Sticky char siu spare ribs

Almost a year about I filled my freezer with bulk meat purchased from my local butcher. I have used the majority of it but there is still a few things left. It really should have been used up long ago, meat doesn't last forever in the freezer but I will just continue my way through. It is not like it is going to hurt me it just tends to get a bit freezer burnt and not tip top any more. As part of my purchase I bought pork spare ribs, which here in Australia is pork belly sliced into "chops" rather than what we call the American-style spare ribs. It really would be easier if we could all have the same name for things. Anyway, I have several different ways to make them. Most of which are ways that my mum cooked them. 

Anyway, I found this recipe for Sticky Char Siu Spare Ribs and thought that it would be nice to try something different. I ended up putting some ginger and chilli in, although I didn't put in nearly enough chilli as there really wasn't any kick to it. I baked them as per the recipe but they really weren't "sticky" so I put them under the grill for about 10 minutes and they came out perfectly. I served with rice and steamed broccolini and asparagus. 

Delicious October 2012 - Chorizo, Cumin & Tomato rice

So it took a while to get something made from this issue. Not from lack of choice perhaps too many things to choose from. Plus I went through a loss of cooking mojo and was then away for a few days. 

I decided to make this Bill Granger recipe last night as I had pretty much everything for the dish and could substitute what I didn't have. This one was okay but nothing to rave about really. For the rice portion of the dish I used a new product (or at least new to me) called Rice Plus which is a mix of different rices and grains. It was did like it there was a nice chewyness to it. I didn't have any green beans so used asparagus . When eaten with a bit of chorizo the rice was good but without it was a bit lacking. I had some of the leftovers for lunch today and added a bit of sweet chilli sauce and it was a bit better. Perhaps some chilli would have pepped it up. I use a combination of sweet & hot paprika perhaps all hot would have been better or even just more of the spices. Like most rice dishes half the recipe made more than enough for 3 serves. I wont be rushing to make it again. 

I served it with a fennel, radish & feta salad. 

Chorizo, Cumin & Tomato Rice

1 tbsp oil (everyone uses olive oil these days but at high heat it isn't the best so I used grapeseed)

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp each ground cumin, paprika and ground coriander

1 1/2 cups basmati

400g can chopped tomatoes (perhaps some fresh would have added something) 

3 - 4 c chicken stock (I used 3) 

200 g green beans

300 g chorizo, chopped 

200 g marinated red capsicum, drained & sliced 

Heat oil, add garlic & spices cook until fragrant. Add rice and stir to coat in spice mix and then add the tomatoes & stock. Bring to the boil and then reduce heat and cook for 30 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Add beans in the last 5 minutes of cooking. Meanwhile fry chorizo in another pan until lightly browned.

Serve rice with chorizo and capsicum.

Delicious July 2012 - Ginger chicken with coconut rice

 There is so much to make from this issue of Delicious magazine. I really wasn't sure where to start. I must admit that it was the first time in a while that I was immediately taken with about 8 recipes from the one issue. Usually on the first scan I can only find 1 or 2 and then find more when going back. 

I really want to make the apple, pecan & gingerbread loaf. I know a couple of people who have made it already and said how wonderful it is. I would love to make the cannoli cupcakes but I really don't have anyone to feed them to. So I will probably have to pass that recipe by. There is a brioche cake that looks absolutely fabulous. The brioche is baked in a springform tin and then sliced in 3 layers and filled with cream & strawberries. I think that I might make the brioche in my 10 cm springform tins and then I can have individual ones and freeze them. 

I am intrigued by the mushroom sformato. I am not really sure how to describe it. Some sort of soufflé sort of thing I guess. The only way that I will know is to make it I think. There is a ham hock soup that I will be able to use my christmas ham bone in. However the bone is too big for my pot so I will have to take it down to my butcher and see if he will cut it in half for me. I also really want to make Rick Stein's Lamb karahi. I guess that I am going to be busy this month. 

First up I decided to make the Ginger chicken with coconut rice. I was away from home visiting friends and made this for them one night. I was very pleased with the chicken. It had great flavour although I think it would have benefited from a longer marinating time. My friends didn't have fish sauce so I used soy sauce. I wasn't impressed with the rice though. I would have thought that the rice would be cooked in the coconut milk not cooked in water and then the milk added. As far as I was concerned it just made the rice gluggy. I wouldn't do it that way again. 

Ginger Chicken with Coconut Rice

10cm piece ginger, finely grated
2 garlic cloves, chopped
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup (35g) chopped salted peanuts, plus extra to serve
2 tbsp sunflower oil
4 chicken marylands
1 1/2 cups (300g) long-grain rice
3/4 cup (185ml) coconut milk
 

Combine the ginger, garlic, lime zest and juice, fish sauce, sugar, peanuts and 1 tbs oil in a large bowl. Coat chicken in the marinade, then stand for 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 180°C. Heat remaining 1 tbs oil in a non-stick, ovenproof frypan over medium heat. Remove chicken from marinade and cook, skin-side down, for 2 minutes. Turn and cook for a further 1 minute. Transfer to the oven and cook for 15 minutes or until cooked through.

Meanwhile, cook rice according to the packet instructions. Drain, then stir through the coconut milk. Serve with chicken and extra peanuts.

Satay Lamb with Carrot Pilaf

Quite a while ago now I bought a whole lamb all cut up and put it all in the freezer. I have been slowly using it, although not really quickly enough. I made this satay lamb quite some time ago and I think that it is almost time to make it again. 

It really was very easy to make. I found a recipe for satay sauce on Taste.com.au but it wasn't exactly what I wanted so I experimented a bit with it and it turned out really well. The carrot pilaf is a recipe from Taste. I really enjoyed it, I think that it could be served with a lot of meals. If you are not serving the satay with the carrot pilaf I would add carrots to the with the capsicum and beans. You could use whatever vegetables you liked.

Satay Lamb

6 lamb forequarter chops

1 tbps grapeseed oil)

Satay sauce (recipe below)

1 red capsicum, seeded & sliced

200 g green beans, halved (I don't know if this is the right amount, I just used what I had in the fridge)

 

Cut the meat off  lamb chops and dice. 

Heat heavy based pan over a medium-high heat. Add oil and lamb and brown. 

Poured the satay sauce stir to combine. 

Add capsicum and beans. Placed the lid on the pan for about 10 minutes then removed the lid and cooked until the sauce reduced down.

Serve with carrot pilaf. 

Satay sauce

1 tsp grapeseed oil

1/2 small brown onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 tsp sambal olek (or to taste)

3 tsp curry powder

1 tsp turmeric
1/4 cup natural crunchy peanut butter (I ground my own peanuts probably about 1/2 c)
125ml water
1 tbs lime juice
2 tsp kecap manis

1/2 tsp brown sugar 

 

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until soft and golden. Add garlic and sambal olek and cook for 1 minute or until aromatic. Add curry powder and turmeric and cook for a further minute. 

Add peanut butter and stir  then add water, lime juice, kecap manis and sugar. 

Cook, stirring, for 3 - 5 minutes or until sauce thickens.

 

 

Greek Pumpkin and Rice Tart

I like to keep the 90 second rice packets in my cupboard. I know rice is easy to cook and is relatively quick to cook also but some times I just don't feel up to making too much and having these in the cupboard really helps me to still eat well on days like those. There are also a couple of "slices" or tarts that I have made that use them. I think with all of the recipes you could easily use rice that had been cooked and cooled. I really enjoyed this dish. The original recipe uses prosciutto but I ended up using bacon instead. It was a little bit salty but not too bad. This would depend on your bacon and feta though. It was very good hot but I enjoyed it even more when it was cold. 

Greek Pumpkin and Rice Tart 

6 slices bacon

6 spring onions

1 bunch dill

250g packet 90 sec rice, I used jasmine 

8 eggs

100g feta

4 - 6 baby bocconcini, halved

1/2 (about 1kg) butternut pumpkin

60ml (1/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil

200g cherry tomatoes

1 lemon

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease a 26cm, heavy-based, ovenproof frying pan. Place bacon slices, over base and side of pan, trimming to fit if necessary.

Peel pumpkin then cut into 7mm cubes and toss with 1 tbs oil. Then place on a tray and roast in the oven for 12 - 15 minutes or until just soft. Set aside to cool slightly

Roughly chop white and most of green part of onions, then roughly chop with all but thick stems of dill. Place half each of the onions and dill in a large bowl. Reserve remainder. Add rice and eggs to onion mixture, then crumble over feta. Using a whisk or fork, whisk to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture into lined pan, then cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Scatter pumpkin mixture over egg mixture, top with halved bocconcini. Transfer pan to the top shelf of the oven and cook for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, to make tomato salad, roughly chop tomatoes and place in a bowl with reserved onions and dill. Squeeze over juice from lemon, add remaining 2 tbs oil, then season. Gently toss to combine.

Turn oven to the grill setting and cook tart for a further 5 minutes or until egg is set and pumpkin and feta are golden.

Serve tart with tomato salad.

Pumpkin Leek & Chorizo Risotto

So encouraged by a friend I have started on a bit of an exercise kick. Today was the beginning of week three of swimming four days a week (actually considering going to 5 days). I am now up to swimming 30 x 25 metre laps. Today it took me about 40 minutes. I have to admit that I am really enjoying it and am pleased to have been pushed into it. I have also managed to lose some weight. Since the start of this year I have lost a total of 5.5 kg. Not a huge amount but it is certainly a start. Losing is definitely better than gaining or even just staying still. I hope that with the swimming that the weight will come off quickly to start with. 

Now, I know that risotto isn't exactly diet food, however I did make this quite some time ago plus it is absolutely to die for (oh and I don't really do diet food... lol). I just love pumpkin risotto so much. In fact I really am a fan of almost any kind of risotto. I like to make my pumpkin risotto with raw pumpkin that has been fairly finely diced and let it cook in the stock as the rice cooks. Some of the smaller pieces start to disintegrate and provide a lovely orange colour while the bigger pieces stay whole and add a different texture even when fully cooked. For this one I had a leek in the fridge that needed using up so used that in place of onion and I also had some chorizo so finely diced it and fried until nicely coloured. I don't normally add the chorizo to this but it was so, so good in it and I will definitely add it in again. 

Pumpkin, leek & chorizo risotto

Ingredients: 

• 1 chorizo, finely chopped
• 1 leek, halved & finely sliced
• Wedge pumpkin, finely diced (I am not sure how big it was, there was probably 1.5 cups of diced pumpkin)
• 1 c arborio rice
• 1/2 c white wine (or extra stock)
• 3 - 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• grated parmesan (about a cup maybe)
• rocket, to serve

Method:

• Heat saucepan (I used my swiss diamond sauté pan) over a medium heat. 
•  Place chorizo in and let cook. Remove from pan leaving as much oil in the pan as possible. 
• Add leek and cook until soft. Add rice and stir for a minute. Add pumpkin and stir.
• Add wine and cook, stirring, until it is absorbed. 
• Add stock slowly, stirring after each addition until absorbed, continue adding stock until rice and pumpkin are cooked. 
• Add parmesan and stir. Season if necessary. 
• Serve on a bed of rocket.

Warm Poached Chicken with Onion Rice & Fresh Ginger Relish

Well, the last couple of weeks have been rather difficult. I am so tired at the moment but not sleeping well. I have had a few other things going on, including one of my cats being badly injured in a fight with another cat. She is improving but it is still worrying. Plus she escaped the house on me several hours ago and has not yet come home. I can only hope that she is not out there fighting again.

I made this dish from Bill's Sydney Food a while ago now. I used a lovely organic chicken that I had in the freezer and the chicken turned out really well. I even used the coriander roots in the poaching liquid, although I didn't use the leaves. I really enjoyed the onion rice and think that I will use it for serving with other dishes. However I wasn't overly impressed with the fresh ginger relish. It just didn't seem to be cooked properly. I doubt I would make the relish again. The poached chicken and the rice I would definitely make again.  I was worried that serving it with just cucumber as a vegetable wasn't really enough so I also steamed some zucchini batons. 

Recipe: Warm Poached Chicken with Onion Rice & Fresh Ginger Relish

June 2009 - Greek Rice Pudding

Well, we are getting close to the end of my vegetarian month and I have to admit that I have been a bit disappointed with the recipes on offer in these issues. Perhaps June wasn't the best time of year to attempt it. Maybe in the summer months there would be more vegetarian recipes with more people eating salads and lighter foods during that time. However part of doing this was to find some different vegetarian meals to have during the winter.

In issue #83 I was first drawn towards making Jamie Oliver's Spicy Kumara Soup with Goat's Cheese Crostini. However when I took some time to have a better look at the recipe it was only some curry paste, kumara and stock. There was pieces of roasted capsicum put into the soup after it was cooked and the goat's cheese smeared on bits of toasted bread. There just wasn't enough to it for me. I think that if there was also onion, a regular potato, carrot and perhaps celery in it I might have been more interested but in the end it just didn't interest me enough to make it.

Ben O'Donoghue's Cambodian Beef Soup was something that I was interested in making but it didn't fit my vegetarian menu plan. The Spinach & Feta Filo Pie did fit the menu plan but it wasn't that long ago that I made something similar.

In the end I decided on another dessert, Jill Dupleix's Greek Rice Pudding. Which by a strange co-incidence I discovered is also in one of the July back issues as well. It really is just a creamed rice made on the stove top with the addition of some rose water. I have to admit that I really loved the addition of the rose water and the warmed, home made, strawberry jam on top. It just adds some thing different. Next time I think that I would use a little be less milk and leave out the cornflour. It made for a really nice and reasonably healthy dessert. I had some more of it for breakfast this morning. :)

Greek Rice Pudding

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1L (4 cups) milk + 1 tbsp extra
• 1/2 cup 110g arborio rice
  
• 2 tbs caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp rosewater
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 1/2 cup low-joule strawberry jam, warmed
  

Method:

• Gently heat milk and rice in a heavy based saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until milk comes to a simmer.
  
• Turn heat to low just before milk boils, and cook uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until rice is tender.
  
• Add sugar, vanilla and rosewater, and stir until sugar dissolves.
  
• Mix cornflour to a paste with extra milk. Add paste to rice, raise heat slightly to medium, and stir well for 2-3 minutes until mixture thickens to a creamy texture.
• Serve top with warmed jam.
  

March 2004 - Steak Teriyaki

There is much to like in issue #25 and a lot of different recipes to choose from. The cover recipe a warm sweet potato, bean & blue cheese salad with crispy prosciutto looked so very good, the only problem is that I am not keen on blue cheese. I will eat small amounts of it and have made a nice blue cheese dressing in the past but chunks of it in a salad are just not to my liking.

I came close to making Geoff Lindsay's Steamed silken bean curd with chinese black vinegar and chilli. It looked really good in the picture in the magazine and some thing that would be nice, light and easy to make for dinner one night. I have not really done a lot with tofu and I am interested in using it some more. I decided though that I would leave my experimentations with tofu for a dish with more flavourings.

Interesting diversion, there was some rather large explosions happening outside which scared my cats and intrigued me. When I went out the front door there was a bunch of fireworks going off somewhere very nearby my house. I am still intrigued as I was under the impression that fireworks were illegal to possess and use in Australia for the average person. I will have to chat with the neighbours tomorrow and find out if they know anything further. There was a number of other people out in the street watching.

Back to the issue at hand. There is a great article on Sophie Grigson accompanied by some terrific recipes, a number of which I want to make. I am having visitors next week so I am thinking of making the pot-roast pork with star anise, ginger, tamarind and port. It sounds so luscious, although I am not exactly sure what ruby port is, I will have to do some googling on that. There are two different desserts one of which I am champing at the bit to try, raspberry & earl grey jellies. It just sounds so good. I would have made them for this post but there is a dessert recipe in a later issue that just had to be made this month.

The regular feature, simple food, is Easy Asian by Jill Dupleix in this issue. The Steak Teriyaki recipe sounded so easy. I love the teriyaki flavours, I have used the pre-made supermarket sauces but decided that it would be great to make this one. I decided not to serve it with the bean sprouts that Jill did as I can only buy bean sprouts in pre-packed bags that usually look wet and slimy to me. I had a beautiful thick cut piece of scotch fillet steak. I managed not to overcook this one, instead I undercooked it. It was fine to eat but was just more rare than I would have liked. I am starting to get frustrated with cooking steaks at the moment. I just cannot seem to get them cooked just to my liking lately. I used to have no problems. My trouble started when I moved and changed from a gas hob to a very old electric hob. I just cannot seem to get the hang of cooking steak on it. I ended up serving it with jasmine rice and greens sautéed with chilli and oyster sauce. I really enjoyed the whole meal and I am sure that I will make this one again.

Steak Teriyaki

• 4 x 150 g scotch fillet or eye fillet steaks
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil (I used rice bran oil)
  

Teriyaki Sauce

• 2 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbps sake or dry sherry
• 1/4 cup soy sauce (I used light soy sauce)
• 1 tsp caster sugar

Method:

• Combine ingredients for sauce and stir to dissolve sugar. Set aside.
  
• Heat oil in fry pan over a medium to high heat.
  
• Brown steaks on all sides quickly and then cook to your liking then remove from pan to rest.
  
• Remove pan from heat and add ingredients for sauce.
  
• Return to the heat and bring to a boil and cook for stirring until sauce thickens a bit, about 2 or 3 minutes.
  
• Slice steak and arrange on bed of rice. Drizzle sauce over and serve.
  

February 2005 - Caramelised Leek and Bacon Pilaf

Moving right along to 2005, so half way there already this month, which I am very pleased with. Issue #35 turned out to be very tempting and it was very difficult to make a decision on what to make and blog about. There are several recipes in here that I will make, like Pork with Fresh Peach Chutney, who wouldn't want to use the wonderful stone fruit that is available at this time of year. The Barley Salad with Feta and Pine Nuts sounds really good and I am sure it will be some thing nice and healthy to have in the fridge for lunches. Although I would probably substitute the pine nuts for pistachios or almonds, I am not keen on pine nuts outside of pesto. Another quick and easy recipe that I considered was Linguine with Chilli Tuna and Broccolini. I love pastas dishes and I think that I will make this one for dinner soon.

In the end I decided to go with another easy dish for a quick meal after a long, frustrating day at the office. The Guest Chef in this issue was Ainsley Harriott, I haven't used a lot of his recipes before. Although I know that in another issue of delicious. some where down the line there is a wonderful Beef Bourguignonne recipe of his that is just divine. However his Caramelised Leek & Bacon Pilaf was not divine. In fact it was pretty average. After following the recipe the rice was cooked but there was still an awful lot of liquid in the bottom of the pan. When I tested it, it was pretty bland so I decided to add some veg to it and poured in a heap of frozen peas and some chopped up mushrooms that I had in the fridge. I turned the heat up to high and cooked until the liquid was boiled off, the peas were heated through and the mushrooms cooked. In the end it turned out okay taste wise but the rice was, of course, over cooked. If I make it again the liquid in the recipe will need to be reduced, oh and don't use as much butter as suggested I drained a lot of it away and it was still pretty greasy.

Caramelised Leek and Bacon Pilaf

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 50 g unsalted butter (I would use no more than half this)
  
• 2 leeks (white part only), washed, finely sliced (I used a couple of red onions as that was all I had)
• 2 good pinches of ground allspice
• 100 g rindless bacon, chopped
• 3/4 c (150 g) basmati rice
• 2 c (500 ml) vegetable or chicken stock)
  
• 1/2 c chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2/3 c Greek yoghurt
• 1 small garlic clove, crushed

Method

• Melt butter in deep pan with lid over med-low heat. Add leeks with a pinch of allspice and cook until softened and beginning to brown slightly. Add the bacon and cook until golden.
  
• Add rice and stir until coated then add stock and season.
  
• Bring to the boil cover with the lid and simmer for 10 - 12 minutes or until the rice is cooked and liquid absorbed.
  
• Fold in the parsley and adjust seasoning as necessary.
  
• While rice is cooking, mix the yoghurt, garlic and remaining allspice to serve with the pilaf.