Saagwala

A rich creamy spinach curry perfect with naan.  I've been making this with goat, but lamb or beef will both work well.

Ingredients:

1 kg (2.2 lbs) goat, lamb, or beef, trimmed and cubed
4+1 cm piece of ginger, peeled and grated
6+3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 medium onions, diced
6 T ghee
1 T coriander, toasted and ground
2 t cumin, toasted and ground
1 1/2 t garam masala
5-6 green chiles (preferably finger hot), thinly sliced
cayenne to taste
stock
2 packages frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 - 3/4 C cream
4 T cilantro, stems included, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Melt ghee in a deep pan, then saute the onion until starting to brown.  Add the 6 cloves of chopped garlic (reserving the other 3), the 4 cm of grated ginger (reserving the other 1), and the green chiles.  Saute for a couple of minutes before adding in the spices and 1 t salt, stirring frequently until fragrant.

Add the meat along with enough stock to cover meat, cover, and simmer until tender.  Times will vary considerably depending on the type and cut of meat; goat can take 3 hours or more.  When the meat is tender, remove from the pot and set aside, leaving everything else in the pot.  Add in the spinach and stir to combine.  Using an immersion blender (or removing to a blender), puree until fairly smooth.

Cook the spinach mixture down uncovered until thickened to the desired consistency (or a little thicker to account for the cream), roughly 35 minutes, stirring frequently.  Return the meat along with the cream, cilantro, and the reserved garlic and ginger, and simmer gently until the flavors blend 5-10 minutes.  Adjust the seasoning to taste (this will likely require more salt than you think), and serve with warm naan or rice.

Greek Phyllo Roll

A favorite main course when I'm looking for something that looks fantastic, but doesn't involve too much work. Also nice is that a good chunk of the work can be done the day before.

2 T butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 lb ground lamb or beef
1 c chopped tomato (I often increase this and use a whole can of chopped tomato)
1.5-2 inch stick cinnamon
1 t dried basil
2 eggs, separated
1/2 c grated mizithra or kefalotyri cheese
1/2 t grated nutmeg
 phyllo (the stuff I use comes in a box with two plastic wrapped portions; I use one of those)
melted butter for brushing the phyllo
2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
1 T chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste
1.5 c whole milk
4.5 T butter
4.5 T flour
More melted butter for assembly


Directions

1. Melt butter in a large frying pan and saute the onion and garlic.
2. Add the meat and cook, then add the tomato and cinnamon, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Remove the lid, season with salt and pepper, keeping in mind the cheese may add to the saltiness.
4. Remove the cinnamon stick, stir in the basil, and cool the meat.
5. When cool mix the egg whites into the meat; this mixture may be made a day in advance and refrigerated.
6. Sauce: Melt 4.5 T butter in a sauce pan and add the flour; whisk together and cook for a couple of minutes; you're looking for a white roux.
7. Add the milk and whisk together while cooking until a smooth sauce is obtained.
8. Add the cheese and nutmeg to this, and taste for seasoning.  Cool then whisk in the reserved egg yolks.  This can also be done the day before, leaving you with just assembly and baking the day of.
9. Prepare the phyllo base; I put down three pieces of phyllo per layer, putting one running length away from you and two running length parallel ( like l=), with the edges overlapping slightly to form a large rectangle.
10. Brush the whole thing with melted butter, then put down the next layer flipping which side the parallel pieces are on ( =l ).
11. Continue this until you've used the package and created a good base. Transfer this to a large pyrex dish (you want something with some sides on it to catch anything that leaks); don't worry if you overlap the edges of the dish a little, as you'll be rolling this with the filling in it.
12. Spread half the sauce on the base, leaving margins around the edges for rolling.
13. Lay the sliced eggs on the sauce, sprinkle with parsley, then add the meat mixture.
14. Add the rest of the sauce. Roll it up and flip so the seam side is down in the pan; this can be a little messy.
15. Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C) and bake for an hour, covered for the first 35 minutes, then uncover to brown the phyllo.  Allow to cool somewhat to set the filling before serving.

Notes: Both mizithra and kefalotyri cheese add different flavors, and both can be hard to find if you're not in an area with a lot of ethnic groceries. I've only made it with kefalotyri once (only found it once), but prefer mizithra anyway. In a pinch (when in lands populated primarily by culinary heathens) I've actually substituted a good white cheddar; it's good, but just not the same.
As far as the meat, I'm usually not going to spring for ground lamb, but ground beef works as well.