Spicy Lamb Leg with Pumpkin & Couscous Salad

Lamb leg has everything I want in a piece of meat. It's tender, juicy, easy to cook, inexpensive and has an appropriate amount of fat. When you roast it, every part of it is delightful to eat. It's not fidgety like other cuts where you have to cook it in several pots and pans and you end up spending more time cleaning than eating. The fat renders off beautifully in the oven and it all melts in your mouth.

I love a roast with an intense spice rub. There's a lot of meat on that bone so you need a lot of flavour. This rub is so delicious and a great example of using spices for their flavour rather than heat. When it mixes in with the lamb juices, it's a marriage made in heaven.

A couscous salad is the perfect way to soak up those beautiful juices, not to mention it's dead simple to make. I also put in some roast pumpkin (tossed in those lovely spices) for colour and sweetness.

Spicy lamb leg

You'll need:

Lamb leg (mine was 1.5kg)
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon ground cumin
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon grated ginger
Birdseye chilis (to taste)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon salt

Combine turmeric, paprika, cumin, garlic, ginger, chili, olive oil and lemon juice in a mixing bowl.

Wash and pat dry lamb leg with paper towels.

Rub the spice mixture onto the lamb.

Marinade in fridge for at least an hour. The lemon juice tenderises the meat so the longer the better.

Preheat oven to 170°C.

Roast lamb on a wire rack for 1 hour 20 minutes for every 1.5kg. (I know my oven is pretty slow so I left it in for an extra 10 minutes.)

Rest for at least half an hour.

It should be beautifully pink medium-rare, so juicy and tender it will hardly hold onto your fork.

Pumpkin & couscous salad

You'll need:

500g pumpkin, diced
1 cup couscous
1 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of salt
Juice of one lemon
½ cup red onion, finely diced
½ cup raisins
Handful of mint leaves, roughly chopped

Toss the pumpkin in any left over marinade and roast with lamb for 1 hour on a baking tray in a single layer.

Combine couscous, olive oil, salt and water in a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap for 10 minutes.

Separate couscous with a fork and mix in pumpkin, lemon juice, onion, raisins and mint.

Enjoy!

Sticky Spicy Prawns

When you don't have a lot of time, you need to find creative ways to cut corners. For me, I slash my television time in half by recording shows and watching them in bulk with the handy technology of the fast forward button. For example, with Jamie Oliver's "30 Minute Meals", if I skip the ads and the last 2 minutes of his family eating, and watch the rest on x2, I can watch a whole episode in 5 minutes. Sometimes I slow it down to listen to his voice, but the thing that instantly makes me press play is when he's cooking prawns.

There's something beautiful in the way Jamie Oliver takes a few prawns, rubs herbs and spices on them and throws them under the grill. Not only does it save time, which is what I'm all about these days, it makes for the most tantalising snack or entree. The best part is, no peeling of the prawn! You can eat every part of the prawn - the head's the best part because you get the gooey brain liquids (mmmm).

I tweaked his recipe based on what I had at home, and even though in my head it tastes better with paprika, this is one tasty little crunchy-shelled delight: sticky and sweet with a kick of chili.

You'll need:
8 king green prawns, raw
Zest of one lemon
Juice of half a lemon
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon ginger, minced
½ tablespoon olive oil
½ tablespoon honey
½ tablespoon chili flakes
Handful of parsley, roughly chopped
1 spring onion, finely chopped

Preheat grill to 200°C.

Combine all of the ingredients in a baking pan. Whack it under the grill until the shells are orange and there's some browning happening on the heads and tails.

Garnish with fresh parsley.

Enjoy!

Homemade Jam: Fig, Strawberry & Ginger

Jam is one of those things you have to keep in the house. When you think of good foods like turkey sandwiches, scones, toast, trifle, spongecakes, jam really ought to be a food group in itself. This year, I decided to make a few batches of jam and give them to family as gifts. Unlike with biscuits or cake (foods that don't make it past Christmas day), every time your loved ones stick a knife in your homemade jam, they'll think of you.

Jam is surprisingly dead easy to make. If you find good quality fruits that are more or less unripened, you really only need 3 ingredients: fruit, sugar and lemon juice. You can add spices or infuse your jam with things like citrus zest or ginger. You can even play around with consistency by putting in some ripened fruit or simmering for shorter or longer.

I decided to make two batches: fig jam, and strawberry and ginger jam. You need unripened fruit because they contain a higher level of pectin, a natural setting agent. Figs are really ripe this time of year so I used the firmest ones I could find. Somehow they made a nice, thick jam. Both jams were delicious and all up took around a day to make.

Fig jam

You'll need:
1kg figs
500g castor sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
Glass jars

Preheat the oven to 110̊C.

Place jars in the oven to sterilise. Place the lids in too if they're oven-safe. Otherwise, put them in boiling water while you make the jam.

Quarter the figs and coat well with caster sugar in a large bowl. Keeping the excess sugar, cover and place in fridge until the juices come out (at least 6 hours).

Transfer to a deep pot and place on a medium heat.

Once the sugar is melted, remove the fruit and simmer the syrup for 10-15 minutes.

Return the fruit to the pot and simmer for about half an hour, stirring occasionally.

When it is thick and jammy, take your jar out of the oven and spoon the jam in while the jar is hot. Put the lid on immediately and leave it to cool. Once cool, store in fridge.

Makes around 1 litre.

Strawberry and ginger jam

You'll need:
1kg strawberries
1kg sugar
2 tablespoons ginger, sliced lengthways
Juice of 1½ lemons
Glass jars

Preheat the oven to 110̊C.

Place jars in the oven to sterilise. Place the lids in too if they're oven-safe. Otherwise, put them in boiling water while you make the jam.

Halve or quarter them and place in a deep pot.

Place sugar and ginger in the pot.

Place the pot on a medium heat and stir until the sugar is melted.

Once melted, bring to the boil and gently simmer for about half an hour, stirring occasionally. During this time, taste it regularly and take out the ginger when it's infused to your liking.

Add lemon juice.

When it is thick and jammy, take your jar out of the oven and spoon the jam in while the jar is hot. Put the lid on immediately and leave it to cool. Once cool, store in fridge.

Makes around 2 litres.

Enjoy!

Oprego Burger Deconstructed and Deep-Fried Cheese

It was my boyfriend Dan's birthday yesterday and I'd say his two big loves (after me!) are fast food and gaming. And so on the eve of his birthday I made him a fun little dinner combining the two. I present to you the Oporto Oprego burger deconstructed... and invading space!

This little baby has chicken drumsticks, bread wrapped with lettuce, chili and coriander sauce and Oporto's "legendary Prego sauce". It doesn't have tomato and mayo like the genuine Oprego burger but it's finger-lickin' goood! The idea is, you grab a bread and lettuce cube, dip it in the Prego sauce and eat it with a bite of chicken. And unlike a regular burger where the juices soak into the paper wrapper, you can lick every drop of flavour from the plate!

Bread, cut into cubes
Lettuce leaves
6 chicken drumsticks
1 bottle Oporto's Prego sauce
1 large red chili
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons coriander leaves
Lemon juice
Olive oil

Wash and dry drumsticks. Season with salt and cook in butter (in the oven at 180°C for roughly 45 minutes or in a pan on medium-low heat with the lid on until cooked through).

Wrap strips of lettuce around the bread cubes and secure with a toothpick.

Finely chop up chili, garlic and coriander until almost a paste. Place in a bowl and add enough olive oil to cover. Add equal amount of lemon juice. Drizzle over chicken.

Serve with Prego sauce.

I know you're wondering, "Where's the cheese, yo?" Don't worry, I would never ever skimp on cheese. That's why I also made these bad boys!

Deep-fried camembert with fresh tzatziki

I tried these at Mizuya during a food blogger meetup in Sydney and I remember thinking that my boyfriend would love them. This recipe pretty much replicates the ones I had that night and the batter is perfect.

1 wheel of camembert
1 egg
¼ cup plain flour
Bread crumbs (fresh is better)
Vegetable oil for frying
200g Greek yoghurt
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Juice of half a lemon
1 tablespoon chives

Using a wet knife, cut camembert into 8 triangular slices. Carefully cut the white casing off. Insert a toothpick into the wide end.

Whisk egg and flour together in a shallow bowl.

Holding the toothpick, dip the cheese into the egg batter. Be careful to coat it all, including part of the toothpick, so the cheese doesn't ooze out in the pan. Allow the excess to drip off.

Coat in breadcrumbs and place on a plate. edit: Coating this batter in breadcrumbs is essential as it inhibits the batter from rising and forming the texture of really bad bread.

Freeze for 2 hours.

Deep-fry until brown.

Combine yoghurt, garlic, lemon juice and chives in a bowl for a dipping sauce.

Serve immediately!

Dan would probably like it if I mentioned that he doesn't actually play Space Invaders. He plays cool games like Modern Warfare 2, that also happen to ruin girlfriends' lives.

I'm kidding. I love you baby! :) Happy 22nd!

Quick Seafood Salad

A quick seafood salad after a late night at work. Calamari, Atlantic salmon and prawns marinated in olive oil, parsley, garlic and cracked pepper. Pan-fried on medium-high heat for 4 minutes. Served with green coral lettuce, watercress, bean sprouts, red onion (soaked in lime juice, à la Nigella) and pomegranate seeds, dressed with olive oil and lemon juice.

Pan-Fried Salmon

As much as I love poached salmon in restaurants with fancy creamy sauces, my favourite way to eat salmon is with fresh herbs and crispy skin. Don't be afraid to buy salmon with the skin on, even if it means having to scale it yourself. After that messy affair, you've truly earned that delicious fillet of fish.

You'll need:

Salmon, preferably tail portion
Spring onion
Coriander
1 small chili
Bok choy
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce
Juice of half a lemon
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced ginger

Make deep scores along the salmon. Rub spring onion, chili and half a teaspoon each of garlic and ginger on the fillet and into the scores.

Marinate in soy sauce, fish sauce and a squeeze of lemon juice in the fridge for half an hour.

Pan-fry for about 5 minutes on each side, or until cooked through.

I like to serve this with some gently smoked bok choy and a wedge of lemon. The crunchiness and freshness of the bok choy goes beautifully with the tender and salty flakes of the salmon.

Enjoy!