Add the oil into a high-sided saucepan, then add the chopped celery, carrot, onion and garlic clove.
Sauté together over medium heat. Add the curry powder and rosemary leaves when the onion has become translucent.
Pour a little stock to remove the fond from the saucepan and then decant to the pressure cooker.
Add all the legumes, tomatoes, and vegetable stock, and mix with a wooden spoon.
Place the lamb into the cooking vessel.
To add an extra kick, grind some rock salt and whole peppercorns with a pestle in a mortar, and add to the pressure cooker before sealing the lid.
Cook under pressure for about 60 minutes.
Allow the pressure to equalise naturally, and open the cover.
Take the meat out and break it up in a bowl. It should be tender enough to pull apart.
Transfer the remaining contents into a saucepan and bring to a simmer to reduce.
Add the meat and stir with a spoon when the soup becomes more like a stew.
Cook the pasta as per the instructions on the packaging.
Spoon the pasta into a bowl and add some meaty legume stew.
Give thanks to the Lord.
Eat with a spoon.
Photographs
Cans of borlotti beans, lentils, and tomatoLamb shoulder rolled roastSan Remo Pasta Pro Multigrain Protein PastaPulled lamb shoulder meatSan Remo Pasta Pro Multigrain Protein PastaPressure cooker lamb shoulder legume stew with San Remo Pro PastaPressure cooker lamb shoulder legume stew with San Remo Pro PastaPressure cooker lamb shoulder legume stew with San Remo Pro Pasta
Today, Thursday, 20230126, is a gazetted public holiday in Australia. I’m on-call and doing some work, but I have time to post something here.
I didn’t post last weekend because I was in Brisbane to see my daughters and parents.
I ate well while in Brisbane and managed to bear in mind the principles of the CSIRO Total Wellness Diet.
Before I get to what I have cooked today, let’s run through what I enjoyed last weekend.
Qantas 1710
On the flight to Brisbane, Qantas served zucchini and corn fritters. These morsels were tasty.
On Saturday morning, I went with eggs Benedict. On the menu, it looked like bacon was an optional extra. I didn’t ask for it and didn’t pay for it. I did receive bacon, and I did eat it. I didn’t eat the bread.
I took my family to Sandgate for lunch at the Sandgate Fishmonger. While some asked for battered cod and others asked for crumbed cod, a few of us enjoyed grilled cod.
Two pieces of grilled cod and a bottle of ginger beer from the Sandgate Fishmonger
Dinner was a lovely event. Rather than a gift for Christmas, I asked my daughters to take me to dinner somewhere in January. They know their father, so they chose an “all-you-can-eat” joint. When I was morbidly obese, my favourite four words were “all you can eat”.
We went to Shabu House, which specialises in Japanese hotpot, sushi, and Japanese-style fried chicken.
While I was mindful of the principles of the CSIRO TWD, I did enjoy lots of vegetables plus lots of meat and fish. I think the octopus was the best element. The pork and beef were okay, and the white fish (whatever it was) was good, but the baby octopus was the best element for flavour and mouthfeel.
It was difficult to resist the fried chicken, and I succumbed to the temptation. Regarding the sushi, I ate a little raw fish but didn’t eat the rice.
Shabu House Fish Pork Beef Tom yum brothShabu house Prawns Octopus Pork Beef Wood ear fungusShabu House Fish balls Prawn balls SushiShabu House Fried Chicken Chicken KaraageSorry about the white balance. The incandescent bulbs above the table were very warm.
After the meal, we walked south across the Brisbane River and enjoyed gelato at Messina on Melbourne Street.
By the time I weighed myself on Monday morning, I’d not gained weight when I had compared the number to what I had measured on Friday morning.
This week has gone well in terms of how I feel physically. The initial hunger associated with changing the ratios of carbohydrates, protein, and fat seems to have diminished. I’m in a steady rhythm of measuring and tracking the food I consume and the steps I walk.
The CSIRO TWD app works seamlessly across my smartphone, tablet, and desktop. It synchronises with my app for blood pressure, steps, and weight. The positive feedback from seeing the energy balance plus the values of various parameters at the end of each day provides psychological assurance, which is a significant part of this process.
Recipe
The recipes here will be simple and plain for the foreseeable future. They may not be that interesting. If you want to see large joints of meat and other recipes, scroll to earlier posts and find all manner of recipes.
Equipment
No special equipment is necessary
Ingredients
Lamb rump steak. I saw these small fillets of lamb rump in the supermarket, which are about the right portion size.
Mixed lettuce leaves
Cherry tomatoes
Baby cucumbers
Lemon juice
Lemon zest
Olive oil
Instructions
The night before cooking, I recommend dry brining the meat. Dry brining means drying the surface of the flesh and seasoning it with salt. Place it on a rack and refrigerate it uncovered overnight. It can remain like this for one or two days. As the meat dries, the salt penetrates. The flesh doesn’t dehydrate, but the surface remains dry to assist with searing on a hot pan.
When it’s time to cook dinner, remove the meat from the refrigerator.
Heat a pan until it’s hot.
Add some neutral, high-vapour point oil. I like to use rice bran oil or peanut oil.
Quickly cook the lamb rump steak.
Set the meat aside to rest.
Place some lettuce leaves, halved tomatoes and sliced cucumber in a bowl and dress with a mixture of lemon juice and olive oil.
Put the salad on a dinner plate and garnish with lemon zest.
Put the lamb next to the salad.
Say thanks to the Lord.
Eat with a fork.
Final thoughts
The lamb was rare to medium rare and perfect, in my opinion. I know some people don’t like the flavour of lamb, but I love it. This meal was an ideal light lunch for a public holiday.
Tonight, I’m using the leftover lamb and extending it with some eggplant plus some older vegetables from my refrigerator. I will hopefully have enough food for dinners throughout the week.
Instead of a traditional slow braise, I’m using a pressure cooker. I like using my pressure cooker. As a kitchen appliance, it’s versatile and suits my needs.
Gravy (leftover and made from the cooking juices of the lamb with roux)
Hot chips (leftover from Friday night’s chicken and chips dinner[ii])
Potato (diced)
Eggplant (diced with the skin left on)
Stock (leftover lamb cooking juices)
Red wine (to deglaze the fond from the frying pan)
Onion (old cut onion from the refrigerator)
Spring onion (cut roughly)
Celery (cut roughly)
Carrot (cut roughly)
Parsley (old and ready to be discarded)
Fennel (old and ready to be discarded)
Vegetable oil
Instructions
Add some vegetable oil to a hot frying pan and gently fry the meat to give it more colour. Remove the meat and add the “hot” chips, onion, spring onion, eggplant, celery, carrot, and fennel. Cook these vegetables until they caramelise, and leave some fond in the bottom of the frying pan.
Deglaze the pan with a small quantity of red wine, whisky, or cooking sherry. It doesn’t matter. Water would also work, but I have wine, whisky, and sherry, so I may as well use it.
Transfer the contents of the frying pan to the pressure cooker.
Add the meat, leftover gravy, and stock to the pressure cooker.
After 15 minutes, turn off the heat and allow the pressure cooker to reach atmospheric pressure naturally. The natural equilibration allows the flavours of the foods to combine longer and make this meal an equivalent of a slow braise in terms of flavours.
Open the pressure cooker, and with a large spoon, aliquot the contents into separate containers for refrigeration.
Serving suggestions
During the week, I’ll take a large spoonful of lamb and eggplant and serve it with noodles or rice. One night I might also place it on top of some sourdough bread and heat it in the oven.
I can mix various things with the lamb and eggplant each night to keep the meals enjoyable. I’ll work that out each night.
This approach gives me meals that can be quickly prepared when I get home from work.
If I’m using noodles or rice, I’ll heat the lamb and eggplant with microwave radiation. I know some readers eschew the use of microwave radiation; I’ve read limited evidence that this form of cooking can cause damage or harm to humans[1]. In my personal and not my professional opinion, I remain happy using microwave radiation for personal use.
While I’d generally try to spend more time each night on a meal, I’m currently unable to, so this approach is what it is.
I hope you have a good week.
References
Michalak, J., et al., Effect of Microwave Heating on the Acrylamide Formation in Foods. Molecules, 2020. 25(18).
Photographs
Shoulder of lambShoulder of lambRolled boneless lamb shoulderRolled boneless lamb shoulder with gravyChicken with chips and gravyEggplantBraised lamb and eggplantBraised lamb and eggplant
Endnotes
[i] Many of the ingredients were ready to be discarded. Rather than waste them, I cooked them. This is why I like my pressure cooker. A pressure cooker can be used like an autoclave. An autoclave is used to sterilise things, like surgical equipment or media for growing microorganisms and for food. I was recently involved in a food incident involving poor food handling by a commercial catering company. It was a reminder to think about food safety.
[ii] Friday was a challenging day. I was mentally exhausted by the time evening came, so I decided to eat chicken and chips. Chicken from Coles. Chips from the fish shop. Gravy from a bottle. 😉
[iii] Fifteen minutes is the standard duration for most autoclave cycles. The lamb has already been cooked, so it doesn’t need a longer cooking time. The eggplant only needs between 10 and 15 minutes. Fifteen minutes at standard pressure will kill bacteria, bacterial spores, fungi, and parasites. It will also render all viruses incompetent. I try not to use the term kill for viruses because viruses are not alive. Viruses are mobile genetic elements. Viruses are either competent or incompetent.
How are you today? I hope you’ve enjoyed your week since I last wrote here.
I’ve been busy with work and trying to cope with all the pollen in the air. Everywhere I look, I see yellow wattle flowers. I’ve been sneezing and coughing, and my throat has felt irritated.
I’ve also been listening to audiobooks in my spare time, especially when out walking. I’ve been listening to some J. K. Rowling and Lee Child books. I read the hard copy Harry Potter books soon after they were released. Listening to them read by Stephen Fry has been enjoyable. Lee Child’s series about Jack Reacher has provided some escapist relief.
The other week I watched the movie adaptation of The Guns of Navarone, written by Alistair MacLean. I downloaded the audiobook and listened to it to understand how the movie adaptation varied from the book. The book and movie are very different. I prefer the book.
Tonight, I’m cooking an Irish stew. I’m not sure if there is an authentic approach to an Irish stew. As far as I know, it needs root vegetables and lamb or mutton. It’s an excellent way to avoid wasting some vegetables in the refrigerator.
Caramelise the lamb in a hot skillet and set aside while cutting the vegetables.
Cut the potato, carrot, onion, celery, daikon, fennel, and Wombok into chunks. Tear apart the parsley and spring onions.
Pour the vegetable stock, red wine, and Worcestershire sauce into the pressure cooker.
Add the vegetables and then the lamb.
Cook under pressure for 45 minutes.
Strain the solids with a colander and pour the eluted cooking liquor into a jug.
Make a roux with the flour and butter. Slowly add the cooking liquor and make gravy.
Season the gravy with salt and pepper to your liking.
Plating up
Spoon into a large bowl some of the meat and vegetables.
Ladle over the meat and vegetables the gravy.
Thanks to the Lord for the food, wages to buy food, and the skills to cook the food.
Eat with a fork and spoon.
Thoughts on the meal
I wasn’t quite sure what to cook today. When I got to the supermarket and saw the lamb forequarter chops, the idea of a stew started to form in my mind.
At one stage, I considered using a stick blender, processing the vegetables, and making soup. Having some chunky appealed more to me tonight.
This is a functional meal; it was filling and tasted good.
Final thoughts
Do you like Irish stew?
What books have you recently read/listened to?
If a movie is made from a book, do you usually prefer the movie or the book?
Photographs
This is a gallery of pictures.
Irish stewIrish stewIrish stewIrish stew
This photo is my lunch. I mixed some celery, spring onions, tomato, and red onion with cheese and had it with corn chips.
Corn chips with melted cheese and vegetables
References
1. Murphy, K.J., Worcestershire sauce and the kidney. Med J Aust, 1971. 1(21): p. 1119-21.
2. Murphy, K.J., Bilateral renal calculi and aminoaciduria after excessive intake of Worcestershire sauce.Lancet, 1967. 2(7512): p. 401-3.
3. Holmes, G., Worcestershire sauce and the kidneys. Br Med J, 1971. 3(5768): p. 252.
Last week I cooked a rolled lamb shoulder and still have some of it left in the refrigerator. I thought I’d make a shepherds pie with a difference. It’s traditional to use lamb in a shepherds pie and beef in a cottage pie.
I have no idea what to call this pie apart from lamb and beef pie topped with mashed potato.
I hope the title of this post gives you an idea of what was going through my mind.
The reference to a party reflects all the peppercorns I cooked with the lamb last week. I love the way peppercorns create a party in my mouth when I add them to a dish.
I find the almost numbing feeling of the mucosa of my buccal cavity and the soft sensitive epithelium of my lips exciting. Yes, I know I’m a bit of an oddball.
Now you could be asking yourself, it’s November, and I live in Australia, why am I cooking pie when I should be making a salad!
Check out the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology for what’s going on http://www.bom.gov.au/.
Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology Bureau National Operations Centre
Satellite Notes for 0000UTC Chart Issued at 1433 AEDT Saturday on 13 November 2021
A complex low system is present just off the southeast of the continent. The low-level to middle-level cloud band associated with this system is visible over NSW, Vic and Tas.
A trough extends parallel to the eastern coast of Qld. Thunderstorms also, for northern tropics.
The remainder of the continent is primarily cloud-free, aside from low-level clouds from onshore flow over much of the continent’s southern coast.
Lamb and corned beef potato mash pie
Ingredients
Leftover pressure cooker lamb and peppercorns
Tin of corned beef
Celery
Carrot
Onion
Worcestershire sauce
Flour
Cooking sherry
Instant mashed potato
Grated cheese
Instructions
Lovingly sharpen your cook’s knife (as iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend Proverbs 27:17 NLT).
Cut the lamb into small pieces.
Place the meat into a bowl with some flour and coat the lamb with the white stuff.
Dice the celery, carrot, and onion and set aside.
Warm a skillet and add some cooking oil.
Put the floured meat and peppercorns into the skillet and gently cook to brown it off.
Add in the contents of the tin of corned beef.
Mix everything through until it’s evenly mixed.
Add in the carrot, onion, and celery and allow it all to simmer until the vegetables have cooked through.
Add a splash of cooking sherry and a good slug of Worcestershire sauce.
Evaporate the liquid by simmering everything.
Allow everything to cool in the skillet.
Add a portion to a pie dish and put the rest in another container for another time.
Make the instant potato mash according to the manufacturer’s instructions for use.
Mix some grated cheese into the potato mash and lay it across the top of the pie contents.
Put the pie into a moderate oven and cook until the surface of the potato mash has started to change colour to brown.
Serve the pie however you like and with whatever you like.
Before you eat, though, take the time to give thanks to the Lord and thank Him for his grace.
Thoughts on shepherding
Well, not really about shepherding as much as the inspiration for thinking of shepherds comes from Thursday’s verse of the day in the bible app I use. It was Psalm 23:4. If you want to read some background check out Matthew Henry.
Final thoughts
Would you mix your meats in a pie?
Do you like lots of peppercorns in your mouth?
How do you feel about instant potato mash?
The pie you make when the shepherd comes home to the cottage and has a party
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