Moroccan Lamb Stew for Toddlers and the Whole Family

I fancied trying out a recipe with Ras el Hanout and wanted to cook something where the flavour would be out front and clear.  I always associate North African food with lamb so it seemed an obvious choice.

If you've not come across it, Ras el Hanout means "head of the shop" or "top of the shop" and that's because it contains lots of the best and most fragrant spices.  Depending on where you source it from will depend on how many different spices are in the mix.  To me it reminds me of an even more fragrant version of garam masala, it often contains sweet spices and even roses.

My son had some of this, not a complete success but he loved the spicy chickpeas.  This does build in flavour so if your child isn't one for spices maybe tone it down a bit or be careful not to serve too much of the spicy sauce.  Only one for over 1s though, honey isn't suitable for babies even if it's cooked.

Lamb Stew - serves 2 adults and 1 toddler with seconds of leftovers

Ingredients

1 tsp Olive oil
700g, 1 lb, 9oz Stewing Lamb (bone in, see below)
1 large onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp Ras el Hanout
1-2 tsp Honey
1 tin (240g drained weight) chickpeas
150ml, 5 fl oz vegetable stock (see below for tips)

Method

Brown the lamb in the oil and then transfer to a slow cooker.  Fry the onion in the pan until softened and slightly brown, add the garlic for a minute or so and then transfer to the slow cooker.

Add the spice, honey, chickpeas and hot vegetable stock.  Bring to the bubble on high and then reduce to low for 4-5 hours or until falling off the bone.  This varies by slow cooker so be guided by it's normal performance.

Take the meat off the bones and discard the bones.  Serve with cous cous or bread.

I bought a stew pack of lamb in my internet shopping and got a mix of a small lamb shank and neck.  If I'd seen the pack beforehand, I probably wouldn't have chosen the pack, it was pretty bony but by I always think a stew cooked with bones is way tastier.

To make a quick vegetable stock, use onion trimmings, grated carrot and grated broccoli stalk, boil away for 10 minutes or so, sieve out the vegetables and done!  Salt free vegetable stock.






If you've got some ras-el-hanout left, try this Moroccan Chicken Soup recipe

Toad in the Hole for the Whole Family

Toad in the hole is such comfort food, thrifty too.  How mean would it look if you were served up with two and a half chipolatas for your tea as an adult?  It would be ridiculously mean but when cooked with the batter, it makes a dish suitable for Sunday lunch out of the cheapest of things.

I have no idea why it's called Toad in the Hole, nothing to do with toads.  Normally it's a dish of sausages and batter, sometimes chicken or bacon is also put in but this is much less common than the traditional dish.

My son loved this.  Admittedly he picked out the sausages and ate them first then moved onto the batter (all eaten with ketchup) but as he was also eating the broccoli, I felt ok with the whole thing.

I'm not 100% happy with how the toad in the hole looked, I think part of the problem was I poured the batter over the sausages but gosh, darn it, it tasted fantastic!  How can flour, milk and eggs taste soooo gooood?!!

Might be an option for you baby led weaners out there to serve some of the vegetables and batter.  For younger toddlers, I'd cut up the sausages for them before serving as it's a common food for wee ones to choke on.

Toad in the Hole - serves 2 adults and a toddler with seconds (could serve 3-4 adults)

Ingredients

10 Chipolata Sausages
1 Generous tbsp Duck Fat (optional, see below) or use Vegetable Oil
130g, 4.5oz, 1 cup, Plain (all purpose) flour
2 eggs
150ml, quarter pint, 2/3 cup Semi skimmed milk (2% fat)
1 tsp Mild French Mustard

Onion Gravy (optional)
1 onion, sliced
15g, 1/2 oz butter
200ml, 1/3 pint, 3/4 cup Beef Stock (use low salt if giving to babies)
2 tbsp Red Wine (omit if liked but you do bubble off all the alcohol)
1 tsp Mild French Mustard
1-2 tsp Cornflour (cornstarch) to thicken

Method

Heat the oven to 220oC / 200oC (Fan) / 400F / Gas Mark 7 and put a baking dish in the oven with the fat in it.  Mine is 22cm (8.5 inch) square.  Dry fry the sausages in a non stick frying pan until lightly browned.  The observant of you will notice I had 12, I couldn't fit them all in the dish later!  Oops!  Also I realised I didn't need so many so I will definitely stick to no more than 10 next time.

In the meantime, fry the onions in the butter very slowly with a lid on it on a gentle heat until meltingly golden and brown.

While the onions are frying, make the batter by whisking the eggs and milk into the flour with the mustard.  Once fully mixed in, leave to rest.  If you don't feel confident about this, use an electric mixer, it's guaranteed to be 100% lump free.  Add a bit more milk in if liked, it should be the consistency of thin cream.

Once the oven is hot and the fat is REALLY hot (be careful... this is the secret, if the fat's not hot, leave it for longer).  Put the sausages in the dish followed by the batter mix.  Return to the oven for 25-30 minutes or until it's all fully cooked through (check the batter and the sausages.  DO NOT use thick sausages for this unless you fully cook them first as they won't cook through in the time.)

While the toad in the hole is cooking and once the onions are softened and brown (this may take 20 mins, keep an eye on them), add in the wine and allow to bubble, followed by the hot stock.  Bubble for about 10 minutes.   Mix the cornflour with cold water to make a paste then add to the gravy mixing all of the time.  Once thickened add in the mustard and then strain out the onions (optional).  You can leave the onions in but I love the sweet onion flavour without the stringiness.  I push the onions through a sieve to get maximum taste out of them.  Might sound crazy but it makes a lovely smooth gravy.

Ok, duck fat.  What on earth am I doing using duck fat?  Well I had some in the freezer from a roast duck I cooked a few weeks before and I thought it would be nice.  Yes it might sound expensive but actually, when you think about it, it was actually free...!  Did lend a lovely flavour to it but oil does just fine.

Low Sugar Trifle for Babies and Toddlers

This has been something in the ideas bank for a while.  I did originally want to make it no added sugar but it was a tricky task.  I also found by using traditional custard powder, the amount of sugar I was adding was pretty low and I'm not as strict as I used to be!

Trifle - Serves 2 with fairly big portions

Ingredients

100ml, 3.5 fl oz Red Grape Juice
1 Leaf of gelatine (or enough to set a quarter of a pint)
10 Raspberries
300ml, Half a pint of custard (I made mine using 1 tbsp Aunt Bessies custard powder, 2 tsp sugar and half a pint, 300ml of milk following pack instructions)
150 ml, 5 fl oz Double cream

Method

Soak the gelatine in cold water for about 5 minutes.

Heat up half of the juice in a microwave until boiling.  In the meantime, wash the raspberries and dry them well on kitchen roll (I didn't and my jelly turned out a little soft).  Divide the raspberries between two glasses or small bowls if you prefer.

Dissolve the softened gelatine in to the hot juice then once fully dissolved, top up to 100ml.

Pour the jelly over the fruit and then put into the fridge for a couple of hours to set.

When the jelly is set, make the custard and pour over the top.  Leave for a good 4-5 hours to fully set as the hot custard may remelt the jelly a bit.

Whisk up the double cream and then put on top of the custard.  Serve!

My son liked this as you can see (he's in the background).  He described it as "all delicious"!  This is a great egg free pudding too because I used cheat's custard rather than proper custard.  Check the packaging but many custard mixes are both egg and gluten free because the thickening agent is cornflour.

Some day I will make proper custard.  Not today but some day.

This post was not sponsored in any way.  I've linked this up to Sticky Fingers Photo gallery this week "boys"

Root Vegetable Mash for Babies, Toddlers and Adults

A great recipe for the whole family this and an awesome recipe for the reluctant vegetable eater in your life (baby, toddler or *ahem* adult).

Root Vegetable Mash - Makes enough for 2 adults and a toddler easily

Ingredients

1 large potato, peeled (mine weighed 350g it was a monster!)
120g Butternut Squash (peeled weight)
1 carrot
A large knob of butter or olive oil if you prefer

Method

Cut the potato up into approx 1 inch (2.5cm) or so chunks.  Cut the butternut squash into pieces a bit smaller and cut the carrot into thick slices.

Cover with boiling water and boil, turning down to a simmer for 22 minutes or until everything is softened.

Drain and mash through a potato ricer with some butter or with olive oil.

My 2 year old described it as "yummy" then ate his broccoli and left his beef stew.  He loves beef stew.  You can't please all the people all of the time but it's great to get some vegetables into my sometime reluctant vegetable eater.

I've linked this up here.

Prawn and Potato Soup for the Whole Family

It is soup season.  Although the snow has gone, it's still brrr.  That said, I don't want all of my soups to be stodgy and heavy, this is a sunshine of a soup.  Also my poor little man needed some cheering up and he loves prawns.

Prawn and Potato Soup - Serves 2 adults or 1 adult and 1 prawn obsessed little boy

Ingredients

2 Cloves of garlic
1 tsp olive oil
1 Carrot
90g Chorizo, diced
200g New or waxy potatoes, diced
500g Passata
300ml Boiling water
1/2 tsp Smoked paprika
1 Bay leaf
A sprig of rosemary
10-12 or so raw king prawns (I do spoil my boy)

Method

Warm the oil in a pan and saute the carrot and garlic for a minute or so.  Add the chorizo and fry until the red oil starts to run.  Add in the paprika, stir for a few minutes.  Add in the rest of the ingredients apart from the prawns.

Bring to the boil and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes and carrots are just done.  Add in the prawns and simmer for another 3 minutes or so or until the prawns are done.

Once the soup is done, fish out the bay leaf and serve with crusty bread or garlic bread.  My son loved this and enthusiastically ate his whole portion.

Although this does have raw prawns in which aren't cheap, look out for them in the freezer section as they're quite often on offer.  Just defrost before cooking.

I've linked this up here.