‘T was a dark and stormy night…

Well actually it is. There is a roaring log fire in the hearth beating out some serious heat and sending its flickering glow across the room. The aroma of cooking food fills the house, in a good way, and I am looking forward to tucking into a dish my mother served to us with love.

Scotch broth.

Yes I know, so simple, yet so tasty and nurturing. Don’t forget the fresh bread with lashings of Danish butter…

I cheated and used a pressure cooker tonight. Normally, I would have left the thing slowly bubbling (barely) on the top of the combustion stove all afternoon, but meh, not that lucky today. If you don’t have a PC, then cook the thing for a couple of hours or so on a low heat untill the meat is tender and the barley is all unctuous yummy goodness… 

You take a kilo of best end of neck lamb chops, trimmed up if you must (you can skim the broth if you make it a day ahead) a leek, two chopped cloves of garlic, a humongous carrot, a couple of sticks of celery, 1/3 cup of barley, salt + pepper to taste and a generous 5 cups of home-made chicken stock. (a dash of thai fish sauce adds to the umami effect) Dust the lamb with a little seasoned plain flour, about a tablespoon. Have a glass of wine.

Fry off the leak in a little, wait for it…

Dripping! (gasp, shock, horror! Trust me, you only need a little and the flavour IS worth it!) Duck or goose fat is the other option. When the leek “wilts” throw in the rest of the veggies for a couple of minutes to “sweat them off,” stirring constantly, then add the lamb and fry for a couple of minutes more. Drink more wine.

Pop in the rest of the ingredients, shut the lid, and cook on High pressure for about 25 mins and then allow natural release of the pressure. More wine Sir, s’il vous plaît. 

Serve in deep bowls with the aforementioned bread and butter. Accompanied with pickled red cabbage, it works well,  as it does with a dollop of home-made sauerkraut. Hmm yummy. Have another wine and snuggle infront of the fire…

The rain is beating down on the tin roof and I am warm and cosy and well fed, looking forward to my pit. All is right in my little world. Even the dog thinks so. Now for a wee snort of single malt.

Kind regards, 

J 

PS: when I work out how to upload photo’s, you may have more to look forward to.