DELICIOUS CASSOULET FROM THE OSBORNE KITCHEN

PORK AND BEAN CASSOULET: serves 2

500 grm roughly chopped shoulder of pork

1 large onion sliced

3 large cloves garlic

1 green chilli chopped

I 300 grm tin chopped tomatoes

2 medium chorizo sausages

1 500 grm tin white flageolet beans

Cup of chicken stock/other

I tbsp hot Cajun sauce

Add cooking oil to a pan and gently colour the garlic, onion, chilli with the addition of a good pinch of allspice and cumin.

Remove and add the pork pieces, tossing in the hot oil until juices are sealed. Remove.

In an earthenware casserole, tip the pre-cooked flageolet beans, the skinned and chopped chorizos and the pork. Add the tomatoes and juice, the stock, several slurps of Cajun sauce and a squeeze of fresh lemon-juice.

Cook on a medium heat for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Serve with khubz Arab bread, or crusty baguette for dipping in the sauce, and a green salad of lettuce, cucumber, pre-cooked and chopped string beans and slices of avocado.

MIDDLE EAST COOKING: lamb baked with lemon-juice & yoghurt

I met many interesting people when I was running my photo agencies - divers, pilots, diplomats, doctors, aid workers of whom some were jolly good photographers. Several who became friends used to pass by if they came to London. I cooked dinner for one recently who enjoyed the meal so much he wanted the recipe ---- it was shoulder of lamb baked with lemon-juice and yoghurt, from my book Middle Eastern Cooking which was first published in 1984.

Quite delicious and so easy to prepare I’ve decided to post it here for anyone else who may like to try it. I prefer to use a shoulder as the meat is usually more tender than a leg.

1 shoulder of lamb about 1 kg (2.20 lbs)

ground rock salt and black pepper

4 large cloves garlic

6 tablespoons olive oil

6 tablespoons lemon juice

6 tablespoons Greek-style yoghurt

Lightly slice the skin of the shoulder. Rub with olive oil, salt and pepper. Insert crushed garlic and pour 3 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon-juice over it. Refrigerate 3-4 hours. Remove to warm up prior to cooking in a pre-heated oven 230C/450F.

Heat oil in a roasting pan until it sizzles, then sear lamb on both sides. Turn garlic side up and cook for 30 minutes. Remove, pour over remaining lemon-juice and return to cook at about 200C/392F.

Cook a further 30 minutes, then smear with yoghurt and continue cooking until it forms a golden crust. Baste with juices from the pan and remove when tender. Depending on your own oven, total cooking time should be about 2 hours, or so.

I serve the lamb with boiled new potatoes and a green bean salad with vinaigrette sauce.

Serves 4.

Images: www.copix.co.uk

DELIGHTFUL DRINKS

My list of memorable drinks runs from coffee in a Bedouin tent to pineapple crush under Polynesian palms. While most were genuine thirst quenchers, others were significant for the occasion. Or the surroundings.

I recall a tangy limoonada (fresh lime-juice and 7 Up) in Persepolis after following my guide – an energetic man named Mr. V. Piroozi – up stairways lined with Achaemenian bas-reliefs, under soaring arches into vast audience rooms and along columned halls. Finally I had leant against a huge winged bull – one of the guardians of Persepolis – and declared I was parched.

Loosening his tie, Mr. V. Piroozi agreed it was time for a drink and muttering that it was fortunate it wasn’t Ramazan, he drove at speed to my hotel where I slumped in a chair and listened to ice tinkling in the glass. As the outside temperature passed 45c, Mr. V. Piroozi and I ordered a second, then a third limoonada. Until the hotel finally ran out of limes.

On another warm, if emotional occasion, I discovered horchata while waiting for a train in Spain. A refreshing drink based on almonds, it raised my spirits after my idol - a matador of some repute- announced plans to marry his childhood sweetheart. Devastated, I headed for the station, and to this day I still associate horchata with memories of the bullfight and the hiss of steam, as slowly, interminably or so it seemed at the time, we pulled out of Valencia.

A third memorable drink was on the lush Pacific island of Moorea. I was cycling around the island when my companion – a young Tahitian – had pulled off the road and shinned up a palm. Knocking off a coconut, he slid down again and chopped off the top with his machete and cupping in my hands, I let the sweet fluid flow over my face and into my mouth before diving into the blue lagoon to wash it off.

The interesting aspect about all these drinks is that none of them contained alcohol and leafing through my notes, I see that others are also alcohol-free.

Today even supermarkets stock tropical fruits so why not try mixing your own? All you need is a juice extractor or a blender, and with a little experimentation you can create wonderful beverages for warm summer days. Here is a starter to your own inventions:

ALMOND DRINK

1/2 kilo (1 pound) almonds

500grm (½ pound) sugar (or cup of cane syrup)

1 ½ litres water (warm)

Dash almond essence

Slice almonds and crush in a coffee grinder. Add to a food processor with other ingredients and work until smooth. Strain through a muslin cloth. Chill well and serve in glasses garnished with a cinnamon stick and a rose petal.

c.Christine Osborne

Image: www.copix.co.uk

SPICY PRAWNS

EASY-PEASY COOKING

Serves 2-3

18-20 medium-size green prawns

3 large cubes garlic

1 tps sambal paste

Black pepper and salt

Coconut milk

Lemon

Thai fish oil

Chopped tinned tomatoes

Butter

2 teacups Basmati rice

Place the crushed garlic, pepper and sambal in a tablespoon of

butter in a skillet and cook for one minute, shaking all the time.

Throw in the prawns and cook quickly until pink on both sides.

Do not overcook them. Remove to cool.

To the skillet, add a cup of coconut milk, a cup of tinned tomatoes, a splash of fish oil, and a squeeze of fresh lemon. Stir and heat, but do not boil. Add the prawns and stir until hot enough to serve.

Serve with boiled rice.

Garnish: finely chopped coriander leaves.

c.Christine Osborne

Image: The Big Prawn, Ballina, New South Wales

Source: www.copix.co.uk

Delicious lamb dish from an Arab kitchen

Levantine Lamb

4 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon ground coriander
small piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
900 g lamb, cubed
2 medium onions, sliced
½ large lemon cut into four
pinch of saffron or turmeric
salt and pepper, to taste
75g green olives stoned
100g laban/thick yoghurt (optional)

Heat the oil in a flame-proof pot and add the garlic, coriander, ginger and mix together. Add onions and lamb, stir well until the meat is seared. Add the lemon, saffron or tumeric, salt and pepper and water to cover.

Bring to the boil, reduce immediately and simmer gently until cooked, about 2 hours. Keep the casserole covered during this time, but stir the contents occasionally.

To thicken the sauce, remove the meat and allow the contents to simmer without a lid, as desired. Strain, then stir in the olives. Stir further then return the meat, warm and serve.

The addition of yoghurt makes this dish even more delicious. Just before serving, stir in the yoghurt and simmer, but do not allow to boil.

Serves 4

Christine Osborne: author of Middle East Cooking (Prion)

Image: Levantine Lamb dish with olives

Source: www.copix.co.uk