Greek Lemon Chicken:
 
½ cup (125ml) olive oil
½ cup (125ml) lemon juice
1.5kg chicken thigh fillets
2 teaspons dried oregano
2 teaspoons coarse cooking salt
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 medium lemon, cut into wedges

Pita Bread: 

500g self raising flour, plus extra, for dusting
500g Greek Yoghurt
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
½-1 tablespoon sea salt
Olive Oil Cooking Spray

Tzatziki:

Makes 3 cups
​
3 cloves marinated garlic
2 small Lebanese cucumbers
1 tablespoon chopped dill, to taste
500g plain Greek Yoghurt
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Tomato and Cucumber Salad:

3 tomatoes , desseeded and diced
3 cucumbers , diced
1/2 red spanish onion , peeled and finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
Salt and pepper
​
Make the tzatziki: ​Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan forced, place the garlic on a tray and roast for 15 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.
​
Grate the cucumber, squeeze out as much juice as you can.

Place the cucumber, dill, yoghurt, olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Mash the garlic cloves on your chopping board and add the bowl.

Mix the tzatziki to combine. Refrigerate to chill.

Marinate the chicken: Blend or process oil and juice until thick and creamy.
 
Combine chicken, oregano, salt, pepper and half the lemon mixture in a snap lock bag, reserve the other half for basting while cooking. Mix it all together, let it marinade for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile make the salad: Combine ingredients in a bowl.

To save the recipe to your favourites go to  www.whatscookingella.com/greek-lemon-chicken-gyros-with-tzatziki.html 
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​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella

​Tzatziki, is a sauce served with grilled meats (beef, lamb, chicken, it really goes with anything) or it is served as a dip. 

If I serve it with grilled meats, I serve it as is pictured above. If I was to serve it as a dip or as meze, just drizzle over some extra virgin olive oil and dust with a sprinkling of paprika as pictured below.

Tzatziki can last up to one week in the refrigerator, but in our house, my daughter makes sure it doesn't last that long.
​
You can find the marinated garlic recipe here.

This has become one of my favourite things to eat.

​Recipe adapted from Helena and Vikki Moursellas cookbook Taking you Home xx

Makes 3 cups
​
3 cloves marinated garlic
2 small Lebanese cucumbers
1 tablespoon chopped dill, to taste
500g plain Greek Yoghurt
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan forced, place the garlic on a tray and roast for 15 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.
​
Grate the cucumber, squeeze out as much juice as you can.

Place the cucumber, dill, yoghurt, olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Mash the garlic cloves on your chopping board and add the bowl.

Mix the tzatziki to combine. Refrigerate to chill.

To save the recipe to your favourites go to www.whatscookingella.com/tzatziki.html 
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​Week 6 of my Eating Around the World Adventure led us to Greece. On this trip of ours, we spend a week eating food from our randomly picked country. After going through my six Greek cookbooks (which I didn't even know I had, as I have so many cookbooks, it is hard to keep track of all of them), I decided there was no way I could cook all the food I wanted to try in one week, so Greek week has turned into Greek month.

First recipe up was this Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder. Now my mum has always made great slow roasted lamb, and she always loved using the shoulder, so I grew up on this, but this Greek version was just amazing. The garlic, the rosemary, the oregano, the seasoning, it was perfect.

I served it with homemade pita bread and an assortment of dips, tzatziki, eggplant dip, Bean Skordalia and a Capsicum and Feta dip. This was one of those meals where you just watch your family eating your food and the fact they loved it so much, brought joy to my heart.

This dish is salty, but I felt it needed it, adjust the salt if you prefer to use less.

If you don’t have a cast iron pot, don't fret, just use a baking tray and cover it with foil.

If you love Greek food this recipe came from a cookbook by Helena and Vikki Moursellas. If you love Greek food, this is book worth buying, simple, tasty recipes. 

If you are looking for a simple, yet tasty meal to serve your family, look no further.

Recipe adapted from Helena and Vikki Moursellas cookbook Taking you Home xx

3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2kg lamb shoulder with bone in and shank attached


Preheat oven to 170C/150C fan forced. Using a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic, rosemary, salt, pepper and oregano. Add the olive oil and mix to combine.
 
Rub the marinade over the lamb and place in a cast iron pot, then cover. Roast in the oven for 2 hours.

Add ½ cup water and reduce the oven temperature to 150C/130C fan forced , then roast for a further 2 hours.
 
Remove the lid and roast for a further 40 minutes to brown the top.
 
There is no need to rest the lamb shoulder-eat it hot.
 
I shredded the meat and then after removing the fat/oil that was at the bottom of my pot, poured the sauce over the meat.

Serve it with Pita Bread and assorted dips as mentioned above or a simple salad.

To save the recipe to your favourites go to www.whatscookingella.com/slow-cooked-lamb-shoulder.html 
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​​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella

​Roasted capsicums are amazing, they are so full of flavour and need to be served with any antipasto platter.

This to me is not only food for entertaining, I am quite happy to top a slice of bruschetta bread and eat them as a snack or as a light lunch.

When capsicums are in season and quite cheap I like to buy them in bulk and roast the capsicums, peel the skins, allow them to cool, then place in snap lock freezer bags and freeze. When needed, simply defrost, dress it and serve.

You can roast just red capsicums, or use half red and half yellow capsicums or even some orange capsicums, for additional colour. They look amazing when the colours are mixed.

​Simple and tasty.

​Recipe adapted from a Family Circle cookbook

4 medium red capsicums (800g)
4 medium yellow capsicums (800g)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped flat leaf parsley
Salt and pepper
​

Quarter capsicums, remove and discard seeds and membranes.

Roast under a hot grill or in a very hot oven, skin side up, until the skin blisters and blackens. The skins need to be black to be able to be removed from the roasted capsicums easily.

Place the capsicums in a bowl or plastic snap lock bag. Cover the bowl with cling film or close the snap lock bag. Leave the capsicums covered for 5 minutes to steam a little.

After 5 minutes the blackened skin should be easy to peel off. Peel off all of the blackened skin.

Slice capsicums into thick strips. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle over the garlic and parsley, drizzle over the extra virgin olive oil. Toss to combine.

To save the recipe to your favourites go to www.whatscookingella.com/roasted-capsicums.html 
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Week 5 of Eating Around the World led us to South Sudan.

I can honestly say the only thing I knew about this country prior to this was that it was in Africa. Now I know exactly where it is Africa and the kind of food that is eaten there. I know a few more things, but this blog is about the food after all.

I searched for recipes and came up with the list below. The people who posted these recipes actually omitted many steps along the way, so I found I had to improvise or combine two recipes to complete a dish. Rarely were there accurate measures, everything was, to taste. So I would add spice, little by little until I got the right spice mix for my liking.

The food I found to be very flavoursome and I quite enjoyed eating the different spice mixes.

The dishes we tried were

Mahshi (Stuffed Capsicums)
Tamayya (Broad Bean Falafel)
Al Aswad Salad-Eggplant Dip
Kofta Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
​Sudanese Chicken Mafe

Overall Sudanese food is something we enjoyed. Some dishes I would definitely make again.

​Mahshi (Stuffed Capsicums): I grew up on the Croatian version of stuffed capsicums and when I made these, I can tell you, except for a few different subtle spices, they were very similar. So much so that my husband actually said if I didn't tell him they were south sudanese, he wouldn't known. I'll share the recipe here as I had to combine two recipes for this one, it is not easy finding well written, complete recipes for south sudanese cooking.

Here is the recipe:

Mahshi (Stuffed Capsicums)

9-10 capsicums, combination of red, orange, yellow and green

Meat filling
1kg of ground beef
1 red onion, chopped
 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground Coriander, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground Cumin, to taste
black pepper, to taste
½ cup white rice

Tomato Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons oil
340g tomato paste
350ml water
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon garlic powder
8 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
 
Prepare the capsicums: With a small knife take out the top stem, make a hole big enough for you to be able to remove the seeds and membrane. 
 
Make the tomato sauce:
Place butter and oil in a large frying pan, add your roughly chopped tomatoes, saute for 4-5 minutes until the tomatoes begin to release their juices and start to soften.
Add the tomato paste, stir for 30 seconds, add the water, salt, cinnamon and garlic powder.

Simmer the sauce, gently over low flame for 10 to 15 minutes until sauce is cooked. Pour into the base of your baking dish.

Make the filling:
Place 1/2 cup of white rice in water, bring to a boil, simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, drain.

In a large pan add 1-2 tablespoons oil. Add onion, saute over low-medium heat for 3-4 minutes, add the garlic, saute for 1 minute,  increase the heat , add the minced beef, fry just enough to remove the redness, breaking it up with your spoon.

Now add the salt, pepper, coriander and cumin, cook stirring for 1 minute.

Add the rice to the mince mixture and mix well.

Stuff the capsicums with the mince and rice stuffing.

Place over the tomato sauce in the baking dish pan.

Place in a preheated oven 175C/155C fan forced and bake covered for 1.5 hours to 2 hours, until the  peppers are soft and roasted. During the last 10 minutes of baking, remove the cover and roast.

Serve hot.

Enjoy!

​Tamayya (Broad Bean Falafel). I do like falafel, they are quite nice. It isn't something I would want to eat regularly, just a kind of sometimes food. The recipe for this dish came from www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/broad-bean-balls-tamayya I served it with tahini and a yoghurt and cucumber salad, fresh tomato and sliced onion.

​Al Aswad Salad-Eggplant Dip. I love eggplant, truly one of my favourite vegetables, so when this recipe came up I had to try it. I really liked it. I eat it as is, but it is lovely as a side dish or in a sandwich.

​Here is the recipe: 

​Al Aswad Salad-Eggplant Dip

1 large eggplant, diced
2 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 green onion, diced
1 teaspoon lime juice, to taste
2 teaspoon peanut butter
water to liquefy peanut butter
Oil for frying

Shallow fry the eggplant in oil and keep stirring until it is golden brown, set aside.

Place the tomatoes in food processor or blender, and pulse.

Pour the tomatoes in a saucepan, bring the tomato sauce to a gentle boil.

With a fork, mash the aubergine, then add to the simmering tomato sauce.

Add lime juice and garlic, stir and remove the pan from heat.

Liquefy the peanut butter in some water and add to the eggplant mixture.

Add the diced green onion and mix well.

Chill in your fridge and serve with pita bread.

Enjoy!

​Sudanese Chicken Mafe: This one surprised my husband, when I told him what we were having for dinner, he didn't seem to impressed, but once he tried it, he really quite liked it, the whole family did. Now I love peanut butter, can eat it all the time, so I figured I would like this and we did.

Here is the recipe:

​Sudanese Chicken Mafe

  1/3 cup chunky peanut butter
   1 cup chicken stock
   6-8 chicken thigh fillets 
Cajun seasoning, to taste
   1 teaspoon oil
   1 medium onion, chopped
   1 large capsicum, chopped
   1 clove garlic, chopped
   1 x 400g can diced tomatoes
  1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
   1 large sweet potato, cubed
   1 large carrot or turnip, cubed
  230g fresh baby spinach

Put peanut butter and stock in bowl and whisk till combined thoroughly.

Pat chicken dry and season Cajun seasoning. 

Add oil in a saucepan, over medium heat, add chicken pieces in batches, brown on both sides for 2 minutes, set aside. 

 Add onion and capsicum, saute until onion begins, softens and is translucent.  Add garlic, saute for 2 minutes. 

Stir in peanut butter mixture, tomatoes with juice, and cayenne.   

 Bring to boil,  add chicken with accumulated juices and cover pot with lid. 

Lower heat and braise until chicken is tender, about 15 minutes.  Remove chicken to bowl and keep warm.

Add sweet potatoes and carrot/turnip to pot and simmer uncovered till tender. 

Add spinach, once it has wilted, add back the chicken to reheat.  Check the spice now, add more cayenne needed, season with salt and pepper.  

Serve with white rice.

Enjoy!

Kofta Meatballs in Tomato Sauce. This ones for my kids, they love meatballs. Kofta is a very common dish in south sudan. This had a lovely spice mix to it, the meatballs were not dry, and the sauce was flavoursome. I would make this again.

​Here is the recipe.

Kofta Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

700g beef mince
1/2 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ cup of rice, boiled in water for 10 minutes to get it halfway cooked, cooled
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander, to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Tomato Sauce:
1 teaspoon oil
1 small onion
4 large tomatoes, diced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander, to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 green capsicum, sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley


In a large bowl add mince, onion, garlic, cooled rice, salt, pepper, coriander, cumin and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly using hands. I now get a small amount of mixture and quickly pan fry it, taste the meatball mixture, add more spice or seasoning, if needed.

Shape into oval meatballs.

Add 1-2 teaspoons oil in a cast iron pan on medium heat, add meatballs, fry to brown the outside takes about 4-5 minutes. Remove meatballs, set aside, until needed

Make the tomato sauce: Add 1 teaspoon of oil to a pot, if needed, fry the diced onion for 3-4 minutes, add the garlic, saute for 1 minute.
.
Add the diced tomatoes, keep stirring, if it is catching, add a small amount of water to prevent burning. Cook until the tomatoes start to soften and release their juices.

Add the tomato paste and tomato sauce. Add the coriander, cumin, cinnamon and sliced capsicum. Give it a stir, taste, season with salt and pepper, add more spices, if needed.

Return the meatballs to the stew, cover and cook for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle fresh chopped parsley, just before serving. Serve hot with bread.

Enjoy!

​​Now to add another sticker to my world map.

Next stop Greece.

Recipe adapted from amiraspantry.com

​Serves 10-12

500g packet penne pasta
500g beef mince
1 medium onion, diced
4 tablespoons tomato paste
5 cups milk
12 tablespoons plain flour
1/4 cup of unsalted butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 egg
1 cup tasty cheese (optional)
​
Fill a large saucepan with water, season with some salt, bring to the boil.
​
In a pan over medium heat, add 2 tablespoon of oil, then sauté onion until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Add minced meat and brown, breaking it up with a wooden spoon.

Add 2 tablespoons of the tomato paste, mixing everything well together. Continue cooking for a couple of minutes more. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

One your water has come to the boil, cook the pasta according to package directions, make sure it is al dente, as it will continue cooking in the béchamel sauce in the oven. Drain and do not rinse.
​
In a pan over medium heat, melt butter, add flour and whisk, for about 1 minute.
​
Add the milk gradually, one cup at a time whisking vigorously as the sauce thickens. When it is bubbly and thick, turn off the heat, season with salt and pepper and let it cool down.
​
Preheat your oven to 175C/155C fan forced.

​Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of tomato paste to the pasta and about half a cup of the béchamel sauce, season with salt and pepper, mix well.

In a 22xm x 33cm baking dish, spread another 1/2 cup of the béchamel sauce evenly on the bottom, just to cover the base.

Spread half the pasta, then layer the entire meat mixture over the pasta. Top that with the remaining half of the pasta and level.

Crack an egg over the remaining béchamel sauce and whisk well.

Pour the béchamel over the pasta and spread evenly.

Bake in oven for almost 45 minutes or until it is golden brown.

​Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes. Slice and serve with a green salad.

To save the recipe to your favourites go to ​www.whatscookingella.com/baked-bechamel-pasta.html 
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​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella

Week 4 of Eating Around the World took us to Egypt.

​Egypt is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, and across from the Sinai Peninsula lies Saudi Arabia, although Jordan and Saudi Arabia do not share a land border with Egypt.

So with all that, it is no wonder I was surprised by the food eaten in Egypt. It's food influences are middle eastern, but it does have Mediterranean influences also and influences of all of its surrounding countries.

I was pleasantly surprised by Egyptian food, I got to try things I had never eaten before and I really liked it.

So for Egypt I decided to make

​ Egyptian Lentil Soup
Egyptian Hummus
​Salatet Zabadee (Egyptian Cucumber Salad)
Tahini
Egyptian Spiced Carrot Puree
​Egyptian Beetroot Dip
Egyptian Dukkah
Taameyya (Egyptian Falafel)
​Egyptian Kofta
Baked Bechamel Pasta
Egyptian Limoonada (Orange Blossom Lemonade)

There was a few things I didn't get around to trying but I will one day, and they are
Mesa'a'ah, an Egyptian Spicy Eggplant dish
Koshary: This is considered the national dish of Egypt and a very popular street food.

So here is run down of the food I cooked for Egypt week.

Egyptian Lentil Soup: I really quite liked this soup, it was really thick, like a pumpkin soup, it had a similar sweetness to it also, the spices were delicious in the soup, I would definitely make this again.

Egyptian Hummus: who doesn't love hummus, simple, healthy and delicious. I really prefer homemade to store bought. This is one of my sons favourite things to eat. This recipe uses tinned chickpeas, it is great when you have unexpected guests pop around and you can throw this together quickly.

Here is the Egyptian version that I found:
​

Egyptian Hummus

​1 x 400g tin Chickpeas, drained and washed
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Tahini (sesame paste)
3 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice
¼ Teaspoon of Salt
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
Pinch of Cumin
Pinch of Cayenne Pepper
1 Sprig of Chopped Parsley (optional)
Extra Olive Oil, to drizzle over the top

Add the chickpeas (save a few for decoration), extra virgin olive oil, tahini, lemon juice, salt and garlic into the blender and blend into a fluffy paste.
If the hummus looks too dry, add a little more oil and lemon.
Put the blended paste into a serving bowl, add a pinch of cumin and stir.
Create a whirlpool effect in your bowl of hummus with a spoon and then drizzle extra olive oil on top as shown in the picture below. Sprinkle on a pinch of cayenne pepper, decorate with the reserved chickpeas.
Serve with fresh, warm pita bread.
You can also experiment with toppings and seasoning. A sprinkle of Egyptian dukkah also works rather well too.

​Salatet Zabadee (Egyptian Cucumber Salad): This was my daughter's favourite, she could eat this all of the time. This was a perfect addition to the kofta wraps. It is great summer salad.

You could add 1 small minced garlic clove, but I chose not to as I had garlic in other sides.

Once you squeeze the liquid out of the cucumber, don't discard it, my daughter happily drank it.

​Here is the recipe:

Salatet Zabadee (Egyptian Cucumber Salad)
​
1 cucumber
1 cup yogurt
4-5 mint leaves, to taste, minced
Salt to taste
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, to garnish
Ground Paprika, to garnish​

Shred the cucumber and leave aside for 15 minutes.

Place the yoghurt in a medium sized bowl, stir until smooth. Squeeze the juice out of the cucumber and add the cucumber flesh to the yogurt. Add the minced mint leaves. Add salt to taste, stir to combine. The dip is now ready.

Serve on a platter garnished with olive oil and paprika.

Tahini: This was another great side to the kofta wraps I made, also a favourite of mine. This was delicious also. So far Egypt has been great.

​Here is the recipe:

Tahini

1/2 cup tahini.
1/4 cup water - plus or minus depending on your preferred sauce thickness.
2 Tablespoon white vinegar.
2 teaspoon lime juice.
2 garlic cloves- minced.
1/2 teaspoon coriander.
1/4 teaspoon salt, to taste.
1/4 teaspoon cumin.

For garnishing: Extra Virgin Olive Oil and any or all of coriander/cumin/red pepper flakes, paprika, cayenne…​

In a small food processor add all the ingredients, except for the garlic. Mix well until everything is well combined.

Pour contents in a bowl, add the garlic and mix.

Pour into serving bowls, add a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle some coriander/cumin or red pepper flakes on top.

Serving suggestions: as a dip with pita bread, or use it instead of mayonnaise in many sandwiches especially falafel and kofta, serve alongside seafood dishes or with grilled meat/chicken.

​Egyptian Spiced Carrot Puree. And then we get to the carrot puree. I'll start by saying I really don't like carrots, but I go to a Turkish restaurant near me (Pasha's in Bondi) and they make this Carrot Dip which is the most delicious thing to eat. This was nothing like that, I had high hopes for it, but it was just all carrot. I can assure you this will not be made again.

Egyptian Beetroot Dip: My youngest son loved this, but overall it was not a favourite with my family. I will explain though that recently I made a huge beetroot salad for a party I was attending, and just before we had to go to the party I came down with a stomach bug, beetroot was the last thing I ate, this happened over 3 months ago, but I still get a queezy feeling when I see beetroot. So although I may not try this recipe again, once I get over my beetroot issues, I would probably try another version.

Egyptian Dukkah: Well this one surprised my family. When I put it on the table, my family at first were like 'what is that', but after trying it, they kept going back for more. This is a great snack food for me.

​Here is the recipe:

Egyptian Dukkah

100g sesame seeds
100g blanched almonds
50g coriander seeds
10g cumin seeds
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Bread
Olive Oil

Toast all seeds and almonds together in a hot dry pan. Keep stirring until fragrant.

Cool, then coarsely grind with salt and pepper.

To serve, dip the bread into the olive oil and then into the dukkah.

​Taameyya (Egyptian Falafel). First time trying falafel. The Egyptians make it with dried broad beans instead of chickpeas. I have to say I quite liked them, they had a great crisp outer coating and were quite tasty. Was it the greatest thing I have ever eaten, no, but I would definitely eat them again. This recipe can be found at www.mattersofthebelly.com/taameyya-the-original-egyptian-falafel/

Egyptian Kofta Rolls: Now this one surprised us all, first time making kofta. We loved them. Now I only made the amount the recipe suggested, but my family could have eaten so much more. The koftas were soft and moist, had a great flavour to them. I'll definitely be making this dish again and again. 

Baked Bechamel Pasta: This is Egypts version of the Greeks Pastitsio. The difference is this one is 'cheeseless' (although in the end I did sprinkle a little over the top). With the little ingredients that went into making this, this was actually delicious. I would definitely make this again.

​Egyptian Limoonada (Orange Blossom Lemonade). In my house we love homemade lemonade, and this version with the addition of the orange blossom was delicious. Add orange blossom to taste, use the recipe as a guide.

​Here is the recipe: 

​Egyptian Limoonada (Orange Blossom Lemonade)

1/2 cup sugar
1 cup boiling hot water
10 lemons
2 tsp orange blossom water
1/2 bunch mint, roughly torn

Ice & soda water, to serve

 Dissolve the sugar in the boiling hot water and set aside to cool.

Juice the lemons and tip into a jug. Add the sugar and orange blossom water and stir well. Chill until ready to serve.

When ready to serve, stir through the mint.

Pour a small amount over ice in a glass and top up with soda water. Enjoy!

If you'd like to make this a bit more adult you can add a splash of vodka, gin or white rum.

​​Now to add another sticker to my world map.

Next stop Sudan

​Kofta is a very popular dish in many Middle-Eastern countries, and it is huge in Egypt.

Kofta is basically the middle eastern version of a burger patty. It is made of minced meat that is mixed with spices, herbs, onion and garlic, it is then shaped into a log or patty if you prefer, heck it can be made into the shape of a meatball if you like, but generally I found they are log shaped. 

This is a simple recipe, each step is fast and easy to make, even the sauces are easy, I know you can buy tahini and yoghurt and cucumber dip, but it is so easy to make your own. If you prefer hummus to tahini, use that instead.

​The whole recipe comes together in about 20-30 minutes, and you get to feed you and your family (or friends) middle eastern burgers.

Adding lamb to the recipe gives it a richer flavour, but feel free to leave it out and just use beef mince, if you prefer. Also buy regular mince, you want a little fat in this dish, otherwise your kofta could taste dry.

My husband prefers the Kofta served as a meat dish at dinner, with the salads and dips on the side, everything separate, my kids loved it as a wrap.  So serve it however you prefer.

Try these soon, they were truly delicious and something different to the regular burger or wrap.

Recipe adapted from www.foodofegypt.com

500g beef mince
120g lamb mince
1/2 cup minced parsley
1 small onion, grated or blitz in a food processor
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon salt
1 tsp crushed black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg
Extra virgin olive oil Spray

​Tahini Sauce:
1/2 cup tahini.
1/4 cup water - plus or minus depending on your preferred sauce thickness.
2 Tablespoon white vinegar.
2 teaspoon lime juice.
2 garlic cloves- minced.
1/2 teaspoon coriander.
1/4 teaspoon salt, to taste.
1/4 teaspoon cumin.
For garnishing: Extra Virgin Olive Oil and any or all of coriander/cumin/red pepper flakes, paprika, cayenne…​

Cucumber and Yoghurt Sauce: 

1 cucumber
1 cup yogurt
4-5 mint leaves, to taste, minced
Salt to taste
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, to garnish
Ground Paprika, to garnish​

To Serve:
Small pita loaves or wraps of choice (I like to use small pita loaves or mini wraps)
Fresh tomato slices
Fresh red onion slices
Fresh greens, such as parsley, rocket or lettuce
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​Make the kofta: In a food processor, combine the onion, parsley, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin and nutmeg. Process until very finely chopped, scraping down the sides as needed.

​Transfer the mixture to a large bowl, along with the beef and lamb mince. Use your hands to mix and knead everything together until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Try not to over-mix or overwork the mixture once it is uniform, as this may result in tough kofta.
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Shape the koftas: Shape handfuls of the kofta mixture into logs. The size of the logs is up to you. I prefer smaller ones, as they cook faster but you could make them slightly bigger than the loaves or wraps you plan to use for an easily-held sandwich. I just put two smaller ones in the wrap. If not using immediately, cover and refrigerate, until needed.

To make the tahini: ​In a small food processor add all the ingredients, except for the garlic. Mix well until everything is well combined.

Pour contents in a bowl, add the garlic and mix.

Pour into serving bowls, add a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle some coriander/cumin or red pepper flakes on top.

​Assemble the rolls: Smear a generous amount of the tahini sauce onto your pita loaves/wraps. Add a few slices of tomato & onion and a small handful of greens, then top with a kofta while it is still super hot. Drizzle with some cucumber and yoghurt sauce.

To save the recipe to your favourites go to www.whatscookingella.com/egyptian-kofta-rolls.html 
​Pin it: www.pinterest.com.au/pin/399413060697877612/

​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella

​Week 3 of my Eating Around the World challenge took us to Andorra. After a little research, I realised Andorran cuisine shares a lot of similarities with its Spanish neighbour, Catalonia. So knowing that, I had to make this Crema Catalana.

This is the Spanish version of the Creme Brulee.

The custard is perfectly creamy, hinted with a subtle aroma of lemon and cinnamon. The hard caramelised sugar coating, gives a little bitterness to the dish. 

Simple, elegant, beautiful, these are the three words I would use to describe this dessert.

I thought with 8 egg yolks it would be 'eggy' but it really isn't, it really is a beautiful custard.

Leftover egg whites can be frozen, make a Pavlova with them or Almond Bread.

When you add the hot milk into the whisked eggs make sure you are adding it slowly and whisking the whole time, you don't want scrambled eggs.

I don't personally strain the mixture into a jug, I just remove the cinnamon stick and that's it, I'm ok with the lemon rind in the custard, especially as I microplane it so it is superfine.

When you are heating the custard, as soon as the mixture thickens and you feel resistance while stirring, remove the pot from the heat or the mixture may curdle or separate! The texture of the finished crema will be grainy instead of smooth and creamy as it should be. It thickens further whilst cooling.

If you don't have a blowtorch, I suggest you buy one, they are great for this recipe, but you can place the cremas under a hot grill instead, top shelf and caramelise the sugar that way. Just watch it doesn't burn.

Trying to impress someone, or looking for a simple dinner party dessert, try this, it's simple, elegant and beautiful.

Recipe adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly Cookbook 'World Table'

Serves 8

8 egg yolks
220g (1 cup) caster sugar
1.25 litres (5 cups) milk
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind
1 cinnamon stick
75g (1/2 cup) cornflour
75g (1/2 cup) caster sugar, extra

​Fresh Berries, to serve.
​

Beat egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl with electric beaters (or a balloon whisk) until creamy.

Place 1 litre (4 cups) of the milk, rind and cinnamon in a large saucepan; stir over medium heat until the mixture just comes to the boil. Remove immediately from heat.
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Strain milk mixture into a large heatproof jug; pour milk into egg mixture, whisking constantly. Stir remaining milk and cornflour in a small jug until smooth; add to egg mixture.
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Return mixture back into your saucepan, stir constantly over low heat until the mixture boils and thickens.

Pour mixture into a 26cm heatproof pie dish (or individual ramekins). Allow to cool slightly, then cover, refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
​
Sprinkle custard with extra sugar. Using a blowtorch, carefully heat the sugar until it is caramelised. 

​Serve immediately with some fresh berries.

To save the recipe to your favourites go to www.whatscookingella.com/crema-catalana.html 
Pin it: ​www.pinterest.com.au/pin/399413060697865265/

Week 3 of eating around the world took us to Andorra. Now when my random shuffle generator selected Andorra, I will admit, I had to look up where it was. So I found out it was that tiny dot between France and Spain. It is actually a principality as it is a diarchy headed by two co-princes: the Catholic Bishop of Urgell in Spain and the President of France. See eating around the world helps with Geography and it is educational as well as tasty.

Finding authentic Andorran food was a bit of a challenge as most of their food has Catalonian influences, now I could have picked those as there are so many delicious foods to try, but I did want to keep it more Andorran. So I came up with three things to try.

Escudella
Trinxat
Crema Catalana

Escudella: Now I had high hopes for this one, this is a hearty soup/stew that is eaten around Christmas time, it is considered the national dish of Andorra.

So off I went to the butchers to buy the crazy amount of different meats that go into this dish, I mean it has pork sausages, ham, beef and chicken. I came home and started cooking. The initial stock was fatty, but I figured it would be, as all the descriptions I’ve read of this soup describe it as fatty. But I just skimmed off the fat as it rose to the surface and it was fine. The stock itself was very tasty.

And this is where it went wrong for me, I loved that it had beans in it, I loved the cabbage, I loved the pasta, but as I measured out the rice, my gut feeling was don't add it, but as it was in the recipe and I wanted to make it as it was eaten in Andorra, I added the rice, and for me what I got was a delicious stock that turned gluggy and grainy, if I hadn't added the rice I probably would have thought this was a great dish.

Would I make this again even without the rice, I would say no, for me there was far too much meat in this dish. Would I make a variation of this, probably as ultimately it is a thick hearty stew with cabbage and beans in it, which we love.

So although edible, this was not a recipe I would try again.

Trixat: is an Andorran specialty. It is where potatoes, cabbage and bacon get fried together in a hash "pancake", it is Andorra's version of bubble and squeak. It is comfort food.

Now my pancake failed, it wouldn't crisp up, I couldn't flip it, but the dish was not a fail, the flavours that you get from these three simple ingredients are just amazing. Now I forgot to take a photo, as it did technically fail, but this dish I am going to try again and again until I get it right, as this flavour combination was delicious. Will update you when that happens. 

Crema Catalana: For dessert I had to make the Crema Catalana, it is Spain's version of the creme brulee. I did find an Andorran version, but it was the same. This is so easy to make, looks amazing and tastes delicious. 

This is simply a custard, that is topped with some caster sugar that you blowtorch. The custard is smooth and luscious and the slight bitterness from the caramelised sugar compliments the dish. I love to serve it with fresh fruit. 

So overall, I had an okay dish in the Escudella, a lot of potential in the Trinxat, will definitely work on that one and a very delicious dessert in the Crema Catalana. 

​Now to add another sticker to my world map.

Next stop Egypt.