Thursday, October 1, 2009

Jan's Menu Part 2 (or 3)



Jan's Menu for the YamDaisy Cafe is:
SOUP: Hearty Pea and Ham with Crusty Wholemeal Bread
1ST MAIN: Chickpea Curry and Rice
2ND MAIN: Lambs Fry and Bacon with steamed Potato, Carrots and Broccoli
FRUIT DESSERT: Baked Apples filled with Sultanas and Dried Apricot and served with Greek Yoghurt.

In Part 1 I nodded to the classic Pea and Ham Soup and gave a recipe for Chickpea Curry and Rice.
Then I did a Take 2 so I could show you Jan's own conception of the Chickpea Curry and Rice, so different to the first post!
And now we are down to the Lamb's Fry and Bacon and the Baked Apples

LAMB'S FRY AND BACON WITH STEAMED POTATOES, CARROTS AND BROCCOLI
Although I am a bit of a corrupted vegetarian these days, I have been a vegetarian from the age of 14. And even before I was 14 and decided not to eat any more dear animals... I never, never, not once, was the slightest bit interested in eating any offal at all. Therefore, I have had to do a bit of looking around so that I can write something about Jan's dish of Lamb's Fry and Bacon.

In Australia and New Zealand (I understand) Lamb's Fry applies particularly to Lamb's Livers, and this is what Jan's dish is all about.

Jan told me that she and her mother liked it and explained that it was just a matter of cutting out any gristly bits and veins so you have cubes of liver. Fry this with onion and bacon, and make gravy with flour and butter that has been kneaded into a ball.

I got more information from Geoff, RIP, a great contributor on the Jamie Oliver Forums. Geoff described lamb's liver as tender and quick cooking. If it is grey, tough or grainy it is 'ruined and fit for neither man nor beast'.

Here is a link to the wonderful Maggie Beer's recipe for Lamb's Fry (the video, if you can get hold of it, will explain it even better).

Jan serves it with steamed potato, carrots and broccoli. It is such a wonderful nutritious meal. Wouldn't it be great if the YamDaisy Cafe's were a place where fabulous meals like this were made popular again? It may well remain a 'like it or hate it' dish - modern Australians are notoriously squeamish about offal (it isn't just me!). But it is great to have it an option for those who do love it, and can come to love it.

BAKED APPLES FILLED WITH SULTANAS AND DRIED APRICOTS AND SERVED WITH GREEK YOGHURT
I love making a tray of these, they keep so well in the fridge, I would rarely bother to make less than half a dozen (although it is very easy to do one in the microwave!)

Core your apples; Hopefully you have an apple corer, that can twist from the top to the bottom of the apple and lift the core out. Then break off the bottom quarter of the core and use it to plug the bottom of each apple. Sit the apples in a casserole dish.

Cut up a couple of apricots finely and mix with sultanas, flaked almonds and some sunflower seeds, or chopped walnuts (or both!). You don't need much to fill the cavities!
Squish in as much filling as you can (Is there some left over? O dear, you will have to munch on it!).
Put a dab of butter on top of each (1/4 to 1/2 a teaspoon full) and drizzle honey over the top.
Squeeze juice of an orange into the dish, and a bit more water so juicy syrup will be there at the end.
Bake at 180C for about 45 minutes until they are soft right through...
I cover the apples for the first 30 minutes.
Serve with a dollop of lovely creamy Greek yoghurt.

It makes me long for Winter to return again!

4 comments:

  1. The lamb's fry sounds interesting - I could give it a try. As for the apples... yum,yum!

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  2. The apple recipe is such a temptation and I'm sure I'll prepare it for my family :)
    Have a wonderful weekend :D

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  3. www.figtreeapps@blogspot.comOctober 6, 2009 at 4:02 PM

    Yum what a feast! Figtreeapps

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  4. Hi Joy - just came across your blog via 'One perfect Bite'. Your Yam Daisy Cafe idea sounds interesting. I'll have to come back & read up more about it. I hope it all goes well for you.

    The recipes here sound yum :)

    ciao for now,
    Elena.
    ps: I'm from Melb too :)

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