Week 31 - Malta and Mongolia

The boys loved this did, I didn't get a chance to sample it as I do not eat cheese. My husband is a Mac'n'cheese fan, and he rated this highly. We not only loved the name of the Mongolian dish but - despite its look - loved the dish. It was a Russia meets Chinese dumplings meal and was really nice. Two meals that I would never of thought of, and both very successful. Neither of which use unusual ingredients but are just made differently. This is why I wanted to do this challenge and why I continue to do it, even though sometimes it can be very tough.

Imqarrun il-forn - bake macaroni in the Maltese way

Imqarrun il-forn is one of the most favourite dishes for the Maltese; it is very often eaten as a Sunday Lunch. Macaroni with a special bolognaise sauce are baked in the oven until they're golden brown and smelling delicious. This dish is a variety of Timpana, where the macaroni is comes covered in pastry.

Ingredients

      500g dried macaroni
      200g beef mince
      200g pork mince
      200g chicken livers, diced (optional)
      200g bacon, finely diced
      100g onions, finely diced
      4 cloves garlic, crushed
      50g parmesan cheese, grated
      50g Edam cheese, grated
      4 eggs, beaten
      100g tomato paste
      200g tomato purée
      500ml chicken or beef stock
      50g butter
      Salt and pepper 

Preheat oven to 180˚C. Fry onions and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes, add the bacon and pork mince and stir well to separate from each other. Add the beef mince and cook for another 10 minutes. If you want to keep to the tradition, add the chicken liver and cook for 5 more minutes. Pour the stock, mix well and bring to boil. Simmer for 20 minutes and then you can add the tomato paste and purée. 

In the mean time, boil salted water in a large pot and let the pasta cook for a little while. Don't let it cook completely as it will continue cooking in the oven. A bit before al dente is good enough. Drain the pasta and mix with sauce, add the parmesan and the rest of the cheese. Beat the eggs and stir win the mixture to give a thicker consistency.

Take a baking dish and spread some butter so that the pasta doesn't stick. Pour the pasta and add salt and pepper to taste. Bake for 1 to 1 ½ hours and enjoy a delicious traditional Maltese dish!

Source: http://www.malta.com/en/dining/maltese-specialities/imqarrun-il-forn

Buuz – Бууз

Ingredients

Dough

250g Flour

1.5 dl water

Filling

300g Minced lamb (Traditionally, mutton is used, other types of meat such as beef work just as well.
Mongolians consider fat meat to be of higher quality, but there's no problem in using western style lean meat.)

1 onion, minced

2 garlic gloves, minced

3-5 tbls water

Salt pepper caraway seeds

Prepare the filling

Mix the meat onion and garlic, add enough water until the mixture is smooth to work with and salt and spices.

Prepare the dough

Mix the flour and water to create a pliable dough and leave to rest for 15 mins.

Cut the dough into 2cm thick slices and roll.Cut the rolls into pieces of 3 cm, and flatten with a finger.

There are several styles for the pockets, but this is what I did:

Roll each piece into a 7cm circle, making the centre slightly thicker than the edge. Only roll out a couple at a time.  I then put some mixture in the middle and folded up opposite sides and pinched, so I had a ‘square’ shape.  With practice I got the pattern to work well!

The Buuz are cooked in steam and NOT a pressure cooker. Brush the bottom with a little oil and place without touching another. Steam for about 15mins without looking. The mongolians are not known for their vegetables, so two of these are ample for a meal.

Source: http://www.mongolfood.info/en/recipes/buuz.html