Saturday, June 28, 2014

Slow-Roasted Lamb Shanks with Caramelised Onion

I made this recently while we were at Mum and Dad's and it was a huge hit.... we served it with Mum's best 'Bashed' potato and green beans.... it was seriously good! The recipe is a Women's Weekly one from their 'Food we Love' cookbook.
 
This is the actual meal I cooked...
not one stolen from the cookbook... looks too good doesn't it??

INGREDIENTS
 
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 french-trimmed lamb shanks (about 1.2kg)
1 tablespoon sugar
1½ cups (375ml) dry red wine
2 cups (500ml) beef stock
3 cloves garlic, crushed
20g butter
1 small brown onion (80g), chopped finely
1 trimmed celery stalk (100g), chopped finely
1 tablespoon plain flour
1 tablespoon tomato paste
4 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped coarsely

Caramelised onion
40g butter
2 medium red onions (340g), sliced thinly
¼ cup (50g) brown sugar
¼ cup (60ml) raspberry vinegar
METHOD

Preheat oven to 150°C/130°C fan forced.

Heat oil in large flameproof baking dish; cook shanks over heat until browned all over. Stir in sugar, wine, stock and garlic; bring to the boil. Roast lamb, covered, in oven, about 4 hours, turning twice during cooking.

Meanwhile, make caramelised onion.

Remove lamb from dish; cover to keep warm. Pour pan juices into large heatproof jug. Return dish to heat, melt butter; cook onion and celery, stirring, until celery is just tender. Stir in flour; cook, stirring, 2 minutes.

Add reserved pan juices, paste and rosemary; bring to the boil. Simmer, uncovered, stirring until it boils and thickens; strain sauce into large jug.

Serve lamb with sauce and caramelised onion, accompanied with pureed white beans, if desired.

Caramelised onion

Melt butter in medium saucepan; cook onion, stirring, about 15 minutes or until browned and soft. Stir in sugar and vinegar; cook, stirring, about 15 minutes or until onion is caramelised.
 
Enjoy!
Thimbelina
 
 

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

My Name is Thimbelina and I'm addicted to Cookbooks

I've always liked to cook.... which is probably thanks to my Mum who as far as I can remember has always been a great cook. I do tend to get bored with the same old recipes though and love to make new things. I especially love to cook with my Mum and daughter and we recently did some cooking classes together that we really enjoyed.... since they've finished up we've had a few nice dinners together for birthdays and such where we try all new recipes. We often google something and have found a few nice recipes that way but I do really love a nice glossy cookbook.

Hence, my cookbook addiction .... it all started with culling my cookbook collection and getting rid of all the cookbooks that I owned and had never used or had used but wasn't pleased with the results so wouldn't use again. I delivered a great big bag of them to the local St Vincent de Paul centre which made a good bit of room on my shelf. I have since filled what space I made and now have a large stack of them elsewhere as well. I've been choosie with the new books I've purchased and stuck with familiar authors whose recipes I've used before with success.

These are a couple of my new favourites.... and I'm pleased to say that I've used them all with great results.




I'm intending to share a few of my new favourite recipes over the next little while and would welcome hearing about any of your favourites or any suggestions you may have... they don't have to be fancy as I love a good everyday go-to recipe just as much (maybe more).

Cheers
Thimbelina

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Sewing Day

Miss 15 had a sewing day recently with one of her very good friends... they usually get together and do some cooking but this time decided that they would make aprons together instead.

They both turned out great and Miss Ruby was delighted with hers

I just love the fabrics they both chose.... especially this cute mustache fabric!

Cheers
Thimbelina

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Bunting

I've been working on this cute rainbow bunting for quite some time.... I got all the pieces cut out in just a couple of hours but I procrastinated when it came to stitching around all the triangles. I finally got motivated when Miss 15 hinted that she would like to use it for her market stall she was having (the next day)... suddenly it didn't take me long at all!

It gave me an excuse to finally use my new binding maker machine that I've had for some time but hadn't yet tried..... It made the whole process so easy.


Miss 15's table looked great with the bunting and all her lovely little bits and pieces on display

Some new additions to Miss 15's range of goodies... I just love the little ties!

Cheers
Thimbelina