Lebanese Lamb Pastries

These things are amazing! I made them for friends as part of a huge Middle Eastern meze type meal for Persian New Year. The feedback was good!

But I need to stress, this is probably not Lebanesey at all, simply my own recipe. 

Equipment needed for all:

Large mixing bowl
Frying pan
Saucepan
A wooden spoon
Fish slice
Baking/parchment paper
Baking tray
Pastry brush
Knife and chopping board

Makes 8-10 pastries    Prep Time 45 mins   Cooking Time 30 mins 

Ingredients:

300g lamb mince (try to go for something fairly lean)
1 large red onion, sliced thinly
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sugar (any will do)
Handful of fresh mint, chopped finely
1 red chilli, chopped finely
1 tbsp harissa
1 tbsp red pesto
2 tsp Lebanese 7 spice
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp sumac (Persian spice which is red and kind of tastes like lemon)
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 pack (or 10 sheets) filo pastry
50g butter


The first step is to make the filling mixture, start this by very slowly frying the onion very slowly in the oil in a frying pan for around 10-15 mins until it has completely softened and taken on a rich colour. Add the sugar and allow the mixture to become sticky. Set aside to chill to at least room temp. 

Meanwhile you can dry fry the spices (Lebanese 7 spice, cumin, turmeric and 1tsp of the sumac) to bring them back to life; add all the dry spices to a dry frying pan over a medium heat and gently shake the pan to ensure all the spices are toasted and nothing catches. This will take around 1-2 minutes then tip them into a large mixing bowl. 

Now you can add everything into the bowl; the onions, lamb, garlic, mint, harissa, pesto and chilli. Mix everything together extremely well with your hands to ensure a good distribution of the flavours. Pop it in the fridge and forget about it for at least a couple of hours but I usually leave it over night. 

When you're ready to make the pastries (again you can do this ahead of time and leave them chilling in the fridge for up to 1 day) melt your butter in a saucepan and set up your workspace - you will need the butter and pastry brush to hand as well as a large surface. 

Now you're ready to start folding...

Take one filo sheet and lay it flat in front of you landscape-way. Then lightly brush all over with butter and fold as per the below into quarters so you have a long strip;

The add around 10th of your filling to the bottom corner, lightly butter around the edges and fold up into triangles over on itself. Seal with butter and brush with butter all over the top, place on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper. Once you have used up all your filling and you have 8-10 pastries in front of you, sprinkle the tops with a pinch of sumac. You can now either bake them straight away or fridge them for up to 1-2 days. 

Preheat the oven to 180°c/fan 170°c/gas 6

Bake for 25-30 mins, remove and serve up with something yoghurty - I usually make a tzatziki using greek yoghurt, chopped fresh mint, finely diced cucumber, lemon juice and salt, but whatever you want really. 

Ultimate Crème Brûlée

I had a load of egg yolks left over from meringue making (which is just too simple to write up a recipe for really) so I thought I would have a go at crème brûlée and it turned out pretty bloody good! 


Makes 4 servings   Total Time Approx. 1hr 30 mins  


Ingredients:

426ml double cream - precise, I know, but this is 2 standard cartons, a 284ml one and a 142ml one
100ml full-fat milk
1 vanilla pod (or vanilla bean paste, don't use essence for the love of god)
100g caster sugar - 50g for the egg mix and 50g for the topping



Equipment:

Medium sauceapan
4 ramekins
Whisk (hand/electric)
Wooden spoon
Blow torch (optional)
Roasting pan
Baking sheet
Sieve
Large heatproof jug



Preheat the oven to fan 160C/conventional 180C/gas 4. 

Sit four ramekins (I used the little Le Crueset dishes, you can be pretty adventurous with the vessel; as long as it it oven safe) in a deep roasting tin at least 7.5cm deep (or a large deep cake tin), one that will enable a baking tray to sit well above the ramekins when laid across the top of the tin. Pour the cream into a medium pan with the milk. Lay the vanilla pod on a board and slice lengthways through the middle with a sharp knife to split it in two. Use the tip of the knife to scrape out all the tiny seeds into the cream mixture. Drop the vanilla pod in as well, and set aside. You can totally use vanilla bean paste here though. 

Put the egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk for 1 minute with an electric hand whisk or normal whisk until paler in colour and a bit fluffy. Put the pan with the cream on a medium heat and bring almost to the boil. As soon as you see bubbles appear round the edge, take the pan off the heat. 

It's so important that you do not overheat the cream/milk mixture here as it will scald and taste awful.

Pour the hot cream into the beaten egg yolks, stirring with a wire whisk as you do so, and scraping out the seeds from the pan. Set a fine sieve over a large wide jug or bowl and pour the hot mixture through to strain it, encouraging any stray vanilla seeds through at the end. Using a big spoon, scoop off all the pale foam that is sitting on the top of the liquid (this will be several spoonfuls) and discard. Give the mixture a stir.

Pour in enough hot water (from the tap is fine) into the roasting tin to come about 1.5cm up the sides of the ramekins. Pour the hot cream into the ramekins so you fill them up – it’s easier to spoon in the last little bit. Put them in the oven and lay a baking sheet over the top of the tin so it sits well above the ramekins and completely covers them, but not the whole tin, leaving a small gap at one side to allow air to circulate. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the mixture is softly set. To check, gently sway the roasting tin and if the crème brûlées are ready, they will wobble a bit like a jelly in the middle. Don’t let them get too firm or you will miss the silky texture. 

Lift the ramekins out of the roasting tin with oven gloves and set them on a wire rack to cool for a couple of minutes only, then put in the fridge to cool completely. This can be done overnight without affecting the texture so if you have people over for dinner you can do this before to get it out of your head. 

When ready to serve, wipe round the top edge of the dishes, sprinkle 1½ tsp of caster sugar over each ramekin and spread it out with the back of a spoon to completely cover. Spray with a little water using a fine spray (I have one to spray my pup in the summer to cool her down and I'm not even going to lie, I used that one) to just dampen the sugar – then use a blow torch to caramelise it.

If you don't have a blow torch you can used a RIDICULOUSLY hot grill, but be careful because the longer they're under there, the softer the set cream will become and if it's not super hot then, well you'll have cream again. 

Then serve with a little teaspoon for cracking!

Best White Loaf

This is honestly the easiest recipe ever and the results are always amazing. I made this last week and couldn't leave it alone until it was all gone. I have really gone into detail for this recipe to ensure you have all the tips for the very very best loaf!

Makes 1 loaf    Prep Time 30mins   Proving Time 2 hours   Cooking Time 30-40 mins

Ingredients:

500g strong white bread flour (plus extra for dusting)
2 tsp fast acting dry yeast (this is equivalent to 7g if using sachets)
1tbsp caster sugar or 1 tbsp of runny honey
15g butter or 1 tbsp of olive oil (plus extra for greasing)

2 tsp free flowing salt (do not use rock or sea salt here, it will not mix into the mixture as well)

300ml (or so) tepid/warm water

a small handful of poppy seeds (optional)

Equipment:

Weighing scales

1lb loaf tin

Large mixing bowl or stand mix with dough hook attached 

Measuring spoons

Sharp knife 

Measuring jug 

Clingfilm  

Start with your flour in a mixing bowl of the bowl of your stand mixer. Add the butter/oil, salt, sugar/honey and mix together slightly with either your fingers or a quick blast of your stand mixer. 

Add the 300ml of tepid/warm (to the touch; too cold and this will not activate the yeast but too warm and it will kill the yeast) to a measuring jug and add the yeast. Swirl this around for a minute or so until you can see the yeast becoming activated - it should start to slightly froth.

Pour most of the water into the flour mix and start to mix together with either your hand in a claw shape (keep one hand clean!) or with your stand mixture until it begins to come together to a dough, slowly add the remaining water until you have a consistency which is soft and yielding, not dry but not sloppy. 

You may not need all the water, however you may need a little more, it is all dependent on the flour/humidity etc. last time I made this I needed slightly more. There more you make bread, the more you will learn the right consistency and look.

Continue to mix the dough and if doing this by hand you can start to knead the dough on your work surface. Do this by SLIGHTLY dusting the surface with some flour and work the dough until you have a smooth and elastic dough. This usually takes around 10-12 minutes. 

If you're doing this with a stand mixer I would set the dough hook on a medium speed for around 5-7 minutes and then transfer to the work surface and knead for 10 minutes. I know it seems silly to mix by hand after but it really does give you the best result as your hands are warm and you can really work the gluten. It's also good for judging when the dough is ready for the next stage. 

When your dough is where you want it, transfer it to a slightly oiled bowl which is big enough to allow for the rise and cover with some oiled clingfilm. 

Leave in a warm place (away from drafts etc) for 1 hour. 

When you come back to your dough it should have doubled in size. If not, leave for another 20 minutes or so. Next you need to knock back the dough, this basically means punching it until it has deflated. 

Now you can shape the dough; you can either do free form on a flour-dusted baking sheet or in a loaf tin which has been oiled and flour-dusted. Grab your dough and turn it under on itself until the top is smooth and rounded and place either in your loaf tin or on your baking sheet. Cover with the same oiled clingfilm and leave it for another hour to have it's second rise.

Preheat the oven to 225°c/fan 220°c/gas 7 and place a deep metal oven pan/cake pan into the bottom of the oven

Now you can slash your dough (this is ensure even rising in the oven and optimum crunch!). Use a very sharp knife and confidently slash the top of your loaf 3 or 4 times. Sprinkle with poppy seeds (if using) and a little dusting of flour. 

Pop your loaf into the oven and throw a glass of water into the preheated oven dish sitting at the bottom of your oven to create some steam to aid the rise and close the oven door. 

Cook for 15mins at 220°c for 15minutes then drop down to 200°c for another 15-20 minutes. 

When it looks done, take it out of the oven, allow it to relax in the tin for 10 minutes then tip it out and on it's side onto a wire rack to cool. 

Eat when it has cooled for around 30-40 minutes (if you can wait) as hot bread gives you BAD indigestion. 

You definitely need a load of salted real butter with this and if possible, the below jam - although not mandatory for the recipe. 

Plum & Vanilla Jam

This is Gramps' favourite so of course this is a little Christmas pressie for him!

Equipment needed for all:

Weighing scales
A large heavy bottom sauce pan or preserving pan
A wooden spoon
Jars with lids (preferably one which are safe to use with acids)
A jam funnel or large Pyrex jug
Baking tray
Knife and chopping board

Makes 6-7 small jars    Prep Time 30 mins   Cooking Time 1 hour  

Ingredients:

1.25kg plums, stoned and cut into 8ths
900g granulated sugar (or jam sugar with no pectin sachet, as you wish)
1 sachet of fruit pectin
1 vanilla pod


Preheat the oven to 150°c/fan 140°c/gas 3

This  one is seriously easy!

Place your clean jars, open with the lids next to them on a baking tray and place into the oven for around 15 minutes to sterilize then leave aside to cool. If you are using a jam funnel or Pyrex jug to get the jam into the jars then place this in alongside your jars to sterilize too.

Put your plums into a large pan with 300ml of water and bring to a simmering boil. Cook the plums down gently for 15-20 mins (depending on their ripeness) until they're soft and squishy and they have all gone a beautiful magenta colour.

Cut your vanilla pod length ways and scrape out the seeds using the back of your knife and pop the seeds and the empty pod into the pan. 

Pour in the sugar (with the pectin stirred in before) and stir into the plums until dissolved. 

Then boil the jam for 5-10 minutes until it reaches 105c on a food thermometer. Yo can test the jam is ready by placing a small plate in the freezer for 10 mins; blob some of your jam on, if after 20 seconds you can push your finger through the middle and the liquid does not fill the line then you're good! If it does, boil again for 4-5 mins and retest.

Now it's time to jar! Remember to remove the vanilla pod - it's done it's job.

Pour the jam extremely carefully into your sterilized Pyrex jug and then into your jars. Do not touch the inside of the jars or lids - you will unsterilize them. Fill right to the top and screw on the lid using a clean tea towel.

Once cool, add your labels.

This jam can be eaten as soon as it is at room temperature, it does not require a stand time. Best with crumpets, but as you like. 

Caramilised Red Onion Chutney

This is a real favourite of mine, I put this stuff on everything; sandwiches, cheese, meat, on cheese toasties...

Equipment needed for all:

Weighing scales
A large heavy bottom sauce pan or preserving pan
A wooden spoon
Jars with lids (preferably one which are safe to use with acids)
A jam funnel or large Pyrex jug
Baking tray
Knife and chopping board

Makes 4 small jars    Prep Time 30 mins   Cooking Time 1 hour  

Ingredients:

8 medium red onions
2 tbsp olive oil
1 red chilli
200ml red wine vinegar
100ml balsamic vinegar
200g brown sugar
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 bay leaves or a sprinkle or dried thyme/rosemary - this is to your taste, I used rosemary


Preheat the oven to 150°c/fan 140°c/gas 3

Place your clean jars, open with the lids next to them on a baking tray and place into the oven for around 15 minutes to sterilize then leave aside to cool. If you are using a jam funnel or Pyrex jug to get the jam into the jars then place this in alongside your jars to sterilize too.

Peel and chop all your onions, I do this by chopping in half through the root end, cut off the root then chop vertically towards where the root was so all your slices are even and not in different sized half moons.

Place your saucepan on to a medium heat, add your onions olive oil, chilli and garlic and cook slowly for around 20 minutes until the onions have broken down and become soft and sticky.

Once they have become dark and thick, add the sugar and vinegars along with the bay/thyme/rosemary, simmer for around 30 minutes or so until you have a chutney which when a wooden spoon is dragged through the centre of a pan it leaves a trench (trench?) which does not fill with vinegar. 

The colour should be dark and it should feel as though it has thickened.

Once this has been done, pour the jam extremely carefully into your sterilized Pyrex jug and then into your jars. Do not touch the inside of the jars or lids - you will unsterilize them. Fill right to the top and screw on the lid using a clean tea towel.

Once cool, add your labels.

This chutney really needs to be left to mature for at least a month or it will just taste of harsh vinegar. When it's ready basically just spread it on everything.
 

Chilli Jam

As it's Christmas I thought once again I would fob everyone off with homemade gifts again. Last year it was mini macaroons and jam, this year - chutneys and jams. So here are three of the ones I made over the past week. 

So I've basically just stuck to the jamming basic rules to come up with these which is pretty simple - more fruit than sugar is good, boil it at 105c for 10 minutes, use pectin if you fruit has a low pectin level (cherries, strawberries, peaches, raspberries, blueberries, apricots etc.) and sterilize your jars within a centimeter of their life. So here goes. 


Equipment needed for all:

Weighing scales
A large heavy bottom sauce pan or preserving pan
A wooden spoon
A cooking thermometer 
Jars with lids (preferably one which are safe to use with acids)
A jam funnel or large Pyrex jug
Baking tray
Knife and chopping board

You will need a food processor for the chilli jam only


Makes 6 small jars    Prep Time 20 mins   Cooking Time 25-30mins   Resting time 40 mins

Ingredients:

150g long red chillis, deseeded and cut into 4 pieces
150g red peppers, deseeded and cut into 12 peices
600ml cider vinegar
1kg jam sugar or 1kg of granulated sugar with 1 sachet of fruit pectin mixed in


Preheat the oven to 150°c/fan 140°c/gas 3

Place your clean jars, open with the lids next to them on a baking tray and place into the oven for around 15 minutes to sterilize then leave aside to cool. If you are using a jam funnel or Pyrex jug to get the jam into the jars then place this in alongside your jars to sterilize too.

Place the chillis into your food processor and whizz them on pulse until all your chillis are chopped, add the peppers and do the same until you have a confetti of red. This should not be a mush so try not to go too far!

Place your saucepan on to a medium heat, add your vinegar and sugar and heat together without stirring until the sugar has dissolved in the vinegar. Be patient and definitely do not stir!! You can shake it a bit if you're as impatient as me.

Once the sugar has dissolved, add the chilli and pepper mixture to the pan and shake again to distribute. 

Turn the heat up to medium/high and being to the boil. Here is the bit you need to do right or this will not set. Bring to the boil, place the thermometer into the pan and heat, shaking from time to time until you reach 105c, once it is at this temp continue to boil at this temp for 10 minutes. 

You may find that it takes a while to get to that temperature and the jam keeping threatening to boil over - don't worry, if you think it's going to boil over just take the pan away from the heat and continue. This takes a while as the water needs to boil off the syrup before the temperature will go high enough. 

Once this has been done, pour the jam extremely carefully into your sterilized Pyrex jug and leave to cool for 40 minutes. This is basically to allow the jam to become more viscous and let the confetti of chilli and pepper distribute so it doesn't all just sit at the top of the jars. 

When the chilli and peppers look like they're holding in the liquid, you're ready to jar! Give the mix a stir and start pouring into your sterilized jars. Do not touch the inside of the jars or lids - you will unsterilize them. Fill right to the top and screw on the lid using a clean tea towel. 

Once cool, add your labels!

I would advise leaving these for about 2 weeks to a month to take away the harsh vinegar flavour from the jam, Once they're ready they're great with cheese, cold cuts of meat and on a bacon butty!

Lemon Curd & Berries Cake

My good friend Konrad was leaving my work and so I made him his favourite cake combination, which happens to be lemon and berries. This is a combo of a lemon sponge with vanilla butter-cream, lemon curd and fresh berries with white chocolate. If you don't like them things you are WRONG!!

Serves 10-12    Prep Time 35mins   Cooking Time 25-30mins

Ingredients:

375g self raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
375g caster sugar
375g butter - you can also use baking spread like Stork (I do) and a little more for greasing your tins
5 large eggs

Zest of 3 lemons (unwaxed)

2 tsp lemon essence (optional)
1/2 jar of good quality lemon curd, you cannot be too specific here, add to taste!

To decorate:
115g butter, at room temperature

225g icing sugar

2tsp vanilla extract

2tbsp milk

250g of berries of your choice - I used raspberries and blackberries here

50g white chocolate
Icing sugar to dust

Equipment:

Weighing scales

3x 20cm non-stick cake tins

Wooden spoon

Zester or grater with small grate

Large mixing bowl or stand mix with beater attached

Greaseproof paper 

Spatula 

Sieve 
Sharp knife

Preheat the oven to 170°c/fan 160°c/gas 4

Line your cake tins by smearing some butter or cooking spread around the inside in a very light layer and lining the bottom of each with a disk of greaseproof paper. I do this by cutting a square off the roll and folding it over on itself until you have a point where you can measure the size you need and open out for a perfect circle.

Place the butter and sugar into a large mixing bowl and beat together until you have a light, pale and fluffy paste. You can do this in a stand mixer if you have one. 

Next add your eggs, one at a time, beating each time you add to emulsify the mix. 

Now it's time to add the flavourings; the lemon zest and the lemon essence. Give this a good mix to distribute evenly. 

Now you can add your flour and baking powder. Do this carefully in a folding motion so the flour doesn't get over worked (this will lose the lightness). If you're using a stand mixer then I would take it off the mixer and this point and incorporate the flour by hand. 

Your mix can then be divided between your 3 cake tins and placed in the oven. Bake them for around 15-20 mins, checking with a cocktail stick - if it comes out clean, they're done. 

Leaving them to cool in the tins whilst you get on with the toppings.

The frosting is really easy - put the butter, half the milk, and the vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl and beat until smooth and blended using a hand-held electric mixer or a wooden spoon. Sift in the icing sugar and carefully mix together to incorporate. If the mixture is a bit stiff add the remaining milk. 

Now you're ready to build your cake! Take your serving dish/cake stand and add a small dollop of the icing just to stop the cake from sliding. Then add your first cake, upside down and with the greaseproof removed. Then smooth over 1/3 of you icing with a spatula and then a layer of the lemon curd. Do this again with your next cake and finally add your loveliest cake on top. Adorn with icing, the berries (do this higglity piglity as it looks nicer). Next hold the white chocolate next to your tummy (wear an apron) on your work surface and using a large sharp knife, drag the blade over the surface of the chocolate towards you so you end up with curls of very thin white chocolate! BE CAREFUL! DANGER! Then sprinkle over the berries and dust with icing sugar. 

Then give to your Polish friend Konrad.