Racking up the holiday food

Rack of Lamb
by Steve Fagg.

Our local butcher, Andrew Northrop on Mill Road, Cambridge, is great! We wandered in there on spec., our first post-Christmas shopping venture, and asked about getting a rack of lamb. The request was inspired, yet again, by a recipe in "Cook with Jamie" and we were delighted to be told that we could get one on the spot. The butcher prepared it in the "French trimmed" style and even gave us half a dozen miniature paper chefs' hats to cap the exposed bones.

We followed Jamie's recipe to roast the lamb and make a potato and cauliflower dauphinoise to serve with it. The rosemary (for the lamb) and thyme (for the dauphinoise) came fresh from our garden. Rather than spinach, Jamie's choice of vegetable, Lisa prepared a medley of stir-fried broccoli and french beans.

New Cookbooks Rule!

Rump Steak with the Creamiest White
Beans and Leeks by Lisa Fagg

Blackened Pork loin fillets - served
American style by Steve Fagg

Having recived it as a Christmas gift from yours truly, Lisa has been keen to cook from Jamie Oliver's recent book "Cook with Jamie". Last night we indulged in (rump) steak with the cremiest white beans and leeks and tonight we went for the blackened pork (loin) fillets. Both dishes worked well, even with the supermarket meat we used.

Last night's creamiest white beans (we used cannelloni) and leeks were delicious and the leftovers went very well with smoked salmon and cream cheese for breakfast today. Tonight Lisa served the pork with American-style accompaniments: rice cooked with fellini pasta, vegetables blanched and then stir-fried and a tomato and iceberg lettuce salad with a plain viniagrette.

Lisa also received a copy of the River Café Two Easy by Rose Gray & Ruth Rogers of London's River Café, so I epect we'll be dipping into the pages of that in the next few days!