Beef kebabs

This is a new experiment for us. We normally make kebabs on skewers with chunks of meat and maybe various veggies, but this is a ground meat style kebab without the skewer.

In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients well:

• Ground meat (we used beef, but want to try lamb sometime) - about a kilo will make six to eight kebabs.
• Minced garlic, half a red onion, a handful of parsley, and some mint.
• Large tablespoonful of cumin, corainder and paprika.
• Teaspoons of garlic powder, salt, and pepper. 

Don't be stingy with the spices, this mixture will absorb a lot before getting too overpowering.

Press the mixture out onto a lined baking tray, into a rectangle about 3/4" thick. Use a sharp knife to cut into strips an inch or so wide. No need to separate them, they'll pull apart once cooked.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until cooked through.

Serve with pittas, tzatziki, with toppings and salad.

Lamb pittas

Cook some lamb sausages, then slice thinly.

Warm the pittas so they are easier to fold. 

Spread pittas with tzaziki, then choice of veggies - shredded lettuce, sliced pepper, cucumber sliced into long thin strips, green onions, olives, tomatoes - then add slices of sausage. 

Fold into a parcel. Enjoy!

Fish Wellington

Same as for Beef Wellington, except use a firm-fleshed white fish instead, something like cod or halibut. The fish goes into the pastry uncooked and will cook in the oven.

Beef Wellington

Sear either a beef tenderloin or individual steaks - they will continue to cook in the oven so you don't want them fully cooked at this stage.

Roll out puff pastry.

Fry a finely-chopped onion and some finely-chopped mushrooms. When cooked, stir in some smooth pate, then a dollop of cream and mix thoroughly. When the mixture has cooled, spread onto the middle of the pastry and set the beef on top. Fold the pastry over to make a parcel (or individual parcels), and bake until the pastry is puffed up and browned.

Potato gratin

We like trying a new spin on potatoes every once in a while, and this random discovery was an all-round hit. In some ways it's similar to Duphinoise potatoes, but a lot richer. It does take a lot more preparation though, but if you have the time, the effort is worth it.

Cube and boil potatoes in salted water for a few minutes. They should be slightly tender but not too soft.

Saute a couple of diced shallots and minced garlic in butter until tender.

Stir in a spoonful of flour and cook for a minute, stirring to stop it catching on the pan. Stir in a couple of cups of chicken stock then cream to make a moderately thick sauce. Simmer for a few minutes stirring constantly.

Stir in a generous handful of cheese, a squirt of mustard, and season with salt and pepper. Finally stir in the drained potatoes.

Spread the mixture into a greased baking pan and bake for up to an hour. Sprinkle another handful of grated cheese and chopped chives or green onions on top and either return to bake or put under the grill to brown.

Sweet and sour sauce

 A very tasty home-made sauce. For once I'll include quantities to get the balance of flavours right.

Blend together: 2 tbsp vinegar, 1/2 tbsp corn starch, 1/2 tbsp ketchup, 1 grated onion, 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp sugar, 2 tsp oil.

Drain the juice from a can of pineapple chunks into a saucepan and stir in the blended ingredients. Bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes until the sauce thickens. Stir in the pineapple.

Braised lamb in red wine

A really tasty and heartwarming dish.

Sear a leg of lamb or lamb shanks until browned. Place in a casserole dish.

Saute a chopped onion in butter until golden. Add chopped carrots and garlic. Add tomato paste and stir until the vegetables are coated. Pour in 2 cups of stock, a can of tomatoes, and a cup of red wine. Bring to the boil, then add everything to the casserole dish.

Place in the oven and cook for at least 2 hours. Longer if it's a big piece of meat. This dish can go long and slow for ages until the lamb falls off the bone.

Good with mashed potatoes.

Creamy mustard chicken

This is similar in some ways to the creamy pepper pork, except that the sauce has a lot more taste of mustard and less of the pepper.

Rub some whole (i.e. including skin and bone) chicken thighs with a small amount of salt and pepper. Pan fry (starting with skin side down) on a high heat to sear and seal the thighs. Transfer them, skin side up, to a baking tray and pop in the oven for about 1/2 hour to finish cooking while you prepare the sauce. 

Drain off the excess fat, leaving a spoonful in the pan, and fry a couple of finely-chopped shallots until soft. Add a splash of white wine and let it evaporate. Stir in a cup or so of chicken stock, then a good tablespoon of whole grain mustard. Let that cook gently for a while, then stir in a tablespoon of mild yellow mustard *. Once that has all blended in, stir in a cup of heavy cream and simmer to thicken.

Serve the chicken and sauce with choice of carbs and healthy stuff.

* Brits take note - this is the stuff that Americans put on hot dogs, not what you would normally call mustard **.

** Unless, of course, you really do want to unclog your nostrils and lose all sense of taste for the next month.

Gnocchi with Pomodoro Sauce

We've gone full-on international this week! This is another first for us, and a very quick and tasty dish.

In a large saucepan, saute a few stems of fresh flat leaf parsley, oregano, rosemary, and basil until they become crisp. Lift out and discard the herbs.

Add chopped onion and garlic and cook gently until soft. Add a can of crushed tomatoes. Season with salt and black pepper. Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes until the sauce reduces and thickens. Stir in some thick cream and remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, cook a packet or two of potato gnocchi in salted boiling water until they float to the top. Drain them off and add to the sauce. Add some mozzarella balls and top with a handful of grated Parmesan.

Cha han

A simple but tasty rice dish. This is for chicken and prawn, but you can substitute all sorts of ingredients to your taste.

Preparation:

Finely chop some chicken and marinade for an hour in a few spoonfuls of soy sauce, grated ginger, salt and pepper.

Cook a pan of rice.

Cooking - this is very quick:

Heat oil in a wok. Add the chicken, a handful of quartered shitake and button mushrooms, some shelled prawns, snow peas, sweetcorn, chopped scallions, and the rice. Stir in a whisked egg.

Crab and sweetcorn soup

This has always been one of our favourites when we've gone for a full sit-down meal at a Chinese restaurant. But it is also amazingly easy to cook at home. We are always on the lookout for new soup ideas, so I'm surprised it's taken us this long to try this for ourselves.

Make up a pan of stock - either bouillon paste, or we often use home-made turkey stock as a soup base - and season it to taste. 

Bring the stock to the boil, then stir in some flaked crab meat (either fresh, or processed) and a drained can of corn. Thicken with a little cornstarch. Add some veggies if wanted - we used some small bok choy, or you could add green onions. Stir in several beaten eggs to finish off the dish, and serve.

Creamy pepper pork

A new and delicious twist on pan fried pork steaks.

Pat the steaks dry then dry-rub them with a mixture of salt, pepper, and paprika. Fry them until browned. De-glaze the pan with a splash of apple cider vinegar, a small amount of chicken stock and a dash of lemon juice. Stir in cream and a squirt of mild mustard (e.g. French or honey mustard). Simmer until the pork is cooked.

Dauphinoise potatoes

A remarkably quick & easy version if you want a slightly different (and tasty) way to serve potatoes.

Put thinly-sliced potatoes into a baking dish that can go on the stove top as well as in the oven. Add a layer of thinly-sliced red onion, garlic, salt and pepper, and grated Parmesan. Pour on a good slosh of cream and some water. Stir everything together, bring to the boil on the stove top, cover, and cook for 5 or 6 minutes.

Sprinkle on another generous handful of grated Parmesan and put in the oven, uncovered, for about 1/2 hour. It should be brown and bubbling. If necessary, brown it off under the grill

Vegetable soup

An impromptu recipe that turned out well, resulting in a tasty and hearty winter warmer.

In a large pan fry a chopped onion until soft and golden. Add garlic and diced celery and saute for a few minutes. Stir in a couple of chopped tomatoes.

Stir in a spoonful of flour to soak up the juices, then slowly add a jug of stock, mixing well to remove any lumps. Add seasoning - oregano, pepper, salt, and garlic salt - then a load of finely-chopped vegetables - carrots, potatoes, beans, sweetcorn etc. I used a bag of frozen mixed veg for variety.

Add enough liquid to cover. Bring to the boil and simmer for an hour or so, stirring occasionally to stop the mixture catching on the pan. Some of the vegetables may start to mash and disintegrate, but that's not a problem as they add body to the broth.

Goulash soup

A tasty and hearty dish that we tried for the first time last night. When we were camping this summer we stopped for lunch at a tiny cafe while taking shelter from a sudden downpour. We had goulash soup, and decided to hunt down a recipe. I'm happy to say it worked out well, something to do again.

In a large saucepan fry a few rashers of finely-chopped bacon until crispy. We usually get lean bacon, but for purposes like this Canadian (or "streaky" as we knew it in Britain) is perfect.

Set aside the bacon and fry some finely-cubed steak until browned. Scoop that out and set it aside with the bacon. I find this also produces a fair amount of liquid, which I drained off for later use too.

Now fry a couple of finely-chopped onions and cloves of garlic until golden. Stir in a generous spoonful of paprika, and a couple of heaped tablespoons of flour. Stir for a couple of minutes, then stir in a generous spoonful of tomato paste and a good slosh of red wine vinegar. The result should be a sticky paste.

After a minute or so, stir in a good jug of beef stock (including the liquid set aside from cooking the steak), salt, a chopped red pepper, and the bacon and steak. There should be enough liquid to cover everything. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 45 minutes.

Add a few finely-cubed potatoes - there should be at least as much by volume as meat - and continue to simmer until the potatoes are tender.

If necessary, add a bit of liquid to cover the ingredients, but the result should be a rich and thick soup. Stir occasionally to stop it catching on the bottom of the pan. Season with salt and pepper, and serve.

Jambalaya

A spicy and hearty dish.

Fry a sliced spicy sausage in a generous knob of butter.

When it's browned a bit, add spices: large spoonful of paprika and cumin, dash of cayenne, black pepper, and salt. Stir and cook for a minute.

Add a chopped tomato and cook until the juice starts to come out.

Add the veggies: a chopped pepper, a few sticks of celery, and spring onions. Stir and cook for a few minutes.

Stir in rice, then stock. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook gently for about 1/2 hour.

Near the end, stir in shrimp.

Liver pate

Something I used to make often, but haven't in a long while now. A more detailed post over on my other blog here, but the basics are as follows:

Fry a finely-chopped onion in about 4oz butter. When it's soft, add a few chopped cloves of garlic and 1lb liver. We usually use lamb's liver, but chick or beef will also do.

Once the liver changes color, add 1/2 pint of stock and seasoning (salt, black pepper, and a generous dash of Italian seasoning). Bring to the boil, cover, and then simmer gently for a couple of hours. You need the liver soft, and the stock reduced to a thick sludge.

Blend, add a dash of cream - just enough to make a thick paste - and blend again. Pour into a bowl, leave to cool, then refrigerate until set.

Greek salad

Easy, tasty, and a perfect accompaniment to pork souvlaki.

Mix together in a bowl: 1 cucumber (peeled, seeded and chopped), 1 tomato and 1 red pepper (seeded and chopped), black olives, and a sprinkle of finely-chopped red onion. Crumble over some feta cheese and top with a simple vinaigrette.

Pork Souvlaki

A summery recipe we discovered this year ...

Combine 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup lemon juice, a couple of cloves of chopped garlic, 1 tsp dried oregano and 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper. Add cubed pieces of pork and leave to marinade in the fridge for a day.

Skewer and season the meat and grill.

Serve with tzatziki sauce, rice, salad, pittas, retsina, and sun. Also tasty at any other time of year :)

Sweet & sour pork

We gave this recipe a try this evening, and it was fabulous.

I'm only posting the link here, and skipping my usual quick reference summary of ingredients and method because there's a lot of bits to it - the marinade for the pork, the coating, the sauce, and other bits to add to the pork - https://thewoksoflife.com/2015/12/sweet-and-sour-pork/

Suffice it to say, there's a fair bit of preparation and cooking involved, but we elected to have a lazy day and take it slowly this evening. Preparation and cooking time overall was over 2 hours rather than the 1 1/4 suggested on the website. In part that was because we had other dishes to make as well (stir fried rice and spring rolls) and we weren't in a hurry. We could have shaved off some time if we'd been more focused and organized. We also did a lot more pork - about twice the recipe - which made for more frying. Having said that, don't underestimate the time it takes to bring a pan of oil up to temperature, and to coat and fry batches of meat.

Not something to do if you're in a hurry, but if you enjoy being in the kitchen the effort was well worth it.