elanya

I'm taking pity on my friend portenoyus and posting a handful of recipies for the bachelor. Unfortunately for the rest of you, he specified 'no desserts'!

Anyway, here goes.

Shepherd's Pie (Canadian/American version. I.e. not British, as they are very picky about their pies ;)

This is not a very specific recipie, as far as proportions and what not go, but hey, bite me. This is the recipie that we used when I was working at Out 2 Lunch, so I know many of you already like it ;D

Figure out what kind of pan you are going to be baking it in. Some kind of casserle dish, whatever.

Fry up enough hamburger to cover the bottom of the pan, to whatever depth you want of meat, but remember that you are adding some other stuff, and are going to be putting potatoes on top.

Mix in a package of oinion soup mix (you know, cup of soup kind of deal), ketchup, and frozen or canned corn nibblets. I recommend frozen, and if you do use canned, make sure you drain them first.

Peel and boil some potatoes. How many you need will depend on the size of the dish you are using, so guess. Probably you'll need at least five unless it is a really small dish, but possibly more... Once they are cooked (Test with a fork!), drain them, add a little bit of milk, and whip them. Spread this over the top of the hamburger in the pan. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake at about 350-370 celsius degrees, until the top is as crispy and brown as you like. Let cool, and enjoy!

One advantage of this recipie is that you can get those disposable tinfoil pans, and make up small servings, potatoes and all, and freeze them for future use, and make your own tasty tv dinners. Also, it does make for good leftovers!

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This is a recipie for phatire, a lebanese pasrty/pie thing that is really quite tasty. I got this recipie from one of my customers from Out 2 Lunch who had the (questionable) honour to be married to Louie George (King of Crazy Old Lebanese Guys! :)... Thanks Roberta :D She gave me the recipie for the bread too, but before you go through all of that, I'll not that you can actually buy frozen bread dough and use that instead. Just slice it into 1 cm thick pieces when it is still mostly frozen, then roll those out into the right size as described below.

Phatire!

Lebanese bead

1tbsp Dry Yeast
½ cup warm water
1tsp sugar
1 cup milk
6-8 cups flour
1 tbsp Sugar
1tsp salt
1tbsp shortening


Dissolve the sugar in the ½ cup warm water and add the yeast. Let stand for 10 min and then stir well.

Warm the milk, shortening and tbsp of sugar over medium heat

Meanwhile, mix salt and flour in a large bowl. Add the other ingredients and mix well.. Knead until you have a soft dough. Add water if it seems too stiff. The dough has a good texture if it begins to stick to your fingers. Form into a ball. Cover the bowl, wrap in towels and leave in a warm place to rise for at least 2 hours, although overnight is preferable.

Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces and form into a smooth ball. Et on a lightly floured surface covered with a towel. Let rest for 20 min


'Meat Turnovers' (a.k.a meat phatire)
Pastry: 4 rolls of lebanese bread dough

Filling: 3tbst butter
3 med onions, chopped finely
1 lb ground meat
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp Salt and Pepper
½ tsp mixed spice (I'll ask)
½ tsp cinnamon
1/4 C pine nuts (optional)
2 tbsp Olive Oil
(My dad's recipie, which is the one I've eaten more of, uses plain yoghurt or sour cream in with the meat as well. I would recommend trying it that way first, otehrwise, ther are just kinda plain :o. Also, I still don't know what the mixed spice is... I'll have to investigate further...)


Melt the butter in a frying pan and add the meat and onions. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the other ingredients, except the oil, and cook for another 5 minutes.

Take the lebanese bread dough and on a lightly floured surface, roll each ball 1/8 inch thick. Cut the dough into 3 inch rounds, with a jar or something

Put ~1 tbsp meat into each round. Fold the dough over and secure the edges.

Pour the oil into a baking pan and place the phatire close together. Brush each lightly wth oil and bake at 400F for 20 min or until browned

Spinach Turnovers (a.k.a the goooood phatire ;)

1lb fresh spinach
Juice of 1 or 2 lemons
1 med onion, finely chopped
1 tsp salt and pepper
4 T olive oil

Wash the spinach, drain, and cut into small pieces. Combine all the ingredients except t Tbsp olive oil.

Roll each ball of dough 1/8 inch thick and cut into rounds about 4 inches in diameter.

Put 3 tbsp of spinach mixture onto each round. Pull up the edge from 3 equally distant points to make a triangle shape. Secure the edges of the dough tightly with your fingers so the phatire don't open up in the oven. Put flour on finger tips to seal.

Pour the remaining oil into a baking pan, lightly brush the phatire with oil and bake for 20 min at
425.


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That's all for now! I hope you enjoy :D