Goat Stew
Goat stew – If you’ve never tried goat before, this is the recipe to try. Incredibly tasty- beautifully tender meat in a delicious rich sauce.
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Chicken Egyptian Style
Chicken Egyptian Style – Poached (and then cooked in butter) chicken Chicken Egyptian Style ensures the meat is always moist and flavoursome, and the skin is beautifully buttery and crisp. It can therefore be likened to the French classics Duck Confit and Chicken Confit. The …
Potatoes in Batter
Potatoes in Batter
Potatoes in batter are a popular side dish at the breakfast table in Egypt. Soft and fluffy potato on the inside encased by a gorgeous, crispy, tasty batter on the outside.
I know this sounds really silly, but the first time I heard about ‘potatoes in batter’ it made me think of someone working down in a fish and chip shop for the first time & getting totally flustered and sticking the potatoes into the batter by mistake.
Any way enough of my silly thoughts lol.
They’re really good and especially popular with children.
Ingredients
- 4 medium size potatoes peeled and cut into slices 1cm thick
- 1 cup of plain flour
For the batter
- 1 cup plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 egg
- ½ milk
- salt and pepper
- oil for frying
Method
First parboil the potatoes
Boil a kettle of water
Put the potatoes into a pan and cover with boiling water and add a good pinch of salt.
Put the pan over a medium flame and boil for 7 minutes – until the potatoes begins to soften but don’t fall apart.
Drain the water from the potatoes.
mix the batter
Put the flour for the batter into a wide bowl, add the baking powder, egg and half the milk, and mix well.
Continue adding milk and mixing until the mixture resembles thick pouring cream.
Season well with salt and pepper.
you need a bowl for flour
In another wide bowl put the other cup of flour.
heat a pan to fry your potatoes in batter
Put a frying pan over quite a high heat on the hob and pour in enough oil to cover the base of the pan to about 2cm deep.
When the oil becomes hot and begins to sizzle it’s time to prepare the potato slices.
prepare your battered potatoes for the pan
Put the bowls in a line 1. flour 2. batter followed by 3.the frying pan.
Take the potato slices one at a time and first dip it into the flour and coat them thoroughly. Then dip them into batter.
Gently lower them into the hot oil.
Don’t over-crowd the pan, only put a few slices in at a time.
Cook the potato for a few minutes on one side and then flip them to cook the other side.
fry your ‘potatoes in batter’ until golden brown and crispy
When they are golden brown, use a slotted spoon to remove them from the pan and put them on to a plate with kitchen roll to drain any oil. Keep them warm until they‘re all ready.
Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper before serving.
Enjoy!
Cheese breads
Cheese Bread: Learn to make delicious Cheese Bread – incredibly easy to make, they look incredible, and most importantly they taste delicious.
Okra with Beef
Okra with Beef Okra with beef is a popular dish in Egypt; a wonderful combination of tender beef and baby okra. In Egypt, Okra is known as bamya and it’s a very popular vegetable. In England it’s also sometimes known as ‘Ladies’ Fingers’. Stewing beef …
Beef with Peppers and Cannellini beans
Beef with Peppers and Cannellini Beans
Beef with Peppers and Cannellini Beans; the perfect combination of tender, succulent beef, cooked slowly over a low heat with roasted red peppers and soft beans in a rich aromatic sauce provides rich glorious flavours that work perfectly in this dish.
Beef with Peppers and Cannellini Beans is a great dish for those of you who like using a slow cooker.
The secret to this recipe is the herbs and spices that bring the flavours together. They elevate the dish, and turn what would be a lovely comforting stew into something with a little more excitement.
The quantities given in this recipe will provide a good meal for up to about 6 people
Preparation time about 20 – 30 minutes
Cooking time about 2 – 2 ½ hours
Ingredients
- 1kg stewing beef – cut into about 3cm cubes
- a little vegetable oil for frying
- 1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
- 3 medium onion, thinly sliced
- 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated
- 6 large ripe tomatoes or 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp paprika ( sweet not hot)
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- salt and pepper
- 750 ml water – or more if necessary
- 3 stock cubes
- 1 jar char-grilled red peppers – drained and cut into slices about 2cm wide
- 2 cans cannellini beans
- juice of a lemon
- a bunch of fresh coriander (chopped)
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How to make your Beef with Peppers and Cannellini Beans
First sear your meat
Searing the meat, is basically frying it to brown it. This gives it a lovely rich colour which enhances its appearance. But more importantly it locks in the juices to ensure maximum flavour of the meat. The actual process itself also creates another layer of flavour.
To sear (brown) the meat. Put a large frying pan over a high flame on the stove to heat up. When it is sizzling hot, fry about 10 pieces of meat at a time in just a drizzle of oil.
*If you add too much meat at one time the temperature of the pan will drop and rather than of browning the meat they will start to loose moisture and instead just start to boil and go more of a grey colour.
When one batch of meat is browned take it out and put them into a large pan and continue to fry the next few pieces.
De-glaze the pan
Once all the meat is browned add a little water to the frying pan to de-glaze the pan (to get all the tasty juices off the side of the pan). And then add this to the meat.
Add your onions and garlic
Put the large pan containing the meat over a medium flame on the hob.
Add the ghee and the onions and sauté them until they begin to soften, then add the garlic.
Add your tomatoes and spices
Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, cumin, paprika, chilli flakes, water and crumbled stock cubes. Then season to taste with salt and pepper. You can also add the chopped stalks of the coriander at this point if you wish – but don’t add the fresh leaves until the end of cooking.
Add enough water to the pan to ensure all the meat is covered with liquid.
Bring the mixture to the boil and then reduce the heat down to a low simmer.
Simmer for about 2 hours
Cover the pan and continue simmering for about two hours. Checking it about every half hour to make sure it has adequate liquid.
After about 1 hour & 45 minutes, add the cannelini beans and the red peppers to the pan.
After the meat has been cooking for about 2 hours it should be about ready. To check if the meat is cooked, get a piece of meat out of the pan and put it on a plate, if it’s ready you should be able to cut through it easily with just a spoon.
Add the lemon juice and remove from the heat.
Before serving your glorious beef with peppers and cannellini beans
Sprinkle the chopped coriander into your beef with peppers and cannellini beans, just before serving to ensure it doesn’t lose its freshness or colour.
Enjoy
*As an alternative, this is wonderful served as a really substantial soup, as a lunch or supper dish. In which case you would follow the same recipe, but use only half the quantity of meat and you could serve it with a big chunk of warm, crusty bread.
*As with most stews, this dish could be prepared the day before. In which case, just add the red peppers and cannellini beans when you heat it up and allow them to heat through.
Remember; add the coriander just before serving, to ensure it doesn’t lose its fresh colour and aroma.
I do hope you love this recipe as much as my family do.
Let me know how you get on with it. And send me your photos as always.
Egyptian rice with onions
Egyptian rice with onions Egyptian rice with onions is such a tasty dish. The onions and the stock pack in so much flavour that I could quite happily eat this just on its own. Egyptians only eat Egyptian Rice with onions with fish However, Egyptian …
Stuffed Chicken
Stuffed Chicken with Lemon, Garlic and Herb Freekah
The flavours of this stuffed chicken are unbelievably exciting. The freekah stuffing comes to life with the lemon, garlic and herbs, giving it a real freshness. It then absorbs incredible flavours from the chicken making it an even greater joy to eat and leaving you wishing there was so much more.
Freekah by the way is a grain. It’s green wheat, harvested when the grain is young. If you have difficulties sourcing it you could substitute it with bulgar wheat failing that you could use couscous.
This is stuffed chicken – Egyptian style
Although the chicken is cooked Egyptian style and actually poached first, the end result looks very much like a roast.
stuffed chicken – a real celebration
I don’t know if it’s just because I’m British, but there’s just something about a roast that makes a meal feel like a celebration. I guess it’s the association with the Sunday roast and the family gathering that makes it seem special.
ingredients
- 1 chicken
for the stuffing
- 1 handful of freekah ( dried green wheat)
- grated zest of a lemon
- juice of a lemon
- 3 garlic cloves grated or finely chopped
- a small handful of fresh coriander or flat leaf parsley finely chopped
- 1 spring onion
- 1 stock cube grated
for the cooking stock
- 2 stock cubes – grated
- 1 onion finely chopped
for browning
- a couple of knobs of butter
- 1 tbspn oil
Method
prepare the stuffing
Cover the freeq with water and leave to soak for 2 – 3 hours
Drain off the water and mix together with the rest of the stuffing mix
let’s get stuffing
Push the stuffing mix into the cavity of the chicken – don’t pack it in too tightly as it will swell during cooking.
Use a cocktail stick or skewer to hold the cavity closed during cooking, just remember to remove the cocktail stick before serving.
poach the stuffed chicken for just over an hour
Put the chicken into a large pan, add enough water to half cover the chicken and add the grated stock cube and chopped onion. I tend to throw in the lemon thats just been used for the zest and lemon juice (it all adds to the flavour).
Bring the pan up to the boil and then reduce the heat down to a simmer.
Put a tight fitting lid on the pan and cook for about 1 – 1 ½ hours. – until the juices run clear when a knife is inserted into the meat. Keep topping up the water when necessary to keep the chicken half covered.
drain well
Take the chicken out of the stock and allow it to drain.
Ensure you keep the stock. It can be used for making Lissan Al Asfour, Mahshi, Egyptian rice and so much more. You can freeze it and save it for when you need it, if necessary.
get that skin beautifully crispy and golden brown
Heat up a frying pan or wok (I like to use a wok for this – it seems the perfect shape) over a medium to high flame and add the butter and oil – heat this until it starts to sizzle.
Place the chicken in the pan and fry until the skin is a beautiful golden brown on all sides. Basting it and turning it to ensure it’s browned all over. Alternatively you could baste the chicken with butter and put it under the grill to brown.
Take the chicken off the heat, cover with foil to keep it warm and let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
*Remember to remove the cocktail stick before serving
How to serve your Stuffed Chicken
I think my favourite way to have this delicious chicken is something simple like sauté potatoes and a herb salad – they compliment each other perfectly and allow the star of the show , the glorious stuffed chicken, to take centre stage.
Another alternative is to serve it cold and have it as part of a special picnic. Either way it’s fantastic.
I do hope you enjoy this recipe. It’s a great alternative to your regular Sunday roast.
Let me know what you think. I love hearing from you.
