Egyptian Fish Tagen

Egyptian Macaroni Béchamel

I had thought when I started this crazy idea that I would miss eating pasta regularly. Italy was marked down as one of the countries we did for the letter I right from the start. I needn’t have worried it seems because pasta has colonised a fair percentage of the world. In the last three weeks I’ve managed to have pasta from Croatia, Dominican Republic and now Egypt.

The actual dish ended up as Macaroni Mornay, with the addition of cheese to the bechemel sauce.  The dish itself has a lot of close relatives all round the meditarranean, the most obvious being Italian lasagne and the Greek pastitsio.  We used minced lamb although it’s sometimes made with beef, and were a bit creative with the spices, adding some ras el hanout, which is almost certainly not traditional.  It is very simple to make, especially when given a helping hand by an eager 8 year old, and was absolutely delicious.

500g minced lamb
300g Penne pasta
1 medium onion chopped
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
400g tin of tomatoes
1 teaspoon of chopped thyme
1 teaspoon of dried herbs
half a teaspoon of cumin
half a teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of ras el hanout (optional)
1 bay leaf
black pepper

20g butter
20g plain flour
250 ml milk
salt
nutmeg
75g grated cheddar cheese (optional)

• Fry the onion and garlic until soft, add the lamb mince and fry until browned
• Add all the herbs and spices, and season with salt and pepper.
• Put in the tin of tomotoes and a small amount of water.
• Stir well, and simmer gently for 1 -2 hours

Meanwhile make the mornay sauce

• melt the butter and when it is liquid, add the flour and mix together to make a paste
• Gradually add the milk, a very little at a time, to try to avoid making lumps.
• Keep adding the milk until you have a smooth glossy sauce.  if you do get lumps halfway through, use a whisk to beat them out.
• Grate a little nutmeg in to taste.
• Add the cheese (if using), and stir into the sauce.
• Boil the pasta until it is still not quite al dente, as is will be cooked again in the oven.
• Drain the pasta and put a layer of pasta into an ovenproof dish – preferably a fairly large one – and then add a layer of the meat sauce.
• Put in another layer of pasta and then the meat again, and cover with the bechamel or mornay sauce.
• Cook in the oven for around 25 – 30 minutes, in a medium oven – 200 degrees C or gas mark 6

Lamb Kofta

Kofta is another of those dishes that is enjoyed all over the middle east and even beyond where they are eaten all over the Indian subcontinent where they are often cooked with curry.

You could use beef to make them if you preferred but these meatballs taste are more authentic and taste so much better when made with lamb

500g of minced lamb
1 small onion finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon coriander powder
2 teaspoons cumin powder
1 beaten egg

• in a large bowl combine all the ingerdients and mix thoroughly with a teaspoon of salt and some black pepper
• Allow to firm up slighly in the fridge for about an hour
• make meatballs about 3cm in diameter and place them on skewers
• Cook on or under a medium hot grill turning regularly until they are cooked
• Serve with Fattoush and flat breads

Fattoush

Fattoush is a delicious egyptian salad based around cucmber and fresh herbs. It can be prepared in just a few minutes and is tasty and refreshing.
It could be served as a side dish to any kind of grilled meat but works especially well with lamb. I made it to go with Lamb Koftas and they worked a treat together.

1 large cucumber
1 green pepper chopped
1 small onion very finely chopped
handful of fresh mint
handful of fresh parsley
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon of Sumac powder
salt and pepper

• Cut the cucumber in half and then cut them in half lengthways, using a teaspoon remove the watery seeds from the inside of the cucumber
• Cut the cucumber into 1 cm chunks and put them in a bowl along with the chopped onion and pepper
• Chop the fresh herbs finely and add to the cucumber
• Add the Sumac and the juice of the lemon
• Add salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately

Egyptian Falafel

Another week, another letter of the alphabet, another country.

Egypt seemed to have interesting cusine from the research I did, and with the country seemingly on the brink of a revolution was probably the only country that I’ve chosen so far that has been so prominent in the news.

I can’t help but feel it’s a little trite to talk of Falafel in the light of what’s happening in Cairo as I write this. None the less whatever happens we all need to eat so I’m going to stumble on regardless of my reservations.

Falafel is a dish that is eaten all over the middle east but the Egyptians claim to have invented it. I’ve tried making this dish many times before and have always used chick peas, however it’s more common to use beans to make it in Egypt.

With fresh broad beans being hard to come by in February and unable to find dried ones I had to revert to using Chick peas after all, so apologies for the lack of authenticity. If you can find dried broad beans then just substitute them instead of the chick peas in the recipe.

500g dried chick peas or broad beans soaked overnight and cooked according to instructions on the packet
1 onion finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
2 teaspoons of cumin powder
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 bunch of fresh parsley
1 free range egg
1 bunch of fresh coriander

• In a little olive oil gently fry the onion and garlic until softened
• As the onion and garlic cools mash the cooked beans/chick peas using a food processor, grinder or potato masher
• finely chop the herbs and add to the mashed beans along with the cooked onions and garlic.
• taste the mixture and add salt and pepper as needed before adding a beaten egg and mixin g thoroughly
• Allow the mixture to set a little in the fridge for about half an hour
• Shape into discs about 4 cm in diameter and 2cm thick
• Fry in a heavy based pan in batches of 6 (depending on the size of your pan) using no more than about a teaspoon of olive oil per batch. If you use too much oil they will break apart whilst cooking
• Keep the batches warm in a low oven until all the mixture has been used up
• Serve with flat breads and tahini and a salad of tomatoes and mint

Pescado guisado – Dominican style stewed fish

Another simple fish stew which was delicous and took very little time to prepare.

4 medium sized fillets of white fish such as sea bass
1 red pepper and 1 yellow pepper chopped
1 red onion finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
3 chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons of tomato puree
2 stalks of celery finely chopped
half a teaspoon of mixed dried herbs
freshly chopped parsley

• in a heavy based frying pan cook the onion, garlic, peppers and celery in olive oil for about 5 minutes until softened
• Add the tomatoes and tomato puree and dried herbs
• Add about 300 ml of water and bring to the boil
• turn down heat and simmer for about 5 minutes until sauce has thickened
• chop the fish into 5cm chunks and add to the sauce
• Cook gently for up to 5 minutes until the fish is just cooked
• Season and sprinkle with the fresh parsley

I served it with rice and beans but you could just as easily have plain rice or potatoes to accompany it.

Rice and Beans

Apparently rice and beans is a staple dish in the Dominican Republic with many people eating it at least once a day, often for lunch.  It can be used as an accompaniment to many a dish but also tastes so good it can be a meal in itself, I made way too much of it, and gladly snarfed the leftovers for my lunch the following day. The authentic dish calls for black beans but I used tinned kidney beans instead as that’s all my corner shop stocked.

300g basmati rice
1 large tin of kidney beans
1 small onion very finely chopped
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
2 sticks of celery finely chopped
half a teaspoon of dried oregano
2 tablespoons of tomato puree
1 chopped red pepper
450g chicken stock
fresh parsley and fresh corriander

• Fry the onion, garlic , celery and red pepper in olive oil for about 5 minutes until softened
• add the tomato puree, oregano, rice and kidney beans stir well to combine all the ingerdients
• Add the chicken stock bring to the boil and cover with a tight fitting lid before turning down the heat to very low
• Cook the rice for 10-12 minutes until the stock is absorbed and the rice is cooked
• Fluff the rice up with a fork and garnish with the fresh herbs

 

Rice and smoked Mackerel

This dish is based on a traditional Dominican dish of Rice with smoked herrings. I managed to get hold of smoked mackerel, rather than smoked herring and figured that as the two are  similar oily fish I wouldn’t go too far wrong.

A very economical dish to prepare, which was incredibly tasty and healthy too.

2 or 3 smoked mackerel fillets
about 300 g of basmati rice
1 onion finely chopped
1 clove of garlic
2 sticks of celery finely chopped
1 chopped red pepper

• Fry the onion in olive oil in an oven-proof pan until soft then add the garlic and chopped red pepper and celery
• Cook for 5 minutes until softened then add the rice
• Coat the rice in the oil and then add one and a half times the amount of water eg 300g of rice needs 450 ml of water
• Add a teaspoon of salt bring to the boil cover with a tight fitting lid and turn down to a very low simmer.
• Check after 5 minutes and stir once
• return lid and cook for another 5 minutes, the water should all be absorbed and the rice almost cooked
• Break up the smoked mackerel into small pieces and add to the rice
• return the lid and add the pan to a 15o degrees C oven for 5 minutes
• Check seasoning and adjust accordingly and garnish with fresh parsley

 

Revoltillo de huevos

Dominican scrambled eggs are usually eaten for breakfast but not being at my best first thing in the morning I decided to cook these for tea instead.
The picture doesn’t really do them justice  as they were quite delicious. I’m not even sure it’s possible to photograph scrambled eggs and make them look appetising but I took one anyway.

6 large free range eggs
3 slices of good ham finely chopped (optional)
1 red pepper chopped
1 small onion very finely chopped
2 tomatoes chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon of red wine vinegar

• Fry the onion in the olive oil for a few minutes until translucent
• add the red pepper and fry for another couple of minutes
• add the ham and tomatoes and cook for another minute
• Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk lightly to combine the yolks and whites before adding to the pan
• Scramble the eggs until cooked and add the vinegar
• Add salt and pepper to taste

 

Espaguetis – Spaghetti Dominican style

First day of the Dominican Republic week I decided to start with what looked like an easy one, as I already pretty much had all the ingredients in the house.

300g spaghetti
1 onion finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
small packet of cherry tomatoes halved
2 red peppers roasted until black and then skinned and chopped
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
leaves from a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme
2 teaspoons of red wine vinegar

• cook the onion and garlic in olive oil until softened
• add the red pepper and herbs and the cherry tomatoes
• Cook the spaghetti as directed on the packet until al dente
• Drain the spaghetti and add to the cooked vegetables
• Add the vinegar and another dash of olive oil
• Mix well to combine and season with salt and pepper