Spicy Lamb Pie

I love this pie. The contents would be great inside pasties as well, or just over a baked potato. The pie itself is also nice cold the next day.

350g minced lamb.
Short crust pastry for one 9 inch pie dish.
1 onion, diced.
1 tin of chopped tomatoes.
2 cloves of garlic.
1/2 tsp cinnamon.
1/2 tsp ground cumin.
1 good pinch of ground cloves.
1/2 tsp salt.
Plenty of pepper.
Coriander.

Fry the onion in olive oil until soft and golden, about ten minutes then add the chopped garlic. Fry for a further three minutes. add the lamb and fry until the meat looses its raw look. Add the cinnamon, cumin, cloves, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Give everything a good stir. Allow to cook gently on a low heat for 30 minutes. A lot of the liquid should evaporate leaving a thick meaty filling. Add the coriander. Roll out the pastry and line the pie dish. Pour in the meat filling. Brush the edge of the pastry the beaten egg the add the top. Pinch the edges of the pastry to seal and then brush the top with egg. Place in a preheated oven 220c for 35 minutes.

A few cans and et voilà! Dinner!

1. A can of corn: Corn Fritters: Your starter

Make a pancake batter (English or American? I imagine that bother would work!). Drain the corn of all the liquid, keeping some to mix into the batter. Add the corn and some chopped coriander (not absolutely necessary). Mix. You could also add chopped spring onion and green chillis. Fry in vegetable oil (each should be about 5 cm in diameter...quite small actually). Serve 3 person. Top with yogurt or sour cream. I wonder what they would really be like. Definitely a starter.

2. A can of Smoked Oysters and a can of tomatoes: Conchiglie with smoked oyster sauce: The main course

Sauté some plain white onion in a little olive oil. Chop in a c an of good, plain Italian peeled plum tomatoes and add to the pan. Season with salt, pepper, thyme and chopped parsley and let it cook for 10 to 15 minutes on a low simmer. At the end, add a tin or two of smoked oysters. Mix into the tomato sauce together with the oil they were marinated in. Add more chopped herbs for colour. Serve on shell-shaped paste. No cheese.

3. A can of pineapple: Griddled pineapple: Dessert

Heat griddle for 5 minutes. Lay out the pineapple on a tea towel or paper towel and lightly sprinkle with muscovado sugar. Cook on he griddle until the sugar is caramelised. Put pineapple on a plate, top with sour cream/yogurt/cream. You could top with chopped nuts of your choice.

Sticky Lemon chicken

I had two chicken breasts on the bone and thought that I would make a casserole of some sort. However, when I got home I realized that I had forgotten an essential ingredient. So what to do now! I decided to do something with chicken and lemons since I had two bags of lemons (on special at the supermarket). I couldn't be bothered searching through my cookbooks and tried the internet instead where I discovered this recipe and a short video to show you how to do it. Mine didn't turn out all that sticky but the gravy was wonderful.

1 large chicken jointed into 8-10 pieces (I used two chicken breasts, you could probably use legs and thighs as well)
sea salt and black pepper
3-4 tbsp olive oil
1 head of garlic halved horizontally (you could use less!!!!)
few thyme sprigs
splash of sherry vinegar (I didn't have any but that was fine)
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
3 tbsp honey
1 lemon, finely sliced
bunch of parsley, chopped (I also didn't have any)

Here is the video link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mARkUax2jg0