Sissy Satay Sauce

This reminds me of living in the Middle East and the most lovely couple that we used to spend time with.  She was Indonesian and he was English.  Sissy was a non practicing Muslim, however she rarely drank.  On the rare occasion that Sissy did have a drink, she was the life of the party often seen dancing on tables.  Her husband loved a drink and together they entertained often.  Sissy would cook with her housemaid all day long and present the most amazing array of food.
One of my favourite Sissy dishes was her satay sauce served with chicken skewers.  I was never smart enough to get the recipe off her, and need to see if I can ask her for it one of these days.  In the meantime here is a Sissy inspired Satay Sauce for all occasions.

Sissy inspired Satay Sauce

1 cup (250 ml) coconut cream

1 Tablespoon Thai red Curry Paste

1 cup (150gr) unsalted peanuts rough chopped

1 Tablespoon of either brown or palm sugar

1 Tablespoon Tamarind Paste

Heat half of the coconut cream on medium heat for 7-10 minutes, until the cream has reduced by more than half and has the consistency of custard.

Reduce heat a little and add the curry paste, cook off for about 2 minutes to allow the paste flavours to infuse.

Add the rest of the ingredients, including the remaining coconut cream and continue cooking and stirring for 2-3 minutes.

Serve with lamb, chicken or whatever you like.

TED Talks = Food for thought

I love TED talks.  I have been a fan of them for about 5 years now.  They really are food for thought and no matter what subject a particular talk is on, I always walk away better informed with my mind ticking on the ideas.
I hope that you enjoy this one;

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/mark_bittman_on_what_s_wrong_with_what_we_eat.html  

Nonna Pia and Tuscan Bread Salad

While this salad did not come from Nonna Pia (I will share recipes that did soon), it does remind me of my time living in beautiful Firenze (Florence, Italy).  I was lucky enough to have spent a year and a half of my life there, living in my boyfriends father's apartment in the old town of Firenze.

I am having some issues with photo formatting, just tilt your head to the left :)

It was such an amazing experience.  This was my first trip overseas.  I was in awe at one of the world's most beautiful cities, and still am today.  The day we landed we were greeted at the airport by my boyfriend's cousin and Nonna.  Neither of them spoke English especially not Nonna Pia.  All they wanted to do was ask us a million questions and tell us stories, none of which we understood a word of.  We piled into the Fiat 500, crammed in the back with our luggage and the two of them in the front constantly talking to us we began to drive towards our apartment.  My first experience of Italian roads was overwhelming.  The Nonna and cousin were talking and pointing out landmarks all in Italian.  The cousin was taking her hands of the wheel to talk then suddenly grabbing the wheel to swerve through the traffic.  During the 15 minute car trip Nonna was passing necessities over to us.  Olive oil for cooking, Olive oil for dipping - not to be mixed up.  Sponges for washing the dishes.  Bread to dip in the good Olive oil.  Salt, tomatoes.  The pile of groceries was building up and my head was absolutely spinning out of control. 
We finally arrived at the apartment, it was January and freezing cold.  It felt like a scene out of the Flinstones.  The building was 400 years old and the terracotta floors were original.  The bathroom did not even have a window in it, just a hole straight outside.  I was so jet lagged that the floor was coming up at me and I couldn't actually walk in a straight line. 
We very soon settled in to what was to become home.  In a city of immense beauty and culture my memories are vivid and numerous.  During our stay we went over to Nonna's house for lunch once per week.  These lunches taught me a lot about Italian food and language.

Tuscan Bread Salad
5-6 Chopped tomatoes (can be any variety; I prefer a mixture)
Ciabatta Bread Roll
2x anchovies
spoonful of capers
fennel seeds
Garlic clove crushed
olive oil
red wine vinegar
basil leaves

Chop the Ciabatta roll into cubes sprinkle with olive oil and fennel seeds and crushed garlic, some S & P.  Place in a hot over to make croutons.
Meanwhile chop tomatoes into bite size pieces, also fine chop anchovies and capers.  Sprinkle with 1:1 ratio of olive oil and red wine vinegar, about 100ml of each.  Mix well and set aside.
When the croutons are done, add them whilst hot to the tomato mixture and mix well.
Add fine chopped basil leaves, season and leave to sit for about 30 mins to allow the croutons to soak up the dressing.
Serve.

5 Minute Frozen Yogurt

If you haven't yet figured out, I have a serious sweet tooth.  I love desserts and yummy sweet foods.  I also love fresh herbs and all things aromatic.  Whilst I have a sweet tooth I am fairly health conscious and always trying to reduce my sugar and fat intake.  This frozen yogurt is so yummy and there are no nasties in there.  Great for the kids when they want ice cream, and it only takes a couple of minutes to wizz up.

In a food processor add;

500gm frozen berries or mangoes (you can try any fruit you like)

750gr natural yogurt

1 table spoon of honey (add to your taste)

couple of fine chopped mint leaves

optional you can add lime zest

Wizz for a minute or two, transfer to a plastic container and freeze for about half an hour.  (This can be served straight away however will be a little runny)

I like to sprinkle some honey over the top then stir it in just before I freeze the mixture, to lace it with honey.

Serve however you choose, with fresh fruit added or in cones for the kids.

Australian Gourmet Traveller - Brown Sugar Sponge Cake with Caramel Poached Pears

Gourmet Traveller Image

Australian Gourmet Traveller has long been a favourite foodie magazine of mine.  I just love the class that the magazine oozes.  I made this recipe last year around Christmas time and it was a big hit.  My only error being that my syrup was not reduced for long enough and was a little thin.  Overall such a simple recipe and a cake that has wow factor.

Recipe

Serves 10
Cooking Time Prep time 30 mins, cook 1 hr (plus cooling) 


Ingredients

12	eggs, at room temperature
160 gm each	brown sugar and caster sugar
Scraped seeds	of 2 vanilla beans
300 gm	plain flour, triple-sieved
¼ tsp	baking powder
120 gm	butter, melted and cooled
700 gm	crème fraîche
100 ml	pouring cream
30 gm	pure icing sugar, sieved, plus extra for dusting
Caramel pears
750 gm	caster sugar
Juice	and thinly peeled rind of 1½ lemons and 1½ oranges
2 each	cinnamon quills and star anise
1	vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
10	small ripe corella pears, peeled, halved, cores removed with a melon baller
120 ml	dessert wine
90 ml	pouring cream
30 gm	butter, coarsely chopped

Method

1	Preheat oven to 180C. Whisk eggs, sugars and half the vanilla seeds on high speed in an electric mixer until mixture is tripled in volume and holds a trail (10-12 minutes). Transfer to a large bowl, sift over flour and baking powder in two batches, gently fold to combine, then fold in butter. Divide among 4 buttered and floured 20cm-diameter cake tins lined with baking paper on the bases and bake, swapping tins halfway through cooking (see note), until cakes are dark golden and centres spring back when gently pressed (15-20 minutes). Cool slightly in tins, then turn out and cool completely on a wire rack.
2	Meanwhile, for caramel pears, combine sugar, rinds, juices, spices, vanilla bean and seeds and 1 litre water in a large saucepan, stir over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves. Add pears, cover closely with a round of baking paper, weight with a plate and bring to the simmer. Reduce heat to medium and cook until just tender (20-25 minutes). Remove pears from liquid (set aside), then strain cooking liquid into a large deep-sided frying pan and simmer over medium-high heat until mixture turns caramel (25-35 minutes). Add dessert wine, cream and butter (be careful as hot caramel may spit), then stir until combined. Add pears to pan and cook, spooning caramel over pears until glazed (2-3 minutes), then set aside.
3	Whisk crème fraîche, cream, icing sugar and remaining vanilla seeds in a bowl until firm peaks form (2-3 minutes). Refrigerate until required.
4	To serve, place one cake on a serving plate, spread with a third of the crème fraîche mixture. Repeat with remaining cakes and crème fraîche mixture, finishing with a cake. Dust with icing sugar and serve with caramel pears and syrup.

Note If you don’t have four 20cm cake tins, or your oven isn’t large enough to cook all the cakes at once, make and cook half a batch of the cake mixture at a time.

This recipe is from the August 2010 issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller. 

My Brown Sugar Sponge Cake with Caramel Pears

Even the Sweedes eat Ikea Meatballs and Lingonberry Jam

Having long been a fan of visiting Ikea for the furniture shopping.  I think this is a by product of having lived in 6 different countries in about ten years.  My appreciation the Ikea restaurant however has only developed more recently.  Food that cheap cannot possibly taste any good!  My prejudgement of the cheap Ikea restaurant was shattered by a Swedish friend, who by the way was known all over town for his home made Sweedish meatballs.  One day Franz enthusiastically told me about his shopping trip to Ikea that day with his girlfriend..  It wasn't the furniture that had him animated it was the lunch they had eaten in the Ikea restaurant.  I figured then that I had better give it a chance.   Cheap and tasty Ikea meatballs are a winner when you're on a budget, or when you are in a superstore in the middle of nowhere and have a shopped up a ravishing hunger.  I have now eaten meatballs at Ikea in 3 continents.  While the Ikea version wont make you drop dead like I previously believed, a home made plate of meatballs is unbeatable.  Though I do usually cheat and use the bought jars of Lingonberry jam.
To the Sweedish, Meatballs with boiled potato and Lingonberry Jam is like what Spaghetti Bolognese is to the Italians or Gazpachio to the Spanish.  Every family has their own recipe passed down from their mothers mothers, though essentially it is as follows:

Note: Lingonberries are similar to Cranberries and can be interchanged if necessary.

Sweedish Meatballs with Lingonberry Jam

60gr butter

1 sml onion, very finely chopped

2 teaspoons of allspice

100gr breadcrumbs

150ml milk

1kg minced pork and beef mix

1 lrge beaten egg

S&P

1 Tablespoon plain flour

400ml chicken of beef stock

200gr sour cream

3 Tablespoons rough chopped fresh dill

Lingonberry or Cranberry Sauce

500gr cranberries or lingonberries

finely grated zest of one lemon and juice

150gr caster sugar

*To make cranberry sauce simply put the cranberries in a small heavy based saucepan with 125 ml water, lemon juice and zest.  Bring to the boil, then lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

*When the berries have started to pop, add the sugar and continue to cook until the sugar has melted.

*Remove from the heat and taste to see if the sauce is as sweet as you want it.  Leave it too cool.

*Melt 15gr of the butter and in it saute the onion until soft but not coloured.  Add the allspice and cook for a further minute.

*Soak the breadcrumbs in the milk until all the milk has been absorbed - about 30 minutes.  Mix the onion and soaked breadcrumbs with the meat, eggs and season really well.

*With wet hands, form little balls just larger than Walnuts from the mixture.

*Heat half of the remaining butter with half the oil.  Fry the meatballs in batches, making sure that they get good colour on the outside.(Try not to burn the fat, if you do discard before frying the next lot)

*Heat the remaining butter and oil in the pan.  Add the flour and cook over a low heat, stirring until the flour is golden.

*Take off the heat and gradually add the stock, stirring well after each addition.  Place pan back on the heat stirring constantly whilst bringing the liquid to boil.  Add the sour cream

*Turn heat down and add meatballs, cook gently for about 15 minutes.  The sauce will thicken, taste for seasoning.  Add chopped dill and serve with cranberry sauce and boiled potatoes.

This recipe is from this lovely book

Tandoori Yoghurt Fish with Cucumber and Mint yogurt.

This is not a new nor is it a particularly original recipe.  It however is one of my favorites.  I was working as a cook on a private motor yacht in the south of France when I first fell in love with this recipe.  Working on a yacht probably sounds like a luxurious life and it does have it's perks but in general, when you are working, it really is hard work.  You work long hours and you work hard.  Mean while you are cruising around the Mediterranean, pulling into the most glamorous ports, dropping anchor in beautiful secluded bays; but the staff certainly aren't the one's to soak it all up.  The guests are rich and more often than not demanding.  As most of us would be if we firstly had the money to buy such a life style and secondly had spent that much on the experience.
Producing meals and keeping it varied  for guests whom are on board for a couple of weeks straight requires some imagination.  Not that this meal is unique and serving it on this particular vegetable base is a bit of a schizophrenic mix.  It IS quick and simple to prepare, and I love the flavours.

Tandoori Fish with Cucumber Mint yogurt

Oven Hot - 250 deg Celsius
800gr fish filleted (white meaty fish, or a salmon can work)

2-3 cups of Greek yogurt (natural & unsweetened)

1 teaspoon of tandoori paste or powder

1 teaspoon crushed garlic

1-2 lemons (zested then juiced)

1 cucumber grated

hand full of mint finely chopped

hand full of oregano finely chopped

2 fennel bulbs

2 shallotts

3-4 desire potatoes

2 zucchinis chopped

Firstly cut the fish into serving sized portions (sometimes I will cube Salmon and after marination put it onto a skewer stick, otherwise potion sized fillet pieces works)

Prepare the marinade by mixing 1.5 cups of yogurt with garlic and tandoori spice (if marinating for a shorted period you can add salt and lemon juice, if marinating overnight or for a few hours sprinkle salt and lemon just before cooking, the salt and lemon actually cook the fish by curing it when added to a marinade)

Smother the fish in the marinade and leave for a minimum of 1 hour and max of 24 hours.

Grate the cucumber, sprinkle a little salt over it and leave to drain in a strainer (the salt draws the liquid out of the cucumber)

Cut the potatoes into rounds about half a centimeter thick

Thinly slice the shallots and fennel, saving the fronds to serve

Toss these in a baking dish with the lemon zest and oregano, also some olive oil and salt.

Bake in the hot oven for 15 - 20 mins turning a couple of times

Then add the zucchini  and bake on a lower heat for another 10-15 mins until all veg cooked. At the same time put the fish in the oven to bake.

Whilst the vegetables are baking, push the excess liquid out of the cucumber.  Then mix it with the yogurt and mint adding a little lemon juice and salt to taste.

Serve as a stack with potatoes on the bottom, then fish and topped with the cucumber yogurt.  Garnish with fennel fronds.