Spatula, Spoon and Saturday

A short and sweet post about one of my current favourite pasta recipes. This has become one of our favourite Summer dishes over the past weeks. It’s a warm pasta dish and there’s not much cooking required. Excellent for one of those hot days that you don’t want to do much cooking but a salad is just not substantial enough. Unfortunately I can’t claim credit for its recipe. This is one of the recipes from one of my magazines I’m subscribed to this year and it’s a really good one. Of course you can use any pasta but I find the short pasta works much better.

Pasta for Two (and maybe leftover for the lunchbox the next day)

1. 10 green prawns, shelled
2. About 10 cherry tomatoes, halved
3. 1/4 Spanish onion, very thinly sliced
4. 1 chorizo (from the deli but I’m sure fresh works as well), thickly sliced
5. 1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted
6. 2-3 servings cooked penne
7. Plenty of chopped fresh parsley to serve

Start by cooking your pasta according to packet instructions until al dente. Meanwhile in a non-stick drying pan, fry the chorizo slices until slightly browned. Toss in the prawns and stir until they are cooked. Add the cherry tomatoes and remove from the heat immediately. Add the cooked pasta with a little bit of cooking water and stir. Toss in the olives and onion slices. Sprinkle with lots of parsley. Serve.

So simple and good.

Two background stories: #1 We love our good bread and our bakery of choice is Purebread Bakery in Surrey Hills. They do the best bread in my humble opinion. Our top favourites are the corn sourdough and the cheese & onion sourdough. And yes, I have tried many of the famous Melbourne bakeries. Hope Farm is a close second but they only sell their bread at farmers’ market. Anyway, digressing. #2 One of my favourite Spring/Summer breakfast is a bruschetta made from the above mention sourdough bread with diced ripe tomato and fresh basil with a little bit of standard balsamic dressing.

So one Sunday afternoon I came home from shopping to find that Josh had made us lunch, which was a surprise in itself (he cooks but rarely without my prompting) but what was even more special was that he invented a whole new salad with the ingredients that were lying around the house that needed to be used up! And guess what? It was absolutely delicious. He said he was inspired by my breakfast bruschetta and he wanted to try to recreate a salad version from it. And not only those, he took photos! Have I mentioned I love this man and that he is a perfect food blogger’s spouse?

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I have had this dish a couple of times over the past months: at Pasta Rustica on Lygon St. and then at Gross Florentino: The Grill. I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but really, my version kicked ass!

This is really an adaptation of what I think the dish should be like rather than following any specific recipe.

For 4 servings (well we finished these for lunch but we had seconds):

1. 3/4 kg. of very fresh, preferably live, vongole*
2. 250g. of thin spaghetti or spaghettini
3. 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
4. 2-3 salted anchovies in oil
5. 1 ripe tomato, chopped
6. 2 shallots, finely sliced
7. 2 stalks of spring onions, finely sliced
8. 1/2 tsp of dried chilli flakes
9. A few twists of black pepper
10. 1/4 cup of booze, preferrably white wine but I didn’t have any so I used shao hsing.
11. 4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
12. 2 stalks of fresh parsley, chopped

Rinse the clams in plenty of cold water to remove the grit. Or ask your fishmonger how you should clean them (I think it depends how much cleaning they have already done on them) Cook the pasta. Heat up a big pot (you need room to toss around later) with 3 tbsp of olive oil. Add chopped garlic, shallots and the white parts of the spring onions. Add the anchovies. Turn the heat down to medium high and stir around a bit until the anchovies fall apart. Add tomato, chilli flakes and some freshly ground pepper and stir. Read the rest of this entry »

Just to prove to you how seriously behind in my blog posting I am, I would like to draw your attention to my Mother’s Day Roast Lamb post. Now you might also recall that Mother’s Day is actually in May here in Australia. Just before, I bought a whole leg of lamb (because the butcher wouldn’t sell me half) so I had the other half chucked into the freezer.

Less than a month later, I roasted the other half and turned it into this very blog post. Yay.

I got this idea from Tessa Kiros’ first book Falling Cloudberries, which is one of my favourite food books of all time. She had the idea to slow roast the lamb with lots and lots of lemon and oregano with potatoes and it sounded delicious so I gave it a go and it was a bit of a hit. Even the Kiwi visitors thought it was all right!

Lemon and Oregano Lamb:

1. Half a leg of leg
2. 1 tbsp of dried oregano
3. 2 lemons
4. 50 g. of butter
5. Salt and pepper to taste
6. Drizzles of olive oil

Preheat the oven to 220′c Stab the leg of lamb with a little knife. Season with plenty of salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Drizzle over some olive oil and massage the lamb with a bit of love. Sprinkle the oregano and squeeze the lemon juice all over the leg. Cut up the butter into little cubes and dot it on the lamb.

Place the lamb on a baking tray and pour a bit of water at the bottom of the making tray (about 1 cm). Bake for about 2.5 hours. Turn the heat down to 180′c after 15 minutes. Keep topping up water if necessary.

Garlic and Yoghurt Sauce

1. 1 cup of Greek style yoghurt
2. 1 small clove of garlic, crushed
3. generous pinch of salt
4. a drizzle of olive oil

Combine the garlic, yoghurt and salt togther. Drizzle with olive oil.

(Josh’s wrap, see how he lines everything up? Aww bless his cotton socks)

Salad

1. Cos lettuce (or any crunch lettuce)
2. Spanish onion
3. Cucumber
4. Flat-leaf parsley (important, don’t skip)
5. Tomato

To serve, warm up some pita bread in the oven (wrap in foil and then place in the oven with the lamb at the end for about 10 minutes). Place some salad and lamb on the pita bread and drizzle with garlic & yoghurt sauce. Dig in.

(Ayer’s Rock Resort’s communal kitchen at around 9pm)

Wow I never thought I would ever do this. I figured I have already missed my boat on the whole backpacking/youth hostel thing. We were camping out at the camp ground at the Ayer’s Rock Campground near the Uluru-Kata Tjutu National Park because I planned the whole trip out in two days and I couldn’t get us reasonable accommodation that didn’t cost, like, $500 a night. So sleeping in a tent, it was.

(the choice of cooking implements were sadly lacking)

It seemed like, though, that everyone around us was well prepared and came with their own portable stove and cooking equipment. We only had some provisions, plates and cutleries and a billy can! I actually planned to just buy food there but the choice was so sadly lacking that when we by chance discovered the communal kitchen, I decided that I would hit the supermarket and make us some food. It was absolutely packed at first but once we made a trip to the supermarket and came back, the crowd had died down and the kitchen was nice and empty.

(I didn’t realise there was a water boiler there, I actually set a huge wok to boil some pasta)

To the certain extent I was prepared for everything to cost more, but I didn’t expect everything to nearly double in price! Amazingly, the only thing that wasn’t double in price was the steak. They loved their steak out there. That was the only thing in that entire Ayer’s Rock Resort IGA that didn’t cost much more than it would in Melbourne!

(pasta sauce with broccoli, zucchini and bacon)

So I ended up making us two meals there on both nights we camped there. The first night I made pasta with vegetables and bacon, having all the ingredients from the box. The second night, Mum insisted on some more meat and so I made green curry with beef and mushrooms and stir-fried lettuce with bacon.

(we had salad every night)

Things I already had in the provision box (some of which desperately needed to be used up):

1. 1 x 500g. fusili
2. 1 jar of Leggo’s Stir-Through pasta sauce
3. 2 slices of bacon
4. an iceberg lettuce
5. cooking oil
6. fish sauce
7. seasoning soy sauce
8. salt
9. green curry sauce (Mum bought this in Thailand so it really wasn’t so bad)
10. 2 tomatoes
11. 1/2 broccoli
12. 1/2 zucchini
13. 3 x mushrooms

(our pasta mean on the first night)

The rest I had to acquire at the supermarket, of course. I cut up some bacon, broccoli and zucchini. I stir-fried them in a bit of oil and added the Chilli, Tomato and Olive Stir-through pasta sauce in this mildly-filthy frying pan that I had to stir with a bent-up ladel. The shared equipment’s cleanliness had a lot to be desired I have to admit. Mum insisted on rewashing everything but some of the burnt on filth just wouldn’t come off. Ah well. The food they were selling there didn’t look much more appetising though! I’d rather have something I made!

(pasta dinner for three, cooked in a communal kitchen, served in provided bowls)

I ended using all of the pasta and sauce and we had some for lunch the next day (we needed to energy to climb the Uluru!)

(green curry with beef and mushroom, this is me breaking every Thai cooking rule here)

The second night saw us procuring some very nice and reasonably priced scotch fillets, which Mum promptly grilled up (in a wok I might add as it was the only thing we could lay our hands on because we went in during peak time on that day). I sliced the other one up and marinade it in 1 tbsp of fish sauce.  I brought the green curry sauce to boil and added the steak and mushrooms and simmer and cooked them quickly so that the beef stayed nice and tender.

Yes I know. There is no mushroom in any Thai curry, ever. But I needed to use up the mushrooms as we didn’t have a fridge and I would be damned to store anything in the communal fridge! Again, I made a lot of food hoping to have it for picnic lunch the next day. Not a great idea with the curry as the fat solidified, so we saved it (and thankfully it lasted) until we get to Alice Springs where we had a microwave!

(stir-fried lettuce with bacon)

I also stir-fried lettuce and bacon together quickly in very hot oil. I only used salt as a flavouring ingredient. Everyone thought it tasted great. But the wok was so filthy it really put me off that I just couldn’t enjoy it knowing it was cooked in such a filthy communal wok. I literally added a heap of salt into a heated wok to clean out all the burnt bits that were on there that couldn’t be removed by detergent and scouring. It was rather disgusting to see what came off it. Although I cleaned it rather well, the memory lingered! I know the lettuce probably wasn’t a traditional stir-fry veggie but everyone should try it. It’s rather good.

(Rice cooked in a billy)

I made some rice in a billy! The trick is to use a lot less water because the billy is much taller and narrower so there’s less room for water to evaporate. Still the same ten minutes, just as it takes on the stove.

I guess I wouldn’t mind cooking in a communal kitchen again. I loved the big space and industrial-sized stove. The cleanliness had a lot to be desired but I think I’ll be happy to do it again provided that I bring my own saucepan, wok, frying pan, etc!

I saw a few families cooking in the kitchen together and it seemed like a great family bonding experience. I think that’s what everyone should do at home. Cook with your family. Sit down and eat the meal you have all prepared together. It was an experience for me observing all the family dynamics that were going on. I found it very interesting.

My breakfast the next day after we left Adelaide:

Fried eggs, bacon and salad (who says fried breakfast can’t be healthy?) Pretty much the same ingredients from the night before. Josh had settled on banana on toast and Mum on the leftover fried rice.

I fried up the bacon first and ended up with a lot of bacon fat, which I fried the eggs in. Hmmm. Bacon fat. I then scrambled a few eggs together, add a touch of soy sauce and made omelet. I also threw in the leftover bacon – only the rindless part though. The streaky bits would have been wrong eaten cold!

After we left Adelaide (ridiculously early, might I add), we headed onto the Stuart Highway on our way to Coober Pedy and had lunch somewhere along the way at one of the rest stops. It was amazing how the trees just disappeared.

(That’s Josh. Not me.)

We had the leftover bacon fried rice, the uber spicy, a bit of the left over salad and some sandwiches. It was a bit of a smorgasbord really.

(Josh’s invention #1: lemon & pepper tuna, tomato and Colby cheese on rye bread)

(Josh’s invention #2: omelet and bacon sandwich)

The strawberries were gone by lunch time. But the lovely cherries were still there:

I found Siamese twin cherries! Hehe.

And then we drove on to the dusty little mining town called Coober Pedy.

Defintely a winter thing, we have been crazy about our risotto. I have discovered a new combination that I like.

You’ll need the following for three people:

1. 1 chorizo
2. 1.5 cups of Arborio rice
3. 1 litre of hot vegetable stock*
4. 1 cup of fennel, sliced
5. 1 stalk of celery, chopped
6. 1 clove of garlic, chopped
7. 1/2 small zucchini, diced
8. 1/2 tomato, chopped
9. 3 tbsp of frozen peas (optional)
10. 2 tbsp of butter
11. 1 tbsp of olive oil
12. 1/3 cup of white wine

First thing first, we need to grill the chorizo. I use a pair of tongs to hold the chorizo over the gas flame.  It’s messy because the chorizo will spit oil and catch fire and you’ll end up with huge flames some times. Keep turning it around until browned on all sides. It’s much more fun this way but I am a bit of a pyromaniac. You can put it under the grill if you want. Slice the chorizo in bite-sized pieces.

Place 1 tbsp of butter and olive oil and sautee the fennel and celery until soft. Add garlic and rice and fry until the rice is too hot too touch. Add the white wine and stir until the wine is evaporated. Add a ladel of hot stock. Fry until each ladel of stock is evaporated before adding a new ladel. Keep adding stock and stirring for another 5 minutes

Add the chopped tomato. Keep stirring and adding stock for another 5 minutes.

Add the zucchini and chorizo. Keep adding stock and stirring for another 5 minutes.

Add a tbsp of butter and frozen peas, if using. Stir for another 5 minutes and add stock if necessary. Turn off the heat and grate in a little bit of parmasan cheese. Rest the risotto for 5 minutes, covered.

Served garnished with fennel tops. Grate parmasan cheese over as desired.

* I use 1 litre of water, some tough fennel bits and 1 tsp of Vegeta gourmet stock powder. Bring to boil and simmer before adding to the rice. The stock must be hot.

I generally don’t order Butter Chicken when I eat at Indian restaurants here in Melbourne because I get the impression that they are westernised rubbish. And they generally are. Until I went to Bombay By Night in Caulfield who did a really nice Butter Chicken. I realised then that the main difference is that the chicken pieces must be marinated and grilled before putting them into the butter and tomato sauce. They called it Chicken Makhani. I then realise that generally the restaurants that call it Makhani make better Butter Chicken that others! Strange but true.

I consulted many, many Butter Chicken recipes out there on the web and I decided that the one on VideoJug seems to be most authentic one. But it seems a little bit too fiddly so I add my own short cuts here and there.

There are two parts to the Butter Chicken: the Chicken Tikka and the Makhani sauce. Yes it does make it fiddly but it is very good!

Chicken Tikka

I use (for four people):

1. 4 chicken thigh fillets (about 450 g.)
2. 1/2 pack of Patak’s Coat + Cook Tikka (I thought I might give it a try but it’s not really necessary)
3. 2 tbsp of yoghurt
4. 1 tsp of crushed ginger (I use garlic crusher)
5. 1 clove of garlic, crushed
6. 1 tsp salt
7. 1/2 tsp powdered garam masala
8. a sprinkle of hot cayenne pepper (it’s very hot so I went a bit easy on it)

Trim off any excess fat on the thigh. Mix the rest of the ingredients together to make the marinade. Add the chicken to the marinade and massage the marinade into the chicken. Leave to marinate for about 1/2 hour. Grill under medium/high grill until browned on both sides. It takes about 10 minutes on each side on my grill.

Makhani Sauce

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I love Greek Salad. I was watching Food Safari season 1 on DVD the other day and the guy was going on about how you shouldn’t have lettuce in Greek Salad. Well, he is Greek and I am not.

But this is my Greek Salad. So nuts to him! Bwahahaha!

Salad Ingredients (for two):

1. 2 leaves of cos lettuce (I do agree that you need the crunch though, so no iceberg, oak, etc. for me)
2. 2 very ripe, small-ish tomatoes
3. 1/4 Spanish onion, sliced thinly, soaked in lightly salted water for 15 minutes*
4. 12 small Kalamatta olives
5. 1/2 Lebanese cucumber, half-stripped and sliced
6. 50 g. of feta cheese (I use goat cheese here though)
7. 1 inner stalk of celery, including the tender inner leaves, sliced**
8. a very light sprinkling of dried oregano

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Is what I call this breakfast. I always like a bit of nice cooked breakfast on the weekend.

It’s made up of:

1. 2 scrambled eggs
2. fried tomato
3. buttered spinach and pinenuts
4. mushrooms
5. toasted sourdough corn bread

Start by putting a little bit of butter in the non-stick frying pan and add mushrooms. On one side, add two tomato halves, cut side up. Keep moving the mushrooms and tomato around until the mushroom is browned. Turn the tomato halves over. Remove the mushrooms. Read the rest of this entry »