Szechuan Green Beans

We had this dish at a Szechuan Restaurant on Leigh Street . Zayn and I discussed that it would go well with Lamb Pilau so we cooked it on Chachi's birthday.

600 gm french long beans; topped and tailed and cut into two

10 cloves garlic; crushed

4 inch ginger; grated
1 onion; chopped finely

1 tablespoon oil

Mix the following ingredients

1 tsp red chilli flakes

1 tablespoon soya sauce

1 tables sesame oil

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1. Steam the beans for 4 min

2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan / wok, add the onions and fry for 1 minute

3. Fry the garlic / ginger,

4 Add the beans and stir fry for a 2 minutes;

5. Add the mixture of chilli flakes, soya sauce, sesame oil and vinegar, mix, and cook for a 30 secs, the beans will be spotted with brown but still crunchy

4 Serve.

I served them with lamb pilau

Eid & Chachi's Birthday Dinner

I am back! It was Chachi's birthday on Eid day so we had a double celebration, no a triple celebration as it was Shaheen's birthday on Sunday. We really missed our Australian family after getting used to them being here this summer, Ben and Dylan were also missed.

• Chilli and Garlic Olives
• Papad / papadum
• Sambharo (stirfried carrots and cabbage with whole green chillies)
• Chicken samosa
• Sichuan Green Beans (made by Zayn, recipe to follow)
• Vagharelo mogo (Spicy Casava)
• Lamb akhni (pulao)
• Kachumbar (tomato and onion salad)
• Greek Salad sans cheese
• Almond cake (made by Muni)

It was a feast.

Asparagus Spanish Omelette

I made this using leftover roast asparagus and potatoes.
To make from scratch

Ingredients
1 medium onion; chopped finely
8 small new potatoes; boiled and sliced
8 asparagus shoots; cut into 3 inch pieces and blanched
1 tablespoons olive oil
5 eggs; beaten
salt and black pepper to taste

Method
1. Heat the oil in a 8 inch frying pan, fry the onions until soft.
2. Add the potatoes and stir fry for a few minutes, until the potatoes are completed coated with oil, and begining to turn brown, now the asparagus, stir well.
3. Turn down the heat and add the beaten eggs; cover the pan with a lid, and leave for about 15 minutes, making sure that the heat is very low.
4. Carefully invert onto a plate and put back into the pan, cook for a 2-3 minutes.
5. Serve with a salad and crusty bread.

Cheese and Spinach Samosa

These samosas are adapted from Greek Spanakopita or Turkish Borek

Ingredients
1 cup thawed frozen chopped spinach
1 cup finely chopped spring onions
1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander
2 cloves garlic; crushed
1 inch ginger; grated
2 green chillies; crushed
1/4 tspn garam masala
200 gm /8 oz Feta cheese; crumbled (mash using a fork)
NO SALT (feta cheese is very salty)
20 samosa pastries (or filo pastry)




Method
1. Drain the spinach in a colander
2. Mix the spinach, spring onions, coriander and cheese
3. Add the garlic, ginger and crushed chilies, mix
4. Add the garam masala and mix. There is no need to cook the filling as it gets cooked during frying or baking
5. Fold the samosa as shown here
6. Fry the samosa in hot oil, or brush with oil and bake in the oven at 200 degrees centigrade for 25 minutes.
ENJOY

Roast Asparagus and Salmon

Adapted From BBC Good Food

Ingredients
400g new potatoes, halved if large
2 tbspn olive oil
8 asparagus spears, trimmed and halved
2 handfuls cherry tomatoes
2 salmon filletsabout 140g/5oz each
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Tip the potatoes and 1 tbsp of olive oil into an ovenproof dish, then roast the potatoes for 20 mins until starting to brown. Toss the asparagus in with the potatoes, then return to the oven for 15 mins.
2. Throw in the cherry tomatoes and vinegar and nestle the salmon amongst the vegetables. Drizzle with the remaining oil and return to the oven for a final 10-15 mins until the salmon is cooked. Season with salt and pepper
   

VEry easy and really delicious!!
I made Spainish Omelet with the left over vegetable - recipe soon

Summer Fruit Jelly

I had this at Malcolm and Naomi's house the other week, I could not wait to try it, I have made it twice now, delicious



Ingredients
Mixed summer fruit consisting of strawberries, blackberries, rasberries and blueberries, I used a pannet of each (200gm)
500 mls cranberry juice
100 mls sparkly water
100 mls plain water
2 tablespns of agar agar (china grass, faloda) flakes

1. Soften the agar agar in boiling hot water, microwave a couple of times for 1 minute, until melted.
2. Place the fruit in a 2lB loaf tin
3. Place the fruit juice and water in a bowl and add the melted agar agar, mix briskly and add to the fruit
4. Place in the fridge, should set in 30 minutes
5. Serve chilled, Turn out the jelly by placing the tin in hot water for a few minutes, and on to a plate. Cut it into slices
I served with vanilla ice cream, but you can serve with cream or creme fraiche.

Spicy Mashed Matoke (Green Bananas)

Served with chickpeas and tomato and red pepper salsa.



4 - 5 matoke (green bananas from Uganda)
1 200g can peeled tomatoes; liquidised
2 cloves garlic - minced
1 inch ginger - grated
2 chillis - minced
1 table spn vegetable oil
1 tspn mustard seeds
1/2 tspn cumin seeds
1/2 tspn tumeric
2 teaspoons coriander/cumin mix
salt to taste
fresh coriander for garnish



Method
1. Peel the green bananas, slice that into 1 inch chunks and place in water and boil with some salt.
2. Heat oil in a pan, add the mustard and cumin seeds, as soon as they start to splutter, add onions and fry until golden brown
3. Then add the tomatoes, garlic, ginger and the minced chillis, stir and fry for a few minutes.
4. Add the cumin, coriander and tumeric, fry for a few minutes. Add the bananas (reserve the water) and mash using a wooden spoon.
5. Add the reserved banana water (2 cups) and mix so that it blends in with the bananas.
5. Garnish with coriander and serve. I served it with chick peas and tomato and red pepper salsa.