Thursday, January 26, 2012

Matt Moran's Chicken in Master Stock


I have heard Matt describe this dish as one of his favourite dishes to serve his family. If you like this you really need to check out his cookbooks!!
1 × 1.6 kg chicken
2 bunches baby bok choy

Master stock
1 litres chicken stock
330 ml light soy sauce
200 ml rice wine vinegar
palm sugar
5 cm knob ginger, roughly chopped
2 star anise
1 cinnamon quills
60 ml sherry vinegar
2 small chillies, cut in half
1 bunch coriander, roots only

Sauce ( I did not make this part of the recipe)
Spring onion and ginger mix
4 spring onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger
½ clove garlic, finely chopped
20 ml peanut oil
2 teaspoons sea salt
20 ml rice wine vinegar
freshly ground black pepper




Combine all the ingredients for the spring onion and ginger mix in a bowl.

To prepare the master stock, place all the ingredients in a stockpot and simmer for 20 minutes. Bring to the boil and add the whole chicken, then reduce the heat and simmer for a further 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover with the lid and leave for 1 hours.

Bake the chicken in a 200c oven for 40 minutes

When ready to serve, blanch the bok choy in salted, boiling water for 30 seconds, then refresh in iced water.
Cut the chicken into pieces and serve with the bok choy, the spring onion and ginger mix, and some steamed rice.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Kylie Kwong's red master stock chicken

This is another master stock recipe I have not cooked it but looks amazing. I "borrowed" this recipe from a site and I can't find it, please let me know if you know where this comes from.

Kylie Kwong's red master stock chicken

Kylie Kwong loves the colour and flavour of her red master stock chicken.
"This stock can be reused again and again by simply straining it thoroughly, storing it in an airtight container and freezing it," she advises.
"Each time you use this stock, it will become richer and deeper: simply thaw it and add a fresh batch of all the stock ingredients, plus enough water to make up the volume of liquid to six litres again.
billy kwong, Shop 3, 355 Crown St, Surry Hills, (02) 9332 3300
Serve as part of a banquet for 4-6
Ingredients:
  • 1 x 1.6kg free-range or organic chicken
Masterstock
  • 3 cups shao hsing wine or dry sherry
  • 3 cups organic tamari
  • 2 cups organic brown sugar
  • 12 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 cup ginger slices
  • 8 spring onions (scallions), trimmed and cut in half crossways
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 10 star anise
  • 4 cinnamon quills
  • 7 strips fresh orange zest
Method:
  1. Place all stock ingredients, plus six litres of cold water, in a large stockpot and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently for 40 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse. Meanwhile, rinse chicken under cold water. Trim excess fat from inside and outside cavity, but keep neck, parson's nose and winglets intact.
  2. Lower chicken, breast side down, into simmering stock, ensuring it is fully submerged. Poach chicken gently for 14 minutes. There should be no more than an occasional ripple breaking the surface. Remove stockpot immediately from the stove and allow chicken to steep in the stock for 3 hours at room temperature to complete the cooking process.
  3. Using tongs, gently remove chicken from the stock, being careful not to tear the breast skin. Place chicken on a tray to drain and allow to cool.
  4. Chop the chicken Chinese style as shown, below.
  5. Spoon over some of the stock and serve at room temperature.

Carving poultry, Chinese-style

Step 1:

With a sharp knife or cleaver, make an incision along centre of breast and chop through the bone. Ease apart the two halves with your hands and the knife.
Step 2:


After cutting off wing from each breast and setting aside, make an incision between the drumstick/thigh and breast and remove the drumstick.
Step 3:

Cut bony pieces from the end of breast and discard. Chop each drumstick/thigh into slices about 5cm x 2cm and arrange on a platter.
Step 4:

Chop each breast across the bone into slices about 7cm x 2cm. Arrange on top of drumstick/thigh pieces. Finally, cut each wing in half and place on top of rest of chicken.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Spring Vegetable Canneloni


This is a really nice vegetarian dish that tastes of spring.

Use a food processor to slice and combine a zucchini, half an eggplant, and several dutch Carrots.

On a flat sheet of pasta (lasagne sheets)
Cover with a thin layer of ricotta
Place a generous amount of the vegetables and roll up.
Repeat

Lay the completed Cannelloni in a baking dish
Cover with pasata
Sprinkle with a generous layer of grated tasty cheese.
Oven bake for 40 mins or until cheese melts and becomes golden.

Note the vegetables will retain some of their crunch, to make them softer microwave them for a few minutes before you start.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Spicy Tofu Noodles



Ingredients:

1 large block of tofu
2 tbs oil

Sauce ingredients:

1 tbs oil
1tbs tamarind paste
2tsp lemongrass, white parts only, minced
1 tbs red chili, minced
1 tsp garlic, minced
1/8 tsp five spice powder
1 cup pomelo jam (or marmalade)
 2tbs brown sugar

1 tbs oil
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cup sliced celery 
1/2 cup shallots, thinly sliced
1 red chilli, minced

Directions:

To make the sauce: 

Add oil to pan over medium heat and saute lemongrass, chili, and garlic for 1 minute. Lower heat and add sugar, reducing heat to low and simmering for about 10 minutes until all sugar has dissolved. Add the jam, stir to combine, and cool. Makes 2 cups. 

Cut the tofu into cubes. Pan fry in the oil over medium high heat until browned and crispy, about 10 minutes. Alternatively, to make it slightly more authentic, you can coat teh tofu in a fine layer of rice flour and deep fry until golden brown. 

Add 1 tbs oil to pan over medium high and briefly saute onion, celery, green onions, and chili - about 2-3 minutes. Add 1 cup tamarind sauce and tofu, tossing to coat. Simmer 30 seconds and serve.



Serve with noodles

Friday, January 20, 2012

Spinach, Zucchini Lasagne


1.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lightly oil a large ovenproof baking dish measuring about 23×33 cm and about 7 cm deep.
2.
Mix together the ricotta, cheddar and a large bowl. Spread 1 cup of the pasta sauce over the base of the oiled baking dish. Arrange four of the lasagne sheets to cover the base of the dish; if necessary, overlap them a little. Spread with a quarter of the ricotta mixture, then top with a third of the spinach/zucchini. Repeat layering twice more with the sauce, lasagne sheets, ricotta mixture and spinach. Top with the remaining four sheets of lasagne.
3.
Spread the remaining ricotta mixture and pasta sauce over the top, then gently press the lasagne sheets down into the dish, so the sauce comes up around the sides. Use a sheet of foil to cover the dish.
4.
Bake for 35 minutes, then uncover, sprinkle with the mozzarella and bake for a further 20 minutes until the cheese is golden and bubbling. Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 10 minutes before cutting into rectangles to serve.


Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Brioche Bread Machine


  • I can hardly wait to try this, the recipe link is at the bottom of the page.
  • Ingredients:
  • large eggs
  • 1/2 cup butter or 1/2 cup margarine , softened
  • 1/3 cup milk 
  • tablespoons water (70º to 80ºF)
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • cups bread flour
  • tablespoons sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons yeast
  • Directions:

Measure all ingredients into bread machine pan in the order suggested by manufacturer.

Process on sweet or basic/white bread cycle; use light or medium/normal crust color setting.

Remove bread from pan; cool on wire rack.



Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/brioche-loaf-breadmaker-1-1-2-lb-loaf-94536#ixzz1jmDLxPi2

Slow Cooker Chinese Chicken




Ingredients:
Diced chicken thigh fillets or better still on the bone
5 tbsp ketchup
5 tbsp orange marmalade
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp sesame oil
1 garlic clove
thumb-size piece fresh ginger
1 tbsp chinese rice vinegar
few drops tabasco
1 tbsp corn starch
salt & pepper

1/4tsp 5 spice powder




Directions:
In a medium-sized bowl you mix the ketchup,marmalade, soy sauce and
The rice vinegar. 
Add a few drops of tabasco and some sesame oil.
Grate the garlic and ginger in there as well and mix it up
If not sweet enough add brown sugar.
Add the chicken to the slow cooker and season with salt and pepper.
Pour the sauce in and mix well
Cook on low for 4 to 5 hours. 
Thicken sauce with either cornstarch or arrowroot
 Serve with rice and fresh green beans.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Tomato and Asparagus Tart



Heat oven to 180c line a pastry tin with short crust pastry, blind bake.
Heat olive oil in a frypan  and add thinly sliced mushroom
Cook asparagus in microwave
Layer onto base of tart
Whisk together 2 eggs, 1/3 cup milk, diced boccocini
Pour into case
Top with sliced cherry tomatoes
Bake until set about 35 mins

Monday, January 16, 2012

Massaman Curry


2 teaspoons vegetable oil

  • 1 brown onion, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup massaman curry paste (I used Mai Ploy brand)
  • 500g beef chuck steak, cut into cubes
  • 400mls coconut cream milk
  • 300g small chat potatoes, quartered
  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 2 tablespoons limejuice
  • 1 tablespoon palm sugar
  • steamed jasmine rice, 1/4 cup roughly chopped cashews, and 1/2 cup coriander sprigs (optional), to serve

  1. Heat oil in a large, non-stick frypan over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until soft. Add curry paste and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add beef and stir until well combined.
  2. Slowly add coconut milk, stirring constantly. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Add potatoes and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until meat is tender. Stir through fish sauce, lime juice and palm sugar. Serve with steamed rice, sprinkled with cashews and coriander.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Mango Ice Cream



Combine the pulp of 2 mangoes
2/3 cup castor sugar
2/3 cup milk
2/3 cup orange juice
2/3 cup thickened cream

Blend in a blender
Pour into ice cream machine for 25 minutes
Set in freezer


Friday, January 13, 2012

Mexican Chicken Surprise


Firstly cut chicken into bite sized pieces cook until browned.

Saute 2 sliced brown onions
Sliced celery

In a casserole dish layer
2 generous handfuls of corn chips
cooked chicken pieces
1 jar of salsa
300mls of sour cream
Top with grated cheese and bake for 30-40 mins at 180c

Serve on a bed of rice with corn chips

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Eggplant Curry


  • 350g eggplant
  • 1 clove garlic, finely crushed
  • 1 tsp finely grated fresh root ginger
  • 3 Tbsp tamarind paste
  • 1/8 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp sambal olek 
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 tsp vegetable oil 
  • Juice of two limes
  • 400ml  coconut cream
  • 2 fresh hot green chillies, very finely chopped
To prepare the eggplant, slice it into rounds about 1 cm  thick. Stack a few slices on top of each other, and slice again into 1 cm thick "matchsticks".
Put the aubergine pieces into a bowl. Add the crushed garlic, ginger, tamarind paste, turmeric, salt and chilli powder. Mix well and set aside for at least 15 minutes to marinade. Pour off any liquid that has accumulated in the bottom of the bowl just before you are ready to make the dish.
Peel the whole garlic cloves and mash lightly but leave whole. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-high flame, then add the mashed cloves and stir until they brown lightly. Add the aubergine pieces and continue to stirfry until they are cooked to the consistency you like. Remove from heat briefly and stir in the coconut milk, fresh coriander and chopped green chillies. Return to the heat and stir just until it starts to simmer, then serve.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Roasted Pumpkin and Haloumi salad

For this I used a butternut squash but any pumpkin will do.

Cut pumpkin into small cubes
Coat with olive oil and oven bake until golden

In a fry pan
Place haloumi cheese cut into squares brown on both sides remove

Drizzle pan with olive oil
Add generous quantities of baby spinach wilt

Assemble and serve
Garnish with a quality olive oil and pine nuts

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Chinese Prawns

In a bowl combine
3tsp five spice
1tsp chilli powder
1/2 white pepper
1/2 sea salt
1/2 sechuan pepper
700 gms prawn meat
Fry prawns until cooked
Serve on a green salad with jasmine rice and lemon juice

Monday, January 9, 2012

Spicy Eggplant with Tofu

Cut into pieces one eggplant
Dice 100 gms tofu
2 sliced red chillies
Cook in vegetable oil until both browned

Sauce with
1tsp black vinegar
1tsp sesame oil
1tsp brown sugar
1tbsp light soy
2tsp sambal olek

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Eggplant Medley Curry


Yes another eggplant recipe, I have not abandoned cooking Indian recipes but I am playing around with blends of spices to see what I get.

Masala Blend (rough idea)
1tsp Asafedita powder
2tbp ground cardamon
2tbp ground coriander
1tsp chilli powder
1tsp tumeric
1tsp cumin seed
2 dried chilli

Heat 3 tbp of mustard seed oil in a heavy based pan

Add spices and stir until fragrant
2 sliced brown onions
Cook until softened and covered in the spice blend
1 cubed regular eggplant
1 cubed graffitti eggplant
3 sliced grey eggplants

Again stir until coated
Add water cover and simmer
Stir occasionally adding water if needed
5 mins before serving toss in some cherry tomatoes

Serve on basmarti rice


Friday, January 6, 2012

Cuisinart Ice Cream maker Strawberry Ice Cream


This is a new device I picked up before Christmas, now is the time to put it to use. Lovely result.












Ingredients:
Strawberries
2 pun nets fresh strawberries
4 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
Ice Cream Base
1 cup milk
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
Strawberries
Wash, stem, and slice strawberries.
Combine strawberries, lemon juice, and 1/3 cup sugar in a small airtight container.
Place strawberry mixture in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Leaving the strawberries, in the fridge longer will enhance the flavor.

Ice Cream Base
Mix milk and sugar, allowing the sugar to dissolve (mix about 1 -2 minutes with a hand mixer or whisk).
Drain strawberries, adding juice to milk mixture. Set strawberries aside.
Stir in heavy cream and vanilla.
Pour mixture into your ice cream maker.
Mix about 20-25 minutes.
Add about half the strawberries to ice cream mixture
Mix 5 minutes more in your ice cream maker.

Allow to set firmly in freezer.

Waynes Gumbo


This as all good Gumbos are is a mixture of what was to hand and what was inexpensive.
Slow cooked over 12 hours, ingredients added in order.

In the slow cooker at 6.00 am

I start with the ham bone leftover from xmas
1 ltr of chicken stock and 500ml of water
3 frozen beef sausages and chorizo

At 9.30 added Im not putting amounts because it depends on what you have
Diced celery
Diced carrot
Diced onion
Diced chilli

At 2.00 Added several diced potatoes

At 6.00 removed the ham bones and fat

Tea served in a bowl of rice at 7.00pm.




Thursday, January 5, 2012

Coconut Ice Cream


I love Thai flavours.

This is a simple recipe first

Heat 1/3 cup sugar and 2/3 cup of water until sugar dissolves cool

Combine with 3 cups coconut cream and 1/2 cup shredded coconut

Churn in ice cream maker for 25 minutes

I think next time I would leave out the shredded coconut.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Shanghai Style Eggplant



Guess what todays dish is? If you didn't get it you are a bit slower than most.


500g Japanese eggplant (also known as Lebanese) I used regular.
5 tbsp oil
1 large red chilli, roughly cut into chunks
1 diced block of tofu2 cloves garlic, bruised
200ml water
3 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp water, extra


Cut or snap the eggplant into 5cm thick pieces. Heat oil in wok until shimmering. Add, chilli and garlic cloves and cook for 20-30 seconds. Remove chilli and reserve.

Add eggplant and tofu  and gently stir-fry. When eggplants have soaked up all of the oil, add 1 tbsp of the water. Keep adding water, a tbsp at a time until eggplants are soft and you have used half of the water.

Stir in dark soy sauce and sugar. Stir well and add remaining water. Cover with lid and cook for 1 minute. Uncover, the liquid should have been absorbed. Return chilli to wok, toss for 30 seconds and serve.

Eat immediately, but watch out the temperature very hot! Seriously!

Monday, January 2, 2012

CAULIFLOWER EGGPLANT CURRY




No guesses needed as to why I am doing another eggplant dish.   
1 cauliflower          
1 eggplant
2 potatoes
1 tsp. mustard seed
1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
2 to 4 tbsp. oil
1 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. salt
dash of water
1 tomato, chopped or 1 tbsp. tomato paste or cherry tomatoes


Separate cauliflower carefully into flowerets and slice. 
Cut eggplant into cubes.
 Heat oil  When hot add mustard seed,turmeric, curry powder and salt.
Add cauliflower and stir to coat with spices and oil. 
Add water and eggplant. 
Cube potatoes and boil them separately until partially cooked before adding them
Continue cooking over medium heat, adding water from time to time, stirring gently 
Peas should be added about 5 minutes before serving
At the last minute add a cherry tomatoes
Remove from heat.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Eggplant Curry

In a mixture of mustard seed oil and ghee.

Heat the following mix
2tsp ground cardamon
2tsp cumin seed
1tsp celery seeds
1tsp turmeric
1tsp ginger (powdered)

Add 1 sliced onion
1 diced green capsicum
1diced eggplant
3 diced carrots
1 handful of green curry leaves
1 punnet of cherry tomatoes

Add enough water to prevent the curry from drying out
Thicken with 2tbs besan flour to a little water mix and add to make a rich sauce.

Serve with rice