Hot stuff

DD is getting so svelte he’s had to go shopping for smaller pants … but that’s not the hot stuff I’m talking about.

(Although I did make him do a reluctant twirl in the Coronary Care Unit at the hospital on Saturday so my mum could check out his fitness progress. She was very impressed. I’m equally impressed by his dedication to getting in shape … and also very touched that he drove me to Newcastle when I was too shaky to be behind the wheel.)

DD came over for dinner on Monday night before flying to Melbourne on a work trip and requested his new favourite dish from my repertoire: lamb and roasted pumpkin massaman.

He adores roasted pumpkin. He picked virtually every piece of it out of the dish – it goes really well with the gentle curry sauce. You almost don’t need the meat.

The massaman is yummy and very simple to make (though not really the recipe for smaller pants, maybe go easy on the sauce and rice if you’re trying to get into a pair of those), so I thought I’d share it with you. I forgot to take a photograph of the finished results, so the pic is “representative” and doesn’t feature roasted pumpkin or lamb … but you get the idea.

RECIPE: Lamb & roasted pumpkin massaman

Rice bran oil

1 onion, chopped

1/3 cup of Ayam Massaman paste

1kg of cubed lamb

2 X 400ml cans of lite coconut milk

2 kaffir lime leaves

1 tablespoon Ayam chilli jam

Large wedge of pumpkin, peeled and cut into large chunks

rice & roasted, salted peanuts to serve

METHOD: Preheat oven to 200C. Heat oil in deep based frying pan. Saute onion for a minute or two, add Massaman paste. Fry for a minute or two more until fragrant. Add lamb and toss to coat. Brown. Add coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves and chilli jam. Simmer gently for around an hour or so until lamb is tender, stirring frequently. Around 30 minutes after you start simmering, spray the pumpkin with a little oil and place on a tray on a sheet of baking paper in the oven. Roast until golden. Place pumpkin in a bowl and pour over the lamb curry sauce. Sprinkle with peanuts and serve with rice.

Song of the day: Well of course it’s Donna Summer singing “Hot Stuff”