Izgara Köfte (Turkish Broiled Meatballs)

One of my favourite ways of Turkish meatballs is this absolutely delicious and very quick and easy to make, that I discovered during our travel in Turkey. These izgara kofte can be made using minced lamb meat, infusing the meat with a fragrant Turkish spices and adding a little bit of sugar it helps to balanced the flavor. This is a simple recipe for making a meatball in the oven. They’re tender, delicate, moist not dry and taste like the autentic Turks kofte/meatballs. We personally love eating this dish in middle eastern style along with the saffron rice, bulgur pilaf, and charcoal grilled chili's, it goes well with shepherd's salad dish and wedges of lemon.  (Makes 20 pieces of meatballs)
Ingredients:
600g ground beef
1 large yellow onion
1½ tbsp kofte spice
½ tbsp sumac spice
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 egg
1¼ cup bread crumbs
1½ tbsp sugar
salt
olive oil
Preparation:

1. The first step was finely chopping my onion in my food processor for a quick prep.

2. Next up, preheat oven to 220°C; In large bowl combine all ingredients including the chopped onion, except olive oil, add some salt around 1¼ tbsp or depends on your personal taste.

3. Mush with your hands to mix well until combine. Clean your hands before handling the food.

4. Take a big  bite size of meat mixture about 4½cm or you could make them any size you wanted. Roll each one in the palms on your hands and shaping them into a full moon, crescent, star :).

5. Seriously just shape them into a classic meatballs or ovals.

6. Place on a shallow pan allow fat to drip away while broiling them into the oven.

7. Brush with olive oil.

8. Adjust your oven shelve to the top middle, place the roasting pan in the hot oven, pour around 500ml of boiling water.

9. Put the meatballs on top of the roasting pan.

10. Bake at preheated oven  for 20-25 minutes until browned and no longer pink in center. You can cook these meatballs in a frying pan, add a few drops of olive oil and fry for 5-6 minutes or in barbecue grill.

11. When done, take them out from the oven.

12. Allow to rest for 1-2 minutes before serving.

13. Serve the warm kofte with steamed saffron rice, shepherds salad and grilled chili. You could do almost anything with them (pita bread with some salad)  or plenty more ideas to serve these  meatballs. 

Lemon & Butter Herb Roasted Chicken

freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp spanish smoked paprika

1 lemon zest
1½  lemon juice

1 medium whi

Ingredients:

4lbs free range whole chicken

175g softened butter

20g chopped rosemary, parsley, thyme, tarragon and oregano

2 garlic cloves, peel and used garlic press

1 tsp te onion

salt

roasted herb potatoes and carrots for side dish

Preparation: 

1. For herb and butter seasoning, in a mixing bowl, mix together butter, herbs, paprika, garlic, lemon zest, salt and pepper with your hand or spoon. Set aside!

2.  Preheat oven to 220°C; Rinse chicken pat dry with paper towels, remove any giblets and neck from inside chicken. Make sure the chicken is clean and dry. Using a long spoon or with your fingers slide under the skin starting from the neck side, and working your way to the legs and near to the wings side. Gently work the skin away from the meat and create as a pocket to place the seasoning in. Sprinkle body cavity with salt and pepper.

3. Now take some herb butter mixture to the pocket and work it in between the skin and the meat.

Use your hands on top of the skin and gently spread the butter mixture throughout legs, breast and near the wing. Do this on both sides of the breast. Leave around 1/3 or 1/4 of the herb butter mixture for stuffing .

4. Place the remaining herb butter mixture, 5 garlic cloves, onion and ½ lemon juice inside the body cavity. Tie drumsticks and wings together using kitchen twine. So that it holds together and butter seasoning  while cooking. Then season generously with salt and pepper, another of squeeze of 1 lemon juice outside the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for overnight until ready to cook. 

5. Place the chicken on a rack in a shallow roasting pan, cover with foil. Tuck the foil in every place to perfectly cover the baking dish to prevent the top from burning to quickly so the chicken will cook evenly inside-out. Roast in the preheated oven for about 1 hour.

6. After 1 hour of roasting remove the foil, reduce the temperature to 200°C. Basting with pan juices and bake for a further 30 minutes or more until the chicken is deep and golden so that you get that lovely crust.

7. Remove chicken from oven. Cover and let stand for 30 minutes before carving and this will ensure perfect moist and juiciness.

8. Transfer the chicken to a chopping board or large serving plate.

9. Cut and slice the chicken and serve with roasted herb potatoes and carrots or any side dishes and gravy sauce if you want. I made lemon onion gravy sauce but my family they didn't use any sauce. The meat already juicy and very flavorful and roasted herb potatoes and carrots goes really well with chicken.

Roasted Herb Potatoes & Carrots

I made these roasted potatoes and carrots are a great addition and accompaniment to New Year lunch meal. And these roasted potatoes and carrots they’re just as good and perfect served as a side dish with roast chicken.
Ingredients:
14-16 small gold yukon potatoes, peeled
400g earthbound organic carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into chunky pieces
5 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbs chopped parsley and thyme
1 spring rosemary
1 lemon zest
salt and pepper
herb infused grapeseed oil
Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 230°C. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil. When the water is boiling, add the potatoes and carrots cook for about 15-20 minutes or until they are completely tender.

2. Strain well the carrots and potatoes.

3. Sprinkle generously with herb infused grapeseed oil. To making herb-infused grapeseed oil, select the herbs of your choice.I used to make herb-infused grapeseed or olive oil are rosemary, thyme, sage, tarragon, oregano and Italian parsley, you can chopped them and add garlic crushed if you want. In a  sauce pan and add the oil to it. Heat it over a low flame until the oil is completely hot. Turn off the heat and add the herbs and cool. Discard the herbs and place the oil in container.

4. Place the boiled carrots and potatoes into the baking dish. Sprinkle generously with salt, freshly ground black pepper, garlic and lemon zest. 

5. Toss them well until evenly coated.

6. Bake these for 30 minutes until brown.

7. After 30 minutes, take them out from the oven. Add and sprinkle the herbs and torn the rosemary leaves into the roasted potatoes and carrots.

8. Add more herb infused grapeseed oil over the carrots and potatoes.

9. Put them back into the oven and bake for 15 minutes until crisp and serve straight away.

Piña Ham-Homemade Sweet Ham Flavored in Pineapple

Baked ham is an iconic holiday "Noche Beuna" centerpiece. As a Filipina with western cultures, I prefer the sweeter version of the ham flavor in pineapple with this pininyahan hamon or piña jamon. Sure! you can order or buy a holiday ham in Costco or supermarkets. Making a ham from scratch it something that sounds hard to do and it seems it takes a long time, actually is very easy to make. Home curing your own ham its freely to access any flavor you want and less expense. Buy a fresh boneless pork leg in a market and ask the bucther a piece of shank portion leaving just enough fat on the meat. This important for the perfect carmelise to juicy meat ratio.This easy recipe yields a sweet and juicy of my piña ham. Its old fashioned, it's comforting, it makes the kitchen smell wonderful Christmas and it's good for the heavenly holiday season.
Ingredients:
pork leg (3-4 kilo)
10 tbsp sugar
7 tbsp salt
2 tsp salitre or cured meat powder
kitchen twine
medical injection or syringe
1.6 litre Del monte pineapple juice
5 garlic cloves, crushed
10 Jamaican peppercorn
1 bay leaves
cloves
pineapple slices
2 dijon mustard sauce
3 tbsp honey syrup
Preparation:

1. Combine salt, sugar and salitre in a bowl, then mix all ingredients. Rub some of these season ingredients well into the meat. Then used kitchen twine and tie the meat tightly to maintain it's shape during the curing and cooking process. This is a very important step in creating a successful end product. Set aside the seasoned meat in a glass bowl. Rub again all the remaining season ingredients. Then cover and refrigerate for one day.

2. Using a syringe fill it up with the meat juices that were left in the glass bowl and start injecting into the meat. Set the cured meat aside in the glass bowl, covered inside the refrigerator. Repeat the injecting process every day until no juices remain. I marinated this ham for about 1 week. You can keep the ham inside a air tight plastic bag in the freezer for a month or more. Put the ham in a deep casserole, add enough pineapple juice to cover the ham but not quite full to the top of the ham. Add the Jamaican peppercorn, 10 cloves, bay leave and garlic, feel free to improvise. I injected the pineapple juice in the ham everywhere and anywhere I could poke that needle and inject the goodness into the meat.

3. Bring to a boil and simmer gently for 2-3 hours, let the ham cool in its own liquid. The ham will continue to cook as the juice cools and this will allow the ham to soak up the flavor of the juice. If you plan to bake it directly to the oven, however, you may want to skip this step. Place the boiled ham in a baking dish and remove the twine. Preheat oven to 200°C and bake the ham for 30 minutes.

4. After 30 minutes baking in the oven. Remove the ham from the oven. Top with the pineapple rings, securing and stud them with cloves or toothpick. Place cherries or fresh cranberries into the centers of the rings, if  desired.

5. Combined the honey and extra strong dijon mustard, mix well.

6. Brush the ham on top of pineapple and de-glazed to help carmelized the fruit during baking process.

7. Return the ham to the oven and bake until heated through for 25-30 minutes. Basting  occasionally with the honey mixture. When done remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before carving, adding more jewel on the centers of the rings. Serve hot or cold in slices.

Suggestion: Best eaten while still hot served with mashed potato and pineapple reduction sauce. Enjoy! 

For the Sauce: 

Ingredients:
Remaining pineapple juice
1 tbsp dijon mustard
pinch of ground black pepper
cornstarch mix in 2 tbsp of water
Preparation:

1.While roasting the ham. Put the remaining juice in a saucepan, strain the peppercorns, cloves garlic and bay leave.

2. Bring to a boil over medium heat and simmer. Skim the fat off the liquid, reduce by half. Add the mustard and ground pepper. Continue to simmer for a couple minutes or until the glaze start to thicken. Add the cornstarch mixture stirring occasionally and simmer until thickened. When sauce has thickened, remove from heat and place on gravy boat.

Baked Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms With Cheese And Tomato

A medley of tomato, goat cheese and pesto. It’s full of protein, calcium and potassium. This would be a splendid starter for a dinner or a full course at lunch.
Ingredients:
4 large Tuscan Portobello mushrooms 140g each, available in Costco
100g chopped fresh red tomatoes
150g goat cheese
1 lemon zest
1 garlic clove, crushed or finely chopped
pesto sauce
pine nuts
freshly chopped parsley
freshly ground black pepper
salt
Preparation:

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C, wipe the mushrooms with a paper towel to remove any dirt. Remove gills from underside of mushroom by your hands or spoon and scraping them out. Be careful not to break it, set aside the gills or stalk.

2. Coarsely chop the gills and place in a mixing bowl.

3. Crumble the goat cheese into the bowl, add the garlic, tomatoes, 1 tbsp chopped parsley, pesto sauce, 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, a little salt and pepper to taste. Adjust the seasoning according to your taste.

4. Mix well by using spoon.

5. Add the lemon zest and mix thoroughly.

6. Mound the stuffing mixture into the mushroom caps and feel free to pack it down. The amounts will depend on the size of your mushrooms, just fill 'em up and be gentle.

7. Place the stuffed mushrooms in a 24x24cm porcelain baking pan or any baking pan. Top them off with a dollop of pesto.

8. Pour with a bit of extra olive oil.

9. Bake them at preheated over for approx. 20 minutes or more until the mushrooms are tender.

10. After 20 minutes sprinkle the top with pine nuts, add more parsley and continue baking another 5 minutes, remove from oven.

11. Serve in individual serving dish.

Note:
These earthy mushrooms are beyond delicious, the cheese is melted and mushrooms are so tender and juicy.