Winter warmers: It's a time for rich flavours, writes Hugo Arnold
It is a month of short days - and of game, crisp cabbage, nutty parsnips and gutsy carrots. I'm also enjoying feasting on slow-roasted meat, casseroles and stews made a day or two ahead, so the flavours can mingle while they are in the fridge. This is what seasonal cooking is all about.
Recipes serve four
BRAISED LAMB WITH SOURED YOGURT RELISH
8 lamb chump chops
3 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, peeled and finely diced
2 carrots, peeled and cut into ½cm slices
2 sticks celery, cleaned and cut into ½cm slices
sprig fresh rosemary
small bunch parsley
2 garlic cloves
600ml water
1 chicken stock cube
100g full-fat yogurt
2 tbsp tamarind paste (available from Asian food stores)
dash of Tabasco
1 tbsp roughly chopped fresh coriander
1 clove garlic, smashed, peeled and minced with a little
salt
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/gas four. Gently colour the chops in the oil, in a casserole dish large enough to take all the ingredients, until lightly coloured, then remove them and set aside. Chop the onions and saute in the same oil for 10 minutes.
While the onions are cooking, chop the carrots and celery, then add them to the onions. Finely chop the rosemary, parsley and garlic. Add them to the vegetables, colour them in the oil, pour in the water and add the stock cube.
Return the lamb; season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and put in the oven, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
Combine the yogurt, tamarind paste, Tabasco, coriander and minced garlic. Season with salt and serve with the lamb.
BRAISED PARTRIDGE AND ROOT VEGETABLES
4 partridges (or, if you prefer, two small chickens, halved)
6 tbsp olive oil
50g unsalted butter
8 shallots, peeled and quartered
2 carrots, peeled and quartered lengthways
2 sticks celery, trimmed and halved
8 baby turnips, peeled (halve or quarter them if you're using
an equivalent quantity of larger ones)
1 small bay leaf
1 glass white wine
Heat three tablespoons of the olive oil in a heavy casserole dish until it is almost smoking, then brown the partridges. Remove them, then pour off the oil and replace it with three tablespoons of fresh oil and the butter.
Add the vegetables and bay leaf, toss in the oil and butter, season with salt and pepper and replace the partridges, breasts down. Cover the birds loosely with a piece of foil, put on the lid and braise over a moderate heat for 25 minutes, or until the partridges are cooked.
Remove the birds and keep them warm. Add the wine to the vegetables, turn up the heat and simmer for four minutes. Serve the bird with the vegetables and resulting juices.