Gateway to India

Week 2

Theme: Indian

Cookbooks Used: Madhur Jaffry Indian Cookery &

Charmaine Solomon Complete Vegetarian

I love cooking and eating Indian food, so this week was an absolute pleasure. The only thing I don’t like about Indian food is that it is not always particularly photogenic- I find it so hard to photograph and make it look appetizing…so looking forward to seeing everyone else’s pics.
Anyway, again I made 3 dishes from the theme.
Pork Vindaloo - Goan Style Hot and Sour Pork (Madhur Jaffrey)
Sweet Corn and Potatoes with Mustard Seeds and Mint (Madhur Jaffrey)
Eggplant Pickle (Charmaine Solomon )

Sweet Corn and Potatoes with Mustard Seeds and Mint
Of the 3 recipes, this is my favourite. Made it on a Friday night after a couple of drinks at work- it was quick, easy and satisfyingly carb rich with delicious fresh flavours. And it is pretty healthy too. If you’re on a diet, apparently you can substitute water for the coconut milk.

Serves 2 as a main meal
3 tbsp vegetable oil
½ tsp black mustard seeds
¼ tsp cumin seeds
1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
150g potatoes, peeled, diced and boiled
200g ripe tomatoes, cut into fine dice
4 tbsp coriander, finely chopped
3 tbs mint , finely chopped
1 fresh hot green chilli, finely chopped (I left the seeds in, but if you want it milder, take them out)
Fresh corn kernels measured to the 450 ml level in a measuring jug (you could use frozen to be even quicker)
85ml coconut milk
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp ground cumin seeds

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. When hot, put in mustard seeds and cumin seeds, as soon as they start to pop, add garlic and potatoes. Stir and fry until potatoes are lightly browned.
Add the tomoatoes, fresh coriander and mint and green chilli. Stir and fry for another couple of minutes.

Put in the sweet corn and stir. Add the coconut milk, salt, cayenne and lemon juice. Stir and bring to a simmer.
Cover and turn heat to low and cook for 3-4 minutes- or until the corn is cooked.
Uncover, add some black pepper and the ground cumin.
Stir through, check for seasoning and serve.

Pork Vindaloo - Goan Style Hot and Sour Pork

Serves 6

2 tsp cumin seeds
2-3 dried hot red chillies
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp cardamom seeds
Cinnamon stick
1 ½ tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
5 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp brown sugar
10 tbsp vegetable oil
200g peeled and sliced onions
900g boneless pork, from the shoulder, cubed into 2.5cm cubes
2.5 cm piece of ginger, roughly chopped
Whole head of garlic with the cloves separated and peeled
1 tbsp ground coriander
½ tsp turmeric

Grind the cumin seeds, red chillies, peppercorns, cardamom seeds, cinnamon, black mustard and fenugreek seeds in a coffee grinder- put in a bowl. Add the vinegar, salt and sugar. Mix well and set aside.
Heat the oil in a wide, heavy pan and put on medium heat. Fry the onions till brown and crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and put them into the container of an electric blender with 2 – 3 tbs water. Puree. Add the pureed onion to the ground spices (This is the vindaloo paste- it can be frozen at this point if you want to make it ahead of time).
Use a blender to puree the ginger and garlic- again adding a couple of tbs of water.
Heat the pan again to medium heat and brown the pork in batches. Remove all the pork. Add the ginger-garlic paste to the pan, fry off the paste for a minute or two, then add the coriander and turmeric. Stir.
Add the meat with any juice that has accumulated and the vindaloo paste as well as 250ml water.
Bring to the boil and the lower heat to gently simmer for an hour- stir occasionally to prevent sticking.

Serve with rice and raita (I used just plain greek yoghurt- as this dish is pretty hot, depending on the chillies you are using).

Eggplant Pickle

I made this to give friends and family, this made 2 nice medium size jars, with half a one left over that I’ll use myself. This would be delicious served with curries, but would also be nice to spice up a ham or cheese sandwich.

1 kg eggplants
12 dried red chillies
4 tsp chopped garlic
3 tsp chopped ginger
2 tbsp black mustard seeds
1 ½ tsp ground turmeric
1 ½ cups oil
3 tsp salt
½ cup brown sugar
¾ cup vinegar
2 tsp. garam masala

Wash eggplants and slice crossways. If eggplants are very large, you can also cube them.
Soak chillies in hot water for 5 minutes.
In a blender, combine chillies, garlic, ginger, mustard seeds and some of the chilli water and puree. Combine with the turmeric.

Heat the oil and fry the blended mixture for a few minutes, then add the eggplant. Cover and cook on low heat till the eggplant is soft, stirring now and then.
Add salt, vinegar, sugar, and simmer till thick, stirring to prevent burning. Stir in garam masala, remove from heat and bottle.

If you like these, here are another couple of recipes you might like:

Eggplant and Beetroot Curry

Rogan Josh

VERY SPECIAL Roast Lamb

Baked beef and Yoghurt

Finally...Vue de Monde

Spoiler alert: this entry does not have a happy ending : (

Finally got my wish to eat at Vue de Monde- its been on the list for a while...and got to eat at the Chef's table- a wonderful vantage point to sit and watch the theater of the kitchen.

With one of our hosts running late, we were quite spoiled, with a number of Amuse Bouche- including the perfect 62 degree egg- it really was perfect. I adore tarragon and the little bit of tarragon cream was a delight and they served up the crispiest breadcrumbs (yes everyone has been laughing at me for raving about bread crumbs- it has that Emperor's New Clothes feel to it somehow).

The deconstructed sorbet was lovely food theatre and has had us talking for days about how passe or not this style of interactive food is...

My entree was TRUITE ET MOUSSE DE SAUMON FUMÉ
(Rainbow trout, smoked salmon mousse). The trout was perfectly cooked, the salmon mousse perfectly cooked- the topping of lemon, baby basil and caviar creating variety and delight.

But sadly, this is where the story ends. Due to a commitment at 3 and the lateness of one of our group, I had to leave after entree, so no main or desert...wwaaaaghhhhhhh!

I must go again- the food really was divine, and for anyone who is interested, I think the weekday lunch special is absolutely worth the money (lunch time only, Tuesday to Friday with a selection of signature dishes to choose from. Two courses for $55 or three courses for $70, includes a matching glass of wine and side dishes for the table).

BTW For anyone doing the cooking challenge, its a week late, but these chocolate orange custards would have been perfect for citrus week!

http://www.vuedemonde.com.au/the-menu_recipes-detail.aspx?view=23

Citrus-Fest

Week 1
Theme: Citrus
Cookbook Used: Marie Clair Flavours

Author: Donna Hay

Well, the citrus cooking challenge turned into an absolute citrus-fest. I turned to one of my favourite cookbooks, Marie Claire Flavours. It seemed the obvious choice as it has a chapter titled lemon + lime. Problem was deciding on one recipe. I solved that problem by making three.

Roast lamb with preserved lemon (served with Sicilian Broad Beans)
Fresh salmon and lime cakes (served with fresh beans and lemony onions)
Spaghetti with lime and rocket

All three were delicious, and as with most of the Marie Claire Flavours recipes, all three are easy and quick to prepare.

My favourite were the salmon cakes, so let me start there. They combine the lovely flavour of kaffir lime leaves in the cakes themselves and tart and tangy lime juice in the dipping sauce.
Fresh salmon and lime cakes

Serves 4 (or in our case 2 for dinner with enough cakes left over to combine with a quick salad for lunch the next day)
500g salmon fillet, skin removed
1 egg white
3 tablespoons rice flour
2 kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded
1 tablespoon grated ginger
(recipe calls for 1 tsp wasabi paste- I left this out as Rusty and I both hate wasabi)
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
Oil to shallow fry

Lime dipping sauce
¼ cup lime juice
¼ cup soy sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar

Remove any bones from the salmon and chop into 5mm dice. Combine with the egg white, rice flour, lime leaves, ginger, (wasabi), and parsley
Heat oil over medium heat. Place 2 tbsp of the mixture into the hot oil, flatten out and cook till golden brown. Drain on absorbent paper and keep warm while you cook the rest.
For the dipping sauce, combine the ingredients and stir till the sugar is dissolved.
I served this with fresh beans and lemony onions. Soaking red onions in lemon juice overnight changes their flavour and texture- making them mild and delicious. So combine 1 sliced red onion with lemon juice, pop in the fridge over night and use to spice up steamed vegetables or with simple salads. (Courtesy of Taking Tea in the Medina, by Julie le Clerc).

Spaghetti with Lime and Rocket
So simple and quick, this was the perfect worknight meal. Rusty was pretty skeptical about pasta and rocket (he thought it sounded as exciting as lettuce soup)- but succumbed to the great combination of flavours.
Serves 2
250g spaghetti
1 tbsp olive oil
Lime rind from 1 lime
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 red chilli, seeded and chopped
2 tbsp. capers, rinsed
6 slices of prosciutto, chopped
100g rocket, torn
3 tbs lime juice
80 g soft feta marinated in feta (I used Persian Feta from the supermarket)

Cook the spaghetti as per the pack instructions and drain.
While the spaghetti is cooking, heat the oil in a large saucepan. Lightly sauté the lime rind, garlic, chilli and capers- for around 1 minute or until aromatic
Add the prosciutto and cook for another couple of minutes- till the prosciutto is nice and crispy.
Add the spaghetti to the pan and toss to coat and heat through.
To serve, toss through the rocket and lime juice and pile into serving bowls. Top them with feta and some of the marinating oil and cracked pepper.

The lamb doesn’t really count, as I made this on the Sunday night before the challenge started (through winter we have a roast every Sunday night, and though its getting a bit warm, we just can’t break the habit). This was delicious (though I overcooked the lamb a bit!). Lamb was sourced from Vic markets (as was the salmon above) and was tender and tasty!

Roast Lamb with Preserved Lemon
1 leg of lamb – about 1½ kilo (recipe recommends tunnel boned- I didn’t get this, but inserted a slit down the bone with a big sharp knife for the stuffing)
1 tablespoon chopped preserved lemon
¼ cup fresh oregano
2 garlic cloves sliced
½ tablespoon cracked pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 200°.
Trim the lamb of any excess fat
Combine the preserved lemon, oregano, garlic, pepper and oil in a bowl.
Stuff the cavity of the lamb with the filling.
If using a tunneled leg, tie together with kitchen twine and place on a rack in a baking dish.
Bake for 45 minutes for a quite rare roast, or longer until cooked to your liking.

Serve with mashed potatoes and minted peas.
Or with Sicilian broadbeans as I did. At the Vic markets last weekend, I saw broad beans for only $3.99 a kilo so I grabbed a kilo to make this- an old favourite I sourced off the internet ages ago.

Sicilian Broad Beans
1 tbsp oil
1 small onion, chopped
4 tbsp chicken or vegetable stock
350 g broad beans (about 1 kilo still in the bean)
350 g fresh peas
4 small artichoke hearts, cooked, quartered and marinated (I use the ones from the jar)
4 tbsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper to season
Pinch grated nutmeg
10 leaves fresh mint

Sauté onion till transparent
Add all other ingredients except the mint.
Simmer gently for 30 minutes
Stir in the mint and cook for 5 more minutes

Bake Club - Sticky Orange and Vanilla Upside-down Cake

For some reason this cake makes me think of Vincent Van Gogh. A perfect autumn treat!

4 eggs

1 cup caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup self raising flour

150g unsalted butter, melted

1 cup almond meal

Sticky orange topping

1 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup water

1 vanilla bean, split

2 oranges, very thinly sliced

Preheat the oven to 16 degrees

To make the sticky topping, dissolve the sugar in the water in a saucepan, add the vanilla bean and the oranges and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract for about 10 minutes or until its thick and pale and has tripled in volume. Sift the flour over the egg mixture and fold through. Fold through the butter and the almond meal.

Pour the orange mixture into the cake tin. Then pour the dough on top.

Bake for 40 - 45 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Turn out onto a platter to serve.

(Recipe courtesy of Donna Hay)

Hens Love Art

Let's be honest, hens nights are usually fairly embarrassing affairs, there's always the mandatory tiaras, naked man/ men and someone on board with a slight compulsion to public exhibitionism.

This weekend a girlfriend celebrated her hens with all the mandatory bits, but ringfenced in a safe environment - it made for a really interesting (and fun) night- instead of male strippers, we did a life drawing class.

After a lovely dinner at Blue Chillies and a few wines under our belts, 16 of us trooped on down to Hens Love Art on Smith Street for our 9pm class.

The space is amazing- large and spacious. You can self cater, so we took a few bottles along and cupcakes.

Once we were settled in, we were taken into the art space, where 16 easels and a podium awaited. We were joined by our art teacher, a lovely lady who gave us some basic techniques and pointers and then off we went. With cool music pumping and plenty of breaks to have a look at everyone's work, the two hours there was an absolute giggle!

Definitely recommended for something a little more tasteful- and when you finish, you're in the heart of Fitzroy, so there's still plenty of opportunities for further mayhem at your feet!

Hens Love Art
Address: Smith St, Fitzroy, VIC, 3065
Phone number: 0414 339 792
URL: http://www.hensloveart.com.au/

Social Roasting Company

A cafe with a conscience where the coffee is divine- SRC on Racecourse Road is my new absolute favourite for a quick pick me up on a Saturday morning or a relaxed Sunday breakfast.

With 100% ethically sourced coffee and an employment philosophy that favours the longterm unemployed, this could all be a bit worthy. But its not.

They keep the funky space refreshed with different art and you have a choice between regular tables, a communal table, the bar facing the street for some people watching, or tables outside. The coffee is seriously good. And the cafe style food is fresh and delicious.

We've only breakfasted there- baked eggs were great, wtih nice gooey insides, fruit toast good- lots of newspapers and a superfriendly vibe.

Definitely recommended for a coffee, brunch or breakfast if you're in the Flemington area!

Social Roasting Company

307 Racecourse Road

FlemingtonVictoria 3031

Phone: +61 3 9372 3288

Putting on a Vietnamese spread

The hardest thing about putting on a Vietnamese spread for some friends last week, was picking what to make- I ended up with 5 dishes- after Rusty insisted I cull a couple- given the tightness of timing on the day, I have to say it was a good call, and I don't think anyone was hungry...

Most are from the Red Lantern cook book, the calamari is an adaptation of something we made at the Red Bridge cooking school in Hoi an and the desert is an old Gourmet Traveller favourite, with Red Lantern ice cream...

So the menu:

Entree

Mussels with Lemongrass, chilli and garlic

and Lemongrass Calamari

Main

Braised Duck with ginger and spring onions

and Chargrilled Sirloin on a green pawpaw salad

Desert

Banana Split with homemade coconut and banana icecream

And my new favourite apperitif- Cosmopolitan Champagne Cocktail

So it was a pretty hectic day- after getting back from the Footscray markets, I spent most of the morning making the chicken stock, the icecream and getting the beef, duck and calamari into marinades. Had a break in the afternoon and then got on to cleaning the mussels and doing the other prep. I got so confused about when what how, I scribbled down a running sheet - which Rusty found highly amusing- but it got me through...

Now, the recipes:

Cosmopolitan Champagne Cocktail (makes 6)

Boil 250 ml cranberry juice uncovered for 10 minutes. Cool. Combine with 2tbsp of cointreau and 2 tbsp lime juice in a jug.

Take 6 glasses, each with a sugar cube + 1/6 of the cranberry concoction and fill with bubbly.

Lemongrass Calamari

1 kg calamari

4 lemongrass stalks

4 shallots

2 clove garlic

1 chilli

tsp pepper

tsp salt

tsp sugar

2 tsp vegetable oil

Peel lemongrass and cut finely. Chop the shallots and garlc and chilli. Put all ingredients in a mortar and grind to a paste.

Clean calamari and score.

Smear the paste over the calamari and place in a container and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Place on the barbecue and grill till golden brown.

Serve with lime dipping sauce and fish dipping sauce

Lime: tsp salt, tsp pepper, tsp sugar + juice of one lime mixed together

Fish: Fish Dipping sauce.
Combine 3tbsp fish sauce, 3 tbsp rice vinegar and 125 ml water and 2 tbsp sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir well and cook until just below boiling point, then allow to cool. To serve, finely chop 2 cloves of garlic and 1 birds eye chilli and stir through with 2 tbsp lime juice (makes 250 ml.)

Mussels with Lemongrass, chilli and garlic

500g mussels
250 ml chicken stock
2 tbsp oil
2 lemon grass stems, white only finely chopped
½ onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves chopped
Birds eye chilli, sliced
Tbsp oyster sauce
Tbsp fish sauce
Tsp corn flour
2 tsp sugar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
Handful fresh coriander
½ lemon

Scrub and debeard mussels, then set aside. In a wok, over high heat, add the chicken stock and mussels, cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the mussels open (discard any that don’t open). Strain the mussels, but keep the liquid for later.
Put the wok back on medium heat, add the oil and gently fry the lemon grass, onion, garlic and chilli. Once golden, add the mussels and increase the heat. Toss through the oyster sauce and fish sauce, then add 125 ml of the reserved cooking liquid.

Mix the cornflour with tbsp of water and toss it through the mussels to thicken up the sauce. Season with salt, pepper and sugar and serve, garnished with coriander and lemon.

Chargrilled Beef on pawpaw salad

2 x 250 g sirloin steaks
2 handfuls shredded green pawpaw
Small handful mixed Vietnamese herbs (perilla, Vietnamese mint and basil)
Tbsp fried Asian shallots
Tbsp dried shrimp, soaked in hot water for 5 minutes and drained
3 tbsp Fish Dipping Sauce

Marinade
2 tsp pickled chilli
2 crushed garlic cloves
2cm piece of ginger, minced
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp caster sugar
2 tsp vegetable oil
Pinch salt

Mix all the marinade ingredients together until the sugar dissolves.
Add the steaks and marinade a minimum of 2 hours in the fridge.
Chargrill the steaks over medium high heat to your preference, then rest the steaks for 5 minutes. Reheat the steaks on the chargrill, then cut into thin slices.
Serve with a salad of green pawpaw, mixed herbs, shallots, shrimp and dressed with dipping sauce.

Braised Duck with Ginger and Spring Onion (Vit Tiem Gung Hanh)

I was a bit sceptical about this recipe- boiled duck?! But the sauce reduces down to a gooey deliciousness that is brilliant served with jasmine rice.

6 duck leg quarters
6 spring onions – white part bashed, green part finely sliced
3 garlic cloves
3 tbsp. minced ginger
125 ml fish sauce
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp caster sugar
Litre of vegetable oil
2 litres of chicken stock

Wash duck leg, pat dry with paper towel. Trim and discard excess fat. Add the white part of the spring onion, garlic, ginger, fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar to a large bowl and mix well to dissolve sugar.
Cut the legs in half through the knee joint and marinate for a minimum of 2 hours.
Remove from the marinade (keep the marinade for later) and dry the duck with a paper towel.
Heat the oil in a wok and deep fry the duck pieces for 3 – 5 minutes or until golden. Remove from oil, place in a single layer in a saucepan. Add the reserved marinade and cover with stock by 2cm.
Bring to the boil, skim off impurities and excess oil, then reduce heat to a slow simmer.
Cook for 1 hour.
Garnish with sliced spring onion greens and serve with jasmine rice.

Chicken Stock
Crush 6 garlic cloves in a mortor. Clean a whole chicken under water- place chicken in saucepan with 6 litres of water and bring to the boil. Skim for 10 minutes to remove impurities, then add garlic + 8 spring onions and a 4cm piece of ginger sliced up. Cook for 2 hours.

Each individual recipe is really easy to make- typical Vietnamese- just simple fresh ingredients- it lets the food speak for itself- so go ahead and try.

Enjoy!