Another day, another incredible experience cooking with a good friend, food writer and blogger! Everyone, meet Yosef from This American Bite. Yosef lives in Kansas City with his smart and beautiful wife, Daniella (This American Mama) and their two adorable kids that will literally eat anything their parents make for them. It’s so cool! Gluten free, dairy free, watermelon birthday cake and whatever healthy goodies you can think of! Check out their son devouring my Gluten Free Chocolate Hamantaschen! So through the world of blogging, I’ve become very good friends with Yosef and on his recent trip to New York for the Kosher Food & Wine Experience, we made plans to meet up and cook together. We thought and thought and thought about what we would be cooking and then, oh then, we thought some more! For most (hopefully all) bloggers, cooking is about passion and Yosef and I wanted to make sure we could make delicious food but also have a great time doing it. So after all of that thinking, we finally came up with the idea of making British inspired food since Yosef is actually from Brighton, a town on the South Coast of Great Britain, and I’ve always wanted to make things like Bangers and Mash, Bubble and Squeak, Spotted Dick, Blood Pudding and so much more! Yosef decided to make Paleo Scotch Eggs, inspired by one of his favorite childhood meals, and I went with an untraditional Lancashire Hotpot. Lancashire Hotpot is traditionally a casserole of lamb and onions topped with sliced potatoes but I had to turn it into something unique, of course! Using KOL Foods lamb stew meat, lamb broth and turkey gizzards for the filling and sweet potatoes for the topping, Yosef and I definitely had a fun time with this! And to top it all off, we are even giving away a 5 lb. Rack of Lamb from KOL Foods worth $130! Check out the giveaway at the bottom of this post and on This American Bite’s post.
Did I mention that Yosef brought me a special treat?!? Oh yeah, that’s Marmite! Can you tell how excited I was to get this gift? I love trying new things and this was definitely a first for me. Final verdict on the marmite? I’m still up in the air about this one. Definitely reminds me a little bit of tar but it also has a bit of a nutty flavor.
After moving everything off of the counters and even moving some of the chairs out of the room so we could cook in a nice clean and open kitchen (Yosef is SO TALL and we needed all the space we could get), we started with my Lamb & Sweet Potato Lancashire Hotpot.
Lamb & Sweet Potato Lancashire Hotpot
4-6 servings
1 lb. lamb stew meat
1/2 pound chicken or turkey gizzards
3-4 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1 Tbsp coconut flour (can also use all-purpose flour)
1 Tbsp coconut aminos (or worcestershire sauce)
2 cups lamb stock
2 bay leaves
2 lbs. (around 4 medium) sweet potatoes, sliced 1/2 inch thick
I preheated the oven to 400 degrees F. and heated my cast iron skillet over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes before adding 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan. I placed the lamb stew meat in the pan first, browning on each side for a few minutes then placed the lamb on a plate and browned the gizzards on both sides then piled them on the lamb.
In the same pan, I added 1 more tablespoon of olive oil then sprinkled the carrots, onions and garlic in the pan. I cooked until soft, for around 5 minutes.
I sprinkled the vegetables with the coconut flour and stirred for 1 minute to thicken then I added the bay leaves, coconut aminos and lamb broth and stirred to combine. I brought the mixture to a boil then added the lamb stew meat and gizzards to the pan. I turned off the heat and removed the pan from the stove.
Next up came the slicing of the sweet potatoes. This is definitely where it comes in handy to have one person slicing while the other takes pictures. It’s not often that I get my own hands and my awesome apron in my pictures.
And who knew that you can take moving pictures?!? I seriously have so much to learn!
I placed the sweet potato slices on top of the lamb stew mixture in the pan in a pretty pattern, drizzled with the remaining oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper and covered the pan tightly with foil. I placed it in the oven to cook for an hour and a half then uncovered the pan and cooked the hotpot for another 30 minutes to brown the top.
While the Lancashire Hotpot cooked, Yosef got started on his Scotch Eggs. I’ve never had a Scotch Egg before so I was really excited to try one from a man who grew up eating authentic Scotch Eggs. Yosef used KOL Foods lamb sausage and lamb bacon for his recipe so you won’t hear any complaints from me. I introduced Yosef to my KitchenAid Food Grinder and he was in heaven! He ground the lamb sausage and lamb bacon together with a few jalapeños to create his own fresh ground lamb.
While hard boiling and peeling some eggs, Yosef taught me how to make those amazing videos he posts on his blog! Check out the video he made for his Scotch Eggs! It’s seriously so fun.
Yosef covered each hard boiled egg with a ton of the fresh ground lamb and then we baked those bad boys until golden brown.
Seriously, how insanely good does that look?!? Perfectly cooked yolk on the inside, salty and rich lamb on the outside. I could eat these for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day! Just for kicks, Yosef also made a Marmite Aioli to go alongside the Scotch Eggs. He was determined to use that Marmite in his recipe and I’m so glad he went for it. For the full recipe on This American Bite, click HERE.
By the time we finished Yosef’s Paleo Scotch Eggs, the Lancashire Hotpot was ready to eat!
We scooped out heaping amounts of the hotpot onto our plates and went to town!
I had the most incredible day cooking with Yosef and the best part was that we got to share the fruits of our labor together. Two delicious British inspired meals and very full bellies. Now I would say that’s a successful day in the kitchen!
- 1 lb. lamb stew meat
- 1/2 pound chicken or turkey gizzards
- 3-4 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup chopped onions
- 1/2 cup chopped carrots
- 1 Tbsp coconut flour (can also use all-purpose flour)
- 1 Tbsp coconut aminos (or worcestershire sauce)
- 2 cups lamb stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 lbs. (around 4 medium) sweet potatoes, sliced 1/2 inch thick
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Heat a cast iron skillet (or any oven-safe skillet) over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes before adding 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan.
- Place the lamb stew meat in the pan first, browning on each side for a few minutes then place the lamb on a plate and brown the gizzards on both sides then piled them together with the lamb.
- In the same pan, add 1 more tablespoon of olive oil then sprinkle the carrots, onions and garlic in the pan. Cook until soft, for around 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle the vegetables with the coconut flour and stir for 1 minute to thicken then add the bay leaves, coconut aminos and lamb broth and stir to combine.
- Bring the mixture to a boil then add the lamb stew meat and gizzards to the pan. Turn off the heat and remove the pan from the stove.
- Next up slice the sweet potatoes to around 1/2 inch thick on a mandolin or with a really sharp knife.
- Place the sweet potato slices on top of the lamb stew mixture in the pan in a pretty pattern, drizzle with the remaining oil, cover the pan tightly with foil.
- Place the pan in the oven to cook for an hour and a half then uncovered the pan and cook the hotpot for another 30 minutes to brown the top.
