Spicy Beef Hariri
Heart-warming, robust and tasty, hariri is usually made with lamb, but my beef version is a less-fatty alternative. Closer to a soup than a stew, the beef is a team player here. The lentils and chickpeas play equal parts to help mollify the hot tomato sauce, aromatic spices and cooking juices.
Serves 4
- olive oil
- 600g boneless beef chuck, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 3 fresh bay leaves
- 2 tsp ras el hanout
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- 700ml beef stock (fresh or homemade is best)
- 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
- leaves from 1 bunch of coriander, chopped
- 100g dried green lentils
- 400g tinned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- juice of ½ lemon
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve:
- 2 eggs
- 1 bunch of spring onions, thinly sliced
- pitta breads
- Greek yoghurt
- harissa
Heat a good splash of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Season the beef, and fry in batches for 4-5 minutes until caramelised. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add the garlic and onion to the oil remaining in the pan and fry, stirring for 3-4 minutes until softened.
Add the tomato purée, bay leaves, ras el hanout, chilli powder, coriander seeds and ground cloves, and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in the beef so it is well coated. Add the stock, chopped tomatoes and three-quarters of the fresh coriander, and bring to a simmer. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low and leave to simmer for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, rinse the lentils and leave them to soak in water to cover for 20 minutes. Drain the lentils and stir them into the pan along with the chickpeas. Re-cover the pan and continue simmering for a further 30 minutes.
To soft-boil the eggs for serving, bring a pan of water to the boil. Gently lower in the eggs and let them simmer for 7 minutes. Drain them in a sieve, then run cold running water over them to stop the cooking. When they are cool enough to handle, shell them and set aside.
Remove the lid from the saucepan, give everything a good stir and continue simmering over a low heat for a further 30 minutes, or until the beef is super tender and the soup is slightly reduced and thickened. Season to taste and stir in the lemon juice.
Divide among bowls and finish each with the spring onions and remaining coriander leaves. Cut the eggs in half and nestle them in the soup. This is delicious served with pitta breads, yoghurt and a dollop of harissa.
Chard, Potato and Chilli Saffron Omelettes with yoghurt
This is my version of the Syrian-style breakfast omelette known as ejjeh. The saffron and yolks impart a vibrant yellow to the omelette base, which I find irresistible alongside the greens and fresh herbs. Be creative – vary the herbs with coriander and thyme and use kale or black cabbage in place of the chard. I’ve also made this with chopped leafy radishes using the same quantities.
Makes 4
- 50g new potatoes, peeled and cut into 1cm dice
- 200ml water
- a pinch of saffron threads
- 350g Swiss or rainbow chard, washed and chopped
- 1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- juice of 1 lemon
- 5 large free-range eggs
- 60ml whole milk
- a small handful each of chives, dill
- fronds and flat-leaf parsley leaves, all roughly chopped
- olive oil
- 100g Greek yoghurt
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Place the potatoes, water, saffron and a good pinch of salt in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer until the potatoes are just tender. Add the chard and continue simmering, uncovered, for a further 10 minutes, or until the potatoes and chard are tender and the water has evaporated. Remove from the heat and add the chilli, garlic and lemon juice. Set aside until cooled to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C and lightly grease a baking sheet. Whisk the eggs, milk and herbs together, then season well with salt and pepper. Heat a large non-stick sauté pan over a medium-high heat. When it is hot, add a good splash of olive oil and pour in one-quarter of the egg mix to make a thin, round omelette. As soon as it is set, transfer to a plate to cool, then repeat the process to make 3 more omelettes using all the egg mix.
To assemble, spread half of each omelette with one quarter of the yoghurt, then divide the chard and potato mixture equally among them. Fold each omelette over the covered half, then fold along the middle to get a fan-shaped case, allowing the filling to show on the open side.
Transfer the omelettes to the baking sheet and place in the oven for about 10 minutes until piping hot. Serve immediately.
Saffron and Bay Custard Tart with sticky blackberries
This recipe is by no means traditional, but at its heart are the flavours of Palestine. I love the contrasting colours – the sticky red blackberries leaching into the vibrant yellow custard. You can swap the blackberries for hulled strawberries in summer. The ma’amoul pastry used for this tart is a kind of Middle Eastern-style sweet biscuit, rather like a shortcrust, but nuttier thanks to the semolina flour. The pastry is traditionally flavoured with orange blossom water and ground cherry kernels (mahlab), both of which are available in Middle Eastern food shops and online. The custard is more traditional, similar to the classic Palestinian bread and custard pudding, aish el saraya.
Makes 6-8 slices
- olive oil for greasing the tin
- 1 large free-range egg, beaten, for an egg wash
For the ma’amoul pastry:
- 200g plain white flour
- 65g icing sugar
- 50g fine semolina flour
- 200g unsalted butter, chopped
- 1 tbsp orange blossom water
- 1 tsp ground cherry kernels (mahlab)
For the sticky blackberries:
- 100ml pomegranate juice
- 25g caster sugar
- 3 black peppercorns
- 1 cinnamon stick
- grated zest of ½ unwaxed orange
- 200g blackberries
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C. Grease a 20cm fluted tart tin with a removable base and set aside. To make the pastry, mix the flour, icing sugar and semolina flour in a bowl. Melt the butter over a low heat, then pour over the flour mixture. Add the orange blossom water and ground cherry kernels and, using your fingers, mix well until you have a malleable pastry. Transfer the pastry to the tart tin and press it across the base and up the side, leaving a good edge to account for shrinkage. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes to set.
To make the sticky blackberries, place the pomegranate juice, sugar, peppercorns, cinnamon stick and orange zest in a saucepan over a high heat and bring to a boil, then continue boiling until the liquid reduces by half. Reduce the heat to low, add the blackberries and simmer for 4 minutes, or until they are tender and the syrup is rich and sticky. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool.
Once it is cool, remove the blackberries from the syrup and set aside with the syrup separately.
Line the pastry with baking parchment and cover with baking beans or uncooked rice. Bake the pastry for 10 minutes, or until set and just baked – it should still be quite pale in colour. Meanwhile, make the custard.
For the saffron and bay custard:
- 300ml double cream
- 4 fresh bay leaves
- a large pinch of saffron threads
- 3 large free-range egg yolks and
- 1 large free-range egg, beaten together
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
Place the cream and bay leaves in a pan and heat until bubbles appear around the edge. Turn off the heat and add the saffron threads. Whisk the 3 egg yolks and the whole egg with the caster sugar in a bowl until light and pale, then slowly whisk in the warm cream until fully incorporated – do this slowly to avoid curdling. Pour back into the pan and heat very gently, stirring, until it thickens.
Remove the pan from the heat and pour the custard through a fine sieve into the pastry case, then add the bay leaves. Arrange the blackberries in the custard and finally brush the edges of the pastry with egg wash.
Place the tin on a baking sheet and return the tart to the oven for 20 minutes, or until the custard is just set and the pastry has browned. The blackberries will have started to burst through.
Place the tart on a wire rack and leave for 20 minutes before removing from the tin and leaving to cool completely. The blackberry syrup can be poured over the tart when serving.
An edited extract from Mediterra by Ben Tish (Bloomsbury Publishing, RRP$59.99)
