Category Archives: Mince

Chicken San Choi Bau

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Officially Autumn!

Changes in season are funny, on the one hand I don’t feel ready to wave summer goodbye. On the other, I like the colours in Autumn, and for some reason I always feel like pumpkin soup and crusty bread. And that’s not something to be sad about.

But if you feel you must hang on to some summery food for a bit longer yet, try this chicken dish. It’s really good for you – the flavours all come from lovely herbs and spices, rather than fats, and it tastes lovely and fresh, zingy, light, etc.

And yes, iceberg lettuce, there is a place for you in this decade. You can come out of hiding. I promise not to put you in a salad with hard boiled eggs and cubes of cheese.

I can in no way vouch for this recipe’s authenticity, because, well, I made it up, and I’m no expert in Thai cooking. If you can get hold of some (preferably free range) chicken mince, an iceberg lettuce, a few staple asian pantry ingredients and a few herbs, you’re away laughing, as we say here.
Chicken San Choi Bau of sorts
Serves two
2 tsp sesame oil
300g chicken mince (free range is kindest)
1-2 tsp crushed or minced garlic
1-2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 stem lemongrass, bashed a little and chopped finely

1-2 kaffir lime leaves, finely chopped

1/2 a red onion, finely chopped
1 tsp minced chilli

1 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sherry
2 tsp finely grated palm sugar
fresh mint and coriander, chopped
iceberg lettuce leaves, to serve
Heat the sesame oil in a wok over high heat. Add the chicken, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, lime leaves and onion. Stir-fry until the chicken is just cooked through. Add the chilli, lime juice, fish sauce, soy sauce, sherry and sugar, and heat through. Take the wok off the heat and stir through the chopped herbs.
Serve in iceberg lettuce leaves, which you can roll up to make little easy-to-eat parcels. Or, you could leave the bowl of cooked mince on the table with a pile of appropriately sized lettuce leaves and let your diners help themselves. An extra squeeze of lime juice over the chicken before eating never goes astray, either!

Food on Sticks

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One of the best things about summer, I think, is Food on Sticks. We’ve been barbecuing whenever possible, which has been most days in fact, and I’ve been making loads of skewered dishes. Prawn skewers (with chorizo tucked into the curl of the prawn – wow), citrus fish kebabs, thai chicken kebabs, and most recently, these lamb kofta.

I really, really love lamb. I try and fit in one lamb dish every week, although it can be tremendously expensive. Good lamb mince is one of the cheaper ways to do it, and I try and stock up on leg steaks when they’re on special. Hoping to tackle a good lamb roast sometime soon, too, although I can’t see us ever eating it every Sunday!

Lamb kofta come in many forms (although none are particularly attractive in photographs, I think). The basic anglicised recipe I use is half an onion, a clove of garlic, 500g mince, and a few teaspooons of whatever spices take your fancy. You could also add fresh ginger and herbs, or I also have a recipe that includes a can of chickpeas, which bulks the quantity out. I think lamb is the best meat to use, but beef is also fine (if rather unconventional).

Lamb Kofta
Adapted from several recipes, mostly by Alison Holst
Serves 4

½ an onion
1 large clove garlic, peeled
2cm piece fresh ginger (optional)
500g lean lamb mince
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp chilli powder (or less, to taste)
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp chopped fresh mint – or other fresh herbs

Firstly, if you’re using bamboo skewers, soak them in cold water for at least half an hour so’s they don’t burn when you cook them :)

Whiz the onion, garlic and ginger (if using) in a food processor until they’re very finely chopped. Add the mince, spices and herbs, and whiz until the mixture just starts clumping together.

Using wet hands, shape the mixture into twelve sausage shapes (I divide in half, then half again, etc, to get even portions). Push a skewer through the kofta lengthways.

Get your barbecue or grill heating, and once hot, grill the kofta for about 5 minutes each side (or you could bake them in the oven at 200º, for 6 minutes a side), until cooked through and golden brown.

I served the kofta with a little tomato and cucumber salad, a loaf of ciabatta, and a sauce made by mixing together: 1 cup low fat yoghurt, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 1 Tbsp tahini paste, and about 3 Tbsp each fresh chopped mint and coriander, plus salt to taste.

Enjoy this Food on Sticks meal, and here’s to many more this summer!

Spicy Lamb Burgers with Raita

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Lamb Good. Burgers Good. That’s all I really need to say.

I think this recipe came from an issue of Taste magazine last year.

Spicy Lamb Burgers with Banana Raita
Serves 6

Raita:
2 bananas
1½ Tbsp lime juice
1 hot green chilli, chopped
2 Tbsp chopped fresh mint
1 cup unsweetened yoghurt
½ tsp cumin
¼ tsp salt

Burgers:
½ cup chopped shallots
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1½ Tbsp butter
¼ tsp chilli powder
1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
¾ tsp salt
500g lamb mince
1 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp unsweetened yoghurt
6 burger buns, or ciabatta rolls etc
mango chutney

Firstly, make the delicious raita. Peel the bananas and slice them thinly. Gently toss them with the lime juice, then add the other raita ingredients and mix gently. Set this aside in the fridge.

For the burger patties, cook the shallot and garlic gently (I used a spray of canola oil and a Tbsp water, you could cook them in butter if you must). Add the chilli, coriander seeds, ginger and salt. Set this mixture aside to cool a little. Then add the lamb mince, lime juice and yoghurt, and form the mixture into patties. Cook the patties quickly either on the bbq, or in a hot frypan, turning once, until cooked through.

Spread the bun cases with a little mango churtney. Add the patties and raita, and some other burger fillings if you wish, top with a little more chutney and sprinkling of fresh coriander, then the bun lid. I served mine with some spring asparagus, steamed beetroot, and cherry tomatoes. Beautiful!

Burritos!

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I looooove Mexican food. I still haven’t been to La Boca Loca in Miramar, but everyone tells me I should. I will obey this ‘everyone’ as soon as I can. In the meantime, there’s cooking Mexican food at home to tide me over. And next week I’m going to a Mexican cooking class at Social Cooking (which will be my first visit there, anyone else been yet?).

I’m worried my future experiences at La Boca Loca and Social Cooking will result in learning that all my Mexican cooking thus far is a dismal Speedy Gonzalez Americanized Tex Mexing of authentic Mexican food. I’m worried because I really like my fudged home Mexican cooking. But one can’t be close minded about these things. I might find a whole new world of authentic Mexican cooking that is even better. I’ll keep y’all posted.

We occasionally have these burritos at home. Most people probably do. I soften onions and garlic, and add prime beef mince, and get that cooking with cumin, chilli (fresh, powder, flakes or minced from a jar, depending how energetic I feel), oregano, paprika, tomato paste, a can of kidney beans, and whatever else seems like a good idea at the time. While that cooks, I prepare all the veges and fillings – this day we had avocado, baby spinach, capsicum, cucumber, spring onions. Always essential is grated cheese (I like reduced-fat stuff, Bega do a good ready-grated one) and lots of coriander. And I make my tomato salsa (recipe below).

Then when the mince is cooked Mr J. and I get our tortillas ready. He insists on microwaving them to separate them nicely. I respond that that’s a myth and you just need to know how to do it right. I proceed with trying to split them myself. I ruin two tortillas by tearing them to shreds before Mr J. takes the pile off me and microwaves it. The remaining tortillas are saved and Mr J. smugly puts one or two on my plate. We assemble our dinners at the table, debating about how full to fill tortillas, and how best to fold them up.

This happens every time we have burritos. It’s the rituals that keep us strong.

Fresh Tomato Salsa
Enough for two people with plenty left over for bruschetta lunch the next day. 

2 tomatoes, or a bunch of cherry tomatoes, or a combination
½ red onion
½ red capsicum
a few peppadew peppers, if you like them
good handful of fresh coriander and mint
1 lime, zest and juice (or lemon works, too)
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp sugar
splash of hot chilli sauce (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste

Chop the tomatoes, red onion, capsicum, peppadews and herbs, as coarsely or as finely as you like. I like mine at a medium chop – fine enough that you can pick up a spoonful or forkful of salsa and not just get a lonely chunk of tomato, but not so tiny that it’s like gazpacho to eat.

Then just toss everything together in a bowl and season to taste. You can use up lots of fridge lurkers in salsa too – I had the last 2-3 Tbsp of a tin of tomatoes that ended up in there. You might also like to add garlic, or even finely grated ginger.  The salsa is good with burritos, on bruschetta, as a dip, in salads, or alongside bbq’d fish or chicken.

On top of spaghetti, all covered in cheese

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Who doesn’t love spaghetti and meatballs?

I realise I’m getting into the habit of blogging about classics that seem to have lost their appeal along the way. Meatballs are a prime (mince) example. Beef mince, pasta and a good tomato pasta sauce – what’s not to like? It seems unfair that lasagne should claim all the status points in this category. So I’m standing up and fighting for meatballs. Kia Kaha!

This meatball recipe has been around our family for ages – I’m pretty sure I used to eat it when my brother and I were at primary school. I like baked meatballs better than fried, and these ones have a really nice flavour. The recipe title has always been ’spicy meatballs’, but they’re really not spicy, so I’ve taken the liberty of renaming them.

My tomato pasta sauce recipe is very back to basics; I sometimes add extra things depending on what’s in the fridge and what I’m using the sauce for, but it’s a good base recipe. Put together, you have simple, good food. 


Bring Back Meatballs & Basic Pasta Sauce
Serves 2

250g beef mince
1 onion, very finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp mustard powder
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1 egg
chopped fresh Italian parsley
about 200g spaghetti (I used wholemeal, in case you were wondering about the colour)
½ Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp tomato paste
tomatoes*
2 Tbsp chopped fresh herbs (e.g. basil, italian parsley, oregano)
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp minced chilli
1 tsp brown sugar
parmesan and fresh herbs, to serve

*I used a tin of chopped tomatoes, plus 4-5 fresh ones (red gold!). In times of plenty, you could use all fresh tomatoes (imagine that!), or all tinned. Whatever you fancy and have on hand.

Preheat oven to 200(c). Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Combine the mince, half the onion, the first clove garlic, the ginger, mustard powder, breadcrumbs, egg and parsley, and mix until all ingredients are well combined. Shape into golf-ball sized meatballs. Place on the lined tray and bake for about 15 minutes or until cooked through.

While they bake, cook the spaghetti in salted boiling water, according to packet directions, and prepare the pasta sauce:

Heat olive oil in a frypan over medium heat. Add the garlic and remaining onion, and cook until softened (about 5 minutes). Stir in tomato paste and cook for 1-2 minutes, then add tomatoes, herbs, salt, chilli and brown sugar. Let that simmer away gently for 10-15 minutes, while the meatballs finish cooking. Check seasonings and adjust with salt, pepper and/or brown sugar.

 To serve, place the spaghetti on plates, then top with ½ the sauce (as in, 1/4 of the sauce on each plate), then add the meatballs, then the remaining sauce. Top with shaved or grated parmesan, and some extra fresh herbs.

The ultimate verdict on whether this dish is good or not: