Turnips with peas, wet garlic & roast lamb

Sometimes there is a nice little surprise in my veg box, a recipe that someone has thoughtfully put in, to inspire people when cooking some of the ingredients that week.

This time it was fresh turnips, which they suggested you braise and then serve with the wet garlic and fresh peas that were also in the box. Luckily enough I had ordered racks of lamb too, which the recipe mentioned as great with this side dish.

Cooking little racks of lamb to go with the veggies is pretty easy. It's even easier if the only breadcrumbs you have in the house have gone mouldy, so there's nothing to make a herby crust from. Whoops!

Just brown them for a few minutes either side, preferably using the baking tray that you're going to roast them in. Then cover with foil and pop in the oven at 180 degrees for about 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of them. At this point you'd usually remove the foil and add the crust, before cooking for another 8 minutes or so, in this case I had to omit the crust and just removed the foil.


The turnip recipe was very easy too, and rather than typing the whole thing out here is a picture of the recipe from my Abel and Cole box.

I think the only note I'd make to add to this recipe is that the turnips probably needed to be cooked for a little longer than I did them (we were hungry!), so make sure they are nicely cooked before serving up.


Btw, I did like adding a splash of white wine!

Once the lamb was done, I left it to rest for five minutes before serving up.

Lammy the Lamb

For the last day of the holiday week, I ordered two small racks of lamb (3-chop sized) - here is what I did with them.

Even the cat was impressed...

The lamb was really easy, inspired by a Raymond Blanc recipe in "Simple French Cookery". First I pan-fried it for 4 minutes on either side (fat side last), then bunged it in the oven at 180°C for 12 minutes.

Meanwhile I made the crust from a couple of handfuls of breadcrumbs and some rosemary, thyme and plenty of parsley from the garden, chopped up really finely. A few drizzles of olive oil to bring it together and salt and pepper.
When the lamb was ready, I covered the fat side with mustard, rolled it in the breadcrumb mixture and put it back in the oven for another 8 minutes.

To go with it (as I had fresh vegetables in the fridge and so didn't want to use frozen peas to make Raymond's recommendation) I made some steamed spring greens and roasted cauliflower, the idea for which came from the lovely chef Steve Watts.

Just break up the cauliflower into smallish florets and lay out in a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and/or lemon juice, season with salt and pepper, then sprinkle roughly chopped hazelnuts over the top and mix the whole thing up thoroughly. I also added a little bit of thyme. Cover with foil and bung in the oven, it probably worked out at about 20 mins before it was ready.

I hope you enjoy it, we (and the cats) certainly did.

Links 
Raymond Blanc's Website
Simple French Cookery @ Amazon