Grass-fed, properly matured, ready to roast...  It must be Sunday Lunch...

I've blogged elsewhere about roast beef and horseradish, but it is one of those meals that rightly comes round time and time again.  The ultimate cut of beef for roasting is the forerib from a good grass-fed animal that has been well hung and properly butchered.  You can tell so much from looking at it: slightly yellow fat means grass-fed (pure white indicates the animal was fed on grain and concentrated manufactured food; a deep purple flesh colour means it's been well hung (damp and bright red is always a bad sign); plenty of fat means it's a properly reared and matured animal and will give you a more succulent roast.

Season well, seal all over in a hot pan with a little oil or dripping.  Roast at 200°C for 15 minutes per pound.  Leave to rest for 20 minutes.

Horseradish is an interesting one.  Usually (even in my house!) it comes out of a jar, but every so often, it's  worth making your own.  Prepare yourself for sinus-clearing and tears - grating fresh onion has nothing on this.  I'm following Simon Hopkinson's recipe here for horseradish 'concentrate' then turning it into horesradish cream.  The concentrate lasts for a couple of weeks in a sealed jar in the fridge, though it will lose a little of its heat over time.

The concentrate can then be used for a number of other recipes - a personal favourite is to mix it with a spoonful of Dijon mustard, a dollop of crème fraîche and some freshly grated raw beetroot - makes a delicious relish for cold roast beef.

Horseradish concentrate
4oz fresh horesradish grated across the grain preferably on a microplane grater (see above)
1tsp salt
2tsp caster sugar
2tbsp water
juice of 1 lemon

Whizz everything together in a blender... that's it.  Be sure to grate the horseradish first - don't be tempted to let the blender do that bit for you!

Horseradish sauce
Simply whisk together equal quantities of the horseradish concentrate and double cream.  Only make enough for today's meal, as it won't last in the fridge, unlike the concentrate.

Every Saturday, Maddie & I head off to the local shops.  Once shy when out in public, she now runs up to the fishmonger shouting "Ian, kippers please!".  She also chooses our Sunday roast every weekend.  Curiously for a three year old, she rarely goes for the same thing two weeks in a row - she tends to run a rota through beef, pork, lamb and chicken.  That said, she's chosen lamb a couple of times recently.

I'm a fan of shoulder of lamb - whilst a bugger to carve, it does tend to provide a nice moist joint and takes other flavours well.  Recently, we did a white onion sauce which went very well (poach sliced onion in water or stock for forty minutes with a few sprigs of thyme, remove the thyme and blend, adding in some of the juices from the resting meat).  However, last weekend, we went down a more Greek route.

I won't give the full recipe for the lamb - enough to say that I pricked it all over with a small sharp knife and rubbed it with a mix of olive oil, crushed garlic, dried and fresh oregano and left it overnight before roasting.  The minty green sauce was pretty good though.

Minty Salsa Verde (Green Sauce)
(serves 4)

1 big handful fresh mint leaves
1 big handful fresh parsley leaves
1 fat clove garlic (or more)
1/2 handful fresh oregano/marjoram leaves
4 spring onions
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed & dried
1-2 anchovies (optional, I left them out owing to family pressures...)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Extra Virgin olive oil

Chop the herbs, garlic and spring onion together very finely.  It's important to do this by hand and not in a machine - a blender will turn this into a yucky sludge rather than a well-textured sauce. Roughly chop the capers, finely chop the anchovies and mix into the herbs with the mustard.  Season to taste and add enough olive oil to get a good consistency - you want something that is just spoonable.

Serve with the lamb, some rosemary roast potatoes and a good Greek salad.  The combination of lamb, feta, a black olive and herby sauce on one forkful is pretty mouthwatering...

I recently wrote to Green & Blacks regarding the lack of Fairtrade logos on much of their chocolate.  I may be wrong but I thought they used to display the logo on all of their chocolate.  Anyhoo - below is the text of their reply in full for you to make your own judgements. 

Dear Richard

Thank you for your recent email regarding our fair-trade principles.

Green & Black's has two Fairtrade lines- the Maya Gold range and our Cocoa powder. These are certified by the Fairtrade Foundation and thus carry the Fairtrade mark. All ingredients that go into these products, including the cocoa beans, which originate from Belize, meet standards set by the Fairtrade Foundation. These products have been certified Fairtrade since their launch into the marketplace and continue to be.

We support the principle of fair-trade; giving producers a fair price for their goods, treating them justly and fairly, developing strong and stable supplier relationships and also investing in local infrastructure to improve lives for the communities. The Fairtrade model focuses on helping farmers in less developed countries trade with richer nations through a protective scheme. Using the formal Fairtrade system is one way of helping improve the livelihoods of farmers, but this is not the only way.

Indeed, there are many delicious organic ingredients that are not available with certified Fairtrade status. All our chocolate is made from organic, Trinitario type cocoa; quality beans that command a substantial price premium. Therefore, the price we pay is significantly higher than the market price, so that the farmers get a fair deal from us. We also invest money and time in the communities that the farmers live in.

We support, respect and admire the work that the Fairtrade Foundation does to educate consumers about ethical spending, and we are proud to operate our own ethical business practices, even when it is not possible for us to use the Fairtrade mark.

Our Maya Gold chocolate was created as a result of a visit to Belize by Craig Sams (our founder and President of Green & Black’s and once the chairman of Soil Association, the UK organic standards authority) and his wife Josephine Fairley who were inspired by the natural taste of a traditional Mayan drink they sampled. During their time there they found the local cocoa growers were being poorly treated by a large chocolate corporation and so they offered to trade directly with them to help improve the way of life of the individuals as well as their communities. They guaranteed that they would buy every cocoa bean that the farmers produced and would provide project management for commercial farming activities. As a result of these virtuous ground rules that Craig and Josephine laid down, they were approached by the Fairtrade Foundation, who granted this bar Fairtrade status in 1994. This was the first product awarded Fairtrade status in the United Kingdom. Green & Black’s together with Fairtrade Foundation built practices that the Fairtrade foundation still honour throughout their everyday practice.

Green & Black's has been buying organic cocoa from the TCGA farmer's co-operative (Toledo, Cacao Growers Association) in Belize since 1994. Toledo District is the poorest part of Belize. We pay a minimum guaranteed price, substantially above the world cocoa price. This has enabled the TCGA and its farmers achieve greater economical sustainability and so improve the quality of life of the local community.

In 2003, we extended our activities with the cocoa farmers and started our Belize Programme to provide even more support. The investment in cocoa farming communities was used to help improve management and farming practices, rehabilitate hurricane-damaged crops, plant more cocoa trees, and train farmers in better growing methods. Green & Black's continue to provide technical advice and on the ground support to the farmers.

Prior to June 2003, there was declining TCGA membership and cocoa bean production was static. Today, there is a strong feeling of ownership among the TCGA executive and the farmers. The former Chairman of the TCGA, Pablo Cal has said that he was "very excited about the [cocoa] industry." Since 2003, more farmers have joined the TCGA (membership has grown from 200 to over 1000) and many farmers have renovated their farms.

By helping these cocoa farmers directly, we believe we make a real difference. In the almost 15 years we have been involved, we have seen evidence of this positive influence, with more farmers being able to send their children to school, due to increased membership of the TGCA and the resulting increase in money being earned by farmers in the area. We have also celebrated the planting of one million cocoa trees in Belize, since the start of the Belize Project. The cocoa trees provide cocoa pods all year round and can stay productive for generations. We will continue to support the cocoa farmers from Belize.

Throughout our range, we are committed to applying Ethical Sourcing Standards in our own work place and we expect our suppliers, co-manufacturers and business partners to do so too. Respect for human rights, ethical trading, organics and the environment are fundamental to how we work. We also believe that customer, consumers, government and society expect companies to behave in ethical and responsible ways.

The Green & Black's Ethical Sourcing Standards are based on International Labour Organisation Conventions, the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the Ethical Initiative Basecode and take into account the Soil Association Organic Standards. You can find a copy of our Ethical Sourcing Standards on our website at the following link: http://www.greenandblacks.com/uk/from-bean-to-bar/ethical-sourcing-standards.html

I hope this information has been of use to you in outlining why we have no plans to further extend our Fairtrade range but will continue to trade fairly with our suppliers. I hope this will allow you to make an informed decision when next buying our products. If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Kind Regards

Laura Bowyer

Customer Care Manager

Green & Black's