At the end of our third week, Simon’s created two decadent dishes I can’t wait tro try out this weekend. Here are the recipes…
Simon’s fragrant and spicy Lamb Massaman curry is a Thai interpretation of a Persian dish. The word Massaman is thought to be an archaic version of ‘Muslim’. This dish will make extra curry paste, which you can store in the fridge for a couple of weeks.
This curry contains a whopping 12 chillies – if you want a less spicy version just use fewer.
- Serves 2
- Preparation time: 15 mins
- Cooking time: 45 mins
For the curry paste
- 12 chillies, chopped
- 3 shallots, chopped
- 5 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 lemongrass stalks, tender part only, finely chopped
- 5cm/1in piece fresh ginger, peeled, grated
- 1 tsp shrimp paste
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds, dry-fried and ground
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds, dry-fried and ground
- 4 cloves, dry-fried and ground
- 6 peppercorns, dry-fried and ground
For the currry
- 500g lamb shoulder, cubed
- 250ml/9fl oz coconut cream
- 1 x 400ml/14fl oz can coconut milk
- Splash fish sauce
- 60ml/2 oz tamarind paste
- 1 tbsp palm sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 onion, sliced
- 225g/8oz cooked potatoes
- 50g/1¾oz roasted peanuts
- Boiled rice, to serve
Method
- Blend the chillies, shallots, garlic, lemongrass and ginger until smooth.
- Blend the spices in a food processor, then add the shrimp paste, sugar and oil, and blend with the rest of the paste.
- Fry 2-3 tbsp of the curry paste (depending on how hot you like it) for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Add the lamb and onion and cook for a further 5-6 minutes, until coated in paste and sealed on the outside.
- Slowly stir in the coconut cream, then the coconut milk, fish sauce, tamarind, palm sugar and cinnamon.
- Continue to cook for a further 30-40 minutes or until tender.
- Stir in the cooked potatoes and simmer for a further 2-3 minutes, or until warmed through.
- Serve the curry with boiled rice and sprinkle over the roasted peanuts.
This Cookie Dough Cheesecake is one of Simon’s most popular Sunday Brunch recipes, so he has decided to revisit it for Daily Brunch. Simon fills the cheesecake with dollops of delicious cookie dough, which make the resulting cheesecake even more indulgent. He serves the cheesecake with a fruity raspberry sauce to cut through the richness.
- Serves 6-8
- Preparation time: 15 mins
- Cooking time: 1hr 15 mins
Base
- 300g crushed butter shortbread biscuits
- 75ml melted butter
Topping
- 600g ricotta
- 300g full-fat cream cheese
- 2 vanilla pods, seeds scraped out
- 6 eggs
- 150g caster sugar
Cookie dough
- 175g butter
- 100g caster sugar
- 200g plain flour
- 1 egg yolk
- 50g chocolate chips
- 1 tbsp hundreds-and-thousands
Raspberry sauce
- 250g raspberries
- 200g caster sugar
- 200ml water
- 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out
Method
- To make the base, crush the biscuits and then stir in the butter. Press into a 10in spring-form tin, greased and lined with greaseproof paper.
- To make the topping, blitz together the ricotta, cream cheese, vanilla, eggs and sugar until smooth.
- Make the cookie dough by creaming the butter and sugar, then adding the egg yolk. Fold in the flour, followed by the chocolate chips and finally the hundreds-and-thousands.
- Break the dough into pieces and fold into the topping mix.
- Spoon the topping onto the base, then bake at 150˚C for about 1 hour 15 minutes. Allow to cool.
- To make the sauce, boil the caster sugar, water and vanilla until the sugar dissolves and the mixture turns syrupy. Leave to cool, then add the raspberries and purée the mixture. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve to catch the seeds.
- Serve a wedge of cheesecake with raspberry sauce drizzled over the top.
All the recipes so far are in our Recipes section, so take a look!
Naomi, PR and Social Media Executive
