José Pizarro’s recipe for braised lamb and kale cazuela with beans
My mum, Isabel, has always cooked slowly.Life on the family farm was busy, so a pot of lamb would often be bubbling away while she worked and, by the time we all sat down for lunch, the whole house smelled incredible.November takes me straight back there.It is the month for food that warms you, dishes made to sit in the centre of the table and to bring everyone close.Lamb shoulder loves a slow cook, turning soft and rich, especially when cooked with alubias blancas (white beans) to soak up the sauce, while a good splash of oloroso gives it a deeper, rounder flavour than any red wine ever could.
Prep 15 minCook 3 hr 20 minServes 64 tbsp olive oil Salt and black pepper 1.2kg lamb shoulder, cut into chunks1 large onion, peeled and finely sliced5 garlic cloves, unpeeled but bashed open2 tsp smoked sweet pimentón 1 small handful fresh thyme and oregano leaves 200ml oloroso400g tin chopped tomatoes 500ml good chicken stock 1 tbsp plain flour 2 400g tins butter beans, drained and rinsed250g curly kale, tough stems removed and discardedHeat the oven to 150C (130C fan)/300F/gas 2.Put a tablespoon of the olive oil in a large casserole on a medium heat.Season the lamb, then fry it in batches until nicely browned all over, adding more oil as necessary (you’ll probably need another two tablespoons’ worth).As each batch of meat is browned, scoop it into a large bowl.
Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the same casserole and fry the onion, stirring to lift all the gnarly brown bits off the base and sides of the pan, for about five minutes, until softened.Add the garlic, pimentón and herb leaves, stir for a minute, until fragrant, then pour in the sherry and leave to bubble away for a minute or two.Return the meat to the pan, then tip in the tomatoes and stock, and season with black pepper and some more salt.Cover the pot, bring the mix to a boil, then transfer the pot to the oven and leave to cook for two and a half hours, until the meat is lovely and tender.Take the pot out of the oven and leave to stand for five or so minutes, until the fat rises to the surface.
Scoop this out with a spoon (you don’t have to get it all).Blend about a tablespoon of the fat with the flour (discard the rest), then add this paste to the lamb mix and stir it in well.Put the pan on a low heat and leave to bubble gently for about 10 minutes, until the sauce thickens slightly.Stir in the beans and leave to bubble gently and warm through.Meanwhile, blanch the kale in a large pan of salted boiling water for about three minutes, until tender, then drain and roughly chop.
Stir the kale into the lamb mix, then serve hot with good crusty bread to mop up all those juices.
‘People still blame me for their perforated eardrums’: how we made the Tango ads
‘Gil Scott-Heron did the closing voiceover. He was giggling away, saying, “You English guys are crazy!”’My creative partner Al Young and I had been on the dole for 18 months when we landed our dream jobs at Howell Henry ad agency. We had to prove ourselves fast. Tango’s brief was basically to get talked about. They told us: “We want Coca-Cola to be afraid of this little British brand
Memoirs, myths and Midnight’s Children: Salman Rushdie’s 10 best books – ranked!
As the author publishes a new story collection, we rate the work that made his name – from his dazzling Booker winner to an account of the 2022 attack that nearly killed him “It makes me want to hide behind the furniture,” Rushdie now says of his debut. It’s a science fiction story, more or less, but also indicative of the sort of writer Rushdie would become: garrulous, playful, energetic. The tale of an immortal Indian who travels to a mysterious island, it’s messy but charming, and the sense of writing as performance is already here. (Rushdie’s first choice of career was acting, and he honed his skill in snappy lines when working in an advertising agency.) Not a great book, but one that shows a great writer finding his voice, and a fascinating beginning to a stellar career
High art: the museum that is only accessible via an eight-hour hike
At 2,300 metres above sea level, Italy’s newest – and most remote – cultural outpost is visible long before it becomes reachable. A red shard on a ridge, it looks first like a warning sign, and then something more comforting: a shelter pitched into the wind.The structure stands on a high ridge in the municipality of Valbondione, along the Alta Via delle Orobie, exposed to avalanches and sudden weather shifts. I saw it from above, after taking off from the Rifugio Fratelli Longo, near the village of Carona – a small mountain municipality a little over an hour’s drive from GAMeC, Bergamo’s Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea – the closest access point I was given for the site visit.The Frattini Bivouac is not staffed, ticketed or mediated
Spanish Armada-era astrolabe returns to Scilly after mysterious global journey
It spent hundreds of years languishing on the seabed off the Isles of Scilly in the far south-west of Britain before being hauled back to the surface by divers and setting off a circumnavigation of the world.Finally the Pednathise Head astrolabe – a rare example of a 16th-century navigational instrument once used by sailors to determine latitude – is back on Scilly after being rediscovered on the other side of the Atlantic.It turns out that after being sold and leaving the UK, the astrolabe passed through private collections in Australia and the US, its true identity forgotten along the way, before ending up in a museum on the Florida Keys.“It’s been on quite a journey,” said Xavier Duffy, the curator of the Isles of Scilly Museum. “We’re thrilled to have it back on Scilly and in the care of the museum
My Cultural Awakening: I moved across the world after watching a Billy Connolly documentary
I was 23 and thought I had found my path in life. I’d always wanted to work with animals, and I had just landed a job as a vet nurse in Melbourne. I was still learning the ropes, but I imagined I would stay there for years, building a life around the work. Then, five months in, the vet called me into his office and told me it wasn’t working out. “It’s not you,” he said, “I just really hate training people
The Running Man to David Hockney: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead
Stephen King’s dystopian novel gets an Edgar Wright reboot with Glen Powell, while the prolific British master is back with new paintingsThe Running ManOut nowEdgar Wright directs this reimagining of the 1987 sci-fi cult classic based on Stephen King’s 1982 novel, which envisioned a fictional America of 2025 sliding into totalitarianism. Glen Powell stars as the contestant attempting to survive a deadly televised game.Now You See Me: Now You Don’tOut nowThis third film in the magic-heist franchise reunites Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco and Isla Fisher as the Four Horsemen. Directed by Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland), the new instalment sees the gang target a massive diamond. Expect more sleight-of-hand shenanigans
Why Australia will win v why England can win: two Guardian cricket writers make their Ashes cases
A trooper’s shove showed stardom doesn’t protect Black athletes from police | Etan Thomas
The Breakdown | Could new Nations Championship transform Test rugby? The jury is out
Mark Wood declared fit for first Ashes Test as England seamers ‘lick their lips’ at surface
The Luka Era begins: inside the transformation powering the post-LeBron Lakers
‘A drug that’s very safe and healthy‘: what ultrarunners can teach us about life | Sean Ingle