Potato mash

Lamb shank and potato mash

Posted by Gary

Dear Reader,

I hope you’ve had a good week.

Tonight’s meal isn’t anything special. Typically, I have some idea during the week what I’ll be cooking; however, this week, it wasn’t until I started grocery shopping that I decided to buy a pair of lamb shanks.

I reached a new minimum weight today, so I thought potato mash would be a nice treat.

Today's weight chart reveals a new minimum weight

Recipe

Equipment

  • Pressure cooker
  • Microwave radiation oven

Ingredients

  • Lamb shanks – two “drumsticks.”
  • Ginger marmalade – one tablespoon
  • French onion soup mix – salt-reduced version
  • Birds Eye potato mash – one packet
  • Carrot – one carrot cut into chunks.
  • Celery – a couple of stalks
  • A brown onion ­– one roughly chopped.

Instructions

Lamb

  1. Put the celery, carrot, and onion in the pressure cooker.
  2. Empty the French onion soup packet mix into the pressure cooker.
  3. Add the marmalade.
  4. Pour in some boiling water.
  5. Add the lamb.
  6. Cook for one hour under pressure.
  7. Remove the lid.
  8. Remove the lamb, keep one warm, and refrigerate the other.
  9. Sieve the cooking liquor and simmer to reduce it to syrup.

Potato

  • Prepare the potato mash as per the instructions on the packaging.

Plating up

  1. Spread the potato mash on a dinner plate.
  2. Place a lamb shank on the mash.
  3. Spoon some of the syrup over the lamb.
  4. Give thanks to the Lord.
  5. Eat with a fork.

Photographs

Lamb shank with potato mash and carrot served with Buderim ginger marmalade sauce
Lamb shank with potato mash and carrot served with Buderim ginger marmalade sauce
Lamb shank with potato mash and carrot served with Buderim ginger marmalade sauce
Lamb shank with potato mash and carrot served with Buderim ginger marmalade sauce
Lamb shank with potato mash and carrot served with Buderim ginger marmalade sauce
Lamb shank with potato mash and carrot served with Buderim ginger marmalade sauce

Final thoughts

Have a good week. Catch you next Saturday.

Extras

I recently bought an air fryer so I will try duck breast in the air fryer tomorrow.

Dry brining duck breast with salt, pepper, and garlic powder

I’ll cook this duck breast in a water bath sometime during the week. It’s currently in the freezer with some navel orange and golden syrup.

Duck breast with navel orange and golden syrup in a vacuum bag

Oven porterhouse steak

Posted by Gary

Hello Readers,

Tonight’s post is a follow-up from last night’s sous vide porterhouse steak.

I bought a large piece of meat yesterday and split it into two halves.

I cooked in a water bath last night, and tonight I’m cooking half in a toaster oven.

Cream cheese and last night’s sous vide porterhouse steak

Recipe

Equipment

  • Wireless thermometer
  • Toaster oven
  • Microwave radiation oven
  • Stainless steel skillet

Ingredients

  • Steak
  • Salt
  • Rice bran oil
  • Leftover gravy (see last night’s post)
  • Packet potato mash (microwave radiation necessary)
  • Spring onions

Instructions

Steak

  1. Dry brine the steak with salt overnight.
  2. Heat the toaster oven to 180 °C.
  3. Heat a skillet and then lubricate the hot surface with oil.
  4. Sear the steak until each surface is caramelised.
  5. Insert a wireless thermometer.
  6. The aim is to achieve an internal temperature of about 53 to 54 °C.
  7. Place the steak in the oven and monitor the temperature.
  8. When the desired temperature is reached, turn off the oven and remove the meat.
  9. Allow the meat to rest.
  10. Once rested, the steak can be sliced with a sharp knife and served as you wish.

Leftover gravy

  • Reheat the gravy with microwave radiation.

Potato mash

  • Prepare according to the packet instructions.

Plating up

  1. Spoon the potato mash into the bowl.
  2. Pour the gravy into a dinner bowl.
  3. Arrange the slices of steak over the gravy.
  4. Garnish with spring onions.

Thoughts on the meal

I like cooking steak in different ways. For example, when I want to, I’ll just sear each side of a steak and let it rest and eat it like that. Sometimes, like last night, I’ll cook the meat in a water bath. Tonight I went for the oven.

Photographs

This section is a gallery of photographs.

Coles beef porterhouse steak
Coles beef porterhouse steak
Coles beef porterhouse steak
Coles beef porterhouse steak
Coles beef porterhouse steak seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Porterhouse steak
Porterhouse steak, potato mash, and gravy
Porterhouse steak, potato mash, and gravy

The pie you make when the shepherd comes home to the cottage and has a party.

Posted by Gary

Dear reader,

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

  1. Lovingly sharpen your cook’s knife (as iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend Proverbs 27:17 NLT).
  2. Cut the lamb into small pieces. 
  3. Place the meat into a bowl with some flour and coat the lamb with the white stuff.
  4. Dice the celery, carrot, and onion and set aside.
  5. Warm a skillet and add some cooking oil.
  6. Put the floured meat and peppercorns into the skillet and gently cook to brown it off.
  7. Add in the contents of the tin of corned beef.
  8. Mix everything through until it’s evenly mixed.
  9. Add in the carrot, onion, and celery and allow it all to simmer until the vegetables have cooked through.
  10. Add a splash of cooking sherry and a good slug of Worcestershire sauce.
  11. Evaporate the liquid by simmering everything.
  12. Allow everything to cool in the skillet.
  13. Add a portion to a pie dish and put the rest in another container for another time.
  14. Make the instant potato mash according to the manufacturer’s instructions for use.
  15. Mix some grated cheese into the potato mash and lay it across the top of the pie contents.
  16. Put the pie into a moderate oven and cook until the surface of the potato mash has started to change colour to brown.
  17. Serve the pie however you like and with whatever you like.
  18. 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

Chip crusted eye fillet steak with mustard potato mash

Posted by Gary

Chip crusted eye fillet steak with mustard potato mash.

Red Rock Deli Lime & Black Pepper Potato Chips

Do you like crunchy textures in your mouth? When it comes to steak, most people want a tender bite and beefy flavour. Mum used to make crumbed steak when I was a young fella. It was so good that I would spit on the spare one which Mum always cooked, so my two younger brothers wouldn’t want it. Yes, I was a very naughty boy. Some might say, I still am! 😉

Ingredients

  • Eye fillet steak
  • Rock salt (in a grinder)
  • Whole black peppercorns (in a grinder)
  • Red Rock Deli Lime & Black Pepper potato chips (1 bag, crushed with a food processor)
  • Dijonnaise mustard
  • Birds Eye potato mash (with butter)
  • Wholegrain mustard

Instructions

Steak

  1. Go to the supermarket and look for the cheapest eye fillet you can find. There’s no point going for a super expensive steak because this meat will be cooked under a vacuum in a water bath (sous vide).
  2. When you get home, and after you’ve made an excellent strong (Atlas blend) coffee in caffettiera, season your meat with liberal quantities of freshly ground rock salt (iodised, of course) and black peppercorns.
  3. Seal your meat in a vacuum bag and refrigerate and go about your day. For example, I went for a lovely walk around Lake Ginninderra and admired God’s wonder in the beautiful autumn leaves.
  4. When you’re ready to think about dinner seriously, heat a water bath to 54 °C and put the steak into the water bath and cook for about 2 hours and 10 minutes.
  5. After cooking, remove your perfectly cooked meat from the water bath, open the bag, and dry your meat with absorbent kitchen paper.
  6. Sear your meat in a cast-iron skillet or use a torch. Avoid basting with butter (yea, I know this sounds heretical for regular readers who know my unparalleled devotion to butter, but there is a purpose to my madness). You want the seared surface to be relatively dry.
  7. With a kitchen brush (yeah, not a bathroom brush), apply a coat of dijonnaise mustard to the outer surfaces of your meat. Then dab your sticky beef into a bowl of crushed potato chips.
  8. Set aside or, if you prefer, sequester your meat to somewhere warm and moist but not too humid. You don’t want the chips to get too soggy quickly. 
Autumn trees on Lake Ginninderra

Potato mash

  1. Remove the package from the freezer.
  2. Note the instructions to cook using microwave radiation for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Also, note the microwave radiation oven doesn’t have a functioning 1 or 2 button, so do some mental arithmetic to calculate a two-step cooking process. Make a note to buy a new microwave radiation oven, given this one is nearly 14 years old. 
  3. When you have ceased to irradiate the potato mash, allow the package to stand for one minute.
  4. Open the packet and transfer the potato mash to a warm bowl. Stir through a tablespoon of wholegrain mustard for an added bit of flair!

Plating up

  1. Transfer the mustard-flavoured potato mash to a warmed dinner plate.
  2. Place the potato chip crusted steak atop the potato mash.
  3. Serve with green vegetables.

Final thoughts

It’s not a meal to write home about, but it will do.

If you live alone, you can make a slightly pretentious and fancy meal out of steak and potato. Please give it a go and let me know what you think.

You don’t need to cook sous vide either. Eye fillet pan-fries very well and will be tender.

  • Red Rock Deli Lime & Black Pepper Potato Chips
  • Crushed Red Rock Deli Lime & Black Pepper Potato Chips
  • Dijonnaise and Wholegrain mustards
  • Chip crusted eye fillet steak with mustard potato mash
  • Chip crusted eye fillet steak with mustard potato mash
  • Chip crusted eye fillet steak with mustard potato mash

Sous vide duck breast with lentils, broccolini, and potato mash

Posted by Gary

Sous vide duck breast with lentils, broccolini, and potato mash.

Sous vide duck breast with lentils, broccolini, and potato mash

I was invited to dinner tonight at a friend’s place. Unfortunately, her son has developed an infection, so we’ve rescheduled it to another time.

Fortunately, I had some duck breasts in the refrigerator and frozen potato mash, so the decision for dinner was easy.

Ingredients

  • Duck breast
  • Iodised salt
  • Black peppercorns
  • Potato mash (frozen, packet for microwave radiation)
  • Broccolini
  • Lentils (tinned)
  • Butter (salted)

Instructions

Sous vide duck breast.

  1. Season the duck breast with a liberal amount of iodised salt.
  2. Put the duck breast into a plastic bag and vacuum seal the bag.
  3. Heat a water bath to 55 °C and cook the duck breast for 1 hour.
  4. Remove the duck breast from the vacuum bag.
  5. Dry the duck breast with absorbent kitchen paper.
  6. Heat a cast-iron skillet and rub a little high vapour oil on the hot surface of the skillet.
  7. Score the skin of the duck and sear the skin until it reaches a pleasing colour. What is a pleasant shade, you may ask? As for me, I like a deep golden brown. Some people will go for lighter, and others will prefer darker.
  8. After searing the duck breast’s skin, set aside the duck breast and let it rest for about 10 minutes.
  9. With a freshly honed knife, slice the duck breast into slices a few millimetres thick (or thicker if you prefer your meat to be firm and thick).

Potato mash

  1. Follow the instructions on the packet.

Broccolini and lentils

  1. Trim the stalks of the broccolini with a paring knife.
  2. Empty the tin of lentils, rinse under cold water, and then drain with a sieve.
  3. Wash the broccolini under running water.
  4. After the duck breast has finished searing in the skillet, add a nudge of salted butter to the skillet and then add the broccolini and lentils.
  5. Cook the broccolini and lentils with a lid on the skillet. 
  6. Cook the broccolini to your preference.

Plating up

  1. Spoon the potato mash onto a warm dinner plate.
  2. Lay the slices of rested duck breast on the potato mash so the mash can absorb the meat juices, which will continue to ooze out of the meat. You don’t want to waste a drop of the tasty savoury juices.
  3. Place the broccolini next to the potato mash and then spoon the lentils next to the potato mash.
  4. Spoon the burnt butter by dribbling it over the duck breast, and it too will be soaked up by the potato mash.
  • Vacuum packed duck breasts
  • Dick Boning knife and Dick Butchers knife
  • Sous vide duck breast with lentils, broccolini, and potato mash
  • Sous vide duck breast with lentils, broccolini, and potato mash

Final thoughts

It’s always worth having something in the refrigerator in case of plans falling through.

I hope my friend’s son feels better soon.