Trish Deseine's Fresh and Wild Menu For May - The Gloss Magazine

Trish Deseine’s Fresh and Wild Menu For May

We have launched a very exciting collaboration with Trish Deseine and Neff. Every month we will bring you seasonal recipes from Trish at home in France, perfect for entertaining, cooking at home and cooking for you.

May is one of the most exciting months at the market and in the kitchen, up there with October’s mushrooms, game and warming pumpkins, and both outstripping high summer’s easy abundance – in my mind anyway. Outdoors, everything is bursting with new life and vibrant colour, and Mother Nature has had the particularly good idea to give us new spinach, asparagus, fresh and wild garlic all at the same time. Also plentiful in Ireland at the moment is Three Cornered Leek, often mistaken for wild garlic and just as delicious. It has a softer flavour, more like an onion or cucumber than the super robust wild garlic, with similarly edible, pretty flowers which are great for garnishes or for pickling. They are both easy to spot, even easier to sniff out during a forest walk or along riverbanks and hedgerows after the rain. (West Cork, I miss you!) Spring lamb is also at its best just now, and definitely not to be confined to Easter. I’ve given you a menu brimming with green, Irish goodness, featuring a rich, indulgent chocolate cake for “balance” and until the strawberries start tasting properly of summer next month. @trishdeseineencore

LAMB SHOULDER MARINATED IN VELVET CLOUD SHEEP’S YOGHURT AND WILD GARLIC

This is so easy to do, and is such a wonderful way to pack the flavour in and around spring lamb. The lovely yoghurt adds a special tang and richness. Make enough marinade to use it as a sauce for the meat, simply spoon it over the lamb as you carve, and let it mingle with the juices.

For 4-6
15 minutes preparation
Overnight marinating or 4-5 hours at least
3-4 hours cooking

For the marinade
2 or 3 handfuls of wild garlic, rinsed and spun
300g Velvet Cloud sheep’s yoghurt
Salt and pepper

Ingredients
1 lamb shoulder, around 1.5kg

For the marinade
Blanch the wild garlic for 30 seconds or so in simmering water, drain and cool in cold (iced if you can) water.
Blitz the wild garlic with the yoghurt in a mini blender. Season well with salt and pepper.
Set the lamb on foil (shiny side against the meat) and cover it completely with the yoghurt marinade. Tighten the foil against the meat, pinching to make sure it is as airtight as possible.
Place in the fridge overnight or for 4-5 hours.

Method
4-5 hours before serving, take the lamb out of the fridge and let it come up to room temperature for 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 160°C, 150°C Fan/Neff CircoTherm.
Set the lamb in a roasting tin and cook for three hours.
One hour before serving, open the foil, turn the oven up to 180°C (I used the Neff top roasting with CircoTherm fan function at 180°C, which is incredible for caramelised yet tender meat) and let the meat brown on top for 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and leave to rest before seasoning and serving with the remaining marinade spooned over.

STEAMED NEW SPINACH WITH WET GARLIC AND THYME

This is the perfect accompaniment to my marinated roast lamb, alongside some sweet new potatoes or a creamy olive oil mash. Have everything ready as your guests are sitting down, this cooks in a jiffy! I love having fingertip precision on my Neff induction hob to build up and control the heat.

For 4-6
10 minutes preparation
5 minutes cooking

Ingredients
750g new spinach leaves
2 or 3 wet garlic cloves
1 tbsp olive oil
1 sprig of thyme
Salt and pepper

Method
Rinse, spin and trim the spinach leaves, removing the tougher parts of the stems and spines.
Peel and slice the garlic.
Heat a little water and the oil in a wide, heavy-based pan with a lid over a high heat on an induction hob.
Drop the spinach in with the thyme and garlic and toss.
Put the lid on and let it steam for a minute or so before tossing again. The spinach will wilt and shrink in its own steam.
Once tender and wilted, season well and serve with the roast lamb.

ROASTED GREEN ASPARAGUS WITH ROCKFIELD CHEESE AND TOASTED ALMONDS

If you can’t find Velvet Cloud’s excellent Rockfield sheep’s milk hard cheese – a 2019 World Cheese Award winner after all – use a good Pecorino, parmesan or Dunmanus raw cow’s milk cheese from Durrus.

For 4-6
3 minutes preparation
20-25 minutes cooking

Ingredients
20 green asparagus spears, washed
2 tbsp olive oil
4-5 tablespoons flaked almonds
50g Velvet Cloud Rockfield cheese
Salt and pepper

Method
Heat the oven to 180°C. I used the Neff Circo-roasting function and left it at 180°C. You could also grill on a high heat or without the fan for extra crispiness, it’s a very versatile ingredient!
Set the asparagus onto a baking sheet, toss with the oil and season lightly with salt.
Roast for 20-25 minutes, giving the asparagus a little shake halfway through.
Meanwhile, toast the almonds in a frying pan until golden and reserve.
Once the tops of the asparagus are nice and crisp, and the stems tender, remove from the oven, and either serve on the baking tray or place onto a warmed serving dish.
Grate the cheese over the warm asparagus, garnish with the almonds and season with salt and pepper.
Serve hot or warm.

RICH CHOCOLATE MUSCOVADO FUDGE CAKE WITH FUDGE GLAZE

I love the flavour and texture of muscovado in baking, and teamed with chocolate, it’s heavenly. Use the best chocolate you can find, and leave the cake to rest overnight before glazing and serving. It will taste even better.

For 6-8
30 minutes preparation
30 minutes baking

Ingredients
225g salted butter, softened
200g light brown muscovado sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
225g plain flour
2 heaped tsps baking powder

For the glaze
200g good dark chocolate
250g unsalted butter
250g icing sugar, sieved
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method
Heat the oven to 180°C, 170°C Fan/Neff CircoTherm.
Butter two 22cm sandwich cake tins and line if you can.
Sieve and mix the flour and baking powder together.
Beat the softened butter with the sugar for
4-5 minutes, until the mixture is pale and fluffy.
Add the vanilla, then add the eggs one by one, scraping the sides of the bowl as you go.
Once all the eggs are incorporated, gradually add the flour and baking powder and beat quickly to combine.
Turn the batter into the two tins and bake for 30 minutes or so, checking the cake after about 25 minutes. Ovens vary!
Once a skewer comes out clean from the cake, remove the tins from the oven and leave them to cool for a few minutes, before turning them out onto a rack and leave to cool completely.

For the glaze
The next day, melt the chocolate in the microwave or over a bain marie and leave to cool.
Beat the butter with the sieved icing sugar and vanilla until smooth and fluffy.
Stir the chocolate through with a spatula until everything is well incorporated and glossy.
Put 1/4 to 1/3 of the frosting between the two cakes and spread to sandwich them together, then cover the top and sides with the remaining mixture.
Smooth out the surface and decorate with edible flowers just before serving.

Trish Deseine’s delicious lamb shoulder roasting in her Neff oven. Recipe included above.  www.neff-home.com/ie

Photography by Franck Schmitt

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