Chili | Charlotte's VVeb

Harcho – Georgian Lamb Soup Recipe

14/12/200918/10/2016 by Charlotte J

This is a great hearty dish, perfect for a big party of people and ideal served with chunky fresh bread. The best bit about the dish is it is easily adaptable to cooking in a slow cooker so when you come home from work, your home smells great and you can sit down to a home-cooked meal even when you’ve had a hard day at work!

Ingredients

600g lamb chunks

1.5l lamb stock

3 large white onions chopped finely

5 garlic cloves crushed

3 tomatoes cut into quarters

5 tbsp rapeseed oil

1 tbsp tomato puree

5 tbsp long grain rice

5 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

3 tbsp coriander for garnish

Instructions

Heat the oil in a pan and seal the lamb chunks

Place the lamb chunks into a slow cooker with the stock and garlic

Fry the onion in the rest of the oil for 5 minutes

Add the puree and tomatoes for 1 minute

Stir and add to the lamb and stock

Add the chili and parsley and cook for 4 to 5 hours

The rice can be added initially to the slow cooker, but if you are at home add 30 minutes before you want to serve

To serve, distribute the lamb between dishes (serves 4) and add equal quantities of liquid and rice mixture to each one

Garnish with chopped coriander and serve with chunky bread

Related Images:

Romanian Bean Stew

17/07/200918/10/2016 by Charlotte J

Charlotte J - stirring. Photo Credit: Jill Robinson — Charlotte J – stirring. Photo Credit: Jill Robinson

I recently visited Cornwall for a few days as my school friends had rented a large cottage for the week. The kitchen was an absolute delight and I insisted on cooking some good East European fare for my 7 companions.

The best thing about East European cooking is that the recipes are usually not desperately complicated, require just one or two pots and few ingredients, which keeps both washing up and costs down, yet enables you to create a really hearty and tasty meal.

Although this bean stew required smoked pork and a ham bone, I cheated and used pork chops and smoked bacon which added the required smokey flavour. Everyone seemed to enjoy it so I would definitely recommend this recipe!

Ingredients (serves 8 hungry beings)

2 white onions

1 tbsp sunflower oil

2 red chilies

1 tbsp Hungarian hot paprika (or to taste)

3 tins of mixed beans

20 black peppercorns

8 pork chops

500g smoked bacon

4 tbsp cornflour

Tomato puree or chili powder for colour if desired

Handful of chopped parsley for garnish

Crusty white bread to serve

Instructions

Put mixed beans into saucepan

Place pork chops on top of beans

Just cover pork with cold water and add peppercorns

Heat until boiling

Reduce heat, cover pan and leave on gentle simmer for 2 hours

Remove pork chops from pan

Cut off fat and bone and cut into chunks

Return pork to pan

Chop onions and heat in sunflower oil in separate pan until translucent

Add chopped and deseeded chili to onion and cook for 5-10 minutes

Chop smoked bacon and add to onion and chili and cook until crispy

Add paprika to bacon mix, stir and cook for 5 minutes

Add cornflour to bacon mix, stir and cook for 5-10 minutes

Add bacon mix to stew and stir

Cook for further 10 minutes until well mixed

If desire deeper red colour, add tablespoon of tomato puree or chili powder

Serve into bowls, garnish with parsley (I forgot to!) and serve with chunky white bread

Serve!

Owen, Jared, Dave, Jill, Simon, Nicky, Carla

Related Images:

Bulgarian Fried Peppers With Cheese

28/04/200917/10/2016 by Charlotte J

This is not a quick fix dish, it is a bit of a dinner party piece. I would suggest making extra so you can pick the ones which look best as it is quite difficult to re-create their structural stability after the skin has been removed. It’s a great starter though, very tasty, mainly because the creaminess of the feta really complements the warmth of the chili while the parsley refreshes your palette for the next mouthful.

Ingredients (serves 2 -4)

4 peppers (can be red, green or yellow but personally, I think red taste best)

50g plain flour

1 egg, beaten

olive oil for shallow frying

For the filling:

1 egg, beaten

90g feta cheese finely crumbled

2 tbsp fresh parsley

1 small red chili, seeded and chopped

Instructions:

Slit open peppers

Scoop out seeds and core but leave peppers in one piece

Carefully open out peppers and place under hot grill (skin side up!)

Cook until the skin is charred and blackened

Place the peppers in a bowl of cold water to prevent them from over-cooking

Leave peppers until cooled and peel off skin

Mix feta, egg, parsley, chili together in a bowl

Fill each pepper with mix

Secure peppers if necessary with wooden cocktail sticks

Dip peppers in seasoned plain flour, then egg, then flour again

Fry the peppers in olive oil for 6-8 minutes, turning once, until golden brown and filling set

Drain peppers on kitchen paper before serving

Peppers done! Serve!