I first ate this at the marina restaurant in gisborne and then made my version of it.
Feijoas- 500 gms- you will need to scoop out the flesh from inside them.
sugar-50 gms
first part- scoop out the pulp from the feijoas-for the people not from nz, its similar to a guava and the aroma s incredible. then cook these on low heat with the sugar till really nice and soft and pulpy.blend to a puree. it will have crunchy bits from the seeds in it. dont strain these out.these add to the nice crunchy texture in the middle of some creamy goodness
2 eggs whole
50 gms grain sugar+30-40 depending on how sweet your feijoa mix was.
10 gm gelatine soaked in abt 20 ml of water
250 ml cream.
Method
whisk the eggs and 50 gm sugar over a double boiler until really frothy and thick and light. melt the gelatine in a microwave (10 seconds max and add it in)
taste your feijoa puree to see how sweet it is.should be fairly sweet but not cloyingly so.add into your egg mix.
whisk the cream and keep chilled.
when the feijoa , egg mix is cooled down , fold in the whipped cream, set in glass bowls or wine glasses or whatever you want it in really.
chick peas dry- soak overnight with a pinch of baking soda- 200 gms
fresh parsley- few sprigs – enough to make the mixture nice and green and give it a burst of flavour
fresh peeled garlic cloves – 4 nos.
lemon juce- from 1 lemon
salt – to taste
white onion peeled- 1 no
sesame seeds- about 2 tsp/10 gms
now drain the chickpeas, and grind to a semi smooth paste, without any water,(ok maybe 20 ml or so) but with the onion, parsley, and the garlic. add in the lemon juice, the sesame seeds and season with salt.
form into about 20 gm patties and deep fry till browned and cooekd through.
serve with tahina sauce (tahina thinned down with some natural yoghurt ) called taratoor sauce in lebanon/syria
Heres a really nice crab cake recipe , but you have to be using real crab meat.Doesnt matter if its frozen , but not that awful stuff called crab sticks they have about 1% crabmeat and flavour and is cheap and nasty.
crabmeat- 250 gms / canned or frozen claw meat( lump is nice but thats for eating in salads and stuff for cooking claw meat is more economic and makes more sense to use.
mayonnaise- 25 gms +50 gms the 1st bit gets mixed in and the remainders for the dipping sauce
breadcrumbs- 50 gms – or just enough to bind the crab, we want the cakes to be moist and juicy not like a lump of cement.
egg- 1 nos
salt and pepper – to taste
chopped red onion- 50 gms
garlic- 2cloves chopped
parsley- small sprig
thyme
oil to shallow fry
chipotle chillies- 1/4 of dry chilli/can use the canned ones too.
method
heat about 10 gms of oil and lightly saute the onion ,garlic ,thyme and crab meat. cool down
add mayonnaise, egg, bread , seasoning and shape into 30 gm flat round cakes
heat oil and shallow fry on both sides till crisp
for the sauce, whizz chipotle chillies with mayonnaise add some lime juice and zest.
for the uninitiated this is the south Indian version of a crepe which is bloody delicious.its made from a fermented batter comprising rice and split and de husked black lentils, which have an off white centre which is called urad dal in Hindi.it was a long standing thing, for me to have made some for my friend Gerard Mouille who was owner /operator of La bastille, one of my favourite french restaurants in Trinidad.
now the method.
1 part by volume of urad dal
3 to 4 parts by volume of cheapest rice. since you are going to be grinding it to a paste, you dont need specifically some extra special one.
1-2 gms of fenugreek seeds-called methi in Hindi.
15-20 gms of split peas/chana dal
Salt and sugar to taste
Soak every thing together , execpt the seasoning ingredients for about half an hour. grind to a coarse paste, add salt and sugar and leave overnight to ferment and rise naturally.
How to cook them is another thing altogether and needs much practice. the idea is to spread the batter thin over a cast iron/ cast aluminium griddle plate called a tawa and cook it on one side only really. there are many important factors, the batter should be the right consistency , the griddle plate the right temperature.and should start to separate from the griddle really before you sprinkle a few drops of oil or butter or ghee and can be eaten with coconut chutney or tomato chutney or sambar , which are a few different lessons altogether.
This is the one served with ouzi or the arabic styled roasted lamb.its really aromatic and flavourful.
Our lebanese chef Ibrahim Hadla, would make this really well and i learnt how to do it by watching him.After that i would usually make this for 900 odd people on New years eve buffet.!! in a huge 300 ltrs tilting braising pan.Now i know you might not have that at home so this is modified to suit your home kitchen.
you will need
lamb mince- 200 gms
onion chopped- 1 no / 150 gms
garlic- 2-3 cloves chopped
bayleaf-1 no
baharat powder- 1/2 teaspoon ( you can make this one at home and use for shawarma etc, needs cinnamon, cloves, some green cardamom and some pepper, quite strong on the cloves)
cinnamon powder as well again -1//4 tsp
black pepper powder-1/4 tsp
Gum arabic/ gundar/ gond/mistika – 1/4 tsp- pounded with some rock salt to a fine powder
Basmati rice- 250 gms soaked in cold water and washed well.
Saffron strands- 1/4 gm or less- toast in microwave for 15 seconds and soak with water first
oil+Butter mix-25 ml
Process
heat oil and add onions and garlic, lightly brown and then add the mince, which has to be really well browned and caramelised.
then add the spice powders and stir fry even more. add bayleaf and the rice and continue to stir fry till the rice is well coated with the mince and the oil . that will make the rice grains quite separate and nice when the mix has cooked.add in the gum arabic powder.
Add in enough hot stock or water (you can add some chicken stock powder to cheat) to cover the rice and a little more still.
Top with the saffron which you must have soaked in a little water.(what you dint know that?.Then get out of here).
cover with a lid for about 10-12 minutes on a low heat .
Serve with roasted lamb as an accompaniment.you can top the rice with fried almonds, cashew, pistachio ..
stories of foods from the world over, laced with a hint of sarcasm and some black humour, its not for everyone, but then never was meant to be..
