Tattie Pot – reet good Geordie grub, lamb!

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Tattie Pot - reet good Geordie grub, lamb!

 

Last year my beloved was reunited with several old friends from his scouting days. It was a hectic weekend as the lads had several decades to catch up on. We returned to spend a more relaxing few days with our wonderful hosts from that weekend, Chris and Anne, who are justly proud of the fabulous countryside near their home in Northumberland.

One magical place we visited was Long Meg stone circle just over the border in Cumberland. You can’t visit the circle without popping in to The Watermill, an organic flour mill at nearby Little Salkeld.  It has a café and shop attached and does a great cuppa to wash down its wonderful scones and bread.  If you have a spare £850,000 lying about you might be interested to know it is for sale.

Buy this hen for £850,000 and get a free organic flour mill :)

If, on the other hand, you’d be hard pushed to rub £8.50 together here’s a meal that won't break the bank. This recipe came to Anne, via her friend Norma from her student days near Newcastle. It is reet good Geordie grub. It was designed to feed a family on thru’pence and was just what we needed after a day’s exploring.

You’ll need to chat to your local craft butcher to get lap of lamb but it is worth seeking out.

To feed 4 hungry people you will need…

… to preheat the oven to 180˚C

3 onions

4 carrots

4 large old potatoes

50g butter

½ teaspoon salt

750mls boiling water

1kg lap of lamb

1.                              Peel all the vegetables and cut into slices about 1cm thick.

2.                              Melt the butter in a large frying pan and add the slices of onion, trying to keep them as whole as possible. Fry gently until the onion begins to turn golden brown (about 5 – 8 minutes). Transfer to a casserole dish so that the onion is in one layer.

3.                              Scatter the carrots over the onions then arrange the potato slices in a layer over the carrots. Sprinkle the salt over the vegetables.

4.                              Carefully add enough of the boiling water to come halfway up the layer of vegetables – you may not need it all.

5.                              Sit the lap of lamb on top of the vegetables - skin side up. Transfer to the pre-heated oven and bake for 90 minutes. The meat should be crisp on top and almost falling to pieces and the potatoes should be golden on top.

6.                              Serve immediately and wonder how on earth something so simple can be sooooooo good.

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