Turkey Mince with Paprika and Allspice

This dish came about because I had turkey mince, a few bits and pieces of veg and the spice cupboard, and not much else that was useful to go with it. So I just went with my instincts and came up with something unexpectedly amazing. It’s a rich, creamy dish, somewhat reminiscent of Moroccan cuisine, sweet and spicy and warming.

It’s low-carb and therefore correspondingly protein and fat-rich – not great if you’re on a low calorie diet, but perfect if you’re not dieting or on a low-carb regime (as I am).

This recipe will make 2 big serves if you’re eating it by itself, or it could easily be stretched to 4 with sides of rice or couscous and some extra veggies. I had it by itself and it was fabulous, but I'll relish it with rice when I'm allowed some again.

Ingredients:

500g turkey mince (ground meat)

1 brown onion, thinly sliced

1 red pepper (capsicum), diced

1 courgette (zucchini), grated

Double handful thin fresh green beans, ends cut off and beans cut in half

Splenda (or sugar)

½ a chicken stock cube

2 tsp freshly grated ginger, or ginger granules to taste

Paprika, allspice, turmeric, garlic granules to taste

1-2 tbsp lemon juice, to taste

Butter

A good glug of fresh double cream

1. Melt some butter to coat the bottom of a large frying pan. Cook the onions in the butter with some Splenda (or sugar) on high heat until soft and translucent. Add the capsicum and beans and cook until the capsicum starts to soften. Add more butter when necessary to keep the mixture moist.

2. Add the ginger (if using grated) and the turkey mince. Fry stirring frequently until the mince is browned. Add more butter when necessary to keep the mixture moist but don’t make it too greasy.

3. When the mince is browned, add the courgette and fry until it starts to go translucent.

4. Add the lemon juice – just go with your instincts – and the crumbled stock cube. Mix well to incorporate. Then add plenty of paprika, a good scattering of allspice and turmeric, and a few dashes of garlic (plus a good scattering of ginger if using granulated), a shake of splenda or sugar and a small shake of salt. All this is to taste – add, check, adjust if necessary. You can’t go too far wrong. Make sure you use plenty to give the dish loads of flavour.

5. When the meat and veggies are coated with spices and everything tastes great, turn the heat down to the lowest setting. When the sizzling calms down add a good glug of cream to the frypan, enough so that when you stir it in all the meat is coated. Cook until the cream is heated, stirring constantly. When the cream is hot, serve immediately.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

The idea is the same as in sarmas, but those are much faster to make.

Ingredients (for 6 servings, so adjust accordingly):

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup rice
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 pound (500 g) ground (minced) meat
diced raisins, optional
diced mushrooms, optional
salt, pepper, thyme to taste
~ 6 large bell peppers or 12 small bell peppers

For the sauce:

1 cup yogurt
2 tablespoons flour
1 egg, beaten

You can skip the meat and make them vegetarian.

Directions:

In a skillet heat olive oil.
Saute onion, raisins and mushrooms.
Add ground meat and cook until it divides into crumbs and is no longer pink.
Add rice.
Cook for 5 more min until rice gets translucent.
Remove from heat, add spices.

Wash and deseed bell peppers.
Spoon rice/meat mix into each pepper. Do not fill them more than 3/4, as rice expands when it cooks.
Arrange stuffed peppers lying on one side in a baking dish.
Poke each pepper with a fork (so that any steam may escape).
Pour enough water to cover the bottom half of the peppers.
Bake on 350 F/175 C for 60 min or until rice is fully cooked.
To ensure even cooking, rotate peppers to expose a different side on top on the 15th, 30th and 45th minute.

For the sauce:

When peppers are done cooking, spoon the leftover water into a saucepan.
Put over medium heat.
Stir flour into yogurt and carefully pour into hot pepper broth.
*Slowly* pour beaten egg into mixture, stirring continuously.
Bring to a gentle boil and cook, stirring continously, for 2 more minutes or until the sauce reaches desired density.
Pour over peppers before serving.

* Or, skip the sauce and use plain yogurt :).

Cottage Pie

Or rather, Ivayla's bastardized version of an English classic :). Ideas from here and here.

Ingredients for a 12-inch (30 cm) pie:

4 medium potatoes
milk, butter, salt to taste

~ 1 lb/500 g ground beef meat*
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 medim carrots, sliced
3 roasted peppers, cut into strips
7.5 oz/200 g canned green peas
7.5 oz/200 g canned chopped tomatoes, undrained
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon thyme
salt, pepper to taste

* I had pot roast leftovers that I ground in the food processor, and since it was already seasoned, I skipped the spices.

Directions:

Boil the potatoes in water until soft.
Drain and mash with the butter and milk.
Season with salt and pepper

Heat some oil in a skillet.
Add the onion and carrots and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes until soft.
Add the ground beef and brown it.
Add the tomatoes, bay leaf and thyme.
Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes or until the meat is no longer pink.
Add cornstarch.
Stir in peas.

Spread a thin layer of mashed potatoes on the bottom of an oiled pie pan.
Spoon the meat mixture on top.
Cover with strips of roasted pepper.
Top with the rest of the mashed potatoes.
Bake on 375 F/190 C for about 30 min or until golden brown.

Meatballs with White Sauce

My big problem is that husband likes fried meatballs, while I hate frying for both health and cleaning reasons, and I am not too crazy about meatballs either. This recipe is a decent compromise. Makes 5 servings of 2 meatballs each, and eats a lot of bread :).

Ingredients:

For the meatballs:
1 lb (450 g) ground meat (mince)
1 egg
1 small onion, finely diced
1/4 teaspoon of each: salt and black pepper or other spices to taste

For the sauce:
1 egg
4 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup yogurt
1 bay leaf
lemon juice

Directions:

Mix the products for the meatballs. Form into 10 balls.
Put the meatballs in a deep sauce pan and cover with water. Add bay leaf.
Bring water to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook until meatballs are no longer pink inside.
Remove from heat.

Beat egg, mix with yogurt and flour.
*Gradually* spoon about 1 cup of the hot broth from the meatballs into yogurt mixture. Stir continuously.
When the yogurt mixture and the meatball broth are at pretty much the same temperature, pour yogurt mix into saucepan.
Cook over medium heat stirring continuously for 2 more minutes or until the sauce is at desired density.
Season with lemon juice.
Remove bay leaf before serving.

Sarma

Aka dolma. I realize that most people won't ever make them by hand but I had leftover vine leaves and I figured that as long as I am making them, I am going to make pictures.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup rice
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 pound (500 g) ground (minced) meat
diced raisins, optional
diced mushrooms, optional
salt, pepper, thyme to taste
~ 50 pickled vine/grape leaves

You may skip the meat and make them vegetarian.
You can also substitute pickled cabbage leaves for the vine leaves, but the taste will be different.

Edited to add: in the US you can find cabbage or vine leaves in most Eastern European or Middle Eastern grocery stores, or in the ethnic food section of big chain grocery stores like Safeway. They come in a glass jar and are usually in the pickles section.

Directions:

In a skillet heat olive oil.
Saute onion, raisins and mushrooms.
Add ground meat and cook until it divides into crumbs and is no longer pink.
Add rice.
Cook for 5 more min until rice gets translucent.
Remove from heat, add spices.

Apologies for the poor quality pictures that follow - my kitchen is dark and I was trying not to smear any oil, rice or pickle juice on my camera.

Assembly:

Drain vine leaves.
Put leaf with the stem facing toward you. Cut stem if it's still there.
Put a teaspoon of rice and meat mix in the middle of the lower part of the leaf right above the stem.





Wrap it like a burrito:
1. Take the side of the leaf that's toward you and roll it forward once, so it flips over the filling.
2. Tug in the left and right sides of the leaf towards the middle.
3. Roll forward.







Here is the major caveat: you want the sarma to to be tightly rolled, so it doesn't unwrap when rice cooks and expands *but* you also want the rice to have the space to expand, so it shouldn't be too tight.

Sarma rolling is an art, which I don't claim to have mastered. I am happy when the majority of my leaves are not torn by the expanding rice :).

Repeat the whole rolling procedure about 50 more times :) until you run out of either filling or leaves.

Arrange sarmas, loose end down, in a slow-cooker pot.
Cover with a plate or prop them with something else that is moderately heavy and won't allow them to float and unwrap.



Pour enough water to cover them.
Drop half a teaspoon of filling in water.
Cover and cook on low until the filling you dropped in the water is cooked.

You may put them in a regular pot and simmer for about 2 hours but you run the risk of either the top layer being undercooked or the bottom layer being overcooked. The crockpot provides a more even temperature.


You can serve them warm or cold. They go well with yogurt and they freeze well.

Tai's Honey and Soy Mince

Serves: 6
Prep time: 10-15 mins
Cooking time: 30-40 mins

Ingredients -
500grams mince
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup honey
2 cups water
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen beans
3 tablespoons cornflour

Directions -
Brown the mince over medium heat. Add water, soy sauce, honey and vegetables. Stir then simmer for 10-15 minutes. Slowly add flour (I do it a tablespoon at a time so that it won’t cause lumps) then simmer for another 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally. Serve with rice.


Note: Jason seems to think this would taste great with some garlic in it, I'm not convinced so refuse to put it in.

Tai's Rissoles

I used cornflour tonight, which worked out fine, because Jason used all my plain flour making peanut butter biscuits earlier, which I will post tomorrow.

Serves: 7, that is giving 2 rissoles per person

Prep time: 5-10 mins

Cooking time: 20-30 mins

Ingredients -
500grams mince
1 egg
2 teaspoons mixed herbs
1 teaspoon steak spice
6-7 cloves of garlic sliced
1/3 cup of smokey barbeque sauce
Plain or Cornflour Flour

Directions -

Put mince, egg, mixed herbs, steak spice, garlic and smokey barbeque into a bowl and mix. Grab a small amount, roll, flatten and then roll in flour. Spray pan with spray and cook. Then cook on a fairly low heat, cover and cook for around 20-30 minutes turning occasionally.

Tai's Curried Mince

This is my own recipe so it is has a very mild curry taste because of the kids. You could add more curry depending on your taste.

Serves: 4
Prep time: 10-15 mins
Cooking time: 30-40 mins

Ingredients -

500grams mince

1 whole sliced garlic

4 cups water

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup frozen beans

2 teaspoons curry powder

1 teaspoon steak spice

1 teaspoon mixed herbs

6 tablespoons plain flour

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions -

Brown the mince over medium heat. Add garlic, water and vegetables. Stir in curry powder, steak spice and mixed herbs. Simmer for 10-15 minutes. Slowly add flour (I do it a tablespoon at a time so that it won’t cause lumps) then simmer for another 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally. Serve with rice.

Stefanie Roll

This is a Bulgarian meatloaf-type dish. I have no idea who Stefanie is and why the dish is called like that :).

Ingredients (makes 4 servings):

1 lb (500 g) ground meat (AUS: mince)
2 eggs
1 dill pickle, quartered
1 carrot
2 celery sticks
1/4 teaspoon of each: salt, black pepper, marjoram, cumin (or, season to taste)

Directions:

Hard boil one of the eggs (for how to, check here). Cut into quarters lengthwise.

Cut carrot lengthwise.

Steam carrot and celery sticks for 5 min. You can also boil them until they are tender, but steaming is faster and healthier.

Mix the other egg (raw!) with ground meat. Add spices.

Spread the ground meat mixture on aluminum foil forming a rectangle that is about an inch (2.5 cm) thick.

Arrange pickle, carrot, celery and egg along the long side of the meat rectangle.

With the help of the foil, form in a tight roll.

Tightly wrap into foil and roast at 500 F/260 C for 30 min. It's important for the roll to be tight so that it doesn't break later when cut.

Unwrap, lower oven temperature to 350 F/175 C and roast for about 10 minutes more.

Let it cool down for 10-15 min before cutting. Serve with mashed potatoes.