Albania - Baked Lamb in Yoghurt + Spinach and Fetta Pie + Bean Salad = YUM!

Sorry for the delay in posting my yummy albanian dinner - I have been gallavanting around Indochina (and eating way too many local delights i might add!).
My Albanian dinner was sooooooooooooo lovely and I shared it with Kate, my Pepps and my 3 lovely neighbours. I cooked 3 different dishes and my fav was definitely the Spinach and Fetta pie - i'll be making that one again and it was great as you can make it in advance and just throw it in the oven 45mins before you serve. There were not any leftovers of anything!!!

Apart from the pie I cooked a Lamb dish which was baked in yoghurt called Tave Kosi, it is apparently a favourite of Albanians and a great comfort food, sounds a little odd I know but was actually delicious. The bean salad was lovely and fresh to compliment the other 2 heavier dishes.

I managed to raise $20 this time around bringing my grand total to date to $50!!! Awesome effort everyone :-)

I have found an amazing charity called Captive Daughters and it exists to mobilize the global will to end the sex trafficking of women and children through public education and creative media.. Check it out at http://captivedaughters.org/index.htm Their focus is on California, Nepal and Albania and our $20 will go to them :-)

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Here are the recipes:

Tave Kosi - Lamb baked in yoghurt

The Ingredients:

600-700 g lamb leg or shoulder
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons rice
Salt and Pepper (according to your tastes)
For the Yogurt Sauce:
1 tablespoon plain flour
4 tablespoons butter
900 g yogurt
5 eggs
Salt and Pepper (according to your tastes)
The Instructions:

Cut the lamb into 4-6 serving pieces, and season each piece with salt and pepper. Dot the pieces with the butter. Set the oven at 350 degrees. Place the pieces into a baking pan and put it into the oven. Bake for 45 minutes, checking in every now and again to basting the lamb pieces with their own gravy.

After the lamb has turned brown, remove the baking pan from the oven. Add the 2 tablespoons of rice into the baking pan, making sure it is covered by the gravy. Leave aside for now.

It's now time to prepare the yogurt sauce.

Saute the flour in butter until both of them are mixed thoroughly.

Place the yogurt into a bowl. Add in salt and pepper according to taste. Try not to do overdo the salt and pepper here because the lamb pieces have already been seasoned. Stir in the eggs until the mixture is uniform.

Stir this yogurt mixture into the flour and butter mixture in the saute pan. Stir until everything is smooth.

Pour the combined sauce into the baking pan, stirring it with lamb pieces, and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

This dish is best served hot!
Sallate me Fasule (Bean Salad)1 can white kidney beans
1/4 cup of chopped pimento
½ cup of olives
½ cup of scallions (cut into 1 inch stripes)
1 small cucumber (diced)
1/4 teaspoon oregano
Olive oil
Juice of ½ lemon - just mix them all together!

Spinach and Fetta Pie

• 1 cup olive oil
• 30 phyllo pastry sheets
• 1 1/2 lbs spinach, chopped
• 1 cup feta cheese, diced
• 1/2 cup green onion, chopped
• 2 -3 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Change Measurements: US | Metric

Directions:

Prep Time: 45 mins
Total Time: 1 1/2 hrs

1.     1 A medium-sized, round baking pan is recommended because it?s more authentic but any medium-sized baking pan will do.

2.     2 Brush the baking pan with some of the oil, and start laying the pastry leaves inside. First, lay two leaves, sprinkle or brush with oil, then lay two other leaves, and repeat the procedure until half of the leaves are laid. Make sure that they cover the pan by hanging them about one inch over the edges of the pan.

3.     3 Sprinkle spinach with salt, then mix well by hand. Add the feta cheese, oil, onions, eggs and salt, and spread this mixture over the already laid pastry leaves. Finish by covering the spinach with the rest of the pastry leaves repeating the first-half procedure and then roll the hanging edges of the bottom leaves over the pie (think of a pizza crust), sprinkle top with oil and bake moderately at 350°F (175°C) for about 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve hot, accompanied with buttermilk, or beaten yogurt, thinned down in cold water or with chilled stewed prunes. Sometimes a green salad adds to the meal!

Thats all for now but tune in for Andorra :-)
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