Lamb Burger

This is adapted from Jamie Oliver's Botham Burger recipe from the Naked Chef cookbook. As usual with Jamie's dishes, these burgers (here, I used lamb instead of beef) are delicious and a firm favourite!

Ingredients:

1 lb or 400g of good quality minced lamb
1 red onion, diced finely
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 large egg
1-2 handfuls of fresh breadcrumbs
1 Tbs coriander seeds, crushed
1 Tbs cumin seeds, crushed
1 Tbs dijon mustard
1 large handful of parsley, chopped finely
Salt and pepper

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius.
In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together.
Take a handful of the mix and shape into a pattie.
This mixture usually makes 10 patties, depending on the size of each one.
Arrange the patties on a tray and place in oven.
Cook until patties are brown and cooked through.
Serve with parsnip chips, baguettes and salad.

Tip: To release the flavour of the coriander and cumin, it's best to grill the seeds in a pan, then crush them either with pestle and mortar or a spice grinder. Be careful not to burn them or they will taste bitter.

Spaghetti with Tilapia Fish and Roasted Tomatoes

This is a very easy and delicious fish pasta dish that can be prepared in advance, by that I mean pan-frying the fish beforehand, and cooked in 15 mins. Ideal for a quick meal or even a starter.

Spaghetti with Tilapia Fish and Roasted Tomatoes 
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

3 fillets of tilapia fish, or any white/pink fish
6 medium tomatoes, or 12 cherry tomatoes preferably
4 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
Dried red chillies, chopped
A handful of parsley, chopped
Olive oil
Spaghetti for 4

Method:

Heat 2-3 tbs vegetable oil in a non-stick pan and fry the fish on both sides until golden. Always fry fish skin side down first then turn over. Let it cool for a bit and then break into small pieces. Set aside.
Cut the tomatoes in chunks. If using cherry tomatoes, cut in half. Place them flat on an oven-proof dish. Drizzle with olive oil and grill tomatoes until the skin becomes brownish.
While the tomatoes are cooking, boil the spaghetti until al dente. Drain and set aside.
Heat pan and add 1-2 tbs olive oil. Add the sliced garlic and once they start to brown, add the chillies. Mix in the fish. Remove the tomatoes from the grill and add to the pan. Then add the parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Finish off by adding the spaghetti and give the whole thing a good toss.
Turn the heat off and serve.

A Selection of Starters and Dips from around the world (Greek, Italian, Indian, Mexican and Mauritian)

These simple dishes are a great way to start a dinner party or serve as an accompaniment to a barbeque. They are influenced from my worldly culinary discoveries and can be eaten with a few slices of rustic French bread or ‘bruschetta’ drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. These two ingredients, as many food lovers will no doubt be aware, are vital in any kitchen as they can transform any simple dish or salad. The best olive oil is usually of Greek or Italian origin and the authentic balsamic vinegar has to be from Modena in Italy. Stay away from cheap alternatives. Nothing beats good quality produce!

Beetroot Salad (Greek)

I prefer using the pre-packed cooked beetroot which I chop up as it saves time cooking the beetroot. But it is also possible to boil the beetroot and chop it up or eat it raw, just slice in finely and add a sliced red onion, a good drizzle of olive oil, some lemon juice, salt, pepper and a good portion of chopped parsley.

Tomato Salad (Italian)

Chop up some of the best quality ripe tomatoes, usually the sweetest ones, or quarter some ripened cherry tomatoes. Add a sliced red onion, salt, pepper, some parsley and drizzle some olive oil and balsamic vinegar. You can also crumble some goat’s cheese over the salad if that takes your fancy and give it a good mix. Leave for a while to allow the juices to infuse with the tomatoes. Eaten with a few slices of grilled bread, this is simply heaven!

Cucumber Raita (Indian)

Remove the skin from the cucumber, quantity of which depends on how much raita you wish to make. Finely chop the cucumber (do not grate the cucumber as that has a tendency to release much of the cucumber’s juices) and add a few tablespoons of yoghurt, preferably greek yoghurt, salt, pepper, a sliced red onion and chopped fresh mint leaves.

Tzaziki (Greek)

The recipe is similar to Indian raita except replace onions with crushed garlic and mint with parsley.

Guacamole (Mexican)

Guacamole is my favourite dip and is so easy to make. Take one ripe avocado and using a sharp knife, cut the avocado in half. Don’t cut through the seed but slide the knife around it. Gently give the avocado a twist and the two halves should come apart with the seed intact in one half. Carefully remove the seed and peel the avocado. Chop it up and put in a bowl. Also chop up a ripe tomato, a small onion, a green chilli and coriander leaves. Add to the avocado. You can either mash it all up roughly or blend until smooth. I prefer mashing it up with a fork for a more rustic feel. Add some salt, pepper, olive oil and squeeze the juice of half a lemon (this helps to delay the guacamole becoming grey).

Aubergine pâté (Mauritian)

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius. Use a plump and firm aubergine which you cut into four large pieces. With the tip of the knife, make 1cm slits into all sides of the aubergine. Peel 3-4 garlic cloves and cut each into small pieces. Insert the cut garlic into the aubergine slits. Place the aubergine onto a tray and drizzle some olive oil so that it coats all sides. Bake aubergine skin side up first and turn after 10-15 mins. Let cook until all sides are soft. In the meantime, chop up a red onion, 1-2 green chillies and a large bunch of coriander leaves. Remove the aubergine from the oven and mash up the flesh together with the cooked garlic. Chop the skin as fine as possible and mix together with the onions, chillies, coriander, salt and pepper.

Almond and Berry Tarts

This recipe for almond and berry tarts comes from Jamie Oliver's 30-Minute Meals and honestly, the first time I made them, my guests and I were pleasantly surprised that they were so easy to make and only took a few minutes to prepare. They turned out pretty well in the end, some perhaps a little well-done...but absolutely the best dessert recipe I have ever tried.

The quickest and easiest way to go about this is to be prepared and buy ready-made pastry cases. All good supermarkets stock them. This will save you a huge amount of time and hassle especially if you're in a rush and have hungry guests!

However, if you have the time and inclination, feel free to make your own shortcrust pastry. Just click on my previous post for an easy recipe.

Almond and Berry Tarts

Ingredients:

8 small deep shortcrust pastry cases

1 egg

100g ground almonds

100g butter

90g golden caster sugar

1 orange

1 vanilla pod

Some good quality jam (strawberry or raspberry or any berry of your choice)

Method:

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius.

The first step is to make a frangipane mixture by combining the egg, almonds, butter and sugar into a mixing bowl.

Grate over the zest of 1/2 an orange. This gives it a bit of zing!

With a sharp-edged knife, slit the vanilla pod in half and scape the inside of the pod with the knife, removing the vanilla seeds. Add to the mixture.

Using a spoon, thoroughly mix it all together.

Now, put the pastry cases onto a baking tray.

Spoon a small teaspoon of jam into the pastry cases.

Top with a heaped teaspoon of the frangipane mixture, add another teaspoon of jam and finally another heaped teaspoon of frangipane. (Any leftover frangipane mixture can be frozen to be used for another occasion.)

Put the tray in the middle of the oven and let cook for 18-20 mins until golden. 

Serve warm with a dollop of creme fraiche or ice cream.

Shortcrust Pastry

This is a quick and easy recipe for shortcrust pastry, used as a base for tart recipes.

Shortcrust Pastry

Ingredients:
200g white flour
140g butter
1 or 2 tablespoons water or milk
Tartlet tins

Method:
Sieve the flour from a height onto a large clean tray or work surface. This enables air to become trapped within the flour and makes it lighter.
Cut the butter into cubes and work them into the flour with your fingers until you have a fine crumbly mixture.
Add one tablespoon of water or milk to the mixture and work it till the dough sticks together and you end up with a ball of dough.
If one tablespoon is not enough, then add the rest of the water or milk and work the dough.
Flour it lightly to prevent it from sticking to the surface.
Make sure that you do not work the dough too much or it will become elastic and chewy.
Wrap the dough in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for half and hour.

When you are ready to work your dough, flour your work surface lightly and roll out the dough to about half a centimetre thickness.
Cut into rounds that will fit into the tartlet tins.
Butter the tartlet tins and place the pastry inside.
Cut the edges of the pastry with a sharp knife if too big for the tins.

Fill the pastry with a filling of your choice.

Note: You can also use some of the dough to make the top part of the tart, in which case roll it out, cut into rounds, prick the centre with a fork (to release steam when cooking) and place it over the tart. Alternatively, cut the rolled-out dough into strips and place them criss-cross over the top of the tart.
Brush some milk over the top for glazing.

Pop into the oven at 200 degrees centigrade for 15-20 minutes or until golden.

Greek Pastichio

Living within a Greek community for several years has introduced me to some of the most delicious foods from the Mediterranean. It may be the case that mere mention of Greek food conjures up images of lamb roasting on a spit and that is certainly part of Greek food but there is much more to it! The Greeks love their meat and on a good day, there is quite a queue at my local Greek butchers which, while also selling barbecue grills in summer, does a fine range, including lamb's head, poussins, Greek sausages, sheftalia and even pheasants whenever it is the season!

The local cafes and restaurants that serve Greek food are exceedingly good, so much so that on a recent trip to Cyprus, it became evident that I get much better food in North London than in the Cypriot restaurants. I recently discovered this Pastichio dish, also called 'Macaronia tou Fornou', considered Greek lasagna, which has layers of macaroni, minced meat and bechamel sauce. A simpler version is to just cook the meat separately and mix it with the cooked macaroni after cooking, which I prefer as it's quicker and, although easy to make, no fussy bechamel sauce. This is a dish that can be rustled up in a few minutes if doing the simpler version or if you prefer the lasagna version, can be slow-cooked to perfection. Note though, I haven't seen Pastichio served in restaurants, it is more of a home-cooked dish.

I will give you the simpler version.

Greek Pastichio (Serves 2)

Ingredients: 

1/2 pack of the long macaroni (broken in 2-3 equal lengths)
400g mince meat (preferably pork, but lamb can also be used)
Olive oil
1 red onion (chopped)
2-3 gloves garlic (crushed)
300g or 3/4 can chopped tomato
Huge bunch of parsley (chopped)
A few sprigs of thyme
A thumb-size piece of cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
1 vegetable stock cube
Water
Salt and pepper

Method:

In a large pan, cover the pasta with boiling water and leave to cook until 'al dente', that is, cooked with a slight bite. You will know if it is overcooked if it becomes mushy. The general rule for cooking pasta is until 'al dente'. One trick is to take a piece of pasta out of the pan and throw it on the wall. If it sticks, then it's cooked. I know for a fact this works with spaghetti but remains to be seen with other pasta. Once cooked, drain and keep aside.

Heat some olive oil in a pan, add the onions and let them cook until they become slightly translucent. Add the garlic and minced meat. Break the meat into pieces with a wooden spoon and let it brown well. Add the thyme and crush the stock cube over the meat.

Once the meat has browned, add the tomatoes, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, salt, pepper and the parsley. The parsley is the vital ingredient in this dish so be generous. Add the chopped stalks as well as this will cook and add flavour. Mix it well. Add some water and leave to simmer. Note that this should not become a tomatoey sauce as you would cook an Italian pasta dish, you want it become dry.

Continue stirring. Once all the water has evaporated, turn off the heat and mix it with the cooked pasta. Serve with a sprinkling of cheese.

Fried Noodles - Mauritian Style

I can't remember exactly the first time I had fried noodles but I think it might have been on a school trip once when a friend lets you try a forkful of her lunch, and as is usually the case with other people's food, it always seems to taste better than yours, especially if you've got a boring sandwich...or it might have been that one time at my friend Priscilla's house. She's Chinese, you see, and her aunt made some yummy fried noodles....anyway, I was pretty young then and fried noodles have always been in the top ten in my list of favourite foods since. My mum never really had the knack for making fried noodles...sorry mum but it's true...so whenever I ate out, it would be fried noodles at the Chinese. Since I am now quite good in the cooking department...and I am being modest here ;)...I thought I'd share with you my fried noodles recipe. There's just something about Mauritian fried noodles that's much tastier than regular noodles so here's the secret...

It has just crossed my mind what a funny word 'noodles' is...or is it just me?

Fried Noodles with Pak Choi (Serves 2)

Ingredients:

Noodles (1 packet fresh or 2 squares of dried)
Chicken (or any other meat that takes your fancy); cubed
1 egg
Dried shrimps (2 Tbs) or fresh prawns
2-3 cloves of garlic; crushed
2 carrots; cut in strips
Mushrooms; sliced
2 spring onions; chopped
2 pak choi
Dried chilli flakes (according to taste)
Soy sauce
A bit of wine, red or white
Oyster sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Firstly, prepare the noodles. If using fresh, you don't have to do anything. If using dried, then cover the noodles in a pan with boiling water and leave it to loosen up. This usually takes less than 5 minutes but keep checking the noodles. You don't want them to become too soft. Once ready, drain and keep aside.

If using dried shrimps, then pour some boiling water on the shrimps in a bowl and let them rehydrate. Clean the shrimps by removing the vein and give them a good wash. If using fresh prawns, then also clean and remove the vein.

Heat a wok or similar pan. We need to lightly stir fry a few things. Add some oil. First stir fry the drained shrimps for a couple of minutes until they become golden brown. Remove, leaving as much oil in the pan as possible, and set aside. Same with the fresh prawns but this may take slightly longer to cook. A good tip when cooking prawns is to add some butter to the oil and sprinkle some garlic.

Next, break the egg directly onto the pan and with a wooden spoon, give it a good stir. Break it into small pieces with the spoon. Once cooked, set aside with the shrimps.

Then, put some oil in the pan and once hot, add the cubed chicken. Season and stir fry until cooked. Remove and set aside with the other cooked ingredients.

So now, everything's ready.

Maybe add some more oil in the pan if you need to. Put some of the crushed garlic then add the carrots, mushrooms and spring onions. Season lightly and stir fry. Add the egg, shrimps and chicken and mix it all together. Next, put in a tablespoon of soy sauce just to give it some colour. Once the vegetables have cooked, mix in the noodles (fresh or as prepared above). Add more soy sauce, salt and pepper, a couple of glugs of wine and some oyster sauce. Mix it up and stir fry for a few minutes until cooked.

Now, for the pak choi. I prefer cooking it separately as you can incorporate more flavours. This can also be used as a side dish for any other meal. Firstly, cut the pak choi sideways just at the point where the leaves begin. Wash thoroughly and cut out the base to remove the hard bit. Leave the stems connected though and cut into strips. Also, take the leaves in a bunch and make one or two strips lengthwise. Don't cut them too thin. In a flat pan, heat some oil, then add the remaining garlic and chilli flakes. Then add the stems first as this will take a bit longer to cook than the leaves. After a few minutes, add the leaves and pour some oyster sauce. You can put salt if you want to but there is no need really as the flavours in the noodles will balance it out. Mix it all up and turn off the heat after a couple of minutes. The stems should be cooked but still have some bite to it.

Serve the fried noodles with the pak choi on top. Eat immediately with chilli and/or garlic sauce (Mauritian style!)

Enjoy!