Lamb Cutlets and Fritteda

I finally cooked the fritteda! I didn't half the ingredients, so I made it up. I like this way of cooking vegetables though, so I'll probably do it more often.
Fritteda
2 small potatoes
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and squashed
300g of green beans
half a cauliflower
2 medium zucchinis
1/2 Cup frozen peas
a handful of mint leaves
Chop all the vegetables into around 1cm pieces. Heat some oil in a heavy based frying pan, then add the potato and garlic. Cook, stirring, until the potatoes are slightly browned. Add the green beans, cauliflower and 1/3 Cup of water. Simmer over a medium-low heat until the water is almost all gone (about 10 minutes). Add the zucchini and peas, and some more water if it needs it. Simmer for another 5 minutes, or until all the vegetables are tender. Stir in the mint, and serve.
Lamb Cutlets
Trim the cutlets, drizzle with lemon juice and set aside for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with cracked pepper. Grill (under the griller) for two or three minutes each side. Easy!

Layered Shepherds Pie

I am one of those odd people that plans to have leftovers. Most of our leftovers go straight into lunch-size containers and into the freezer, so we never have to buy our lunch at work. Sometimes though, I plan leftovers to be eaten in another meal. Lamb roast becomes lamb fritters or Greek souvlaki wraps. Roast chicken becomes chicken risotto, which becomes arancini. (yum!)

For this Leftover Tuesday, it's a bit different. We bought a whole side of lamb a month ago. I made stock with the bits I couldn't identify, but I rescued all the meat that got boiled up. Sounds appetising, I know. But this meat is so tender, it deserved to be rescued. And Leftover Tuesday was a good excuse to use it. This recipe would work equally well with any leftover roast meat, or chicken, I think. I'm sorry it's such a loose recipe, but it doesn't really need a lot of measuring. Trust yourself!

Layered Shepherds Pie

Dried shittake mushrooms

An onion and a clove of garlic, diced

Left over meat, chopped as finely as you can

Tomato paste, soy sauce, vegetable stock powder (whatever seasonings you like, really)

Assorted root vegetables (I chose 4 small potatoes and a renegade beetroot. The beetroot had somehow escaped from being roasted earlier in the week)

Two big leaves of silverbeet (leftover from Ryan's spinach and ricotta

Milk and butter for the mash

Grated cheese

Boil the kettle and soak the mushrooms. Meanwhile, chop the potatoes (and beetroot) and put them on to boil. Heat some oil in a pan and add the onion and garlic, stirring until the onion is soft. Add the lamb, just to heat through. If you have any other vegetables to add, now is the time. Capsicum or tomato (finely diced) would be good.

When the stuff in the pan is all heated through, throw in the mushrooms with their soaking liquid. This is the base for the gravy, so add a tablespoon or so of tomato paste, a dash of soy sauce, and any other herbs or flavourings. Let it simmer for 10 minutes, then take it off the heat.

When the potatoes are soft, drain them and mash. Adding the beetroot made for a funky pink version, and added some depth of flavour. Chop the silverbeet finely and then steam it briefly (just until it darkens in colour slightly).

Finally put it all together - the meat at the bottom of a casserole dish, topped with the silverbeet, topped with the mash and then cheese on top. Heat in a medium oven until the cheese is melted. Enjoy!

Thanks for hosting this Pam!

Lamb Fritters - another way with left overs

I've been putting off writing this post, because I couldn't figure out the recipe. I know I must have used one, I'm just not sure which.

Anyway, fritters as the title suggests, are a great way to use up leftovers. Just chop it small, add to batter, and fry.

First you need the batter. It doesn't really matter what's in it, as long as it's a bit thicker than pancake batter.

Donna Hay's basic fritter batter:

1 cup SR Flour

2 eggs

20g butter

1/3 cup milk

salt and pepper

I've made them with plain flour before, and with chickpea flour. Once the batter is whisked and de-lumped, add your chopped things. Corn kernels and spring onion are traditional. We chose left over roast lamb, green capsicum and some mushroom. Any vegetables would work, provided they aren't too runny.

Heat some oil in a frying pan, and then fry the batter, a quarter cup at a time. The fritter is ready to turn when bubbles appear on the surface.

Make sure you eat them warm!

Lamb Souvlaki Wraps

This is one of my favourite left-overs recipes. I've only ever tried it with left over lamb roast, but it could be pretty good with chicken too. So I'm having my very own left-over Tuesday.
Lamb Souvlaki Wraps
Slice up any left over roast lamb, as thin as possible. Marinade it as long as you can with garlic and olive oil. You can add a thinly sliced onion if you like.
Meanwhile, drain and rinse a can of white or butter beans. Mash them with a fork, but leave it a bit lumpy. Mix in some lemon juice, crushed garlic, cracked pepper and some finely chopped parsley if you have some.
Fry up the lamb and onion. It really only needs to be warmed through, but I like it a bit crispy (like kebab meat). Then assemble - spread your flat bread with the bean dip, top with salad and lamb. Roll it all up. If you're feeling very gourmet, you can toast it in a sandwich press. Ta dah! Instant dinner.