Dakos Toast
Serves 4 / Active time: 5 minutes / Cooking time: 5 minutes
Dakos (also known as koukouvagia) is a Greek meze from the island of Crete. Traditionally, dakos is made by topping a dried barley rusk that’s been soaked in water with some tomato and mizithra cheese. This version doesn’t require a passport and is ready in minutes.
• 1 large wholemeal cob loaf
• ½ cup (125ml) olive oil
• 4 ripe tomatoes
• salt, to season
• 200g Greek feta
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp baby capers
• ¼ cup (40g) pitted kalamata olives
Heat a chargrill pan over a high heat. Cut the cob loaf in half horizontally and drizzle with ⅓ cup of the olive oil. Grill the bread, cut side down, until toasted.
Grate the tomatoes into a sieve set over a bowl and season with salt. Place the bread on a serving plate. Use a few spoons of the tomato water to moisten the bread, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and spoon the tomatoes over the top. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil, then crumble the feta on top and scatter with oregano, capers and olives.
Lamb Kheema
Serves 4 / Active time: 10 minutes / Cooking time: 35 minutes
Kheema is a minced meat curry, which has two benefits for fast cooking: you don’t need to cut the meat and it cooks relatively quickly. You can use a food processor or blender to chop the onion, garlic and ginger if you want to speed things along even further.
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 cardamom pods
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 cloves
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 2 cm piece fresh ginger, finely chopped
• ¼ cup (60ml) tomato passata or puréed tomatoes)
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• salt and black pepper, to season
• 500g minced (ground) lamb
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)
• 2 cups (310g) frozen peas
• 15g butter
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 2 tbsp roughly chopped coriander)
• lemon wedges, to serve
• ½ red onion, sliced into rings, to serve
• paratha (flatbread), or rice, to serve
• Indian pickles and chutneys, to serve
Heat a saucepan over a medium heat and add the oil, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves. Cook for about 30 seconds until fragrant, then add the onion and fry for a few minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for another few minutes, then add the passata and fry until slightly thickened. Add the turmeric and chilli and mix to combine. Add the lamb and fry for about 5 minutes until browned. Add the sugar and fenugreek and about 1 cup water, then cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, adding more water if necessary. Add the frozen peas and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Mix through the butter and garam masala, stir through the coriander and squeeze in a couple of wedges of lemon. Serve with onion rings and paratha or rice, and a selection of your favourite Indian pickles and chutneys.
Tip
Like most curries, this dish benefits from being made early to let its flavours develop. You can make it either the day before serving or make it in the morning and serve it later in the evening.
Three-cup chicken
Serves 4 / Active time: 10 minutes / Cooking time: 10 minutes
This Taiwanese classic gets its name from the three seasonings – soy sauce, wine and sesame oil. Many recipes call for the three seasonings to be added in the same measure, but I think it’s better this way.
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2cm ginger, thickly sliced
• 8 garlic cloves, bruised
• 600g boneless chicken thighs, cut into 3cm pieces
• 3 tbsp sake or Shaoxing wine
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 large red chilli, sliced on an angle
• 2 cups (60g) loosely packed Thai basil
Heat a wok over a high heat and add the vegetable oil. Add the ginger and garlic and fry for about 2 minutes until the garlic is starting to brown. Add the chicken and fry until lightly browned. Add the wine, soy sauces and sugar and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 5 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is reduced enough to coat the chicken, then stir through the chilli and basil and serve.
Tip
I don’t bother peeling ginger for stir-fried dishes when I’m adding it as a thick slice. You can even pick it out. This is home cooking, not a fancy restaurant. Just eat around it.
Prawn and Lemon Guazzetto
Guazzetto is a southern Italian style of cooking that combines olive oil, tomato and wine. Think of it as a light stew. Frying the prawn (shrimp) heads and then removing them adds a lot of flavour, but you can skip that part if you don’t feel like peeling prawns.
Serves 4 / Active time: 10 minutes / Cooking Time: 15 minutes
• 600g whole raw prawns (shrimp), peeled and deveined, heads and shells reserved
• salt and black pepper, to season
• pinch of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 4 garlic cloves, bruised
• ½ cup (125ml) extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup (250ml) white wine
• ½ tsp chilli flakes (optional)
• 200ml tomato passata (puréed tomatoes)
• 1 cup (160g) cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 small lemon, one half thinly sliced, plus lemon wedges, to serve
• 2 tbsp finely shredded parsley
• crusty bread, to serve
Butterfly the prawns and season the prawn meat with salt and bicarbonate of soda.
Combine the prawn heads with the fennel seeds, garlic and oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat and cook for about 5 minutes until the heads are cooked through and slightly crisp, squeezing the heads to extract as much flavour as possible. Add the wine and bring to a simmer. Remove the prawn heads and discard, then add the chilli, passata and cherry tomatoes.
Add the prawn meat and simmer for about 4 minutes until the prawns are just cooked. Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon, then stir through the sliced lemon and parsley. Transfer to a serving dish, season with black pepper and serve with lemon wedges and crusty bread.
Tip
I’ve just used the heads as they have the most flavour and are easier to remove from the pan than each individual piece of shell. Don’t throw the shells out, though. You can freeze them, make stock or even a delicious prawn oil. l
An edited extract from Time For Dinner, by Adam Liaw (Hardie Grant Books, RRP $49.99).
