Instant...gram...weekly suppers !

When I hung up my camera to pursue a career in cooking, the digital photography age was very much in its infancy. Now its all about instant images. You take them, you off load them into your computer where you manipulate them until they look like they have fallen out of a fashion supplement from Vogue and then print them off using your £30 printer you brought from Asda. Click to whirring in minutes.

I don't mind admitting I lost touch with this galloping technology until about a year ago where through this food blog I regained an interest in the subject and have been slowly catching up with what's happened since the days of Black and white developing trays, fixer smelling fingers and having to be as sensitive to daylight when in the darkroom as if I was Count Dracula !

My latest little favourite is called Instagram which is an app you put on your phone. You take a picture of your current interest using your mobile phone and then you can decide on what kind of expensive looking photographic printing texture and style you want your picture to take on using filters that are on the program and then you can share it on Facebook or Twitter or whatever club your wired into. That is so long as you are on 3G ground or a Wi-Fi network !

Amaro, rise, x-pro 11 and sutro are my favourite filters.

It is a very clever programme and I think it is a way of encouraging people to take more pictures. It is not going to turn you into a top London Fashion photographer...but then again it might !

Lamb Rump with Tikka sauce, Naan bread and Pilau rice Instangram style.

I had a bit of an instant tea tonight. Curry sauce made using a Tikka Paste, A pre made naan bread and some microwave pilau rice. People who have read this blog before know that this is familiar territory to me ! Instant cheats I call them. The not very nice foodie friends I have call it Cowboy land and would start shouting "YEEHAAA" at me.

My excuse (on this occasion) for using these products for my dinner are in order, could not be bothered !  Didn't have a clay pit oven in the garden and my paddy field in the garden is filled with snow !

Excuses made I did really make a bit of a sauce by sweating 1 sliced onion in oil until it was golden brown. I added a 1 cm cube of grated fresh ginger, 1 garlic clove and half a lemon grass stalk finely chopped. Then added a rather generous TBSP of the Tikka paste. Cooked that out for about 2 minutes and then added a 400gm tin of plum tomatoes which when emptied I filled the tin up with water and then poured that into the sauce pot. I added 1 Knorr beef stock pot and let it cook for about an hour.

The Lamb was the most delicious Rump cut of the animal weighing in at about 6 oz which the day before I had placed in a sandwich bag and squeezed the juice from 1 lemon, some shredded Ginger, chopped Lemon grass stalks, a sprinkle of fenugreek powder and then added half a handful of ripped fresh mint and coriander leaves and left in the fridge over night to marinate.

I took the meat out of the fridge about half an hour before I was going to cook it as its a quick cook cut piece of meat and was intending on cooking it medium so it needed to be brought up to room temperature.

I finished the sauce by getting my stick blender into it making it smooth and ripped some mint and coriander leaves into it, then squeezed the juice of a whole lemon into the sauce and finished it with a splash of double cream..yummy haaa !

Get your frying pan on and get it smoking. Season your meat and then colour until its golden and well I think you get what I mean. Transfer into the oven and cook for about 11 minutes at 180oc. When cooked let it rest for about 7 or 8 minutes in a warm place and I mean near the cooker not on top of the radiator !!!!

When I made the sauce you might have noticed I did not put any Chili into it. I have developed a bit of a death wish chili lifestyle at the moment where I like to eat slices of raw chili. It developed over Xmas at work I don't really know why but its become a bit of drug. I love the warming then burning sensation, maybe its due to the weather at the moment. But Heh Lance Armstrong has his EPO I have a Chili problem.

I have a Gas top in the kitchen and decided to char grill my chili over the flames which will soften it and give it a nice char grilled flavour. I then sliced the chili and was going to use it as an garnish.

Meat is resting, sauce is simmering so now warm your Naan bread in the oven until its soft. I rub mine with cold water this seems to help. 

The microwave pings to let me know the high quality instant Pilau rice is ready and now its time to slice your lamb and plate up.

One mighty Instangram supper !

The Lamb was so sweet and succulent it really is my favourite cut of red meat. The sauce was thick and warming and rich. The fragrance from the fresh herbs and the distinct kick of lemon worked really well.....Enjoy !