The Vicar’s Wife’s Cook Book

salt and pepper

On Saturday (or the day before, if you’re not serving this on a Sunday), stab your lamb all over with the point of a small sharp knife. Mix the cumin seeds, garlic, lemon oil, lemon juice and mint together and rub it into the lamb. Season well with salt and pepper and pop the lovely leg into a carrier bag or something similar, then seal it and put it in the fridge.

The next day, take the lamb out of its carrier bag and put it in a roasting tin. For classic timings for roasting lamb (remember that ovens do vary), put it in an oven set to 230°C/Gas Mark 8. After 20 minutes, turn the heat down to 200°C/Gas Mark 6. After the initial 20 minute heat blast, the meat should take 15 minutes per 500g. For rare meat cook for 12 minutes per 500g; 25 minutes per 500g for well done. When it comes out of the oven at the end of the cooking time, the meat needs to rest somewhere warm, covered with foil, for 10–20 minutes.

Serve the lamb cut into slices and with the houmous dressing, the quinoa, roasted fennel and leeks on the side. Tell your guests to smear the houmous dressing over their meat at will. Add a sunny day, some lovely people and, in our case, a roof terrace, and you can’t really beat it.

Houmous Dressing (#ulink_3f2a4141-b35f-5b9f-a609-812e16629c27)

5 big tablespoons houmous, preferably homemade (see here (#litres_trial_promo))

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional)

black pepper

2 small handfuls of pine nuts

For the houmous dressing, mix the houmous with the oil, more lemon if you want a bit more zing, and a bit more black pepper. Pour into a flattish bowl. Toast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan and don’t take your eyes off them – you know it’s true: look away for one second and they’ll burn. Scatter them over the dressing and let people help themselves.

Roasted Fennel and Leeks (#ulink_a1e2c07a-b018-5e18-ab3b-36d09f043c99)

I know, I know, it’s fennel and leeks together again; it’s just that I don’t think either of them get used enough and I am on a campaign to get them noticed!

4 leeks, thoroughly cleaned

1 bulb of fennel

3 tablespoons olive oil

juice of ½ lemon

2 teaspoons coriander seeds, crushed

salt and pepper

The leeks need to be chopped into 2cm chunks and the fennel sliced lengthways into about 8 wedges. Cut off some of the fennel’s core, but leave just enough to keep each wedge together. Put the vegetables in a roasting tray and mix in the olive oil, lemon juice and crushed coriander seeds, along with lots of salt and pepper. They can go in the oven under the lamb and will take about 40 minutes at 200°C/Gas Mark 6. Give them a stir a couple of times during the cooking time.

Traffic-light Quinoa (#ulink_83e01851-9814-503a-80a1-67a23e3dc8ef)

First, quinoa is pronounced ‘keen-wah’, and second, it’s lovely, as well as healthy. (Just don’t drop an opened bag of the stuff on the floor unless you want your kitchen to look like a beach.) If you can’t find quinoa, you could use couscous or bulgar wheat.

enough quinoa to come up to the 250ml mark in a measuring jug (approx. 250g)

500ml cold water

2 peppers – one red, one yellow

6 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

4 cherry or baby plum tomatoes, quartered

4 spring onions, trimmed and chopped

1 forefinger’s length of cucumber, cut into small dice

200g feta – partly crumbled, partly cubed

large bunch of fresh basil, torn

salt and pepper

Rinse the quinoa in a sieve then put it in a pan with the cold water. It needs to come to the boil and then simmer away for 15–20 minutes or until the water is absorbed and it is soft and fluffy. Meanwhile, preheat the grill to high.

De-seed and halve the peppers and pop them under a hot grill, skin-side up, until the skins are black and charred. Once they are ready, remove and wait a bit before pulling the skins off. (I never can be bothered and end up nearly burning my fingers off.) Cut the peppers into thin strips – it’s easiest to use kitchen scissors for this, as de-skinned peppers are slippery little things. Once the quinoa is done, tip it into a serving bowl and add all the other ingredients. Stir to combine and leave it on the side until you are about to eat.

Spinach Salad (#ulink_eefeed17-0b64-59a2-a359-c6e7eac8c70a)

about 400g baby spinach leaves

For the dressing:

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon French mustard

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed

salt and pepper, to taste

You don’t need me to tell you to put the spinach leaves in a bowl, combine the ingredients for the dressing and toss them both together. Oops, I just did.

King of Puddings (#ulink_12007ef7-cae1-5e66-b970-475d82d60272)

This menu didn’t feature a heavy main course, so for pudding I beefed things up just a little. Here, I give you my version of the old-fashioned dessert, ‘Queen of Puddings’. Mine, made with mellow apricot jam, is less oh-so-sweet and has a kind of hidden depth. Like some men. So, my version got a gender change.

575ml full-fat milk

40g butter

150g fresh white breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons ground almonds