Tajines are renowned for exotic-sounding combinations of things like spicy sausage, quinces, quail, large numbers of herbs and spices, pickled lemons, and dried fruit. Sometimes, I go to the effort and do things properly. Sometimes, I cut a few corners like below.
This is about the simplest one I’ve made to date - not in terms of total elapsed time, but simplest in preparation effort. Please note that it finishes fairly spicy.
Ingredients
- 400gm tin tomatoes
- 400gm tin red kidney beans
- tablespoon Moroccan Spice Mix
- teaspoon dried chilli flakes
- teaspoon minced garlic
- large handful chopped cacciatore salami (hot), chopped into small cubes
- half cup rice
- 200gm sliced roast beef
- Four eggs
Method: Combine tomatoes, beans, salami and spices in a saucepan. Simmer until beans start to fall to bits, add rice and beef. Simmer, adding water as needed and stirring until the rice is cooked. Add mixture to tajine, crack the eggs over it, then cover with tajine lid. Cook until eggs are solid, serve.
We’ve just had a great Australia Day BBQ lunch. Apart from the salad, we had Easy Tandoori Chicken and Texas-Rubbed Steak. I cooked the meat on the Weber using the direct method (straight over the coals, as opposed to indirect as for roasts).
Easy Tandoori Chicken
This is, well, easy. Take 500gm chicken thigh fillets and rub half a jar of Tilda Butter Chicken simmer sauce into them. Leave for 4 hours to marinate (and this probably doesn’t have too be this long, it is just the time I used today). Cook over coals. Your cooking time may vary, but on a Weber directly over the coals it took around 10 minutes - and finished incredibly juicy and tender.
Texas-Rubbed Steak
This is hardly any more trouble than the Chicken. Take 500gm of eye fillet and rub the following mixture into it then refrigerate (I left it for a couple of hours, it may not take that long).
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons white sugar
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon dry oregano
1 tablespoon Italian herb mix (containing basil, oregano, dried capsicum and pepper)
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
Note: I adapted this from a recipe on CD Kitchen that had a lot more sugar in it.
The following recipe is from Kelley of Magneto Bold Too fame - there are no proportions given as this is a “to taste” recipe (and the amounts depend entirely on how many people you need to feed).
- Chuck some diced tomatoes, cumin, garlic, onion, diced capsicum, coriander, chilli salt and pepper in the bottom of the crockpot. You can add beans to add bulk
- Put a FROZEN beef roast on top.
- Cook for 4 hours on low.
- Take roast out and shred
- Put back in, mix, add more spice to taste and cook for another couple of hours
- Then place in tortilla, fold and bake with salsa and cheese on top.
- Serve with honey and lemon salad.
As promised - the Faux Pho recipe 
You will need:
- 4 cups water
- Chicken stock powder to taste
- handful shallots
- Finely chopped onion
- Five spice powder, cumin and cinnamon to taste
- Pho (flat rice noodles)
- 400gm thinly sliced beef
- two handfuls of fresh basil
Throw chicken stock powder into hot water - taste carefully to check if you need to add more. Add shallots and onion. Add five spice powder, cumin and cinnamon to taste. Cook over slow heat until the onion starts to soften. Add half a packet of pho (flat rice noodles) and a handful of holy basil. When the noodles are nearly cooked, add beef. Add more basil to serve and consume while it is still warm.
This is definately not as good as a proper stock made by boiling beef bones for hours and hours. But it is good enough for a lazy slightly hung over brunch.
This recipe is adapted from one originally posted on Facibus Reviews.
There is a wonderful Easy Beef Wellington recipe over at cooks.com - they call it “Individual Beef Wellington Steaks”. If you are carnivorous and like steak slathered in mushrooms and don’t mind the taste of pate you’ll probably love it. Here is my faux cuisine version.
You’ll need:
One sirloin/tenderloin steak (200-300gm) per person
One sheet frozen puff pastry per person
Two tablespoons tinned mushrooms in butter sauce per person
Butter to seal
Pate - equivalent of one tablespoon per person (use more to taste)
Salt and pepper
- Grab trimmed steaks, season with salt and pepper,
- Cook the steaks in a hot (200 degrees Celsius) oven for ten minutes,
- Chill the steaks (I wait until they are a little cool then put them in the refridgerator).
- Onto a thawed sheet of puff pastry, put a couple of tablespoons of cooked mushrooms (being lazy I used tinned mushrooms in butter sauce, it worked fine).
- Put the steak onto the mushrooms then slather the pate over the steak
- Wrap the puff pastry around the whole lot, seal with butter, bake at 200 celsius until the pastry is brown and puffy, eat. Mmmm
Note: This recipe is adapted from one originally posted at Facibus Reviews.
If your mileage varies, tell me. Like all faux cuisine, experiment, but experiment with friends before trying a given variation with people you are trying to impress.
