Laħam Fuq il-Fwar (Steamed Meat)

(Image courtesy of Food Urichin and Where's My Pork Chop)

Look who's finally back from that whole business of organising a wedding, getting married, going off on a minimoon then crashing back to reality this week...Seriously, to everyone who sent their congratulations, I couldn't have asked for a better day, everything went smoothly. A special thanks has to go to the boys and girls at The Freemasons Arms who did a smashing job at cooking nearly 60 steaks to every one's different tastes, making sure everyone had enough to drink and looking after us in general since we took over the dining room and downstairs bar for an entire day! So back on to the important bit, the cooking.

After being invited to participate in Where's My Pork Chop? A concept by fellow food blogger Food Urchin, I decided to make Laħam Fuq il-Fwar, literally translated as Steamed Meat (you can find his write up here). It's not something I had often as a kid, (as Food Urchin discovered) because of the sheer amount of garlic and in my even in my recipe I cut it down from the amount my mum normally used and it was still a little too strong. So if you intend to cook this for yourself I highly recommend cutting it back further if you don't like your garlic too overpowering.

Like a lot of Maltese dishes, this can be a bit of a 2 in 1 meal, traditionally the meat is steamed over a pot of soup, usually Brodu (Maltese broth), where the broth is served as a first course, the potatoes fished out as served with the steamed meat as the main with bread.

Laħam Fuq il-Fwar (Steamed Meat)

Serves 2-3, roughly 310 cal per serving

Ingredients:

600g lean beef escalopes, or very thin slices of rump steak
2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
100g bacon medallions
15g butter
1 tsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Bring a large pan of water to boil (better yet, broth rather than water), lower to the temperature to a gentle simmer.

2. Grease a heatproof soup plate (large enough to fit over the pan) with the olive oil, then layer the meat, garlic bacon and chopped parsley on top.

3. Dot the butter on top and season with the salt and pepper.

4. Cover with another plate or loosely with foil and steam over the water/broth for an hour and a half to two hours until the meat is tender.

Bigilla (Maltese Broad Bean Dip)

With my trip back home to the old country last week my taste for Bigilla, a traditional Maltese broad bean dip, was reawakened. It's incredibly tasty and a great alternative to hummus, usually served with Maltese water crackers called Galletti or on toasted sour dough bread. In Malta, people will either make their own or buy it by weight from markets – though these days you'll find them in ready made up tubs in the local shops.

Bigilla usually has red chilli added to it for a fiery kick, though some prefer to leave the chilli out, while others will add Tabasco for extra heat. Here, I'm giving the recipe my mother gave me, her recipe calls for the tyoe of dried broad bean that has skins, but unfortunately I could only get the skinless ones. If you can get a hold of them with the skins, it will give the Bigilla the authentic brown colour rather the "white" colour of the version I have made here. Both are equally tasty, though there is an earthy depth to the skin-on version.

With this recipe you can make it in advance and serve it cold (it will keep in the fridge for a few days, just add a little extra oil to preserve it), or eat it warm.

Take note that the beans are soaked overnight, please allow time for this. As well as a cooking time of about 1.5 hours.

Bigilla (Maltese Broad Bean Dip)

Ingredients:
250g Dried Broad Beans (available in most Middle Eastern shops)
2 – 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
salt and pepper
finely chopped chilli (optional, but highly recommended)

1. In a medium sized pan, soak the broad beans in cold water overnight.

2. Drain the broad beans and just cover with clean, fresh cold water and bring to boil over a medium heat.

3. Turn the heat down to the lowest setting and simmer for 1 - 1.5 hours. When the beans start going soft, mash with the back of a fork, keeping an eye on the water level, it shouldn't be sloppy, but a nice thick paste with a bit of texture from the broken up broad beans. Don't let it dry out!



4. Once all the broad beans have softened and mashed, gradually add the oil a tablespoon at a time, mixing in as you go. You want it to be smooth – too little oil will make it dry and floury, too much and you'll get a slick mess.

I was very lucky to receive a gift of Maltese olive oil made from
the remaining indigenous olives grown in Malta and have used it in my Bigilla.

5. Stir in the parsley and garlic, gradually add salt and pepper, tasting as you go. That's the key thing with Bigilla, is taste, taste, taste.

6. If you're adding chillis, again, do it gradually and taste as you go. In this version I have only added a heaped teaspoon worth of chilli to give it a little kick but keeping it mild. If I didn't have guests eating it, personally would have added another heaped teaspoon.



7. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of parsley on top – don't forget the crackers!

Braġjoli – Maltese Beef Olives

Beef olives are found all over Europe, the Maltese have their own variation called Braġjoli which is either baked or braised in a wine or tomato sauce. I made these last week and served them with the Patata fil Forn from my last post. It went down a treat with a very good friend asking if he could have the leftovers for his lunch (I have the Maltese tendency of cooking too much!).

My preferred way of cooking them is to brown them, then braise them in a wine, garlic and tomato sauce with lots of bay leaves and marjoram. They go fantastically well with Patata fil Forn and steamed veg (I served them with thickly cut carrots and broccoli florets here), as well as creamy mashed potato. You can prepare the beef olives ahead of time as they do need quite a bit of time to cook – this is very much a slow food dish.

Braġjoli – Maltese Beef Olives

Serves 4 - 6 (About 270 cal per beef olive)

Ingredients:

For the braġjoli:

30g breadcrumbs
100g lean bacon or thick cut ham, chopped into small pieces
200g extra lean beef mince
2 medium hard boiled eggs, chopped into small pieces
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp each of salt and pepper
500g lean topside beef, cut into 8 thin slices (any cut with too much fat marbling won't stand up to being flattened out as it will tend to collapse)

For the sauce:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion
3 cloves garlic
150ml red wine (the stronger, the better)
1 beef stock bullion, dissolved in 100ml boiled water
400g chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoon marjoram (dried is fine)
4 large bay leaves
1 tbsp chopped parsley
season to taste

Method for the Braġjoli:


1. In a large bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, bacon, mince, eggs, garlic, onion, parsley and seasoning, mixing thoroughly.



2. On a protected surface, take a slice of the topside and flatten out further by beating it out with a meat mallet (or a rolling pin) until it's about 3mm thick.



3. Take 1-2 heaped tablespoons of the stuffing and spoon onto the centre of the flattened out "steak". Roll up tightly by tucking the sides over the stuffing and rolling up. Secure with cocktail sticks.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 with the other slices. Set aside. If preparing ahead, wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate.

Method for the sauce:


1. In a large casserole dish or heavy-based saucepan, heat the oil over a medium heat and brown the braġjoli all over with the bay leaves, you may need to do this in a couple of batches. Set aside.



2. In the same oil, brown the onions and garlic. If it sticks, add a little of the wine to get at the crispy bits.


3. Pour in the rest of the wine, add the chopped tomatoes, stock and marjoram, stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer and carefully add the braġjoli, making sure they are well covered by the sauce.

4. Cover and simmer over a low heat for about an hour and a half to two hours, checking the moisture level. If need be, add a little water now and then.


5. Stir through the rest of the parsley at the end of cooking, check the seasoning and remove all the cocktail sticks before serving – this can be a little bit of a messy job, so take out the braġjoli first and do it on a separate plate before spooning over the sauce.

N.B. Any left over stuffing can be made into patties by beating an egg through it and dipping into breadcrumbs. Fry in a little olive oil in a non-stick frying pan until golden brown.

Patata fil Forn - Maltese Roast Potatoes

Maltese Roast Potatoes are quite different from the usual Sunday "roasties" we get here in the UK. For a start, the potatoes aren't par-boiled in large chunks, but sliced finely. These are incredibly popular and in our family we almost have to fight to the death for the last crunchy. Most of the time slices of thickly cut meat or chicken pieces will be laid underneath so that they poach along with the potatoes. Normally a lot of salt and pepper is used along with a little curry powder, but my mother's variation uses powdered vegetable stock, so I have omitted the salt here.

Patata fil Forn (Maltese Roast Potatoes) - Serves 4 large portions

Ingredients:

1 large onion, sliced in to rings
4 large potatoes, peeled and sliced, lengthways into 5mm rounds
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons powdered vegetable stock
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 tablespoons of oil

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.

2. Layer the base of a baking dish with a layer of half the onions, over this layer half the potatoes. Sprinkle with half the garlic, stock, pepper, curry powder and drizzle a tablespoon of oil over the top.


3. Repeat with the second layer.

4. Slowly pour in some water to just come up with the bottom layer of the potatoes (about 5 - 10 mm).

5. Roast in the oven for about 45 minutes until the top layer is golden brown and most of the water has evaporated. Serve with your usual roast, stews, or even between a couple of slices of bread with your favourite chutney (great for when you have left overs!)

Kusksu (Maltese Spring Soup)

This soup is traditionally made in May when fresh broad beans are at their best and almost always served on Good Friday. With frozen broad beans available it's now made all year round, but is still delicious. It was a major comfort food for me and everyone has a preference on how it is served, some families add cauliflower, others peas or potatoes.

My mother would crack an egg into hers to poach, I loved to scoop on some ricotta, which would then set in the hot broth, best though is fresh Maltese sheep cheese, collectively called ġbejniet.

Kusksu (Maltese Spring Soup)
Serves 4-6 - About 200 cal per serving, not including garnishes.

Ingredients:
2 tsp olive oil
1 large onion (about 200g), finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
120g tomato concentrate
180g dried kusksu (sometimes labeled as Israeli couscous, pasta beads will be fine or orzo pasta in a pinch. The one I get is a Neil's Yard one available at Holland & Barret)
300g broad beans (fresh is better, but frozen can still be used, skins removed from the larger beans)
1.5 L water or chicken stock
5 bay leaves
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp torn, fresh basil

To garnish (optional):
Ricotta
Egg
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
or preferably fresh ġbejniet (Maltese cheese) - if you can get a hold of it!

Method:
1. In a large pan, heat the oil and fry the onion and garlic until it starts to brown.

2. Add the tomato paste, fry for a few more minutes, add the broad beans (if using frozen, add later with the couscous), seasoning, bay leaves and half the basil.

3. Pour in the water (or stock), bring to the boil, then reduce heat so it gently simmers.

4. Simmer for about 15 minutes, stir in the kusksu cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Check the seasoning and turn off the heat

5. Serve in bowls with a dollop of ricotta or ġbejna, or poach an egg in the broth before serving. Sprinkle with the grated Parmesan and fresh basil.

(Image appreciatively stolen from here as we got carried away and ate the soup before we could take a picture! Though my variation doesn't use peas, you can add them if you like).

Maltese Fair - Saturday 26th June 2010

In a couple of weeks there's a Maltese fair in East London run by the Maltese Culture Movement, it's mainly to celebrate the feast of St. Paul & St Peter (Imnarja), but stalls will be set up where you can buy traditional Maltese food, snacks and drinks including frozen pastizzi you can take home to cook and the national soft drink, Kinnie.

Date: Saturday 26 June 2010

Location: Roland Philipps Scouts Centre in East London, 65 Copley Street, (off Stepney Way) London E1 3DF.

Time: It's after mass (11am), so the stalls should be up and running by noon.

Click on the picture for the link: