Main Dish Archives | National Dish

Thirty-Hour Shepherd’s Pie | Recipe

Wayne @NationalDish — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 17:00:19 +0000

Shepherd’s Pie is a British Classic

There are few dishes that reward patience quite like a traditional shepherd’s pie. This slow-cooked lamb version is stripped back to its essentials — two days, one pot, and a handful of good ingredients that build quietly into something remarkable.

Often, shepherd’s pie was a way to use up leftover roast lamb — simple, thrifty cooking at its best. In this case, we’ve gone all in from the start, braising lamb shanks for depth and richness. Both approaches are preferable to the shortcut of mince, which can never quite replicate the texture or flavour of true slow-cooked lamb.

The dish has its roots in the rural kitchens of the British Isles in the late 18th century, when the potato became a staple and leftover meat needed a second life. Whether from England, Scotland or Ireland, the idea was the same: nothing wasted, everything transformed — and few comfort foods speak so directly to home cooking.

I made this during a rare weekend off from coaching girls football, be assured, this Shepherd’s Pie is incredible but not nearly as good as my football team!

Thirty-Hour Shepherd’s Pie | Recipe

A slow-cooked lamb shepherd’s pie recipe made with lamb shanks, homemade stock and buttery Maris Piper mash. Traditional British comfort food, perfected over 30 hours. Don't worry, you won't need to shepherd it for 30 hours. Start with a casserole to braise the lamb and make stock.

CourseMain Dish
CuisineBritish
KeywordHomemade, Stew

Servings4 People

Prep Time1 Hour

Cook Time30 Minutes

Passive Time28.5 Hours

Ingredients

For the Stock

2Large lambshanks
1Large carrotcut into chunks
1Large onioncut into chunks
2Sticks celerycut into chunks
8Whole black pepper corns
3/4Litre's waterenough to cover the lamb to about 2 thirds

For the Pie Filling

Allof the meat from the lambshanks
2 carrotsfinely diced
1 onionfinely diced
1Stick celeryfinely diced
1tbsp corn flour
2tsp Worcestershire sauce
500ml lambstock (the stuff you just made when braising the lamb)
sea salt flakes
black pepper

For the topping

1kg potatoesMaris Piper
2 egg yolks
300ml double cream
sea salt flakesto taste, carefully

Instructions

The Stock and pulled lamb (Day 1) Place the lamb shanks, carrot, onion, celery and peppercorns in a heavy casserole. Add water to come three-quarters up the sides of the shanks. Don't brown the meat, it'll catch a tiny bit if gnarl, but when it's in the pie, you want it soft and silky. Cover and roast in the oven at 130 °C for 6 hours. The meat should fall from the bone and the liquid should have turned into a rich, gelatinous stock. Lift out the shanks, strain the stock, and refrigerate both overnight. Discard the spent vegetables.
The Filling (Day 2) Skim and discard any fat from the chilled stock. Shred the lamb from the bones and set aside, be careful to pick out any small bones. There's a particularly pin like bone in each shank, make sure you find those. In a clean pan, melt a little butter or dripping. Gently sweat the fresh carrot, onion and celery until soft and aromatic, avoid any colour. Stir in the flour to make a light roux, then add the shredded lamb. Gradually pour in enough of the reserved stock to form a thick, glossy mixture. Add the Worcestershire sauce and simmer until the sauce clings to the meat. Season generously to taste with salt and black pepper. Spoon into a deep baking dish and leave to cool slightly.
The Mash Boil the Maris Piper potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain well and return to the pan over low heat to steam off excess moisture. Mash with all of the cream and the egg yolks until smooth and rich, add a little milk if you need to loosed it up, you don't want it runny at all though - so be careful. Season well, taste it. With a spatula gently scoop it into the roasting dish, creating a layer on top of the filling. Rough up the surface with a fork, I made a Union Jack - the texture will crisp beautifully in the oven.
Bake Bake at 200 °C for 30–35 minutes, until the top is golden and the filling bubbles at the edges. There’s no need for cheese — the richness of the lamb and stock speaks for itself. You choose the colour as it bakes, you want a few burnt peaks for sure.
Serve I served it with a big spoon full of peas, but any green vegetable loves sitting beside a Classic Shepherd's Pie. Enjoy

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Zimbabwean and African Oxtail Stew | National Dish Recipe

Wayne @NationalDish — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 14:09:43 +0000

Oxtail Stew, especially when coming from Africa, is insane.

Some people get a little weird about cooking with oxtail – which I sort of get, sort of (I’m being a little polite), but they wouldn’t have an issue with oxtail soup from a can, and it tastes way better when you make it fresh.

Everyone knows, anything you cook low and slow, on the bone, is gonna be awesome, this African oxtail stew recipe is no different.

In terms of the country of origin for this oxtail stew recipe, I could have gone British, it’s very traditional. Oxtail is a fascinating ingredient, used all over the world and Sub-Saharan Africa in particular is a massive consumer and I love African cuisine, which is only going to get more popular, plus it has some spice, which = winner. I’ve tried a few and this one is from Zimbabwe.

I’ve said it’s really easy and it is. 30 mins prep and then let is sit in the oven for 3 hours. Before we get going, whack the oven on full and pop a cast iron casserole dish in there – do this first, put the kettle on too for beef stock.

Oxtail Stew Recipe

Oven is on and the casserole dish should be in there getting nice and hot - we'll roast of the oxtails for 20 minutes before adding the stew ingredients and then you can go to the pub for a couple of hours.

CourseMain Dish
CuisineAfrican, Zimbabwean
KeywordAfrica, Oxtail, Stew

Servings4 people

Prep Time30 minutes

Cook Time3 hours

Ingredients

650grams oxtailcut into chunks - as they come is fine
2whole white onionroughly chopped
2whole bay leaves
3 birdseye chilliessliced
2tbls plain flourto dust the oxtail
500ml beef stockboil the kettle up front and get this ready
3cloves garliccrushed or finely chopped
1tin chopped tomatoes400g tin will do it
2 green pepperde-seeded and chopped into handy chunks
1tsp curry powderyup, gives it a slightly different angle - this one is rather important
1tsp thymefresh is ideal but dried will do - just don't leave it out
2tbls tomato puree

Instructions

Ok, before we start chopping everything up, let's sort the oxtail out. The casserole dish should be in the oven and either getting very hot or already is. In this order, oil the oxtail and then season generously with Maldon Sea Salt and dust with the flour.
Pull the hot casserole dish out of the oven and put on the hob, add a couple of tablespoons of oil and then add all the oxtail (or in batches). Put the lid on and place back into the oven for 20 minutes - no more though, lets not burn the oxtail. During this time you can prep the other ingredients - do the beef stock first. You can seal it on the hob too, but I found this way gives the Oxtail a better finish.
Pull the casserole pot out of the oven and turn the heat down to 140 degrees. Remove the oxtail and put aside and place the casserole dish on hob, medium heat. The Oxtail should be gnarly leaving behind some tasty fat for the next step.
Add all the onions and fry for 5 minutes and then add the garlic, chillies, green pepper, thyme, curry powder and tomato puree. Stir and fry for another few minutes, gently until soft. Then add all the beef stock and bayleaves.
Give it a good stir and add the oxtail back in, push below the surface of the sauce (top up with water if you need to) and replace the lid. Place into the oven for 3 hours at 140 degrees. Check it hourly and prevent it drying out by adding more water.
You'll then have a deep bath for the Oxtail, ready to go in the oven - you can then chill. Won't hurt to check it half way through, to make sure you haven't lost too much liquid.
After three hours the meat should have been falling off the bones and you should have plenty of sauce - it serves wonderfully with white rice, but that's up to you - why not just grab a bowl and crusty bread?
Thank you Zimbabwe, Africa

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How do you make Vietnamese Pho? | National Dish of Vietnam

Wayne @NationalDish — Wed, 05 Sep 2018 13:00:37 +0000

Serve Vietnamese Pho will all the different elements ‘on the side’ and then build your bowl

There seems to be Vietnamese restaurants popping up all over the place – and for good reason, the food is the nuts. How do you make Vietnamese Pho (pronounced fur)?

This is one National Dish we don’t mind posting, we did this as part of a banquet, my good chum @fp_in_the_kitchen and I. I’ll focus on the Pho here though and post the other dishes separately.

Get ready for some good food from ‘The Nam‘, Cheltenham…that’s fucking terrible…

How do you make Vietnamese Pho? | National Dish of Vietnam

This is a single recipe that was part of an entire banquet - for 4-6. We’re focusing on Vietnamese Beef Phở Gỏi cuốn. The cooking times won't require you to be working non-stop - this is all about the prep. You need to prep ahead - OK?

CourseDips and bits, Main Dish, Starter
CuisineVietnamese

Servings4-6 People

Prep Time30 Mins

Cook Time10 Hours

Ingredients

1bone of beefget this from your butcher
2good size sirloin steak
1large bunch fresh corianderfinely chop the stalks and set aside (you'll need the leaves too)
2whole limecut into quarters
1litre beef stock
1cup bean sprouts
1large thumb fresh gingerpeeled and sliced finely
3medium white onionfinely chopped
5cloves garlicfinely sliced
4large fresh red chillisliced, don't both to de-seed (unless you really want to)
6tbls dark soy sauce
2tbls fish sauce
350grams noodlesyour choice, but flat rice noodles is the norm
2tsp Chinese five spice
8chopped spring onionstry and slice them at an extreme angle, they look cool
1bowl full mange toutuse any bean you like, sugar snaps would also be amaze
1handful Chinese greens

Instructions

Right, now the prep for this easy as hell, but after that there is a 10 hour wait - and it's worth it. If you want to make a real Vietnamese Pho, packed with flavour, you gotta do it this way. Nothing wrong with leaving it over night by the way, the longer the better.
You're gonna need some beef bones, any decent butcher should be able to sort you out with these. My guy did good. Get the oven going, place the bone(s) into a roasting tray (only needs to be big enough to take it), chop up an onion or two and some lemongrass, oil it and pop in the oven for about 20 mins at 200.
Whilst the beef bone is building up some colour, add some oil to a stock pot or saucepan on a medium high heat and then add the remaining white onion, garlic (hold a little back), two thirds of the chilli, ginger, coriander stalks and Chinese five spice - give a stir and let the onions soften before.
Whip the beef bone out of the oven, it should be gnarly and brown, drop it (along with the onion and lemon grass) into the stock pot and then add enough beef stock to cover the bone. Add the fish sauce. Bring to the boil, turn it down to super super low simmer, lid on and leave it. For AT LEAST 10 HOURS.
Whilst that's going on, use this time to marinate your sirloin steaks. In a dish that you can cover, add soy sauce, garlic and lime juice and drench the steaks in it - cover with cling film and refrigerate.
Now you should have a deep broth which you'll add a load of goodies that we'll prep now. Everything will be separate, you and your guests will build their own. You'll need some Ramen or noodles bowls. Strain your stock and add it back to the pan. if you want it nice and clear, do it twice through clean muslin. Now keep it hot (do not boil).
Ok, so we're gonna have some sirloin steak, some noodles, some mange tout, bean sprouts, spring onions, coriander leaves - you can totally go off piste here, char-grilled baby pak choy would be the nuts.
To avoid running your ass off in the final moment, firstly prep the stuff that can be served cold, lay the table, put something down to take the hot stock pot - get everything ready, so as you cook and heat things up, you can just serve and sit with your guests and enjoy it. Just think it through for a mo - it's not hard - make life easy.
The main event is the steak, for that you need a very hot pan (I prefer flat bottom not griddle - bring more of the meat into contact with the heat, resulting in more gnarlyness). Get some boiling water on for the mange tout, place a sieve over that and put the greens in, cover that with a lid. Only a few mins.
Prep the noodles to time too. We're gonna cook this steak rare - hot pan, pop em in, season with some salt and LEAVE THEM THE HELL ALONE for a few mins. When you can't bear it any longer, lift and look for decent amount of charring and flip em. This will be for a 2 mins tops probably.
On a piece of wood, whip the steaks out and slice them. Take to the table.
Everything is done - build your bowl with noodles first, then stock (provide a ladle) and add what you want, finishing with a few strips of steak and sprinkle with sprint onions.

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Cook the perfect Beef Brisket and pull it with a fork | National Dish Recipe

Wayne @NationalDish — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 18:22:52 +0000

You know very well, all that colour and those soft looking vegetables – the perfect Beef Brisket is bathing in there.

Some people find roasting and cooking beef a real challenge, ending up with a disappointingly tough result, especially a beef brisket.

All that is usually missing though, is a little patience and foresight.

Brisket is a cheap (although annoyingly, that is changing) cut of meat from the lower front chest of the cow, just above the front legs – so it gets worked hard and is therefore naturally tough.

Cook it right though and something miraculous happens.

Cook the perfect Beef Brisket and pull it with a fork | National Dish Recipe

Once you have cooked this, you can do any number of things with the finished result. You'll be able to pull it apart with a fork, leaving you with strands of the softest beef you can imagine. Run a hot sauce through it and shove it in a roll or just use the cooking liquor as a sauce, put in a bowl and cover (mashed potato would be amaze with it). You'll need a casserole dish - get that on to a hob, high heat with a little oil and put the oven on 140c (no more).

CourseMain Dish
CuisineBritish

Servings6 People

Prep Time15 Minutes

Cook Time5 Hours

Ingredients

3whole white onionpeeled them all and slice two, cut the third in to quarters and leave seperate
2fresh carrotpeel them if you like, don't have to - but chop them in to chunks
2sticks celerychop into chunks
350ml aleuse your fav, even Guinness will do (not lager though)
500ml beef stockdepending on the size of the joint and pot - you'll only add enough to just cover the meat
1kgbrisket of beef
2tablespoons tomato puree
2whole bay leaves
1decent handful fresh thyme

Instructions

Casserole dish should be on the hob - if you don't have a hob proof dish, use a pan for this and add to an oven proof version. Run oil on the beef and season very well with Maldon Sea Salt and cracked black pepper.
When the oil is hot, brown off the beef brisket on all sides and ends, remove and put to the side.
You may have been able to chop all your bits whilst browning it off, turn chop, turn chop. In which case, you can throw your sliced onions straight in with the thyme and bay leaves- you shouldn't need more salt. Give em a stir, fry for 5 and get all the beef treats off the bottom of the pan.
Put the beef back in and add the ale, tomato puree and enough stock to cover the beef brisket. Put the lid on and cook for three hours - leave it completely alone.
After three hours, carefully remove the pot and turn the beef brisket over. At the same time add all the carrots, celery and quartered onion.
I also added a spoonful of Fortnum and Mason Beef Extract - this is totally optional.
Cover and put back in for another two hours - don't touch it.
When done, remove the beef brisket from the liquor - see what I mean, you've got a ready made sauce here, almost like a stew.
Put it on a chopping board, remove any chef's string, cover with folk and let it sit for 10 mins. Then grab two forks and pull it apart. Don't forget to try some - uhhhhh.
Serve it however you planned.

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How do you cook Poussin? | Corn fed spatchcock Poussin with fennel | National Dish Recipe

Wayne @NationalDish — Thu, 04 Jan 2018 15:34:42 +0000

You don’t have to get Poussin from Fortnum and Mason, but if you can, why not. All pictures copyright of nationaldish.co.uk

Poussin is a french word used exactly the same in English, which does not necessarily make this a french dish, so I have credited both countries. But – how do you cook Poussin?

Also known as Spring Chicken, Poussin basically means ‘young chicken’, which is less than 28 days old and half a kilo.

My two beauties are corn fed and were acquired from Fortnum and Mason in Piccadilly, London – raaahhhh.

How do you cook Poussin? | Corn fed spatchcock Spring Chicken | National Dish Recipe

This recipe covers the preparation and roasting of the birds and a serving suggestion, but you can do anything with them, maybe post below how you served it. I roasted it with fennel and Lemon, roasted pumpkin with paprika and some roasted fartichokes. In terms of complexity, this is rather simple. If you have some chef's or butchers scissors use those, but make sure you have a decent pair, not nail scissors...that would be stupid!

CourseMain Dish
CuisineBritish, French

Servings4 People

Prep Time15 minutes

Cook Time40 minutes

Ingredients

2 Poussinget them prepared and then we'll spatchcock them
1large bulb of fennelslice this about quarter to half inch thick, not too thin though
2sprigs rosemary
A fewgood glugs rape seed oilI used infused Cotswold Gold
Plenty sea salt flakes
1small pumpkinhalved, de-seeded and sliced/wedged, see pic
10 Jerusalem artichokespeeled and cut in half
1bulb garlicseparate the cloves and peel

Instructions

Spatchcocking the Poussin

I'll start with the most important element, which is prepping the Poussin for roasting and deal with the sides later. Pre-heat the oven to 175C.
Get a plastic chopping board, slip a damp tea towel beneath if it might slide. Grab a good pair of kitchen scissors and get your Poussin out. DON'T WASH IT - DANGER!
Whip it on to it's front, now that means it's tits...sorry breasts. You'll be cutting lengthwise through it's back (the flat part) and effectively butterflying it. Best to start at the head end.
Now turn it over open side down, flatten your hand across the crown and press hard until you hear and feel the reassuring crack of the legs dis-locating.
You now have a perfectly spatchcocked bird. That's it, told you it was easy, there shouldn't be any mess.
In an appropriate size roasting tray, I'm doing two in the same pan, slice the fennel and scatter, place the Poussin on top. Put a handful of the garlic cloves under each Poussin (oil these), sprinkle some unpeeled ones amongst the fennel too if you like. I've used a mixture of lemon infused and Rosemary infused Cotswold Gold Virgin Rapeseed Oil - cover everything in this.
My Poussin are corn fed and that will add even more golden colour to the finish. Lob the rosemary on top, oil that too. If you can be bothered, soaking sprigs of rosemary in water the night before can help prevent it from catching - I didn't bother.

The Rest

The Poussin will take only 40 minutes to roast, about the same as the Jerusalem Artichokes - get them in together and then prep the pumpkin which will only take 30 mins. This way, it should all finished at the same time.
Peel the Jerusalem Artichokes and cut them in half longways, pop them in an appropriate sized roasting dish, smother with oil and sea salt flakes. TRIVIA - these things make you fart more than any other tuber or vegetable, enjoy.
Now shove the Poussin and the Fartichokes in to the oven at the same time.
Cut your pumpkin in half, de-seed and slice in to segments - see pic. Put them in a roasting dish, some slight bunching is nice, not to much though. Smother them in oil and sea salt flakes then dust with cayenne and paprika.
Put them in the oven. When ready, the Poussin should be a lovely golden colour, the artichokes will take a knife through them and the pumpkin should be nice and gnarly. Serve with a dollop of English mustard. Couple of hours later you can look forward to the fireworks as your ass explodes from the artichokes - enjoy.
Thank you Britain (and France, for the word at least)

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Sweet and Sour Chilli Mango Chicken | National Dish Recipe from South East Asia…maybe

Wayne @NationalDish — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 14:05:11 +0000

The colour alone of Sweet and Sour Chicken with Mango is enough. All pictures copyright of nationaldish.co.uk

– we’re not 100% sure where this dish might originate.

I accidentally made it up, but that’s not to say it doesn’t exist. So in actual fact this could be a South East Asian ‘influenced’ English dish – Changlo food! You saw it here first.

Anyway, I fancied sweet and sour chicken, but wanted to add lots of chilli and forgot to buy pineapple, so used some mango I had – hence…

It’s really good – I also knocked up a cheats Mushroom Chow Mein on the side.

Sweet and Sour Chilli Mango Chicken | National Dish Recipe from South East Asia

This recipe goes to show, that if you have some items in your fridge or pantry that don't quite fit the original recipe, you can make do and come up with something ace.

CourseMain Dish
CuisineBritish, Chango, Chinese, Thai

Servings2 People

Prep Time20 Minutes

Cook Time20 Minutes

Ingredients

Main bits

2small skinless chickenbreasts, diced into large, as square as possible, bite sized chunks (big ones ok?)
1/2 red peppercut the same size as the onion
1large white onioncut in to 1 inch square pieces, look at the pic

Sauce

1400g tin mangodrain and keep the juice and dice the mango
3tsp caster sugar
1tsp corn flour
1 or 2sliced fresh red chilli
1bunch fresh corianderfinely chop the stalks and separate from the leaves
3cloves garlicfinely sliced, chopped or crushed
3tbsp sesame seedsgently roast them in a non-stick pan
3tbsp rice wine vinegar
2tbsp ketchup
1pinch sea salt flakesMaldon please
1tsp paprika powder

Marinade

1tbls soy sauceuse the light stuff if you can
1/2tsp garlic powder
1/2tsp Chinese five spiceno more than this

Mushroom Chow Mein

1handful mushroomsthickly sliced
1packet instant noodlesenough for two people
2cloves garlicchopped

Instructions

First thing is to marinate the chicken. To do that, in a bowl add the diced chicken, soy, garlic powder and Chinese five spice - leave that whilst you do the rest - not long really.
Chop everything up and get it ready - you want decent chunks. If you're doing a side, I did a cheats Mushroom Chow Mein, chop that stuff up too.
In a hot wok, add a tiny dash of oil and seal the chicken on each side, don't cook it all the way through. When done, drain off any of the sauce you haven't cooked off and put the chicken aside and wipe clean the wok.
Whilst you were doing that, in a separate non-stick pan, roast off the sesame seeds. Don't burn them, just add a little golden colour and then remove from the pan and set aside in a cold bowl.
Back on the heat, add a little oil and add the onion, garlic, chopped coriander stalks, two thirds of the chilli and the salt. Gently fry until the onion starts to clarify (not completely though) - try to avoid any charring, you almost want things looking raw.
Next add the chicken back in along with the red pepper, paprika, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, sugar and half the sesame seeds - heat and stir for a minute. Then pour in all of the mango juice (oh yeah) - bring to the boil and sprinkle the corn flour avoiding lumpage - stir. If you feel that a little more sauce is required, carefully add some water - it will reduce and thicken moving forward.
After 10-15 minutes, you should be pretty much done, throw in the diced mango and gently stir in to the sauce, it's ready when the mango is hot.
You can do the chow mein real quick. Fry off the mushrooms with the garlic and a good glug of dark soy sauce. After a few minutes add the noodles and toss and mix everything until it's a lovely soy sauce colour and hot.
Serve it up in to something that you can keep it warm in.
The chicken will now be ready. Serve it in a bowl and sprinkle with the remaining raw chilli, sesame seeds and coriander leaves.
Thank you South East Asia stroke England...maybe...

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Roasted flap of Lamb with rosemary and garlic | National Dish Recipe of a boned rolled shoulder of lamb

Wayne @NationalDish — Sun, 29 Oct 2017 19:20:02 +0000

It might have a gross sounding name, but just look at it – Roasted Flap of Lamb
Photograph: Wayne Morgan – nationaldish.co.uk © 2017

Roasted flap of lamb doesn’t sound particularly appetising, but it is stunning. A shoulder of lamb is a fine cut, but when you buy it de-boned and rolled, it looks gross and would fool anyone in to thinking it’s a shit cut….wrong.

Cooking it in it’s rolled state is fine, but unroll it, turning it in to a flap and when you slow cook it, good things happen.

My baby bro loves this and asked me for the recipe, here it is buddy…

Roasted flap of Lamb with rosemary and garlic | National Dish Recipe of a boned rolled shoulder of lamb

This is super simple, but you need to be patient and cook it low and slow. The upside, you can spend more time on your PlayStation whilst it cooks - or if your partner is around, play with them instead. Whack the oven on 140 degrees - yup, loooooowwwwwww.

CourseMain Dish
CuisineBritish

Servings4 people

Prep Time10 minutes

Cook Time3 1/2 hours

Passive Time3 hours

Ingredients

1rolled shoulder of British lambunwrap it, cut the strings and unroll the lamb in to a flap
1good glug rape seed oilget the good stuff, Cotswold Gold
1massive pinch sea salt flakesMaldon and you know it
8sprigs rosemarygot this from my garden, everyone needs a Rosemary bush
1bulb of garliccut in half around the equator
1pinch ground black pepper

Instructions

Grab a roasting tin and lob yer flap in.
Get the oil and sprinkle liberally over the lamb, rub it all over.
Grab a generous pinch of salt and throw it all over, rub it on both side.
Get four of the eight sprigs of Rosemary and cover them in oil too and throw on top of the lamb
Add garlic, sprinkle with a little oil - don't worry about the salt.
Put it in the oven (140 degrees for a fan), it'll be in there for 3 and half hours - set a timer to enable you to check it every hour or so, just to check it's OK and nothing is catching.
When done, remove the cooked rosemary and add the other 4 sprigs. Cover with tin foil and leave it for about 20 minutes to rest - it doesn't need to rest that much.
Grab a nice wooden board and slice it up in to steak sized chunks, serve straight away.
Thank you Great Britain

Recipe Notes

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Indian dry spiced crispy duck breast with char-grilled peach, crusted paneer and hot green salad of spinach, peas, asparagus and beans | National Dish India

Wayne @NationalDish — Tue, 12 Sep 2017 15:45:32 +0000

This is a real head turner, impress your guests with the colour and then the flavour before you remind them it’s super healthy and low carb

There aren’t lots of recipes around for Indian crispy duck.

Most of you will know that Indian cuisine isn’t all wet curries, quite the opposite. The country is huge and the cuisine incredibly regional. I am partial to a Dhansak, and when I was in Mumbai I mentioned this, which was greeted with ‘oh, they eat that up near Delhi’. How cool is that, made me love it even more.

Britain has a wonderful love affair with Indian cuisine, with many British favourites actually coming from this very island. This Indian influences dry spiced crispy duck breast and it’s friends, I guess you can say, follows that same tradition.

This is a very healthy Indian dish, Paleo friendly and extraordinarily pretty.

I had some ingredients lying around and went for it – and it went, well.

Indian dry spiced crispy duck breast with char-grilled peach, crusted paneer and hot green salad of spinach, peas and beans

There are a few things going on here, nothing that should bust your ass too much, but have a quick read through so you can get your timings right. The duck will sit in a pan for 10 mins, under a grill for 5 and rest for 5 - so really, apart from prepping and slicing it, there isn't much to do, so you can crack on with other things. The better prep, the quicker everything will be. Put the kettle on, grab a large frying pan (first for the duck quick wipe down and then to warm the salad as the end), a saucepan to do some blanching and a smaller frying pan for the paneer. Also grab a large mixing bowl and a smaller one - for coating the duck and paneer. If you want the griddle effect on the peaches, which also adds flavour, get a heavy griddle pan on a high heat now - needs to be smoking - we don't want to cook the peach, we want to char it very very fast and that means hot hot hot.

CourseMain Dish, Salad
CuisineIndian
KeywordIndian Food, Salad

Servings2 people

Prep Time25 minutes

Cook Time25 minutes

Ingredients

The quack quack

2breasts of duckskin on
1tsp cumin powder
1tsp chilli powder
1tsp coriander powder
1tsp turmeric powder
2tsp sea salt flakes
2tbls vegetable oilyou want this mixture slightly wet

The paneer

120grams paneerIndian cheese cut in to rectangular bite sized chunks - all the same size and shape
1tsp cumin powder
1tsp cayenne pepper
1tsp garam masala
1tsp sea salt flakes
1tsp vegetable oilyou want to coat the paneer in this and to cover it in the dry mix.

The warm green salad

1handful broad beansyou need to blanch them and peel (don't just take them out of the pods)
5stems asparagusslice them to about an inch and a half, do it on an angle too
1fistful green beansyou'll slice these too, same size as the asparagus
1large handful spinach leavesthis is the 'bed' and goes so well with paneer - like lovers
1handful peasfrozen ones are ace
2green spring onionssliced at an angle for garnish, the white and lots of the green
1red spring onionsslice thinly, at an angle looks nice
2whole peachesI used doughnut peaches, slice then about 1cm, not too thin

Instructions

Let's do the spice mixes first, at the same time. Two bowls, the large one is for the duck. Add the spice list to each bowl respectively and the oil only to the large one, give em both a mix.
Add the boiling water from the kettle to your saucepan on a high heat and blanch the broad beans, green beans, peas and asparagus - 2-3 minutes tops at a rolling boil.
Place your duck in to the large bowl and cover it in the mixture and let it sit there for a few minutes at room temp whilst you sort the paneer. Put your large frying pan on a medium heat. Drain your greens and let them steam.
Get your perfectly sized paneer chunks and coat them in a little vegetable oil and then add it to the spice mixture. Toss them around until they are perfectly coated all over and dry to look at. Set aside.
Place the duck breasts in to the pan skin side down and leave it for 10 minutes. Check it from time to time just in case you have the heat too high - don't let it burn, but it will pick up a very dark colour - that doesn't mean that it's burnt.
Cover the peach slices in oil and a tiny sprinkle of salt and put them neatly on to the griddle pan. Let em go, turn them once, let them go and then turn them back after rotating 90 degrees - then you get a lattice. If you're worried about that, just make them go a lovely colour without burning them all over. Put them aside, they're done. Check the duck and put the grill on.
Get two plates ready and cover them in spinach leaves. Peel your broad beans - if you decide not to, look at yourself in the mirror with disgust. Slice the beans and asparagus.
Duck is probably ready, turn it skin side up and whack it under the grill for 5 minutes - don't burn it - just go easy - medium high heat.
Give the duck pan a wipe, you don't want charred remains on your greens and add all of them to the pan, tiny drizzle of oil in first. All we are doing is warming them all through - that's the green beans, peas, PEELED broad beans and asparagus - sprinkle the pan, from a height with some sea salt flakes, little toss and all that.
In the smaller pan, add a bit of oil to medium high heat and fry the paneer on each side, you're looking for colour only, which will heat it through - keep turning it.
Plate up time - firstly, slice the duck. Then place the greens on to the spinach leaves, place the duck on top, put the paneer and peach around it and then sprinkle the spring onions over the top.
That's it - nothing should be over cooked, the greens will be super green and your duck should be perfectly pink.
Thank you India

The post Indian dry spiced crispy duck breast with char-grilled peach, crusted paneer and hot green salad of spinach, peas, asparagus and beans | National Dish India appeared first on National Dish.

How do you make a healthy burrito? | Chinese crispy duck cauliflower rice burritos | National Dish

Wayne @NationalDish — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 20:49:37 +0000

How do you make a healthy burrito when they contain both bread AND rice – it’s a challenge?

Compromise – in this case, the rice – which unfortunately messes up the gluten free option. Use our simple recipe for the cauliflower rice.

Add to that, this is also a fusion of East and West – China meets Mexico and it’s superb.

How do you make a healthy burrito? | Chinese crispy duck cauliflower rice burritos

Ok, so this is only a lower than normal carb burrito, it works though - so any port in a storm.

CourseMain Dish
CuisineChinese, Mexican

Servings2 people

Prep Time15 minutes

Cook Time15 minutes

Ingredients

2whole duckbreasts, skin on
6 soft flour tortillasI used the small ones
1/2small cucumberde-seeded and cut in to little fingers
1fresh mangochopped in to 1cm cubs
1 fresh red chillichopped
1/2 lime
1 white onionsliced
1tsp Chinese five spice
1tsp cayenne pepper
1/2tsp garlic powder
1tsp sea salt flakes
1/2head cauliflowermake in to cauliflower rice using our recipe

Instructions

Cooke the perfect duck breast

If you want your duck crispy on the outside and pink in the middle, whilst keeping it from tasting like boot leather, follow this and you'll get it right every time.
Get a decent frying pan on to a medium heat, whilst it heating up you can prep the duck.
Get your breasts and rub them all over with oil - grow up.
In a bowl mix the Chinese five spice, cayenne, garlic powder and salt - then toss your breasts, covering it in the mixture. Seriously, grow up.
Put them skin side down in the pan and leave for 10 minutes - the cooking should be easy going, if it's spitting and sizzling a bit, turn down the heat. The mixture will turn very dark on the skin, that's not burnt - but keep the heat under control. Turn on your grill (broiler) - medium high.
As soon as the breasts are in the pan prepare all the other bits (drop to The test section) you have 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, turn the breasts skin side up and place under the grill for 5 minutes - keep a little eye on it.
When done, let them rest for a few minutes before slicing it up to burrito bite sized slices. It will be crispy on the outside and pink in the middle.

The rest

So your duck should be skin side down and happy in your pan. Throw the white onions in with it, around the duck.
Halve the mango, skirting the stone. Then with a tea towel in hand, hold the mango half flesh side up and with a small knife, score it in to 1cm squares down to the skin - don't go through it (hence the tea towel, just in case you do). You can then turn it inside out and slice the cubes off in to a bowl.
Add the chopped chilli, pinch of salt and squeeze the lime juice over it all and mix with a spoon - set aside, it done.
The cauliflower rice should have been cooked already for three minutes, keep that on standby for the final three minutes just as you put the duck out to rest.
Cook your tortillas, I like a hot dry frying pan, lob em in there and let them start to puff up. Gotta do this 6 times remember, so if time is tight....use two pans at the same time.

Serving it up

All your bits and pieces should be ready to go - get them on to the table and you should be ready for the final and best bit (apart from the eating obvs) - slicing the duck.
Serve it up just like that and build the burrito anyway you like.
Thank you China and Mexico
If you liked this - give it a little share and we'd love to hear what you think, leave a comment below. Enjoy.

The post How do you make a healthy burrito? | Chinese crispy duck cauliflower rice burritos | National Dish appeared first on National Dish.

How do you make a New England, USA Mixed Fish Chowder? | What is the national dish of New England, United States?

Wayne @NationalDish — Sat, 12 Aug 2017 22:12:34 +0000

You know how some things have names that sound exactly like they are? Well, a chowder is one of those things and what a wonderful thing it is. So much more than a soup and not a blitzer in sight. This chowder is based on the New England recipe, but rather than just clams I’ve lobbed in loads more goodies.

New England Mixed Seafood Chowder | We got cockles, mussels, smoked haddock, prawns, scallops oh yah

You can add whatever seafood you like to this, I grabbed what I had, it's your preference, the shellfish shells do look good for presentation though. To help, I've added my ingredients below - I was very specific, which helps you manage the cost too.

CourseMain Dish
CuisineAmerican

Servings2 people

Prep Time15 minutes

Cook Time30 minutes

Ingredients

1/2fillet smoked haddockundyed obvs, why would anyone eat that yellow rubbish? Cut it into bit sized chunks
6live mussels
12live cocklesclams are the norm and amazing
1handful shrimpsmall cold water prawns, these can be cooked
4whole scallopsslice these so you get lots of round discs of scallop
5whole new potatoespeeled and sliced in half, longways
3roughly chopped and deseeded fresh tomatoesyou only want the outer part
1bunch parsleychop the leaves
150ml single cream
300ml milk
250ml fish stockor you can use chicken
100ml white winea cold bottle of Muscadet is ideal
1large white onionchopped
1whole corn cobslice the corn off length ways with a knife, picture below
4rashers baconthis should be chopped, smoked, streaky and preferably dry cured
1clove garliccrushed
2tsps cayenne pepper
1tbls corn flour

Instructions

Grab a soup pot, a small saucepan, small frying pan, garlic crusher and put the kettle on for the stock. Chop the onion, bacon and have the shellfish to hand. The early stages all happen quite quickly, after which you can chill out.
Put the small saucepan on a high heat and have the white wine and live shellfish to hand - they should all close when you give them a shake, any that stay open, throw away.
Whilst the pan is heating up make the stock in a good sized measuring jug and have a strainer on hand.
When hot throw in the shellfish and then immediately the wine (in that order), it should generate lots of steam - cover and let it steam for no more than one minute, give it a couple of shakes. Then remove the lid and strain directly over the stock pot, capturing the liquor with the stock. They can sit there for a little while - they should all be open, throw away those that are closed.
Put the soup pot on a medium high heat with a little oil and cook the bacon until browned, releasing the fat, remove and set aside. Add the onion to the pot with the cayenne, a pinch of sea salt flakes, crush the garlic and stir. Gently cook the onions until soft and translucent. Get the other ingredients ready in the meantime.
This is what I meant with the corn by the way.
Take your now slightly under cooked shell fish and remove most of the meat from the shells, leaving a few intact. Put the small frying pan on a high heat and get it really hot and add a little oil - have your sliced, dry scallops to hand and when almost smoking, add them all, so each slice touches the bottom of the pan. All we want he is fast colour, at which point, remove them from the heat (a minute is probably to long, don't move them much either) and set aside. You don't have to do this, but it gives you nicer bites of scallop rather than floppy shellfish.
Onions should be done, move to the side in the pan and add the flour with a little oil or butter, cook it off so you have a bit of a roux and mix through the onions. Add the corn and whack up the heat.
Add the stock/shellfish liquor, potatoes and bring to the boil and turn down to a good simmer, cook until the potatoes are just under cooked. Now add all the milk and tomatoes and bring to the boil and turn straight back down to simmer - add the haddock.
This is now the final 5 minutes. Firstly, if you haven't already, taste your sauce and carefully season with salt and ground pepper - then add ALL of the remaining seafood (inc the shellfish you cooked at the start) and the bacon.
Stir it all gently and add the single cream, again, gently stir. Taste it, season only if needed and you should have a creamy consistency - too runny and you didn't reduce your stock enough - but, you should be just fine. All you want to do here is get everything hot, don't cook it any more than you have to.
Serve it up (pasta bowls are good for this), with the shells on top, covered in the parsley, maybe a grind of black pepper and if you must, chunks of sour dough bread and the rest of the Muscadet sat right next to it.
Thank you New England, USA

The post How do you make a New England, USA Mixed Fish Chowder? | What is the national dish of New England, United States? appeared first on National Dish.