snaplings

New Shanghai, Ashfield

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 05:08:00 +0000

With only a 20 minute lunch sojourn in Ashfield, C and I knew we had to go to New Shanghai for dumplings. As always, the pan fried pork buns and dumplings were doughy, yeasty, juicy, soupy, salty and fatty, all the things I crave from a Shanghainese dumpling. We always ask for La Jiao Jiang (Fermented Chili Sauce) because it makes the perfect pre-vinegar dip for the dumplings.. Although today for the first time when we went to eat them they were a bit cold. We sent them back, to our suprise instead of sending new ones they just bunged them back on the hot plate to reheat, so they were a little dry. Don't worry New Shanghai, I still love you even though you are such a tight ass! The noodles were delicious, slippery and very chewy. The pan-fried pork buns are not photographed, because in my excitement we scoffed the lot before I had a chance. Snap.

New Shanghai
273 Liverpool Rd
Ashfield NSW 2131
PH: (02) 9797 7284

Chocolate Ganache Cake

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Wed, 18 May 2011 02:09:00 +0000

Ingredients (serves 8)

600g Chocolate (60%+)
450 mL Pure Cream
4 tsp Rum
75g Glacée Chestnuts* in Liquer
1 Vanilla Pod
200g Digestive Biscuits
1 cup Rice Bubbles
1 cup Corn Flakes
100g Unsalted Butter
1/2 tsp Granulated Salt

Method

1. Prepare a 25cm springform tin by placing a sheet of baking paper on the base before locking in place.
2. Process chocolate and place in a heatproof bowl.
3. Heat cream and split vanilla pod in a small saucepan until steam appears, but do not allow to boil. Remove from heat, discard bean pod and add rum, or the liquer syrup from the glacée chestnuts.
Immediately pour the cream onto the chocolate, gently stirring until a homogenous, smooth mixture has formed. Set aside to cool.
4. Place the butter, cut into cubes, in a microwave container and heat for 1 minute or until fully melted.
In a large bowl, combine the rice bubbles, cornflakes and chunky digestive crumbs. Add 3-4 chopped glacee chestnuts, sprinkle over the salt and the butter, stir to combine.
5. Pour 1.25 cups of the chocolate ganache mixture into the Cereal Base and combine. Spread into the lined tin and refrigerate for 15 minutes to set.
6. Pour over the remaining chocolate ganache and return to the fridge to set for a minimum of 6 hours.
7. To serve, use a blowtorch around the sides of the pan before unlocking. Use a cake spatula to transfer to a platter, garnish with double cream and chestnuts, with a little of the liquer syrup drizzled over the top.

Notes
*If Glacee Chestnuts in Liquor cannot be obtained, replace with Caramel Coated Hazelnuts, and use Frangelico in place of the chestnut syrup or rum.

Long Melon at Little Bangladesh

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 10:08:00 +0000

Before a visit to the Bangladeshi strip in Sydney's Lakemba, I thought I was an open-minded foodie, whisk and cleaver at the ready for any culinary adventure to stumble into my path. What I encountered there would stump any home cook or keen-nosed beagle for that matter. When I saw two gentlemen heaving enormous bundles of edible plant material out of an unmarked van and into this shop (which will remain nameless), I just knew I had to find out what it was.

The mass of curly-cue vines, white spongey flowers and soft velvety leaves belong to the plant of the Long Melon, or fuzzy melon. What I was not prepared for, was the stench. After bringing home a large raft of the unruly flora I began to unfurl it out of the bag- which I imagine is like the plant equivalent of gutting a pig. Every tendril I extracted from the bag produced a stronger and more foul aroma than the previous, smelling like a combination of burning rubber and a decomposing roast dinner.

The odor was so much so that the whole lot ended up on the grass in the backyard so I could think of what to do with it. Sadly I made the decision to bin it, despite the tasty recommendation the shop owner offered. I hate to waste food but this is one exception, for the need not to stink my house out. My hat is off to whoever is game enough to cook and eat this. For anyone interested the shopkeeper suggested cooking it with spices,onion,ghee, and prawns and adding it in at the last minute like a stir fry. She also mentioned you are not supposed to cook the stalks, just the leaves.

Obviously the friendlier component to the plant is the melon itself, which I have cooked and enjoyed on a number of occasions. most notably as an item at the table for szechuan hot pot.

At this shop there is a great selection of spices, fruits, veggies and other fantastic grocery items as well. I am also very impressed that they go out of their way to stock unusual ingredients and ones that they use back home, and I sincerely hope they continue to do so. This is one of 10 other Bangladeshi owned / run shops on the same block.

Gooey Nut Slice

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 13:36:00 +0000

After watching Anna Olson on Sugar today with her theme ingredient of 'condensed milk' I was tempted to make this slice. Its a deliciously gooey combination between caramelized condensed milk, nuts, toasted coconut and biscuit base and is ridiculously easy to put together. Her recipe calls for a biscuit base made of digestive biscuits and butter, whereas I made a shortcake type crust with self raising flour and butter. Because I do most of my baking by eye your best bet if you want to make it is just to follow Anna Olson's recipe for Southern Squares. The topping is a combination of nuts and coconut, and the gooeyness is from the 3 tins of condensed milk that are poured over top. (The recipe calls for 2 but, what the hey) The entire concoction is then baked for around an hour and cooled for 3 hours minimum before slicing. I used walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds but next time I would probably just stick to salted peanuts as the walnuts had an overwhelming presence in the final result.

Cinnamon Candied Nuts

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 01:42:00 +0000

These toasty cinnamon-scented candied walnuts, cashews and pecans make a great home-made gift for the holidays. They are super easy, just combine the ingredients and bake! They are great as ice cream toppers or even sprinkled over salad with some beautiful blue cheese, pear and rocket.

Makes 1 kg

Ingredients
500 g Whole Walnuts
250 g Raw Cashews
250 g Pecan Nuts
3 Egg Whites
300g Sugar
4 tsp Cinnamon
2 tsp Salt

Method

Combine the nuts in a bowl.
Whisk egg whites until frothy. Add the egg whites to the nuts and coat well.
Add the sugar and cinnamon and toss to coat.
Spread loosely onto lined baking trays and bake for 10 minutes, turning once until dark golden brown and dry.
Sprinkle over salt and toss to combine.
Cool completely before packing into jars.
See notes for additional information.

Notes

These keep well for a month, place a small tea bag of rice tied with decorative ribbon in the middle to remove any moisture. This stops them from sticking together. If making ahead, shake the jars every week or so before gifting to ensure they stay separate. Store in a cool dark and dry place if possible. When baking they will brown around the edges first, try to move these bits toward the center of the tray when you turn them. Discard any that have become black. Most importantly, keep a close eye on them because once they start to brown they go dark very quickly! Top with christmas fabric squares and tie with ribbon.

Manmaruya, Campsie

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 23:15:00 +0000

Who would have believed that Campsie, home of Sydney's largest conglomeration of dollar stores and stinky old dudes, would have this hidden gem. I was there around lunch time and BOOM, the waft of fried chicken hit my nostrils so naturally i had no choice but to venture in. I ordered a Karaage Chicken Ramen with extra cha shu (Japanese roast pork) an extra hanjuku no tamago (poached egg) and some extra negi (spring onions). And yes they understood my broken Japanese. For those who don't know, Ramen is all about the extra toppingu. I'm sure I could have had menma (bamboo shoots) Niniku (grated garlic) and Baata (butter) if I had asked for it. In Japan there are more bizarre toppings than I choose to mention here today. Lets just say they involved underpants.

Manmaruya is run by some handsome Japanese boys that definately know a thing or two about Tonkotsu. (pork bone broth) It was light, flavoursome and not overly salty. The thick gooeyness of the Gumshara broth or fatty and salty soup from Ryo's Noodle go to show that every Ramen shop soup should have its own character. I didn't poke around the open kitchens this time to find a huge pot with simmering pork bones, but I will be sure to next time to confirm whether it is the real deal. In any case, it tasted pretty good. The noodles were a little on the soggy side for me- I like them to still be in rigor mortis and very very al dente. They also had a large range of the usual washoku, sushi, bento and the like. If you are in the area and are looking for a cheap and tasty feed, Manmaruyu has my stamp of approval.

Manmaruya
193 Beamish St
Campsie NSW 2194
Phone (02) 9789 5759

Ghostie Cake & Hallowe'en

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 10:05:00 +0000

Halloween this year was truly scary on a number of levels, the costumes, the trickery, the over-50's bobbing for donuts competition. There was more skin jiggling there than at Bada Bing on a friday night. But by far the most freaky for me was rolling out some fondant to make this ghostie cake. I saw the design originally in a women's weekly cake for kids mag/book and decided that since I own a bombe mold to make good use of it. Turns out it was super duper easy, all except for keeping the blue icing UNDER the fondant and not smeared all over the virginal white exterior. Was quite pleased with the shonky but recognizable ghostie result. Also some old pics from the spooktacular feast that was halloween.

Miss Ghostie

Ghostie's yummy icing blob filling (all vanilla)

Sundried Tomato Pinwheels with Coriander Leaves AKA Pumpkins

Pre-school Stylie Mac n Cheese Swamp Monsters for the kiddies

Almond Shortbread Witches Fingers n Toes

The tomato pinwheels had a filling made of semi-dried tomatoes, cream cheese and some spices processed in a blender and spread onto sundried tomato wraps. They were wrapped over night and sliced into rounds an hour before serving. Quite fiddly but really tasty. The witches fingers were courtesy of George Calombaris' recipe for greek Kourambithes cookies, but because it was a rainy day I ended up adding more flour to the sticky and soft dough.

Tetsuya's 'Secret Recipes'

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 05:14:00 +0000

07.08.08

A few days ago a friend and I went to David Jones' new Market Street location in Sydney to view our idol Tetsuya Wakuda make us a great feast while doing a detailed demonstration using his line of products. There were what seemed like 300 people in the audience, all pushing and shoving to hastily grab at the canapes coming from the kitchen. Luckily we squeezed in right at the side and were about 3 feet away from Tets! I couldn't take photos due to the fact that I forgot my camera if you can believe it!! But at least you have the recipes... and believe me they are amazing. They have all been corrected by the staff at Tets'. Also, from what I know these are not in his book, nor on his menu, except the truffle butter which he serves at Tetsuya's. I feel privileged!

Please visit Tetsuya's Website for his listing of products:
http://www.tetsuyas.com/page/products.html

This range has been extended since to include Truffle Salt, among other great finds!

In no particular order:

Canape 1 - Raw Pacific Oysters

Pacific Oysters
Finely chopped chives
Ocean Trout Roe (small red roe)
Tetsuya's Oyster Dressing
Lemon Juice + Segment
Ginger Juice

Place a tbsp of this mixture into each oyster.
Serve immediately.

Canape 2 - Tuna Sashimi

Rectangular Pieces of Tuna Sashimi
Tetsuya's Oyster Dressing
Finely chopped chives
Grated Fresh Wasabi
Grated Ginger
Few drops Soya sauce
Lemon Juice
Mirin

Arrange the sashimi on a platter and pour
this mixture evenly over the slices.
Serve immediately.

Canape 3 - Mushroom Risotto

Arborio Rice
Parmesan
Butter
Tetsuya's Truffle Salsa
Raw Cup Mushroom chunks
White Wine - Riesling

Make plain risotto, brown onions and rice until transluscent, adding chicken stock, riesling,
add raw mushroom in at the end. (It was almost raw in the final product)
Place Risotto in a bowl and mix with the truffle salsa,
butter and parmesan for a good 4-5 min until everything
has melted and blended together.
Temperature when serving is to be warm.

Canape 4 - Chicken and Egg Soup

Cooked Roast Chicken, diced
Smoked Bacon, diced
Onion finely chopped
Chicken Stock
Lots of eggs (roughly 1 L soup: 3 eggs)
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Green Peas
Truffle Oil

Directions:
Sweat down the bacon and onion.
Add Chicken stock and reduce 20%
Beat eggs with lots of parmesan to make a loose paste
Add chicken pieces and Peas, and bring back to the boil (cook chicken)
When boiling, Ladle egg mixture over top the soup evenly and stir gently.
Serve hot, with egg just cooked.

Canape 5 - Quail Egg

Fried Wild Rocket, finely chopped
Pinch of Parsley, Finely Chopped
Tetsuya's Truffle Salt
Olive Oil
Pepper
Poached Quail Eggs- Runny Yolk

Place the chilled quail eggs (poached in the shell) in a bowl.
Coat with olive oil vinegar and remaining ingredients, being very generous with the wild rocket.
Gently toss to coat for a few seconds.
Serve on a bed of the sprinkled fried wild rocket.

Canape 6 - Tets Fries

French Fries
Tetsuya's Truffle Salt
Finely Chopped Parsely

Mix together well when hot.

Canape 7 - Tet's Restaurant Truffle Butter

160g Unsalted Butter, softened
40g Tetsuya's Truffle Salsa
25g Finely milled Parmesan Cheese

Combine ingredients and add salt to taste.
Place in a dish and refrigerate until set.
Lasts 1 week covered with cling film.

valentines hotcakes

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 02:53:00 +0000

You will be sure to win accolades from your Valentine's with this easy breakfast in bed recipe.

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1½ cups self-raising flour
¾ cup castor sugar
3 tbsp. cocoa powder (must be good quality)
1 pinch salt
3 tbsp. melted unsalted butter
Neapolitan ice cream

Method

Place the flour, sugar, drinking chocolate and salt in a large bowl and combine well. Now add the butter in the microwave to melt. While that’s happening, crack in the eggs, add the vanilla extract and half the milk into the flour mix and give it a hit with a whisk. Keep adding milk slowly until you reach the desired consistency. Remember, the thinner the batter, the thinner the pancake and vice-versa. After the butter has cooled for a minute, whisk it in. Pour a tablespoon of batter into a well-heated, well-buttered pan until bubbles form on the top. Flip and cook for another 30 seconds. Keep them warm on a plate covered in aluminium foil. Serve warm with scoops of Neapolitan ice cream.

Coffee Art

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 23:33:00 +0000

The borders of food and art grow ever fuzzier with this recent revelation in the form of a coffee. Baristas make fascinating shapes and painterly images in many different ways- they jiggle the milk as they pour into the hot espresso, or use stencils for the powdered chocolate atop your mochachino. Other methods are a mystery. I like the evil one down the bottom. At 7am it would be like staring at my reflection.

niangao (年糕) with X.O sauce

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 07:50:00 +0000

Ingredients

1 bag of fresh or frozen sliced nian gao
4 tbsp XO sauce
3 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp soya sauce
4 tbsp Xiaoxing wine
1 large red chilli
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 cabbage, shredded
1 lemon, juice only
1 cup of black fungus, hydrated and diced
2 cups pork leg strips

Method

1. Thinly shred the pork into longish strips. mince the garlic and shred the cabbage and fungus.

2. Heat some oil in a pan, and drop in the pork and cabbage. Stir fry these to get some colour, then add the rest of the ingredients. Put some water on the boil at the same time. When the cabbage and pork is cooked through and the sauce is thickened, turn the heat off. Boil the rice cakes for about 4 minutes (from fresh) and maybe 10 from frozen. Drain and add to the sauce.

3. Stir fry this together until the sauce has thickened and coats the rice cakes. Squeeze in the lemon juice, and serve with more fresh chilli on top. Eat straight away, they do get chewier as they cool. Admittedly, because I'm a die hard XO fan, i drizzled a bit more XO on top after cooking.

Snapling on Rice Cakes:

Venture outside of the Western perception of the Rice Cake- thin, styrofoam flavoured discs of puffed rice- and embrace the ooey, gooey, and chewy goodness of the East-Asian rice cake. The epitome of Asian comfort food, and the king of the rice noodle, get to your local Chinese, Japanese or Korean grocer and try something totally different. It’s been around for centuries!

Rice cakes are numerous in colour, flavour, size and purpose - although it is eaten every day in soups, stews and stir-fries, many varieties are made specifically for special ceremonial or superstitious purposes. For example in Korean culture, songp’yeon are rice cakes steamed with pine needles that drive away evil spirits- this is sometimes made as an offering to the family ancestors. In the olden days special rice cakes (dung duk) were offered to ‘toilet ghosts’ to deter them from ‘eating’ the children- who were small enough to fall into the traditional Korean facilities. Historic Japanese folklore dictates that there are rabbits living on the moon making rice cakes- a result of observing the silhouette of a rabbit in the dark patches of the moon. Regardless what belief, rice cakes have an important culinary and cultural significance in East-Asian culture. Tell you what, they’re damn tasty too.

All rice cakes whether they be Chinese (niangao), Japanese (mochi) or Korean (duk) are made from glutinous white rice, which has been pounded with water into a sticky dough, then molded or sliced into different shapes. There are both savoury and sweet rice cakes- the ones in this recipe are the plain savoury variety that are used in soups or typically in a fantastic Korean dish called Duk Bokee; where they are stewed in fermented chili paste (gochujang) with vegetables. To a layman they could be described as big, chewy, white noodles cut into manageable 2-3 inch pieces. Although Duk are wonderful in soups and stews, the texture from crisp-frying them is totally addictive. (see below)

Thin-sliced niangao is a type of savoury rice cake is the more universally accepted variety- spanning across China, Japan and Korea. In Korea it’s used more as the starch component to joongol (soups), whereas in China more specifically the Shanghai style it is served up pan-fried or braised. It is eaten by the million at New Years. The XO sauce in the recipe is made from a base of dried, shredded salmon, chilli and oil- and all the ingredients listed are available in most Chinese food stores in the fridge or on the shelf.

sources: Wikipedia "rice cake" and much also from life experience.

siu guōtiē (鍋貼)

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 23:50:00 +0000

YAY! The first official dumpling post on Snaplings! Dumplings are a great passion of mine, and I plan on having many more posts about them. The category boasts infinite variations and practically every culture has at least one dumpling in their repertoire. I thought I would kick off this category with my favourite - Chinese pork potstickers, or siu guōtiē (seeew gwoh-tee-eh) , with a thick and chewy wrapper crispy on the outside and bursting with salty juices in every mouthful. The pics are from my favourite dumpling eatery in Sydney, Cho Dumpling King in Chinatown. I've adapted the recipe to match theirs, and I recommend making your own pastry for the wrappers, as the ones from supermarkets are almost always too thin. Bleh! When you make them yourself, the satisfaction at the end is worth all the hard effort.

Ingredients

Filling:
300 g lean pork mince
200 g pork belly mince
5 cups cabbage, shredded
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 piece of ginger, minced (thumb sized)
1 bunch spring onions (the long green ones)
3 tbsp sesame oil
3 tbsp soya sauce
2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
1 tsp white pepper
2 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp cornflour
- - - - - - - -

Wrapper Pastry:

3 cups of flour
Roughly 1 1/2 cups icy cold water (you'll need to eyeball it)
1 tsp salt
extra flour
- - - - - - - -

Dipping Sauce:

1 part soya
1 part vinegar
sesame seeds
- - - - - - - - -
and / or
- - - - - - - - -
chilli pulp with oil (la jiao you)

Method:

1. Steam the shredded cabbage until wilted completely. Shred the spring onions into thin rounds, and mix all ingredients in a bowl together very well. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate until your pastry is ready.

2. Put the flour in a bowl and slowly add in drops of water while stirring. When all the flour in the bowl comes together into a ball, you know that's enough. It needs to be just after the "crumbly" stage, where you can knead it effectively. Tumble it out onto a floured surface and knead until the texture is uniform throughout. Let it rest someplace cool for 1/2 hr. Pinch little nuggets of dough, flour well and roll out into thin rounds between sheets of baking paper. Keep them covered with a moistened towel to prevent drying out.

3. Fill and pleat the dumplings, moistening the edge with water to seal. Dust all over with flour so that they dont stick.

4. Heat a large skillet with oil, and place the dumplings in before it gets too hot. Fry them until browned, then add 1/2 cm of water into the hot pan and cover with a tightly fitted lid or foil and seal in all the steam. When it starts to sizzle again remove the foil and flip them onto another side, adding more oil if necessary. When this has browned "taste test" one to see if its cooked through. If it is, serve immediately. If its not, add a few tablespoons more water and replace the lid until it evaporates completely. Serve with dipping sauces!

Cooking Tips: Try not to move the dumplings around too much- if you do the wrappers will tear and let all the tasty juices escape. If they come out very wrinkly and loose around the filling, you have put too much water in the pan. If they are sticking to the pan, let it cook a little longer so the crust firms up and then dislodge it gently with a thin spatula.

- - - - - - - - -

Cho Dumpling King
Shop TG6 Prince Centre, 8 Quay St
Sydney Chinatown, NSW 2000
Phone: 02-9281 2760

NB: They do not take reservations. Because its such a small shop, they take your order and payment on the street, and when a table has cleared you sit down and your food is plonked on the table straight away. I also recommend the fried tofu, cold noodle salads, and the preserved bamboo snacks in the window!

Spring Risoni

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 11:04:00 +0000

This vibrant and virtuous dish is made with little grains of dried pasta, and the freshest spring vegetables- leek and green asparagus. With little more than white wine, lemon juice and a touch of verdant virgin olive oil, you can't help but feel good eating it.

Ingredients:

2 bunches green asparagus
1 leek
1 red capsicum
1 bunch english spinach
A few good handfulls of Risoni
Olive oil
1 cup white wine
1/2 lemon juice
1 clove garlic, sliced
Shaved Parmesan

1. Bring some water to boil in a medium saucepan. Put in the pasta and hunks of fresh leek to simmer. After that has cooked for about 5 minutes, throw in the asparagus in chunks (omitting the woody stalks) and the english spinach. In another 5 minutes the aparagus will be a violent shade of green- this is when to remove and drain the lot.

2. Tumble this into a saucepan with the garlic, chopped red capsicum and some olive oil. When it starts to sizzle, add the white wine and lemon juice (and salt + pepper) and cover with a lid. After about 3 minutes remove the lid and stir until the liquid evaporates. Spoon into bowls with a drizzle of olive oil and drape in freshly shaved parmesan cheese.

cafe banana bread

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 22:18:00 +0000

Delicious slabs of brown banana bread, *ahem* just like you get in the cafe. I have been working on perfecting this recipe for a very long time (longer than I'd like to admit) and there have been many disasters along the way. I post it now because I think this is the best its gonna get for my home kitchen. Obviously add walnuts or chunks of banana to suit your taste- and I daresay some cream cheese frosting wouldn't go amiss. This was done in a 20cm x 20 cm super deep square teflon cake tin. A general rule of thumb is to use as many bananas as fit in the tin whole (with the skin on) and go from there. It sure is alot of bananas!

Ingredients:

Bananas, roughly 10 small to medium size, spotted ripe
3 1/2 cups self- raising flour (do not substitute)
2 cups brown sugar, lightly packed
5 X medium eggs (50-60g)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
50 g butter, melted
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp cardamom

Method:
(preheat the oven to 140°C / 275°F / Gas Mark 1)

1. In a big bowl, peel and break the bananas into chunks. Mash this well with a potato masher. Pour in the vanilla, melted butter, and crack the eggs in, stirring until everything is a unified mixture.

2. In another bowl, place flour, salt, spices, and brown sugar. Mix this with your hands, breaking up any lumps of brown sugar as you mix.

3. Grease the cake tin with butter, and place strips of wax paper going both ways so that they over hang by at least 2 inches over the edges of the tin. This will make it easier to lift out when its done, and it is important to grease the pan now so that when the flour activates with the liquid ingredients it will spend little or no time waiting to go in the oven.

4. Pour the flour mixture into the banana mixture and fold until you have a uniform batter. Pour this into the tin and quickly place on the middle shelf of your oven. Bake for 1 hr and 20 min, or until when you push down the top there is no squidgyness underneath the crust, and when a skewer comes out clean. Keep your eye on the temperature as every oven varies. Store at room temperature.

pimentao

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 21:59:00 +0000

This recipe is an adaptation of one that goes back in my family for generations. Its Portuguese in origin, and its used in more dishes than I can count- it adds flavour, colour and smells amazing when cooking. Basically a pesto made from red peppers, they would buy them by the bushel and layer them sliced with salt. These would ferment and create a salty mush which is blended with garlic and chillies. My version can be made in the same day- and I believe it tastes pretty much exactly the same. I use it mainly for marinading meat before baking, roasting or barbecuing, but I've listed other uses below.

Ingredients:

8-10 ripe red peppers
5 Whole Garlic bulbs, cloves peeled
1 cup Olive Oil
1/4 cup chilli oil + some of the chilli flakes
1/4 cup salt
1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar
4 tbsp sweet paprika

Method:

1. Roast the peppers until the skin is black and blistered, and place in a biiiig bowl. Cover with cling film, when cool remove skin. Blend the peppers untill finely blended.

2. Peel the garlic cloves by separating them from the bulb, and placing in a plastic bag. With a rolling pin, and the bag in one hand, beat the garlic. This will enable you to peel them all with ease. Add the other ingredients to the food processor and whiz for 5 minutes or until smooth. Put into sterilized jars and seal. Store in a dark place for up to 2 years.

My Favourite uses for Pimentao
1. Put 3 tbs in a chicken marinade- with slices of lemon and bbq
2. Put 2 tbs in with uncooked rice and stock, with chorizo, safron, peas and carrots for savoury rice
3. Cook 4tbs with bacon and tomato puree and mix with pasta
4. Marinade Pork leg cutlets with white wine, bayleaf and a few tablespoons and roast in the oven with potatoes
5. Use when cooking Bacalhau- Portuguese salt cod

kinoko sakamushi

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 00:27:00 +0000

This Japanese dish translates to something along the lines of Sake Steamed Mushrooms. The delicate flavour of the sake broth is highlighted with a drop of hot wasabi. Although the recipe is not 100% authentic, as the mushrooms are poached in sake-rather than steamed over it- I found my way of making it to be more flavoursome, as the mushrooms impart their earthy juices into the sauce. Really this dish is mostly about expressing the different textures of mushrooms. I find that an essential mushroom to this dish is the King Oyster, it has an abalone-like chewy texture. Serve this warm or room temperature as an entree or with aemono (small vinaeger and dressed dishes) and rice.

Ingredients

8 medium king oyster mushrooms
12 chestnut mushrooms
15 swiss brown mushrooms
1/2 cup sake
1 pinch salt
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp wasabi paste

Method

1. Slice the mushrooms thickly (0.5cm)
2. Boil water, and put mushrooms in for about 4-5 min, you don't want to fully cook them.
3. Reserve 2 ladles of the cooking liquid, and drain the mushrooms.
4. In a bowl put the mushroom liquor, sake, salt and soy sauce.
5. Arrange the mushrooms in small bowls, pour over the sauce so that their in a jacuzzi, but not enough to be drowning in!
6. Dot a tiny drop of wasabi on the top mushroom.

PS: does any one like my iron-chefesque photo? hehe : )

Rustic Japonaise

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 02:43:00 +0000

A Japonaise is French for damn good coffee meringue cake.

This cake was crunchy, chewy, and reminiscent of tiramisu but not as sharp- it exploits the mellow coffee flavour that you find in coffee with alot of milk and coffee ice creams. The almonds give it a great look and with a dusting of white icing sugar is the perfect finishing flourish. I got the idea for this cake from Europe- who make it with a precision that makes the many layers of meringe meltingly thin, and very neat and tidy. Alas, I cannot provide you with a precise recipe on this cake, as I did not use one at all in making it. Since you're all smart folk, my guidelines below should direct you towards a similar result. Please take note: when making the cream, it must be quite a dense texture, as when you slice into the chewy meringue there is the chance it will all ooze out the sides - if its made with whipped cream and the like.

Ingredients:

12 egg whites
Heaps of sugar
2 tsp cream of tartar
{Or just use a plain meringue recipe for above}
Boiled, skinned and ground Almond meal
Almond Extract - 1 tbsp for all layers should be enough.
Lemon Zest, only a little- 1 tsp per layer

Coffee Cream:
Butter
Icing sugar
touch of cream
{Or just use a plain buttercream recipe for above}
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2-3 tbsp instant espresso mixed with 3-4 tbsp boiled water, strained and cooled

Topping- Slivered Almonds, toasted
Icing sugar

Method:

1. Once your meringue (egg whites + sugar) have reached the desired consistency, fold in the almond meal, extract and lemon zest. Mark circles out on two sheets of baking paper, flip over and pile the meringue on. Bake until desired doneness. The longer you leave it, the harder and chewyer it will get. That's a good thing, because it will soften with the cream. Leave in an open oven to cool.

2. At this point, you can make the butter cream. 3/4 way through the process add the espresso and vanilla. You can adjust both to how you wish.

3. When the meringues are cold, layer with butter cream, leaving enough to cover the top layer. Sprinkle with almonds and icing sugar, and refrigerate overnight. Remove 30 min before serving, to soften the cream.

Food Tattoos

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 02:46:00 +0000

Sure, we say we love food. We eat, we cook, we read, we pontificate and we blog. But these fine-feathered food fanatics have taken the next step- and branded food permanently on their bodies. Ranging from interesting and funky (see: little mexican mouse on flying corn cob) to the downright bizzarre (see: nightmare cheeseburger with bulging eyeballs) these tattoos really have you asking yourself: if there was a food tattoo I was going to get- what would it be? Feel free to answer this yourselves.. Although I will probably never get one- due to my very very low pain threshold- many of these tattoos are indeed "guilty of being delicious".

mushu chicken

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 01:24:00 +0000

Here's a good recipe for home-made mushu chicken. Basically its like a stir fry of shredded ingredients served with thin chinese pancakes. You can't really go wrong with any other meat / veggies as long as their chopped finely and fried with egg, cabbage and mushrooms- which tend to be in any mushu's that I've ever eaten. If you don't have the correct pancakes- you can substitute with thin tortillias (shhhh!!!!) but it just ain't the same. This is serious comfort food.

Ingredients

1/2 Wombok cabbage, shredded
2 cups mushrooms- dried/sliced
1 can straw mushrooms
3 eggs
1 can sliced bamboo shoots
3 cups bean sprouts
6 chicken thigh fillets
1/2 cup mirin
4 tbsp soya
4 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp ketchup manis (sweet soy)
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 cloves crushed garlic
Pepper

Method

1. Shred all ingredients finely. Re-hydrate dried and sliced mushrooms in boiling water. Heat the wok with the veggie oil, and throw the chicken in. Toss and brown, then add 2 tbsp soya and garlic.

2. When the chicken is 4/5 cooked through, throw in the mushrooms and bamboo shoots, and the oyster sauce. Stir and fry for a couple minutes. Then add the cabbage, and the bean shoots, along with the mirin, stir quickly and leave to fry without stirring for 2 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, beat the eggs with the ketchup manis. Fry in a separate pan over high heat making a sort of egg-only pancake. Flip and cook other side. Break into small shreds with spatula, and add to the wok.

4. Stir ingredients, there will be a little liquid in the bottom of the wok. You can either drain everything and discard that, or thicken it with 1/2 tbsp of cornstarch with water. Remeber it should be moist but not runny, honey.

Serve with hoisin sauce, long onion pieces cucumber strips on the side, and chinese pancakes of course!

balsamic lentils

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 22:17:00 +0000

I found these amazing french lentils at D'elish store in Lindfield. When I went for the tasting of my wedding dinner, one of the courses had a confit quail leg sitting on a mound of chewy, flavoursome green lentils. Ever since then the concept has stuck with me, and trust me, these are mind blowing with the fresh orange peel and a great quality balsamic vinegar. For less chewy lentils, cook them slightly longer, but be sure not to overcook or you might invent balsamic dhal. I served this with crispy skinned salmon on mash- the lentils added the perfect amount of acidity and citrus to cut through the richness of the main ingredients.

Ingredients

2 1/2 Cups french green lentils
1 litre Fond de Veau (Veal stock)
1/2 cup aged balsamic vinegar (only the best will do)
3 Orange peelings
1 Whole clove of garlic
2 Bay leafs
1 tbsp ground black pepper

Method

1.Put the lentils and the stock in a pan with a bay leaf and bring to the boil. (do NOT add salt at this point)

2. Boil for 7 minutes, stirring. Then cover the pot, and let it sit for 5-10 minutes until the lentils are just chewable. Strain the stock into another pot, rinse the lentils in cold water and put aside.

3. In the stock, add the pepper, whole garlic clove, balsamic, and bay leaf. Reduce this by at least 1/2, add the orange peelings and salt to taste, and cook for another 3-5 minutes. At this stage it should be a bit syrupy and dark.

4. Strain this and add to the lentils before serving.

NB Vegetable stock can be used for vegetarians

hubba hubba

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 00:23:00 +0000

This creamy, strangely satisfying and healthy dip is made from hummous- the lebanese word for chickpeas. In the can you just drain and not cook- but you must cook if your using from dry. Serve with the freshest lebanese breads,drizzle with good quality olive oil, and a pinch of paprika or sumac.

Hummous

4 cans Chick Peas - drained
1 jar tahini
2 big lemons- just the juice
5 cloves garlic, chopped roughly
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cup greek yoghurt

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Chill
overnight in the fridge.

Bread and Butter Pudding

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 23:39:00 +0000

Here's a snapling of my "rustic" (messy + easy) bread and butter pudding that just brims over with ooey gooey bread and crispy sultanas. If you want you can glaze it after with some warmed apricot jam or honey- but i like it slightly burnt and au naturelle.

Indredients:

6 eggs
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
4 cups full cream milk (2%)
6 crusty bread rolls (like hot dog rolls but not the crap kind)
1/2 cup raisins
3/4 cup rum
50 g butter, sliced thinly

Method:

1. Put the raisins in the rum to macerate and plumpen overnight.

2. Whisk eggs, vanilla and sugar in a bowl. Put the milk on to boil.

3. Cut the rolls in 1-inch pieces.

4. Pour the milk slowly into the eggs whisking rapidly. Voila custard.

5. Dunk the bread in the custard, make sure it absorbs a bunch of custard. Place in buttered baking pan, with the brown bits toward the top but on an angle so that you see white too. Fill the whole pan with the soaked bread.

5. Take the slices of butter and insert randomly between bread slices. Do the same with the raisins, sprinkling on top too. Pour over any remaining custard. You can make more if you like it runnier. This recipe makes it just so that the bread sticks together, with no runny custard.

6. Bake at 200 until golden and there are some dark brown bits.

Serve warm with pouring custard, or vanilla ice cream.

little foodies

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 03:24:00 +0000

OK I know this isn't a recipe or review, but look how cute they are!!!! This is an ad for Wrigley's Extra gum, where the food the main character has eaten follows him around all day - literally. The animation is fantastic. I cant wait for them to make actual toys out of these things so they can follow me around too!!

Mustard Pickles

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 22:57:00 +0000

By far my favorite Australian condiment - Mustard Pickles. I finally found some fresh turmeric and decided to put it to good use. These taste sour, sweet, pungent and have a hint of curry that just lifts all the flavours. I like mine chunky so i left the chunks in, but usually its 3/4 blended to form a smooth spreadable paste. Its up to you.

1 Large Daikon (white) Radish
1 large stalk of fresh turmeric (or 1 tbsp dry)
1 large red onion
8 dry black peppercorns
1 tbsp salt
3-4 cups vinegar - depending on the size of ur daikon
2 cups sugar
2 heaped tbsp mustard powder
1 heaps tsp curry powder

Method
1. Peel the daikon and chop into a fine mince. Do the same with the onion. Get a piece of parchment on your board, and peel the end of the turmeric. Wash the peeler straight away. Grate the turmeric on the finest grater you have, and wash the grater straight away (or everything will be stained yellow for life!!)

2. Put all the ingredients in a big pot and pour in the vinegar. It should come 3/4 of the way up the ingredients. Then pu in the peppercorns, salt, and sugar. Turn the heat on low and simmer for 30 min, stirring now and then.

3. You are looking for the sauce to have reduced down and become thicker, and all the pieces should be an even tone of yellow and cooked through. Add a splash more vinegar at this stage and whiz half the mixture in the food processor or with the wand.

4. Let it cool completely in the pot and transfer to glass jars. If you're jarring them they will last for years. But like me if you can't be bothered just put it in a jar and eat it up in the next couple weeks! : )

Shabu Shabu

noreply@blogger.com (snaplings) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 22:45:00 +0000

I often make shabu-shabu as a quick and easy dinner- the only important bit is having all the ingredients you want in your fridge! At home, in the Japanese culture every family and home has their own favorites as to what they put in their shabu. Firstly- a shabu is a soup, or hotpot cooked on a gas cooker at the table. This way your family can add the raw ingredients as they like and eat them while they cook. So you start with a soup base- which consists of dashi, soya sauce (just a drop), and cooking sake. I like to add mirin for sweetness. This gets boiled up on the stove and transferred to the pan on the little cooker. Next you have raw ingredients, which you put in plates around the cooker. The main staple at all shabus is the paper-thin shaved beef. You can get this at most korean or japanese grocery stores in the freezer section. Don't thaw, because it only takes about 5 minutes to become room temperature. Then I add english spinach cut into 1-inch pieces, same with the long onions, Big hunks of silken tofu, re-hydrated sliced mushrooms (don't try for the whole mushrooms they take forever!) I like to add these but their not typical shabu- fish tubes, sliced fish cake, chopped red chilli, sliced garlic, and sometimes pickles. Experiment with what you love to eat in soups. I served this with bowls of rice and dipping sauces- one soy based and the other sesame based. In japan they have sukiyaki as well, which is served with a raw egg for dipping. Really, the only time it takes is to boil the broth, put the rice cooker on and chop ingredients - which has never taken me more than 20 min all together.