Sunday Dinners...(Winter Warmers pt5)

Hi guys, well, me and the smallish people are in South Wales right now, visiting Grandma...we've left hubby at home to some peace and quiet...

Before I left home, I remembered to upload some photos from the weekend, so that I can still post a few bits and pieces whilst away...So without further ado...Sunday Dinner...in our house, the two nights on the weekend are the only time we get to sit down and eat together, during the working week it is more often a case of two smallish people eating together, followed much later by two larger people...Sometimes I will sit with the smaller ones, and hubby will eat when he gets in from work...Not ideal I know, but these are the times we live and work in...So...Saturday and Sunday are meals we all like to eat...plus the odd 'newbie' once a month or so. It's because of this that we don't very often subscribe to the 'Sunday Roast' theory...We just plump for good home-cooked meals that we can share as a family. This Sunday it was Lamb cooked in Red Wine...

which I originally got from the BBC and Good Food websites, but in true Sara style, have combined and 'tweaked' to suit us...we now call it...

...Lamb in Red Wine, with a Muffin-Top!..

Serves: 4

Prep Time: 15mins

Cooking Time: 2-3 hrs

Oven: Gas 4, 180c

Ingredients:

For the Lamb in Red Wine:

650g boned shoulder of lamb, cut into 1 inch cubes (I cheat and use ready diced lean lamb)

2Tbsp seasoned flour

1Tbsp olive oil

25g butter

1Tbsp tomato puree

300ml red wine

300ml chicken stock

leaves from 1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 onion, diced

1 carrot, diced

2 celery sticks, diced

Salt and Pepper

For the Muffin-Top

225g plain flour

3tsp baking powder

140g cheddar cheese, grated

2Tbsp olive oil

150ml milk

Method:

First things first, make sure you have a large ovenproof casserole dish to cook this in, and turn your oven on to heat...Gas 4 or 180c

• Right now to the real cooking stuff!
• Put the seasoned flour into a strong plastic bag, and the cubes of lamb, and shake to cover!! It is really the easiest way to coat the meat and so mess-free!!
• Next, heat oil and butter in casserole and brown the (now coated) meat. Do it in batches, because if too much goes in at once it will start to stew rather than fry

• Remove the (now nicely browned) meat from the pan and put to one side.
• You will have lots of 'bits' stuck to the bottom of your pan, so add the tomato puree and wine to deglaze all of that meaty goodness...it's also the flour, which will thicken your sauce as it cooks!

• Now add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic along with the stock...it should be looking something like this picture!

• Add the meat back into the pan with the chopped rosemary...give it a season, stir and bring to the boil.
• Put into the oven and leave for 2-3 hours...until the meat is lovely and tender...(I usually check mine every 30mins or so after the first hour is up)

• Once is it done to your liking, make the Muffin-Top...just put the flour, half the cheese, baking powder and both oil and milk into a bowl and mix...it will form a sticky gloopy mess, but this is just how it should be!

• Using two dessert spoons, shape the mix into 9 balls (or as close as you can get to balls!)...carefully float them on the casserole...

• Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and put back into the oven for about 20 mins or until the topping is lovely and golden.

• When it  should look something like this!

• Serve with lovely creamy mash and veggies of your choice...delicious!!