Tag Archives: lamb

Hung’s Wide World of Food

29 Monday Feb 2016

Posted by in Mark, The Dining Room

≈ 8 Comments

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Spinach and Lamb Pie Thanks to taste.com.au for the picture

Spinach and Lamb Pie
Thanks to taste.com.au for the picture

 

This is a variation of a recipe that I got from a Greek cookbook. I love the way Greeks eat and in summer, it’s usually grilled meat with fresh salad, crusty bread and of course, yogurt sauce. All washed down by a good crisp Chardonnay which is a town in Greek somewhere.

Ingredients

Lamb – I’ve used both minced lamb from the supermarket and left over lamb from a roast. They both work. I don’t roast much lamb any more so I use minced. If you use roasted lamb, trim excessive fat and chop.

Cumin

garlic, onion, chilli(optional) all chopped

salt and pepper to taste

tin of chopped tomatoes

Spinach – frozen is okay, fresh is better, chopped, but no matter which one try and get most of the water out. I use a sieve and then push it down with a potato masher. When it is baking the rest of the water should evaporate.

Carrot, grated

Zucchini, grated

Tomato paste

Short crust pastry

Method

In a fry pan with oil added on medium heat, add the garlic salt and pepper and cumin.
Stir through for a couple of minutes once you see the oil start to bubble.
Add onion. Stir through and cook a few minutes, don’t let this mix burn. If it does throw it out and start again.
Add the lamb and brown, breaking the mince up to get the meat finer. If it has been roasted you may even want to mince it slightly.

Add tomato paste and tinned tomatoes.
Add spinach, carrot and zucchini. Cook then down for just a couple of minutes.
Mix well, leave heat on low with lid off.
Get this as dry as you can without burning.

Turn heat off. Keep the lid off till cool, then cover.

I usually make this in the morning for that night but remember I’m a nut job. But truly the mix needs to be cool before it goes on the pastry.

I don’t make my own pastry. I get mine from the supermarket. Cut it like this, four cuts at roughly 45 degrees, this can make one big pie or several small ones.

pastry 2Fill the centre with the mix and fold over each edge leaving an opening at the top. Spray the pastry with oil and top the opening with feta. The picture one is similar but a is a full pie and is made with pastry strips across the top for effect.

I have used mashed potato instead of feta or grated cheese and there are a thousands of substitutions. Enjoy and many thanks to out Greek community.

 

Turkish Herbed Lamb Pizza

06 Friday Jun 2014

Posted by in Mark, The Dining Room

≈ 15 Comments

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Lahmacun-(turkish-pizza) Courtesy: SBS Food

Lahmacun-(turkish-pizza) Pic Courtesy: SBS Food

 

Many years ago the wonderful Tutu and I lived in New South Wales. In our town there was a great little restaurant called The Istanbul that funnily enough served Turkish food. We would go to the Istanbul usually about once a fortnight or so and after a while we had tasted everything on the menu at least twice. They also had a specials board which we sampled keenly until one day the owner approached us. He said to us hey look, you come here all the time and like our food, how about we do a deal, you book in, we will bring you the food at twenty bucks a head, as much as you want. Perfect. From then on we would take a seat, they would pour us a wine and out the food would come. Then one day we were served Lahmacun, I was already a pizza addict and yet here was a pizza with no cheese that was to die for. Tutu is coming over tonight and this is what we will have. Enjoy.

 

Ingredients.

A pizza dough – do you really need for me to tell you this bit. I use my bread machine to make mine.

Now I make enough for one large pizza given the tray I have so I’ll leave it up to you but for the topping you will need,

Lamb mince

Garlic

Onion

Cinnamon

Allspice

Pine Nuts

Tomato paste

Tomatoes, chopped and not tinned.

Chicken stock

Lemon juice

Mint

Parsley

Baby spinach

Yoghurt with some added water to pour.

Gordon feels hungry

Gordon feels hungry

Method.

Make a pizza dough [spooky music plays in background]

Fry off the lamb mince in a pan till browned. You will want to render off the fat by straining it.

Heat some oil in the same fry pan and saute the garlic and onion. Add spices and nuts. When the pine nuts are golden add tomato, paste, stock and juice. Add the mince and cook on low till you have reduced the liquid, this has to be fairly dry. Remove from heat and fold in mint, parsley and baby spinach.

Roll out your dough and top with lamb mix. 15 minutes in a very hot oven should do. Cut into pieces and in a jug put yoghurt and some water so the yoghurt runs like a gravy. Serve and add yoghurt as desired.

Crispin likes

Crispin likes, Follow me on Facebook, if you’re game.

Anyway I work with a Turkish girl and have spoken to her about this recipe. She and her husband love it but she said to me “When I make it Hung I add six chopped red chillies. When my husband eats it he starts to sweat, and sweat and sweat but he eats it all”

“So why do you do that Woman who cannot be named for Privacy reasons?”

“Because I can Hung, because I can”. Strange but true.