turkish meatballs and chilli crab

a few days a go I made this turkish meatball recipe from The Complete Book of Turkish Cooking. Its a fantastic book and cheap!

make meatballs from the following:
250 g minced lamb
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic crushed
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp pine nuts (I didnt have any so used slivered almonds instead)
2 tbps currants (soaked in warm water for 10 mins)
1 tsp paprika
breadcrumbs from 2 slices day-old bread (we didnt have any so we threw in some oat bran)
1 lightly beaten egg
1 tbsp tomato sauce (ketchup)
1 bunch each chopped parsley and dill (we didnt have any dill...)
Pepper & salt if you wish

make meatballs the size of a large apricot and then flatten them slightly. Shallow fry in sunflower oil.

we had this with another recipe from the book which involved part-boiling potatoes then cutting them into thick slices, baking with a can of tomatoes that has been cooked with some white wine vinegar and sugar, black olives, and feta cheese added at the end.

the chilli crab was last night and came from one of the good old women's weekly cookbooks. I stopped at cappo's on the way home and they had blue swinner crabs for sale. I hardly ever cook crab, and when I do I just boil it. but in the eternal quest for new recipes, I found this and it was a stunner.

break legs off crabs. push a sharp knife into the back end of the crab and prize off the top. Remove the grey gills. chop the bottom into halves or quarters, depending on how big the crab is.

heat the following in a large frypan until sugar dissolves:
1 tablespon oil
2 red chillies, chopped
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 tsp fish sauce
25g palm sugar, chopped finely
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup fish stock

Add crab and cook covered for 15 mins or until crab has changed colour.

Add chopped spring onions and a hanbdful of chopped coriander before serving.
bloody marvellous.

I should add that I actually bought 1/2 kg gulf of carpentaria prawns for dinner, in the knowledge that the kids would all be out. but it turned out they weren't. so I decided I'd cook the prawns too (jasmine rice, coconut milk, lemon grass from the garden, kaffir lime leaves, a bit of chiil, coriander and the prawns at the end) and got some skate out of the freezer because I thought there wouldnt be enough food.... (you know, one small crab and a few prawns each...). I've never eaten skate before - they said it tastes like chicken and it did! so I fried some thai red curry paste, added coconut milk and the fish. wow. on the side we had stir-fried champignons, zucchini and sweet corn.

so it turned into a bit of a banquet which we ate while we watched "Australia" - what an odd film! stunning scenery and shots. bizarre script. and nicole kidman is particularly bad, which surprised me as I quite like some of her films. having seen "the making of" at ACMI probably spoiled some of it for me. I kept saying "thats a green screen background actually....."

the seafood probably cost about $6 per person. compared to going out for dinner, it was cheaper by a mile and much more satisfying!

Comments

[Jill Ruzbacky]

Yaay - have been waiting for you to post this!

It'll be on the menu for sometime this week at our house - thanks!!

[bruce grindlay]

"the complete book of turkish cooking" - cheap??!! $329 in Australia. Where can I find the "cheap" edition?