My Oma and Opa migrated from the Netherlands in 1951, joining the thousands of other European migrants abandoning the continent after the devastation of WWII. To come to Australia they had to leave a lot behind, in those days migrants were supposed to ‘assimilate’ into Australian society, abandoning the culture and customs of their homeland, to become what was known then as ‘new Australians’. In more recent times, we have placed emphasis on new migrants retaining their cultural roots as much as possible, and this has created, especially in Melbourne, a genuinely rich multicultural society. But, to return to my Oma, like most migrants many of the traditions that she did retain from the Netherlands related to food, and one of the most important was to make oliebollen every New Year’s Eve for the whole extended family. I remember eating these ‘oil balls’ (not the most inspiring name I have to say), every new year throughout my childhood and adulthood, until sadly, we lost my Oma in 2003. I had all but forgotten about these delicious treats until this new year, when my aunt made a batch of bubbling oliebollen batter and cooked some up, ably assisted by my mother. Fresh from the deep frier, tossed in icing sugar, like Proust with his madeleine, my first bite transported me back to my childhood and summer holidays spent with my Oma and Opa.

Oliebollen

Ingredients

50g (1oz) fresh yeast or half as much dried yeast

175ml (6fl oz) lukewarm scalded milk

1 lemon

1 large cooking apple

50g (2oz) raisins

25g (1oz) mixed peel

225g (8oz) strong white flour

pinch salt

castor or icing sugar for dusting

Method

Activate the yeast in some of the warm milk, adding a pinch of sugar if using dried yeast. Grate the peel of the lemon. Squeeze the lemon and grate the peeled apple into the juice. In a large bowl, add this, and the lemon rind to the yeast mixture along with all of the other ingredients, except the sugar, and mix well. Cover with a damp cloth and leave in a warm spot to rise until the mixture has doubled in size. Heat a neutral oil such as canola or peanut, in a deep fryer or in a saucepan. If not using a deep fryer, you can check if the oil is hot enough by inserting the handle of a wooden spoon into the oil, if the oil bubbles around the handle then the oil is hot enough. Using two oiled soup spoons, scoop out the mixture, trying to form it into a ball-like shape. Drop into the hot oil one at a time. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan as it will bring the temperature of the oil down and the oliebollen will stick together. When the olibollen are golden brown on one side, flip them over with a slotted spoon and brown the other side. Remove from the oil and drain well on kitchen paper. Dust with castor or icing sugar and eat as soon as they are cool enough to handle. Any leftover oliebollen can be stored in a sealed container and eaten the next day, but remember, they are at their best when eaten fresh out of the fryer.

Jjigae or stew, usually with the addition of gochujang and kimchi, is a very popular dish, in Korea. There are many variations on this stew but the one constant is that they all include the two ingredients mentioned above. Otherwise, the possibilities are endless.  One of the most interesting of the jjigae recipes is Budae-jjigae or ‘army stew’. A dish that was invented of necessity, in the areas adjoining US military bases after the end of the Korean war. Budae means troop or military camp and jjigae means that the dish is a stew and is thicker than guk (soup). Food was not easy to find in post war Korea so the locals scrounged army surplus supplies from the nearby US military bases. These were often tinned goods like Spam, hot dogs and other processed meats, along with baked beans and processed American cheese. They developed this into a hearty stew using local ingredients like kimchi, spicy pickled cabbage or other vegetables and gochujang, Korean chilli paste and gochugaru, Korean chilli powder to add flavour to the mix. This unusual combination is actually surprisingly good, I have eaten it here in Melbourne at various Korean restaurants. Usually it is a shared dish served in a hotpot in the middle of the table and the stew is spooned over rice in individual bowls. The kimchi jjigae I made recently was really easy and very good. I used sliced pork shoulder and added tofu towards the end, but you can substitute lots of other things including sliced beef, sliced mushrooms, the processed meats that make budae-jjigae, anything you like, the base ingredients are the same.

 Kimchi Jjigae

Ingredients

400 g kimchi, cut into bite size pieces

1/4 kimchi brine (the liquid that is in the kimchi jar)

500 g pork shoulder or pork belly (thinly sliced)

250 g firm tofu (sliced into 1 cm slices)

4 spring onions

1 medium brown onion (thinly sliced)

1 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp gochugaru

1 tbs gochujang

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbs vegetable oil

2 cups anchovy stock* or chicken stock

Method

Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy based pan, stir fry the brown onion and the pork for a couple of minutes then add the kimchi and the kimchi brine. Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Slice the spring onions diagonally and add them to the pot. Add salt, sugar, hot pepper flakes and hot pepper paste. Drizzle sesame oil over the top and add the anchovy or chicken stock. Cover and cook for 15 minutes over medium heat. Open the lid and mix the seasonings through, then lay the tofu over the top.

Cover and cook for a further 10-15 minutes over medium heat. Garnish with more spring onion and serve with rice.

* Anchovy Stock

Ingredients

7 large dried anchovies

1/3 cup daikon radish (sliced thinly)

4 x 10 cm dried kelp

3 spring onion roots (washed)

4 cups water

Method

Put the anchovies, daikon, spring onion roots and dried kelp in a saucepan. Add the water and boil for 20 minutes over medium to high heat. Lower the heat and simmer for another 5 minutes. Strain.

When I visit my parents place on the Bellarine Peninsula we often eat lunch outside, overlooking their mature grape vines. The time of the year when the vines are most attractive is around October, November and December, when they are in leaf. The leaves with their unusual shape and the light filtering through the mass of pale green are a beautiful sight. Whenever I see them I think of making dolmades but I have never gotten around to it.

Dolmades or dolmathes have been readily available in Melbourne for a long time. This is probably due to our large Greek polpulation (see Sometimes I hear a mermaid singing and More from the Greek diaspora in August 2011), the largest outside Greece apparently. The dolmades that you can buy ready-made vary in quality from the rather bad soggy ones you can get from the supermarket deli to quite delicious ones that can be bought from Greek restaurants. The Greeks claim to have invented the stuffed vine leaf though they are common in countries across the Middle East including Lebanon and Turkey.

The Greek story claims that these tasty rolled snacks, usually served with a Greek meze rather than as part of a main meal, were spread across the region, albeit inadvertently, by Alexander the Great. They claim that when Alexander besieged Thebes, food was so scarce that the locals ‘minced’ their meat and stuffed it into vine leaves to make it go further*. I like this story, it tells of another great dish born of necessity and of cooks trying to use what was easily available to them. I would argue that many of the world’s great dishes began in this way. The poor starving locals may then have discovered that the leaves impart their own unique flavour to the filling and that this was a dish worth serving even in more abundant times. With my profoundest apologies to any Greek readers out there, the dolmades or dolmasi I have made here are from a Turkish recipe in Ghillie Basan’s Classic Turkish Cooking. These ones do not contain meat but you could add 250 g of lamb mince when frying the onions and omit or halve the amount of pine nuts and currants if you wanted to include meat.

Vine leaves stuffed with currants and pine nuts

Ingredients

24-30 fresh or preserved vine leaves, washed and prepared

For the filling

225 g short grain rice

2 onions (finely chopped)

2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

2 tbs olive oil

1 scant tbs sugar

2 tbs currants, soaked in water

2 tbs pine nuts

1/2 tsp all spice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tbs each fresh parsley, mint and dill (finely chopped)

For the cooking liquid

150 ml water

2 tbs olive oil

2 tbs lemon juice

Method

# Soak the rice in warm salted water for 10 mins, drain and rinse

# Prepare the filling. Soften the onions and garlic in the olive oil. Stir in the sugar, currants and pine nuts. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the spices, rice, salt and pepper. Cover with just enough water and bring it to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the liquid is almost absorbed. Mix in the herbs with a fork, cover the pan and leave for five minutes. The rice should still have a bite to it.

# Place a few vine leaves in the bottom of a wide pan. Lay the rest of the vine leaves on a flat surface and place spoonfuls of the rice mixture in the middle of each. Fold the near end of each vine leaf over the mixture, then the side flaps o seal it in, and roll it all up into a thin cigar. Arrange the stuffed vine leaves in the pan, seam side down and tightly packed, and pour over the cooking liquid. Place a plate on top to prevent them from unravelling, and cover with a lid. Bring the liquid to the boil, reduce the heat and cook gently for one hour. Leave to cool in the pan and serve cold with wedges of lemon.

* From ‘Stuffed Grape Leaves, Greek Style’ by Fred Perretti, New York Times, 18/12/2017

** For more on dolma see Middle Eastern Food: You say dolma and I say dolmeh in April 2017

The origins of macaroni cheese are not known but the Italians have been making casseroles that include pasta and cheese since the fourteenth century. The modern interpretation of macaroni cheese appears in the famous British cookbook of the Victorian era, Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management and the earliest recipes in Britain date back to the eighteenth century.

Of course, the Americans would beg to differ, claiming that macaroni cheese is an American invention in much the same way that Australia claims the invention of the pavlova over New Zealand. Apparently Thomas Jefferson was the first to serve a macaroni and cheese like dish at his home in the early nineteenth century. The dish quickly became popular and, by the mid nineteenth century it had become an American standard *. Certainly the bright orange version, made with the violently coloured ‘American’ cheese is the one that can be found on many American fast food menus today. It is not something I would voluntarily eat. The other version that we have known for many years here in Australia is the packet meal that is sold on supermarket shelves, this version is also pretty much inedible.

In recent times, with the popularity of so-called ‘dude’ food, macaroni cheese, made with various mixtures of cheeses from Comte to Gruyere (the types of cheese you can use are only limited by your imagination), has made a reappearance. It can be found not only on hipster American menus but it is also quite commonly found on the menus of trendy fried chicken and gourmet burger joints here in Australia.

Certainly nobody is saying that macaroni cheese is good for you, it is far too cheesy and delicious for that accolade. As an occasional food, however, on a cold night or when you want to make something that kids will eat, macaroni cheese is an excellent choice. If you wanted to make it a bit healthier you could serve it with a salad on the side but, for many people, this would mean spoiling the fun. The macaroni cheese I have made here uses a rather unusual combination of cheeses including Greek kefalograviera, a cheese I also use to make the Greek fried cheese dish saganaki (see Sometimes I hear a mermaid singing in August 2011), Italian parmesan and mozzarella and regular tasty cheddar. I also included fresh thyme and some crumbled crispy pastourma though, on reflection, this was probably a bit of overkill so I will leave it as an optional addition.

‘Greek’ Macaroni Cheese

Ingedients

400 g elbow macaroni

400 ml milk

3 tbs butter

3 tbs plain flour

1 egg

1 cup finely grated kefalograviera cheese

1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

1 cup grated tasty cheese

1 tbs finely grated parmesan cheese

4 sprigs fresh thyme

a few thin slices of Greek pastourma (crisped in the oven and crumbled into small pieces)

freshly ground black pepper

sea salt

freshly grated nutmeg

panko breadcrumbs

2 extra tbs finely grated kefalograviera

Method

Cook the elbow macaroni according to the packet directions, drain and set aside. Melt the butter in a small saucepan until just bubbling. Add the flour and stir through, reduce the heat and cook gently for one minute stirring constantly. Continue stirring as you add the milk gradually, making sure there are no lumps. Season with some freshly grated nutmeg, black pepper and a pinch of sea salt and cook gently, stirring, until the sauce is the consistency of thick pouring cream. In a large bowl, combine the hot pasta, the sauce, the cheeses, the leaves from two of the thyme sprigs and the crumbled pastourma (if using). Add the egg and mix through quickly. Tumble the mixture into a baking dish that has been brushed with olive oil. Mix the panko breadcrumbs with the extra kefalograviera cheese and the remaining thyme leaves. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and sprinkle evenly over the top of the macaroni and cheese. Bake in an oven preheated to 175 degrees C for 20-30 minutes or until the top is bubbling and golden brown. Serve with a salad if desired.

* Source: Wikipedia

With such a cold winter this year I have been exploring the world of stewing and slow cooking in depth. Stews are the perfect winter fare as I find the pot burbling away on the stove gives and illusion of warmth and comfort that, combined with a good heater, makes me feel as if winter were merely a bad dream.

‘Stifado’ or ‘stifatho’ appears to mean a stew with onions in Greek. The traditional version is made with rabbit or beef but I have seen recipes for octopus and other meats. In my case I made it with cubed lamb shoulder but you could substitute beef or any other meat you have available.

Lamb Stifado

Ingredients

1kg diced lamb shoulder

1/4 cup olive oil

150g baby onions

3 garlic cloves (finely chopped)

125 ml red wine

1 cinnamon stick

4 whole cloves

1 bay leaf

1-2 tbs red wine vinegar (to taste)

2 tbs tomato puree

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Chopped flat leaf parsley to finish

Method

Cut the meat into bite sized cubes. Heat the oil in a large, heavy based casserole dish. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes or until golden. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels. Add the meat and stir over high heat until the meat is well browned. Add the garlic, wine, spices, bay leaf, vinegar, tomato paste and lightly season. Add 1 1/2 cups of water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Return the onions to the pan and cook for a further 1/2 hour or until the meat is very tender. Discard the cinnamon and stir through the flat leaved parsley. You may also want to finish with a squeeze of lemon. Serve with rice or mashed potato.

Hint: For a richer flavour use 1 cup of beef stock and 1 cup of red wine instead of the wine and water listed in the recipe.

Dishes that incorporate all ingredients in the one pot for long, slow cooking have been popular almost since cooking began. Simmering ingredients slowly in a broth or a sauce retains the nutrients and extracts maximum flavour from the dish’s components. If using meat the cook can use the cheaper cuts that respond well to an extended cooking time making these kinds of dishes economical too. In the past, particularly in parts of Europe, flavourings and ingredients such as onions, garlic, spices, herbs and meats were often in short supply or prohibitively expensive to all but a small proportion of the population so, if poorer people had these ingredients, they wanted to extract the maximum flavour and nutrition. In other words, like many other of the world’s great dishes, stews, ragus and braises originated in the homes of peasant cooks.

I have been reading The Medieval Cookbook by Maggie Black. It is interesting to see that, contrary to modern perceptions, medieval cooks were endlessly inventive and that many of the dishes they made are not markedly different from the dishes we cook today. Here is part of a recipe for veal, lamb or mutton stew: ‘Take veel or other[wise] motoun and smyte it into gobettes. Seeth it in good broth; cast thereto erbes-yhewe gode won, and a quantite of oynouns mynced, powdour fort and safroun …. seeth until they be tendre’ OR ‘Cut the meat into 5-cm/2-inch cubes. Put the stock into a stewpan and bring to the boil … then add the prepared onions, herbs, spices and wine. Reduce the heat, cover the pan and cook gently until the meat cubes are cooked through and tender.’ The method described here, apart from maybe browning the meat and onions prior to stewing, is pretty similar to modern techniques and I do love it when I get to ‘smyte my meat into gobettes’.

With the renewed popularity of slow cookers or crockpots stews and braises are enjoying a resurgence in popularity. Boeuf bourgignonne, otherwise known as beef burgundy, is a peasant dish from the Burgundy region in France. Coming from this part of the country, an area that is famous for its wine, the dish naturally includes a good amount of red wine. Originally, the meat was marinated in red wine to tenderise it. The cook could then use cheaper cuts of meat and still achieve good results. Stews are often better the next day and boeuf bourgignonne is no exception. Leftovers can be made into a delicious pie with some puff pastry or topped with garlicky mashed potato to make a sort of gourmet cottage pie. I make mine from a recipe that I have carried in my head for many years but the one I have given you here, while very similar to mine, is based on a recipe by Gabriel Gate.

Boeuf Bourgignonne

Ingredients

800g oyster blade or chuck steak

1 medium brown onion (thinly sliced)

2 French shallots (thinly sliced)

2 garlic cloves (crushed)

1 thyme sprig or 1 rosemary sprig

300ml red wine

3 tbs olive oil

salt

freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons butter

1 tbs plain flour

125g bacon (finely chopped)

16 baby onions OR 3 brown onions cut into thin slices

25 small mushrooms OR 5 large flat or portobello mushrooms sliced into largish pieces

4 tbs chopped parsley

Method

The day before you cook the dish, trim the beef of excess fat and sinew and cut it into 4-6 pieces. Place in a bowl with the onion, shallots, garlic and thyme or rosemary. Cover with wine and stir in 1 tbs of olive oil.

The following day lift the meat, onion, garlic and shallots from the wine and place on a cloth to dry. Reserve the wine and the herbs as well. Season the meat with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 140 degrees C (275 degrees F)

Heat 1 tbs of the oil in an ovenproof casserole dish and brown the meat on all sides. Add the butter to the pan, followed by the reserved onion, shallots and garlic, stir well. Sprinkle on the flour and stir to coat the meat. Add the reserved wine and the reserved herbs and stir well. Cover with a lid and cook for about two hours in the oven or on the stove top on a gentle simmer.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil in a frying pan and saute the bacon over a medium heat for a few minutes. Remove the bacon and set aside. Add the baby onions and brown well all over. Remove the onions, set aside and cook the mushrooms in the same pan for 2 minutes.

Towards the end of the 2 hours, add the bacon, onions and mushrooms to the casserole and return to the oven or stove top for a further 20 – 30 minutes.

*I tend to let my boeuf bourgignonne simmer for a bit longer, about 2 and a half to 3 hours for the first stage and then a further half hour to 40 minutes after you have added the bacon, onions and mushrooms.

Serve sprinkled with chopped parsley.

Serves 4

Note: If making this recipe in a slow cooker you may need to adjust the times accordingly. You could let the first stage go in the slow cooker while you are out and then add the bacon, onions and mushrooms when you get home.

If you do not have time to marinate the meat overnight in the wine, a couple of hours in the marinade will still yield good results.

Pasticcio or Pastichio is an Italian dish that roughly translates as ‘pasta bake’. There is also a Greek version called Pastisio that is very similar but includes some Greek flavours in the meat sauce and egg yolks in the bechamel sauce. Whatever the origin of this dish is it has always been a favourite of mine. As a child my mother used to make it often using bolognese sauce, bechemal sauce, shell pasta or penne and lots of grated cheese. She also did another version with bolognese sauce and instead of bechemal she used quark, a tangy firm variety of cottage cheese that is of Eastern European origin. Both versions were then topped with grated cheese and baked in the oven until bubbling and golden brown.

For my mother, I think pasticcio was a way of using up leftover bolognese sauce and even cold pasta if she had made a large amount. I use it in the same way, making a large batch of bolognese sauce, freezing half of it for future use and incorporating the other half into a pasta bake. I also make a variety of other pasta bakes that don’t use bolognese sauce. For a vegetarian version you can use roasted pumpkin, red capsicum and whole roasted garlic cloves, sauteed leek, chopped spinach and parsley. You just fold these ingredients through the cooked pasta with the bechamel sauce and the grated cheese in the same way you would if using the bolognese sauce, I then top with more grated cheese, breadcrumbs and herbs and bake in a moderate oven.

Bolognese Pasta Bake

For the Bolognese Sauce:

Ingredients

750g veal and pork mince or lean beef mince (preferably Halal)

1 large brown onion (chopped)

1 large carrot (chopped)

2-3 stalks celery (chopped)

3-4 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

150g finely sliced button mushrooms (optional)

2 rashers chopped bacon (optional)

1-2 tbs tomato paste

1 x 400 g can Italian diced tomatoes

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/2 a cinnamon stick

2 fresh or dried bay leaves

olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp sugar (optional)

Method

Heat a large cast iron casserole dish to medium heat. Add a little olive oil and brown the meat, breaking it up with a spoon as you fry. When browned, remove from the casserole and set aside. Add a little more oil and gently fry the celery, carrot and onion (mushrooms and bacon too, if using) until soft. Add the garlic, spices and dried herbs, fry for 30 seconds. Add the tomato paste and gently fry for a further 30 seconds, then add the diced tomatoes and gently fry for another minute. Add the meat back into the pot, bring to the boil and then reduce to a low simmer, Season with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and sugar (if using). Cover with a lid and cook for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.

For the Bechemal Sauce:

Ingredients

2-3 tbs plain flour

2-3 tbs butter

300 ml milk (or more if needed)

freshly grated nutmeg

1 bay leaf

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Melt butter in a saucepan.  Add flour and cook gently for a couple of mins to get rid of the floury taste, this is called a roux.  Gradually add the milk, stirring all the time, until all the milk is used up and you have a smooth sauce.  Add bay leaf, nutmeg and seasoning.  Set aside.

For the Pasticcio:

Ingredients

Bechamel sauce

1/2 of the Bolognese sauce

300-350g rigatoni or penne pasta (cooked)

300g grated tasty cheese (I also often use a combination of mozzarella and kefalogravieria)

2 tbs freshly grated Parmesan

2 tbs Panko breadcrumbs

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried oregano

Method

In a large bowl mix together the cooked pasta, 2/3 of the bechamel sauce, 2/3 of the grated cheese, 1tbs of the Parmesan and 1/2 of the bolognese sauce. Brush a baking dish with olive oil and tumble the mixture in. Smooth it out until even then top with the rest of the bolognese sauce, the remaining bechemal sauce and the rest of the grated cheese. In a small bowl combine the other 1tbs of Parmesan, the Panko breadcrumbs and the dried herbs. Sprinkle over the top and drizzle with a little olive oil and bake in a preheated moderate (175-180 degrees) oven for about 30-40 mins or until golden brown and bubbling.

Bubbling and golden pasticcio

I have been interested in the fresh, healthy and wonderfully tasty food of the Middle East for a long time but in the last two years, since I moved to the Melbourne suburb of Coburg where I am surrounded by Middle Eastern eateries, my interest has increased. My two favourite places are Zaatar on the corner of Sydney Road and Munro Street, I particularly like their mezza, salads and toasted zoccacias and Al Alamy at 6/51 Waterfield Street, both deliver good, fresh food at reasonable prices. Al Alamy also sells a range of Middle Eastern groceries such as dried pulses, nuts and specialty items like pomegranate molasses and kishk. Zaatar is owned by Australians of Lebanese descent but I also have Egyptian, Iranian and Turkish options within walking distance.

I have also been reading cookbooks on Middle Eastern cuisine for a long time and have cooked many recipes. I have made meat kibbeh from a Cypriot recipe (see More from the Greek diaspora in August 2011) and Almond Bar: 100 Delicious Syrian Recipes by Sharon Salloum has a really good recipe for pumpkin kibbeh that I want to try. I have also been reading Lebanese (see Lovely Lebanese in December 2012 for meat and pine nut pastries), Turkish and Egyptian recipe books and I have noticed a common thread between all these recipes. Hommous, baba ghanoush, kebab, kafta, kibbeh and falafel (see The chickpea may well save the world in January 2014 for Hiba’s falafel) all seem to appear regularly with only slight variations in spelling and ingredients. This is probably why the most informative book turned out to be The Middle Eastern Kitchen by Ghillie Basan. In this book the recipes are organised by ingredient not country and this allows the commonalities of all these dishes from diverse Middle Eastern countries, to shine through. Of course, every country would claim that their version of a dish is the only true and authentic one but if you look at the history of the region, the conflicts, the trade and population movements that occurred over the centuries, not least the occupation of the region for centuries by the Turkish Ottoman Empire, it becomes clear that this sharing of food and ideas is something that has always been part of the Middle East, something is as fundamental to the culture as hospitality itself.

Dolma or dolmeh is a dish served throughout the Middle East. Dolma of this kind is generally reserved for celebrations as it is quite complex to make. When we think of dolma we tend to think of stuffed vine leaves (there is a connection here too to the Mediterranean) but dolma is simply a term used to describe any vegetable that is stuffed, generally with rice and with or without meat. Lamb and broad beans can also be added at the bottom of the pot.  My friend Hiba is from Iraq and these are the delicious dolma she recently made for Sunday lunch.

Dolma: Stuffed Cabbage Rolls and Stuffed Onions

Ingredients

1 large cabbage

3-4 brown onions (finely chop one and reserved for the filling)

5 fresh tomatoes (chopped)

4-5 cloves garlic (roughly chopped)

Plenty of chopped flat leaved parsley

1 tbs tomato paste

300-500 grams lamb mince

1 1/2 cups uncooked short grain white rice

Pomegranate molasses (optional)

1-2 lemons

Tamarind (optional)

1-2 tsp cumin powder

1-2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp allspice powder

1-2 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp sumac

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp turmeric

Dash of Worcestershire sauce or ketchup

2-3 barbeque lamp chops

Enough chicken stock or water to just cover the rolls

A little olive oil for frying

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Core the cabbage and carefully remove the leaves. You can reserve the heart for later use. Blanch the leaves in a large saucepan of boiling, salted water, a few at a time, until wilted. Drain well. Cut the bigger leaves in half, removing the thick central rib. Set aside.

Use a sharp knife to make a cut in each onion from top to bottom on one side. Blanch in boiling water for about 10 mins until they are soft and start to separate. Drain well. Separate the layers and set aside.

For the filling, heat the oil in a frying pan and add the chopped onion. Fry until soft and translucent. Place in a bowl with the meat, rice, spices and finely chopped parsley.  Season with salt and pepper and combine thoroughly, it is easiest to do this if you mix the ingredients with clean hands rather than a spoon.

Lay some of the cabbage leaves out on a clean tea towel. Place a tablespoon of filling on the edge of each leaf, fold in the sides and roll quite tightly pressing with your hands as you go to make sure all the filling is contained. Stuff the onion layers with the same amount of filling, placing it in the hollow of each onion and rolling it up as tightly as you can.

Lightly oil a heavy based, cast iron casserole dish. Lay the lamb chops neatly at the bottom of the dish. Season and sprinkle with some of the chopped garlic, tomato, lemon juice and ketchup, also some pomegranate molasses and tamarind water (if using). Place a layer of the stuffed onions on top of this and repeat the seasoning and sprinkling procedure. Next, place a layer of the cabbage rolls on top and continue until all the cabbage rolls are used, seasoning and sprinkling between the layers. Pour over just enough chicken stock or water to cover. Invert a heavy plate over the rolls, cover and bring to a simmer. Leave to cook over a low heat for 1 hour. Serve hot or warm.

The cooked dolma inverted onto pita bread to serve

Japanese curry is a hearty and satisfying comfort food, enjoyed not only in Japan but all around the world. You can get beef varieties, chicken varieties, pretty much any variation that can be made with curry sauce and ladled liberally over fluffy white rice. My all time favourite is Chicken Curry Katsu Don. This is a delicious thick curry containing vegetables, always chunks of potato and carrot but other vegetables can also be added and topped with a cutlet of crumbed and fried chicken. Of course, the dish is delicious because of the crumbed chicken on top but it is the curry sauce that gives it a distinctive and thoroughly Japanese taste. The Japanese were introduced to curry in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century via British visitors from what was then the British Raj or colonial British India. Like other British/Indian hybrid creations, think kedgeree, chutney, Worcestershire sauce and Clive of India or Keen’s Curry Powder, the curry introduced to Japan was not an authentic Indian recipe but a recipe filtered through Western palates. The curry is milder and less complex than Indian recipes and often has quite a sweet flavour.The major difference between Indian and Japanese curry is in the cooking method and the spice blend. Indian curries are generally made from a base of fried onions, chillies, ginger, garlic and other aromatics with a complex and individual blend of spices added depending on what type of curry you are making. Japanese curry is made from fried onions, blended commercial curry powder and flour cooked with oil to make a roux. Most Japanese don’t bother with this process anymore and just buy the already mixed curry cubes that are readily available all over the country and make for a quick and satisfying meal on the run.

Japanese Curry Cubes

The curry cubes are also easily found in most Asian grocers here in Melbourne and in most other Western cities. The first time I made Chicken Curry Katsu Don I found some in my local KFL supermarket in Sydney Road, Coburg. My latest batch I made with my son using curry cubes he brought back with him from his recent trip to Japan.

Hearty and delicious Japanese comfort food

Chicken Curry Katsu Don

Ingredients

2 large skinless free range chicken breasts

Seasoned flour for coating

Egg and milk for dipping

Japanese Panko breadcrumbs for coating

Sunflower oil for frying

4 large potatoes (peeled and cut into chunks)

4 carrots (peeled and cut into chunks)

1 litre of water

4-5 Japanese curry cubes

Cooked white rice for serving

Method

Halve the chicken breasts and butterfly each half. Using a meat mallet gently beat out the pieces of chicken until they are approximately 1cm thick. Coat with flour, dip in the egg mixture and finish with a coating of the Panko breadcrumbs. When all pieces are crumbed place on a plate and refrigerate to ‘set the crumb’. Meanwhile, place the vegetables in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for approximately 10 minutes or until the vegetables are about half cooked. Break the curry cubes into the water and reduce to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally. Remove the crumbed chicken breasts from the refrigerator and heat 1.5-2cm sunflower oil in a heavy based frying pan until bubbles form around a wooden spoon handle when inserted. Gently fry the chicken cutlets two at a time until golden brown on both sides. Remove and drain well. Continue cooking the curry and vegetables until the sauce thickens. To serve, place some white rice in the bottom of a bowl, ladle over the vegetable curry and top with the sliced chicken cutlet.

Hint: Serve with Japanese pickles, tonkatsu sauce and half a hard boiled egg

As a teacher of English to international students I am lucky enough to meet people from many different countries and cultures.  My students at the moment are largely from Vietnam, India, Thailand and China.  They all know that I am interested in food so we often discuss their different cuisines in class.  Sometimes they bring  the other students and I food to taste, so when my ex student Jingjing decided to do her presentation on authentic spicy crab and dumplings (and promised to bring samples) we knew we were in for something special.  We were not disappointed.  Following an excellent and informative presentation, Jingjing unpacked hot spicy crab and pork dumplings.  A fellow student was sent to the Chinese restaurant around the corner for some rice and that was my lunch for the day sorted.

A couple of months later, when Jingjing had begun studying at university and was no longer my student, she was good enough to come around to my house to cook a delicious and generous meal for my friends and family and, in the process, allow me to observe her cooking techniques in the kitchen.  She arrived on the day accompanied by a couple of friends and a number of large bags containing seafood, vegetables, tofu, sauces and noodles.  Within ten minutes she had taken command of my kitchen and was chopping away while her friend rinsed crabs in the sink.  Another friend was soaking wood ear mushrooms and goji berries.  In rapid succession (Chinese cooking is fast) Jingjing presented us with spicy crab, glass noodles with prawns and baby octopus, Shanghai chicken wings, wok tossed spicy cabbage, wood ear mushrooms and Ma Po tofu.  We hurried to keep up with notes and utensils but were soon admonished to sit down and eat by the cook who did not want her food to go cold.  We all ate way too much but fortunately, due to the more than generous servings, there was still plenty left when Jingjing finally sat down to join us.  Thanks to Jingjing and her friends for a great evening and a fantastic meal.  Here’s the recipe for Jingjing’s spicy crab.

Jingjing’s Spicy Crab

Jingjing’s delicious spicy crab

Ingredients

5 blue swimmer crabs, cleaned, legs removed and cut into 5cm chunks

2 good knobs of ginger, julienned

2 large green capsicums, de seeded and cut into chunks

1 long red chilli

1 long green chilli, both de seeded and cut into chunks

1 red onion thinly sliced

5 celery stalks. chopped into chunks

5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

3-4 spring onions, chopped

4-5 dried chillies

potato flour

1/2 cup peanut oil

2 tbs oyster sauce

1 tbs light soy sauce

2 tbs chilli sauce

1 bunch fresh coriander

Method

Coat crab bodies and legs in potato flour.  Heat 1/2 cup peanut oil in a wok until sizzling.  Fry crab in batches until golden.  Remove and set aside.  Then add the red onion, ginger and dried chillies, stir fry for a minute.  Return the crab to the wok and add the remaining chopped vegetables and garlic.  Stir fry for a minute or two.  Add chilli sauce, soy sauces and oyster sauce.  Toss well to coat.  Cook for a further two minutes adding a little boiling water if it becomes too dry.  Add one bunch coriander (chopped) and serve immediately.

Cleaned crab

The vegies were chopped within minutes

The spicy Ma Po Tofu paste that Jingjing used