Roasted Eggplant Curry

Serves 4 - 6

Ingredients

* 500g Eggplant

* 3 tablespoons olive oil

* Salt to taste

* 3 tablespoons coconut oil

* 2-4 medium sized onion

* 1 teaspoon ground cardamom

* 4-5 chile de arbol (or any other dried chili/chiliflakes) to taste

* 8 green cardamom pods

* 1 teaspoon black peppercorns

* 1 teaspoon ground turmeric

* 4 large garlic cloves

* 1 thumb sized chunk of ginger

* 1 can of diced tomatoes

* 400 ML coconutmilk

* rice

Preparation:

Cut the eggplant in cubes and cover with salt. Mix with olive oil and put in a preheated oven/airfryer on 180 degrees celsius. Roast for 30 minutes, or until done. Make sure the eggplant is ready when you begin, we will add them soon.

Meanwhile cut the onions in cubes, the garlic in slices and the ginger in thin strips.

Mix the ground cardamom with the chile de arbol and put in a grinder/mortar to grind, set aside. Open the cardamom pods and shake the inside in the mortar, along with the peppercorns. Smash and mix with the turmeric. Set aside.

Heat up the coconut oil in a large pot or wok. Put in the onion and set to medium keep stirring and mix in the ground cardamom/chile mix. Leave the heat on medium and stir occasionally until the onions are soft. Now add the carlic, ginger and the next spice mix that has the turmeric/pepper/cardamom pod and cook for a while to toast the spices and really make the flavour spread. Now add the eggplant, tomatoes, and coconutmilk. Increase the heat and mix well. Bring to a boil and then immediately turn the heat low to simmer while stirring occasionally. Add salt to your liking and keep stirring.

Meanwhile prepare the rice, by now you should know my prefferred method; 1 cup rice, 1,5 cup water, bring to boil, lower the heat, let it rest for a minute, stir, and close the lid.

When the rice is done, add with the curry in a bowl/plate and serve with Greek yogurt on the side.

If you are a fan of coriander, you can add some leaves on the top.

Enjoy your meal!

Mike & Leda

Spinach-rice

Serves 4

Ingredients:

* 1kg fresh spinach 

* 1 cup white rice

* 1 bunch spring onion

* 1/2 bunch dill

* 1/2 cup olive oil 

* 1 chicken or vegetable broth cube

* Salt & Pepper to taste

For serving:

* Feta cheese

* Fresh lemon

Preparation:

Chop the spring onions and finely wash the spinach.

Add the olive oil in a big pot and slowly add the spinach and the spring onion.

When it is all soft and about 1/4 of their beginning size, add the broth, salt, pepper, the rice 

and 2 cups of water. 

Mix, cover and once the water starts boiling, lower the temperature. 

Cook until the rice is done.

Fry one egg for every serving. 

Serving:

Serve with the egg over the spinach rice.
Add a generous piece of feta and a piece of lemon.

I hope you like this recipe and enjoy your meal!
Leda & Mike

Yogurt kebab

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

For the kebab:

* 500 g ground beef (preferable one piece)

* 500 g lamp minced meat 

* 2 eggs

* 1 bunch of parsley

* Salt & Pepper to taste

* 1 tablespoon cumin 

* 1 tablespoon allspice

* 1 teaspoon chilli flakes 

* 1 teaspoon paprika mild 

* 1 medium red onion

* 1/2 litter milk 

* 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek 

* 1 teaspoon oregano

* 1/4 teaspoon chilli powder 

* 4-5 bread slices 

For the sauce:

* 100 ml olive oil

* 100 gr butter

* 2 tablespoons paprika mild

* 1 tablespoon tomato puree

* Salt to taste

For serving:

* Pita breads (1 p.p.)

* Greek style yogurt (1tbsp p.p.)

Preparation:

Let the bread soak in the milk and drain after. 

Finely chop the onion.

Mix all the ingredients and let rest for 2 hours.

Shape into medium balls and cook on the grill or deep fry.

In a small pan, let the butter melt and add the rest of the ingredients. 

Cook on low temperature until the tomato pure is sweetened.

Serving:

Cut the pitas into 4 pieces, add a tablespoon of the yogurt and then the kebabs.
On top, add a tablespoon of the sauce.

I hope you like this recipe and enjoy your meal!
Leda & Mike

Tonkotsu style ramen

Serves 4

Ingredients:

For the pork marinade:

* 400 g pork steak (preferable one piece)

* 1 tablespoon sake

* 1 tablespoon soy sauce

* 1 teaspoon oyster sauce

* 1 tablespoon honey

* 1 garlic clove, chopped

* Salt

* Pepper

For the soup:

* 1 liter stock (any kind will do, but I used dashi)
* 0.5 liter soy milk

* 1 tablespoon soy sauce (or more to taste)
* 1 teaspoon sugar

* 1 thumb sized piece of ginger, grated

* 2 garlic cloves, grated

* Noodles

* Optional: Sesame oil

For the topping:

* Pork
* Narutomaki (I used "normal" fish cake since I couldn't find it where I live)

* Spring onion

* Bamboo shoots

* Whatever you like

Preparation:

Sprinkle the pork with salt and pepper on each side and heat up a skillet with some oil.
Fry the pork on each side until brown and set aside. Don't cook it through!

Now let the pork cool down and mix all the ingredients for the marinade. Put the marinade in the skillet and let it simmer until the alcohol from the sake is evaporated. Meanwhile cut the pork in slices. You will notice that it is probably still red on the inside, but this is ok.
Put the pork in the skillet with the marinade and fry until the pork sucked up some of the marinade, or, like I did, until a bit crispy.

Take out the pork and set aside. Now we start boiling our noodles while we prepare the soup.

Heat up a pan on medium heat andboil the stock. Add the rest of the ingredients and slowly warm the soup. Don't let it boil! Put in a teaspoon of sesame oil if you have it to enhance the flavour. Mix thoroughly and lower the heat to the lowest setting to keep the soup warm.

When the noodles are done, pour the water and rinse with cold water. Put the noodles in a bowl and pour the soup over them until they are almost under. Now add your favourite toppings in any way you like and enjoy your soup!


Mike & Leda

Piri Piri Chicken burgers

serves 4

Ingredients:

For the burgers

* 4 buns
* 600g Chicken breast
* 2 tomatoes
* 8 slices of cucumber
* lettuce
* 4 slices of cheese
* 1 tablespoon castor sugar
* 2 tablespoons balsemic vinegar
* 2 tablespoon olive oil
* piri piri herbs (see http://emiliosbistro.blogspot.nl/2017/06/piri-piri-chicken.html )
* juice of one lemon
* 1 large onion
* 4 tablespoons yogonaise

For the sweet potato oven baked fries:

* 4 medium sized sweet potatoes
* 2 Tablespoons corn starch
* 1 Tablespoons olive oil
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon paprika powder
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
* Salt (to taste)

Preparation:

Peel the potatoes and cut them in 1 cm fries. Put them in a bowl with water for 1 hour.

Now beat the chicken with a meat hammer or anything similar until evenly round. Now put the herbs in a bowl and mix with lemon juice and a bit of olive oil. In this recipe I used one tablespoon. Now mix your chicken with the marinade and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 220 C.

Now we will prepare some caramelized onions. Heat up 1 tablespoon of oil and add the onion. Stir fry for a few minutes and then add the sugar. Stir fry for one more minute and then put the vinegar, turn the heat to low and let it simmer until the liquid is gone. Set aside.

Rinse and dry the fries. Now mix them in a bowl with cornstarch and add the oil. Toss them over again to evenly distribute the oil. Now add the rest of the herbs except for the salt and give them one good mix. Place the fries on a baking tray in the oven, evenly distributed and not too close together. Bake for 10-15 minutes.

Now heat up a grill pan and put the chicken once it is hot. Cook thoroughly on each side, until you are satisfied.

Now the fries should be done. Flip them all over and bake for another 10 - 15 minutes more, or until crisp.

Open the buns and grill each side until it gets a bit crisp, but still soft.
Now put one spoon of yogonaise on each burger, followed by lettuce, onions, chicken, cheese, tomatoes, cucumber, and the top of the bun.

Serve with the fries and possibly a nice soda!

Enjoy!

Mike & Leda

Chickpea salad with Kebab skews

serves 4 - 6

Ingredients:

* 500 grams minced beef

* 1 red onion

* Kebab/Köfte herbs ( can be found in Middle-Eastern supermarkets)

* 800 grams chickpeas, cooked

* 1 red paprika

* 1 yellow paprika

* 1 cucumber

* a handful of flat parsley

* 2 garlic cloves

* 250 gram cherry tomatoes

* zest and juice of 3 lemons

* a handful of fresh mint

* 5 spring onions

* 100 gram feta

* 2 spoons of olive oil

* salt to taste

* black pepper to taste

Preparation:

Finely chop the onion, and the garlic. Keep one garlic clove for the salad, and one for the kebab.
In a bowl, mix the herbs with the kebab, onion and garlic. You can also add a bit of parsley if you like. Leave alone for now.

Cut the paprika's and cucumber in cubes and cut the spring onion in slices. Halve the cherry tomatoes and add them to a bowl. Add the chickpeas too.

Use a rasp and take the zest from the lemon, straight to the salad bowl and finely cut the parsley and mint. Add them to the bowl with the remaining garlic.

Now take the juice from the lemon and put it straight to the bowl with the olive oil, and mix.
Break the feta with your hands in pieces to your preference and mix. Add salt and pepper to taste, and your salad is done.

Now use skews  and put the meat on them, in amounts you prefer. I made 4 skews out of the meat.
Heat up a grill pan and put a drop of oil. Take a paper towel and spread the oil over the pan.

Add the skews, and turn them once one side is done. If you like medium raw, count 3 minutes for each side, like I did, else keep them longer. Be sure that the outside is cooked thoroughly before serving!

Once the skews are done, serve next to the salad and enjoy your meal!

Mike & Leda

Tom Kha Goong

serves 6 - 8

Ingredients:

* 1 kg prawns, cleaned (or 500 g chicken for Tom Kha Kai)

* 1 can of bamboo shoots

* 1 thumb sized chunk of galangal

* 3 stalks of lemongrass

* 1 big onion

* 500 g mushrooms (I used oyster mushrooms)

* 5 Thai chilies

* 6 kaffir lime leaves

* 2 liters coconut milk

* 1 liter water

* Lime juice to taste

* Salt to taste ( or Thai fish sauce)

* Coriander to taste (chopped)

Preparation:

Cut the stem off the galangal and cut the galangal in slices of about 0.5 cm thick. Slice the bottom off the lemongrass and cut them diagonally in about 1,5 cm strips. Put 1 liter of coconut milk in a pan with half a liter of water and start boiling it. Immediately put in the galangal and lemongrass, and turn the heat to medium. You don't want to make it boil, but rather to the boiling point.

Optional part:
Now if you are using chicken, cut them in medium size pieces and wait for the coconut milk to come to the boiling point. This is the time to put the chicken. 

After that add the rest of the coconut milk and water, and stir to blend. Keep in mind you only stir in one direction always!

Take the stems off the chilies and cut them diagonally in thin slices and add them to the soup. Now add the prawns, if you are not using chicken. Give the soup a quick stir. Now cut the mushrooms in however size you prefer. I used oyster mushrooms so some of them were rather big, so I cut them down a bit. Add them to the soup and softly stir, again, only in one direction! 

If your soup is boiling, turn the heat down a little, we should use a medium heat so it slowly warms up, but not boil. Add the bamboo shoots.

Now peel the onion and cut it in half, and then make wedges. Add them directly to the soup. Cut the tomatoes the same way. Again wait for the soup to almost boil, then add the tomatoes.

Take the lime leaves and break them with your hand so it releases the flavor better. Add to the soup and give a quick stir.

We can start adding the salt (or fish sauce if you prefer!) now. Be sure to taste every now and then so we don't overdo it. For 5 to 10 minutes softly boil the soup while calmly stirring occasionally. We want the ingredients to be cooked, but not overcook the soup. Turn the heat off once it is ready.

If you are a fan, you can add the chopped coriander to the soup now, and stir.

For the final ingredient, it is time to add the lime juice. Add a bit, stir and taste until you are satisfied. If not, add more, but be sure to taste!

Once you are satisfied, 

Serve your Tom Kha Goong/Kai and enjoy the interesting combination of sweet, sour and salt of the amazing Thai kitchen.

Enjoy your dinner!

Mike & Leda