Benares Inspired Roast Fennel and Lamb Salad

As a bit of a follow up from my night at Benares, I’ve created 2 Atul Kochhar inspired dishes, now tried and tested by moi for you to give em a go. So starting with the starter of Kentish Mutton, marinaded and served as a salad with roasted fennel and crispy croutons. I used Lamb instead of Mutton because I find it a lot easier to get hold of. The licoricey taste to fennel really compliments lamb, and I doubled up this flavour by using a little fennel seed and pernod in the marinade which worked superbly!

Serves 2

For the croutons:

1 slice bread, cut into about 15mm cubes
½ tsp cumin seeds
Sunflower oil for frying

Heat a frying pan with oil, and fry the croutons along with the cumin seeds for a few minutes on a low heat, turning them in the pan so they crisp up on all sides.

For the marinade:

1 tbsp mango chutney
2 cloves garlic finely chopped garlic
1 tsp finely chopped green chilli peppers
1 tsp ground fennel seed (it’s better if you get the whole seeds, dry toast them to get the aroma oils out, then grind with a pestle and mortar
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp mustard
3 tbsp milk
2 tbsp gram flour
2 tbsp Pernod or Ricard
pinch of grated nutmeg
pinch of salt

To make the marinade combine all the above ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly.   

For the tamarind vinaigrette:

4 tbsp fresh tamarind extract (made by soaking dried tamarind pulp in water and passing through a sieve)
1 tbsp finely chopped red onion
½ tbsp each finely chopped red and green pepper
5 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
salt, to taste

Make this tamarind vinaigrette by thoroughly mixing all the ingredients together, either whisk in a bowl or I sometimes shake in an old jam jar.

Other bits:

1 large leg lamb steak (200g), thinly sliced
1 medium sized fennel bulb, roughly chopped
100g of prepared salad leaves
1 sprig of fresh mint, stalk removed
1 sprig of fresh coriander, stalk removed

Start by preparing the croutons,  marinade and tamarind vinaigrette as above.

Add the lamb to the bowl of marinade and allow the marinade to fully coat the lamb. Cover and leave in a cool environment for about 3 hours (min 1 if you’re in a rush) but you can leave it overnight in the fridge if you want a really good flavour. I sliced the lamb before marinating so the flavour could really penetrate.

Spread the fennel on a baking sheet with a little oil, and roast in a preheated oven (180oC) for about 20 minutes, or until soft and tender. Turn off the oven and leave it in there to keep warm whilst you cook the lamb.
Fry the lamb in a little oil on a hot heat for about 10 minutes, turning to ensure even cooking.
Combine the salad leaves, roasted fennel, lamb and croutons for the ultimate tasty lamb salad!

Seared Tuna with Fennel and Grapefruit Salad and Marinated Potatoes

I was inspired to make this recipe from a past menu at Zafferano in Knightsbridge, where a Carpaccio of tuna was served with a fennel and orange salad. Fresh citrus fruit goes extremely well with tuna, cutting into the rich smooth flesh, and the fennel gives a lovely crunchy liquoricy addition. This is more of a warm salad plate of food, so don’t expect the tuna to be piping hot

 Serves 2

The Tuna

2 fresh tuna steaks

1 tsp fennel seeds

Sprinkle of dried chilli flakes

Salt and pepper

1 tsp oil for frying

The marinated potatoes

200g new potatoes

2 tbsp olive oil (extra virgin preferably)

2 tsp white wine vinegar (if you have it use 1 tsp white wine vinegar and 1 tsp raspberry vinegar instead of 2tsp white wine vinegar)

Salt and pepper

The fennel and grapefruit salad

1 fennel bulb

A handful of watercress

1 Stick of celery

1 tbsp of torn basil leaves

Half a pink grapefruit, segments cut out

2 tbsp olive oil (extra virgin preferably)

2 tsp white wine vinegar (if you have it use 1 tsp white wine vinegar and 1 tsp raspberry

Tsp of grapefruit juice

Finishing touch 

Quarter of a pomegranate

 

To make the marinated potatoes, boil them in salted water until soft in the centre (about 10 minutes depending on the size of the potato though). Meanwhile make the marinade by mixing in a bowl the olive oil, vinegar(s), and a pinch of salt and freshly milled black pepper). When the spuds are cooked drain and slice into quarters, then place in the bowl with the marinade. Cover and leave to stand until needed.

Prepare the tuna by toasting the fennel seeds and chilli flakes in a pan on a high heat with no oil, when they start to crackle and go a little golden (a couple of minutes) take them off the heat and place into a pestle and mortar with the salt and pepper. By toasting the seeds you create a wonderful roasted nutty flavour. Then grind these in the mortar until finely ground. Sprinkle this ground mixture onto both sides of the tuna steaks.

Prepare the salad by finely slicing the fennel and celery. In a clean bowl place the oil, vinegars, grapefruit juice and a pinch of salt and pepper and beat a little with a fork. Then add the fennel, celery, grapefruit segments, watercress and basil and mix well.

 

Finish the marinated potatoes by crushing them slightly with a fork in their marinade. They should be slightly warm, but if you like them warmer pop them in the microwave for about 10 seconds.

Heat a frying pan with the tsp of oil to a really high heat. When starting to smoke add the tuna steaks and fry for about 30 seconds on each side. Remove from the heat straight away. The tuna should have a layer of pink in the middle, which has a beautiful soft texture. If you don’t like to eat it like this then cook it for a bit longer!

Serve the tuna steak on top of the crushed potatoes, with the dressed salad and sprinkle the pomegranate jewels around the plate.