25/01/2011 by D.

8 large cabbage leaves
4 oz minced chicken, pork or beef (or cooked puy lentils)
2 finely chopped spring onions
1 chilli (optional)
3 tbsp cooked rice
1 minced clove garlic
1 tsp grated ginger
2 tsp soy sauce (dark)
4 cocktail sticks

Veg or chicken stock to simmer

Bring a pan of salted water to boil and cook the cabbage leaves for 3 minutes.  Drain and flatten on a board and cut out the stem in a triangle shape.

Mix the rest of the ingredients together.  You can now either make eight small rolls, or 4 big ones.  For the big ones, simply overlap two leaves, place a quarter of the filling in the centre, then rollup and fasten with a stick.

Simmer the parcels in chicken or veg stock for 40 minutes until cooked through.  To serve, remove the sticks and  place the parcels in a bowl with a ladle of the cooking stock.

Posted in Cabbage, Puy lentils, Chicken, Pork, Ginger, Soy sauce, Chilli, Beef, Garlic, Rice, Recipe | Print | No Comments »

07/12/2009 by D.

1 Kuri Squash
1 Onion
400g diced stewing lamb (or beef)
2 stock cubes (lamb or beef)
3 tbsp hot water
1 tin coconut milk
1 star anise
2 pieces fresh or dried galangal or ginger
soy sauce to taste
(1 small chilli if you like it spicy)

Heat the oven to 180 degrees.  Peel and chop the onion.  Peel and chop the squash into largish pieces, discarding the seeds.  Disolve the stock in the hot water.  Mix all the ingredients apart from the soy in a large casserole dish with a lid.

Bake in the oven for around 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring every half an hour or so.  The squash will fall apart to create a thick rich gravy and the meat should be completely tender (when you check it, take a piece out and leave for a couple of minutes to rest before tasting).  Add soy to taste and serve in bowls with basmati or thai fragrant rice.

This is a rich and fragrant stew with a good gravy.  The star anise and coconut flavours wafting from the oven while it cooks ensure that everyone is starving by the time it emerges.  I made this tonight (without the chilli) and the toddler had triple helpings.  Definitely worth the grappling with a raw Kuri.

Posted in Coconut milk, Lamb, Star anise, Galangal, Ginger, Kuri Squash, Beef, Weaning, Toddler, Onion, Chilli, Organic Box | Print | No Comments »

23/11/2009 by D.

2 leeks
1 punnet cherry tomatoes
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup Urid dal (the split white lentils)
2 beef stock cubes (I use Kallo stock cubes)
1 ltr boiling water
1 tbsp dark soy sauce (to taste)

Cut off the tough bit of the leeks, then half longways and shred.  Rinse any grit out.  Rinse the tomatoes and cut in half (if you use bigger tomatoes, cut to the same sort of size; size is very important for the final texture).  In a large pan, gently heat the oil and add the leeks.  When they start to sizzle, add the tomatoes, dal, stock cubes and water.

Leave to simmer for an hour or so.  Check occasionally that there is enough water covering everything.  If not, add more.  Taste to see how done the lentils are.  Add the soy sauce if you think it could be a little more salty.  Leave to simmer for another half an hour if you can wait that long!  It should be thick, but there should be enough liquid to make it soupy.  The lentils will retain some bite without being hard.

This soup is amazingly delicious and needs to be served chunky, not blended.  The small hits of tomato in the salty, beefy broth teemed with the creamy lentils makes a truly wonderful combination; great to take to work as a cheap and warming winter lunch.  I made up this soup as the white lentils I had bought for making masala dosa were nearing their use-by date and I happened to have some leeks and tomatoes in the fridge.  I now buy them specifically for this as it is so good.

NB I get these lentils from our local shop over the road which has Indian ingredients, but you can get them in the ‘world’ section of supermarkets.  The packets look like this.

Posted in Soup, Urid dal, Beef stock, Leek, Tomato, Lentil, Beef, Recipe | Print | 1 Comment »

08/10/2009 by D.

tbsp olive oil
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 fresh chilli peppers
300g minced beef
8 ripe tomatoes
8 mushrooms
1 yellow or red pepper
1 mug beef stock (from cube)
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tin kidney beans, drained
2 tbsp dark soy
1 tbsp ketchup or 2 tsp sugar
1 pack nachos
2 cups grated cheddar

Chop onion, mince garlic.  Chop mushrooms, tomatoes and pepper into cubes.  Chop the chilli peppers (put one chopped chilli aside for serving with the nachos).  Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion and garlic and stir for a minute or two, then add the mince and make sure it separates and mixes with the onion.

When meat is brown, add the stock, cumin, chilli, veg and beans.  Leave to simmer, stirring occasionally until you can see orange bubbles on top and the tomatoes start to come apart.  Add the soy and stir, then taste.  If the tomatoes are really sweet, you won’t need the ketchup/sugar.  Generally you will, so add it now.  Leave to cook for another 10 minutes or so.  Then stir and taste again, season as necessary.

When you are ready to serve, heat the grill.  Spread the nachos out on a baking tray and sprinkle them with the leftover chilli pepper, then the grated cheese.  Grill until the chips start to brown and the cheese melts (really quick, about 2 mins so don’t wander off!).  Serve in bowls, with the nachos in the middle of the table.  It is nice to have some bowls of thick yoghurt or sour cream with it too (and salsa and guacamole if you are really going to town).  A bonfire night treat come early.

Posted in Mushroom, Pepper, Mexican, Tomato, Beef, Recipe, Chilli, Toddler | Print | 1 Comment »