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!

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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.

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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…

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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.

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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.

The post How do you cook Poussin? | Corn fed spatchcock Poussin with fennel | National Dish Recipe appeared first on National Dish.

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…

The post Roasted flap of Lamb with rosemary and garlic | National Dish Recipe of a boned rolled shoulder of lamb appeared first on National Dish.

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.

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.

Thanks to IKEA, Swedish Meatballs is probably the most likely National Dish to spring to mind. The local name for it, Köttbullar, quite literally translates as meatballs – and it really is that simple. How do you make Swedish Meatballs?

The recipe here, köttbullar med gräddsås, meatballs with cream sauce, is wintry, rich and comforting, best served in a bowl and eaten with a spoon, they are that soft.

Often it is served with mashed or boiled potatoes and pickled vegetables – I’ve opted for the latter, to try to keep it light – plus the sweet vegetable vinegar helps to cut through the richness of the sauce.

The post How do you make Swedish Meatballs in a Cream Sauce? | Köttbullar | What is the national dish of Sweden? appeared first on National Dish.