Zee Restaurant recipes

[vendic]

I'll be posting recipes that we used at the restaurant as part of an exchange of recipes series I started with a long time friend from India.

So here's the first, the bread:
Bread:
950g plain flour
1 T salt
1 T sugar
1 T yeast
800g of warm water ( about 100F)
15g of olive oil/sesame (50/50) oil mix
sesame seeds
caraway seeds.
Egg wash:
1 egg, about 1-2Tsp of milk mixed completely. Makes about 4 loaves.
Add dry ingredients then water. Add oil into water or it can clump. Mix quickly for about 30 seconds to a minute. Cover with cellophane or damp tea towel. For best results put in fridge and allow it to rise there overnight. Otherwise a good compromise can be had by leaving it in a warm area. In warm climates, on the bench works. Be careful as it can overflow.
Place on non stick flat pan and spread so it's about 2cm thick. Brush on egg wash and then liberally sprinkle the sesame and caraway seeds.
Bake in preheated oven of 450F for about 22 minutes.
Cover with damp tea towel when it's cooked and let rest for 15 minutes before cutting.
This recipe makes really good bread with almost no effort. I could make 3 batches daily and it hardly took any work time. Most of it is rising, cooking and resting.
Next post will be the capsicum dip. Followed by the kebabs.

[vendic]

Capsicum dip:

4 red bell peppers (capsicum)
1 tsp salt
2 tbs olive oil (extra virgin is best, you can use more but not less)
1 tsp of cracked black pepper (do not use anything other than finely crushed (not powdered) black pepper. This is key to the taste profile)
250g of Greek (or any plain full fat non sweet yogurt). Use about the same volume of cooked capsicum to yogurt.
Chop capsicum roughly. About 2cm squares.
Put salt and oil into large fry pan. Heat to just below smoke point. Hot enough that water beads if dropped into oil but it doesn't smoke.
Put chopped capsicum into pan stir quickly to coat it all with the oil.
Cook till capsicum starts to get brown/black spots. Stir occasionally.
Once it's cooked, add the pepper to the mixture and cook a further 30 seconds or so stir vigorously. The aroma should let you know that it's done. Take off the heat quickly and put it all in a bowl to avoid over cooking the pepper.
Let cool.
Once cooled, blend in blender till it's pulp. If you have no blender, grind down to a thick paste using manual methods.
Add paste to yogurt. Mix completely. It should look deep orange with bits red in it. Add less yogurt for more flavour and deeper color. Add more for more subtle taste. Salt accordingly though it should need none.

[vendic]

Kebabs:

1kg of chicken or lamb cut into 1 inch cubes (approximately)
1 cup of plain full fat non sweet yogurt
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 tsp of onion powder
1 tbs olive oil
Combine the dry ingredients with oil. Mix completely.
Add the meat and coat meat completely in mixture.
Add yogurt and mix completely.
If you have restrictions regarding milk and meat, the yogurt can be skipped. My wife prefers the non yogurt version anyway, I prefer the yogurt version.
Leave in fridge overnight or at least a few hours.
To cook, use hot pan with olive oil and let brown. Try not to stir much as it breaks up the meat.
Serve over rice with bread and dip.
You can also cook it on a skewer alternating meat/onion/capsicum till the skewer is full. Cook over hot flame till done. The flames should slightly char the meat and the veggies and be cooked at the same time. This will require knowledge of your grill to cook properly. So start with a lower heat and cook longer.

The photo's show it with almost the same bread recipe as on this site but no egg wash or seeds on it and 45g of oil mix instead of 15g. Instead of the egg wash, gently roll it in flour till it's non sticky and spread out on flat pan so it's no more than 2cm high. Do not work the flour into the bread. It is just used to coat the outside of it so you can spread it without it sticking to anything. No need to use a greased pan. It shouldn't stick when done this way. Also, don't rise this dough in the fridge. It's best to rise it twice. Once in the bowl and then use your fingers to put dents in the rolled out dough while on the pan and let it rise again on the pan before cooking it.

[SciFi Chick]

Just looking at these makes my mouth water again - especially the capsicum dip. Yum! I love that we don't need to eat out anymore, because until we get back to civilization, it's really not feasible.

[Cyborg Girl]

Wooow.

I think I'll pass on the bread.

Kebabs, my experience is that they can be done in a broiler (without skewers if you get the layering right). I'll definitely try your recipe at some point. Capsicum dip likewise.

Oh one note

2 tbs olive oil (extra virgin is best, you can use more but not less)

Pretty much all olive oil in the US is labeled "extra virgin." Per an NPR special I heard a while ago, the term has no meaning here with respect to food regulations, and can actually contain a mix of olive oils of different pressings and qualities.

(Yay deregulation!)

[vendic]

You can get proper EVO Oil from the Oil and Vinegar store.
Yes, the EVO market in the USA is best described as a lot of things here, hype and lies.

[vendic]

BTW, what's wrong with the bread?

[Cyborg Girl]

BTW, what's wrong with the bread?

Nothing whatsoever, that's the problem. It's just a delicious source of inordinate amounts of carbohydrate calories.

[vendic]

So you'd rather eat a self aware chicken?

[SciFiFisher]

You can get proper EVO Oil from the Oil and Vinegar store.
Yes, the EVO market in the USA is best described as a lot of things here, hype and lies.

That's only two things.

[vendic]

You can get proper EVO Oil from the Oil and Vinegar store.
Yes, the EVO market in the USA is best described as a lot of things here, hype and lies.

That's only two things.

Trump...

[brite]

You can get proper EVO Oil from the Oil and Vinegar store.
Yes, the EVO market in the USA is best described as a lot of things here, hype and lies.

1. We live in olive country - they grow and press olives in NorCal
2. There is a store in Old Sac that sells the MOST inCREDIBLE oil and balsamic vinegars... OMFG... Zee... you and I would go in there, and SFC and Fisher would worry....

[vendic]

SFC is now into EVO as well. lol

[geonuc]

I buy California Olive Ranch EVOO. Several reviews and investigations in recent years have listed that as one of the legitimate extra virgin oils on the US market.

http://www.truthinoliveoil.com/2012/09/ ... ood-prices
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/201 ... extra.html

[geonuc]

Capsicum dip:

4 red bell peppers (capsicum)

...

You do realize that almost nobody in the US calls bell peppers 'capsicum'?

In any case, I'll have to make this. And the bread.

[Thumper]

Capsicum dip:

4 red bell peppers (capsicum)

...

You do realize that almost nobody in the US calls bell peppers 'capsicum'?

In any case, I'll have to make this. And the bread.

Capsicum is the active ingredient in self defense pepper spray.

[geonuc]

Capsicum is the active ingredient in self defense pepper spray.

Actually, that's capsaicin.

[Swift]

Capsicum dip:

4 red bell peppers (capsicum)

...

You do realize that almost nobody in the US calls bell peppers 'capsicum'?

In any case, I'll have to make this. And the bread.

Capsicum is the active ingredient in self defense pepper spray.

That's why I have a concealed carry permit for red peppers. I never leave the house unarmed.

[vendic]

Capsicum dip:

4 red bell peppers (capsicum)

...

You do realize that almost nobody in the US calls bell peppers 'capsicum'?

In any case, I'll have to make this. And the bread.

Yep. I got used to calling them bell peppers and when I went back to Oz I mistakenly called them that. I got a lot of crap over that incident!

r.e. the dip and bread.
At least you have personal experience with what if was like so you'll know right away if you did it correctly.
Prior the other day, we hadn't made it in a long time and forgot just how good this meal is. Yum!

[vendic]

Capsicum is the active ingredient in self defense pepper spray.

Actually, that's capsaicin.

More confusingly, capsicum hardly has any capsaisin in them. lol

[Thumper]

Not if I read this correctly.

[vendic]

I used the word capsicum as a substitute for bell pepper, same as I used the words "capsicum dip" to mean "bell pepper dip".

[geonuc]

So, let's recap, shall we?

Capsicum is the genus name for a bunch of plant species that includes bell peppers and chile peppers.
Capsicum is what certain backward people living below the equator call bell peppers, ignoring the fact that the name refers to chile peppers as well.
Capsaicin is a chemical found in most genus capsicum species that imparts the heat in hot chile peppers. Makes a good bear repellent, too.
Capsaicin is not found in bell peppers, or, as the aforementioned backwards folk call them, Capsicum.

[vendic]

Yep.
For the record, only North America and the U.K call them Bell Peppers.
Australia, India, Singapore a few others call them capsicum.
In Europe, many call it paprika. Croatians call it Paprika. The stuffed bell peppers we made at the restaurant were really called, "Punjene Paprike" the paprike being plural of paprika.
In the USA you can get the spice paprika, which is really ground bell peppers. We us it in punjene Paprike and Paprikash.

So all up, I have three ways to say the same thing depending on who I'm talking to.
It's all confusing.

[geonuc]

Kebabs:

1kg of chicken or lamb cut into 1 inch cubes (approximately)
1 cup of plain full fat non sweet yogurt
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 tsp of onion powder
1 tbs olive oil
Combine the dry ingredients with oil. Mix completely.
Add the meat and coat meat completely in mixture.
Add yogurt and mix completely.
If you have restrictions regarding milk and meat, the yogurt can be skipped. My wife prefers the non yogurt version anyway, I prefer the yogurt version.
Leave in fridge overnight or at least a few hours.
To cook, use hot pan with olive oil and let brown. Try not to stir much as it breaks up the meat.
Serve over rice with bread and dip.
You can also cook it on a skewer alternating meat/onion/capsicum till the skewer is full. Cook over hot flame till done. The flames should slightly char the meat and the veggies and be cooked at the same time. This will require knowledge of your grill to cook properly. So start with a lower heat and cook longer.

The photo's show it with almost the same bread recipe as on this site but no egg wash or seeds on it and 45g of oil mix instead of 15g. Instead of the egg wash, gently roll it in flour till it's non sticky and spread out on flat pan so it's no more than 2cm high. Do not work the flour into the bread. It is just used to coat the outside of it so you can spread it without it sticking to anything. No need to use a greased pan. It shouldn't stick when done this way. Also, don't rise this dough in the fridge. It's best to rise it twice. Once in the bowl and then use your fingers to put dents in the rolled out dough while on the pan and let it rise again on the pan before cooking it.

You might want to put the part about the bread in the bread recipe post.