Burgers with Roasted Eggplant & Red Capsicum & Minted Yoghurt

This is a flash Mediterranean-style hamburger, without the bun. I have served the burger on a bed of crushed chickpeas for texture, but you could use hummus for a similar flavour. This makes great picnic or barbecue food and goes well with a full-bodied Shiraz. Recipe adapted from Cuisine magazine.

Ingredients
1 cup yoghurt
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely chopped mint
salt and freshly ground black pepper
400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed well
2 tablespoons tahini
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
750g minced beef
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 large (350g) eggplant, cut into 2cm pieces
2 red onions, cut into 2cm pieces
2 red capsicums, cored and cut into 2cm pieces
¼ cup olive oil, plus extra for brushing
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 cups wild rocket leaves
grilled flatbread to serve

Method
Combine the yoghurt, 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice and the mint. Season to taste. Refrigerate until serving. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Crush the chickpeas coarsely with a potato masher, leaving some whole. Stir in the tahini, garlic, remaining lemon juice and the oil, and season to taste. Set aside.

Combine the mince, onion and allspice, season to taste and mix well. Shape the mixture into 6 burgers. Place the eggplant, onion and red capsicum in a roasting pan, toss with ¼ cup oil and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes, turning occasionally. Remove from the oven and stir in the balsamic vinegar.

Brush the burgers with oil and grill, panfry or barbecue on both sides until browned and cooked to your liking (3-4 minutes each side for medium).

Spoon the chickpea mixture on to plates, top each with a burger and some rocket, and serve the eggplant mixture on the side. Smear minted yoghurt around the plates and drizzle the whole dish with a little extra oil. Serve with grilled flatbread. Serves 6.

Cashew fish fingers with mushy minted peas

Ingredients:
1 kg firm white fish fillets, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tsp finely grated lemon rind
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic, quartered
1/2 cup (75 g) flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup (70 g) breadcrumbs
2/3 cup (90 g) finely chopped roasted cashews
vegetable oil for frying
2 cups (250g) frozen peas,
20 g butter,
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint

1. Grease 19 cm x 29cm slice pan.
2. process fish, parsley, rind, juice and garlic until smooth. Using spatula, press mixture evenly into the pan. Turn onto baking-paper-lined-tray. Cut into 8 slices. Cut each slice in half crossways to make 16 fingers. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Pat fish fingers with flour, shake off excess. Dip in egg, then in combined breadcrumbs and nuts.
4. Heat oil in large frying pan; shallow-fry the fingers until browned lightly and cooked through. Drain on absorbent paper.
5. Meanwhile, boil, steam or microwave peas until tender; drain. Coarsely crush peas with butter then add mint.
6. Serve fish fingers with mushy peas, and mayonnaise and lemon wedges, if you like. 

Lamb Rack with Orange, Mint & Dried Fig Salad

Orange, Mint & Dried Fig Salad
1⁄3 cup lemon juice
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 oranges, peeled with sharp knife, removing the pith, and sliced
4 radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced (on a mandoline if you have one)
1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced
6 Dried Figs, slised
1⁄3 cup pitted black olives
1⁄3 cup firmly packed mint leaves
120g marinated feta, crumbled

For the lamb and to serve
3 lamb racks (8 cutlets in each)
olive oil for rubbing
2 cups firmly packed baby spinach



Orange, Mint & Dried Fig Salad
Combine the lemon juice and oil and season to taste. Arrange the orange slices on each serving plate and top with radishes, onion, dates, olives and mint leaves. Sprinkle with feta and drizzle with the dressing.

For the lamb and to serve
Rub the lamb with oil, season and chargrill or barbecue over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes each side for rare. Rest, loosely covered, in a warm place for 5 minutes. Divide the watercress among the plates alongside the salad, top with sliced lamb and serve the couscous in a bowl on the side. Serves 6.

Roasted Lamb Rack with Mint & Cucumber Salsa & New Potato Salad

Ingredients
Mint & Cucumber Salsa
1 cup mint leaves, coarsely torn
2 small Lebanese cucumbers, diced (peeled if desired)
12 anchovy fillets
1 tablespoon caster sugar
2 tablespoons malt vinegar
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Potato Salad
500g baby potatoes, washed
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 small red onion, finely sliced
150g cow’s milk feta
½ cup flat-leafed parsley leaves
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

For the lamb
2 x 8-bone lamb racks, trimmed of any sinew
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons finely chopped thyme or oregano leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil

Method
Mint & Cucumber Salsa
Combine all the ingredients and season with salt and black pepper to taste.

Potato Salad
Boil the potatoes in plenty of salted water until cooked through. Drain, peel and slice the potatoes. Place in a serving bowl with the remaining ingredients and serve warm.

For the lamb
Preheat the oven to 220°C. Rub the lamb well with all the remaining ingredients. Brown the lamb racks in a heavy-based frying pan then transfer to an oven dish and roast for around 15 minutes, or a little longer if the racks are large.

Rest the lamb in a warm place for at least 7 minutes. Carve the lamb into cutlets and serve with the potato salad and salsa. Serves 4

Lamb Cutlets, Minted Pea Purée, Ribbons of Parsnip & Carrot

There's no need for sauce with the fresh minty flavour of the purée. If you prefer you can add a little stock to the purée to make it softer and more moist. Serve with Chardonnay or a light red wine.

Ingredients
12-18 small lamb cutlets trimmed of fat
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 sprigs chopped fresh thyme
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1kg frozen minted peas
3-4 sprigs of mint
2 tablespoons vegetable or chicken stock
3 large carrots
3 parsnips
1 tablespoon butter
300mls chicken stock

Method
Put the lamb cutlets in a shallow bowl and toss with the oil, thyme and salt and pepper. Put aside while you prepare the vegetables.

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and tip the peas in with the mint sprigs. Simmer for 5 minutes until tender. Drain well and place in a blender or food processor with the stock. Blend until smooth, season to taste and then return to the pan to keep warm.

Peel the carrots and parsnips and cut into fine ribbons, using a mandolin or a potato peeler. Melt the butter in a pan, toss in the ribbons of carrot and parsnip and add the chicken stock. Cook for about 2-3 minutes until just starting to wilt.

Meanwhile, heat a heavy-based frying pan and sear the cutlets on each side for 3 minutes or until golden and lightly cooked.

Serve the lamb cutlets on the pea purée with the drained ribbons of vegetables to the side.

Serves 6



Enjoy!

Strawberry jam with mint and port

At the height of summer and strawberry season it is perfect time to make delicious jams. I made a few variations with strawberries. Today I tell you how to make strawberry jam with mint and port. Exciting and aromatic jam, perhaps the most delicious jam I've ever tried.

INGREDIENTS
500 g strawberries (fresh or frozen)
5 leaves fresh mint
300 gr. sugar
4 tbsp port wine (sherry).

Clean strawberries, put them in the pan, sprinkle with sugar. Put on the medium heat, bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Leave to cool, keep in a cool place for a couple of hours (or overnight), to allow berries to soak in syrup.

Pour the port and put a mint leaves. Put the pot on low heat. Bring it to boil, skim the foam. Cook for 5-10 minutes (depending on the variety of strawberry, if more juice was formed it need more time to boil). Remove from heat. Remove mint leaves. Cool and pour into sterilized jars.

Enjoy!