Potato Lamb Pie

Last night I was met with a terrible burden... I was planning to make roast chicken legs for dinner, but the chicken I had bought a couple of days ago had gone off! GREAT!

Now I had a mega dilemma, what to make?

I had ground lamb in the fridge and as I rattled my brains to come up with something fast, I developed an "idea". How it turned out, one would not know.

Oh boy, it was time for prayer again!

I was really tired last night and so did not want to spend hours in the kitchen, and it was cold last night and I thought it was definitely an "oven" night.

"Oven" night is often a one-pot dish cooked in the oven which helps heat the house. Its quick to whip together and is really hearty.

That in mind, I knew exactly what I was going to do.

Popping the ground lamb into a bowl, I whipped up something quickly in the Magic Bullet for flavour, and peeled and washed potatoes and grabbed the peas out of the freezer. Everything set.

The pie took shape and the oven did a great job warming the house as we waited and the aroma was a perfect air freshner for the house. As our bellies began to sing a familiar tune, the beeper on the oven went just in time, dinner was ready.

We dug in and Ben loved it! He told me that this really had to be up on the blog and be shared. So, as an "obedient wife" (I say that rather tongue-in-cheek") here I am writing this blog and sharing the recipe.

Without further adieu, here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Happy Cooking, Happy Eating!


Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs ground lamb (you can substitute ground beef, ground chicken, or ground turkey also for a different flavour)
6 potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
1 TBSP lemon juice
6 cloves garlic
1 onion, quartered
2 TBSP oil (olive oil will add a great flavour, alternatively use vegetable oil)
1/4 tsp Middle Eastern 7-Spices
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 cup frozen peas
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
2 tsp garlic powder

1. Heat oven to 395*F
2. Line the bottom of a deep pie dish (or pan) with 3 of the sliced potatoes
3. In a bowl, place the ground lamb.
4. In the Magic Bullet (or blender) grind together the lemon juice, garlic, onion, oil, 7-Spices, salt, black pepper, and cumin until it looks like a smoothie. Add to the lamb and mix together very well. Add the lamb to the layer of potatoes and press down and smoothe out.
5. Add the peas on top of the lamb and spread out over the lamb.
6. Spread the rest of the potatoes to the top of the peas making sure that everything is covered.
7. Sprinkle the salt and garlic powder over the top of the potatoes.
8. Cover the pan with aluminium foil (or a lid) and pop into the oven. Cook at 395*F for 45mins to 1 hr.

Beef Neck Soup

I was at the halal butcher the other day and saw that they had beef neck for sale at only US$1.99 per pound. I was really curious about this because I had never seen that for sale before, so I asked the butcher what is the best way to cook this. He told me emphatically "soup"!

But, growing up in Hong Kong and having parents who were very diverse in the cuts of meats that we ate, I thought "why not?" So I decided to buy a couple of pounds of beef neck and try it out.

I was not sure what kind of "soup" I was going to make with this, and quite honestly, I was very surprised to find how much meat the neck actually contained.

As I browsed through the produce section, I found a bag of turnips for 99 cents. They were a little "soft" as they were over-ripe, but I always browse this part of the produce section because there is always great bargains to be had. Sometimes, you just have to peel a little more or cut a bit more, but generally these are perfect buys especially if you are working with a limited budget.

Sadly, not many of the large chain supermarkets offer this, so if you are looking for a good bargain, venture in to the smaller "mom & pop"-style grocery stores.

I also grabbed a few heads of cabbage, and was already formulating in my mind the dish I was going to attempt to make.

When I came home, I rinsed the beef; most people generally do not do this, but when I buy beef that has bone and has been cut, I always give it a rinse to ensure than any bone fragments are washed off.

I peeled my turnips, cut my cabbage, and rummaged through the fridge to see what else I'd pop into this "soup".

I had to think what "style" I was going to go for, Chinese or Middle Eastern-style? I decided to go Middle Eastern-style considering I'd bought the meat from a Middle Eastern grocer. Next time, I'd experiment with making it Chinese-style.

After it boiled and then simmered for about 2 hours, it was ready, and taste testing was amazing!

I thought that it was a bit "light" for dinner, and decided to make rice to go with it on the side.

Everything ready, I dished up with a little prayer. "I" liked the flavour, but sometimes Ben is not as keen.

No worries on that concern, Ben LOVED it!

Here is the complete recipe and I hope that you will "love" it too! It's SO wonderful on a cold night, and here in Arizona, we've certainly had a couple of those lately.

Happy Cooking, Happy Eating!


Ingredients:

2lbs beef neck, cut (have your butcher cut it into 2" thick pieces)
1 tsp oil, for frying
3lbs turnips, peeled and quartered
1/2 head cabbage, diced (about 1")
1 large onion, diced
6 cloves garlic
1 red chili, seeds removed
2 TBSP vegetable oil
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp chicken powder
1/2 TBSP Turmeric
1 tsp Middle Eastern 7-Spices
1 tsp Angelica
8 - 10 cups water

1. Rinse the beef neck to ensure that all the bone shards are rinsed off. Heat the pot and add the 1 tsp oil. Add the beef and fry until all sides are browned. Remove from the pot and set aside.
2. In the magic bullet (or blender), blend together the garlic, chili, lemon juice, and 2 TBSP vegetable oil. Put into the pot that the beef was frying in and fry until it begins to turn golden brown.
3. Add the onions and fry until translucent. Add the chicken powder, turmeric, 7-spices, and Angelica.
4. Add the turnips and the cabbage, and fry for about 3 minutes. Add the beef necks back to the pot and then add the water. Stir well.
5. Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce the heat to low to simmer.
6. Cook approx 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Sui - Jao (Boiled Dumplings)

Growing up, my Dad implemented a taste in me so strong that I literally matched him in my love for this. Little parcels of tasty sui jao; which literally translated means water dumplings.

This was one of my Dad's most favourite foods, and I have to admit that for me it is comfort food at its max. In many Chinese restaurants they make these tasty morsels with pork; as Muslims, this was not something that Dad (or us) would be able to eat. So we always ordered them with beef, and when we went to the Muslim Chinese restaurants that specialized in Northern Chinese cuisine, Dad enjoyed the "real taste from home" when they made them with lamb, or beef and lamb mixed together.

At home, I have some of the best memories of the four of us sitting around the kitchen table making these little dumplings. Especially around Chinese New Year, it was tradition in my family to make and eat hundreds of these goodies, since the shape is akin to the old Chinese gold currency which is called Yuan Bao. So eating these are good luck. I remember we made so many that we'd freeze them and then pop them into large ziploc baggies so we would have lots for the holidays and some for other times of the year too.

Very much like the Russian pelmeni, these goodies are filled with meat, veggies, garlic, onions, ginger, and spices.

Since we are still celebrating Eid-Al-Ahda holiday, and lamb is something that we should be eating much of, I made our dinner tonight with a half-half mix of ground lamb and beef. The first bite actually brought tears to my eyes as my memories from my youth, stories of my Dad's youth, the meaning of this holiday, and many, MANY years of enjoying these delicious morsels with my Dad came flooding back to me. I thought with joy and with some sorrow of my Dad, how I wished he were here with us, enjoying these tasty treats and the celebrations. But, I do take comfort in believing that I think he is somewhere close by, and watching us enjoy ourselves eating and sharing in the memories, and now creating our own memories.

This dish is really easy to make, but the only time consumption is sealing them in the dough packets. We used to make the dough from scratch and roll out the dough etc, but we found a really great short cut, and that is using dough dumpling wrappers from the Chinese/Asian grocery store. These are the perfect size and really do cut down on the job.

Ingredients

1/2 lb ground halal beef
1/2 lb ground halal lamb
1/4 head of cabbage, diced very finely
3 TBSP chopped Chinese parsley (cilantro)
1 stalk spring onion, chopped finely
1 stalk leek, washed very well and chopped finely
6 cloves garlic
1" piece ginger
3 TBSP oil (vegetable)
2 tsp sesame oil
3 TBSP light soy sauce
1 TBSP dark soy sauce

1 TBSP all purpose flour
3 TBSP cold water - or enough water to make a good but still runny paste

Method:

1. Add the meat and vegetables to a large mixing bowl
2. In a blender (or Magic Bullet blender), blend very well together the oils, soy sauces, ginger, and garlic
3. Add the blender mix to the meat and veg mix; remove your rings and mix by hand very well

4. Using a teaspoon add meat and veg mix to the middle of the dumpling wrapper

5. Using your finger tip, dip finger into the flour and water paste and put a small amount around the edge of half of the filled wrapper.

6. Fold over the edges and pinch together very well creating a very good seal.

7. Set aside until all the sui-jao's are created. Boil water in a pot adding enough chicken stock powder to flavour the boiling water well. Drop each sui-jao into the boiling water*, do not over crowd the pot. They will begin to rise. Using a spider net or a slotted spoon, stir them gently to ensure they get cooked well on all sides and that they don't start sticking together. Let them cook for about 8-10 minutes. Remove from water with slotted spoon and serve them dry immediately.

* Traditionally, you will boil them in a very large pot leaving enough space at the top that as soon as the water boils (with the sui-jao inside the pot), add a glass of cold water. When the water boils again, add another glass of cold water, and then repeat this a third time. When the water boils again for the last time, the sui-jao will be all cooked.

You can drink the stock by itself later, or you can serve the sui-jao in the stock and you can add some chopped cabbage (or other leafy greens to the stock).

Dipping Sauce

1 TBSP Chinese Light Soy Sauce (do NOT use Kikomen brand for this as it will give it too much of a different flavour)
1 TBSP Chinese Dark Mushroom Soy Sauce
1 TBSP Chinese Chinkiang Vinegar
1 tsp Sesame Oil
1 dash Sri Racha chili sauce (optional)

Mix all ingredients together well, and serve together with the sui-jao

Here are the photos of the ingredients you will need to buy from the Asian supermarket for the dipping sauce:

                                               

Middle Eastern Lamb Shanks

One of my most favourite meats, is lamb. It is something that I shared a taste for with my Dad. I remember when I was really little, we often would have roast leg of lamb for Sunday dinner (and other celebrations), and Dad and I would often enjoy eating the bones afterwards.


My Dad loved lamb so much that given a choice between lamb and a steak, he'd have chosen lamb... and I am proud to say that I would choose the same.

This first time I made leg of lamb, my husband, who had never tried lamb before, was not too impressed. This concerned me greatly; after all, lamb was a great part of my life and the thought of a lifetime sans lamb, was pretty daunting to me. So I had to get creative with how I was going to make the lamb and have my husband try each new recipe out.



Tonight I made a Middle Eastern-style lamb and it was a great hit with my husband. There was not a morsel left on his plate. So I decided that since it was such a great hit, and lamb (I have come to learn) is an acquired taste, this recipe will sure to please.


Please remember to leave me a comment and rate this recipe, it gives me a good idea on how well my recipes have been received.

4 lamb shanks

2 tsp sweet paprika
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cardamon
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp sumac
1 pinch saffron
1 TBSP orange blossom water

5 cloves garlic
2 medium onions, cubed
5 carrots, cut in thirds and then quartered
1 cup golden sultanas
2 TBSP olive oil
1/4 cup water
2 tsp chicken powder

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1. Rinse lamb shanks and set aside.
2. Mix together next 11 ingredients to create a dry rub.
3. Rub the spices into the lamb shanks, getting into crevices. Then place the shanks into a crock pot and sprinkle the remainder of the spices over top.
4. Crush and mince the garlic and add garlic, onions, carrots and sultanas around the lamb.
5. Add the oil letting a little drizzle over top of the lamb.
6. Heat the water to boiling and add the chicken powder and mix until powder disappears. Add the broth around the sides of the crockpot.
7. Cook on high heat for 5 hours or low for 8 hours.

Serve with flavoured rice and tomato beans.