Garam Masala - How To Make

Garam Masala is a mix of spices that is used to add to a curry and used like the equivalent of salt and pepper. It adds additional flavour to a curried dish and everyone has there own recipe and method to make it. Here is a general recipe that you can add or subtract spices to/from. This will keep for weeks in a sterilised air tight jar in a cupboard or pantry away from the light.

Greek Moussaka Recipe - How To Make A Light and Tasty Moussaka

How to make a light and tasty Moussaka

Ingredients
2 medium Aubergines
450g minced lamb
2 white onions (peeled & roughly chopped)
2 cloves of garlic (peeled & chopped)
275g tin chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1 teaspoon sugar (optional to sweeten tomatoes)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground all spice
olive oil
2-3 medium potatoes (optional  sliced and roasted in oil until softened and golden)

For my topping:-
1/2 pint of  Greek yogurt
2  egg,yolks
black pepper
1 handful grated parmesan cheese
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

For a traditional béchamel sauce topping:-
875ml milk (whisk milk into the flour/butter roux a little at a time until thick and creamy)
100g butter
100g flour
a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
2 egg yolks
100g grated Kefalotyri Greek cheese

Directions
1.Preheat the oven to 200°Centegrade .
2.Heat the oil in a frying pan, fry the eggplant in batches for 3-4 minutes on each side, until golden and softened. Remove and set aside. Alternatively slice and toss the Aubergine and the potatoes, if using, in olive oil and roast in an oven until softened and golden in colour.
3.Heat a little oil in a separate saucepan and fry the onion and garlic 5-10 minutes, on a low heat until softened.
4.Add the minced lamb and cook, stirring continuously, until browned. Now stir in the tomato paste, tomatoes and herbs. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on. Add a splash of water if the meat starts to dry out.
5.Season with salt and pepper to taste and cook for a further 5 minutes.
6.Mix the yogurt, egg yolks and cheese together with some pepper and a touch of nutmeg.
7.Layer an 8 inch by 8 inch by 3 inch deep casserole/Pyrex dish with the fried aubergines (and potatoes if using) and top with a layer of the meat sauce then repeat until all ingredients are used up.
8.Spread the yogurt mixture over the top. Or the Béchamel Sauce mix if making this topping.
9.Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and  little more nutmeg if desired.
10.Bake in the preheated oven for 20-30 minutes or until golden.

Mustard & Honey Glazed Roast Gammon - How to make

How to make a Honey and Mustard glazed roast Gammon

Ingredients to Boil
1 Smoked Gammon Joint
2 Celery sticks roughly hopped
1 Onion roughly hopped
2 Leeks roughly hopped
12-15 Pepper Corns
2 Bay Leaves

Ingredients to finish roasting Gammon
Cloves to stud the diamond pattern
1 cup of Orange Juice
1 tblsp English Mustard powder
2 tblsp Honey

Method to boil the Gammon
Put the Gammon in a stock pot with the vegetables and then top with two litres of water and bring to a boil than turn down to a simmer and simmer for two hours.
Leave to cool in the stock.
When cool, remove the Gammon from the pot. Remove the skin leaving a small layer of fat. You can serve this as it is or prepare the joint for a further roasting in the oven to enhance its flavour.

Method to finish roasting the Gammon
Remove the skin from the Gammon and cut a diamond pattern in the fat with a sharp knife.
Stud the diamonds with Cloves.
Mix the Honey and Mustard. If it is too thick, slacken with a little hot water.
Put tyhe Gammon in a roasting pan.
Add the Orange juice to the pan and then brush the diamond pattern with the Honey and Mustard sauce. Keep basting every ten minutes while roasting in the oven.
The fat will go golden with the basting but be careful not to let the Honey mixture burn.

A tasty home made Shepherds Pie - how to make

Turkey and Leek Filo Pie - How to make

Ingredients:
Cooked Turkey, Sausage Meat, Stuffing (500 grams) chunks leftovers from a roast dinner
2 Carrots
2 Leeks
1 Celery Stick
Double Cream (200millileters)
Turkey Stock (250millileters)
Flour (2 heaped tablespoons)
Olive Oil (2 tablespoons)
1 Bay Leaf
1 Clove of Garlic
Butter (75 grams)
Filo Pastry - shop bought 10-12 sheets depending on size

Method:-
Peel and dice the Carrots.
Wash and dice the Celery.
Half the Leeks and wash thoroughly as there sometimes tends to be dirt in the inner leaves.
Then cut the Leeks in to pieces about as wide as your thumbnail.
In 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil, sauté the Leeks, Carrots and Celery in a large frying pan until softened. Don't use Extra Virgin Olive Oil as frying with Extra Virgin is a waste of your money. Use the Olive Oil from the second or third pressing.
Sprinkle a heaped tablespoon of Flour or two over the vegetables and cook out in the vegetables to make a thick paste. Then add 250 millilitres of Turkey stock and 200millilitres of Double Cream to the vegetables and add a Bay Leaf and a crushed clove of Garlic.
The Flour will now have dissolved and made the cream sauce thicker.
Add 150 grams of sliced Mushrooms and season with Salt and Pepper. (The video showing the roux of sauce was because I forgot to do this part and had to make the roux to thicken the cream)
Season to taste with the Salt and Pepper.
Remove from the hob, and leave to cool.
Add to a Pyrex dish with the cooked Turkey chunks and stir to mix.
Gently melt the butter in a small saucepan.
Taking one sheet of Filo Pastry at a time, lay it out and brush with melted Butter.
Gently scrunch it up so that the pastry looks like a scrunched tissue. Add this to the top of the pie and continue until the the meat and vegetables are covered.
Filo Pastry tends to dry out very quickly so cover with a damp cloth.
Put into a pre heated fan oven at 200 degrees centigrade and cook for approximately 20 minutes or until the Filo Pastry is crispy and golden in colour.

Serve with Winter Greens and boiled potatoes.

Enjoy. Paul & Vikki.

Tasty Chicken Stew

Here is a nice recipe to make a tasty chicken stew.

Tasty Chicken Stew Ingredients:-
2 Leeks halved and chopped into chunks (1 lb)
2 Carrots cut into chunks (200grams)
2 Parsnips halved and cut into chunks (300grams)
2 Celery stalks finely chopped
Mushrooms sliced (200grams)
Potato’s - leave the skins on any small potatoes or if using bigger, peel and quarter (300grams)
2 Bay Leaves
6 leaves of Sage chopped
2 sprigs of Rosemary stalks removed and chopped
1 Red Pepper cut into big chunks
1 large Clove of Garlic peeled and finely chopped
4 Chicken Thighs with skin removed 
Flour seasoned with salt and pepper to dust the chicken thighs
Olive Oil
2/3 table spoons of Cornflower or some instant potato mix
1 to 1.5 litres of water
Chicken stock cube

Method:-
Sprinkle Flour onto a plate and season with salt and pepper. Roll the four Chicken Thighs into the Flour and pat off excess flour.
Gently fry the four Chicken Thighs until golden in colour.
Set the four Chicken Thighs aside to make the vegetable stock.
Cut two Leeks in half and wash to remove any dirt. Then chop into chunks.
Dice the two Celery sticks.
Peel and chop two Carrots. Peel and half two Parsnips then cut into chunks.
Deseed the red pepper and cut into chunks.
Peel and finely chop the Garlic.
Sautee the Leeks, Carrots, Parsnips, Garlic and the Red Pepper in a couple of tablespoons of Olive Oil.
Add in the Bay Leaves, the chopped Sage and Rosemary. Then add about a litre to a litre and a half of water.
Add the stock cube and stir until dissolved, then add salt and pepper to taste.
Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer.
Add the Chicken Thighs and any juices, and cook for thirty minutes (30 mins).
Add in the potatoes and the mushrooms and cook for another fifteen minutes (15 mins) or until cooked.
If you want the stock to be thicker, then mix two or three tablespoons of Cornflower with a little water and make a paste. Then add this to the stock and this will thicken the stock when the cornflower is cooked out. Another method is to add a couple of large spoonful of instant potato directly into the stew and this will have the same effect.
Remove Bay Leaves and divide into four portions and serve with crusty bread.

Best Lamb Stock Ever

 

Lamb Stock

Ingredients
3 Legs of Lamb Bones (Saved From The Sunday Roast)
2 Medium White Onions Cut In Half
3 Sticks Celery Cut Into Chunks
2 Medium Carrots Cut Into Chunks
2 Sprigs Of Rosemary
2 Bay Leaves
A Small Bunch Of Parsley (Including The Stalks)
Big Pinch Of Salt
12-15 Black Peppercorns
Water
Large Heavy Bottomed Saucepan or Stockpot

Method

You can peel the carrots and onion if you wish. I only remove the outer skin of the onion when I make stock.
Put all ingredients into the large heavy based saucepan or stockpot.
Top up with water and bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to simmer for about 2 hours with the lid on. This will break down any meat and muscle around the joints of the bones  and allow the bone marrow to flavour your stock.