Thai green curry with tofu, mushrooms & greens

Another Thai holiday influenced dish and Jonathan's new favourite to make. We tend to vary between red curry & green curry to keep it interesting. 

To make the rice, rinse long grain basmati rice well in cold water ( we use 3/4 cup of rice for 2 people). Drain, cover in lots of cold water & leave to soak for half an hour.  

To cook the rice, drain the soaking water & cover with 1 1/2 cups of water (that is, double the amount of rice you are using). Add 2 cardamon pods & a small piece of cinnamon bark. Place on a high heat & once it boils cover with a lid & turn the heat down to the lowest possible flame. Leave for 11 minutes & then turn the heat off, leaving for another 5 minutes. Then left the lid and fluff the rice with a fork, letting out any extra moisture. 

To make the curry, buy some interesting mushrooms, like King, Oyster or Enoki. Chop them into chunky pieces. We like to use Swiss Brown too. For our greens, we use brocollini, asparagus, spring onion & snow peas. We love to use the puffy tofu as it soaks up all the sauce. 

Brown the mushrooms & tofu & set aside. Jonathan adds garlic oil too. 

We use Ayam Curry Paste - the Red Curry paste is vegetarian but the Green has shrimp paste in it. We also use Ayam Coconut Cream - it has no added ingredients so allows for cracking.

To crack the coconut cream, heat a dry wok and add half the tin of coconut cream and at a moderate heat don't stir it and let it boil away. Eventually the oil will separate meaning you won't need to use any other oil for the rest of your curry. Add 2-3 tablespoons of curry paste, depending on the size of your curry.

Next, add your mushrooms & tofu, leaving the greens till last as they don't take much cooking.

Add a bit of palm sugar (about a teaspoon) or brown sugar to taste. Then add Thai basil and its ready to serve. Garnish with coriander and fresh lime & you're good to go!

Green papaya salad

Visiting Thailand recently has had a big influence on Jonny's cooking of late - as you'll see in the next couple of entries. 
We're also lucky enough to live close to Ashfield, which is home to one of Sydney's biggest Chinese communities. The quality & freshness of the fruit & veges available are so exciting - & they're so cheap! The supermarkets also stock a huge variety of tofu, sauces, pastes & spices.
To make this salad, start with the dressing. I know this isn't vegetarian. You apparently can find vegetarian 'fish' sauce & 'shrimp' paste, but we couldn't so went ahead as I eat seafood anyway & Jonathan has started eating anchovies again. (Which doesn't explain the shrimp paste but I think he'll just take the hit sometimes for the sake of a delicious meal).
To make the dressing, mix shrimp paste, fish sauce, grounded chillis, garlic, shallots, a little bit of palm sugar & lime juice in a large bowl. This makes a delicious hot, sour & spicy mixture. Into the dressing, julienne half a green papaya and mix in with bean sprouts, tomato, mint, coriander & chunks of puffed tofu. 
Bruise all together in a large mortar & pestle if you can, or in your mixing bowl.
Serve into large bowls & mix through peanuts for a bit of crunch.
I also feel like I should explain that this was made with a very firm yellow papaya as its all we could find this day - but we've since had it with green papaya and I think either is fine.
You can see my salad is topped with some BBQ garlic prawns too but Jonathan's was just fine with only tofu. We served with a Cosmopolitan each too - just trying to recapture that Thai holiday feeling. 

Fettucine (plural) with artichoke & green olives

My Italian teacher laughed herself silly when she was explaining to us that words like fettucine and spaghetti are plurals. 'You wouldn't eat one spaghetto!' she explained. Of course. Then she gave another example: 'You know, like zucchini. You'd never buy one zucchino!' To which most of us mumbled, ' Um, actually, I would....' 

Anyway, this fabulous fettucine dish was made by Jonathan last week after a visit to the local deli near his work, where he bought some marinated artichokes and green olives.

I've mentioned before that he uses vege stock to add to his pasta, which gives it a delicious savoury flavour. To this he added his deli ingredients, dried porcini mushrooms & some brie. The brie melted into the pasta and gave the dish a really nice edge. The artichokes were delicious and not dry as some can be, which is why Jonathan visits that deli every week. 

We were walking towards the deli the other day and Jonathan egged me on to try to speak Italian to the owner. I was quickly trying to compose some sentences in my head but when we got there, there was a Chinese woman behind the counter. At least she won't laugh if I buy one zuchino! (I hope). 

Mel takes a turn

Just in case it seems I do no cooking & just lie around the lounge blogging, here is an offering I came up with last Friday. After a busy day and lots of eating out during the week it felt like time for a home cooked meal. Having been out a lot, there wasn't anything obvious in the fridge to make. Sometimes this is when I feel most inspired.

Roast field mushrooms are a bit of a staple in our house so this time I mashed some kumara and put it on top, with parmesan and rosemary. I also made a salsa out of cherry tomatoes, capsicum and olives. I finely chopped these, mixed them in a bowl and dressed with olive oil, black pepper & white balsamic.

For our protein I did haloumi in baking paper with picked garlic, thinly sliced lemon & rosemary. Yum! So you see, I do take a turn cooking. At least once a week. 

Voulez-vous manger du fromage avec moi ce soir? (Will you eat cheese with me tonight?)

I'm not really sure how to describe this meal without using superlatives. In short, it was amaaaaaazing. 

Jonathan bought a french camembert which had been aged in a thin wooden box. (If you can't find this kind of cheese you could put a camembert in a ramekin for baking). 
First he peeled three garlic cloves & dipped them in boiling water to take the acidity out of them. These were then cut in halves and pushed into the cheese. Next he covered it with sage & rosemary and poured over a generous serve of red wine so the cheese was well soaked. He then put it in the oven in a baking dish and baked it on a moderate heat until the top caramelised.

Jonathan then served the cheese as a fondue into which we dipped crumbed fried mushrooms, roasted brocolini, beetroot & radish. Lemone wedges squeezed over the mushrooms helped to cut through the richness of the cheese.
Out. Of. This. World.

Kill the fatted courgette - we're having a roast

I've mentioned before how my Mum laughs when I say we're having a roast (see Who Invited the Vegetarians to the BBQ?) as she can't imagine a roast with no meat! I've made a few 'roasts' this winter & love the winter veges available.

This night we had field mushrooms with cherry tomatoes and garlic on them; brocollini - also with some cherry tomatoes as it keeps it moist; eggplants; courgettes; onions & garlic.

Of course its not a real pretend roast without the golden potatoes, which we had with kumara & rosemary. And just so it wasn't all vegetables, we had golden pan fried haloumi too. 

This has been Sydney's coldest winter in 30 years apparently - having a roast is a good way to forget all about how cold it is outside. Unfortunately I wasn't quite as organised as my Mum who usually makes rhubarb crumble when she makes a roast. Something to aspire too, if not the meat. 

A sandwich by any other name would taste so good....

I have to admit, the first time Jonathan offered to make 'cheese & tomato sandwiches' for dinner I felt rather underwhelmed. Images of soggy lunchbox offerings came to mind; country tea room menu staples at best.
But now I LOVE it when Jonathan makes these for dinner. He toasts baguettes & fills them with fried haloumi, tomato, olive tapenade, rocket, basil, olives & a delicious assortment of condiments. Our favourites at the moment are Branston pickle and yellow piccalilli.
We sometimes have these on a Monday, when I don't get home from Italian until about 9.30pm. A tasty & very filling late night dinner. 

Italian pizza in Australia on Lebanese Bread

It wasn't until moving to Sydney that I was able to fully appreciate some of the nuances of the Australian accent. Sure, I grew up watching Neighbours, but how often did they say 'pizza'? Or more to the point, 'poiza'?
Jonathan used to make his own dough for our pizzas & tomato sauce for the base. Now for a quick meal he uses lebanese bread with tomato paste spread on as the base. 
Favourite toppings include: basil, mushrooms, olives, capers, mozzarella, artichokes, baked ricotta & lately - anchovies. 
The lebanese bread goes really crispy and crunchy and they don't take long to cook at all. 
Poiza anyone? Yes ploise! 

Easter Saturday Menu

EASTER SATURDAY DINNER

with Cathy, Roger, Bec & Jane

served by Jonathan & Mel

ENTREE

Roasted figs with gorgonzola served on a witlof leaf & garnished with fennel & white peach, dressed with mirin & grapeseed oil jus & topped with finely sliced parsley

MAINS

BBQ salmon with a horseradish crème & caper salsa, garnished with fennel, chives, coriander & dill

Mushroom, caramelised onion & gorgonzola tart

Mushroom, caramelised onion & artichoke tart drizzled with chilli butter sauce

Salad of nashi pear, with parmesan & pecan, dressed with a white mustard seed dressing

DESSERT

Mini sticky date puddings with vanilla ice cream topped with pecan crumble & soaked in an Khalua & caramel sauce, garnished with sweet sugar droplets

Cauliflower Cheese Please

We were lucky enough to be adopted by Jo & her family this Christmas as we stayed in Sydney. We went over to Jo's place in Bronte for dinner and they had prepared a beautiful Christmas feast. There was ham & turkey and lots of vegetarian options for Jonathan & me. One of them was cauliflower cheese - & it was delicious. It was so long since I'd had this dish & since Christmas I've made it quite a few times. I'm not a real fan of winter, but I do like winter food & am looking forward to having this cheesy dish again as the months get colder.

To make this I parboil the cauliflower and then cover it in a baking dish with a cheese sauce - much like the one you'd use for lasagne. I use whatever cheese we have at home, but like to include something with a bite, like parmesan or extra tasty.

I lightly cook some onion rings that go on top before the dish goes in the oven. On the meal pictured below I've added some dukkah that Jonathan had made for another meal. It gave a really nice crunch & flavour as it had cumin and coriander seeds in it.

Once you've got your cauliflower cheese in the oven & it starts bubbling & the top has gone a lovely golden colour, get it onto your plate & enjoy that delicious cheesy-ness this winter.

Crispy roasted beetroot stems

Yum! Some people love beetroot. I like it enough, but when we roast it, its the stems I love! We all know you can eat the root & the leaves, but what about the bits in between? Keep those stems & roast them in olive oil & salt until they're crispy & delicious.

For this meal we had baked parcels (see Baked feta & rosemary parcels - my current fave), roast beetroot & stems served with cottage cheese & cracked pepper.

Baked figs with gorgonzola & mirin jus

Our neighbours in Taumarunui had a fig tree that we used to climb & eat the fruit of. More often than not though the figs would be left on the ground to rot.

I think my Mum would have made jam given the chance, but its hard to believe we could have let the fruit go to such waste.

Jonathan's parents came to visit last weekend & bought some lovely fruit while here - mango, passion fruit, plums and figs.

Jonathan baked the figs in a deep dish and put the gorgonzola on just before taking them from the oven. Many people don't like gorgonzola - if that's you I'd suggest buying dolce ('sweet') as it has more of a creamy taste.

Jonathan mixed the caramelised fig juice from the baking dish with some grapeseed oil & mirin. Grapeseed oil is lighter than olive oil and mirin is a sweet rice wine available in most supermarkets. He then poured this mix over the figs, before garnishing with fresh parsley from our balcony garden. The mirin in the sauce is a great sweet complement to the blue cheese.

These make delicious entrees and you would only need one or two each because of the strong flavours - great with a glass of wine.

Note: this is the first time I've used the world 'jus' - but a quick search tells me it means 'the natural juices given off by the food' so I think it fits perfectly.

Golden Sugar Magic

Keeley & Mat came for dinner last weekend & it was my job to make dessert. I made Sticky Date Pudding from a recipe in the Essential Vegetarian Cookbook. The recipe was really close to being the same as the one in Stephanie Alexander's book which surprised me, but perhaps its a recipe thats been perfected & doesn't need much work?

What we did differently though was use our beloved muffin tin to make individual serves. It worked really well & I'd highly recommend it. Instead of cooking for 55 mins, this way it took just under 20 mins & its really easy to serve them with delicious vanilla ice cream.

Jonathan told me he wanted to try something he'd seen on Poh's Kitchen that morning and set himself up in the kitchen with aluminium foil & a pastry brush while I entertained the guests (ie/ made vodka cocktails and laughed heartily at my own jokes).

Meanwhile, Jonathan heated four parts sugar in one part water over a good heat and stirred it until the sugar dissolved and the liquid was clear. Then he stopped stirring and let the water bubble. He had some cold water & a pastry brush on hand to wipe the sides of the pot so no sugar would stick to the sides & burn.

At this stage you need to keep a careful eye on the sugar mix as it will eventually & quite quickly turn golden. It's important now to take it off the heat before it gets to the colour you want as it will continue to darken. Put the pot in cold water to stop the sugar cooking. The sugar is now molten hot so be really careful around it!

Jonathan then got two forks & crossed the tines over & dipped them in the sugar mix once it had cooled down to a gooey consistency. Next, from a great height, he kind of tossed the forks in the air over the aluminium foil as though he was 'painting a fence really fast, up and down.'

The sugar goes everywhere so you need a big space with aluminium foil on it. The sugar will then harden like toffee and you can break it off and put it on your dessert. The higher you can throw the sugar mix, the more likely you are to be able to make a kind of sugar net.

I'm not sure I would have even attempted this culinary feat, but I'm considering removing the kitchen cupboards above the bench just to see how high Jonathan can work that sugar magic.

Asparagus & black sesame tarts - no tomato sauce allowed

Another take on the mini frittatas - this time by Jonathan. He went off into the kitchen one night and came back with these fabulous creations. Mushroom, cheese & asparagus tarts with truffle oil, caramelised onion & broccolini, topped with black sesame seeds. The rocket salad was delicious: marinated artichokes & pine nuts with a white balsamic dressing.

The craziest thing was these puff pastry triangles that accompanied it. So yummy & great decoration. He baked them in the oven & drizzled them with olive oil. There's something about puff pastry that always makes me want to reach for the tomato sauce - but to do so this night would have been a sin punishable by sentence of a lifetime of sausage rolls, so I resisted the urge.

Mmmm, mushrooms & brie

Roasting field mushrooms is a great idea for dinner - but sometimes they can go a bit tough in the oven. Jonathan's latest method is to do them in a pan with a glass lid on. That way they get fried in their own juices and retain their moisture.

I think these ones were done in the oven, to get the brie nice & melty. I've mentioned before how much I like roasted broccolini - although it too can go a bit dry in the oven.

A way around this is to put cherry tomatoes on the broccolini - give the tomatoes a squeeze before doing so. This way the juice can escape and keep the greens moist.

Just in case you think I lie around drinking vodka cocktails while Jonathan does all the hard work, I grew those little cherry tomatoes in pots on our balcony this summer. Amazing what one can achieve with a trowel in one hand & vodka cocktail in the other!

From Italian class- a phrase to live by

"Modestamente, oltre a essere un' amante straordinaria, sono anche una cuoca eccezionale!"

"Modestly speaking, as well as being an extraordinary lover, I'm also an exceptional cook!"

Cheesy yummy goodness

If you have someone in your life (Jonathan) who doesn't like frittata because it's 'too eggy' then trick them into eating it by making little mini ones!

First I cooked mushrooms, onions and capsicum in a pan. Then, I made a mixture of eggs & milk with cottage cheese, spinach & tasty cheese. After spooning a bit of the mushroom mix into teach part of the muffin tray, I then tipped the fritatta mix over. Finally I put some feta on top & cooked them for about 20 mins until they looked done.

Once out of the oven I put some chopped corinader on the top & they were ready to go - & so yummy. Next time I would probably use something like parmesan to give them more of a bite, but as you can tell by the bottle in the background I cover most my food with chilli sauce, so that made up for it.

Who invited the vegetarians to the BBQ?

It always amuses my Mum when we have a 'roast' for dinner - if you don't have meat, how can it be a roast? By having mushrooms, potatos, broccollini, eggplant, shallots, kumara, pumpkin, etc etc.

Same goes with a BBQ, we BBQ anything we think of & the variety is what makes it all so delicious.

This night we had haloumi; oyster mushrooms cooked in mirin; eggplant marinated in soy, honey & garlic; asparagus with parmesan butter; bok choy; and vege skewers with peanut sauce. On the skewers we had tofu, capsicum, red onion and mushrooms.

Fresh rice paper rolls so good you won't have to eat your Bible

When I was younger I was always fascinated after someone told me the pages in our Bible were written on rice paper. I always wondered if it was true & if it meant you could eat your way through the book if you wanted or needed to.

The good news is you probably wont need to, if your local supermarket sells rice paper in packets. These are so easy to make & look quite impressive when you serve them.

I set up in the kitchen with a bowl of warm water & lots of little piles of whatever I'm putting in the rolls: finely cut carrot & celery sticks; crushed peanuts; mint; coriander; strips of marinated tofu; rice noodles cut into 5cm lengths.

When cooking rice noodles, I boil the water & when its bubbling throw in the noodels & turn the heat off. Drain after no more than 30 - 40 seconds as they cook really fast & you don't want them too soft. I just grab bunches and cut them into lengths of about 5cm, with a pair of kitchen scissors.

Take your first piece of rice paper and put it in the bowl of warm water. Once its just soft, pull it out and pat it on a clean tea towel to absorb excess moisture. Then place it on a big chopping board & arrange some of each of your ingredients in the centre of the paper, and about 3cm up from the edge closest to you.

When you've put your filling in, roll up the edge closest to you & then fold the sides in. Then roll up by pushing away from you.

Serve straight after making with the dipping sauce of your choice. I like to buy a satay sauce or make my own soy dipping sauce.

Dipping sauce:

In a small bowl, put 1 tablespoon malt vinegar, 3 teaspoons brown sugar, 2 teaspoons sweet chilli sauce, 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce. Mix and add ingredients to suit your taste. I add fresh chilli and chives too.

We call this Bec-a-licious

We call this Bec-a-licous because she first made it for us at a BBQ at Rogers. She in turn stole the idea from a restaurant in Newtown during one of those moments where you think 'I could make this at home...'

Jonathan made this delicious creation, by first caramelising the onions - a mix of white & red - and cooking mushrooms in a pan with butter. He then baked them on top of the puff pastry with blue cheese, blanched broccollini & parmesan. Once cooked it was topped with fresh rocket and toasted walnuts before serving.

Soooo yummy, with the sweetness of the onions and the tartness of the blue cheese. And its got salad on top so its a meal in itself.