Greek Lamb kebabs, salad and tzaziki

Now that the days are getting warmer and we've had some sunshine, I get into the mood for summery food. Salads, Mediterranean dishes etc.

Both the lamb and the tzaziki are better with time to marinade/chill, but actually this meal is so fast and easy and yet so delicious.

Lamb Kebabs

diced lamb (lean is better)
garlic
coarse sea salt
lemon zest & juice
olive oil
fresh herbs (I used mint and coriander. Dill also works apparently, but I'm not a fan of dill.)

chop the garlic finely, or grate it and mix with the sea salt, then add the rest, mix well and coat the meat. Leave to marinate.

Once the salad and tzaziki is ready, skewer the meat and grill or barbeque, turning to brown all sides.

Tzaziki

Greek yoghurt
cucumber
fresh mint
white wine vinegar
garlic
coarse sea salt

peel, chop and grate the cucumber. Mix in with the yoghurt and season to taste, then chill in fridge.

Greek Salad

Tomatoes
cucumber
red onion
black olives
feta cheese
dried oregano
lettuce
a little olive oil


I ate this with wholemeal pitta bread, toasted lightly. Guaranteed to induce a summery mood ;)

Chinese Sausages and Pancakes!

Chinese Sausages

When I was growing up, my family used to go to a restaurant in Chinatown, London, called Poons. It's now called China City, and I'm not sure if it's the same people running it, but the food is still nice.

One of the things we would frequently order was wind-dried Chinese sausages. These seem to come in two main types - a lighter, fatty variety which looks a bit like a thin stick of salami and tastes of rich, cured pork, and a darker variety which has a more liver like taste to it. You can buy these sausages in Chinese supermarkets and whenever I'm near one, I always drop by to pick up a couple packs for me and my parents'... and they do the same.

Last week, my parents were in London and they brought me back two packs of sausages.

lighter type on the left, darker in the pink package on the right.

There are different ways to cook them, one of which is to simply pop them in the pot with your rice and let them cook together. Whilst this gives the rice a lot of flavour, it also means that all of the fat running out of the sausages goes into the rice. The result tends to make me feel a little queasy, so I prefer to steam mine over water, allowing the fat to run out.

I use a Chinese bamboo steamer (actually I own 3 of these because having bought one myself, I also received 2 as gifts. Doesn't matter because the steamer tends to start falling apart after a lot of use, so I'm glad I have back-up sections). As you can stack them up, I like to steam the sausages on the bottom level and the veg above - this way the fat from the sausages is running into the water rather than over the veg.

You fill the bottom of the wok with water and set over heat to boil, then stack the steamer(s) in the wok.

A few leaves of savoy cabbage in the top level.

Then the lid goes on top to keep the heat in. Need to keep an eye on these to make sure the wok doesn't run dry.

And after 20 mins, the sausages and the cabbage are steamed, and the rice is done:

here you can see the two different types, light and dark:

Afterwards, I let the water in the wok cool and evaporate off, leaving the fat behind and I dispose of this with a paper towel so I'm not putting the fat down the drains.

I have 'introduced' a lot of my friends to these sausages and so far only one has loved them as much as I do. I guess because the flavour is very rich and fatty, it's something that a lot of people don't like... but personally I think they are fab. =)


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Pancakes!

Shrove Tuesday (the day before the start of Lent) in the UK is celebrated by eating (flat) pancakes. I do mine the traditional way with lemon juice and sugar, rolled up. This is pretty much the only day of the year I don't feel guilty for eating 10 pancakes in a row, standing by the cooker as the next one cooks.

I did sneak in a banana and maple syrup one at the end though ;)

Also, I have to add, I am an expert pancake tosser!

~Hannah

box 2

small joint of pork (800g)
beef mince (400g)
diced lamb (400g)

courgettes
swiss chard
ramiro pepper
celery
vine tomatoes

blood oranges
seedless grapes
complimentary lemon

Leftovers: potatoes, 1/4 onion, bananas, 2 cloves garlic
Additional purchases: fresh ginger, onions, garlic, pomegranate, bacon

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Spaghetti Bolognaise (sort of)

1/2 the beef mince, 1 courgette, 2 sticks celery, 1/4 onion, 3 large tomatoes
Worcestershire sauce, mixed herbs, oxo cube, tomato puree

served with spaghetti and parmesan cheese

-I like to put a lot of veg in my spag bol, partly because it stretches the meat out a lot farther and it's also healthier. I normally add bacon too, but don't have any today.

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Banana Bread

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Chinese Roast Pork

pork joint, garlic, fresh ginger
soy sauce, rice wine, chinese five spice, honey, brown sugar

-mixed all the seasonings, completely covered the joint and then put it the oven on a low temp for 2 hours total

served with courgette ribbons, ramiro pepper slices, 2 leaves chard.
with same seasonings as above, stir fried.

and rice.

-chard is less sweet than pak choi, but I treated it the same. It has a more earthy taste, but I don't mind that.
The pork was a wait, but very worth it because it turned out tender and moist and very tasty. I'm not a huge pork lover, but I do love it coupled with chinese flavours, and this was just perfect.

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Moroccan Lamb Tagine

diced lamb, garlic, fresh ginger, onion, courgette, ramiro pepper, fresh lemon juice
dates, apricots, honey, ground ginger, cumin, paprika, turmeric, allspice, cinnamon, pomegranate juice, lemon juice

served with rice and pomegranate seeds

-I love this style of cooking - using a lot of spices and fruits. The result is very rich, but so, so tasty.

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Wastage:

2 bananas
some leftover pork - I had so much of this that I just couldn't get through it all. Next time, I'll either invite someone over to share it, or cut it in half.

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Leftovers:

Half the beef mince - in the freezer
half the chard
half the celery
2 tomatos
3 blood oranges
some garlic
some ginger
2 onions

...so basically lots, but it's all still usable. =)
 
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Favourite meal of the fortnight was the roast pork. It was so, so delicious. The tagine was a close second though.
I had to buy extra stuff for the tagine, but it's actually the first time I've used it and I really wanted to try it out properly.