Moroccan Spiced Lamb Meatballs in Tangy Tomato Sauce

It's finally here. Autumn that is. Where the weather is cool and the breeze comes in. Autumn and Spring are probably my favourite seasons of the year. It isn't too warm but there is enough sun to get out there and seize the day.

As I am writing this, I'm recovering from a very sore left index finger. We had some friends over for a bbq and I sliced my finger while chopping spring onions! Since the bleeding didn't stop for 2 over hours, I went to the doctors who placed a pressure bandage on.

So with the bandage on, everything seems to operate a little slower. Like typing for instance and washing your hair. It may be one finger but it reminded me of how we tend to take little things like this for granted. It also forced me to slow down a little- like no boxing classes and scheduled our little break away. Sometimes, accidents remind us to take a breath before going again.

My disclaimer is that I rarely cut my fingers while cooking. I think it is a reflection of my internal exhaustion. In the mean time, I had a few days off with cooking with hubs taking over the reins. He turned around and said- indeed it's a lot of planning and prepping.

I'm on the road to recovery by the time you read this... and don't worry, I made these meatballs when my fingernail was still intact so no blood lost with this. It's a nice warm dinner on a cool night. Who says one cannot have salads with baked dishes?

The sauce keeps the meatballs moist and lovely. You can probably sauté the mince if you like and top it with the sauce, but I was looking for a less to wash dish. I didn't put cheese in mine but you could sprinkle some before baking it.


Moroccan Spiced Lamb Meatballs in Tangy Tomato Sauce (serves 4)
450 grams of lean lamb mince
1 red onion chopped
2 tsp of dukkah (spicy)
1 tablespoon of cumin
1 tsp of fennel seeds
1 tsp of chill powder
1 egg
pepper

Tomato Sauce
1 tinned chopped tomato
2 tablespoon of tomato paste
2 tablespoon of water or more if needed
squeeze of lemon
salt and pepper

Make lamb mince balls- just combine all ingredients. Roll into balls and place into over proof dish- it should make around 16 meatballs.

Sauce- combine all in a jar. Pour over meatballs and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Classic Meat Loaf with Glaze

There is something special about meat loaf. I feel that it is really under rated these days. People tend to associate meat loaf with it being boring food.

My first memory of meat loaf was when I watched American TV. You know, the scene when the mother says "it's dinner time! We are having meat loaf" and the kids making faces. Perhaps, growing up in Singapore, I have been so blessed with having traditional Chinese food, that I just thought that those poor American kids having to suffer through dinner!

So without tasting or knowing exactly what that was, I concluded that meat loaf must be tasteless and boring.

Not till I started experimenting with mince meat that I realised how interesting meat loaves are. First up, they are EASY! super duper easy. And then, it's really no fuss! Exactly how I like my food to be. And budget friendly. Very budget friendly when one was a student, and the other just started working. Oh talk about memories.

More recently, I came across Matt Preston's version of meat loaf. Now, a chef talking about meat loaf? I need to sit up and read up. He included in oats in his version in place of breadcrumbs. "Low GI idea, I like it already" I thought. The glazing idea will keep the loaf moist as well.

I substituted some glaze ingredients from what I have in the fridge and it turned out terrific as well.

Classic Meat Loaf with Glaze

600 grams of lean beef mince
1 onion chopped finely
1 tablespoon of garlic minced
1 cup of rolled oats
1 large egg
1 cup of soy milk

Glaze
1/2 cup of tomato sauce/ketchup.
2 tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce
2 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of mustard- I used spicy seeded but Dijon is the best)
Salt

Preheat oven to 180 C.

Combine mince, onion and garlic. Fold in oats. Then add egg and milk. Just combine, don't over stir it. I pressed mine in a lined loaf tin but you could do it on baking tray form into a loaf shape. Roast for 30 minutes first.

Meantime, put glaze ingredients in a saucepan. Simmer for a few minutes till combined and looks syrupy. Pour 2/3s of the glaze on meatloaf after 30 minutes. Return back to the oven for another 30 minutes.

Re glaze when meatloaf is done. Rest for 5 minutes and serve with a sprinkle of salt.

Turkish Gozleme

I'm starting to appreciate other cuisines. Growing up in Singapore, I had the luxury to try Indian, Chinese (mostly!), Japanese.. but never as extensive as growing up in Perth. Lebanese? checked. Indonesian? Checked. Thai? Checked. Fusion al carte Australian? checked.

It's weird. Seriously. I'm taking cooking Chinese tips from an Australian cookbook (I swear, granny, you are still the first I go to!). Or like in this case, Turkish Gozleme from the AUSTRALIAN Women's Weekly!

I loved it regardless. It means there are no boundaries in creating cuisine. Flipping through a few "Australian" cookbooks, it made me realised how much food bring different cultures together. Perhaps by printing a different culture recipe from a known writer, it gives me the guts to try something new. It means it can be done.

I had a go at making Turkish Gozleme at home one weekend, and boy oh boy, never did pounding dough feels so good. Is there such a therapy call Dough Therapy? Maybe that is how Turkish ladies get their tough arms from.  Perhaps that also explains why I never got a gozleme from an angry lady.

So I served this to my husband. And watch him smile.

Turkish Gozleme (Adapted from Australian Women's Weekly Eating Together)
4 cups of plain flour
1 tsp cooking salt-I used my sea salt
1 2/3 cups of warm water
2 tablespoons oil. I used olive

Lamb filling
3-4 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
pepper
1 tsp garlic minced
500 grams lamb mince
1 can of diced tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped parsley

Spinach and Cheese Filling
300 grams baby spinach
1 small red onion chopped
1 tsp mixed spice
150 grams feta cheese
1 cup of cheddar or mozzarella cheese

Make Dough
Combine flour, salt and gradually stir in water. Sprinkle flour on work surface. Don't forget to flour your hands. Knead dough. Hit it, punch it, just keep working on it till it is smooth. Return to bowl. Cover.

Make lamb filling
Cook garlic. Fry lamb till done. Add tomatoes and spices. Simmer. Cool.

Make spinach and feta filling
Combine all ingredients. I blanched the spinach first quickly and squeezed some water out.

Diver dough into 2 pieces. Flour work surface and rolling pin. Roll each piece into a square. Roll as thin as you can. Sprinkle spinach and cheese filling first, then topped it with lamb filling. Fold each edge over.

Using a well oiled grill pan, cook gozleme on each side till browned slightly. Serve with lemon/lime wedges.

Thai Inspired Spicy Noodle Salad

I'm backkkk! The highlight of the trip is of course being part of the bridal party of my best friend's wedding. My gorgeous friend is married!! All those primary and secondary school days memories flooded back as I watched her walk down the aisle. She was brave, she allocated the task of being an emcee in her dinner banquet. I was emotional, as I saw those photos in Peg's childhood slideshow, it struck me how much we have grown (alas, not in height, I meant wisdom and age....).I recall those study days, sleep overs, singing KTV none stop for 6 hrs. Ah... and now both of us are married.

Congratulations Rane and Peggy! 

Before I left for Singapore, hubby and I were invited to a last minute pot luck gathering. I arrived home from work at 6pm and was ready to leave home with our dish by 6:35pm. Glad I did bring something because turned out that everyone brought either pizza or kfc-neither dishes would have sat well with my stomach (or weight!).

This dish isn't anything fancy. In fact, I was trying to do a salad but everyone at the gathering thought it was a stir fry noodle dish. Oops. I didn't even correct them! I just smile and nod.Oh well, they finished the bowl which is the main thing.

I was trying to be real quick and cooked some pork mince with chili, fish sauce, sugar and soy. The result was a tangy mixture! I tossed it through some mung bean vermicelli. However, I did a taste test then, and it was blend. So I mixed some lemon juice, fish sauce, sugar and some stock in a jar. Stir it, pour it over the noodles, toss, added some fried shallots and viola, it tasted much better then!

So I'm still not sure if this is a salad? or?? Can someone suggest a new name perhaps? Whatever it was, it was quick, easy and beats fast food any day.

Thai Inspired Spicy Noodle Salad (Serves a party of 8-10 people or feeds 4-5 for a meal)
300 grams of pork mince
around 100 grams roast pork (left overs)
1 tablespoon of garlic 
1 cup of snow peas peeled
2 carrot shredded
2-3 sprigs of spring onions chopped
1 red chili chopped

2 tablespoons of fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
2 tablespoon of soya sauce
1 tablespoon of plum sauce 
1/4 cup of water

"Dressing"
1/4 cup of lemon juice
2 tsp of fish sauce
1/2 tsp of sugar


1 medium bunch of mung bean vermicelli quickly blanched with hot water and drained. Mean while, saute garlic and chili and add pork mince and cook till it is done. Pour all sauces, water and sugar over the mixture. Simmer. Add veges. Cook for 1 min. Pour mixture to noodles and toss. Do a taste test and adjust "dressing". Pour dressing over it. Serve with some fried shallots.

Mongolian Beef - Kylie Kwong 's Recipe

Years ago, I tried Mongolian Beef. It was a sweet sticky stir fry from a local Chinese take away shop in Perth. It was yucky and have nothing to do with Mongolian Cuisine.

I have been collecting small recipe booklets from our weekend newspaper reads. One of the booklets was from the famous Kylie Kwong who brought Chinese cooking too households in Australia. I tend to stay away from her recipes because I usually look towards my grandmother for some inspiration for home cooked meals.

I nearly flipped the page when I saw "Mongolian Beef" as one of the featured recipes. Interestingly enough though, it featured beef mince and salted cabbage. Especially the salted cabbage- can it really make a difference?

The end result? The salted cabbage added texture and crunch to the overall dish. I like how easy it is to eat this with some rice. Best of all, it is an one pot dish. Some fresh chopped chili and spring onions-and a meal is done.

I'm still not sure if it is Mongolian, but at least it is delicious to eat!

Mongolian Beef (Serves 5)

600 grams beef mince
5 cups of shredded Chinese cabbage (I had english cabbage though)
2 tsp sea salt
2 tablespoon of shao hsing wine
2 tablespoon of hoi sin sauce
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 carrot shredded
1 red pepper sliced finely
3/4 cup of sliced spring onions.

marinate
2 tablespoons of shao hsing wine
1 tablespoon of light soy
1 tablespoon of corn flour
garlic cloves diced
1/2 tsp of sesame oil

Marinate beef mince for 30 mins.

Place cabbage and sea salt in a bowl. Mix well. Stand for 15 mins, then rinse under cold water and drain. Squeeze out any excess liquid.

Heat pan till out. Fry beef, and break up lumps. Pour in sauces and fry for 30 seconds. Toss in cabbage, carrot, red pepper and fry for min. Add spring onions. Toss. Remove from heat. Spoon beef onto bed of rice. Top with spring onions and sliced chili.

Teriyaki Meat Loaf

I am very much in love with my oven. I love the ease of it- just placing something in a hot oven and out comes a hearty hot meal (or dessert!we win either way). Having some left over teriyaki sauce in the fridge, I tipped the rest of the bottle out to marinate our meat loaf. Talk about Asian influence in our styles of cooking! It wasn't anything too fancy but enough to survive another night of dinner- and left overs to boot for the next day.

To add more veges in our diet- I mixed in some shredded carrots and chopped onions. Does the treat I say. I love the texture and would not hesitate to make this again! 

I served these with stir fry veges.

Teriyaki Meat Loaf (Serves 4-5)

500 grams lean beef mince
1 egg
1 cup of bread crumbs- fresh or from packet
2-3 tablespoon of teriyaki sauce
2 tsp of chili powder (because I like it hot!)
1 carrot shredded
1 red onion chopped
2 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
pepper


Line loaf pan. Pre heat oven 200C. Mix everything in a bowl. Spoon and press mixture into loaf pan. Bake for 30 mins. Serve with salad or stir fry veges.

Teriyaki Lamb Macaroni

It's getting harder and harder to come up with bulk meals. When in doubt, I always turn to ready made sauces. Something to jazz an old boring stir fry. I theme this teriyaki up with heaps of veges and actually quite like the turn out of it! The crunch and sweetness of red capsicum and celery seem to does it. Very spring.

I sincerely believe that stir fries are not completed without chili, garlic and onions. I wonder why I have this rule? Maybe it is to bulk the dish up more. 

Teriyaki Lamb Macaroni (Serves at least 6)

400 grams lamb mince
1/2 cup of teriyaki sauce
1 red onion chopped
2 red chili chopped 
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
2-3 stalks of celery chopped
1 cup of chopped mushrooms
few stalks of spring onions chopped
1 cup of garden peas
300 grams of cooked macaroni

Fry onions, garlic and chili. Add mince, breaking it up as it cooks. Add sauce and rest of the veges. Adding 1/2 cup of water if too dry. Toss macaroni through. 

Dishing out my love to friends at Presto Pasta. This week, it is hosted by Claudia from Honey from a Rock.

Chorizo Chicken Meat Loaf

It happens rarely but sometimes, I get ideas for a meal randomly. Does it ever happen to you?

This happened when I had 1 chorizo sausage in the fridge and some chicken mince. Not quite sure what to do with it, I decided to make a simple meat loaf combining both ingredients together. The strong flavours of chorzio certainly added flavour to the loaf!

What I would have done differently though is to pan fry the chorizo till the fat melts-this way, it reduces the amount of oilyness in the loaf without compromising the taste of it.

Chorizo Chicken Meat Loaf
1 chorzio sausage diced
400 grams chicken mince
1 carrot shredded
1 red onion chopped
1 tablespoon of garlic
cracked pepper
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
sprinkle of sea salt
1 egg
2 tablespoon of corn flour

Combine all ingredients together. Press into pre lined loaf. Marinate for around 20 mins while preheating oven. Bake in oven for 40 minutes. Serve with green salad.

Baked Spring Rolls

Most people will know of spring rolls as deep fried entrees in a party or in your local chinese take away shop. I decided to experiment with the spring roll wrappers and baked the rolls instead. The result is a slight crisp parcel with heaps of goodness inside. Although not as crunchy as the deep fried version (I wonder if my filling was too wet?), it was certainly a healthy meal!

Another twist in this rolls, I added some left over rice in them. Just a way to add some carbs without over doing it. I served these babies with some side veges and my favorite chili dipping sauce! 

Baked Spring Rolls 

around 10 pieces of medium size wrapper defrosted


300 grams of pork mince
1 onion chopped finely
1 tsp of minced garlic
3 stalks of finely diced celery
1 finely diced carrot
2 tablespoon of oyster sauce
2 tablespoon of soya 
1 tablespoon of dark soya
1/2 cup of hua tiao jiu 
1/2 cup of left over rice
1/2 tsp of sugar
heaps of pepper!

Saute garlic and onion. Add pork and cook till done. Dont forget the veges! Add in all sauces. Toss in rice. Simmer for around 10 minutes. Season with sugar and pepper. Taste to see if it is salty. Set aside to cool.

Wrap rolls up with cooled mixture. Spray with some oil. Bake in a 200 C oven for 15-20 minutes.

Creamy Corn and Chicken Lasagna

While this does not look as appealing, it was certainly tasty. A lighter dish than the usual lasagna as it uses cream corn in the "creaminess". What I needed to do, however, is to not skim on the sauce at all. The more of it, the better I say. The result should have been a more moist lasagna. Oh well, lesson learnt and I will try this again in the future with more filing and tomatoes!

Creamy Corn and Chicken Lasagna  
600 grams of lean chicken mince
2 cans of creamed corn
1 tin of chopped tomato
1 tablespoon of mixed spice
seasoning
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon of garlic
1 onion chopped
lasagna sheets

Mix cheese (I used parmesan and cheddar)

Saute onion and garlic. Add mince and all the rest of it. Simmer. Mean while, pre heat oven to 200C. Place dried lasagna sheets on baking dish. Spoon mince over it. Sprinkle cheese. Layer with sheets and chicken mixture. Repeat one more time. Finish with cheese on top.

Bake it for 25 minutes till it is bubbly!

Nutty Meat Loaf

Masterchef taught me many things. I learned that cooking TV can be very entertaining. I learned that the cooking world is soooo wide and there are so many cusines and techniques to learn. This was one that I picked up- to add veges in meat loaf., meat balls or even sausage rolls! Grated carrots is one lovely way to do it.

You know my love for mince (it has been quite abit of a mince week hasn't it?), so I thought of grating some carrot into mince and make it into a loaf. By adding pine nuts, it adds this crunch and texture to an otherwise plain meat loaf.

I served it with some steam veges.

Nutty Meat Loaf
500 grams of pork mince
1 grated carrot
1 tablespoon of chopped garlic
3 or 4 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
2 generous tablespoon of bbq sauce
1 tablespoon of tomato sauce
1 tsp of chili sauce of any sort
 heaps of white pepper/ or ground black pepper
1 cup of bread crumbs
1 egg
1/4 cup of corn flour

1/4 cup of pine nuts

Mix everything up and press it into lined loaf pan. Sprinkle pine nuts on top. Bake in a preheated oven (of 200C) for around 30 minutes.

Jacket Sweet Potato

Most of us would have used potato as the "jacket" for the filling. Well, I thought of using sweet potato one day. Just because it has a lower GI content and I love it's sweet texture. This is really easy for lunch. Just frying up some remaining mince, top it on a cook jacket potato. Sprinkle cheese and tadah.. all done!

Jacket Sweet Potato 
Whatever mince you like
2 sweet potatos-scrubbed and baked in oven for 45 minutes or so.
Cheddar cheese

Salad to serve with it.

Saute mince. Once sweet potato is cooked, top with mince and cheese!

Chicken Meatballs with Mee Suah (Or Min Seen)

It's winter now. We wake up to 3C in the morning and the same low temperature at night. All we want is hot curries, casseroles and soup. I love this dish not only because it is so simple to make, but also because it is clean tasting.

Mee Suah or Min Seen (In cantonese) are thin wheat noodles. They come in small bundles in a box and takes only 1 minute to cook a bunch. Love them when I am running late for dinner.

Chicken Meatballs with Mee Suah (Or Min Seen) 
200 grams of chicken mince (I marinated 500 grams and used the left overs for... see next post!)
1 tsp of sesame oil
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
2 tablespoon of soya sauce
1 tablespoon of corn flour
1 egg
salt and heaps of white pepper
chopped chives
1 chopped chili
1 tsp of chopped garlic

500 ml of chicken stock
1 tablespoon of soya sauce
some chinese wine (maybe around 1/4 cup)
1 bunch of baby bak choy
3 bunches of mee suah

Mix chicken mixture with marinate. Form into little balls.

Meanwhile, cook stock with wine and soya sauce. When it is boiling, drop tsp of chicken mince into the boiling water. When they are done, add the noodles and veges. I sprinkle more dried chili into the soup mixture. Serve HOT.

Moussaka

Lunch time at work is always a game of guessing "who brought what to lunch?" Surprisingly, or perhaps not THAT surprisingly, my colleagues and I have a huge common interest. FOOD. (bet u thought it should be our line of work). Conversations usually go like this

Me:" client a...etc.."
J: "I'm hungry....."
C: "what should I have for lunch."
Me: "did you watch master chef last night..."
and so on and so forth..

Anyhow, one of the girls brought Moussaka to work and I was instantly intrigued. Egg plant- that is one of my favourite vegetable of all time. Most of the time though, I associate egg plant  with sambal and dried shrimps. Although I have heard of Moussaka before, for some reason I have never thought to make it.

Oh wait, there is one big barrier...

AR HATES eggplant.

For once, my line of thinking became...
"too bad, he got to give it a go. And if he doesn't like it.. he can have toast for dinner."

In the end though, AR's comment was "I like the mince mixture, so the eggplant wasn't too bad."

grrr.. Men and their fuss with food.

Moussaka (Adapted from Donna Hay Classics 1) 
1 tsp of garlic chopped
1 onion chopped
600 grams of lean lamb mince
2 cans of chopped tomato (Donna Hay had 700ml tomato puree)
1 cup of beef stock
1 tsp of ground cinnamon
seasoning

2 eggplants thinly sliced
3-4 cups of mixed grated mozzarella, parmesan and cheddar cheese.

Sprinkle eggplant with salt and set aside for 15-20 mins. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels. Spray some oil on them.

Pre heat oven at 200 C.

Meanwhile, fry garlic and onion in pan. Add mince and cook till browned. Add tomatoes, stock, cinnamon, salt and pepper and cook till it reduced (around 15-20 minutes) ]

To assemble, place 1/3 eggplant slices in base of oven proof dish. Top with 1/3 cheese them mince. Repeat. Finish with eggplant and layer of cheese. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Risoni Salad with Honey Pork Patties

Having discover this cute little riced shaped pasta, I couldn't resist to make a salad out of it. I heard it is good in soups too- so might experiment with it later since the weather is getting colder.

A jar of chargrilled capsicum (I love those stuff), some lemon juice, peans and corn.. a simple salad is made. Pork mince was marinated with honey, 5spice, breadcrumbs, chili flakes, an egg, seasoning and pan fried.

Come to think of it, this meal could probably be easily done on the bbq too! Ah..things we discover afterwards!

Risoni Salad with Honey Pork Patties (Serve 2-3 with plenty of leftovers!)

1 cup of risoni cooked in boiling water as per instructions
1/2 cup of frozen corn and peas
120 gram of chargrilled capsicum
seasoning
squeeze of lemon juice 

200 grams of pork mince
1 tablespoon of honey
1 tsp of 5 spiced powder
1/2 cup of dried breadcrumbs
2 tsp of chili flakes
1 egg
1/4 cup of corn flour
pepper and salt

Marinate pork mince. Shape into patties and pan fried it.
Meanwhile, toss salad ingredients together. Serve warm.


Sharing something different with friends from Presto Pasta, founded by Ruth. This week, it is hosted by Rachel the Crispy Cook.

Lamb and Grilled Capsicum Pinwheels

Passing by a famous chicken chain shop one day, I noticed that they have quite a few new products this year. I took a closer look and they were featuring chicken pinwheels- Puff pastry wrapped with chicken mince in various flavours. I knew exactly at that moment that it would be something I like to re-create at home.

So armed with some mince (Notice we have been eating and experimenting with more mince recently? Just my bid to reduce grocery costs- the price rises are getting exorbitant now!) and puff pastry.. I started rolling.

This one has chargrilled capsium with fresh tomatoes and cheese. I love they way they turned out.

Any other suggestions for pinwheels? =)

Lamb and Grilled Capsicum Pinwheels

200 grams of lamb mince
1-2 tablespoon of bbq sauce
1/2 red onion chopped 
1 tablespoon of tomato sauce
salt/pepper
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce
1 tablespoon of corn flour
1 egg
1 cup of bread crumbs 


1/2 jar of chargrilled capsicum strips
1 tomato chopped
cheddar cheese 

3 pieces of puff pastry cut into halves.

Marinate lamb mince.  Place defrosted puff pastry on bench, and spoon lamb mixture on it..flatten it. Add capsium strips and tomato. Sprinkle cheese. Roll it tight. Cut into portions and place on lined tray. Bake in 200C oven for 15-20 minutes. Serve with side salad.

Minced Meat Noodles

I was very inspired after reading Little Inbox's Minced Meat Noodles. It looks soooo rich and inviting. The beauty of it is that re-creating this isn't hard at all.

I followed pretty much what Little Inbox did, except that I used fresh egg noodles and added veges and chili. Mine turned out sightly more dry though so I think I probably did not add enough water. I love how the noodles absorbed the sauce and how the eggs taste even better the next day!

Mince Meat Noodles (adapted from Little Inbox)

300 grams of pork mince
around 6-8 pieces of dried chinese mushrooms hydrated and chopped
1 tsp of garlic
few stalks of celery chopped (Not in little inbox's recipe)
4 hard boiled eggs shelled and quartered
fresh chili chopped 
water

2tablespoon of oyster sauce
2-3 tablespoons of soya sauce

dash of sesame oil
1 tsp of dark soy sauce

1) Cook noodles and put aside. Dish into separate bowls. Place eggs on the noodles.

2) Saute garlic and chili. Add mince cooking until nearly done. Add sauces and water. Simmer. Toss in veges and mushrooms. Spoon over noodles and egg.


Dishing this out to my friends at Presto Pasta founded by Ruth. Hosted by Chaya Comfy Cook Blog this week!