Rump of Lamb with Red Onion and Szechuan Pepper Compote
This week’s book was: Yes Chef by James Winter and James Bulger. The book came out quite a few years ago and featured some of the early winners of the Great British Menu and showcased some of their dishes. A few years ago, we did the Lancashire Hot Pot from Nigel Haworth of Northcote Manor fame (he was there at the time and has now moved on and relinquished the reins to the amazing Lisa Goodwin-Allen). That particular recipe had an amazing pickled red cabbage which we still do from time. However, this time we did a few new dishes. First up was Roast Rib of Beef with Potato Boxty and Roast Autumn Vegetables, Gravy and Horseradish Sauce by Danny Millar, who at the time of the book’s publishing was at Balloo house in Downpatrick Northern Island. We tried a rib of beef from a new butcher, which was good but not as great as our old butcher, who sadly has called it a day. However, the Potato Boxty was fantastic – think a bit like bubble and squeak or colcannon but in this case with bacon, spring cabbage and spring onions. The Autumn vegetables were carrots, beetroot, parsnips and onions. The revelation, though, was homemade horseradish sauce – wow. Massively better than the bought stuff for not a lot of work, to be honest. The dessert to follow was also from Danny’s section of the book; the simply named “Rhubarb and Custard”. The Rhubarb component was a steamed Rhubarb sponge with a Rhubarb compote. This we served with a rather lovely custard ice cream and a creme anglaise. This was a fantastic dessert and the ice cream was delicious.
The last recipe of the week was from Tom Kitchin the chef behind The Kitchin in Edinburgh. We tried his Rump of Lamb with Red Onion and Szechuan Pepper Compote which was pretty good and actually wasn’t too challenging for a week-night supper. All in all whilst a more “cheffy” book than usual there were some little gems that I’m sure we’ll do again.