HellBay Forest Creamed Potatoes

Yesterdays lamb was waaay too much for two people to consume for dinner. Fortunately, roast leftovers are one of my absolute favourite dishes. At least when served as we did tonight. Although we both love cooking, it's nice to get a great tasting meal with minimum effort. All we had to do was;

heat the oven to about 200 C,

slice three medium sized potatoes (...we're talking really thin slices!)

and one red onion

and put it all in an oven proof pan,

pour a good 2 dl of cream over it

and add some chunks of butter,

a couple of pinches of dried chilli

and salt...

Let it bake in the oven for about 30 min before covering with cheese :)

Let it bake for another 10 min or so till the cheese is golden...

Mmm...!

HellBay Forest Roasted Lamb

Aaahh... Easter dinner as it should be. Lamb is normally stretching our budget a bit, but come Easter and soon to come birthday (when I'll be in Denmark, away from Lars and our dog :( ... ) today we decided to jump into our fancy pants and get crazy. Lamb roast is on the menu. Side dishes will be celery root purée and baked vegetables. - Dig it!

Here is what you'll need:

LAMB:

1 - 1 1/2 kg lamb (we got a piece that was "pre-seasoned" with thyme, basil and rosemary)

6 cloves of garlic

a couple of butter slices

1/2 dl madeira

BAKED VEG:

1/2 red and 1/2 yellow pepper

4 shallots

leek

salt

dried chili

white wine vinegar

a couple of butter slices (no surprise)

PUREE:

150 g celery root

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 dl cream

30 g butter

salt

If you, like us, bought a "ready to go" version, punch a couple of holes in the roast (nicely distributed). Chop the cloves of garlic in two and shove them in there. Mix the meat juice with the Madeira. Place the garlic infused wonder in an oven-proof pan at the lowest rack in the oven at 175 C until the roast holds about 70. Pour some of the meat juice mix on top of the roast whilst cooking;) Let it rest for 10-15 min in a pan with a lid (or wrap it in aluminium foil).

Chop the vegetables (about the size of half a shallot) and toss 'em into an oven-proof pan with some olive oil, a couple of pinches crushed dried chilli, a couple of pinches salt, two tablespoons of white wine vinegar and some good chunks of butter...

Boil the celery root until mellow. Mush it with cream until preferred consistency, add salt and pepper (and again - taste it while you add it!)

A cold Bernard lager did it once again;)

- Absolute heaven!

Herring is not just for bait!

I'll be having dinner alone today. I'll use today to make a very healthy dish that most people don't like, or more correct, think they don't like. You should give it a try!

It has been a belief among people that the oceans are so large that we are unable to empty them, but later management and science has proven this conviction to be wrong. Many resources are depleted, and marine fisheries also have to follow strict management rules. It is with great sadness that I have discovered that many outstanding fish species are over-harvested. We need to be careful about what species we eat and harvest. The population of cod, halibut, munkfish among others are seriously in trouble, and they should be harvested with great care (see  panda.org for more information). Also the North Sea herring population has been in trouble in the sixties, but the population is doing great now!

Another good argument for eating herring is found in public health guidelines. We should eat more fat fish, and herring is indeed a fat fish. It is also low in the trophic pyramid, meaning that the level of bioaccumulation is low. This means that the amount of environmental contaminants is sparse. One should also remember that the chances of getting complications from environmental contaminants is extremely low compared to the health benefit from eating fat fish. As the prevalence for complications by eating fat fish is calculated in parts pr thousand or lower (especially from fish low in the trophic pyramid), the health benefits are absolute. Everyone will benefit from eating fat fish! Bottom line is: eat more herring, it's a waste to use it as bait!

Todays dinner is also a very simple one.
One baked red onion. Make a cross in the top of the onion and squeeze some limejuice, butter and thyme into the cross. Bake at 180C for 45 minutes. You might also just use the onion raw.
Two cooked potatoes.

Two salted and spicy herring fillets (raw, just soak them in water for some hours if they're too salty)

Some sour cream
Some more butter for the potatoes (of course, there is only one thing that is better than butter, see post on the Hell Bay Forest Bread)
Some pickled beetroots

Serve on a dish.
It is really good, and this recipe serves one hungry guy.
Enjoy!

- Lars-