Sunday 27 April 2014

Moroccan inspired beef mince with mini tortillas

Moroccan beef mince with mini tortillas - Steph's Kitchen


It's funny when you look back at how you started cooking. I always helped Mum in the kitchen, even from a very young age, but when I was nine things quickly changed from helping to doing.

My Mum had a really tough pregnancy with my little sister. I was only nine at the time, but I could see my Mum was struggling. In her last trimester she continued to try and do everything as normal but she just couldn't. My Dad worked a lot to support us, so it was just Mum and us kids (three under the age of nine) at home before dinner-time. After Mum was trying to vacuum the house one day she had to lay down on the couch and just couldn't move she was so exhausted.

Being the eldest and seeing my Mum needed help I just stepped in. I got everyone in the bath, putting my younger sister Cakie (her nickname, of course) no more than seven years old in charge while I set off to find out from Mum what she wanted me to do for dinner with whatever she had out.

Mini tortillas - Steph's Kitchen


From this point forward I learnt how to cook by myself quickly and in a very unorthodox way. My Mum never used recipes for things she cooked for dinner; it was all in her head. I would tell Mum what I wanted to make and she would tell me what I needed, giving me a quick run down about what to do. As I didn't have Mum with me she would give me details about what it was suppose to look or smell like as she told me what to do. If I got stuck I would call out to Mum or bring her a taste so she could tell me if I'd missed anything. Most of the time I just tried to do it myself, using whatever knowledge I had to adapt into new things, as I didn't want to bother her while she was resting.

I still cook like this today - paying more attention to how something should look, smell or taste more than anything else.

Coming from a big family as well all of us now "grown up" kids have learnt to make dinner with as little as possible to keep the costs down. An ingredient my Mum always had was beef mince as it was so affordable. Today it is also a regular ingredient for me because it's just so quick and easy. I know a lot of you are the same, so here's another mince recipe for you, so it isn't just rissoles or spaghetti each time.

I know it's not a traditional Moroccan recipe, but it's my spin on Moroccan flavours. There are four main Moroccan spices: Coriander, cumin, garlic and ginger. I'm not a massive ginger fan so I replaced it with a little bit of chilli as I love the combination of chilli and cumin in other dishes. Another addition is bacon, which I know shouldn't be in a traditional Moroccan dish but I just love how the bacon gets that little bit crispy and adds another texture into the meat.

Moroccan inspired mince with mini tortillas - Steph's Kitchen

Mini Moroccan tortillas

with Moroccan inspired beef mince and mini home-made tortillas

Serves 4

For the Moroccan mince
300g beef mince (you can use lamb as well)
1/2 large onion, diced
2 heaped tsps minced garlic / 2 large cloves of garlic, finely diced
1 long red chilli, finely diced / 2 heaped tsps crushed chilli
1 Tbsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp ground cumin
4 shortcut / British style bacon
1 Tbsp BBQ / brown sauce
1 Tbsp oil (I use rice oil, but you can use olive or vegetable oil also)

To tortilla filling: 180g goat's milk feta cheese (crumbled) and 120g shredded lettuce. You can also simply use your family's favourite salads and normal grated cheese.

For the mini tortillas
Makes 18 mini tortillas. 

Four per person is usually plenty, but this way you have two extra for those hungry people. If you don't want to make your own simply buy tortillas. You can also use pita or pocket bread

2 cups plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp oil (olive, vegetable or rice oil)
3/4 cup warm water
Extra flour for kneading and rolling


It's best to get your tortillas all rolled out first so that you just have to fry them off later. I usually start cooking them while I'm making my mince, but if you don't like doing things at once cook them before you get started on your mince.

In a large bowl add in your flour, baking powder and salt. Mix these through and create a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Next add your oil and water, stirring with a wooden spoon (or whatever spoon you are comfortable with) until it comes together into a dough. I usually mix until it starts to turn into a ball, then use my hands to knead all the strangler bits of dough together with the rest.

Making mini tortillas - Steph's KitchenSprinkle some flour onto your bench or a cutting board and knead the dough for a few minutes until it feels smooth. What I mean by this is you don't want the dough to feel grainy or lumpy when you are kneading it. Once you're happy with your dough divide it into 18 small balls. You want the dough ball to fit nicely in the small of your hand.


Now you can start rolling. Flour your bench again, flattening a ball slightly on the bench before you start to roll it out with a rolling pin. Don't stress about them not being round; they don't have to be perfect. If it makes you feel any better mine never are! You want to roll each one out until it is no more than 2mm thick. Once you are happy with your tortilla, sprinkle each one with some flour before putting them aside and moving onto your next one. The flour stops them from sticking together but you also need a little bit of flour on the outside for when you cook them.

As I said, I usually cook mine off as I make the mince. For the purpose of this recipe we will make things a little less chaotic for those that already are multi-tasking with kids around them and cook these off first. (You go Mums!) The best thing about these tortillas is you can make them up early (even the day before) and simply zap them in the microwave quickly so they are just warm before serving.

Cooking mini tortillas - Steph's KitchenHeat up an an electric pan or large frying pan over a medium heat. Once you can hold your hand over the top of the pan and feel the warmth, spray with a little bit of oil and add in your tortillas. You can add as many as you want, just make sure they are not over-lapping in any way. Cook the tortilla until you can see little bubbles appear on top, then flip them. They only need to cook a minute on the other side and they are done. All you really want to do is make sure they have a tiny bit of colour in places. If you cook them too long they won't be soft but rather crunchy.

Continue cooking your tortillas, spraying with a little oil each time you add in new ones. Once cooked place them aside and get started on your mince.

Add your oil into a large frying pan over a medium to high heat. Once hot enough add in your onion. If you are using fresh chilli add it in with the onion. Saute your onion (until it appears transparent) before adding in your bacon and beef mince. Once you've browned the mince add in your spices, garlic and crushed chilli. Stir the mince for a couple of minutes until you can smell the spices and garlic cooking off. Lastly, mix through the BBQ sauce and you're done.

Mini Moroccan mince tortillas - Steph's Kitchen


Simply serve the mince, cheese and lettuce in their own bowls on the table and let everyone make their own tortillas; kids love being able to "construct" there own dinner. If your family don't goat's cheese people simply use normal grated cheese or feta, and add whatever salads your family will actually enjoy.

Enjoy!
Steph xo

Tuesday 1 April 2014

Easy beef burgers

The open beef burger - Steph's Kitchen

I don't know about you, but I absolutely love burgers. They always tempt me when I go out, and I'm a sucker for a whopper from Hungry Jacks. Even though I get really sick later, I still do it.

I started my hunt to create a beef patty that tasted just like the ones I get when I eat out. I've always grown up the Aussie way with rissoles or beef patties on the BBQ, but it always had the chunks of onion and a different flavour to the patties I would enjoy out.

I first started simply grabbing store bought patties from the deli when I felt like a burger. I knew these were pretty close to the sort of patties on your usually take-out grill. Looking at how they were made and how they cooked I worked out that the reason why mine always taste different is all the binding ingredients I need to use, and the consistency is different because of the onion I add for flavour.

One day I thought 'Why not use my food processor for all my herbs like I do for my chicken stuffing?'

So I threw the onion and all my herbs in and blended it until the onion was finely chopped, then I added it to my mince. Doing this still didn't give me the exact flavour I wanted because I still had to add my breadcrumbs and egg to bind it all together.

I then had a light-bulb moment. Why not simply use the fat in the mince to bind everything together? So the next time I added mince into the food-processor with the blended herbs, followed by just a little bit of the usually binding ingredients I use. And it worked out exactly how I wanted. A smooth mince patty but with all the flavour I wanted from my traditional rissoles I make.

If you don't have a food processor, don't worry I have an option for you below also.

Beef and bacon burger - Steph's Kitchen

Beef patties for home-made beef burgers

Makes 6 medium sized patties, large enough for your average hamburger roll.

500g lean mince. You could use regular mince, but I don't like too much oil cooking out of them as I find them a little greasy.

2g fresh parsley (just the leaves)
2 tsps fruit chutney
1/2 medium onion, quartered
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg

If you don't have a food processor see my note below.

Beef patty mince in the food processorGrab your food processor and throw in your onion and parsley. Blend them together until the onion is finely diced. Next throw in your mince, breadcrumbs and crack in the egg - no need to whisk. To make sure you don't over-work the mince, which will make it grainy in texture once cooked, break up your mince into large chunks so that it is spread out around the processor and not just in one section. Now turn it onto the low setting and blend quickly until everything is combined - around 1 minute. Any longer then that and your mince will be grainy, and you don't want that. Trust me. If the onion hasn't blended into the mince very well simply grab it out and finish combining it together with your hands in a small bowl.

Divide the mince into six equal amounts, then roll each of them a ball and then flatten them to around 1 1/2 cms thick. I usually flatten each and then lay them on a plate or cutting board ready to go.

In a large frying pan or electric pan, heat up a couple of tablespoons of oil (I use rice oil, but you can use olive or vegetable oil also) on a medium heat until you can feel the heat radiating from the pan when you move your hand over the top. Once your oil is ready pop in as many of the patties as possible while still having space between them so that you can easily flip them.

Now, I don't time each side like I probably should because I'm always doing something else while things cook rather than waiting and looking at a clock. I'm pretty sure many of you are also like that. What I look for is when you can see the patty is slightly cooked around the very edge of the patty, then flip. If you flip and they aren't brown enough on that side simply leave it and then flip it again once the other side is cooked to get that little bit of extra colour. To work out if they are done I usually use my egg flip and press down on the patty. You want clear juice coming out. If you are still a little unsure, you want the patty to feel more firm then soft when you touch it.

Now your patties are ready to add it to your burger bun of choice with all the salads or extras you desire.

Some gourmet extras to make your burger extra awesome and a bit more gourmet

Add cheese on top of your patties

  • Fry up some onion with a little butter and oil. Cook them until they are soft and start to have a golden colour.
  • When you flip the burger the first time, allow the other side to get a little bit of colour and then add some cheese slices (and your onion if you are doing it) so that the cheese melts while the patty is cooking.
  • Toast up your burger buns before serving by spreading a generous amount of butter on the open side and frying them off until they have a little bit of colour. 
  • Cut the sides of a large red capsicum or pepper and then grill them in a pan or on the BBQ with a little bit of oil. Red peppers are sweeter than green, so it will turn a little sweet when grilled. Make sure you grill it until it has blackened in areas.
  • If you are going for a mock-up of a Hungry Jacks or Burger King burger: add cheese to the top of your patty, zap it in the microwave for 25 seconds, add it to your burger bun followed by a little tomato sauce or ketchup, tomato, onion slices (use white or brown onion), and shredded lettuce. Top it off with whole egg mayo on the top side of your bun, and you're done. Zap it again for 20 seconds so that your bun is slightly warm.

Note: What to do without a food processor. Grate your onion and finely dice your parsley. Then mix that through the mince, massaging it into the mince so that the fat in the mince starts to bind things. Then add the breadcrumbs followed by the lightly whisked egg, using your hands to mix everything together until smooth. Divide, roll and flatten as per recipe above. Cook as normal.

Enjoy,
Steph xo