To Steal Someone’s Heart

For Garlic Lovers

I am old and cynical enough to be a little dismissive of the commercialisation-fest that is Valentine’s Day. Restaurants put up their prices or serve set menus that rarely excite and are rammed full of couples, or potential twosomes in that short-lived flush of new love. That is until the bill arrives.
I’m not unromantic albeit it might appear so by my opening gambit. It's just I would rather show it in other ways that enable us to eat more than baked beans for the rest of the month.

The next few posts give a few ideas for recipes to cook for a special meal for two. Starting with a recipe for garlic lovers, try this lamb shoulder cooked in garlic and white wine, a lovely alternative to heavier red wine braised lamb dishes. Of course for this to win someone’s heart you both have to like garlic.

Although there is a whole two bulbs of garlic in this recipe, the long slow cooking breaks the cloves down into more of a rich creamy sauce and the remaining garlic flavour is much more subtle than you would think. Try to buy garlic bulbs with big fat cloves otherwise you’ll be peeling them for ages. We served this with roasted new potatoes with an additional couple of cloves of garlic. Yum!

Garlic Braised Lamb with Orange Glazed Carrots

Ingredients

Half lamb leg or two good sized lamb shanks (approx weight 900g)
2 bulbs of garlic, cloves peeled and left whole
1/2 bottle dry white wine (I used Chenin Blanc)
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
1 pint good quality chicken stock
8 medium carrots, 2 finely chopped, remaining cut in half lengthways
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
1 twig of fresh rosemary
Peel from half lemon, pith removed
2 tsp cornflour
3 tbsp double cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Zest and juice of half orange
50g butter
1 tsp honey

Method

• Brown the lamb in a hot frying pan with a tbsp of vegetable oil until meat is well coloured. Set aside.
• In the same pan, add finely chopped onion, celery,the finely chopped carrot and bay leaves and fry for about 5 minutes until vegetables have begun to soften.
• Add the vegetables to the base of a large casserole dish, place lamb on top. Add peeled cloves of garlic, wine, chicken stock, lemon peel and rosemary to the dish. Put lid on casserole and place in a preheated oven at 150 degrees and leave for 3 hours. Add cornflour to a small dish, add 1 tbsp cold water and mix well. Remove casserole from the oven, add cornflour and stir sauce to help thicken. Place dish back in the oven for 1 hour. Add double cream just before serving, stir well to incorporate. Serve remaining sauce in a gravy boat if desired.

For the glazed carrots

• Add halved carrots to a large saucepan with water and orange juice to just cover the carrots. Add honey and the orange zest and bring to a gentle simmer.
• When the water is simmering, add the butter and a little salt. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally for about 15 minutes until tender. Serve.