Tried out this recipe on the weekend, probably the best lamb I’ve had in a long time! Check it out

Lamb neck braised with Chinese sausage

Ingredients

2 lamb necks 4 lap chong (dried pork sausage) 1 tbsp dark soy sauce ½ tsp five spice powder

Ingredients for Braise

5cm piece of ginger ¼ cup of Chinese braising spices 5 pieces of dried tangerine peel ½ cup light soy sauce ½ cup dark soy sauce 2/3 cup yellow rice wine

Method

Crush the whole piece of ginger, wrap the spices in muslin and place them in a stockpot with the remaining braising ingredients. Top up with 1 gallon of water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for half an hour. Carefully remove the bone from each lamb neck leaving two whole pieces of meat. Rub the soy and five spice all over the lamb, place two sausages in the middle of each neck, roll them up like a ‘hot dog’ and tie them with string. In a wok brown the lamb neck on all sides, then place into the braising pot and simmer gently for 2 hours. Serve with a little of the braising juices, steamed rice and some Chinese greens stir-fried with garlic and sesame oil.

Bay Leaves come from the sweet bay or laurel tree, known botanically as Laurus nobilis. The elliptical leaves of both trees are green, glossy, and grow up to 3 inches long. Ancient Greeks and Romans crowned victors with wreaths of laurel. The term “baccalaureate,” means laurel berry, and refers to the ancient practice of honoring scholars and poets with garlands from the bay laurel tree. Romans felt the leaves protected them against thunder and the plague. Later, Italians and the English thought Bay Leaves brought good luck and warded off evil.

The Bay Leaf is useful in hearty, homestyle cooking. When you are making bean, split pea and vegetable soups, meat stews, spaghetti sauce, and chili, a Bay leaf can be added for a more pungent flavor. Alternate whole Bay Leaves with meat, seafood, or vegetables on skewers before cooking. Be sure to remove Bay Leaves before eating a dish that has finished cooking. The whole leaves are used to impart flavor only and are bitter and hard to chew.

As a plant it is know for its rich, spicy and mild peppery flavour.  It is part of the mint plant family which is why it has a hint of mint and clove flavour in it.  There are over 40 known varieties of basil including some very unusual ones which have flavours including cinnamon, lemon and anise.  The most common type of basil is the Sweet Basil also known as ‘Ocimum Basilicum’ (the Greek term meaning ‘to be fragrant’.  The fragrant oils can decrease if too much fertiliser is used!! It grows best in warm tropical climates such as in Asia and India and is a perennial plant.  In terms of cuisine, it is a herb that is traditionally used in Italian, Mediterranean and Thai cooking.

Basil can also be preserved by freezing in ice cubes.  I prefer to chop the herb and then I spread it out on a flat dish ready for the freezer.  Once it has frozen a little bit, I scoop it up and put into little boxes or plastic bags and put into the freezer. This procedure allows the herb to remain separate rather than forming into frozen lumps.

And here’s a couple ridiculous facts;

The ancient Greeks and Romans thought basil would only grow if you screamed wild curses and shouted intelligibly while sowing the seeds. They also believed if you left a basil leaf under a pot, it would turn into a scorpion. Many believed that even smelling the leaves would cause scorpions to grow in the brain! Salome hid John the Baptist’s head in a pot of basil to cover up the odor of it’s decomposition.

Rosemary gets its name from a latin term which translates to “dew of the sea.” Although the rosemary herb is a member of the mint family, it’s an evergreen plant that looks and smells very much like pine.

The rosemary  plant is a shrubby thing that can grow to be as tall as five feet, if you let it. The stems are covered with slender, inch-long, pine-like leaves. Rosemary flowers aren’t very showy, and are usually white, lavender, or blue.

Did you know that people have long believed that rosemary can improve memory, which is why it was so often used in weddings and funerals. A bride might wear a wreath made from the rosemary plant to help the couple remember their wedding vows. Mourners would also throw sprigs of rosemary into graves, a symbol that the dead would not be forgotten.

The Chinese believed that rosemary could cure certain ailments. They used rosemary to ward off headaches and even cure baldness. The Greeks also believed that rosemary could aid the liver and improve digestion.

Whether or not you believe in the power of rosemary, it sure tastes good in certain recipes.