Lamb and aubergine casserole / casserole d'agneau aux aubergines

 

For 4 people / pour 4 personnes

8 ribs of breast of lamb (or lamb chops) / côtes de poitrine d'agneau

2 onions, chopped / oignons, coupées en morceaux

4 cloves garlic, chopped / gousses d'ail, coupées en morceaux

2 glasses of white wine / verres de vin blanc

1 tin or jar tomato passata / bocal de tomates concassées

3 bay leaves / feuilles de laurier sauce

1 aubergine, sliced / coupé en tranches

salt, paprika, olive oil / sel, piment doux, huile d'olive

chopped parsley / persil haché

Cook the onion gently in a tablespoonful of olive oil for about 10 minutes.  / Faire cuire à feu doux l'oignon pour 10 minutes. 

Add the lamb and aubergine with the paprika and brown slightly / Ajouter l'agneau, l'aubergine et le piment doux et fles aire dorer un peu.

Add the garlic, wine, tomato, salt and bay leaves.  Bring to the boil and simmer for about 45 minutes.

Ajouter l'ail, le vin, les tomates, le sel et les feuilles de laurier.  Faire bouiller et mijoter pour 45 minutes.

Serve with rice and garnish with chopped parsley.  / Servir au riz, garni de persil.

I served the casserole with a mix of red and white grains of rice from Marseillette - see the olives and artichokes blog for more about this rice. J'ai servi le casserole avec un duo des riz, rouge et blanc, de Marseillette.  Voir le blog olives and artichokes pour plus de renseignements.

 

I used dried aubergine which we grew in the garden last summer.  I dried slices of the aubergines, threaded on string, in the sun last August and stored them in a jar.  To reconstitute them I soaked them in luke warm water for half an hour then cooked them gently in olive oil before adding them to the casserole. J'ai ajouter des tranches d'aubergine sechées.  Je les ai trempées à l'eau tiède pour une demie heure et puis je les ai cuits à l'huile d'olive avant de les ajouter au casserole.

Jewelled Persian Rice

[Lo Jardinièr's adaptation of a recipe in Diana Henry's Crazy Water, Pickled Lemons]

for 4 people

1 large cup basmati rice

2 oranges

2 carrots

ground seeds of 10 cardamom pods

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon brown sugar

30 grams roughly chopped pistachios

30 grams raisins

olive oil

seeds from 1 pomegranate

Wash the basmati rice in a sieve and leave to soak in a bowl of water.

Take thin shavings of peel from the oranges and cut into thin strips.  Boil in a cupful of water for 2 minutes and leave to cool.  Remove peel from the water, keeping both.

Peel the carrots and cut into matchsticks.  Sauter in oil for 4 minutes and add the ground cardamom seeds and cinnamon.  Add the sugar and orange peel and cook for 1 minute.  Add the pistachios and raisins or other dried fruit (vary the proportions to taste).  Take the pan off the heat.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add the drained rice and cook for 5 minutes only.  Drain.

In a large heavy-bottomed pan, eg. cast-iron casserole, heat 2 tablespoonfuls of olive oil (you can add some butter if you wish).  Cover with a layer of rice, then add a layer of orange and carrot.  Continue to build up layers, keeping some of the orange and carrot mix for a garnish later.  Pour on the cupful of orange water.

After the last layer cover the pan with a lid wrapped in a tea-towel to seal it and cook on a high heat for a couple of minutes, then gently for about 10 minutes.  Turn heat off but leave lid on for another 10 minutes.

Spoon the rice into a hot dish or leave in the pan.  Garnish with orange and carrot mix and pomegranate seeds.  The rice will have just burnt on to the bottom of the pan - this is supposed to happen and is considered a real treat.