They're too small for family cooking, in my opinion, but they make a great
serving dish; and who's going to know the difference? ;)
When I do a casserole I like to have leftovers, thus the big slow cooker or
casserole, but if you were just cooking one meal I'm sure they're cool.
Post by Rod Out backFolks,
Got one of these in the christmas stocking.
Anyone here use one?
Any good recipes for using one?
Is there anything special about the lid, or is it just a bit of a wankfest
Here's a Nigella recipe which I've made a few times with success. I
normally use fresh ginger and some dried fruit like dates, prunes, (or
apricots in the cous cous) to Morroccan it up a bit, but like any casserole
you can personalise it to your hearts content...bay leaves & parsley stalks,
carrot and celery would often find their way in too.
Lamb-Shank Stew | Couscous
LAMB-SHANK STEW
Nigella: "Don't let the word stew put you off. Yes, I know it's crippled
with connotations of school-dinner gristle and gluey-gravied mess, but the
lamb shanks here are anything but that. Of course, you could use shoulder,
cut into greed-satisfying chunks, and it still wouldn't be compromise, but
the bone in the shank gives such rounded richness of flavour and there's
something so unpretentiously satisfying about the great meaty hunkiness of
it on the plate. Since supermarkets now routinely stock (or will order in)
lamb shanks, and since they're both meaty and cheap, it makes sense to seek
them out for this.
As with all stews, this is even better made in advance and reheated; for me,
this only makes things easier. The couscous, however, needs to be made last
minute."
Ingredients:
6 tbspns ground nut or vegetable oil
8 Lamb shanks
2 onions
4 cloves of garlic
sprinkling of salt
1 tbspn tumeric
1 tsp ground ginger
1 dried red chilli pepper, crumbled, or quarter teasp dried chilli flakes *
2 tsps cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
black pepper
3 tbspns honey
1 tbspn soy sauce
3 tbspns Marsala
6 tbspns red lentils
to serve:
3 tbspns chopped pistachios, chopped blanched almonds or a mixture of both
Instructions:
Put 3 tablespoons of the oil into a very large, wide, heavy-bottomed pan and
warm over medium heat. Brown the lamb shanks, in batches, in the pan and
then remove to a roasting tin or whatever else you've got to hand to sit
them in.
Peel the onions and garlic and process in a food processor or chop them
finely by hand. Add the remaining oil to the pan, and fry the onion-garlic
mush until soft, sprinkling salt over to stop it catching.
Stir in the turmeric, ground ginger, chilli, cinnamon and nutmeg, and season
with some freshly ground pepper. Stir again, adding the honey, soy sauce and
Marsala. Put the shanks back in the pan, add cold water almost to cover,
bring to the boil then put a lid on the pan, lower the heat and simmer
gently for 1 to 1 and a half hours or until the meat is tender.
Add the red lentils and cook for about 20 minutes longer without a lid,
until the lentils have softened into the sauce, and the juices have reduced
and thickened slightly. Check for seasoning.
Toast the nuts by heating them for a few minutes in a dry frying pan, and
sprinkle onto the lamb as you serve it.
Serves 6
Back to top
COUSCOUS
Nigella: "The lamb shanks can be cooked in advance: this, needs to be done
at the last minute. But relax, it's a low-effort undertaking. If you don't
own a couscoussier (and there's no reason why you should) just steam these
grains above boiling water in an ordinary vegetable steamer. Of course it's
possible to cook couscous just by steeping it in boiling water (and check
packet instructions for directions) but I can't honestly tell you it will
make them as fluffily light.
Otherwise, with this aromatic, sauce-rich stew, just serve plain rice
instead - or a bowlful of buttery mash, of half potatoes, half parsnips,
well seasoned and spiced with mace."
Ingredients:
500g couscous
2 tsps salt
4 cardamom pods
approx 25g unsalted butter in two slices
25g flaked almonds
50g pinenuts
25g pistacchios
Instructions:
Fill the bottom of a steamer, or base of a couscoussier should you possess
one, with water and bring to the boil. When it looks like it's almost ready
to boil, fill the kettle and put it on, then empty the couscous into a glass
bowl, add the salt, crush in the cardamom and mix with your fingers, then
pour over a litre of boiling water from the kettle and place a plate on top
of the bowl. Leave to stand for 5 minutes, then drain and empty into the
steamer or couscoussier top and sit this on top of the boiling water
beneath. Add the slices of butter on top of the couscous then clamp on the
lid and let steam for 7-10 minutes, by which time the couscous should be
tenderly cooked and the butter melting. (You can do this a simpler way, if
you prefer, by just steeping the couscous in the boiling water for 10-15
minutes, but the grains will be more dense and more likely to clump. It's
not disastrous, however, and you must decide what you're prepared to do.)
Meanwhile, toast the almonds by frying them in a dry pan till fragrant and
golden, remove them to a plate then do the same to the pinenuts. Chop the
pistacchios. Once the couscous is cooked, tip into a bowl, fork through (and
always use a fork for mixing or fluffing up couscous; a spoon will crush it
and turn it stodgy), sprinkling in the almonds and pine nuts as you do so
(and taste for seasoning at the same time, too). Now fork in most of the
pistacchios, and sprinkle those that remain lightly on top.