Moroccan Delight: Kefta Tagine (Meatballs with Eggs)

First of all I have to say that this is not my recipe. I got it from The Hairy Bikers. I must also thank my good friend Mark-o for making this dish for me when I visited him in London. It is a very simple dish and just proves my point that, with a good press full of herbs, you can make anything. It also reaffirms my belief in the power of tinned tomatoes from Lidl as a cupboad essential. Again I used my trusted cassarole dish instead of a tagine (because I have no idea where to find one in Wexford!)

Meatballs

Ingredients:

500g/1lb 2oz Minced Beef or Lamb

1 Onion (very finely chopped)

3 Cloves Garlic (Crushed)

1 tsp Ground Ginger

1 tsp Ground Cumin

1/2 tsp Chilli Powder

1 tsp Paprika

Small handful Coriander Leaves (Finely chopped)

Small handful Parsley (Finely chopped)

1 Egg Yolk

Salt & Pepper

Tagine

 Ingredients:

2 tsp Olive Oil

1 Onion (Finely chopped)

2 tbsp Tomato Puree

400g Tin Chopped Tomatoes

2 tbsp Honey

200g Frozen Peas

4 Eggs

Parsley for garnish

 

 Method:

• Preheat oven to 200°C.
• Place all the ingredients for the meatballs in a bowl. Season and mix very well. Shape the mixture into small balls.

• Use a tagine (if you can find one) or a heavy-bottomed cassarole dish. Heat olive oil and fry the onions until translucent. Add the meatballs and brown on all sides.

• Mix the tomato puree, tinned tomatoes and honey together and add to the dish. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Add the peas to the dish and stir.

• Crack the eggs on top of the dish. Cover and bake in the oven until cooked. 

• Garnish with a little chopped parsley and serve with Coucous. 
• Enjoy

Winter Warmer: Irish Beef in Guinness Cassarole

Another firm favourite. Perfect for the cold winter nights. Similar to the slow roasted meatballs, I brown the beef in the cassarole dish itself on the hob before putting it in the oven. The Guinness adds so much subtle flavour to the dish that I would nearly make double the amount and have it for a few days.

Ingredients:

1kg (2.2lbs) of good quality beef

1 tablespoon flour

25g/1oz butter

Olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 large carrot, peeled and cut into small cubes

1 celery stalk, diced

250ml/10fl oz Guinness

250ml/10fl oz beef stock, fresh made from a beef stock cube

A good pinch of salt and a few grindings of freshly ground black pepper

1 bay leaf

Fresh thyme leaves, stripped from 4 stalks 

Method: 

• Preheat the oven to 170ºC/325ºF/Gas Mark 3. 
• Melt the butter and a little olive oil in a large casserole on the stove (make sure it can also be used in the oven). Add the salt and pepper to the flour mixture, stir well and toss the beef in it. Take out the beef, shake and fry in the butter/oil until browned.
• Remove the beef to a plate. Scrape up the bits from the bottom of the casserole and add the onion, garlic, diced carrot and celery to the casserole. Cover and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
• Add the beef to the casserole, add the Guinness, stock, salt, pepper, bay leaf and thyme. Cover the casserole and bake in the oven until the meat is cooked - this can take between an hour and a half and two hours. You need to stir it a few times in between and add some boiling water to top up if it needs more juice. 
• Serve immediately on its own, or with some good bread or mashed potatoes.
• Enjoy

All Time Favourite: Mushroom Risotto

This is one of my very favourite dishes. It was first made by my good Italian friend Andrea (who actually is a chef) as a going away dinner for himself. It was so amazingly delicious that I had to get the recipe. Some of the ingredients (like truffle oil and the Porchini mushrooms) are optional but LIDL are now stocking the mushrooms so you can get them cheaply now. I have often doubled the recipe and cooked a huge pot of this for 8-10 people. It takes much longer for the water to absorb so, if you are doing this, give yourself plenty of time....I didn't and was completely stressed :-(

Ingredients:

350g Mushrooms

2 Bags Saffron

1 Red Onion

1/2 Carrot

2 Cloves Garlic

50g Butter

1 Glass Dry White Wine

430g Rice

30g Dried Porcini mushrooms (optional)

3 litres Mushroom/ Vegetable Stock 

Parsley

Truffle Oil

Method:

• Boil 3 Litres of Water & create stock (stock cubes etc) 
• Chop Mushrooms thinly, put stems into the stock to boost the flavour.
• Soak the Porchini mushrooms in hot water until soft.
• Lightly fry all the mushrooms and remove from pan. Drain.
• Slowly Fry the garlic, carrot and onions until onions are golden brown.
• Add butter and allow to melt.
• Add white wine and allo to evaporate.
• Add uncooked rice and fry for 2 minutes.
• Dilute saffron in hot water and add to rice.
• Add a small amount of stock and allow to absorb.
• Add mushrooms and more stock.
• Gradually add stock, allowing the liquid to be absorbed by the rice before adding more.
• Once the rice is cooked, add parsely.  
• Cover pan with a towel and allow to rest for a few moments before serving. 
• Drizzle with truffle oil before serving.
• Enjoy

Carrot & Ginger Soup

Just a quick and easy recipe. I had some leftover veg so made this simple but delicious soup. I didn't have fresh ginger so I used pickled ginger which worked just as well.

Ingredients:

2 tsp. olive oil (or unsalted butter)
200g onions (diced)

600g peeled & sliced carrots
1 1/2 tbsp. grated fresh ginger root 

1 Litre vegetable broth (or chicken broth)
100ml. orange juice
300ml milk (you may use 1/2  milk, 1/2 cream)
Salt
Paprika

Menu:

• Saute the onions in the olive oil in a large pot. Use low to medium heat; the onions should cook but not brown. Stir constantly, 3 to 4 minutes. 
• Add carrots, ginger and broth and simmer 25 to 30 minutes until carrots are tender.
• Puree the whole potful in the blender. Blend as long as necessary to get rid of all the lumps. Return to large pot. 
• Stir in orange juice and milk. 
• Season to taste with salt and paprika. Heat but do not let boil.
• Enjoy

Comfort Food: Slow Roasted Meatballs with green beans and Roasted Sweet Potato

So this is one of my favourite comfort food recipes. It is a variation on something I had when I worked in Amsterdam. It may not be the most refined dish but believe me, when it comes to comfort food, this is the shizzle!

I slow roast the meatballs but you can, of course, make them smaller and cook them quicker in the oven but I find, for the real gorgeous taste, slow roasting for an hour or two works best. I use green beans in this recipe but it is one of those great recipes where you can put almost any vegetable with it and it will still work.

Ingredients:

800g Mince Beef

2 Onions

2 Cloves Garlic

1 Egg

200g Green Beans

2/3 Sweet Potatoes

500ml Beef Stock (you can add more if you want more sauce)

1tsp Cornflour (or 2tsp regular Flour)

Flour

2 tbsp Butter

Salt & Pepper

Thyme

Method:

• Start by making the meatballs. Slice half an onion and garlic very finely. Add mince, salt & pepper, egg and flour and mix together. The amount of flour you use depends on how "wet" the mixture is. You want the meatballs to hold their shape but not be too sticky. 
• Preheat oven to 150°C.
• Take a handful of the meat and roll it into a ball, using more flour to help stop it sticking to your hands. Make sure the balls are tightly compact so they don't fall apart when cooking. 

• Next you want to brown the meatballs on the pan. I use a cast iron cassarole dish so I put that directly on the head, but you can just transfer then over after browning. Add butter and a bit of Olive Oil to the pan and heat. Add the meatballs and fry until brown on all sides. Place in a cassarole dish and add the rest of the onion, green beans and stock. Put in oven.
• For the Sweet Potato you can either add it to the dish before it goes in the oven, or roast it separately. If you want to roast separately, then cut the potato into large strips and place on a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and thyme. 
• The meatballs will take about 1hr 30mins - 2hrs to cook. The sweet potato will only take approx. 30-45mins. 
• When the meatballs are almost done, mix the cornflour with a bit of water and add it to the stock. Put it back in the oven for another while. This will thicken up the stock into a lovely sauce. 
• To serve, I place a layer of sweet potato on the bottom of the dish, then spoon 2 meatballs on top and place the green beans and sauce over it. 
• This recipe will serve 3-4 people or 2 really hungry people.
• Enjoy