Lamb koftes

One of the great things about Easton is the variety of eateries.  My favourite starter at La Casbah is Lamb Koftes, and they’re also one of my favourite things to eat when we visit Trina’s sister in Istanbul – though I’m yet to be converted to the true Istanbul speciality of Cig (raw) kofte!!

Anyway, this is my take on them… the sauce is kind of a harissa sauce, although without the red peppers - paprika and chilli give it the colour.


Ingredients (makes about 12 koftes, c. 2.5” long)


for the Koftes

350g lamb mince
2 tsp each of coriander, cumin, chilli powder, paprika, ras el hanout
1 tsp each of salt and pepper
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 egg
fine semolina for dusting

For the harissa sauce (makes enough for two lots of koftes, so freeze half of it)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small aubergine, chopped into small squares
1 medium sized carrot – the older the better, as it’ll be sweeter – chopped very small (0.5cm cubes max…)
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or crushed
splash of balsamic vinegar
8-10 dried apricot segments
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 tsp each of ras el hanout, coriander and cumin, 3 of chilli powder
About 400 ml water

Method
Combine all the ingredients for the koftes, except the semolina, mix thoroughly, then former into sausages about 2.5” long and 0.75” thick.  Place these on a plate in the fridge for an hour or so to firm them up, so they hold their shape.

For the sauce, fry the carrots for about 4 minutes until they start to colour, then add the onion until it goes golden, then the aubergine and garlic. Fry until all the oil’s been absorbed (add a little more if it looks too dry - the aubergine should start to release some once it's cooked), then add the spices, tomato puree and apricot.  Cook for about another minute, then slowly add the water, letting it absorb before adding more. Once it won’t take any more, add the rest of the water, cover and simmer for about an hour.  Once everything is soft (check the carrots), blitz mix until almost smooth, then return to the pan and keep on a low heat while you cook the koftes.

Pre-heat enough oil in a heavy frying pan to just cover the whole surface (don't put too much in, as they'll release a lot of fat while they're cooking anyway...).  Dust each kofte in turn in the semolina, so it’s completely covered, then add them to the pan. Brown on each side, turning regularly – you need to make sure each side is sealed, otherwise they’ll split.  Keep turning frequently until cooked – about ten minutes.

Tonight I've served this with a light salad, a few bits of feta cheese, and some pitta breads – i like the breads run under a splash of water, then fried in a tiny amount of oil and kept warm in tinfoil – it makes them nice and soft.  However, Trina moans about this, so otherwise, just toast ‘em!

Crispy duck

Tonight’s recipe is a quick and easy one after a day at St. Paul’s carnival drinking a variety of things in cans, and eating some great Caribbean food – goat curry, patties, saltfish fritters and jerk chicken!
So tonight’s is a light bite, using the remains of the duck from last night (i always buy whole ducks, as they’re much better value than buying the overpriced breast, and it only takes a minute or two to trim it down to the best bits – and you can use the carcass for stock).

The main cheat in this recipe is that i do always buy the pancakes – either from the supermarket, if they have them, or from our local chinese – they don’t seem to mind! I really hate duck ‘pancakes’ served in tortillas, the texture is completely wrong, way too floury, and the bread just doesn’t go with hoi sin sauce at all… one day hopefully supermarkets and caterers will wake up to it!!

Anyway...

Ingredients

for the sauce (adjust slightly to taste)
1 tbsp dark molasses sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp rice wine or white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp five spice
1 tsp tomato ketchup
1 tbsp sunflower oil

For the duck
2 largeish duck legs
sprinkling of five spice
Shredded spring onion

Method
Sprinkle the duck legs with a pinch of five spice, the place on an oven tray in a pre-heated oven on gas mark 4, and cook for an hour or so until tender, then remove and strip the flesh from the bones.  Put the meat back in the oven on the same tray (to keep the fat that’s cooked off) and cook for another half hour.

Combine the ingredients for the sauce, and mix well – adjust to your own taste, I like mine quite sweet.

Shred any of the larger pieces of duck, then serve with the shredded spring onion with the pancakes!
Dead simple

Malabar duck

I’m back! after a week or two not really doing much interesting cooking (possibly as a psychological result of gnocchi and ITV…) I though I’d make a come back with a recently discovered but already firm favourite recipe.  It comes from Gordon Ramsay's Great Escape: 100 of My Favourite Indian Recipes

(the one with gratuitous pics of him on every other page, thankfully mostly fully clothed…). I'm not a huge Ramsey fan, but he does do some great stuff, and this recipe combines two of my favourite things - duck and curry! As you probably would expect by now, i’ve made a few amendments to better reflect my own tastes.  Trina loves this dish, and it went down well with her folks too.  It’s a really nice blend of spice and sweet, which has a lot in common with Thai and Vietnamese food - and i guess quite similar to the Kerelan flavours I love too, particularly in use of coconut.


Ingredients (for 2 – or 4 if you’re not as piggy as we are!)
Two good sized duck breast fillets, skin on, whole
2 tsp of curry powder
1 tsp fenugreek
1 inch of root ginger, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp ghee or butter, or 1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 medium onion
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp garam masalla
seeds of 1 cardamom pod, crushed
5-6 curry leaves, crushed
50g raisins
1 can coconut milk


Method
Rub the curry powder, fenugreek, ginger and garlic on to the duck breasts, including skin side, and leave to marinade in the fridge for an hour or two. 

Heat a heavy bottomed frying pan on a medium heat, then place the duck fillets skin side down – let them cook pretty slowly, you want the skin to crisp up but not burn.  Reserve the garlic and ginger for adding to other pan.  You don’t need any fat in this pan – the fat from the duck skin should render down anyway.

In another pan, heat the ghee until liquid, then throw in the onion, and the garlic and ginger from the rub/marinade.  Let it brown a little (make sure it doesn’t burn) then throw in the coriander, chilli and garam masala.  In many recipes, you add the garam masala last – if you want to do this, it’s fine – it just means the spice doesn’t cook out for as long, so you get more of the powdered flavour.  However, Gordon says, to add this here, and in this instance I agree!

Let the spices fry for a minute or so then add the curry leaf, cardamom seeds and raisins, and stir in for another couple of minutes, then add the coconut milk, mix thoroughly and bring to a gentle simmer.
The duck should by now be pretty crispy on the skin side.  Flip the fillets over to seal them, no more than a minute.  Then, keeping the skin out of the liquid, lay the fillets into the other pan.  Cook them on a lowish simmer for about 5-6 minutes, no more – you want the lovely pinkness of a rare duck breast.

Remove the breast once done and leave to rest – bring the liquid to a quick boil for a minute or two reduce it and thicken.  Serve on a bed of plain basmati rice (see my earlier missive) – duck breast sliced thinly on top, then the sauce around the sides.

Pretty damn good i think!!