Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 240°C/475°F/gas mark 9.
Make the herb rub by first crushing the garlic and finely chopping the parsley and marjoram. Mix them together in a bowl with the thyme leaves, margarine, lemon zest and peel and mustard, seasoning well with salt and pepper.
Using a spoon, carefully lift the skin of the chicken from around its cavity and, with your hands, push the lemon and herb rub underneath the skin, spreading over the chicken as far and as evenly as you can without breaking the skin. Place the chicken in a large roasting tin, stuffing the cavity with the leftover lemon halves, then pour the lemon juice over the whole chicken and season well with salt and pepper.
Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into large chunks, approximately 5cm/2in in size. Surround the chicken with the sweet potatoes and pour over the olive oil.
Place in the oven, immediately reducing the temperature to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7, and roast for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until the chicken is golden and, when pierced with a skewer, the juices run clear. (Always test the meat of the thigh rather than the breast as it is the slowest to cook.) If you feel the chicken or sweet potatoes are browning too quickly, then cover with foil for the remaining cooking time.
Once roasted, remove from the oven, cover with foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Herbed Lamb on a Bed of Leeks and Cannellini Beans
This recipe is perfect for spring, with all the wonderful fresh lamb that is available at this time of year. The ingredients are so simple, yet produce a classic combination of texture and flavour – the rich meat with the tender, tangy leeks and the creamy bite of the cannellini beans. This dish makes a meal in itself, but it’s also delicious served with lightly crushed Jersey Royal new potatoes, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt.
Serves 4
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350g/12oz leeks
5 cloves of garlic
A small bunch of flat-leaf parsley
Leaves from 2 sprigs of rosemary
3 tbsp olive oil
4 lamb chops or 8 lamb cutlets
2 x 400g tins of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp soft light brown sugar
150ml/5fl oz chicken or vegetable stock
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
Halve the leeks lengthways and slice into thin half-moons, then crush the garlic and finely chop the parsley. Place the leeks in a large roasting tin or ovenproof dish, add the crushed garlic and the rosemary leaves and pour over the olive oil. Season well with salt and pepper and mix together thoroughly. Level out the leeks so that they form an even layer and then place the lamb chops or cutlets on top, spacing them evenly apart.
Cover loosely with foil and cook in the oven for 20 minutes, then remove from the oven and discard the foil. Scatter the cannellini beans over the leeks and gently mix together. Stir the sugar into the stock and pour over the lamb, leeks and beans, then return to the oven for 20–25 minutes or until the lamb is cooked through and tender.
Scatter the chopped parsley over a chopping board, then transfer the lamb chops or cutlets to the board, gently rolling the outside rim of each chop in the parsley to coat it. Serve the lamb resting on a large pile of the leeks and cannellini beans with the juices from the tin drizzled over.
Honey-baked Leg of Lamb
This is such a glorious recipe, the lamb coated in a creamy spiced marinade that soaks into the meat and chars on cooking, producing the most divine combination of flavours. It's a great dish to serve friends and family as it looks so wonderfully generous placed on the table and carved for each person. You could serve it for a dinner party or as part of a more relaxed spread. The Persian Jewelled Quinoa lends just the right body and texture to the overall dish. Add a green salad and a large bowl of houmous and I, for one, am in heaven!
Serves 4
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5 cloves of garlic
250ml/9fl oz oat cream, chilled
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp chilli flakes
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp runny honey
1 x 1kg/2lb 3oz boned leg of lamb
Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7.
Begin by crushing the garlic, then make the marinade by mixing this with the oat cream, lemon juice, chilli, cumin, sea salt, olive oil and honey. (It helps if the oat cream has been chilled first as it thickens up and acts like yoghurt.)
Lay the boned leg out flat, fat side down to begin with. Using a sharp knife, trim the lamb to make it level, scoring and cutting the joint if necessary, so that you end up with a flat piece of meat, reasonably even in thickness. Spread the marinade over both sides of the meat, working it into all the corners and cuts.
Lay the lamb on a rack in a large roasting tin and bake in the oven for 30–35 minutes. This will produce meat that is slightly pink in the middle, so cook it for an extra 5–10 minutes if you prefer it well done. The spiced cream will make a fragrant crust which may scorch during cooking, but don’t worry as this only adds to the flavour.
Once cooked, remove from the oven, cover loosely with foil and allow to rest for 15 minutes, then slice into thick wedges and serve with the Persian Jewelled Quinoa.
Chicken and Apricot Tagine
Like most spiced dishes, tagines benefit from being made the day before and then heated through the following day, allowing time for their flavour to develop properly. ‘Tagine’ refers both to the earthenware pot – a traditional north African cooking vessel with a distinctive conical lid – and to the food cooked in it, the spices and juices of the ingredients amalgamating to produce meat that is intensely flavoured and meltingly tender. If you don’t possess a tagine, then a casserole dish with a fitted lid will do just as well.
Serves 4
Contains nuts
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30g/1¼oz pine nuts
2 red onions
150g/5oz soft dried apricots
A bunch of coriander
4 skinless chicken breasts
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cinnamon
425ml/15fl oz chicken or vegetable stock
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
You will need a tagine or heavy-based casserole dish with a lid for this recipe
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.
Scatter the pine nuts on a baking tray and toast in the oven, turning them occasionally to make sure they don’t burn, for 5–6 minutes or until golden brown, then remove and set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, halve the onions, slicing them into thin half-moons, then halve the dried apricots and finely chop the coriander. Cut up the chicken breasts into 2.5cm/1in cubes.
Heat the olive oil in the tagine or casserole dish and gently fry the onions over a medium heat for 5–6 minutes