Beef & Eggplant Tagine with Pistachio Crumble You may have realised by now that I am a huge fan of Middle Eastern inspired food. I say inspired as the recipes are probably not authentic however, I do believe they have the quintessential flavours of the region. The pistachio, preserved lemon and coriander crumble that I added to the dish made for a sensational garnish and elevated the flavour to new heights, putting an Em s Food spin on an already tasty creation. If you are a fan of a cracking Tagine, then I think you will love this one! Prep time: 30 Minutes Cooking time: 2.5-3 Hours $$ Medium Budget
Serves 4 Oil for frying 800gm of chuck steak, cut into 3cm cubes 1 eggplant, cut into 3cm cubes 2 cloves of garlic, minced 2cm piece of ginger, grated 1 large brown onion, halved and sliced 1 tsp of allspice 1 tsp of chilli flakes 2 tsp of ground cumin 2 tsp of ground coriander A pinch of saffron threads 1 cup of beef stock 400gm tin of diced tomatoes 1 tsp of honey 1/2 cup of pitted green olives 1/2 bunch of coriander, roughly chopped Sea salt and cracked pepper 4 tbs of greek yoghurt Cous cous to serve
For the Crumble: 3 wedges of preserved lemon, flesh removed and discarded 1/4 cup of toasted pistachios, roughly chopped 1/2 cup of coriander leaves Pre heat the oven to 180 C. Place the allspice, chilli flakes, ground coriander and cumin in a small bowl with a good pinch of salt and mix to combine. Place the eggplant chunks in a lined baking tray and drizzle with a little oil. Sprinkle over 1 heaped teaspoon of the spice mix and toss well to coat the eggplant. Bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes until golden. Remove and set aside. Heat a heavy based pan and add a little oil. Cook the beef, in batches until golden, remove from the pan and set aside. In the same pan, add a little more oil if necessary and lightly fry the onion until just starting to soften. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for a minute before adding the remaining spices and saffron threads to the pan. Mix well and then pour in the stock, tomatoes and honey, season with salt and pepper and add the beef back to the pan, stirring to combine. Bring to the boil then lower the heat to a simmer, cover with a tight fitting lid and cook for 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally. To keep the moisture in, I like to lay a sheet of baking paper on top of the mixture before placing the lid on. After 1.5 hours, remove the lid and check that the beef is tender. If so, add the eggplant and olives to the Tagine and
gently fold them through. If the beef is still a little tough, it may need another 30 minutes with the lid on. If the beef is tender allow the sauce to simmer with the lid off, stirring occasionally for 15-20 minutes. Stir the coriander through just before serving. Finely dice the preserved lemon and finely chop the coriander. Mix them together with the chopped pistachios in a small bowl. To serve, divide cous cous between 4 serving bowls and top with the Beef Tagine. Dollop on the yoghurt and sprinkle over the crumble. Serve with steamed greens. Leftover preserved lemons? You may want to make this http://emsfoodforfriends.com.au/king-prawn-and-preserved-lemon -bruschetta/ Spanish Style Stuffed Peppers with Chorizo & Cous Cous
I can claim this one as a made-from-scratch, 100% Em s Food brain inspired recipe. I put a fair bit of thought into the dish as I really wanted it to carry those gorgeous Spanish flavours of Chorizo and Smoked Paprika. It was super simple to make as Cous Cous is ready in five minutes and I used my trusty Nutri-Ninja to whizz up the sauce so that all I had to do was reduce it slightly and cook off the red wine that it was laced with. These were really good! For this recipe I used the little sweet baby peppers that are available at both Coles and Woolworths. The reason being is that I wanted to use yellow capsicum as I find them sweeter than red or green and the colour is so awesome but they were unavailable. If you can t get the mini variety, by all means use any type of capsicum. They will taste equally divine and probably be quite significantly cheaper. It just so happened that the mini peppers were on sale that day too.wooohoooo! Winner!!
Prep time: 20 Minutes Cooking Time: 45 Minutes $$ Medium Budget Serves 4 4 packets of tri coloured Mini Peppers or 4 large Capsicums 1 cup of wholegrain cous cous (normal is fine) 1 cup of boiling water Sea salt & Pepper Extra virgin olive oil 2 Chorizo sausages, diced 1 red onion, finely diced 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced 1 tsp of smoked paprika 1/2 tsp of chilli flakes Juice and grated rind of 1 lemon 8 thyme sprigs, leaves removed and stalks discarded 1 cup of frozen baby peas 2 tbs of chopped fresh parsley 100gm of Fetta, crumbled Baby watercress or chopped parsley for garnish For the Sauce:
2 cloves of garlic, chopped 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika 1/2 tsp of dried oregano 1 tbs of red wine vinegar 1 cup of red wine 2 x 400gm tin of diced tomatoes 1 tsp of sugar Sea salt & pepper Pre heat the oven to 180 C. To prepare the capsicums, slice the top off and run your knife tip around the interior of the capsicum and then use your fingers to pull out the seeds and veins. If the bottom of the capsicum is uneven and won t sit straight, just slice a little off the bottom to even them up. If you happen to slice a little too much off and there is a hole in the bottom, don t panic as they will be sitting in the sauce. If you are using large capsicums, place them in a lined baking tray and drizzle the inside with a little olive oil. Bake them in the oven for approximately 15 minutes to soften slightly. I found the baby ones did not need any pre cooking and I like a little crunch anyway. Allow to cool slightly before stuffing. Place the cous cous in a bowl, drizzle with a little olive oil, season with salt and pepper and pour the boiling water over the top. Cover with cling wrap and set aside for 5 minutes. When all of the liquid is absorbed, fluff the cous cous with a fork and set aside.
Place the garlic, smoked paprika, oregano, red wine vinegar, red wine and tomatoes in a blender or food processor. Season with salt and pepper and whizz until you have a smooth sauce. Set aside. Heat a frypan until nice and hot and add the chorizo. Fry until it has rendered out the oils and is nice and golden and then add the onion and garlic. Fry for a few minutes until the onion has softened and then add the thyme leaves, smoked paprika and chilli flakes. Fry for a further 60 seconds or so and then add the lemon juice and rind. Once the lemon juice has evaporated, add the baby peas and fry until they have just defrosted and are nice and green in colour. Add the mixture to the cous cous along with the chopped parsley and mix well to combine. In the same pan that you cooked the chorizo in, add the tomato sauce. Bring it to a simmer and allow it to reduce for about 5-7 minutes until nice and thickened. This will also get rid of the raw wine flavour. I used individual ramekins for this dish but by all means use a large casserole if that is all you have. Pour the sauce into the bottom of the ramekins or casserole. Use a spoon to divide the Chorizo mixture between the peppers, patting the mixture down with the back of the spoon so they are nice and tightly stuffed. Place enough mixture in so that it is piled nice and high on top before carefully nestling them in the sauce. Sprinkle over the feta cheese and bake in the oven for approximately 30 minutes or until the tops and fetta are nice and golden. Remove from the oven and sprinkle over the baby
cress or chopped parsley and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Serve with a nice green salad. Chicken, Preserved Lemon & Green Olive Meatballs with Fetta, Mint & Pistachio Crumble I will admit, I am a huge fan of a meatball. There is something so satisfying about biting into these little morsels that can be flavoured with pretty much anything. I am also a lover of bowl/fork food. One pot wonders that are packed full of flavour and are extremely lenient on the purse strings. I
am sure it stems from our days when my husband was a full time Uni student and we had two little mouths to feed. Back in the day it was the stock standard meatball, today they are taken to new heights with the exotic flavours of Morocco and an exciting topping that exceeded all our expectations. Really yum. Prep time: 30 minutes $$ Medium Budget Cooking time: 25 Minutes Serves 4-5 500gm of chicken mince 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced 2 wedges of preserved lemon, flesh removed and discarded and skins finely chopped 10 pitted sicilian olives, finely chopped 1/4 cup of raisins 1 tsp of ground cumin 1 tsp of ground coriander 1/2 tsp of paprika 1/2 tsp of chilli flakes (optional if you are making them for little people) 1/2-1 cup of breadcrumbs (use half at first and if the mixture is still quite sticky add a little at a time) 1 egg
Finely chopped stems of 1 bunch of coriander Cracked black pepper Cous cous or rice to serve For the Sauce: Olive oil for frying 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced 1 brown onion, halved and sliced 1 tsp of ground cumin 1 tsp of ground coriander 1/2 tsp of chilli flakes Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon 1 cup of chicken stock 400gm tin of diced tomatoes 2 tbs of tomato paste 1 tsp of sugar Sea salt and pepper 1 cup of chopped coriander leaves For the Crumble:
100gm of fetta, crumbled 1/4 cup of pistachios, roasted in a dry pan and chopped roughly 2 tbs of chopped fresh mint Heat a large heavy based pan and add a little oil. Fry the onion until soft and then add the garlic. Fry for a further minute before sprinkling over the spices. Stir for approximately 1 minute and then add the lemon rind and juice. Scrape the bottom of the pan to lift the spices before pouring in the stock, tomatoes and tomato paste. Season with salt, pepper and sugar and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to the boil and then reduce to a simmer while you make the meatballs. Place the chicken, garlic, preserved lemon, chopped olives, raisins, spices, coriander stems, breadcrumbs, egg and ground black pepper in a large mixing bowl and use your hands to combine the mixture. When combined, wet your hands and roll golf ball sized meatballs, adding them to the sauce as you go. When you have finished, gently spoon sauce over them and place a lid on. Cook for 15 minutes, turning the meatballs once until they are cooked all the way through. I usually test one by cutting it in half, part of the privilege of being the cook is that you then get to eat that meatball. Place the crumble ingredients in a small bowl and toss gently with your fingers to combine. To serve, divide cous cous between 4 serving bowls. Top with
the meatballs and sauce and sprinkle over the crumble. Enjoy Moroccan Chicken, Carrot & Cous Cous Salad with Orange & Tahini Dressing This recipe was inspired by Donna Hay but tweaked a little in the Em s Food way as I was missing some of the ingredients and
I also like to put my own spin on the food that I cook. My Husband was mighty impressed with this combo and it was a nice healthy change after weeks of Christmas cheer. Full of flavour and texture, it was awesome! Prep time: 25 Minutes Cooking time: 15 Minutes $ Low Budget Serves 4 3 chicken breast fillets, halved down the middle 2 tbs of olive oil 2 wedges of preserved lemon, flesh removed and discarded and the rind finely diced 1 tsp of coriander seeds, crushed 2 tbs of Ras el Hanout (see link below for Em s own recipe) http://emsfoodforfriends.com.au/ras-el-hanout/ For the Salad: 1 cup of cous cous 1 cup of boiling water 2 carrots peeled and very finely julienned (to save time you can use a fine grater attachment on a food processor, a peeler or a mandolin)
1/2 a bunch of watercress (substitute rocket leaves or baby spinach if you like) 1 bunch of coriander, roughly chopped 1/2 cup of currants 1/4 cup of flaked almonds, lightly toasted for garnish Sea salt and Pepper For the Dressing: 2 tbs of extra virgin olive oil Juice of 1 orange 2 tbs of white wine vinegar 1 tbs of tahini paste Sea salt and Pepper Preheat the oven to 220 C Place the breast fillets on a lined baking tray. Place the oil, coriander seeds, preserved lemon rind and Ras el Hanout in a small bowl and stir to combine. Spoon the mixture over the breast fillets and then massage into the fillets with your hands so that they are covered all over with marinade. Pop the tray in the oven and bake for 15 Minutes or until cooked through.
Place the cous cous in a large sized bowl and pour over the boiling water. Sprinkle with a little sea salt and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside for 5 minutes before removing the wrap and fluffing the cous cous with a fork allowing it to cool a little. Once cooled slightly pop in the currants, carrots, watercress and coriander. Don t toss it until just before serving as you don t want the greens to wilt too much from the heat. In a small bowl whisk the oil, tahini, orange juice and vinegar until the tahini is well combined and lump free. Season with salt and pepper. To serve, spoon half of the dressing over the salad and toss well (I use fingers) to combine. Place four neat piles of the salad in the centre of four serving plates. Slice the chicken on the diagonal into slices about 1.5cm in size. Scatter the chicken on top of the salad and again, toss gently so that you bring some of the salad to the top (this is purely for aesthetics and not entirely necessary..it just looks better!). Scatter the toasted almonds over the top along with any remaining juices from the chicken (particularly the little bits of preserved lemon) and serve *