Easter

Easter is one of my favourite occasions in the year – winter is over and Spring is back on the scene with more bloom and colour than ever before, bringing with it a real feeling of excitement. 

A burst of brightness stands before us as we take in the lighter nights that landscape the evening sky and smell the sweet scent of the blossoming daffodils that carpet the ground before us. 

As we pack away the thermals for another year and come out of hibernation, new life is also born in the many fields surrounding us as lambs hop, skip, and snuggle up to their mothers’ for warmth.

Easter for me marks another very special occasion – the end of the Lent. 

Forty gruelling days, and forty even more gruelling nights of avoiding all the things I love most in the world – cheese, chocolate, gin, mashed potato drizzled with Cotswold Gold Truffle Oil, cake; the list could easily go on a lot longer, although the accomplishments are unfortunately a little shorter. 

For those who have mastered the much sought-after skill of resistance, give yourselves a big pat on the back and a few kilos of your ‘forbidden love’. 

And for those of you (and I stand with you when I say this) who’ve unfortunately stumbled onto the path of temptation, remember - the art of confession is discretion!

So whether you’re gloating following a triumphant Lent or playing the discretion card and turning your attentions to celebrating Easter, here is my menu of hassle-free recipes to make your Easter weekend the perfect occasion.

To nibble...

Quails eggs with celery salt

 Serves 6

The perfect canape for Easter

Ingredients

24 quails’ eggs

Celery salt

Method

v  Boil the eggs for 4 minutes before rinsing under cold water – set aside to cool.

v  Remove half of the shell and sprinkle with celery salt.

v  If you can, serve in a nest or bed of hay to give it the ‘Easter look’.

For mains...

Stuffed Leg of Lamb

 Serves 6

Ingredients

1.5kg leg of lamb, deboned

1 bulb of garlic

1 large onion, peeled and chopped into quarters

Olive oil

3 bay leaves

5 sprigs of rosemary

Cook’s Note ~ ask your butcher for a piece of string for tying and to demonstrate how to tie the meat up once it’s been stuffed

For the stuffing (makes enough for additional stuffing balls)

150g dried apricots, finely chopped

150g dried prunes, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

Bunch of fresh parsley, roughly chopped

200g breadcrumbs

2 oranges, zest and juice

1tbsp olive oil

1 egg, beaten

Salt & pepper

200g pork sausage meat (to make extra stuffing balls)

For delicious gravy:

1tbsp plain flour

1pint lamb stock

200ml red wine

2tbsp redcurrant jelly

Salt & Pepper

Method

v  Preheat the oven to 200’C

v  To make the stuffing, mix together the apricots, prunes, garlic, parsley, breadcrumbs, olive oil and the orange juice and zest in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add the beaten egg and combine all the ingredients together.

v  Lay the lamb out onto a board, skin side facing down. Rub the meat with olive oil and season.

v  Place half of the stuffing in the middle of the lamb, and then roll it up and tie using the string the butcher provided.

v  To prepare the lamb for roasting, rub the meat with olive oil. Slice 2 garlic cloves lengthways and chop 2 sprigs of rosemary into inch-sized pieces. Using a sharp knife, carefully make several incisions in the skin of the meat. Insert either a piece of garlic or rosemary into each incision. Season with salt and pepper.

v  Place the remaining garlic and rosemary into a roasting tin with the bay leaves and onion and position the lamb on top. 

v  Roast in the oven an 1½ hour for medium; slightly less if you prefer your lamb pink. Rest the meat for 10 minutes before carving. 

v  Add the sausage meat to the remainder of the stuffing and roll into small balls. Bake on a greased baking tray for 30 minutes until crisp and golden.

v  To make the gravy, add the flour to the roasting tray, stirring to let it absorb all the juices to form a paste. Turn the heat up to medium and gradually add the stock and wine, making sure you whisk constantly – you don’t want to serve your mother lumpy gravy!

v  Bring to the boil and then reduce to a medium heat, simmering for 10 minutes until it thickens.

v  Add the redcurrant jelly and season to taste.

v  Strain through a sieve and drizzle over the lamb. 

On the side

Dauphinoise Potatoes

Serves 6

Ingredients

500g Maris Piper potatoes, peeled

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

300ml double cream

100ml milk

50g gruyere, grated

A knob of butter

1tsp ground nutmeg

Salt & pepper

Method

v  Preheat the oven to 180’C

v  Grease an ovenproof dish with butter

v  Melt the butter in a pan and add the garlic and onions, cooking for 10 minutes until they soften. Season with salt and pepper.

v  Finely slice the potatoes (use a mandoline if you have one). Layer the potato in the ovenproof dish, allowing each one to overlap a little. Sprinkle some of the garlic and onion mixture between each layer and season. Repeat this method until you have used up all the potato slices.

v  In a small saucepan, heat the cream, milk and the ground nutmeg on a low heat – allow to simmer without boiling.

v  Pour the cream mixture over the potatoes until it reaches the top layer of the potato.

v  Sprinkle with grated gruyere and season with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for an hour until the potato is cooked through and the cheese is golden on top. 

Finish with a showstopper...

Easter Trifle

Serves 6

A British classic with a few seasonal twists.

And if you can manage to keep any mini eggs aside (or my advice would be to buy quadruple the amount) no Easter Sunday can go amiss without a traditional Easter egg hunt (no matter how old you are!)

Ingredients

4 hot-crossed buns, sliced into halves

100ml dry sherry

500g rhubarb, ends trimmed

2 x 298g tin of mandarin segments, drained

1 x 135g pack of strawberry jelly

1 x 135g pack of orange jelly

1 orange, juice only

50g caster sugar

500ml good-quality, thick vanilla custard

500ml double cream

50g icing sugar

To decorate

2 bags of mini eggs

Chocolate flakes

Method

v  Preheat the oven to 180’C.

v  Chop the rhubarb into 3cm pieces and place them in an ovenproof dish with the juice from the orange and sprinkle with the sugar.

v  Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until the rhubarb has softened but still holds its shape.

v  Make up the jelly according to the packet instructions. Put the orange segments in with the orange jelly, and the rhubarb in with the strawberry jelly and place in the fridge to set.

v  Toast the hot-crossed buns and cut them into bite-sized pieces and arrange them in the base of a large trifle dish. Drizzle with sherry, ensuring each piece gets a coating.

v  Slice the rhubarb jelly into cubes and assemble on top of the hot-crossed buns and then repeat the method with the orange jelly and position over the rhubarb custard.

v  Pour the custard over the jelly and then place in the fridge for an hour to set.

v  Using an electric whisk, whip the cream, icing sugar and the other half of the sherry (to taste) until the mixtures thickens, peaks and holds its shape.

v  Spoon the cream onto the custard making sure you cover the trifle all over.

v  Finish by crumbling the chocolate flake over the trifle and sprinkle with the mini eggs.