Spatula, Spoon and Saturday

I’m really tired and lazy tonight, so I give you one of my breakfast inventions while I was in Singapore:

The Breakfast Bruschetta!

First of all, I have an issue with people correcting my pronunciation. I may not be Italian, but we’re talking about food here. So believe me. I know. And it’s broo-skeh-ta. So please, dear twenty-one-year-old-uni-student-slash-actor-slash-waiter-at-the-pub, do not try to correct me with broo-chet-ta non-sense.

What it is, really, is just toast topped with veggies sauteed in a bit of pasta sauce. I was just trying to make it sound posher than it is

For 4 pieces of toast:

1. 4 pieces of toast, obviously. I recommend GOOD crusty bread.
2. 4 slices of cheese (I just use Colby because it’s always in the fridge)
3. 2 cups of sliced zucchini, red capsicum, eggplant,
4. 1 tablespoon of pinenuts
5. 2 tablespoons of Leggo’s Stir-Through pasta sauce – Tomato, Olive and Chilli

This recipe dates back to my time in Singapore when my then-housemate used had a little toaster oven.  I would toast the bread slices topped with cheese so that the cheese was nice and melted. I haven’t tried to replicate this back in Melbourne where I am toaster ovenless. Nevertheless, I’m sure you’ll figure something out.

So toast the pinenuts in a non-stick frying pan on medium heat until browned. Keep moving the nuts, they toast really fast if you’re not careful and the last thing you want in the morning in burnt bits of pine nuts to set off the smoke alarm. Set the toasted pine nuts aside. Drizzle a bit of olive oil and add in the veggies. Keep moving them around the pan until they colour nicely. Add the pasta sauce and stir around for another two minutes or so. Sprinkle in the toasted pinenuts In the pictures, I added some spring onions but this isn’t necessary at all. I think I must have just had them lying around.

Chuck the veggies on the toasts.Gobble. Run for the train. Miss the train. Be late for work. C’est la vie.

Last post on my Central Australia trip. Yay! Are you guys bored of reading about it yet?

(Bush food – an Aboriginal survival presentation at Alice Springs Desert Park)

We spent the last two nights in Alice Springs before travelling back to Melbourne. We drove from Alice Springs to Adelaide (yes in one day) before a stop over in Adelaide and then back to Melbourne the next day. I don’t think I can ever drive that much in one day again.

(Joshua’s kinda carbonara)

Just some quick pictures of a few meals that we cooked ourselves in Alice Springs as we were back to having a fully equipped kitchen. We did a round of fresh food shopping at Coles in Alice Springs, which was rather big and very stocked.

(the carbonara sauce, recipe here)

Josh made spaghetti carbonara, his usual way with mushrooms and capsicum. We had it for lunch back at the apartment one day.

I made stir-fried beef with onion, chilli and snow peas (recipe here, just add snow peas).

The snow peas were nice at the supermarket so I bought them instead of green beans. I served it with rice and omelet soup.

(omelet soup)

Omelet soup!?! Yep. Omelet soup. I might talk about it sometime later to include recipe but now is not the time.

Also made some more pasta sauce (with broccoli, zucchini, olives, bacon and capsicum) using the Leggo’s stir-through sauce for lunch on the road.

(rock wallaby)

And that concludes most of the foods that had been consumed during my time away from home! I shall leave you with some pictures of a cute rock wallaby at the Heavitree Gap resort in Alice Springs and Adelaide’s West Beach.

More Melbourne eating from now on!

The Menu

Entrée
Steamed sweet corn on the cob

Main
Grilled rib eye steak, served with zucchini, mushrooms, potato au gratin and horseradish sauce

Dessert
Cherry and cheese strudel with luxurious chocolate ice cream

Steak was long overdue in our household. So to kick off the premiere of the $20 feast, I settled on a nice piece of rib eye, which, in my opinion, is the best cut of steak out there. It does need a little bit of work and tender, loving care though!

Please note that I’m not a butcher, so I might not be using the correct terms in describing things.

Grilled rib eye steak

(Rib eye – straight from the butcher)

This is what you’d get from the butcher. The meat would be held together by a bit of string (see the bit of string sticking out from the lower right hand corner?). Remove that string and, with a sharp knife, take out  the bit of fat that’s in the middle. Don’t throw it away!

(The rib eye with the fat from the middle removed)

Cut a clove of garlic into thin slivers and place the garlic slivers and half a spring of rosemary where the fat use to be. Cut the fat into small pieces. Make a few incisions all over the steak and stuff the pieces of fat into those incisions. Turn over and do the same on the other side. Sharpen the picked end of the rosemary and use it to hold the cut of meat together.

(the rib eye studded with fat, rosemary and garlic)

By studding the meat with its own fat, it ensures that the meat stays moist and tender while it’s cooking. I cook my steak on a cast iron griddle pan. I recommend you buy one for your meat. I recommend you buy one at a barbecue equipment shop where they sell them for less than $15 rather than paying $40+ in a homeware store.

Get your pan nice and hot. It should be too hot for you to hold your palm a few centimetres from it. No need to oil you meat as it’s fatty enough. Keep the heat on very high and bung it on.

(the steak after 4 minutes on one side)

This piece of steak is about 1.5 inches thick. I grill it for 2 minutes, turn it around 90 degrees (note: you’re not turning it over, you’re turning it around to achieve the criss-cross pattern on the steak) and wait another 2 minutes. So4 minutes on very high on one side, turn it over and do the same on the other side. Total cooking time on the stove should be 8 minutes (4 on each side) for a medium rare. Please don’t ruin your nice steak by cooking it anymore than this!

Take the griddle pan and place it in the oven along side your potato au gratin to finish up for 10 more minutes.

Potato au gratin and vegetables

Cut 3 potato cross wise into thin slices (about 3mm thick), line them up in a shallow baking dish. Top with some cheese sauce and mozzarella (or any melting cheese) and bake at 200′ C for 25-30 minutes.

(grilled zucchini and mushrooms)

Cut half a zucchini into thin slices length-wise, brush with a bit of oil and grill along side the meat. Turn over after one minute. Remove from the pan.

Thickly slice 3-4 button mushrooms and sautee with a bit of butter and wine until browned. Season with salt and pepper. Wrap the vegetables up in a piece of foil to keep warm in the oven.

Remove the corn silk , peel back the corn husk and rinse the corn under running cold water. Cover the corn with the husk. Steam in the microwave on high for 4 minutes for each cob.

(the shared platter)

I served the lot up on a shared platter because the steak was too big for just the one of us. We plate our own food. It felt like being at a steakhouse after ordering a share platter (hey! mission accomplished!)

(my plate)

(zooming in on the steak!)

I ate the steak with a little bit of salt and some bottled horseradish sauce from Ikea. That was very yummy. The steak was perfectly cooked and tender. We had the corn plain, but you can easily butter it and add whatever you want.

(The potato went perfectly well with the steak)

(The zucchini and mushrooms round the whole thing off nicely)

The trick to put everything together is, of course, timing. You must eat the steak as soon as it’s ready. Never let it sit around! The great steak does not wait for you, you wait for the steak.

(Cherry and cheese strudel from the deli)

As if that wasn’t enough food, I served up the cherry and cheese strudel ($7.50 – large enough for four serves) that I bought from the deli at the market. We had it with a bit of chocolate ice cream to top it off.

That was a feast indeed!

The Bill

Total $19.18

1. Rib eye steak (450g.) ______________  $10.45
2. Potatoes                          ______________   $0.70
3. Sweet corn                     ______________   $1.98
4. Button mushrooms    ______________   $0.60
5. Zucchini                          ______________   $0.30
6. Cheese                             ______________    $0.10
7. Seasonings                     ______________    $0.30
8. Strudel                             ______________    $3.75
9. Ice cream                       ______________    $1.00

Okay, I admit it, it’s autumn and not spring here in Melbourne and the asparagus comes from Peru. But I just got some really nice marinated goat cheese from Jenny which goes so well with my spring risotto recipe!

(marinated goat cheese)

Risotto is totally one of those comfort food and this is my favourite risotto. It has that clean, simple flavour that goes down really well after a tiring day.

So you start by making the base, risotto bianco. You will need (for two):

1. 1 cup of risotto rice (I use arborio)
2. 1/2 onion, finely chopped
3. 1 celery stick, finely chopped
4. 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
5. 1/4 cup of white wine
6. 1.5 litre of hot vegetable stock Read the rest of this entry »

This is one of those quick things that I do up for lunch when I’m at home. This one is more like glass noodles stir-fried with whatever-I-find-in-the-fridge – typical really.

You’ll need (for one person):

1. 1 Chinese sausage, sliced
2. 1 small packet of glass noodles, soaked for 10 minutes in warm water*
3. 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
4. 1/2 zucchini, sliced
5. 4 mushrooms, thickly sliced
6. 1 tomato, chopped into big chunks
7. 1 egg
8. 1 tbsp of oyster sauce
9. 1/2 tbsp of fish sauce

Heat up a tbsp of oil in a hot wok and toss in the Chinese sausage slices. Stir until the sausage slices are browned. Add garlic, zucchini, mushrooms and tomato. Stir-fry for a couple of minutes until the vegetables soften.

Push the veggie aside, add a little bit more oil and crack in an egg. Wait until the egg white is almost set before scrambling it around with the vegetables. Add the fish sauce, oyster sauce, chopped tomato and the glass noodles. Stir fry until the noodles soften. Add water if necessary.

Done! Definitely one of those 10-minute ones.

* Glass noodles are thin, clear noodles made from mung beans. Start by soaking the glass noodles in warm water first before you prepare things. Don’t add boiling or hot water to the glass noodles or they will turn to mush when you attempt to stir fry them.

Frittata is basically a type of Italian omelet. I get the inspiration from the January ’09 Delicious. magazine. Again, adding my own twist though.

Remember the zucchini/egg/potatoes challenge? This dish stems from that. I am pleased to announce that all the eggs, zucchini and potatoes have been used up in a very timely manner indeed. Time to visit Jim and Judy again this weekend!

You’ll need, for two hungry people (or for two people plus a bit of leftover):

1. 6 eggs
2. 1 large zucchini, chopped
3. 1/2 cup of frozen peas
4. 50 g. of ricotta
5. 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped or crushed
6. a handful of fresh mint leaves
7. 1/4 cup of any melting cheese (I use Colby but anything from Cheddar to Mozarella are fine), grated
8. salt and pepper

Meanwhile, beat the eggs and season with salt and pepper. Add chopped mint leaves.

Sautée the zucchini and garlic in a little bit of olive oil on medium heat (have I raved enough about how great the little Ikea frying pan is? It’s such perfect size for eggs.) for about 2-3 minutes until the zucchini softens. Add the frozen peas.

Pour the beaten eggs into the frying pan over the zucchini and peas mixture. After 5 minutes, dot the eggs with the ricotta and the Colby cheese.

Place the frying pan under the grill and grill for about 1-3 minutes or until the top is golden and set.

I served it with some oven baked chips. I didn’t have any salad so I just use a peeler and strip through some of the nice fresh beetroots for the crunch on the side.

This is also known as What To Do When You Have Leftover Roast Lamb.

There are four main ingredients in this salad: salad leaves, lamb, grilled veggies and dressing. We already have the lamb of course. This is inspired by a recipe in this month’s Delicious. (what’s with the full stop at the end of its name?) by Tobie Puttock but as usual I went off on my own tangent.

I bought the salad leaves from the market – this is the mixed salad leaves (including three-four different lettuce, radicchio and rocket leaves) and I threw in some fresh flat leaf parsley. Some fresh basil would have been really nice but, well, didn’t have any.

For the grilled veggies, I use zucchini, red capsicum and eggplant. I made up some rosemary oil (olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper crushed together in a shaker) to brush on them before grilling them.

Brush the veggie slices with the rosemary oil before grilling:

Grill the veggies in a sandwich presser (you can easily just pan fry though) – I also add two garlic cloves to the grill for the dressing later:

Where are we with the salad? Oh, the grilled veggies. Toss them on the salad mix.

And on goes the lamb:

And then the dressing. These are what I used for the dressing:

1. 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2. juice of half a lemon
3. salt & pepper
4. 2 cloves of roasted garlic (made at the same time as the grilled veggies)
5. 1 tsp rosemary leaves (fresh)
6. pinch of sugar

Bung on the dressing and serve with some bread. I have some sundried tomato foccacia – which was kinda average (as average as supermarket foccacia goes) but good enough since I didn’t buy it.

And there you have it – leftover roast lamb salad for two. Josh approves.

I found this from 2006! You can even see my old kitchen (the one with natural light as opposed to my current kitchen with very little natural lights. Pictures from that period are so much nicer)

This is the basic Thai red curry that I added a whole bunch of not-so-Thai vegetables to it. Any veggies will most likely do. I like the combination of broccoli, carrot, zucchini, green beans, tomato and tofu puffs*. Don’t forget the Thai basil. It makes everything much nicer.

You will need (for four people), one small carrot, a handful of green beans, a small zucchini (not a huge one like I got from Jim’s – I’m still so impressed about its size, seriously), one tomato, a handful of broccoli florets, five-six tofu puffs (halved). You’ll so need one tablespoon of Thai red curry paste (I use Mae Ploy due to its availability in Australia), a small can of coconut cream (I like Ayam and Aroy-D), and about a tablespoon of fish sauce (I insist on a Thai brand). Substitute with soy sauce if you’re a vegetarian.

As I said previously, it matters what curry paste and coconut cream you use. You need to taste. Sometimes you won’t need to fish sauce and some times you’ll need a bit of sugar to round it off if your coconut cream isn’t sweet (note: coconut cream is naturally sweet. I’m not talking about the sweetened coconut cream that you put in your pina colada). Read the rest of this entry »

Yes. I am guilty of butchering the real Mongolian lamb. But we were very hungry and needed some quick fix.

For the two of us, I cut one lamb leg steak (about 150 g.) into cubes. For vegetables, I chop up a small carrot, half a large zucchini, half an onion, a handful of cauliflower florets, half a red capsicum and a handful of long beans.

I toss the cubes of lamb into a smoking hot wok (I <3 my wok! I bought it for like $12 and seasoned it myself and now it’s beautiful) with the onion slices. I fry them up until the lamb is browned, which only takes a few minutes. I toss in the carrot and cauliflower (these take a bit longer to cook) until they’re softened before I toss in the rest of the vegetables.

(before sauce)

I then cheat (massively) and add a pack of Lee Kum Kee Mongolian Lamb sauce. And it’s done.

Well, that was easy, wasn’t it? Serve with perfectly steamed rice (which I don’t really steam because I now have a rice cooker! Yay!)

I’m getting quite sick of zucchini actually but I shall soldier on.

This is from last week after I made cauliflower and cheese and had leftover Bechamel sauce (which actually sat quite nicely in the fridge for a day without complaining too much). Since I am such a terrific wife, I throw together a nice bit of pasta for Josh’s lunch.

I dice up whatever vegetables I have lying around (what’s new?) and that includes zucchini (again!), red capsicum, cauliflower (how much food can one make from cauliflwer? I still have some more left), and a bit of ham. I toss them into the tasty Bechamel sauce and simmer them for about 5 minutes or until the veggies are tender.

On the side, I boil up some wholemeat pasta. Once done, toss the pasta into the sauce. I find a nice vine-ripened tomato from Jim’s garden, peel it and squash it in. I dress the tomato slightly with a bit of balsamic vinegar mixed with olive oil. And then it goes into the lunchbox with leftover cauliflwer and cheese for Josh for the next day with some shaved parmasan.