Saturday 11 October 2014

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DISHES: #8 MONGOLIA: MONGOLIAN LAMB

This week my Around the World adventure had taken me to the far off land of Mongolia.
And the dish I chose from Mongolia was a fantastic Mongolian Lamb dish served with brown rice and Green Peppers.

Ingredients: 
Lamb Steaks cut into large chunks
Soy Sauce
Clear Honey
a large thumb of  Ginger
6 Cloves of Garlic
1 Onion
1 Green Pepper
Spring Onions
Ground Cumin
Ground Cinnamon
Olive Oil
Sesame Oil
Brown Rice
Chopped Nuts


If you have the time, it is well worth preparing & marinading the lamb overnight,
First up pour 100ml of Dark Soy Sauce in a large bowl, then add 4 tablespoons of Ground Cinnamon, 5 tablespoons of Ground Cumin, 4 tablespoons of clear runny honey, 3 teaspoons of sesame oil, 4 teaspoons of olive oil & a good grind of pepper. Then finely grate a good 3cm thumb of fresh ginger to the marinade followed by 6 pressed cloves of garlic. Give the whole marinade a thorough mix until all blended together. 

Cut up your lamb into large chunks and add to the marinade. Cover and leave in the fridge overnight or for as long as possible.

When ready to start cooking remove the meat from the marinade and put into a separate bowl saving the leftover marinade.
Preheat the oven to 200C. 
Chop a green pepper and a large onion into chunky slices, and place on a baking tray. Then spoon over 2-3 tablespoons of the saved leftover marinde, a drizzle of sesame oil and a sprinkling of salt & pop in the oven for about 35 minutes.

Also when your peppers have gone in, you need to start to cook your brown rice (as per the instructions on the pack) - add salt to taste. In the last few minutes of cooking your rice throw in some chopped up spring onions.

When you are about 10 minutes away from the rice and green peppers being ready then its time to toast some chopped nuts & also to start cooking the marinaded lamb. Heat a large frying pan on a very high heat & add a small amount of oil. Then throw in the lamb so that it sizzles. continue to fry keeping the pan on a high heat & turning the meat constantly. After about 5-7 minutes it should start to get that nice slightly charred edge to it - time to turn off the heat and let rest in the pan for a further 4-5 mins.

The lamb should be slightly charred, cooked through but still slightly pink in the middle. 
Serve with the rice, green peppers & onions, and sprinkle on a teaspoon of the toasted chopped nuts over the top of the lamb and serve to hungry dinner guests!

Countries to go: 72

Countries done:
#1 Peru
#2 Oman
#3 Malta
#4 Sweden
#5 Botswana
#6 Germany
#7 Iceland
#8 Mongolia

Keep following the Greedy Mancunians to see what country I 'visit' next!  

Wednesday 8 October 2014

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DISHES: #7 ICELAND: BAKED ICELANDIC FISH

As it gets a bit chilly out, I thought I would mark my return to "Around the World in 80 Dishes" (yes I have been a bit lazy lately) with a visit to Iceland.
A tasty treat in the form of a baked fish dish was the dish I cooked for Iceland:

Ingredients:
Butter
Fish fillets (Cod or Hallibut)
1 lemon
200g Emmenthal cheese
1 tablespoon of dijon mustard
1 cup of cream
sliced white bread for breadcrumbs
potatoes
chives
on the vine cherry tomatoes
Rye Bread
Nutmeg

Firstly invite some guests and hopefully they will turn up wearing furry winter hats to get into the mood for a good bit of Icelandic cuisine.
Then take a baking dish and butter it before placing the fish fillets in to fill the base. Squeeze the lemon all over it lavishly and season with a little sea salt sprinkled all over & a grinding of pepper.


Then came the slightly confusing part (I wasnt convinced it would go until I tasted it - it did!)...... finely grate the 200g of Emmenthal over the fish.


In a cup of cream mix in a teaspoon of dijon mustard and pour all over the fish, then whiz up some white sliced bread and mix with some chopped chives and sprinkle all over the top to cover.
Pop the dish into a preheated oven (180C) and bake for 40 minutes.


Whilst your fish bakes, make up some smooth mash (I used a potato ricer) add butter, a dash of cream and grate some nutmeg in (or for ease - just use Nutmeg powder) and some finely chopped chives (use fresh).
Also put the on the vine tomatoes on a baking tray - sprinkle with olive oil, sea salt & pepper and bake for 20 mins.


Once ready then plate up the baked fish and serve with the mash and tomatoes and enjoy!
I couldnt find any Icelandic wine, but found a nice Austrian white wine to accompany this dish.


Hopefully your guests have not only brought furry hats with them, but have done as ours did and brought a home made Arctic Roll (Jamie Oliver recipe) for desert with them - a splendid way to round off the Icelandic dinner!






    Thanks Sandra & Howard!






Countries to go: 73

Countries done:
#1 Peru
#2 Oman
#3 Malta
#4 Sweden
#5 Botswana
#6 Germany
#7 Iceland

Keep following the Greedy Mancunians to see what country I 'visit' next!