We belong together

I still love exploring Greek flavours and food styles, and combining them with the Asian cooking that consumed me in my first bachelor shift.

Here is a meal of spiced lamb rissoles, fried zucchini with balsamic vinegar dressing, yogurt and mint sauce, with lime and saffron rice pilau.

Throughout this, the mint, chilli, citrus all have fun playing nicely with their foodie buddies.

Let’s start with the easy bit - the sauce.

Yogurt and mint sauce

Ingredients

• 200g Greek style yogurt
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 4 tbsp chopped fresh mint
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp ground coriander seeds

Method

Combine ingredients in a bowl. Add some extra ground coriander seeds last. Cover and refrigerate until needed.

Zucchini with balsamic vinegar dressing

Ingredients

• 4 medium zucchinis
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp Korean chilli flakes (“red pepper flakes”)
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• .5 cup halved cherry tomatoes
• .25 cup torn mint leaves
• 4 tbsp olive oil

Method

• Heat oil in a frying pan on medium-high
• Top and tail the zucchinis and quarter them, halving them long first and short second
• Once the oil is hot, fry the zucchinis cut-side down for three minutes, then turn for another three
• Remove the a plate and keep warm in the oven
• In a small bowl, combine lemon juice, vinegar, chilli flakes and syrup, stirring to dissolve the syrup
• When read, serve zucchinis with scattered tomatoes, mint leaves and a good splash of the dressing.

Lime and saffron pilau

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups basmati rice
• 3.75 cups vegetable or chicken stock
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 lime roughly chopped
• .5 tsp saffron strands soaked in about a tbsp warm water
• 2 tbsp slivered almonds
• 2 tbsp currants
• 1 tsp salt

Method

• In small to medium saucepan, heat the low to medium (no oil). Add the almonds, tossing every minute or so until golden brown. If any get burnt, chuck ’em. Remove almonds to a small plate or bowl
• Add oil to pan and bring to low to medium heat then sauté the onion for two minutes, then garlic for another two
• Add the rice and sauté for 5–10 minutes until translucent
• Add lime and saffron (including the water it’s been soaking in), stir and sauté for another 2 minutes
• Tip the mixture into your rice cooker (this is against my general principle of not using two pots when one pot will do - but I love my rice cooker…)
• Add the stock and salt, cover and set to “cook”
• Once cooked, turn the cooker off and stir through the almonds and currants
• Cover until ready to use

Spiced lamb rissole

Ingredients

• 500g Lamb mince 20% fat
• 1 Small onion finely chopped
• 2 to 3 chilli peppers, seeded and finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 egg, beaten
• ½ tsp Salt
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

• As with all food prep, especially when it involves meat, take the ingredients out of the fridge early so that they are close to room temperature
• Combine all the ingredients except the oil in a bowl and mix evenly
• Divide the mixture into six even balls, then flatten into patties
• Bring oil to a medium to high heat in a frying pan
• Fry patties two minutes each side

Sausage rolls rough puff

This is a delicious, fun recipe based on this one by Gill Meller https://youtu.be/oKWNqzG0kko

A warning though - the amount of water in the ingredients for the YouTube video and the River Cottage website version (as noted by one among hundreds of positive comments) is way wrong. I’m guessing a zero got dropped off. Follow my recipe instead!

I know the recipe looks kind of long, but it’s really quick and simple once you get going. Pastry part 1 takes no more than 10 minutes and part 2 just five. And the filling is even simpler - stick everything in a bowl and mix it up.

Ingredients

Filling

• 1kg finely minced pork, fairly fatty
• A small bunch of chives, finely chopped
• 1 tsp each chopped thyme, lemon thyme, mint leaves
• 1 tsp chopped lemongrass stalk
• 1 long chilli, seeded and chopped
• 75g dried breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Pastry

• 175g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small cubes
• 350g plain flour (about 2.5 cups)
• A good pinch of salt
• About .5 cup iced water, to mix

Assembly

• Egg wash (1 beaten egg mixed with a tbsp of milk) for the seal and to glaze
• 1 tsp each fennel, cumin, sesame seeds.
• Ground salt

Method

Pastry part 1

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt and butter cubes.

Add water a little at a time until the dough comes together. I find the amount is between half and three quarters of a cup.

Roll out the dough on a floury work surface until its roughly a rectangle about 40cm by 20cm.

To get a layered and fluffy pastry, fold it longways into thirds by taking one end and folding it into the middle, then the other end folding on top of that. Make a quarter turn, and now you have a new long side, and you roll it out again.

Do this another three or four times, gradually making your rectangle shape more and more even.

Cover with cling wrap and pop it in the fridge to rest for 1 hour.

The filling

Combine the filling ingredients in a bowl and mix through evenly.

Cover and leave at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Pastry part 2

Take the pastry from the fridge and leave at room temperature for about 15 minutes until it starts to relax (you don’t want to be rolling it when it’s all stiff straight from the cold)

On a floured work surface, roll it out into a long rectangle about 2mm thick and about 20 cm by 80 cm.

Assembly

Grab about half the filling mixture and, starting at one end shape the mixture towards the middle, and about 2cm back from one of the long edges. It doesn’t have to be super even - just so long as there aren’t any gaps.

Now take the other half of the mixture and, starting from the middle, work it towards the other end.

Brush the egg wash along the long, narrow edge of the pastry.

Now fold the other edge over so that it holds the mixture snugly, tucking the pastry in towards the mixture where the two sides meet.

Trim at each end, and down along the side. I always retain the strips of pastry and any bits of filling that stick to the knife and give it to the kids to make into shapes. They’re 14 and 16 now - and they still like doing this.

Your great big sausage roll should be 80cm long, possibly a little more.

Glaze the length of it with the egg was, and sprinkle with the seeds and a little salt to finish.

To divide into 12 good size rolls, find the middle and cut right through. Then find the middle of those to pieces, and cut right through. Now you’ve got four pieces, and you divide each of those pieces into three.

Line a baking tray with baking paper (the tray I used was 40 cm by 27 cm and it all fitted perfectly). Gently place the rolls on the paper evenly, most likely three rows of four. Then place in a preheated oven at 180º C for 40 minutes, turning the tray about halfway through.

When they’re golden brown, remove the tray from the oven and use tongs to move the rolls to a wire rack to rest. This help the bottoms get crispy.

After about 10 minutes, they’re ready to serve.

Yields 12 rolls (serve two with veggies for dinner or one with salad for lunch)