Sunday night can be a bit of a downer except for dinner. Roast pork with apple sauce and crackling sure lifts the spirits and sets you up for another week. I hit and miss with making a good crackling and tonite was nearly a miss. I saved the day with pulling it off the shoulder and blasting it in the oven on high for the last 10 mins. As you can see it was a success.
Watched movies with hubby late and I slept in a bit but hey it is Sunday. I have a mountain of work to catch up on and the list of chores around the house is steadily growing but I have come to the conclusion that I am going to just chill.
Childhood Sundays were so much nicer. Mum and Dad would have there weekly sleep in, and then Mum would get up to get my brother, sister and I ready for Sunday School. My impression of Sunday School was not good and I remember complaining to Mum about not going.
But having to go had a few positives like coming home to a house filled with the smell of a leg of lamb or shoulder of mutton roasting in the oven. This was a family tradition and even when we left home it was still an expectation of Mum’s to come over for Sunday lunch.
Sadly those days are long gone because of the geographical distance between us, and I am afraid to say that this tradition is now just a fond memory.
Helping Mum with the roast also had its benefits and one of them was helping her make the gravy and fighting over the crispy bits in the roasting pan. The remnants in the pan would be the base for the most delicious homemade gravy, and this method of gravy making is becoming a dying art.
For all of us who are guilty of this crime making a gravy from scratch is so easy and very gratifying.
Sprinkle some flour of the left over scrapings and juice in the roasting pan. (drain off the excess fat)
Pinch of salt and pepper
Put the roasting on the oven top element and mix the flour vigorously into the scrapings in the pan. Don’t worry too much about the lumps because you can put them through a sieve later if you like smooth gravy.
Then gradually add cooking water from the vegetables accompanying the meat or use some ready made stock.
Whisk vigorously until you get the consistency you like. I like gravy to be just a nice runny consistency not to thick nor too watery. Added texture from the scrapings is perfectly acceptable.
Other tricks to add flavour is to saute some onion and garlic in the pan first before adding the flour. But you will definitely need to strain the gravy before serving.
Add plenty of salt and pepper.
Mum sometimes would add marmite or soy sauce if the gravy looked a bit anemic.
To make the gravy glossy I add a knob of butter.
Serve it hot
Food is an expensive commodity these days and I absolutely refuse to pay ridiculous supermarket prices for our famous cuts of lamb and beef. As I drool my way down the meat aisle past the lamb chops I usually find the lambs fry. For a couple of dollars you could feed an army. But not many people know how to cook it nicely. I look at the size and cut of the lambs fry. It shouldn’t be big huge chunks! It is only a small animal’s liver guys. So the pieces should be no bigger than your palm. When you get it ready to cook, slice it very thin and coat it with flour, salt and pepper.
Here is the best way to cook it.
Saute some onions, 2 rashers of bacon cut small and small amount of garlic in olive oil.
Remove the onions, garlic and bacon from the pan.
Add a little more oil and I sometimes use a little butter to the pan and drop the pieces of lambs fry turning them only once so about 1 min both sides. Remove them quickly from the pan. Do not overcook, because it will be like rubber.
Put the onions and garlic back in the pan and sprinkle some flour and cook out before adding some beef stock, a dash of Worcestershire sauce. Stir quickly and then return the lambs fry back in pan to reheat before serving.
Taste the gravy and add more salt and pepper if needed. If you have some red wine add some when cooking the gravy to add depth of flavour.
Serve with crusty bread, and creamy mashed potatoe
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