GRILLED LAMB KOFTA KEBABS WITH PISTACHIOS
AND SPICY SALAD WRAP

(Serves 4)

I decided to try a new recipe last night for my brother & sister-in-law. We had invited them out for dinner and games for a bit of weekend family fun and we certainly had a blast. This was a recipe I borrowed from one Jamie Oliver as I had just seen him do this one on the Food Channel recently. I could almost smell it through the television, it looked THAT good! Now, I am not normally a huge lamb fan, but I am learning some fascinating new ways to prepare the different cuts and I have to say that it is growing on me…in a good way.

Living in New Zealand, one must learn how to cook lamb as it does represent a significant proportion of our national exports. Everyone raves about how great New Zealand Lamb is from Mr. Alton Brown or Jamie Oliver, to the average Kiwi cook down under. I even think a few Aussies will admit that our lamb is of exceptional quality…then again, they may try to claim they originally brought the sheep here in the beginning. Hehe.

Seriously though, this recipe is one that I just couldn’t resist trying and it will, in fact, make it into my book of favourites. I believe this combination would also work well with pork or beef too, so don't write it off just because you can't get lamb mince or you might not be fond of the way lamb tastes. Trust me - this one doesn't have a pungent "lamb/lanolin" odour. Here we go…


INGREDIENTS:

500 Gms trimmed shoulder or neck fillet of ground lamb mince
2 Tbsp Thyme
1 Tbsp Chilli Powder
1 Tbsp Ground Cumin
4 Tbsp Sumac, or finely grated zest of 1 lemon
*Sea Salt and Ground Black Pepper
1 Handful Pistachios, shelled & roughly chopped
4-5 Cups Mixed Salad Leaves, washed, spun dry and shredded
1 Large Carrot, grated
1 Small Bunch Fresh Mint Leaves
1 Red Onion, peeled and very finely sliced
1 Lemon
1 Bunch Parsley
*Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 Large Flatbreads or Tortilla Wraps
4 Tbsp Natural Yoghurt or Tzatziki

*Amounts vary to individual tastes.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven grill/broiler or BBQ. If you are cooking indoors, use the highest heat available.

Combine the minced lamb with most of the thyme, chilli, cumin and sumac (reserving a little of each for sprinkling over later), a little salt and pepper and all the pistachios.

Divide the meat into four equal pieces and get yourself four skewers and shape the meat around and along each skewer, leaving little indents in the meat with your fingers as you go – this will give it a better texture when cooked (according to Mr. Jaime Oliver).

Now, in one bowl, mix the salad leaves, grated carrot, mint and parsley.

In another bowl, combine the sliced onion with a pinch of salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice (the acidity will take the edge off and lightly pickle the raw onion – another Jaime Oliver tip).

Now, grill the kebabs until nicely golden on all sides. This is about 20-25 minutes total…turning once or twice during the cooking process.

Next, dress your salad with a splash of extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice and some salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, warm your flatbreads for about 30 seconds each side on a skillet or griddle pan, then divide between plates and top each with some dressed salad leaves and onion.

When your kebabs are cooked, slip them off their skewers on to the flatbreads – you can leave them whole or break them up on top of the salad in your wraps.


We topped ours with a bit of natural yogurt tzatziki sauce (cucumber, mint & garlic with yogurt) before sprinkling with the rest of the sumac, cumin, chilli and fresh thyme, and a little salt and pepper.

I think Mr. Oliver also drizzled his with a bit of EVOO at the end, but we didn’t and it was still a gorgeous treat!!! I think I may be becoming a lamb convert. After eating chicken and beef as our primary sources of protein most of my life, I am discovering some brilliant new options that stray a bit from my traditional comfort zone. Yea!

LUMPIA

Lumpia is the Filipino version of a spring roll or egg roll. I learned to make lumpia when I was still in middle school. My home economics instructor back then was a lady from Hawaii and she taught us about many different, weird and wonderful (or, some not so wonderful) foods from places all over the world.

This teacher even brought in Poi one day for us to taste (eeyuk). For anyone unfamiliar, from what I remember Poi is a gooey paste made from mashed Taro root and, if not eaten immediately, the paste is left to sour/ferment for up to a week. It is supposed to be very nutritious for babies with dairy allergies, but once it begins to ferment, it is rarely eaten without adding milk & sugar.

Anyway, I digress, Lumpia and sweet & sour sauce was one of our first cooking lessons (I think I was 12 or 13 at the time) and they turned out lovely, so I have continued to make them ever since. This is my own version, although I am sure there are heaps of recipes out there. I made pork lumpia on this occasion, but I think I like beef the best, but I have added shrimp on occasion and those were nice as well.


INGREDIENTS:

2 Tbsp Sesame Oil
1 Lg Yellow Onion, finely diced
3 Cloves Crushed Garlic
500 Gm (approx 1 Lb) Lean Minced Pork (or chicken, or beef)
2 Med Carrots, peeled & grated or julienned
¼ Head Cabbage, sliced finely
½ Cup Mung Bean Sprouts (more or less)
4 Cups Stock (whatever kind you prefer, I used chicken)
1 Pkg Rice Vermicelli Noodles (adjust to suit depending on how many rolls you are making)
¼ Cup (packed) Coriander or Parsley, finely chopped
3 Lg Scallions (spring onions)
*Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 Pkg (approx 20 ea) Spring Roll Wrappers or Lumpia wrappers (if you can get them)
*Peanut Oil for frying rolls

*Amounts vary to individual tastes


DIRECTIONS:

Heat your sesame oil and begin to cook onions over medium heat.

As the onions begin to go clear, add garlic and cook for an additional 30-60 seconds before adding in the meat of your choice.

Brown the meat and be sure to cook thoroughly, as the frying of the rolls at the end will not be long enough to get the rolls to a temperature high enough for a long enough time to cook the meat at that stage.

As the meat is browning, in a separate pot, bring your stock to a boil.

Once meat looks cooked, add in the carrots, cabbage, and bean sprouts.

Once the stock boils, remove it from the heat and add your rice vermicelli noodles and allow them to soften about 2 minutes.

Once the noodles are soft, drain them and add them to the meat mixture.

Remove the meat mixture from the heat and add the coriander/parsley, the scallions, and the black pepper and make sure to combine everything well and set aside until cool enough to handle.

Now you need to remove the wrappers from the package and lay them onto a damp tea towel. You will remove one wrapper at a time and fold the damp towel over the top of the remaining wrappers while rolling each lumpia roll.

Depending on who you talk to, traditional lumpia rolls are fairly small with very little filling however…I tend to make them bigger and more the size of a spring roll, but it’s up to you how much filling to roll up in each wrapper.

To fill and roll lumpia, as with most spring roll/egg roll items, you begin with the wrapper angled with corners on both sides and placing the filling across the bottom corner.

Next roll the bottom corner up and the sides in toward the center. Continue rolling up from the bottom and with clear water, moisten the top corner to “glue” it to the roll.

Once you have all of your rolls made, you can heat up the peanut oil and fry them 2-3 at a time to cook the wrapper until it’s golden brown and crispy.

Lumpia is best served with a sweet and sour sauce. You can find a simple recipe for my sauce with my post for Coconut Prawns.

Enjoy!!!

SINFUL CINNAMON ROLLS
NOT for everyday consumption...

Unless you are trying to bulk up!

One guilty pleasure I have missed since moving abroad is the rare treat of a Cinnabon at the local shopping mall. As far as I know thus far, there is no comparable offering anywhere here that I have found.

Yes, some good Kiwi bakeries and/or cafes do have a cinnamon "pinwheel" that is more bread-like, but none of them even come close to the good old American cinnamon roll. Not only are my cinnamon rolls "to-die-for", the icing is darn near the same as Cinnabon's version. I think my family, friends and neighbours who have sampled them would tend to agree that I am not being overly boastful here! ;o)

One caution to all who attempt this recipe though...they are not a healthy treat to enjoy daily for log periods of time and are likely to contribute to weight gain, increased cholesterol, and heartburn if overindulgence occurs. This recipe makes a relatively large batch too, so be prepared to share with your favourite people!!!

I will list ingredients and directions for the rolls, filling and icing in separate sections below to make it easier to follow...for those brave enough to try!

Rolls first...

DOUGH - INGREDIENTS:

2 Packets Dry Yeast (approx 4 Tsp)

1 Cup Warm Water (not hot - warm when dripped inside your wrist like testing baby bottles)

2/3 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Warm Milk

2/3 Cup Butter, melted

2 Tsp Salt

2 Eggs, slightly beaten

5-7 Cups Flour (more or less)

DIRECTIONS:

Activate the yeast in a small bowl by adding the water, sugar, warm milk, melted butter, salt & eggs. Set this aside whilst you go to the next step.

In a larger bowl, sift about 3 Cups of the flour and add 1 cup of it to the yeast mixture. Ideally, this should be covered and set aside in a warm place to foam up for up to an hour or so.

Once your foam has frothed up a bit, begin to slowly pour it into the larger bowl with the sifted flour.

Mix this together well and continue adding flour a bit at a time until the dough can be turned out onto a floured work surface.

Knead the dough about 10 minutes to activate the gluten in the flour then place it into a well oiled bowl big enough to hold twice the mass, and flip it over to oil both top & bottom of the dough ball.

Cover the bowl and set aside in a warm place to rise for about 2 hours. The dough should double in size.

When ready, punch down the dough and allow it to rest for 5-10 minutes before proceeding to roll it out flat on a floured surface to about a 1 cm (or 1/2 inch) thickness. I only use half at a time because each half makes about 12 LARGE rolls which can be stacked and frozen for baking later if tightly sealed in plastic wrap first. This 5-10 minute rest is a good time to make the filling...

FILLING - INGREDIENTS:

1 Cup Butter, melted

2 Cups Brown Sugar

4 Tbsp Cinnamon

2 Cups Walnuts or Pecans, chopped (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Mix together butter & sugar then slowly add in the cinnamon & chopped nuts. You may also opt to add raisins at this stage, but I don't like mine cooked, so I leave 'em out!

Once dough has been rolled out flat, sprinkle filling over entire surface evenly. You may opt to save a little for topping if you have enough at th end.

Now carefully log-roll the dough in a jellyroll or sponge log fashion then pinch the edges together to seal it.

The roll is rather "smushy" and soft, so my trick for cutting the rolls is to get a length of dental floss and slide it under the log, then cross end over end and pull tight to cut a slice without squishing the whole log with a knife. Pretty clever, eh?...

Now, butter a baking dish or just arrange the slices on a silicone baking mat. Put them close together so they don't lose their shape in the oven and, they should puff up nicely.

Cover and set the rolls aside once more in a warm area to rise for about 1 hour.

Once the rolls have risen and just about doubled in size again, preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C) and bake for approximately 25-30 minutes or until they brown nicely.

FROSTING/ICING - INGREDIENTS:

1/2 Cup Butter, melted

200 Gm (8 Oz) Mascarpone Cheese

3 Cups Icing Sugar

2 Tsp Vanilla

1/8 Tsp Lemon Flavouring (just a few drops, really)

DIRECTIONS:

Blend cheese and butter with electric mixer on low to cream. Add icing sugar 1/2 cup at a time and combine well.

Add vanilla and lemon flavour and mix approximately 1 minute then refrigerate.

Be sure to ice the rolls while they are still warm. There's no comfort food much better than a gooey, warm, cinnamon roll on a cold day! Save any extra icing for reheating with the leftover rolls...10-20 seconds in the microwave softens them right up to perfection again.

Enjoy!

CHALLAH BREAD

Here is a great bread recipe. I was as a school committee meeting when our Canadian hostess brought out a bowl of spinach dip and chunks of this lovely bread for our little group to snack on. I resisted as long as I could and finally caved - BIG mistake. This is a beautiful firm yet slightly eggy and sweet bread that I have not tasted the likes of in some time. I left the meeting making a mental note to call later to get the recipe.

It turned out to be a fairly straightforward recipe that she made the dough for in her breadmaker. Well, I tried that too, but mine didn't mix all that well (although the bread was still very nice in the end). I ended up tweaking the recipe just slightly and then doing all of the mixing & kneading manually and what a difference.

It is certainly worth the extra effort when it comes out right. My one suggestion, is that you don't put this into a loaf pan to bake it...if at all possible, use a baking stone. It does work in a loaf pan, however...the middle will be gooey if you don't get the cooking time just right. Meanwhile, the crust goes quite dark and there is a fine line between perfect and burnt. One other tip for this recipe it that it makes, in my opinion (of which you will find I have many), it makes some of the best French Toast I have ever had. Mom, when you get here, I'll make this one for you! So, ready? Here we go...

STEP ONE: Sponge (Yeast Foam)

Mix together the following and cover with plastic and set aside to froth for an hour.

1 Cup Warm water

2 Pkt/Tsp Yeast

1 1/2 Tsp Salt

1/3 Cup Shortening (Oil is okay too)

1/2 Cup Honey or Brown Sugar

3 Eggs

1 Cup Flour

STEP TWO: Dough

In larger bowl, pour the foam mixture in and add...

3 Cups (approximately) High Quality Flour - One cup at a time

DIRECTIONS:

Now that you have quite a sticky mess of dough, continue adding in more flour one cup at a time until you have a reasonable ball to turn out onto a floured work surface. Keep adding flour to un-stick the dough and begin kneading for 10 minutes, trying to eliminate all air bubbles and hopefully end up with a solid nonsticky satiny mass of dough.

After kneading the dough for 10 minutes, plop it into a well oiled bowl then flip it over to oil the dough surface evenly.

Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise 1-2 hours (or more) in a warm place. It will double in size for 2 loaves.

After the dough has risen, divide it into two halves and work on one at a time.

Each half needs to be flattened out (again to eliminate air and release/activate gluten for fluffy bread). Now cut into thirds (or fourths or sixths, depending on the braid you want) and roll out each piece into a rope with skinny ends and a fat middle approximately 14 inches long.

Pinch one end of each rope together and begin braiding. When you have braided the entire length of all ropes, pinch the ends together and tuck the ends underneath the loaf.

Brush loaves with egg wash (1 egg and 1 tbsp milk or water) and allow to rise once more for at least an hour (the longer it rises, the better).

To finish - Bake on a stone, sheet or in a loaf pan at 350 F/180 C for approximately 25-35 minutes (watch for crust colour and check bottom colour before removing from oven.

Now cool on wire rack and brush top with butter.

YEILDS 2 LOAVES OF SLIGHTLY SWEET, FLUFFY, EASY TO CUT BREAD - ENJOY!!!