Damien Ng, 32, (pictured below) is celebrating his fifth anniversary as Head Chef by creating a range of contemporary dishes for the ‘Foodworks’ restaurant at Lancaster House, including a new grill section with the finest cuts of local meats.
The restaurant, which is run by English Lakes Hotels Resorts & Venues, is introducing several new menu options for lunchtime and evening diners, the highlights being Mr Ng’s own recipe for a Lancashire hotpot with a twist, Morecambe Bay shrimps, smoked Fleetwood haddock and pancetta fishcakes, and a Bury black pudding with chorizo fritter and homemade tomato relish.
The icing on the cake is the addition of a Lancashire cream tea dessert based on a scone and cream parfait with meringue and summer fruit jams.
Damien explains, “Food from the menu is predominantly sourced from within 25 miles of Lancaster and we always try to source as much local produce as possible. People come from all over the world as well as the UK to visit us, so we’re determined to showcase the best of what Lancashire and Morecambe Bay has to offer.”
Damien was appointed head chef at the Foodworks restaurant in 2010 and now manages a team of eight chefs and three kitchen porters.
Below, he shares with us his Recipe for Lancashire Lamb Hot Pot.
Lancashire Lamb Hot Pot
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 2kg diced Spring Lamb
- 2 small Swedes
- 6-8 Medium size carrots
- 1 large Onion
- 3 Tablespoons of Mint Sauce
- 1 large glass of Red Wine
- 4 Large Potatoes (Jacket or similar)
- 2 Bay Leaves
- Knob of Butter (Soft/Melted)
- Lamb-based gravy granules
- Water
- 25 grams of finely chopped rosemary
Method
- Dice the Carrots, Swede and Onion (1cm cubes) and place into a thick-based, oven-proof pan.
- Add the diced Lamb, Mint Sauce, Red Wine and the Bay Leaves.
- Now add just enough water to cover all the ingredients. Put the pan on the heat and bring it to the boil.
- Once the pan has started to boil, turn the heat right down and let it simmer for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the meat is nice and tender. Plenty of time now to be thinking about the potatoes (Stage 6).
- With the meat tender, you can now thicken that beautiful sauce with gravy granules. Be careful not to thicken it too much as the pan still needs to go in the oven. Remove the Bay Leaves if you can find them, but don’t worry if you can’t. Also, time now to add 25 grams of finely chopped rosemary. Stir it in well.
- With the pan simmering nicely away and the aromas wafting through the house, you can now prepare the spuds. Wash & peel your potatoes, then cut them into slices no thicker than 1cm.
- Part-boil the potato slices in a pan of slightly salted water for just a few minutes, quickly remove from the heat and then refresh them in cold water.
- Now place the potato slices carefully on top of the nicely thickened lamb. Be creative if you want and slightly “overlap” them. Once covering the entire pan surface, brush the potatoes with the melted butter.
- Now pop the whole pan into a pre-heated oven and wait for the potatoes to turn a nice golden brown on top. Your Hot Pot is now ready to enjoy!
- Serve with some Pickled Red Cabbage. Most varieties in glass jars are excellent, and don’t forget some nice, crusty bread to mop up all those lovely juices.
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