lamb

Saleem’s Shish kebabs

Posted by annauk1 on April 20, 2020

Posted in: easy, Family recipes, lamb. 2 Comments

My family all love spice and a bit of chilli fire, except for my lovely daughter in law, Sofia, she really doesn’t.

I think we all thought when she came into the family that we’d all convert her… but it never happened. A korma, yes a korma, is as spicy as she gets.

Saleem’s is an Indian restaurant we all love and I’d say we’ve been going there for about 40 or so years.

Rafiq, Saleem’s son, kindly let us have their recipe for shish kebabs.

You can grill them, bake them or bbq them. Today I grilled them over a high heat for about 15 minutes.

For 8-10 shish, you will need a 500g pack of lamb mince, place it in a large bowl, then add 2 grated onions, 1tbsp ginger purée, 2 cloves garlic, crushed, 3 finely chopped green chillies (you can always add less if you have a Sofia in your family too 😁)

Add salt, pepper and a small bunch (about 30g) of finely chopped fresh coriander and 1tsp Garam masala.

Shape into elongated sausages or shape around a skewer. You could even shape them into burgers. Anything goes.

Grill, bbq until no longer pink. Or bake at 180 deg C until cooked through (cut one open to check it’s cooked through.

Absolutely yummy.

Kleftiko

Posted by annauk1 on April 20, 2020

Posted in: Cypriot recipes, Family recipes, lamb. Leave a comment

Loosely translated as ‘thieves lamb’, one of our much loved Cypriot family dishes.

You know there are dishes so ingrained in Cypriot culture, that upon checking today, I couldn’t quite believe that I’ve never blogged it before.

I’m positive one of my kids will one day come searching for this recipe.

This is a very forgiving recipe. I use lamb shoulder (one per large baking dish) and I asked the butcher to chop it into thick steaks, maybe an inch or so in thickness.

Place the lamb shoulder steaks in the baking dish, with one or two potatoes per person, which you slice in half lengthways.

I was lucky enough to get my hands on Cyprus potatoes, from the afore mentioned butcher!

Cypriot potatoes are waxy and sweet and hold together really well when cooked. I’m always absolutely thrilled when I find them, because they’re not that easy to come by unless you’ve got a friendly green grocer who can source them for you.

Anyway, back to the recipe.

Season the lamb and potatoes with salt and pepper and sprinkle liberally with ground cinnamon and about 3/4 bay leaves.

Pour over either a half bottle of white wine or a small bottle of lager and a few tablespoons of cooking oil.

Get your hands in the dish and mix it all up. Cover with foil and bake at 150 deg C for 3 hours. Remove the foil and turn it up to 200 deg C for the final 15/20 minutes to brown everything.

Serve with a fresh Greek salad and a nice glass of something chilled 😉

Greek lamb orzo (Grytharaki)

Posted by annauk1 on November 12, 2019

Posted in: Cypriot recipes, Family recipes, Instant Pot Recipes, lamb, Orzo, Pasta. Leave a comment

This is such an easy peasy, tummy filling, cosy, family recipe. Perfect for Autumn nights.

Serves 4-5.

Start off by sautéing 800g lamb cubes (you shouldn’t need any oil, as lamb does tend to be slightly fatty) Once the meat is browning well, add 1 chopped onion, 1 chopped carrot, 1 small sliced leek, a handful of mushrooms, quartered, 1 chopped red pepper and fry them off with the meat, until everything is coloured well.

This recipe is very forgiving- use any chopped vegetables you have- sometimes I only use onion, sometimes I use chicken thighs, do as you wish and whatever your little heart desires ❤️

Add 1, 400g tin of chopped tomatoes, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp dried oregano, half a tsp of garlic granules (or 1 clove of garlic crushed) 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce and 1 lamb stock pot (or a stock cube)

Stir in 500g orzo and 3 large mugs of water.

Salt and Pepper.

Simmer until the orzo is cooked.

* If you are using an instant pot to cook. 7 minutes on manual, with a quick pressure release *

Top with crumbled fetta or grated halloumi.

And just because I mentioned Autumn, here’s a photo I took at Birmingham Botanical Gardens a couple of weeks ago. I love Autumn. ❤️