Broad Bean, Mint and Pomegranate Salad

The flood warnings didn’t put us off heading over to the Lake District this weekend. Having survived an epic storm and a flooded basement last week we shrugged at flood warnings and set off. There was another little guy along for the ride too, apart from TLI, Mr. Smokerson, my newly acquired smoker and firm friend; but more of him to come... My adventures in smoking have begun...

The weekend turned out to be warm and dappled in beautiful sunshine most of the time, apart from the bit when we were an hour from home up a deserted valley and the heavens opened. I thought it was snow at one point, but no, just huge, huge raindrops soaking us to the skin. Sheltering in the forest seemed a good idea at first; but when the rain stopped outside, we were still in the forest and the water falling from the trees continued to saturate us...

A few hours later I was sitting in the sun making a salad, it is a pretty funny kind of summer we're having... This salad is a little preview of sorts. I am hosting, alongside Carruthers and Kent wine merchants of Gosforth, a little food and wine evening. A taste of the Middle East with lots of different courses of sharing plates matched with different wines, I do the food, they do the wine. The event is part of the EAT Festival, which is currently in full swing. Our original date for the 19^th July sold out more or less straight away, so we have decided to do it again, on the Friday 27^th July. If you would like to come along you can find all of the details here.

This broad bean and pomegranate delight forms one half of the salad course, alongside a tomato, feta and tarragon salad with sumac dressing. As well as smoky dips, Moroccan breads, slow roast salted lamb, pistachio bombs, Lebanese reds, raki and more, it promises to be a lovely evening...

Shell and peel about 600g of broad beans and set them to one side. Then cut a pomegranate open and remove the seeds, you only need the seeds from one half, make sure you pick out all the skin. Finely slice 4 radishes and add them to the bowl with the pomegranate seeds. Remove the leaves from 4 sprigs of mint and finely shred them, add them to the bowl too. Then pick the leaves from 6 sprigs of parsley and add them whole.

Drop the broad beans into a pan of boiling salted water and blanch them for 2-3 minutes. Allow them to cool then add to everything else. At the very last minute dress everything with a glug of extra virgin olive oil and a splash of sherry vinegar. These amounts will serve 4 with other salads, or 2 as a larger portion.

It is a salad full of flavour, crunchy sweet pomegranate seeds, creamy smooth broad beans, peppery radishes and tons of herbs. We ate it in the sun alongside Mr. Smokerson, while he did his smoky thing with a piece of pork for 9 hours. I'm currently documenting the build, the smoking and the mistakes made...

Braised Shoulder of Lamb with Barley and Pomegranate Salad

There has been a new addition to Newcastle dining this week that I think will fast become a favourite. Mr. Terry Layborne has opened The Broad Chare on the Quayside, a traditional pub which majors on its food. It has elements of St. John about it with rabbit pie, crispy pigs' ears, hot scotch eggs wrapped in haggis and pork pies on the menu. Little bar snacks are really interesting and delicious, while for those in search of more serious sustenance there are pies, ribs of beef, daily fish dishes and a seven hour shoulder of lamb to share... The lamb is for five people and at my sister's birthday supper we couldn't quite persuade enough people to go for it, next time it is a definite...

As we hadn't been able to persuade the table to go for the seven hour lamb we decided to do a version of our own at home over the weekend. The Braised shoulder of Lamb is based on a St. John Recipe, from the book 'Beyond Nose to Tail' which takes about 3 hours. It is a long but simple dish, the lamb just sits in the oven slowly softening and melting.

I decided to serve the lamb with a Barley and Pomegranate Salad to make it a fresh Spring type meal. It is a simple salad of 200g barley cooked until soft with a bit of bite still, drained, mixed with diced celery, 60ml olive oil, 45ml sherry vinegar, half a teaspoon of all spice, salt and pepper, then left to cool until later.

We used half a shoulder of lamb from Stewart and co. butchers, which would feed three people. Firstly peel about 15 baby onions and the same number of cloves of garlic, it seems a lot, but their flavour just slowly sinks into the meat while it cooks and is delicious.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a roasting tin that you can put in the oven with the meat in it. When the oil is hot add the onions and garlic and brown. Lay a bundle of thyme and rosemary on top of the onions and garlic when they are done and place the lamb on top of everything.

Pour 500ml of chicken stock and ¼ bottle of white wine over the lamb. Season the lamb generously and then cover the whole tin with foil. Put it in a gentle oven, about 150°C for up to 3 hours, until it is falling of the bone. When it is done you can just pull it apart it is so soft. The flavours are really amazing, the herbs, onions and garlic really perfume the gentle soft meat.

For the final stage of the salad add a big handful of chopped dill, mint and parsley and the seeds of one pomegranate to the barley mixture. It's really fresh and delicious with the soft warm lamb. I also put together a little leek fritter on the side, but will tell you how to make these another time.