A hearty meal

We took a trip to Shan's who call themselves the premier multicultural halal supermarket. They're in Keighley - another premier multicultural halal place - and are well worth a visit. The shop is tidy, stacks of spices, rices and flours line the shelves and it's great to wander through the fruit and veg section going "what on earth is that?" or "I wonder how you cook that?". I love the yard long beans and the strange knobbly roots but have yet to pluck up the excuse to buy some and see how they taste. Maybe next time.

At the back of the shop is a long butcher's counter - chicken, lamb, mutton. Both off and on the bone, butchered Asian style. And plenty of offal from tripe (best avoided I think) through to sweetbreads. Amongst this was a pile of lamb's hearts something I hadn't eaten since my childhood. We bought them and took them home for a hearty meal!

I stuffed the hearts with shallots, chestnut mushrooms and puy lentils and since I had way more stuffing than needed I poured the rest over the top of the hearts before covering and baking slowly for (if I recall right) about two and a half hours at 150 degrees. For the last half hour I took the foil off and added some red peppers - more for colour than for additional flavour.

Very nice it was too (as you can see)!

....