Simon Gault's winter recipes. Photos / Sarah Tuck
Now that cooler weather is on its way, Simon Gault shares some recipes for warming long-weekend food to enjoy at home with friends and family.
Serves 6
1.2kg butterflied lamb leg
2 tbsp Simon Gault Home Cuisine Kiwi seasoning
Stuffing:
¼ cup breadcrumbs
2 tbsp rosemary, finely chopped
Zest of 1orange, finely grated
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
¼ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup parmesan, grated
¼ cup slivered almonds
1 egg white, whisked to soft peak
Lamb sauce:
2 tbsp butter
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
2 medium garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 tbsp Simon Gault Home Cuisine Kiwi seasoning
1 celery sticks, roughly chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
500ml McCoy cranberry juice
300ml Simon Gault Home Cuisine lamb stock
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 cup dried whole cranberries
1 tsp cornflour
1 tbsp water
1 Preheat oven 185C. Combine all the stuffing ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
2 Open the butterflied leg of lamb out on your chopping board, skin-side down. Trim sinew, being careful not to cut any holes in the meat. Season with salt and pepper, spread the stuffing mixture over the lamb leaving a 2cm border. Tightly roll the lamb and tie with kitchen twine at 2cm intervals.
3 Transfer to a casserole dish and season generously with Kiwi seasoning.
4 In a saucepan, melt the butter then add the onion and garlic and saute while stirring over a medium heat until the onions are soft. Add the Kiwi seasoning, celery, tomato paste and cook for a further two minutes then add the cranberry juice, lamb stock, honey, cracked black pepper and dried cranberries.
5 Transfer to the casserole dish, pouring the sauce around the base of the lamb. Place the uncovered casserole dish in the oven and cook for approximately 1 hour or until the internal lamb temperature reaches the desired temperature, medium 65-68C or for well-done 75C. If you don't have a temperature thermometer, a general rule of thumb is to cook lamb for an hour for every kg at 185C.
6 Remove from the casserole dish and allow to rest on a large chopping board for 20 minutes. While the lamb is resting, transfer all the juices and vegetables from the casserole dish into a saucepan. Thicken the sauce with cornflour and water over a medium heat to gently simmer. Season with salt and pepper to your desired taste.
7 Pour the sauce on to your serving platter or jug, remove the kitchen string from your lamb and slice. Garnish with rosemary and serve with roast potatoes and your favourite green vegetables.
This tasty, hearty and rich French Onion Soup is a real winner. Served with crusty bread, it's a fantastic winter treat for lunch or dinner. Vegetarians can use my vegetable stock as a substitute to the beef. It will still taste wicked, just add a touch more seasoning.
Serves 4
30ml olive oil
3 large onions, sliced
200ml white wine
1 litre Simon Gault Home Cuisine beef stock
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Salt to taste
1 In a heavy-bottomed pot, heat oil and add onions, then stir constantly on a medium heat until they have a deep golden colour. Add white wine and reduce by half.
2 Mix 4 tablespoons of beef stock concentrate with 1 litre of hot water. Pour beef stock into onion mixture, bring to boil and add black pepper. Adjust seasoning with salt if required.
3 Serve in soup bowls with fresh crusty bread.
Serves 4
50g butter
150g button mushrooms or wild mushrooms, sliced
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp Simon Gault Home Cuisine Italian seasoning
250g carnaroli rice (risotto rice)
150ml white wine
1 litre Simon Gault Home Cuisine vegetable stock
80g parmesan cheese, grated
2 tbsp parsley, chopped for garnish
1 Saute mushrooms with 25g of melted butter in a saucepan over a medium-to-high heat. Once cooked through, take mushrooms out and set aside for later. The mushrooms should have cooked down to a roughly one cup in volume.
2 Return saucepan to heat and melt remaining butter. Add garlic and onion and cook until translucent, roughly 10 minutes over a medium heat. Add Italian seasoning, then carnaroli rice and lightly toast in saucepan, stirring constantly. Pour in white wine and continue to cook until wine is completely absorbed.
3 Add first ladle of vegetable stock and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally until stock is almost completely absorbed. Repeat until last of stock has been added, this will take roughly 20-25 minutes.
4 Add mushrooms and stir in, followed by parmesan cheese. If risotto is a little too thick then add a little more vegetable stock to make it ooze on to plate, then serve. Garnish with chopped parsley and a little olive oil and parmesan cheese.
Serves 6
Crumble:
35g sliced almonds
35g rolled oats
2 tbsp honey
65g butter
65g caster sugar
125g flour
½ tsp vanilla essence
35g cornflakes
10 mint leaves, finely sliced
Feijoa compote:
50g butter
1 vanilla bean
1kg feijoas, peeled and sliced
500g Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced
½ cup caster sugar
1 cinnamon stick
60ml maple syrup
Crumble mix:
1 Preheat oven to 150C. Toast almonds on a flat roasting try for 5-7 minutes, shaking tray occasionally to ensure they toast evenly to a pale gold colour. Toast oats and honey on a separate tray at same temperature for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside and allow to cool.
2 In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Sift in flour until a crumbly consistency is reached, then add vanilla, cornflakes, toasted almonds and honeyed oats. Lastly, add mint.
Feijoa compote:
1 Preheat oven to 180C. Melt butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat but do not allow it to colour as this will affect the flavour.
2 Using a sharp-pointed vegetable knife, carefully slice along length of vanilla bean to expose seeds and scrape them into saucepan, along with the bean.
3 Place feijoas, apples, sugar and cinnamon into saucepan and cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally to prevent fruit from catching, until feijoas are tender (about 10-15 minutes). Remove vanilla pod and place feijoa mix into a 20cm ovenproof dish and cover with crumble mix. Bake for 20-30 minutes until crumble turns a rich golden brown.
4 Remove from oven and serve with a scoop of icecream and a drizzle of maple syrup.
She never told them the five-course meal was vegan. So a cousin decided to act.