Today in History: 1783
Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier make the first public balloon flight .
Whatever brought the attention of the brothers to using hot air for a balloon, and whether they even, at first, understood why smoke rose, is not clearly known. But it is known that they rapidly passed from a toy-sized balloon to a large one, and they soon learned that the best fuel was straw mixed with carded wool. The first public experiment, on June 5, 1783, demonstrated to an assembly of the local nobility of Annonay how a balloon some 35 feet in diameter could rise in 10 minutes to a height of well over a mile.
Read more here Joseph and Jacques Michel Étienne Montgolfier | Encyclopedia.com
The Funnies:
On the Menu Today – Roast Lamb with honey glazed carrots and mint sauce
Welcome to my first attempt at Sparking! I thought I may only get one shot at this, so I’m going to give you my absolute favourite Sunday Roast dinner. On a Wednesday.
There’s a little bit of prep, but you will not regret it, I promise! You do have to pay attention to the timings though, I’ve combined two recipes but I hope it doesn’t get too confusing.
Don’t skimp and get cheap meat. Lamb is pricey, but tastes amazing. A hogget is a year older than a lamb, so has more flavour. Well worth the extra cost if you can get it. In fact, the only thing wrong with this recipe is that it’s missing the Best Yorkshire puddings recipe | BBC Good Food Yorkshire Pudding Best Yorkshire puddings recipe | BBC Good Food . I don’t care for those people who say you should only have it with roast beef, I would have it with every roast meal. Where else would your gravy go otherwise?
Ingredients (Serves 4):
· 1kg (2.2lb) leg of lamb or hogget
· 1 bulb of garlic
· ½ a bunch of fresh rosemary
· 0.75kg (1.5lb ish) potatoes
· 1 lemon
· olive oil
MINT SAUCE
· 1 bunch of fresh mint
· 1 teaspoon sugar
· 3 tablespoons wine vinegar
HONEY GLAZED CARROTS
· 0.5kg (1.1lb) Chantenay or other small carrots, peeled
· 3 tbsp sunflower oil
· 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
· 2 tbsp clear honey
Instructions:
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Remove the lamb from the fridge 1 hour before you want to cook it, to let it come up to room temperature.
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Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6 and place a roasting dish for the potatoes on the bottom.
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Break the garlic bulb up into cloves, then peel 3, leaving the rest whole. Pick and roughly chop half the rosemary leaves. Peel and halve the potatoes.
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Crush the peeled garlic into a bowl, add the chopped rosemary, finely grate in the lemon zest and drizzle in a good lug of oil, then mix together.
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Season the lamb with sea salt and black pepper, then drizzle with the marinade and rub all over the meat. Place on the hot bars of the oven above the tray.
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Parboil the potatoes in a pan of boiling salted water for 10 minutes, then drain and allow to steam dry. Gently toss the potatoes in the colander to scuff up the edges, then tip back into the pan (without the water!).
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Add the remaining rosemary sprigs and whole garlic cloves to the potatoes, season with salt and pepper, then drizzle over a good lug of oil. Tip the potatoes into the hot tray and place back under the lamb to catch all the lovely juices.
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Cook the lamb for 1 hour 15 minutes if you want it pink, or 1 hour 30 minutes if you like it more well done.
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Tip the peeled Chantenay or other small carrots into a roasting tin and toss with 3 tbsp sunflower oil and some salt and pepper. Roast for 25 mins.
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Drizzle 2 tbsp white wine vinegar and 2 tbsp clear honey over the carrots, toss well and return to the oven for a further 15 mins.
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Meanwhile, make the mint sauce. Pick and finely chop the mint leaves, then place in a small bowl. Mix in the sugar, a good pinch of salt, 1 tablespoon of hot water and the vinegar.
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When the lamb is cooked to your liking, remove from the oven and leave to rest for 15 minutes or so (This is when you put the Yorkshire pudding in the oven!). Carve and serve with the roast potatoes, mint sauce and carrots.
There you go, that’s Sunday dinner done. Time for a long nap now. Someone wake me when my manager comes back!
Quote of the Day:
“In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.”
Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Comic of the Day:
Mouseover: “Fortunately, the charging one has been solved now we’ve all standardised on mini-USB. Or is it micro-USB? Shit.”
ExplainXKCD
Image Credit: XKCD
Inspirobot Sometimes Controversial Inspirational Quote of the Day:
