ingredients.

7) Bring the mix back to the boil, cover it then let it simmer over a very low heat for a minimum of 4 hours (if you have a slow-cooker, you can use this, turning the setting to “Low”).

8) To serve, remove the meat and vegetables from the broth and place them on a plate, then ladle over a little broth. Carine serves her pot au feu with Dijon mustard or Dijon Mayonnaise, but we’ll leave your condiment choices up to you.

Bon appetite! We hope this warms your cockles. If you do have a go making this at home, get in touch on Twitter and let us know – we’d love to hear how you got on! 

Urban Foraging - Chestnuts

Chestnuts are a fabulous, wintry ingredient which can be used in all sorts of Christmassy recipes – whizz them into your stuffing for a little earthiness, add them to a nut-roast for your vegetarian friends, or simply roast them and eat them with a little salt. You can buy chestnuts in your local supermarket for around £1 for 100g, perhaps a little more or less if you go for a trendy farmers’ market, but we’re going to give you a few tips on how to find them for free, right on your doorstep!

Carine loves to forage, be it for windfall plums spotted by someone’s garden, or mushrooms in the woods of Sweden, there is nothing she likes better than to be out of doors, looking for food. And chestnuts are some of her favourites which can be found in the heart of London, so she took us urban foraging to demonstrate.

The two locations she chose this week were Clapham Common and Putney Heath – both medium-sized green havens most commonly used by dog-walkers and families with small children. I’d love to tell you exact locations, but Carine has sworn me to secrecy – partly because part of the fun is stumbling across these treasure troves yourself and partly because...Carine doesn’t want you stealing all her chestnuts! She spotted the trees on Clapham Common one day when she was taking her daughter to playgroup and it goes to show how little these natural foodbanks are signposted.

Here are a few tips to follow to ensure you find a bumper crop:

1) When it comes to nuts, there is a high possibility that a squirrel or two will beat you to it. Since they need the food too, we don’t suggest you fight them off, just try to go early on in the season and there will be enough for you both.

2) Make sure you know the difference between the chestnuts you can roast and eat (“sweet chestnuts” - larger) and the chestnuts you make conkers with (smaller). Take a look at our pictures to be sure.

3) You’re going to need gloves because chestnuts can be very spiky – if you don’t have suitable hand-wear, place your chestnut on the ground and gently prise them open with your feet, rolling them around a bit first with your foot to loosen them up.

4) Try to go for ones which are already starting to open – this shows they are ripe.

5) Chestnuts often come with three or so inside – two little ones and one big one, go for the biggest.

And there you have it! The perfect winter day out – pick your area, bring the family (and plenty of gloves) and go exploring! You don’t need to look just for chestnuts either, while we were out, we also found some apples and Carine plans to whip something up using them both. So keep an eye out for that and, until next time, happy foraging!

And, to see a bit more, check out Carine's YouTube channel HERE.

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So you think you know BBQ...

Just over a week to go until Matango’s fabulous event Le Grill takes place in Whitechapel on Thursday 19th November!

This is not your average BBQ, ladies and gentlemen, this is a BBQ inspired by Carine’s Cameroonian heritage, and the food she loves to eat. There will be a taste of the tropical, deliciously smoky meat, fish, and vegetables and - most importantly - Carine’s secret marinade, from her line of sauces Marie’s Little Jar.

This week, Carine has been working with the guys at Far Out Food – trialling, testing, and tasting in order to come up with the best menu possible, and you can get an idea of what that looks like on our YouTube channel HERE.

Just in case you missed last week’s post, we’ll remind you that at Le Grill we will be holding a competition to find a name for Carine’s delicious secret marinade “The Green Jar”. Whoever wins will receive a special prize and the pride of seeing their chosen name on hundreds of jars of this unique and wonderful sauce.

We’re still keeping the food a surprise for you all, but just for an idea, you might tuck into –

Sample Menu

Welcome nibbles to dip in a hot sauce.

Flame-Grilled Mackerel or Halloumi with a wintry Fennel and Beetroot salad.

Grilled Chicken or Aubergine, cooked with “The Green Sauce” from Marie’s Little Jar and served with a light, warm Lentil salad.

Barbecued Pineapple tossed in spicy syrup.

So get booking, this is one BBQ not to be missed! If you still haven’t got tickets for the 19^th you can buy them HERE.