evening all,

a few extra hours for us all in the kitchen coming up this month so while i enjoy some time with mary and james, thought i'd drop one that may help ease the pain...

roasted garlic and basil puree.
uses: great salad dressing, potato, fish, pasta...

ingredients:

1x small brown onion, diced 5mm french shallots better - but slice as thin as you can
2x cloves of garlic, smashed with the side of a knife and flat plam, then sliced thin with a sharp knife
1x clove with seed pod picked off (discard) crack stem with knife,
salt pinch
2x fresh leaves of rosemary,
3tb of light olive oil
-saute this in a heavy bottom pan on a low to medium heat, don't brown the onions, keep it of the sides ( raw bits ) till the onion is opaque

add 1/4 cup of dry white wine and slow simmer till liquor is almost gone

add 1/2 cup of ev olive oil -low heat, triangle if you've got one - don't exceed 70deg

meanwhile...

boil 3lt of water with 3tb of seasalt, pick two bunches basil, add to water with storks and 1tb chardy vinegar, turn down to a simmer, cook till the leaves juuust squish not tear between your fingers, place into a clean chux cloth twist out as much water as you can, sprinkle out over a t-towel and roll pressure dry - add this with you warming ev olive oil - stir and raise mix temp to 70deg

- then

drain of most of the oil, puree basil and onion mix to a smooth paste, here you you could re-add the olive oil, season with sea salt, lightly zest a whole lemon and 1/4 strained juice

use quickly, don't store - can but...2days, if you must.

we had it tonight:

horse radish ribeye- woodfired, chipped dutch potatoes, basil puree, lavenda tomatoes, jus gra ( drips of thyme burnt butter) fried eshallot, white grapes $48


sal.

Prawn laksa - very easy and tasty

ingredients:
1 thumb ginger
2 cloves garlic
Vegetable oil for shallow frying
2 big tablespoons laksa paste
2 cups vegetable stock
200mL coconut milk (use light coconut milk if you like)
Vegetables of choice - I like chopped carrot sticks, baby bok choy, green beans and red capsicum
4x spring onion, chopped.
As many prawns as you want, I usually add 300-400g small cooked prawns.
200g rice vermicelli
essential: fried tofu from asian market!!!!!!

to serve, handful coriander leaves, bean sprouts, lime juice and fried shallots (found in asian section of supermarket)


method:
Add laksa paste, garlic and ginger to pan and heat for 1 – 2 minutes, stirring so that it does not stick to the base. Add 60ml (1/4 cup) veg stock, stir and simmer for a couple of minutes, until sauce thickens. Add prawns to pan, stir to coat and cook for 2 – 3 minutes before adding the remaining stock. Bring to boil, add all vegetables except shallots and baby bok choy, stir and reduce heat slightly. Simmer for 6 – 10 minutes until vegetables are cooked as desired. In the meantime, place noodles into a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Using a fork, separate the noodles and set aside.

Once vegetables are cooked, add coconut milk, fried tofu, baby bok choy and shallots then turn heat off. Taste for seasoning and adjust as desired.

To serve, place noodles in the base of bowls, add beans sprouts, top with prawns and vegetables then pour over broth. The bok choy should just be wilted from the heat of the mix for maximum crunch. Sprinkle with chopped coriander, spritz with lime juice and top with fried shallots. The tofu is really essential as they soak up all the broth and taste absolutely amazing, and give a real authentic feel!


tips:
If you want a more intense flavour add more laksa paste at the start, and, or mix two different laksa paste's together for a different taste.

Chuck some flour and a swodge of the curry powder of your choice into a plastic bag.

Take the fish fillet of your choice and chuck them in the bag. Hold the bag closed and shake it a bit.

Gently fry or grill the fish.

Serve on the salad of your choice with the white wine of your choice. We're into coleslaw at the moment.

For more interesting salads:
- Chop up everything fine-ish.
- throw in some cooked cous cous
- add oil, vinegar, ethnic flavouring of your choice (curry powder, soy, sesame, whatever)
- serve with grilled or fried chicken or fish or slow-roasted lamb or beef.

Gorgo said...

Chuck some flour and a swodge of the curry powder of your choice into a plastic bag.

Take the fish fillet of your choice and chuck them in the bag. Hold the bag closed and shake it a bit.

Gently fry or grill the fish.

Serve on the salad of your choice with the white wine of your choice. We're into coleslaw at the moment.

For more interesting salads:
- Chop up everything fine-ish.
- throw in some cooked cous cous
- add oil, vinegar, ethnic flavouring of your choice (curry powder, soy, sesame, whatever)
- serve with grilled or fried chicken or fish or slow-roasted lamb or beef.

Instead of flour and curry powder, I use flour and 1 crushed up chicken stock cube.
Makes ya snapper fillets taste awsome. And if you like bit more zing,,,add some Cajun with the flour/stock cube mix.

^nice one

te doctor - nicer one haha

Remove frozen meat pie from freezer. Place pie in microwave. Cook pie for 3 minutes on high heat setting.


Remove frozen bean packet from freezer. Place a portion of beans in boiling water. Cook the beans.

Remove pie from microwave after 3 minutes. Place pie on griller and grill the pie for a few minutes to dry out and harden the crust.

Drain water from beans and plate them along with the pie.

Serve with favoured condiments.

Last night's left over mashed potatoe, mix in an egg or two, heat butter in cast iron fry pan, create patties in pan using table spoon, fry till golden brown, eat. Yumm.

It's an Oirish breakfast with plenty of carbohydrates in it to get you through the day.

Mark _australia said...

Sorry to hijack the "good recipe" thread but I just have to mention one that stuck in my mind. From an old uni newspaper article where they got people to write in with their best cheapo uni student meals that (apparently!) tasted nice also

Uni student Spaghetti Marinara:

2 minute noodles, cooked, without flavour sachet
1 Can of sardines
1 Can of oysters
1 Can of cocktail prawns
Half a cup of tomato sauce.

Combine.

Done.

Mark - you might like this dish a old mate of mine used to have when he was short before pay day...

Small tin cooked peas, small tin cooked corn - add cheese twisties and garnish with tomatoe sauce...

Thai beef salad. Or even better is to use Kangaroo fillet:

The salad is easy. Just throw the following together in a big bowl:

> 1 small head lettuce - pref. mignonette or coral, pref. not tasteless iceberg
> 2 small carrots, shredded
> half a finely sliced lemongrass stick (the white end is the tasty bit. The greener it is, the more fibrous it is and is has less flavour anyway so throw the top bit away)
> big handful of cherry or grape tomato, halved
> 2 lebanese cucumber, peeled and sliced
> 1 bunch coriander leaf, roughly chopped
> 1 bunch basil leaf, torn
> 1-2 finely sliced red chilli (optional and seeded unless you like it extra hot!)

Now go bbq a good thick steak (or kanga fillet). You want it flame grilled and well done on the outside but still pink in the middle. While that's going, mix the following dressing in a bowl or jug:

> juice of one lemon
> juice of 2 limes, preferably also the pulp as well
> 2 tspn sesame oil
> 2 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped
> 2-3 lime leaf very finely sliced
> just a dash of rice wine vinegar (optional - just makes it a little more acidic)
> about a tbspn of oil (peanut or olive is OK)
> 1 tspn brown sugar (or palm sugar to be more authentic)
> fish sauce. You need quite a bit - maybe 100 ml or so - but how much is hard to say. I taste it as I go until it tastes good. If you go too far the dressing will be too salty in which case just add a bit more sugar

Once the steak is done, let it rest a couple of minutes then slice it finely. Throw it on top of the salad with the dressing and make sure you put in the steak juices on the cutting board! Toss well and serve with steamed rice.

That's heaps for 2 people at our place.

EDIT: Forgot a primary ingredient - the basil leaf!

Meat

Buy meat.

Cook meat in fat

Season to taste with bacon


Serve with beer.

Fish and Kazzie sauce.

Dust fish (preferably firmer flesh like Snapper, Cod,...) in flour and a few herbs, salt and pepper. Don't use too many herbs as you will be using fresh parsley after you have cooked the fish.

Cook in olive oil and put to one side to drain on paper towel. (Preferable to have the fish in smaller pieces.)

After cooking the fish, add some chopped garlic to the remaining oil and cook through. Once done take the garlic out as the oil has taken in the flavour of the garlic. If you don't like garlic you don't have to put it in.

After taking out the garlic, keep the heat going under the pan and pour in around a cup to cup and a half of white vinegar. Be careful doing this as it could spit hot oil back at you. You'll see a heap of steam come off the pan, being most of the evaporating alcohol from the vinegar.

Continually stir the oil / vinegar. The sauce comes together with the flour from the fish, oil and vinegar after about two to three minutes. You want to get all the bits that may be on the bottom of the pan into the sauce.

Meanwhile arrange the fish and put a decent amount of chopped fresh parsley over the top. Take the sauce off the heat our pour over the fish and parsley.

Serve with a salad and plenty of fresh bread to mop up the sauce. Enjoy!!!

so here we are again, mary is here but tonight 'hann the lighter' has her by the hand ( more me, as it happens)...tonight - a wonderful addition to any pasta, spread over fish or tossed through a freshly boiled/fried potatoes

Oregano salma ( nut-less pesto)

50gm oregano leaves - with little or no stork
150gm parsley, flat leaf - with little or no stork
1 garlic clove - small
1 tsp salt - fresh ground from a 'pepper' grinder, improved flavor

1 lemon, lightly zested, skinned and segmented, no pith, keep flesh for seasoning
olive oil - extra virgin

method

grind ( or blend, scrape sides often) salt, lemon segments and garlic clove to a smooth paste, add herbs and grind/blend to a smooth paste. add 2tb lemon juice or add to taste/use

add enough olive oil as your needs dictate:

ie: thick with added fresh sourdough crumbs and parmesan cheese for roasted fish crust
...or thin as pesto for dressings with seeded mustard and lime juice, fried garlic chips and crispy shallots over your kipler potato and thyme roasted beet salad

use quickly, store in fridge airtight 2-3days, after that rub it on the inside of a roast chicken's skin.

sal.

TUNA SURPRISE.

Fold tailgate down and place cheap Krazy Clarks gas cooker on tailgate.
Boil some vegeroni pasta on cooker untill cooked.
Add 1 can of tuna, 1 tin of peas and half a jar of pesto.Stir whilst hot.
Add parmesan cheese to taste.
Wash down with a litre of sun cured goon.

I lived on this for months at Corros and Lano one season.Thus the name
" Hey whats for dinner? "
" Tuna Surprise "

It is quite tasty though.