Lamb kofte and herby couscous with citrus and pomegranate dressing

I made this a few weeks ago, after we'd been sent pomegranates in the fortnightly fruit and veg box (which I would generally recommend - it does expose us to a wider range of fruit and veg than I would eat otherwise).
I'd also picked up some reduced lamb mince from Associated Dairies which was just sitting in our (small) freezer waiting for some inspiration to hit. It was the large stockpile of couscous which eventually triggered a Middle Eastern train of thought and so after a little Googling, I came to this. The kofte recipe is an adaption of a Jamie Oliver one (but I don't like pistachios, so left them out) and the couscous recipe comes from BBC Good Food.

Lamb kofte
500g lamb
2 heaped tablespoons of fresh thyme leaves (I think that I used the remnants of a 'Herbes de Provence' packet
1 tablespoon ground chilli
1 tablespoon ground cumin
4 tablespoons sumac if available, or finely grated zest of 1 lemon (yep, I went with the lemon)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
A good handful of pistachio nuts (yuk, no!)

1. Blitz lamb in food processor with thyme, chilli, cumin and sumac, a little salt and pepper. Repeat until it looks like mince.
2. Shape into balls/four pieces (as you will).
3. Griddle.

Herby couscouse with citrus and pomegranate dressing

200g couscous
150g pack of pomegranate seeds (I used 2 pomegranates, which are a bit of a pain to deseed, but there is a knack to it*)
Handful of chopped herbs e.g. coriander
Juice of 1 orange
2 tbsp each white wine vinegar and olive oil

1. Add 200ml boiling water to the couscous (in a shallow bowl), cover (e.g. clingfilm) and leave for 5 mins.
2. Ruffle with a fork to separate the grains, then stir through the pomegranate seeds and herbs.
3. Make the dressing by mixing together the orange juice, white wine vinegar and olive oil and then stirring into the couscous. Season well with salt (it says, but I don't remember adding salt!) and serve.

Delicious and lovely and spicy and warm.

* Deseeding a pomegranate is quite fiddly and can be quite messy apparently. The trick is to deseed while holding the pomegranate in a bowl of water. The seeds will sink, the pith will rise (and can then be removed e.g. with a tea strainer). Much easier.

Shepherd's Pie

An unexpectedly good shepherd's pie was produced this evening, the method hereby recorded for future reference and to assist in repetition.

It all started when I picked up a reduced pack of lamb mince when scouring the shelves in Associated Dairies. For a while, I was thinking along the lines of lamb kofta, but went along the pie route after realising that it had been a little while.

1. Glug of oil and dried rosemary into a stockpot/deep saucepan (I used my IKEA 'fake Le Creuset' stockpot) on a medium heat (3-4/6 on the hob dial)
2. Add two onions, roughly sliced
3. Add lamb
4. Add two tins of tomatoes (one chopped, one plum)
5. 3 leeks, roughly chopped
6. Stir and cover.
7. Pop back in a while, and check how it is getting on - add a lamb stock cube (just crumble it over the contents, don't add water)
8. Stir and cover.
9. Pop back in a while, add a lamb stock cube and some frozen veg (e.g. sweetcorn) and some more rosemary.

At this point, my lovely husband took over, made mash with more rosemary, and made the pie up. Topped off with left over mozzarella and a little parmesan.

Nice.

Lamb tagine in the slow cooker

I've called this 'tagine' because it tastes Moroccaan, and it's suitably catchy. Lamb with Moroccan seasoning and couscous is somewhat of a mouthful.

Anyway - here goes:

2 onions
2/3 carrots,
Vegetable stock (one cube + enough hot water tSo cover the contents in the slow cooker)
Lamb chops (one pack - c. 5 small chops)
Seasoning to taste (in my case, generous shakes of:)
- ground coriander
- ground cumin
- cayenne chilli pepper
- crushed, dried chilli flakes
- a bay leaf (The Husband says all seasoning begins with bay leaves)

This needed to be in the slow cooker for 12 hours - so I popped it on low.

About 20 minutes before eating, add couscous to the slow cooker. Leave to absorb the juices. Add more seasoning and stir in.

Nice, nice, nice. Lamb falling apart. Would work well as a cold meal (e.g. for packed lunches).

Next time, I might trim some of the fat, or sear the meat first - a little on the greasy side, but only a touch.