mitzireddy

The Dinner Divas are something special to watch and congratulations to Usha who has gone to the next round – her food looked mouthwatering.

The weather is extremely hot in Gauteng and light quick meals come to mind. My family enjoy this version of spicy meatball skewers which I have been making over the years – its quick and easy to make. As an accompaniment I usually use whatever is handy in my fridge – in this instance I cooked lightly spiced rice with a steamed mixture of vegetables.

I enjoy history and this is what I have found – kebab is a wide variety of skewered meals originating in the Middle East and like other ethnic foods brought by travellers, the kebab has become part of everyday cuisine in many countries around the globe. The phrase is Persian in origin and Arabic tradition has it that the dish was invented by medieval Persian soldiers who used their swords to grill meat over open-field fires. Necessity brings about creativity – I remember watching Floyd on the food channel some time back where train drivers cook their bacon and egg breakfasts on a shovel placed over the hot coals used to fuel the train.

I usually use metal skewers as I find that the meat cooks quicker (I am sure a big sword will make short work of this) and I also prefer to use a griller – I have made these using the griller in the oven and it also works well.

SPICY BEEF  MEATBALL SKEWERS

 Ingredients

wooden or metal skewers

500g minced beef

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 tsp ground coriander and ground cumin mixed ( ½ tsp of each of the spice)

1 Tblsp fresh oregano, chopped

1 Tblsp fresh parsley, chopped

2 Tblsp fresh mint, chopped

Soak the wooden skewers in water for about 10 minutes and turn the oven to grill to 230 C.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the beef mince and combine with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and using your hands, roll the mince mixture into small round balls and thread 3 balls on each skewer.

Place the skewers on a lightly greased baking tray and grill for 8 – 12 minutes, turning them now and again until cooked through. Serve with spicy rice or couscous and spiced yoghurt.

With the weather being chilly (whatever happened to the beautiful spring weather we were experiencing) I made a beef goulash last night using an old recipe from the You magazine which I always adjust to whatever vegetables I have on hand. I did not use peppers this time and I used some fresh herbs and smoked paprika and I also baked individual nests of mashed potatoes which I filled with the cooked meat and topped with the glazed carrots.

Goulash originated in Hungary and is also the national dish. It’s interesting to note that people outside Hungary call it “goulash,” but the Hungarians have several different names for it, including pörkölt and tokány. The dish they call goulash, or gulyás, is actually a soup made with meat, a dish originally cooked outdoors in the fields in a cast iron pot by the peasants, generally the herdsmen in the fields. It was only during Hungary’s independence movement that there was a national awareness to protect and preserve their cultural heritage. To join in the noble struggle, the restaurants also began to feature goulash in their menus and by the end of the 20th century; soup became the most sought after food in Hungary and must try for the tourists looking for authentic and traditional Hungarian dishes.

BEEF GOULASH PAR EXCELLENCE

Serves 4 -6 Ingredients

1 large onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, crushed

Oi

l ½ green pepper, diced

½ red pepper, diced

½ yellow pepper, diced

500g boned stewing beef, cubed

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 large, ripe tomatoes, skinned and diced

150-200 ml warm water

250 ml frozen peas

Mashed Potatoes

6 large potatoes

25ml butter

pinch baking powder

50 – 100 ml milk

Glace Carrots

4 – 6 large carrots, scraped and cut into 5 cm pieces

15ml butter

15ml sugar

5ml vinegar

Saute the onion and garlic in a little oil until soft. Add the peppers and stir fry until glossy. Remove from the pan and set aside. Season the beef cubes with salt and black pepper. Brown small quantities of the meat at a time in the oil in the pan. Add the onion mixture and the tomatoes and add the hot water. Reduce the heat, cover the pan and simmer until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened. Add the peas and simmer until just tender. Season with extra salt and pepper if necessary.

In the meantime, boil the potatoes until soft and mash well while hot. Add the butter, baking powder and milk and mix well until fluffy. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon into a piping bag and pipe mounds of mashed potatoes along the circumference of an ovenproof serving dish. Place the dish in a preheated oven to brown the potato lightly.

Boil the carrots in a little water until nearly tender. Add the butter, sugar and vinegar and bring to the boil. Boil the mixture rapidly spooning a little of the sauce over the carrots every now and then until the carrots are tender and most of the liquid has evaporated. Spoon the meat into the circle of potato mounds in the serving dish. Top with the glace carrots and serve.

The freezing cold weather over the weekend brought on Big appetites and was the ideal time for me to make this delicious Moroccan lamb shanks with a flavoursome gravy – and was enjoyed by all including our friend, Di, who has no qualms saying out aloud that she prefers meat to vegetables .

Just meat and potato never does it for me so this recipe by Angela Day using chickpeas, apricots and honey is perfect if you enjoy different tastes in each mouthful.

MOROCCAN LAMB SHANKS

45ml olive oil

4 lamb shanks

2 onions, chopped

45ml fresh ginger, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1-2 green chillies, seeded and finely chopped

10ml ground cumin

10ml ground coriander

Pinch of saffron (soaked in 30mls boiling water for
15 minutes)

1 stick of cinnamon

Salt and pepper to taste

2 carrots, peeled and cut into rings

1 x 400gr can of chopped tomatoes

750ml water

400gr can chickpeas

100g dried apricots

15ml runny honey

45ml fresh coriander, chopped

Heat the oil in a heavy based oven proof saucepan.

Brown the lamb shanks all over and set aside.

Add the onions and fry until soft. Add the ginger,
garlic, chillies, cumin, coriander, cinnamon , salt and pepper.

Add the carrots and fry for a few minutes in the
spices. Add the tomatoes, saffron and water and bring the mixture to the boil.

Return the shanks to the pan.

Cover and bake in a preheated oven of 160C for 2 – 3
hours or until the meat is very tender.

Remove from the oven and add the chickpeas, apricots
and honey and return the pan to the oven, uncovered for another 30 minutes.

Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with couscous
or rice.

It’s a chilly day in Gauteng – perfect for beef stroganoff, a meaty comfort food that requires minimum effort and even less time spent in the kitchen. This dish, which originated in Russia, served with ribbon pasta is food in a flash.

I was disgruntled when my local supermarket did not have the brand of tagliatelle I
usually buy and ended up buying a pasta using chana dhal (chickpeas) as an
ingredient  and was pleasantly surprised with the pasta– it tastes a lot better than it looks – quite delicious.

The recipe is from an old copy of Your Family’s BestRecipe Collection.

BEEF STROGANOFF

Ingredients

125ml flour

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

800gr topside or beef fillet, cut into thin strips

60g butter or margarine

10ml sunflower oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

250g button mushrooms, wiped and sliced

250ml beef stock

20ml tomato paste

100ml sour cream

Combine
flour, salt and pepper in a plastic bag and toss the beef strips in the
seasoned flour until thoroughly coated. Shake off excess flour.

Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan.

Add half the meat, brown well. Remove the meat, set
aside. Repeat with the remaining meat and set aside.

Saute onion and garlic for 5 minutes. Add the
mushrooms, stock and tomato paste, cook for 3 minutes.

Add the meat, heat through.

Remove from heat, stir in sour cream.

Serve immediately with ribbon pasta.