Well, that’s a mouth full, isn’t it? And for those who don’t know, don’t worry – no bunnies are harmed in the making of this South African Lamb Bunny Chow curry. Why it’s called a bunnychow I couldn’t tell you, but since it’s #NationaCurryWeek, I wanted to share a delicious curry recipe with you, made with succulent, tender Welsh lamb.
When I decided I was going to make a bunny chow for my #NationalCurryWeek contribution, I Googled Bunny chow recipes, and one of the first that came to my attention was this one, from my countryman Jeanne from Cooksister, on whose blog you can also read all about the origins and intricacies of this street food dish, while Lavender & Lovage has a different origin story with her chicken bunny recipe here.
One thing I know for sure about curries is that everyone’s tastes differ, even within our own family, so I’ve made a few adaptations, and Thermified the recipe too.
I would definitely recommend that you start this dish off by making your own Garam Masala. I think a fresh batch makes all the difference. Adjust the curry depending on how hot you like it – I feed two small children, so we don’t make it hot at all. You can even add chillies.
Traditionally you would use a square unsliced bread for the ‘bowl’, but we use whatever bread we have. In the photos we’ve used French bread sticks for smaller meals, and individual giant rolls for bigger meals. I don’t think the bread matters too much, in reality.
If memory serves, you can make a bunny with chicken, lamb, pork or rabbit, as well as beans or root vegetables.
South African (Welsh) Lamb Bunny Chow
Recipe Type: Curry
Cuisine: South African, Street Food
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4 servings
The amount of curry you use in this will depend on how hot you like it. I feed two small children so we only add just about a teaspoon, but you can add more or less. My dad also adds chillies from his garden.
Ingredients
10g ginger
10g garlic
1 medium onion
15g vegetable oil
5 – 20g curry powder, depending on how hot you like it
1 stick cinnamon
4 green cardamom pods, seeded
5g ground turmeric
200g water
1x400g tin chopped tomatoes
3-4 potatoes (1 per person, basically)
1kg lamb, cubed
15g Garam Masala
Salt
a small loaf of bread per 2 people
Fresh coriander
Instructions
Lightly brown lamb on the hob if you like
Dice the lamb and the potatoes
Add garlic and ginger to the Thermomix bowl 10 seconds/ speed 5
Add onion 5 seconds/speed 4
Add 15g vegetable oil and sauté 3 mins/90C/speed 2
Add the curry powder, cinnamon, cardamom pods, and turmeric and saute for a further 1 min/90C/speed 2
Add tomato, water and potatoes and cook for 20 mins/Varoma/REVERSE speed 2
Add lamb and garam masala and cook for a further 10 mins/100C/ REVERSE speed 2
While the curry is cooking, cut the bread in half, and scoop out the soft centre
Butter it if you want to – this is contestable, some of our family swear by it, some say it’s sacrilege
When the curry is cooked, taste and season if required
Scoop the curry into the hollowed out bread, scatter fresh coriander, and replace the bread on top
Serve while still warm
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The Welsh Lamb in this Lamb Bunny Chow was provided to me as part of a promotion to promote Welsh Lamb
For Garam Masala, I’ve discovered, there are about as many recipes as their are people making it. There isn’t one authentic, or one original recipe, but rather it seems to be a matter of personal choice.
For a long time I would say that I didn’t like curries. I think this was because every curry I ever had from a takeaway was just an overkill of hot and I didn’t find that very pleasant. It was only when a friend served me a curry she made that I realised that there was a world of flavour out there that I knew very little about. Over the recent years I’ve learned to enjoy curries – but only those I make, so that I manage the heat!
Garam Masala is the foundation for many North Indian and South Asian dishes, but I’ve also learned that it can add amazing flavour to any meat dish without specifically making it a curry. Garam Masala actually means ‘warm spices’ and that’s precisely what these spices do – they add a warm depth of flavour to the meal.
As with all spices, if you’re able to blend it fresh when you need it, the flavours are stronger and richer, but I make a small amount at a time so that I make a fresh batch every month or so. You can freeze this and take it out as you need it, or just store in an airtight container.
DIY Garam Masala
Recipe Type: Seasoning, Spicemix
Cuisine: Asian, Indian
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 200g
Since I prefer to make this mix up fresh as often as possible, I keep the quantities small, meaning the Thermomix scales aren’t useful here, so this recipe uses a 5ml teaspoon and a 15ml tablespoon.
Ingredients
1 Whole nutmeg
10 Whole cloves
1 Cassia Stick (sold as cinnamon sticks in supermarkets)
1 tsp Black Peppercorns
2 tbs Coriander seeds
1 tbs Cumin seeds
1 tbs Fennel seeds
1 tbs Cardamom pods (about 6 pods)
1 tsp Cayenne pepper (add more if you prefer a hotter spice, or substitute for dried chillies)
1 tsp Turmeric
Instructions
If you’re using a Thermomix, you can add all the ingredients to the bowl and whizz at[b] speed 10 / 20 seconds[/b]. Check inside to confirm, but everything should be a fine powder.
If you’re not using a Thermomix or similar high powered blender, add the first four ingredients, and blend for 30 seconds or until broken into pieces. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend for a further 30 – 60 seconds depending on your blender, until all the spices are crushed.
Store in an airtight container and use within a month for the best flavours.
My brother and sister-in-law came to visit from Australia a few weeks ago, and as you do when people come to visit from not-England, you do the very English thing of taking them for afternoon tea… although I advise that you should first find out if they wanted a high tea or creamtea because they are very different. If you’re expecting a three-tiered tray of triangled sandwiches, pretty dainties and sparkles, getting a plate with two flat scones and a dollop of jam and/or cream is somewhat disappointing, delicious as it is when you were expecting it.
Anyway, I digress. We got to discussing clotted cream, as you do, and how it’s made and my brother set me the challenge of making clotted cream in the Thermomix. It turns out you can’t in a TM31 because you can’t switch the movement of the blades off. I have someone testing it on the yoghurt function of the T5 at the moment, so we’ll see how that works out, and let you know.
In the meantime however, this incredibly simple recipe – can you call it a recipe if it’s one ingredient? – can be easily adapted whether for a slow cooker or an iPot or whatever you use. The important thing, really, is that you need to put it in something that can be kept still for three hours, and the greater the surface area, the better. Also realise that a 600ml pot of double cream only gives you about 100ml of clotted cream, so have some ideas on hand for what to do with the remaining cream that is similar to buttermilk, and make it sooner rather than later as it won’t last long.
The clotted cream itself will last for 3-5 days in the fridge.
I’ve seen recipes online for clotted cream that I’m pretty sure are actually sour cream – cream and lemon juice – that is not traditional clotted cream. Clotted cream is thick cream obtained by heating milk slowly and then allowing it to cool while the cream content rises to the top in coagulated lumps.
You can also use clotted cream instead of butter on toast, perfect with jam, or instead of ice cream on hot puddings – or with ice cream if you’re so inclined. I have used it to top chocolate mousse and steamed puddings, as in the pictures.
DIY Clotted Cream In The Slowcooker Or Crockpot
Author: Luschka
Ingredients
600ml cream (also 600g)
Instructions
Pour the double cream into your slow cooker and put it on the lowest setting. On mine this is warm (as compared to low or high). It’s roughly 70C.
Leave the lid off to allow air exposure and leave for 3 – 4 hours.
Switch the heat off and leave for another hour.
Move the pot of cream very gently to the fridge making sure not to break the surface or shake it in any way.
Keep in the fridge overnight, then scoop the top thick layer off carefully, putting that in an airtight container and use the remainder as buttermilk in bread or scones which you can then top with your clotted cream!
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Don’t have a slow cooker? Pick one up from just over £10!
This week my home schooled kids are learning about France, because we’re heading off to Disneyland Paris in a few weeks. They don’t know this though – they think we’re going to Paris to learn about ‘old stuff’. We will spend a day in Paris too though, just to make sure their learning wasn’t for nothing.
One of the things you learn when learning about France, beyond capital city and population size, is food, and since we have very little by way of groceries at the moment (someone left the car door open, leaving the light on over night and us with a flat battery today. RAC finally reached us well after bed time tonight, so grocery shopping tomorrow!) I was quite literally faced with four onions, two day old bread and some cheese to come up with a dinner idea… you can see where I’m going with this, I’m sure.
One of the books we’re using for our studies at the moment is called France: Food and Celebrations* by Sylvia Goulding, with a bunch of recipes for kids to make, so while I could do this with so much more ease in the Thermomix in 15 minutes, I still feel it’s really important for my kids to learn to cook traditionally first, so that they can understand the basics of cooking – and from there the sky is the limit.
For this French Onion Soup, I didn’t add the traditional Gruyere, so the kids’ just had a strong cheddar on theirs. I added some Chaource to mine. Chaource is a French cheese, originally manufactured in the village of Chaource in the Champagne-Ardenne region. Chaource is a cow’s milk cheese, cylindrical in shape at around 10 cm in diameter and 6 cm in height. It has a soft inside, like an already baked Camembert, and has a beautiful very mild blue cheesy tang to it. It’s really lush, a very unknown cheese in the UK and easily available from Tesco and just works in this soup. (Sorry French traditionalists!)
I had my 5 year old slice the onions (we use this ‘safe’ Pampered Chef slicer) and then stir them on the stove till they were translucent. Meanwhile my 3 year old layered bread and grated cheese in soup dishes. I poured the water in to make the soup, transferred everything to the grill and removed it from there again.
I should add here that this is probably a meal for two, but for one adult and two children it’s ample. Considering you’re eating a slice of bread and an onion with some cheese, it’s incredibly filling, and very rich.
French Onion Soup – Kids In The Kitchen
Author: Recipe adapted from France: Food And Celebrations
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 3 soups
The original recipe calls for duck or goose fat. I used regular salted butter.
Ingredients
2 large or 4 small brown onions
large dollop butter (20g)
1 teaspoon sugar
1.5 litres beef stock (reduce to1000g if using TM31 Thermomix and cook without MC)
4 – 8 slices day old bread
100g shredded cheddar cheese
100g other cheese (for kids I leave this one out and use just cheddar as that’s rich enough for them) Gruyere or Chaource
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Regular Recipe
Peel and thinly slice onions.
Add butter and onion to a pan and sauté till they are translucent and beginning to brown, about 5 – 8 minutes.
Add stock and simmer for 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, grate the cheese, and layer cheese and bread in an oven proof soup bowl (Individual bowls are better than one serving dish) Start with a thin layer of cheese, top with bread, another layer of cheese, and end with a layer of bread, reserving some cheese for later.
When the soup is cooked, spoon onion and soup into soup bowls and top with remaining cheese.
Place under grill for 5 – 10 minutes, keeping an eye on it till the cheese is browned. The dishes will be hot, so transfer carefully to a counter.
For the Thermomix
Add one or both cheeses to the Thermomix (drop over running blades) speed 5, 10 – 15 seconds.
Clean the bowl and set the cheese aside.
Add the onions and butter to the Thermomix and blend 10 seconds speed 4.
Sauté for 8 mins/100C/spoon speed. (If you can, do this on the stove, I do prefer the flavour)
Add the stock (remember to keep to the limits in the Thermomix, so 2000g for TM31)
Cook reverse speed, Varoma/15 mins, without the MC
Meanwhile in the soup dishes, start with a thin layer of cheese, top with bread, another layer of cheese, and end with a layer of bread, reserving some cheese for later.
When the soup is cooked, spoon onion and soup into soup bowls and top with remaining cheese.
Place under grill for 5 – 10 minutes, keeping an eye on it till the cheese is browned. The dishes will be hot, so transfer carefully to a counter.
It’s an ice-cream time of the year, and my kids seem to want some every single day at the moment – one of those side effects of living in a sea side town too: whenever we go to the beach, they think they’re in for a treat. It’s hard to say no too, when all around us holiday-makers are enjoying one of the rich and creamy Isle of Wight ice creams.
I decided it was time to break out the ice lollies again, and get some yoghurt made up. My girls are perfectly happy with frozen yoghurt as ‘ice cream’ so it works out well for all of us – they could even have them for breakfast.
I have these NUK ice lollies that I use for the kids because they take about two tablespoons of yoghurt, which makes a perfectly sized ice lolly. After one, they’re satisfied, making it an all round healthier treat than anything from a box or even a normally bigger than they they can eat soft serve.
The flavours are forgiving – you can pretty much do anything you like, but here are some of our favourites.
Mint & Chocolate Chip is always a good flavour combination, you can add cacao or cocoa to make it a chocolate flavoured frozen yoghurt, but even without that, it’s tasty, and by the time the fro-yo has frozen, the mint permeates through. Delicious. A few hits of choc-chips throughout and there’s nothing not to love.
See how good these look? But they’re only two tablespoons worth of yoghurt and yet sufficient to end a craving.
I thought the mint and chocolate might settle at the bottom, but was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t.
5g of mint leaves is a lot – on a TM31 it doesn’t even register – hence the ingredients say up to 5g. It’s a pretty forgiving recipe, so if you need to add a bit more or less of any ingredient, it won’t cause any problems.
Add the chocolate chips and the yoghurt and mix well.
Transfer into icepop moulds or into a shallow dish, wait till it’s frozen, then serve.
Thermomix Instructions
Add up to 5g mint leaves to the Thermomix bowl and mix speed 5/10seconds.
Add the butterfly, the chocolate chips and the yoghurt and mix 30 seconds, speed 3, scraping down the sides if necessary.
Transfer into icepop moulds or into a shallow dish, wait till it’s frozen, then serve.
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These flat peaches were incredibly juicy. The flavour from them was exceptional, but the problem with that is that they have a higher water content, which makes them freeze a little more ‘icy’ rather than ‘creamy’ which is what you’d get from a higher fat content in the yoghurt. In a ice pop it (like in the moulds above) it doesn’t really make much of a difference, but if you were hoping for a cone-style scoop it needs a longer thaw time.
The recipe for a hard fruit – apples, hard nectarines, and anything else that you would normally have to bake first – is the same as for a soft fruit, with the difference that you’d have to sauté the hard fruit first.
While honey makes the frozen yoghurt sweeter, especially if you’ve opted for natural yoghurt, it also helps emulsify it a little.
Hard Fruit Frozen Yoghurt Recipes
Recipe Type: Dessert, Yoghurt, Frozen Yoghurt
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 400g
My nectarines were still hard even though the skin was going wrinkly. I decided to saute them for a few minutes in some honey, which made all the difference. This works for all hard fruits, like apples.
Ingredients
3 Hard Nectarines (or other fruit)
1tbs (15g) Honey
300g Natural Yoghurt
Instructions
Regular Instructions
Chop the nectarines roughly, making sure to remove the pip.
Place in a pot on the stove with the honey and saute for 5 – 10 mins until it’s soft.
If you want the fruit chunky, leave it as is, but if you want it smoother, mash or purée the fruit.
Add the yoghurt and stir to combine.
Transfer into icepop moulds or into a shallow dish, wait till it’s frozen.
You’ll need to leave the fro-yo for a few minutes to soften up before serving.
Thermomix Instructions
Add the nectarines to the Thermomix, making sure to remove the pip.
Add the honey and sauté for 3 mins/ Speed 2/ Varoma until it’s soft.
If you want the fruit chunky, leave it as is, but if you want it smoother, mix Speed 5/30 seconds.
Add the yoghurt and the butterfly and stir to combine (speed 3/20 seconds)
Transfer into icepop moulds or into a shallow dish, wait till it’s frozen.
You’ll need to leave the fro-yo for a few minutes to soften up before serving.
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We serve these in one of three ways:
Either in an ice lolly like in the first picture
Or in a flat container you can scoop from. We live the chocolate covered waffles for serving too.
Or mix two flavours together by pouring the first ‘batch’ into a container and putting it in the freezer for 10 minutes while preparing the second batch, then pouring it over or creating a swirl. It’s a really tasty way to enjoy two flavours together.
Soft Fruit Frozen Yoghurt Recipes
Recipe Type: Dessert, Ice Cream, Frozen Yoghurt
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 400g
It’s hard to give exact figures here, since the recipe is very forgiving, and since the point of it is to use up extra fruit and avoid wastage. Cook time is freezing time, but obviously depends on the size of your container.
Ingredients
3 Soft Fruits (the amount of fruit doesn’t ‘really’ matter. Add what you have.)
1tbs (15g) Honey
300g Natural Yoghurt
Instructions
Regular Instructions
Chop the nectarines roughly, making sure to remove the pip.
Place in a pot on the stove with the honey and saute for 5 – 10 mins until it’s soft.
If you want the fruit chunky, leave it as is, but if you want it smoother, mash or purée the fruit.
Add the yoghurt and stir to combine.
Transfer into icepop moulds or into a shallow dish, wait till it’s frozen.
You’ll need to leave the fro-yo for a few minutes to soften up before serving.
Thermomix Instructions
Add the fruit to the Thermomix, making sure to remove any pips. Chop speed 4/10 seconds.
If it’s very juicy, reduce some of the juice.
If you want the fruit chunky, leave it as is, but if you want it smoother, mix Speed 5/30 seconds.
Add the yoghurt and the butterfly and stir to combine (speed 3/20 seconds)
Transfer into icepop moulds or into a shallow dish, wait till it’s frozen.
You’ll need to leave the fro-yo for a few minutes to soften up before serving if you want it scoop-able.
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Play around with the flavours and see what your favourite combinations are!
We often eat couscous as an alternative to pasta. While I know I do better on a grain free diet, life circumstances dictate that grains make up a big part of our diet – they just cost less than the better-f0r-me stuff! Sad but true. So, we eat a lot of grains. One of the fantastic things about couscous is that you can make completely different meals by adapting the sauce, seasoning and add-ons in your couscous salad.
Sometimes we also end up with a left over couscous – not enough for another meal, but too much to bin in good conscience. So I tried frying it arancini-style. Because the leftover couscous was already so flavourful, I wasn’t all that fussed with additions, but we could have put mozzarella balls or even flavoured cream cheese in the centre. I didn’t miss it though.
Obviously these aren’t perfectly round as sticky rice arancini would be, but it really makes no difference to the flavour. They make great little patties too.
The couscous on the outside forms a crispy layer outside the softer insides, so it provides a great variety of texture from the standard couscous salad too.
This recipe is just a starting point. You can adapt it to pretty much anything. Be careful with wet ingredients that it doesn’t get too wet and fall apart – start with less and add more as needed. Also, you don’t need to use egg, but it’s more fragile without the egg.
Another delicious flavour combination is couscous with shredded chicken in tomato and basil sauce. Add feta to the centre of the balls, and follow the instructions for cooking!
Tip: Plan to make a few more than you need as some will break and fall apart. They still taste great, and can be eaten anyway, but not ideal if you’re looking for presentation brownie-points.
Fried Couscous Balls Or Patties
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 10 balls
I use a basic formula when I make couscous salad, and no two are ever the same. It’s quite simple: 1 part meat, equal amounts vegetables, and herbs & spices to taste. For the leftovers, I simply mix in an egg. Done. It couldn’t really be simpler! It’s hard to give an exact recipe though, as that kind of negates the point of using the leftovers – just play around with it. It’s worth it!
Ingredients
For the couscous
300g dry couscous
200g pancetta or diced bacon, cooked
2 spring onion
1 clove garlic
10g (2 tsp) [url href=”http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00NGU3DIW/?tag=diaofafirchi-21″ target=”_blank”]Ras el hanout[/url] or other favourite spice mix. (Chinese 5 spices, BBQ etc)
For the balls/patties
300g prepared couscous (roughly)
1 egg, whisked
Instructions
If making couscous especially for this recipe
Bring 500g water (2 cups in a kettle) or stock to the boil.
Switch off the heat and stir in 300g couscous and spices.
Add a tablespoon of butter if you used a water based stock. If you used a meat stock you are unlikely to need the extra fat.
Chop cooked bacon, spring onions, garlic finely. (10 seconds, speed 4 in Thermomix) and add to couscous.
Leave to cool.
If using leftover couscous
Once cool, whisk an egg and add to the mixture to help it stick together. You don’t have to use an egg, but they are a lot more fragile without it.
Form either balls or patties in the palm of your hand.
Meanwhile heat a frying pan to medium heat with a small amount of oil. Add the balls to the frying pan and leave for 2 – 3 minutes until they become golden and crispy. Turn over, remembering that they are more fragile than e.g. meatballs. The browner and crisper the outer layer, the better they will hold together. Everything in the patties that needs to be cooked, like the pancetta or bacon, is already cooked so you’re just trying to crisp it up.
Once golden on all sides, remove to a serving dish and serve immediately as a snack or as a side dish to meat, salad or similar.
I’m not a fan of spicy food, and put a stack of take away fliers down in front of me and I’ll never go for the Indian or similarly spiced option. That said, whenever I’ve made anything vaguely curry-ish in nature, I’ve really enjoyed it. Strange, isn’t it.
This recipe is fantastic. Honestly, the richness of flavours is out of this world. Specially since it’s not a spice combination I’m accustomed to. And I don’t even like strong tomato flavours. But this, I enjoy! “Devilled” is the generally given adjective for when something is highly spiced – which I’ve come to realise doesn’t have to mean hot. Traditionally this recipe would have some chilies added to it. If you like chilies, go wild. I don’t like hot food, and I’m feeding a five and a three year old too, so we don’t add chilies.
I find food like this so hard to photograph. I look at this picture and see a symphony of flavour, but without having eaten it, it probably looks a bit weird. Sorry about that. It’s fantastically flavorsome though. Take my word for it!
A forgiving recipe that lets you adjust the seasoning and flavours to your preference. Sri Lankan curry is a blend of coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, cassia bark, fenugreek seeds, cloves, cardamon, mustard seeds, black peppercorns, kashmiri chilli & turmeric – buy one ready made or mix your own before starting this recipe.
Place marinade ingredients in the Thermomix bowl, and mix, speed 5/10 seconds. Add chopped meat and mix speed 1/15 seconds
Set aside to marinate for at least 45 minutes
(Don’t worry about cleaning the bowl)
In the Thermomix, drop the onion over running blades (speed 4).
Heat a pan to medium heat. and add the marinated pork with the marinade. Cook until the juices have reduced to a thick gravy. Add the tomatoes, onion and garlic. Also add salt & Sri Lankan Curry Powder to taste.
Stir to prevent burning, till all the liquid is gone.
In the meantime, fill the Thermomix with water, and cook rice per the usual method. You can add your choice of Asian vegetables to the Varoma at this point too.
Sprinkle with grated lemon rind
Serve the rice with soy sauce and Sri Lankan Devilled Pork.
Regular Instructions
Cut Pork into 1′ chunks
Place marinade ingredients in a bowl, and mix together.. Add chopped meat and stir till it’s all covered.
Set aside to marinate for at least 45 minutes
Slice the onion finely.
Heat a pan to medium heat, and add the marinated pork with the marinade. Cook until the juices have reduced to a thick gravy. Add the tomatoes, onion and garlic. Also add salt & Sri Lankan Curry Powder to taste.
Stir to prevent burning, till all the liquid is gone.
In the meantime cook rice per your usual method.
Sprinkle with grated lemon rind
Serve the rice with soy sauce and Sri Lankan Devilled Pork.
I was given a selection of mixed pices recently, and I’ll be honest and confess that I’d never heard of most of them. The first one I wanted to try and cook with was Baharat. If you Google Baharat you’ll find a number of versions based on area, but this one was from a company called Spice Kitchen and according to their website it’s a blend of cloves, black pepper, cumin seeds, nutmeg, paprika, cardamon & cinnamon.
I spent a whole afternoon perusing Pinterest and the rest of the web trying to learn the best use of this spice, and when I finally sat down to meatballs in a yoghurt and garlic butter sauce at dinner time, I was thrilled with the result. I didn’t find this a spicy dish at all, and the dressing was perfect with plain, fluffy white rice. We also had another dish at the table which was a lot more spicy, and this sauce provided beautiful relief for the tongue.
As someone who didn’t grow up with a lot of spices, and who can’t really handle much more heat that black pepper – or a light wasabi – and who’d never choose to eat at an Indian restaurant, for example, I’d never have considered experimenting with these spice until a few years ago, and sitting eating this meal, I savoured every mouthful
I think my favourite thing about this dish is that it’s not just one flavour all the way through. Each mouthful is different, with hints of mint, crunchy pine nuts yoghurt and the Baharat meatballs coming through in different bites. Hmm… sitting here writing this, I’m salivating – I’m going to have to buy some more lamb mince!
Baharat Meatballs With Yoghurt & Garlic Butter Sauce
Recipe Type: Varoma, Main, Sharing
Cuisine: Arabian
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
This is a delicious recipe that can be used as a single main, or one of many sharing dishes. The yoghurty dish also offsets other spicy dishes on the table, while this isn’t spicy of itself.
Ingredients
For the meatballs
400g ground lamb
salt and pepper for seasoning
1 small onion, halved
15g Baharat Spice (adjust seasoning to taste)
For the dressing
100g (100ml) plain yoghurt ([url href=”https://www.keeperofthekitchen.com/2014/01/20/thick-yoghurt-recipe/” target=”_blank”]try this recipe[/url])
25g butter
1 clove garlic, crushed
For the topping
1 tsp Mint (fresh or dried)
50g pine nuts
Oil for frying
Rice to Serve
Instructions
In the Thermomix
Switch the Thermomix on Speed 4 and drop the onion halves on athe blades for a few seconds.
Open the lid and add the minced lamb, salt and pepper and Baharat Spices. Mix Speed 4/10 seconds.
Oil the Varoma
Form small egg-yolk sized meatballs and place them in the Varoma. (You can also do these the ‘normal’ way on the stove if you prefer them being browned)
Fill the bowl to the 1 litre mark and put the Varoma in place. Cook on Varoma temp, speed 4 for 20 – 25 minutes.
(If you’re having rice with this dish, add it after about 10 minutes. Add the rice in the internal steamer for the remaining 15 minutes.)
Meanwhile, on the stove, heat the pine nuts till they start releasing their aroma. Toast them lightly but watch that they don’t burn – mine in the pictures are a little burned!
Next melt the butter and add the garlic, and finally warm the yoghurt. DO NOT let it boil or split, just warm it.
Move the meatballs into a serving dish.
Pour the yoghurt over them, then drizzle the garlic butter, top with pine nuts and mint.
Serve with rice.
Traditional Cooking
Chop the onions finely, and add the spices, salt and pepper and mince with the onions in a bowl. Mix well till all combined.
Form small egg-yolk sized meatballs and place them in a hot pan. Cook for about 15 minutes, turning ocassionally to get it browned on all sides and cooked through.
In the meantime, cook your rice according to manufacturer instructions.
On a baking tray, or on another plate on the stove, toast the pine nuts but watch that they don’t burn.
Next melt the butter and add the garlic, and finally warm the yoghurt. DO NOT let it boil or split, just warm it.
Move the meatballs into a serving dish.
Pour the yoghurt over them, then drizzle the garlic butter, top with pine nuts and mint.
Serve with rice.
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The inspiration for this recipe came from this original
It’s almost Easter again, and while we aren’t really a free-from anything family, when there’s so much focus on chocolate – between Valentine’s day, Mother’s Day, and Easter, I like to have alternatives available, so that even if I don’t manage to curb my sweet tooth, I’m at least not filling up myself or the children with cheap, often actually not very good – chocolate.
This recipe is very easy. The children can help you make it, or you can whip it up quickly. It’s quite dark, we like dark chocolate. If you don’t like it as dark, adjust the cocoa down. You could add other things, like marshmallows, nuts, or cherries, but just remember to adjust the quantity of rice crispies down then. The main thing to remember is this isn’t held together by chocolate, which is strong, but by coconut oil, which needs to be kept cool, otherwise you’ll end up with what looks like a (very tasty) bowl of chocolate cereal.
Add the coconut oil and honey to the Thermomix bowl. If you’re using runny honey, 30 seconds/37 degrees/speed 2 should melt it all, but if the honey is crystalised or set, about 1 minute/50 degrees/speed 2. It must be mixed and melted before you go to step 2.
Add the vanilla and cocoa powder, and a small pinch of sea salt. 15 seconds/speed 3
Add the rice crispies and use the spatula to stir it in so that all the rice crispies are covered with the chocolate mix.
Transfer to a brownie pan (this one is fantastic!) and squash it all in nicely. Put in the fridge for an hour or two to set, then cut into squares.
Tip: Remember this is kept together with coconut oil, so keep it cool otherwise it might fall apart a bit.
Regular Instructions
Create a double boiler by boiling a pot of water on the stove, and put coconut oil and honey in a glass bowl over it. Once they’re melted, mix together and add the vanilla extract (be careful – both the glass bowl and the mixture will be very hot).
Add the cocoa powder and sea salt, and then add the rice crispies.
Mix together till all the rice crispies are covered in the chocolate mixture and transfer into your brownie pan.
Place in the fridge till it’s cooled and set, then cut into squares.
Before we go any further, I need to come clean on something here: I’m not a professional at sourdough. I’m not even really good at it. This was my first attempt at sourdough, and I’m really happy with how it turned out, so I wrote it down. I expect that there’ll be plenty of editing and changing as I play and learn with it. But, sitting here eating a slice of bread with butter, I can tell you that this recipe as it is written here, works, and works well.
Back in November a friend gave me a master class on Sourdough as it’s something she makes a lot. I took away a dried starter with me, and then life happened. In the last week of February, I finally activated the starter, and have been feeding it for a week. Yesterday I felt we were good to go.
If you want to buy a ready to go starter, you can get them from eBay and Etsy, among others.
This makes a huge loaf. In future I’ll make it as two breads in a regular loaf tin. You can also use thisproving basket for up to 1kg of bread, which would suit this recipe perfectly.
So, to the recipe…
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 2 standard loaves
Ingredients
750g strong white bread flour
400g lukewarm water
40g olive oil
2 tsp salt
200g sourdough starter
Instructions
Add all the ingredients to the Thermomix bowl
Mix on speed 6 for 10 seconds to combine everything
Then knead for 3 minutes on the dough setting (wheat sheaf)
Meanwhile, oil or butter your loaf tin.
Note: This makes a HUGE loaf, so if you’re using a standard loaf tin, you’ll need to separate the dough into two.
Remove from Thermomix and place on a tray. Halve the dough now if you’re going to.
You need to ‘fold’ it into a ball. Essentially treat it like a sheet you’re tucking in to a mattress – take one side and fold it under, then the other, and fold it under, then the final two, till it’s a ‘ball’.
Place in the bread tin, then cut deep slits along the top – this is to prevent the sides of the bread splitting apparently.
Now here things get tricky. There are as many instructions for making sourdough bread as there are recipes, so here’s what I did.
Leave the dough to rest for six hours, in a warm, but not hot place.
Heat the oven to 200C and cook for 30 – 40 minutes. Test to see if it’s ready by knocking on the crust. If it sounds hollow it’s ready.
Leave the bread to cool slightly before cutting.
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I hope it works for you. Please let me know, and if you have any hints and tips, leave them below! I think I could use them!
I’ve seen recipes online for clotted cream that I’m pretty sure are actually sour cream – cream and lemon juice – that is not traditional clotted cream. Clotted cream is thick cream obtained by heating milk slowly and then allowing it to cool while the cream content rises to the top in coagulated lumps.
See how good these look? But they’re only two tablespoons worth of yoghurt and yet sufficient to end a craving.
