In my kitchen

You will need

Serves 4

Ingredients: 700g loin of lamb (you will need only 600g once it is trimmed); salt and pepper; olive oil, to sear. For the beans: 100g dried flageolet beans, soaked overnight; 1 bay leaf; 1 small onion, finely chopped; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 2 tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and chopped; 1 clove garlic, finely chopped; 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped; 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves; 350ml chicken stock; salt and pepper.

For the sauce: ½ onion, chopped; 1 rasher bacon, chopped; 50g butter; 250ml red wine; 1 tablespoon tomato purée; 300ml lamb stock; 1 dessertspoon quince jelly.

Spinach: 250g spinach; 50g butter; salt and pepper.

Crispy leeks for the garnish: 1 large leek, or 2 small, rinsed.

Method:

First cook the flageolet with the bay leaf for 1½ hr in boiling water, remove and drain. In a large pan soften the onion in 2 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the drained beans, tomatoes, garlic, parsley, thyme and the chicken stock then simmer gently for 20 min, stirring frequently. Add more stock if necessary so that it does not become dry. Season.

Season the lamb all over, then sear on all sides in hot oil in a frying pan, then put it in the oven for 8 min at 200C, if you like it pink, but leave it a couple of minutes longer if you prefer it well done. Remove and allow it to rest for a further 10 minutes, while you make the sauce. When serving slice into ½ cm slices.

Soften the onions and bacon in half the butter then add the red wine and tomato purée and reduce it to a third. Then add the stock with the quince jelly and any juices that have run from the meat and reduce the stock again to a third. Pass it through a fine sieve before beating in the remaining butter.

Cut the leek into very fine julienne and deep fry in sunflower oil at 150C. When they are crisp, this will only take about 30 sec, remove with a wire spoon and put on a cloth to drain.

To serve, put the spinach into a sautéing pan with the butter and wilt down on low heat, when soft drain well (a good idea is to put it on a cloth and allow it to sit for a minute) and season with salt and pepper. Put a square of spinach on each plate with a portion of lamb on top. To one side scatter the flageolets, with a cut out round of dauphenoise to the side, or this can be served separately. Garnish with crispy leeks on top. Drizzle the sauce round the plate.

Gratin Dauphinois

This is a delicious but rich dish. Don’t hold back with the cream. Take the time to layer the potatoes properly, so the gratin look as good as it tastes.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS: 350ml double cream; 100ml full-fat milk; 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 20g unsalted butter; 1.2kg floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper; 75g Gruyère or Emmenthal cheese, grated (optional); sea salt and white pepper.

Put the cream, milk and garlic into saucepan. Bring to the boil and then remove from the heat. Season the cream generously; it should taste very salty. Use most of the butter to grease an ovenproof gratin dish about 24 x 15cm.

Peel the potatoes. Slice them about 1-2mm thick. Start arranging the potatoes in overlapping rows in the dish. Pour a little of the infused cream over each layer. Continue until all the potatoes and cream have been added, finishing with cream. Dot the top with the remaining butter cover with foil, then place in an oven preheated to 160°C/Gas Mark 3 and bake for 1½ hr.

Remove the dish from the oven and press the potatoes down so they are submerged in the cream. Sprinkle the cheese over, if using. Return to the oven and cook, uncovered, for about 30 minutes, until potatoes are very tender. Leave to rest for 10 minutes and then serve.

* Details of Rosemary Shrager’s cookery school www.swintonpark.com

Christine Austin recommends: Take a break from the usual claret and head for Western Australia and Willow Bridge Cabernet Merlot 2009 (£10.99 Field and Fawcett). Full of bright red berry fruit, with light, ripe tannins, it will partner the dish perfectly. For sunny days, try Côtes de Provence Sainte Victoire Rosé 2010 (£9.99 Majestic).