chopped - Travels for Taste

One of the things I enjoy most about being a food and travel writer is that I am able to experience various traditions from various cultures. Also, I think it is a privilege and also an incredible opportunity to to celebrate various festivals from across the world. As an added benefit I have had the good fortune of meeting the wonderful people on my journey into exploring various beautiful cuisines and destinations.

I have cooked alongside some very talented trained Michelin-starred Chefs, home cooks, and cookbook authors too.

I am so glad that I had a chance to cook with someone as passionate as Tonia Buxton who taught us how to make a 3-course Greek feast and took us through a journey of how Easter is celebrated back in Greece, relating in a very animated manner the rituals, prayer, and festivity surrounding the occasion. Total Yogurt the makers of the deliciously thick and creamy yogurt put together this cooking fest at a Cookery School called La Cucina Caldesi located in the heart of Central London.

Tonia Buxton a Greek Cypriot is the Total Greek Yogurt Brand Ambassador and a presenter of the award-winning T.V series on Discovery Channel called ‘My Greek Kitchen’ and has also authored a book titled ‘Tonia’s Greek Kitchen’. Soon to star in a new T.V series called ‘Pauls Family Feast’ a TV show by well, Paul Hollywood 🙂

After a quick ice breaker session, we got into groups and started preparing the main dish of the meal – Greek Lamb Pattie Tray Bake. I love cooking lamb and am delighted with the similarities in Greek and Indian cuisines. We too love our spices and cumin does add a very deep flavour to lamb. If I was to make it at home though I would tweak it and amp up the spices especially the cumin and just because I love heat crushed or paper-thin slices of green chillies with seeds ummm!

Here is the recipe:

Greek Lamb Pattie Tray Bake

Serves: 4

Ingredients

100g TOTAL Greek Yoghurt
100g fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs
400g lamb mince
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp ground cumin
4 red onions (2 finely chopped, 2 cut into wedges)
Large handful mint, chopped
4 waxy new potatoes, i.e. the Charlottes cut into wedges
4 courgettes, halved & quartered lengthways
250g pack juicy cherry tomatoes on the vine
2 unwaxed lemons cut into 6 wedges each
4 tbsp olive oil
100g feta cheese, crumbled

Method

Heat the oven to 200°C / 180°C Fan / Gas Mark 6.
Put the breadcrumbs, the lamb mince, egg, plenty of seasoning, and cumin in a bowl.
Add the chopped onion and sprinkle in half the chopped mint. Give everything a good mix and shape into 8 patties.
Lightly oil a large, shallow roasting tray and add the patties.
Place the onion wedges on the tray around the lamb patties with the potatoes, courgettes, and tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil and season. Bake for around 40 minutes, turning & basting everything once halfway until the lamb is cooked through and the vegetables are tender. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the feta and remaining mint. (We used up most of the mint and our minty lamb patties were very juicy and yum)
Serve with a large dollop of Total Greek yoghurt and tahini sauce.

While our lamb patties were cooking we played a fun Greek easter egg game with eggs painted a cheerful bright red. We had to go about smashing our egg onto everyone else and in the end, I was up against Tonia- of course, she won! Years of experience laster she has mastered the technique 🙂

We then made a Greek dessert called Anarocrema using Anari Cheese, which I flavoured with orange blossom extract, fresh fruits, and generous bits of freshly made filo pastry crispy bits. This creamy dessert is made using goats cheese and marries well with fruits, pistachios, almonds, and honey too is very filling and moreish dessert.

While our desserts were sent for chilling we got cracking on with the starter a light and superbly flavoured starter – Greek Sea Bream fillets with olives, capers, lemon, and yoghurt Tahini Sauce.

Thanks to @satureyes for the brilliant photos.

It was a very well organised event and I got an opportunity to meet so many more bloggers.Cooking up in a team with Fiona (London Unattached) and Heidi was good fun and it great to be working with familiar faces. Many thanks to @TotalGreek yogurt for the lovely event & @ToniaBuxton for her lively, warm, and friendly way of conducting the cookery workshop and sharing so many beautiful experiences.

I hope all of you had a brilliant Easter Weekend and are looking forward to another long weekend coming up!

Disclaimer: With many thanks to Total Uk and Tonia Buxton.I was not required to write a positive review and was not compensated monetarily for this post. Like all my previous posts about events and reviews, ALL opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Your regular omelette but better

What’s life without a bit of a twist I say!

So here’s one of my “different” omelette recipes, I love eating eggs in all shapes and forms and am more so obsessed with omelettes and scrambled eggs.

This recipe is for hungry morning times when you have a rumbling tummy and need time to hold the tummy quiet and prepare for rest of the day. It is a filling, satisfying yummy start to the day, I serve this with 2 slices of toast buttered with a generous blog of organic grass-fed butter and a large glass of freshly squeezed orange juice to wash it down 🙂

Ok so you will need the following ingredients and a really easy short process to cook this yummy egg omelette

An Omelette with a twist

Fluffy, delicious egg omelette

5 from 6 votes

Print Recipe

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 6

Course Breakfast

Cuisine Fusion

Servings 1 person

Equipment

1 Non-stick frying pan
1 egg-whisk or fork
1 Spatula
1 Knife
1 Chopping Board

Ingredients

2 Eggs
1 large Red onion chopped lengthwise
1/2 Garlic cloves sliced very fine lengthwise again
1 Chicken Sausage
2 Green chillies
1 tsp Red chilli powder
Olive Oil as required or unsalted butter
Salt as per taste

Instructions

Chop the red onion lengthwise and so also the garlic clove.
Heat frying pan over medium heat.
Sauté the red onion n garlic slices in a generous blob of butter on a pan until the onion starts to reduce turns a mild brown n stays ab it soft.
Transfer the onion and garlic onto a creamic plate and allow to cool down a bit.
Crack two eggs in a mixing bowl, beat them well using a whisk or a fork until you see loads of bubbles forming and the eggs have a nice thick consistency.
Now mix in the onions and garlic into the eggs, add the chopped chillies, red chilli powder.
Roughly chop the chicken sausage and add into the egg mixture, mix well
Heat the same frying pan on a medium add and add some more butter if you like, when the pan is hot , pour the egg mixture into the pan.
Cook with a lid for a few minutes, then using a wooden spatula loosen the omelette around the eggs, flip and cook until done on the other side without a lid, reduce the heat as required.
Serve hot with toasted sourdough smothered in butter, a nice strong cup of masala chai and some freshly squeezed orange juice or a slice of grapefruit.

Keyword Omlette

Recipe Notes:

I like to chop the red onion and garlic lengthwise. Why, you ask? Because in an omelette the tiny square bits will loose themselves and vanish I like to chomp on and feel the taste of all the ingredients as I eat the omelette and appreciate each and every ingredient, it’s just so much more fulfilling and creates an immense feeling of happiness as a creator of a true mouth-watering masterpiece.
The red onion should be sauteed to the point it is still soft and light brown so that when you bite into it, it releases a sweet burst of onion taste on your palate.
Feel free to swap the butter for olive oil or an oil spray.
I prefer to use unsalted butter, I mean who wants to pump their body with extra sodium, not me, hellow normal blood pressure!
A fluffy, well-cooked omelette is a joy to cook and serve and even nigger pleasure to eat so it is imperative to get the timing of flipping it over absolutely spot-on and correct, it comes with practise and you will love it!
Feel free to innovate and improvise this recipe, throw in bits of sweet pepper, sweet corn, spinach that is about to go off, or some kale that is looking tired, add in your favourite cheese or not. I leave that to your imagination, creativity, and what is available at hand!

AAAHHH pure omelette pleasure.