NAME: _Two Dry Marinades
INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
Red Marinade
1 tbsp each of the following
nustard seed
dried onion flakes
coriander
paprika powder
salt
2 tbsp each of
granulated garlic
raw sugar
Yellow Marinade
1 tbsp each of the following
granulated garlic
smoked paprika powder
salt
turmeric powder
2 tbsp each of
raw sugar
coriander seed
METHOD:
In each case, put the ingredients in a spice blender or processor and blitz until reduced to powder, then apply liberally to meat and leave to marinate for at least an hour in a cool place or the refrigerator.
SERVING:
not applicable
NOTES:
I recently had a kilo apiece of pork ribs and chicken wing pieces, wanted to just do them up for slow oven baking and frying respectively. I decided to marinate and cook them both, and that way I'd have the meat for two different meals. I used the red for the pork and the yellow for the chicken.
These dry marinades work same as charcuterie marinades, the salt and sugar carry the spices into the meat at a pretty much a known rate, so the longer you leave it (within reason) the deeper the flavour will be. The sugar also helps form a caramel on the meat, hence using it for roasted and fried meat gives a lovely dark colour. Also, the salt and sugar helps break down the meat proteins so the resulting meal is tender, and slow cooking well marinated meat provides the most tender meal. the roasted ribs are to die for.
ENJOY!
Sunday, 7 October 2012
Sunday, 30 September 2012
Home Made Baked Beans
NAME: _Home Made Baked Beans
INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
2 cups dried beans. I used borlotti but you can use kidney beans or similar
1 dessertspoon raw sugar
1/2 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup water
1 tsp salt
2 tsp mixed spice (equal qty ground clove, ground cinnamon, ground cayenne pepper, dry mustard)
1 small onion
1 tbsp rice bran or grapeseed oil
METHOD:
Soak the beans in plenty of water for half a day to a day. discard the water and any skins that float off. Place soaked beans in a saucepan of water with plenty of water and bring to a boil, simmer for about 30 minutes to an hour, until the beans are slightly softened. (This may vary with the beans you use - aim to get them chewy but soft enough to get teeth into,)
Peel and chop the onion fine. In a heavy saucepan, put the oil and the onion, gently sautee the onion until it gets to the glassy stage. Add the spice, sugar, and salt, stir to combine, keep sauteeing for another few minutes until the spices become fragrant. Add the drained beans and stir through, sautee for another few minutes. Add the tomato pate and the water, bring to a simmer and allow to simmer for another half hour to an hour, until the beans are soft enough.
SERVING:
Over rissoles or sausages, NOTHING can beat home made baked beans! Or in a toastie, or with eggs for breakfast, or - any of the normal things baked beans are used for. Once cooked and allowed to cool, you can keep this in a sealed container in the fridge for a few days.
NOTES:
Dunno why they call them "baked" beans - almost none of the recipes I've found ever actually put them anywhere near the oven. I prefer these beans. Also - most recipes call for hot or "quick soaks" of the beans and retain the original soaking water. It's crap. Slow soak the beans in the morning before you go to work, drain them right away when you get home, use fresh water to boil them - and get a far "ozone-friendlier" product... %)
ENJOY!
INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
2 cups dried beans. I used borlotti but you can use kidney beans or similar
1 dessertspoon raw sugar
1/2 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup water
1 tsp salt
2 tsp mixed spice (equal qty ground clove, ground cinnamon, ground cayenne pepper, dry mustard)
1 small onion
1 tbsp rice bran or grapeseed oil
METHOD:
Soak the beans in plenty of water for half a day to a day. discard the water and any skins that float off. Place soaked beans in a saucepan of water with plenty of water and bring to a boil, simmer for about 30 minutes to an hour, until the beans are slightly softened. (This may vary with the beans you use - aim to get them chewy but soft enough to get teeth into,)
Peel and chop the onion fine. In a heavy saucepan, put the oil and the onion, gently sautee the onion until it gets to the glassy stage. Add the spice, sugar, and salt, stir to combine, keep sauteeing for another few minutes until the spices become fragrant. Add the drained beans and stir through, sautee for another few minutes. Add the tomato pate and the water, bring to a simmer and allow to simmer for another half hour to an hour, until the beans are soft enough.
SERVING:
Over rissoles or sausages, NOTHING can beat home made baked beans! Or in a toastie, or with eggs for breakfast, or - any of the normal things baked beans are used for. Once cooked and allowed to cool, you can keep this in a sealed container in the fridge for a few days.
NOTES:
Dunno why they call them "baked" beans - almost none of the recipes I've found ever actually put them anywhere near the oven. I prefer these beans. Also - most recipes call for hot or "quick soaks" of the beans and retain the original soaking water. It's crap. Slow soak the beans in the morning before you go to work, drain them right away when you get home, use fresh water to boil them - and get a far "ozone-friendlier" product... %)
ENJOY!
Cheat Pretzels
NAME: _Cheat Pretzels
INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
350g baker's flour
210ml half milk half water
half tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp psyllium husk
2 tsp yeast
half tsp bicarb
1 tsp olive oil
METHOD:
Let the bread machine knead it and then take it out stick in a bowl coated in olive oil cover with tea towel leave it to rise. About 30 - 60 minutes. Alternatively, you can use the mixer with dough hooks at low to medium speed for about ten minutes, until the dough goes sticky outside, then put in the bowl and proceed as for bread machine.
Don't bother to knock it down, cos what you'll do now is twist off a bit more than a tablespoonful at a time, roll and stretch it under your palms to make a 'worm" about 1/2 to 2/3 the thickness of a lead pencil and about 8" to a foot long, stick it on an oiled baking tray and make it into the B shape as you go. Leave a bit of room for expansion.
For the bread/cheese sticks, same dough, about one and a half tablespoonfuls so it rolls and stretches into a thing a bit thicker than a pencil and same length, then you roll it in grated cheese and stick it on the oiled baking tray.
Either way, brush with half egg half milk and half a tsp of salt egg wash, sprinkle coarse salt on the pretzels so it sticks in the wash, parmesan on the cheese sticks. Let prove for another 20 - 30 minutes.
I baked at around 200 for 25 minutes, took them out and turned them over on the hot tray to dry out a bit - perfect!
SERVING:
No problems serving these, they sell themselves!
NOTES:
Real pretzels are made by boiling the pretzels in a caustic/bicarb/lye type solution to make the crust harder and the centre chewier because it's precooked a bit. I cheat by putting the bicarb direct in the flour and using a glaze.
ENJOY!
INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
350g baker's flour
210ml half milk half water
half tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp psyllium husk
2 tsp yeast
half tsp bicarb
1 tsp olive oil
METHOD:
Let the bread machine knead it and then take it out stick in a bowl coated in olive oil cover with tea towel leave it to rise. About 30 - 60 minutes. Alternatively, you can use the mixer with dough hooks at low to medium speed for about ten minutes, until the dough goes sticky outside, then put in the bowl and proceed as for bread machine.
Don't bother to knock it down, cos what you'll do now is twist off a bit more than a tablespoonful at a time, roll and stretch it under your palms to make a 'worm" about 1/2 to 2/3 the thickness of a lead pencil and about 8" to a foot long, stick it on an oiled baking tray and make it into the B shape as you go. Leave a bit of room for expansion.
For the bread/cheese sticks, same dough, about one and a half tablespoonfuls so it rolls and stretches into a thing a bit thicker than a pencil and same length, then you roll it in grated cheese and stick it on the oiled baking tray.
Either way, brush with half egg half milk and half a tsp of salt egg wash, sprinkle coarse salt on the pretzels so it sticks in the wash, parmesan on the cheese sticks. Let prove for another 20 - 30 minutes.
I baked at around 200 for 25 minutes, took them out and turned them over on the hot tray to dry out a bit - perfect!
SERVING:
No problems serving these, they sell themselves!
NOTES:
Real pretzels are made by boiling the pretzels in a caustic/bicarb/lye type solution to make the crust harder and the centre chewier because it's precooked a bit. I cheat by putting the bicarb direct in the flour and using a glaze.
ENJOY!
Thursday, 6 September 2012
Barley Risotto
NAME: _Barley "Risotto"
INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
1 cup dry pearl barley
water to boil barley
1 cup beef stock
200g bacon
200g mushrooms (see notes [1])
2 tbsp olive/grapeseed oil
METHOD:
Boil the barley in plenty of water until soft but not mushy. It will get a touch more cooking in the next step so err slightly on the firm side if you must. When cooked, drain and set aside to dry off a bit.
Cut bacon crosswise into matchsticks and place in pan with the mixed oil, fry at medium heat until just starting to crisp. Remove bacon from pan leaving oil and fat in pan. Cut mushrooms into slices (or if using shinoki, cut from base and separate into individual mushrooms) and dry between teatowels then add to pan. Fry over medium heat.until mushrooms are showing slight browning, [2] then add the bacon back in, fry for a few minutes more, add the precooked barley and toss to mix.
Increase heat and drizzle in the beef stock while tossing, (as for risotto,) waiting for stock to evaporate each time before adding more. Remove from heat and toss one more time.
SERVING:
Serve straight away.
NOTES:
[1] Mushrooms: I've used sliced swiss browns, shinoki mushrooms, and sliced oyster mushrooms at various times, they all taste great in this recipe.
[2] Frying mushrooms: DRY. They have to be dry. And if necessary, do them in batches so there's no crowding in the pan.
This is a robust meal, you can add fried onion and garlic to the basic recipe, or fine shredded fried cabbage, these each complement the flavours.
ENJOY! (for sister Liz %)
INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
1 cup dry pearl barley
water to boil barley
1 cup beef stock
200g bacon
200g mushrooms (see notes [1])
2 tbsp olive/grapeseed oil
METHOD:
Boil the barley in plenty of water until soft but not mushy. It will get a touch more cooking in the next step so err slightly on the firm side if you must. When cooked, drain and set aside to dry off a bit.
Cut bacon crosswise into matchsticks and place in pan with the mixed oil, fry at medium heat until just starting to crisp. Remove bacon from pan leaving oil and fat in pan. Cut mushrooms into slices (or if using shinoki, cut from base and separate into individual mushrooms) and dry between teatowels then add to pan. Fry over medium heat.until mushrooms are showing slight browning, [2] then add the bacon back in, fry for a few minutes more, add the precooked barley and toss to mix.
Increase heat and drizzle in the beef stock while tossing, (as for risotto,) waiting for stock to evaporate each time before adding more. Remove from heat and toss one more time.
SERVING:
Serve straight away.
NOTES:
[1] Mushrooms: I've used sliced swiss browns, shinoki mushrooms, and sliced oyster mushrooms at various times, they all taste great in this recipe.
[2] Frying mushrooms: DRY. They have to be dry. And if necessary, do them in batches so there's no crowding in the pan.
This is a robust meal, you can add fried onion and garlic to the basic recipe, or fine shredded fried cabbage, these each complement the flavours.
ENJOY! (for sister Liz %)
Tuesday, 7 August 2012
Had To Share Tempeh Marinade
NAME: _Had To Share Tempeh Marinade
INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
1 small knob fresh ginger
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp raw sugar
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1 cup light soya sauce
1 - 2 tbsp fish sauce
1 cup water
METHOD:
wash the ginger, don't bother to peel it, just slice it fine, drop in a container with the water, sugar, and salt. Stir. Cover and leave for a day or so in a cold/cool place. After a day, strain out the sliced ginger and throw away. Add the remaining ingredients and stir. Use to marinate stuff
SERVING:
Not to be served - is a marinade for other produce.
NOTES:
You may get similar results if you bring the water with sugar salt and ginger in it to the boil and then take it off and let it cool down. I haven't tried that method yet.
I used the liquid to marinate thin slices of tempeh before stir-frying. Marinate for an hour at least.
ENJOY!
INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
1 small knob fresh ginger
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp raw sugar
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1 cup light soya sauce
1 - 2 tbsp fish sauce
1 cup water
METHOD:
wash the ginger, don't bother to peel it, just slice it fine, drop in a container with the water, sugar, and salt. Stir. Cover and leave for a day or so in a cold/cool place. After a day, strain out the sliced ginger and throw away. Add the remaining ingredients and stir. Use to marinate stuff
SERVING:
Not to be served - is a marinade for other produce.
NOTES:
You may get similar results if you bring the water with sugar salt and ginger in it to the boil and then take it off and let it cool down. I haven't tried that method yet.
I used the liquid to marinate thin slices of tempeh before stir-frying. Marinate for an hour at least.
ENJOY!
Friday, 27 July 2012
Very Pretendy Chooky Curry
NAME: _Very Pretendy Chooky Curry
INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
200g butter
1 tsp each of the following whole dried seeds:
coriander, fennel, black pepper, mustard, pimento (allspice),
6 whole cloves
6 - 12 cardamom pods
2 tsp each of the following ground spices:
cumin, turmeric, red paprika, rock salt
1 tsp each
ground cayenne pepper
crushed chilli
ground cinnamon
1/2tsp coarse ground nutmeg
1 clove garlic
1 medium brown onion
1 - 2 fresh limes
500g chicken
1 tbsp plain flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 sweet potato
1 cup cooked lentils
1/2 cup raisins
2 - 3 tomatoes
METHOD:
Start the butter melting in a saucepan big enough to comfortably hold all the ingredients. Split cardamom pods lengthways, add them, the cloves, rock salt, and all the dried seeds to the butter, cut a thin (1/2cm) wedge of lime and add that, and increase the heat until the spices start to pop.
Chop the onion into strips lengthways and then cut the strips in half, add to the pan, reduce heat a little. Rough chop the garlic, add that as well.
While the onions and garlic brown slightly, cut the chicken into 2cm cubes, add the chicken and the remaining ground spices and stir occasionally, allowing the chicken to brown slightly.
Now add the plain flour, stir well, and add the chicken stock and two cups of water. Add the juice of the remaining limes (more or less according to taste) bring to a fast simmer and keep simmering for around 20 - 30 minutes.
Peel and cut the sweet potato into 2cm thick slices and quarter them, keep under water. Dice up the tomatoes, discard the seeds and liquid if desired. At around 20 minutes, drain and add the sweet potato, lentils, tomatoes, and raisins, bring back to a simmer until the sweet potato is cooked through. You may want to add a bit of water so as to barely cover the ingredients, and season with salt to taste, at this stage.
SERVING:
Serve with pilaf rice or plain basmati, and side dishes as desired.
NOTES:
None, really - it's not all that pretendy, it's actually just a fairly standard Indian spice mix and as such, will only taste good if your spices are fresh - you can vary things a fair bit to suit your tastes. But damn, it tastes good!
ENJOY!
INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
200g butter
1 tsp each of the following whole dried seeds:
coriander, fennel, black pepper, mustard, pimento (allspice),
6 whole cloves
6 - 12 cardamom pods
cumin, turmeric, red paprika, rock salt
1 tsp each
ground cayenne pepper
crushed chilli
ground cinnamon
1/2tsp coarse ground nutmeg
1 clove garlic
1 medium brown onion
1 - 2 fresh limes
500g chicken
1 tbsp plain flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 sweet potato
1 cup cooked lentils
1/2 cup raisins
2 - 3 tomatoes
METHOD:
Start the butter melting in a saucepan big enough to comfortably hold all the ingredients. Split cardamom pods lengthways, add them, the cloves, rock salt, and all the dried seeds to the butter, cut a thin (1/2cm) wedge of lime and add that, and increase the heat until the spices start to pop.
Chop the onion into strips lengthways and then cut the strips in half, add to the pan, reduce heat a little. Rough chop the garlic, add that as well.
While the onions and garlic brown slightly, cut the chicken into 2cm cubes, add the chicken and the remaining ground spices and stir occasionally, allowing the chicken to brown slightly.
Now add the plain flour, stir well, and add the chicken stock and two cups of water. Add the juice of the remaining limes (more or less according to taste) bring to a fast simmer and keep simmering for around 20 - 30 minutes.
Peel and cut the sweet potato into 2cm thick slices and quarter them, keep under water. Dice up the tomatoes, discard the seeds and liquid if desired. At around 20 minutes, drain and add the sweet potato, lentils, tomatoes, and raisins, bring back to a simmer until the sweet potato is cooked through. You may want to add a bit of water so as to barely cover the ingredients, and season with salt to taste, at this stage.
SERVING:
Serve with pilaf rice or plain basmati, and side dishes as desired.
NOTES:
None, really - it's not all that pretendy, it's actually just a fairly standard Indian spice mix and as such, will only taste good if your spices are fresh - you can vary things a fair bit to suit your tastes. But damn, it tastes good!
ENJOY!
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