Chocolate Panna Cotta

Few desserts excite me, but Panna Cotta is one. Ice Cream and Cheesecake are the remainder of that very short list.

How do you make Panna Cotta even better? Add chocolate!

Cream, milk, cocoa and some berries on top. Perfection!

If you're not down with dairy as part of your paleo lifestyle, this really is not for you ... but I would encourage you to consider it - it is a great pack of fat, good dairy and an ideal dish with which to enjoy some berries.

Having primal tastes, the over sugared offerings in hermetically sealed packaging from the supermarket really does not cut it!

Here's how to keep it paleo ...

Use the ramekins that you will be pouring the dessert into as measures.


Warm up cream and milk, or buttermilk. I go for equal quantities of each since I love cream. If you're concerned about using milk, just go for all cream. Maybe experiment with yoghurt, mascarpone, raw milk ... do what you feel is right for you.

Warm up ... don't boil, don't get it frothy, don't get it excited ... just warm it up.

Add a good tablespoon of cocoa powder per ramekin of liquid. Stir this in well, whisking in if necessary to get all the lumps out. Keep stirring to ensure that the cocoa is really well combined.

Meanwhile, soften some gelatine.

Gelatine comes in many forms, but I like beef gelatine in sheets. The packet will tell you how much you need for the quantity of liquid, but do err just on the slight side - you want that classic wobble, not fully set.

Once softened, and with the cream blend warmed through, squeeze out the gelatine and drop it into the warm liquid.

Stir it through and then pour out into ramekins.

Back up ... you missed that, didn't you?

It's really that simple - soften the amount of gelatine required for the volume you've made and just stir it in. You could add sweetener in, but I don't like to - Panna Cotta done right is pure! Cream ... that's it.

Dress with a few berries - strawberries would be an obvious choice, perhaps with a little spring of mint. I went with a few blueberries.

Sweeter berries will form a perfect counterpoint to the bitterness of the dark cocoa, which is initially offset by the fattiness of the cream, but an additional sweetness will really bring out the best in all the flavours.

Enjoy! I'm sure you will ...

Spicy Braised Lamb Shanks

What's better than lamb shanks? Spicy lamb shanks! Better still, this one pot dish is so easy and hassle-free it surprises me that I do not make it more frequently.

First, lamb shanks.

From the BBC, shanks are the "meaty cut from the lower end of the leg is full of flavour and will become meltingly tender, and fall from the bone after long, slow cooking."

Several hours before you want to eat ...

First, brown off your shanks in a heavy-based skillet.

While they're browning, chop some sweet red pepper and lay this into the bottom of an ovenproof dish. Sweet red peppers will give a deep, sweet flavour, which counters the spicy punch of the chillies we'll use. Cover with a good helping of tomato purée, for flavour and thickening.

Settle the lamb shanks onto the bed of peppers.

Chop an onion and sauté it in the residual fat in the skillet which will have rendered from the shanks. Pour over the shanks.

Mince a few bulbs of garlic and toss them into the dish - lamb can take a lot of garlic. I used maybe 6 or 8 cloves!

Mince a couple of chillies and toss them in.

Add a few flavours and colours, like coriander and paprika; aromatics, thyme, sage and rosemary; white pepper and celery salt.

Pour over some lamb stock to cover.

Lid on and into the oven set to 100C for the day.

Enjoyed you day? Great! Let's eat ...

Retrieve the shanks from the dish and place one into each bowl.

Blend the whole braising jus - this will help emulsify the fat into the liquid and make a deep, sumptuous sauce.

Boil the jus rapidly for a few minutes to reduce and thick, then pour over the shanks and garnish with some fresh herbs - I used parsley.

Is that it?

Well, yes ... you could serve some steamed veggies alongside, even some potato, but I prefer a light Mediterranean salad of feta cheese, olives, tomatoes, capers, pickled chillies and pickled beetroot.

The meat should literally fall off the bone. Don't forget to winkle out the marrow!

Burp!

Smoked Haddock & Cream Sauce

Smoking is an ancient method of curing meat and fish, imparting a deep flavour into the flesh. Lightly poached and settled under a cream mushroom blanket! Delicious!

Accompany with something starchy and something green - here, Jersey Royal potatoes and some asparagus, both perfectly seasonal.

Jersey Royals are a cultivar of Kidney Potatoes and grown solely on the Isle of Jersey, and under the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union covered by a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). With a short season, between the end of April through to just into June, their unique flavour comes from Jersey's rich fertile earth and gentle climate. Get 'em while you can!

If potatoes are really not a part of your paleo diet, feel free to use pretty much any root: swede works well for me, mashed, or sweet potato, again, mashed.

Anyway, let's go poaching ...

Not that kind of poaching! Poaching a fish.

Begin by diluting some cream with water to make a milky consistency, add a bay leaf and a sprinkle white pepper - this is the poaching liquor. Why not use milk? Why, when cream does a perfectly good job.

Bring the poaching liquor up to a simmer in a skillet and gently lay the fish pieces in, turning after a few minutes. Turn the heat right down just to keep the fillets warm.

Wash, peel and boil the Jersey Royal potatoes or whatever roots you are going to eat.

Drop a good knob of butter into a pan and toss in a few sliced mushrooms. Allow the mushrooms to soak up the butter leaving the pan dry. Pour in some cream and settle on a low heat for the mushrooms to infuse a flavour and the cream reduce. You can let the cream really reduce and thicken, since we'll be letting it back out with the poaching liquor at the end.

Gently boil or steam your green veggies.

When the potatoes are ready, drain, drop a knob of butter into the pan and some chopped dill. Swirl around to coat the potatoes with the herb butter.

Retrieve the haddock from the poaching pan and settle onto a plate.

Your cream sauce should be really thick now and have changed to a mushroom brown colour. Let it out with a little poaching liquor, pouring in a small amount and watching for a change in consistency - you want a sauce which is not too thick, not to runny.

Pour the sauce over the fish and draw a line of crushed hazelnuts over the top. Grind some freshly milled black pepper over and garnish with a sprig, or two, of fresh dill.

Make a mound of potatoes alongside and a mound of green vegetables.

Grab your diggers and pile in!