Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
552
Having gone through the warmest winter on record, I think we may be going through the coldest, wettest spring on record. Even a fairly light shower of rain is turning the bottom half of our garden into a pond. The ground must be absolutely saturated and it’s well nigh impossible to get on with the gardening.
As for dinner:
To start… asparagus, butter
To continue… navarin of lamb. Neck fillet, shallots, Chantany carrots, Jersey Royal potatoes
Got some nice fava at the FM yesterday so I will make Bobbies recipe for fava bean salad , with lemon vinaigrette and shaved Manchego . Leftover pasta and the piece of prime steak from last night . I might make a simple salad also.
Ohhhhhhh I know very well. I miss those days!! I grew up in the restaurant business and in the 70’s/80’s mint jelly was a fixture with lamb, I had tried and actually enjoyed the jelly on it’s own with crackers etc. however as a child I never tried lamb. I was a late-lamb-bloomer not trying it for the first time until I was well into my 20’s…(outside of lamb brain one time for Greek Easter) but let me tell you…lamb and mint jelly as odd as the combination sounds is truly delicious.
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
562
Mint with lamb is the normal British accompaniment. It’ll be mint sauce, rather than a jelly which I suspect would be very sweet. At it’s most traditional, it’s mint, malt vinegar and sugar. Fancier, more modern, versions use wine or cider vinegar. It’s a perfect contrast to the sweet fat on the meat. The trick is to get the balance right between the three ingredients. By the by, chopping mint for the sauce, under Mum’s supervision, is one of the first two jobs I remember ever doing in the kitchen (the other being shelling peas).
Interesting…do you have a family recipe you wouldn’t mind sharing with us? Mint jelly, which is the norm as far as I know for here in the states is rather sweet, but it does pair well with the lamb, as odd as it sounds.
“Chopping the mint for the sauce, under Mum’s supervision, is one of the first jobs I remember ever doing in the kitchen”, Mine was sealing ravioli’s with my grand-mother, using a fork to press down on the edges of the dough creating the seal.
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
564
“Recipe” is much too strong a word - we are northern peasants.
I can easily see the apple butter and pork combination, apple sauce has been a staple pork accompaniment in my home since I was a child. Even Peter Brady said; “Pork Chops and Apple Sauce…”
I grew up in the South and never tasted lamb until I moved to SF in '76. And “love, adore, venerate, revere, and absolutely delight” it. LOL. I’m just more savory But if someone served me lamb with mint jelly already on it - not that they would - I’d gobble it up just the same.
