Lamb Kofta Kebab

 

In my previous post, I wrote about my first time dining at a Lebanese (or Middle-eastern) restaurant, Al Aseel. I had ordered the "Mixed Plate", comprising an array of dips and a three types of grilled meats on skewers - chicken, lamb and kafta. I wasn't a fan of the chicken as I found it a little dry. The lamb was not bad, but my favourite was the kafta.

 

Kofta generally refers to savoury balls of ground meat (or vegetables, potatoes, lentils etc) mixed with spices, herbs or other ingredients. In Lebanese cuisine, it's called kafta and is usually made with ground beef, allspice, parsley and onions. I decided to make a lamb kofta kebab instead by placing the lamb mince on skewers and then grilling them on the barbecue. You can use either beef, lamb or a combination of both.

Braised Lamb Shanks with Massamun Curry

 

 

 

The first time I had lamb shanks was at Mulligan's, an Irish restaurant in Sydney. I remember how tender the meat was and it just melted in the mouth, together with the luscious red wine gravy and mashed potatoes. Well, that was a really really long time ago, and since then, I had always wanted to cook lamb shanks but never did until now, after I bought a french oven that's large enough to fit those shanks. I decided to make a Thai version by braising the lamb in massamum curry with some potatoes. I had it in the oven long enough that the meat was so tender and just fell off the bone. It was delicious, and with all curries, it tastes even better the next day!

Going Greek with Moussaka

This is my first attempt at making Moussaka, which is like lasagna but uses lamb mince, potatoes and eggplant. I couldn't resist trying it out after seeing it on Masterchef, and it's really good! I'm salivating just thinking about it now. Click here for the recipe. You can substitute the keflagraviera cheese with parmesan instead.



Breakfast Tagine

This is one of my favourite things to eat for breakfast (or more like brunch), which is only served at Kazbah, a Middle-Eastern style restaurant that serves great food. I love their breakfast menu, which is not your typical Big Aussie Breakfast or Bacon and Egg Roll, and we almost never fail to order the Breakfast Tagine. Both the lamb and vegetarian versions taste delicious, but we usually order the lamb.

I decided to try replicating this dish at home, but without a tagine of course. A tagine is an earthenware pot with a conical lid which allows steam to circulate during cooking. This creates condensation that drips back onto the meat, fish or vegies, keeping food moist so there is little need to add water. If you have a heavy-based pan with a tight-fitting lid, it should work pretty well as long as steam doesn't escape from it.

I was happy with how the dish turned out, and G happily tucked into his meal and added that it tasted similar to the one at Kazbah. I didn't add feta cheese to it although that would be a bonus ingredient. The "real thing" also uses Sucuk, a type of spicy Turkish sausage. I didn't know where to find that, so I substituted with chorizo instead.

Again, this is an easy dish to cook, and ready-minced meat takes the pain out of cutting meat and having to scrub your chopping board clean. Do try out this recipe. It's delicious with toasted turkish pide/bread, and you can have it for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

Breakfast Tagine (Lamb) Recipe

Ingredients

500g (or 1 pound) lamb mince
2 tbsp olive oil
1 red/brown onion, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper / capsicum
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 chorizo, sliced thinly on the diagonal (optional)
1 bay leaf (optional)
2 tomatoes, deseeded, quartered
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp honey
Handful mint leaves, finely chopped (optional)
1 cup baby spinach leaves
5 eggs
Salt and black pepper
Feta cheese (optional)

Spice mix (blended with 1-2 tbsp water to make a paste):
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp smoky paprika
1/2 tbsp chilli powder (or to taste)
½ tsp ground cinnamon

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C (390F). Roast the capsicum whole for 20-25 minutes until it starts to blister. Remove and let it cool before deseeding and cutting it into thin long strips. (If you prefer not to roast them, just cut them into strips and sautee them in a pan until softened).
2. Heat up the oil in a large pan (preferably an ovensafe one if you're going to put it in the oven) and fry the onions until they soften. Add the garlic and fry briefly before adding the spice mix, and fry for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
3. Add the lamb mince to the pan and mix well. If the mince is too stiff, mix it through with 2 tbsp water to help loosen and break up the mince so that it doesn't form large clumps in the pan. You can do this before adding the mince to the pan. Otherwise, use the back of the spatula to "mash" the lamb into a fine mince. This will help it absorb the flavours better and give a more consistent and finer texture.
4. After the meat has been browned and coated in the spices, push it aside and fry the chorizo. Then add the bay leaf, roasted capsicum, tomatoes, lemon juice and honey. Mix well and bring to a simmer. Cover with a tight fitting lid and cook on low heat for about 30 minutes. Be careful not to burn the bottom of the pan. There should be just enough liquid to let it steam and cook gently. If the bottom starts to dry up and stick to the pan, add a few tablespoons of water. Add salt and black pepper to taste. Sprinkle with chilli flakes if you prefer it more spicy.
5. Preheat oven to 200C (390F). When ready to serve, stir in chopped mint and spinach until just wilted. Crumble some feta cheese over it (optional). Break the eggs over the mince, spacing them out equally. Cover with lid and pop it in the oven for 6-8 minutes until the whites are just barely set, but the yolks should be runny. Alternatively, you can just cook it over the stove over low heat. Remove the lid (otherwise the eggs will continue to cook) and serve immediately with some hot toasted turkish bread. Enjoy!

Note:

Try to use freshly toasted and ground spices like cumin. The commercially prepacked ones will not have as strong an aroma, so you might need to add a pinch more.

Easy Lamb and Mushroom Biryani

Whenever I visit my aunt, I always look forward to her delicious Nasi Biryani and Beef Rendang, and secretly hoping that I could "dapao" or pack some home for dinner. The secret lies in using basmati rice, a variety of long-grained rice that is fragrant and keeps its grains separated when cooked. It's so good I could eat it on its own. I have always wanted to cook with basmati rice, but never got the inspiration to do so. Also, browsing through various Biryani recipes, the list of ingredients seem so long and foreign sounding that I decided to just forget about it and get takeaway from the Indian restaurant.

It was not until last week when I was watching Better Homes and Gardens where they cooked a pilaf that I decided to attempt cooking with basmati rice. So I bought my rice and made a simple chicken and mushroom pilaf, just yesterday. It was pretty easy, and so tonight I decided to attempt a biryani. Nothing too complicated, but just a few basic spices and ingredients like cumin, cardamom, garam masala, yoghurt, cloves and cinnamon, and ghee of course, for the undeniable aroma of biryani. Fortunately, I had all of these in my pantry/fridge. I added mushrooms to balance out the "meatiness" of the dish. I used large flat mushrooms and cut them into chunks as they tend to shrink considerably after cooking. G was impressed at how well the dish turned out and joked that I could probably "open shop and sell"!

Here is the recipe:

Easy Lamb and Mushroom Biryani (serves 3-4)

Ingredients

400g lamb forequarter chops, diced into cubes
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cinnamon stick
5 cloves
3 green cardamoms, crushed lightly
1 bay leaf (or a sprig of curry leaves)
1 cup water
Ghee (or substitute with butter)
Salt and pepper

1 cup basmati rice
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 flat mushrooms, cut into chunks (optional)
Peas and raisins
1 tbsp lemon juice (optional)
1/2 tsp turmeric mixed with 1 tbsp water (optional)
Toasted pine nuts, cashews or almonds (optional)
Chopped coriander / mint (optional)

Marinade (blend into a paste):
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 inch ginger
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp chilli powder (or to taste)
1/4 cup yoghurt

Method:

1. Combine lamb with marinade for 2-4 hours.
2. Wash the rice thoroughly to get rid of the starch, and soak in water for 20-30 minutes. Drain well.
3. Heat up 2 tbsp ghee in a pan and fry the onions, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Then add the lamb and brown all over. Add 1 cup water and the bay leaf and bring to a boil. Simmer for 40 minutes or until tender. Season with salt and black pepper.
4. Heat up 1-2 tbsp ghee in a large pan, and add cumin seeds, and then the rice. Fry for about 3-5 minutes, then push the rice aside and sauté the mushrooms briefly. Add the lamb together with the sauce. Bring to a boil and simmer (while stirring occasionally) for about 3-5 minutes until craters (or little holes) appear on the surface of the rice and the liquid is starting to dry up. Season with more salt if necessary.
5. Scatter peas and raisins over the rice. Drizzle lemon juice and turmeric mixture all over the rice (if used). Cover with a tight-fitting lid and set the heat to very low. Cook for 25 minutes, then turn off heat and let it sit for about 10 minutes, covered. Fluff up the rice with a fork and garnish with fresh mint, coriander, toasted pine nuts or almonds. Enjoy with some raita (combine yoghurt with chopped mint and diced cucumber).

Grilled Lamb Steak with Honey Dijon Balsamic Glaze

Grilled rosemary lamb steaks with a sweet honey and dijon balsamic glaze,
served on a bed of sweet potato puree and a side of baby peas

It has been a while since I last cooked lamb. Although it is one of my favourite meats to eat, it's not one of my favourites to cook, particularly if I have to grill them in the pan.Whenever I decide to make lamb cutlets or steaks for dinner, I have to prepare myself for the intensive clean-up after that. Because the lamb has a substantial amount of fat (one of the reasons they taste so darn good however you cook it), when you sear or fry it in the pan/skillet, oil tends to spit and splatter in every direction. I usually take a good handful of old newspapers and spread them out over the floor and countertop. And then, I'd don my trusty apron (which would have been more effective if they came with long sleeves), stand about a metre away from the stove and extend my arms as far as I could, holding the longest pair of tongs I could find to turn those steaks. These steaks are really good, but the experience could have been better if my clothes and hair didn't smell like my dinner. Not only that, but for the next few hours up until the next morning, the kitchen and rest of the house would smell of grilled lamb.

That said, the lamb was delicious served with sweet potato puree and baby peas (which was all I had at the time). I used the reserved marinade and cooked it down with a little water and sugar to make a glaze to pour over the steaks. This was after weeks of watching My Kitchen Rules and one of the judges, Manu Feidel, kept harping on the need for some sort of sauce in the dishes to bring everything together. Well, I guess the French really love their sauces. But I must say the steaks do taste fantastic with the glaze. If not for the glaze, I would have had the lamb with some mint sauce instead.

Alright now, enough ranting, here is the recipe:


Grilled Lamb Steak with Honey Dijon Balsamic Glaze

Ingredients

500g lamb cutlets or rump steaks

Marinade:
1 tbsp chopped rosemary
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 tbsp honey
Salt and black pepper

Method

Combine the lamb with the marinade and leave in fridge for 3-4 hours.
Heat a grill pan/skillet and fry the lamb on medium-high heat, turning once or twice after about 4 minutes on each side until caramelized and done to your liking. Remove and set the meat aside to rest for 8-10 minutes before serving.

To make the glaze, place the remainder marinade in the pan with 1/4 cup water and 1/2 tsp sugar (or to taste). Bring to a boil and reduce to a thick glaze. Taste for seasoning. Pour glaze over the lamb steaks and serve with your favourite sides.

To make the sweet potato mash, peel and cut potatoes into large chunks. Place in a pot of water with a little salt and bring to a boil, uncovered. When potatoes are tender and soft, trasnfer to a bowl and mash/puree finely. Add some butter and a little hot milk and mix through until soft and creamy. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

Wok-tossed Diced Lamb with Sichuan Pepper and Chillies

We rarely eat out, mainly because with three kids in tow, it can be quite difficult to have a nice and quiet sit-down meal. Our kids just can't sit still. However, last weekend, I managed to "persuade" my sister to babysit (okay, she was nice enough to take the hint) while G and I went out for lunch. It was a tough choice, but we finally settled on this restaurant called Red Chilli Sichuan, since it's a place that we probably won't be bringing the kids to in the near future. Naturally, all the dishes we ordered were spicy and had more chilli in it than I've eaten in a year.

Most of the food featured on the menu either had a tonne of sichuan peppercorn in them or were cooked with a tremendous amount of chilli. We ordered this diced chicken dish which was just that - little bits of deep-fried chicken cubes buried under a mountain of crispy dried chillies, not to mention the lashings of Sichuan pepper and chilli seeds in that dish. It was a tongue-and-mouth-numbing experience, but delicious nonetheless. The cold bean noodle in sour sauce provided some cool respite. (Hmm...I wonder if dentists in the province of Sichuan used Sichuan peppercorns as anaesthetic back in the old days....).

I was inspired to cook something similar, so with lamb in hand (which I had in the fridge), I came up with a lamb version of the dish. Here is the recipe below:

Ingredients:

250g lamb rump steak, diced into small cubes

1/3 cup potato flour (or substitute with cornflour)

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp grated ginger

2 spring onions, white part only, chopped

1 cup dried chillis, cut in half

1 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns (or more if desired), toasted in pan and crushed finely with a mortar and pestle

Oil for frying

Marinade:

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp soy

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tbsp Shaoxing wine

Pinch of salt

Dash of pepper

1 tsp cornflour

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda (optional)

Method:

1. Combine meat with marinade and leave for 2 hours.
2. Heat oil in wok. Lighly coat meat with potato flour (or cornflour) and deep fry for 2-3 minutes till golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper.
3. Heat up 1/4 cup oil in a clean wok and fry garlic and ginger, then add spring onions and dried chillies (together with the seeds) and fry for about a minute. Mix in the hoisin sauce and red wine vinegar.
4. Add lamb and toss in wok with the salt, sugar, black pepper and Sichuan pepper. Dish up and serve with steamed white rice.

Tomato Rice and all that's Spice

Yum-yum spicy lamb rump with tomato rice and topped with a fried egg

Chilli and spices seldom make it to our dinner table nowadays as the kids still shy away from eating food that looks red-hot spicy or has little bits of chilli in them. But perhaps that's because I use the word "chilli" to dissuade them from eating certain foods that they shouldn't be eating  (doesn't work on ice-cream and lollies though). I should probably stop doing that and slowly assimilate chilli into their diet. Perhaps last night was a start. Well, I thought the food looked spicy but it wasn't.

I had a half-opened bottle of tomato paste (leftover from marinara night) and some lamb that had to be used up. I didn't want to make a stew with lamb rump, so I decided it would be nice to grill it instead. As for the tomato paste, I decided to use it to make tomato rice, which I haven't made since a department fund-raising event at work many years ago.

Preparing the rice is easy. Here's what I used:

Ingredients

3 cups rice (approx 450g)

3 cardamom pods

1/2 star anise

2 inch cinnamon stick

2 cloves garlic

1 onion, sliced into half-rings

50g butter/margarine

2-3 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp salt

Handful of raisins/sultanas

300ml chicken stock

Chopped coriander leaves for garnishing

Fried shallots

Cashewnuts (optional)

Ketchup (optional)

Method:

1. Wash rice and put aside. Heat up 1 tbsp of oil with the butter/margarine in a pan/wok, and fry the dry spices. Then add garlic and onion and fry till onion softens.

2. Add tomato paste and mix it in.

3. Add rice, raisins and salt. Fry till everything is well incorporated.

4. Place in rice cooker, pour in chicken stock and add water to top up to correct level (as per cooking normal white rice). Start cooking!

5. Once cooked, stir, taste for seasoning, and serve garnished with chopped coriander, fried shallots and cashews. Add a fried egg sunny-side up for extra yum. Serve with a little ketchup (optional).

Preparing the lamb is even simpler:

Ingredients:

400g lamb rump steaks

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp salt

Lemon wedge

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 220°C. Combine all the dry spice ingredients in a bowl. Dip the steaks in and coat evenly with the spice rub.
2. Heat up a little oil in the pan (the same one used for frying the rice above) and sear the lamb steaks for 1-2 minutes on each side.
3. Place steaks in a baking dish and bake in oven for 10-15 minutes (or cooked to your liking). Remove and rest the steaks for the same amount of time it was in the oven for.
4. Cut into slices and serve with tomato rice and a wedge of lemon.

So there you go! How easy was that? Another hit with the family! :)