Lamb is my favourite of all the meats and Rosemary is one of my favourite herbs (well one that I can talk about anyway!) The combination of these flavours come together to make a really mouth watering treat. Manx Lamb is really good quality, tender and packed full of flavour, so why not give it a go.

Serves 2

Gourmet Shark Tip: Prepare the lamb chops and the marinade 24 hours before serving. Or if your in a rush at least 4 hours

What you need
6 lamb chops

For the marinade
2 table spoons of chopped fresh rosemary
8 chopped fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice or lime juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon or lime zest
2 peeled garlic cloves
a glug of olive oil or vegetable oil
a good pinch of salt and pepper

What to do

Whizz all the above ingredients together or mash them all up using a mortar and pestel until its nice paste
In a large plastic bag or bowl, mix the lamb chops with the marinade and either seal or cover. Then place in the fridge for at least 4 hours up to 24 hours

Gourmet Shark Tip: Before you cook the lamb, remove it from the fridge and leave it to site for half an hour before cooking

Get a frying pan or griddle pan and get this really really hot, the hotter the better.

Place lamb chops on the griddle pan and fry these for about 4-5 minutes each side or till they are to your required doneness (I like it a little pink in the middle, but not underdone.)

Serve with potatoes of your choice and seasonal vegetables, I used roasted parsnip, roasted potatoes and some Kurly Kale. Make this a regular dish!

It doesn’t get much simpler than cooking sausages and mashing up some spuds with a tasty gravy, tastes damm good and the gravy just makes it. Loveeeely!

What you need

For the mash

4 large Potatoes

knob of Butter

For the sausages and onion gravy

8 pork Sausages (I like Ratcliffes in Castletown)

2tbsp Olive oil

2 large Onions, sliced

200ml good beef stock

Rosemary for garnish

What to do

For the mashed potatoes: boil the potatoes in a pan of boiling salted water until they just become soft – about 20 minutes

Drain and mash with a potato masher until smooth, add butter and a pinch of salt to taste

For the sausages and onion gravy, heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and add the sausages, fry them until golden brown or cook in an oven on 180 degrees or gas mark 4  for 20 mins

Meanwhile, in a  saucepan, heat the remaining oil, tip in the onions and cook over a low heat until caramelised nicely

Then add the beef stock and cook down until its reduced by roughly half

Plate up the mash and place sausages on top

Pour over the onion gravy and garnish with a little fresh Rosemary

Om nom nom!

This is one of my favourite tea time dishes for three reasons. Its really easy to make, its quick and it tastes fantastic! So he goes yessir!

What you need

1 tbsp vegetable oil

4 chicken breasts chopped in to even sizes approx 3cm

Any spare vegetables – I used baby sweetcorn and mange tout, but you can easily use peas, green beans or even brocolli, whatever takes your fancy really

4 large teaspoons of Green Thai Curry paste (You can ge this from Tesco/any supermarket or make yourself – see below)

Juice of  a lime

A good handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped

A pinch of salt

1 tin of coconut milk

This can be served with Thai Rice or Noodles. I went for the noodles on this occassion, the kids prefer it over rice!

If your making the paste you will also need:

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 green chillie

1 tsp of dried cumin seeds

1 tsp of coriander seeds

2 large cloves of garlic

1 small onion, roughly chopped

A chunk of fresh ginger, chopped

1 lemongrass stalk, roughly chopped

Zest of a lime

A Handful fresh coriander

What to do

For the paste if your feeling daring throw all the paste mix in a blender and get whizzing! After its been pulped have a sniff, it smells great doesn’t it!

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the chicken. Stir this around until it takes on a bit of colour. Then add the 3-4 large tsp’s of the paste and get it all sizzling nicely and releasing all those flavours. Once the chicken has browned well and the paste starts to catch to the pan, add the vegetables and the coconut milk. Let this simmer for 7-10 minutes

Remove from the heat and add the fresh coriander and the squeezed of lime juice. Drop in your cooked noodles and stir through.

Enjoy – I do at least once a week!