Mmm... curry.

Another visit to the fantastic Indian food store saw me stocking up on Curry Masters spice mixes for easy week-night curries. Tonight was White Chicken Korma.

Strenuous cooking instructions:

* Mix White Korma spice in 1 cup of water
* Cut up 1kg of chicken into small pieces (I only used 500g)
* Heat oil in a pot and fry the spice mix for 1-2 minutes
* Add chicken and fry until cooked.
* Once cooked, add some milk or cream. (we used cream)
* Serve over rice.

I did go a little bit fancy with the rice and made Nigella Lawson's Pilaf for a Curry Banquet from Nigella Feasts, and DD went down to the local Indian takeaway for some fresh naan.

It was sublimely delicious. Absolutely fantasticly yum. It's definately going to be repeated, but I'll cut out the cream this time and try some light evaporated milk or something instead.


Apologies for the picture of the half-eaten plate, but I wasn't going to post about this meal until I tried it and then I had to share how good it was.

Ice cream

I live in Brisbane, and it's EKKA time at the moment. I've lived here for nearly 3 years, and I've never been to it. I used to live in a fairly regional town and we only got country shows, so I've never been to a big show either. I have been able to ignore the urge to go and check it out because a) I don't want to catch the flu (even though I probably have just as much chance catching it at the local shopping centre on a Saturday), b) it actually costs a lot more money than the country shows ($22 entry and $4.50 for a Dagwood dog) and c) noone will go with me. But the urge seems to get worse every year.

I think it has something to do with working in fairly close proximity to the showgrounds, and you get to see the rides and the lights every night when you drive home. I think it may also have something to do with the strawberry ice creams I know they have there.

I love strawberries and I love ice cream and I'm a sucker for harmless propaganda, so the news coverage of the "traditional EKKA ice cream" and all the people raving about it has made me really really want to go and try it. I don't go in for rides and I don't really like showbags, but I do like ice cream and the sound of the international food village. This year I even managed to score a free entry, but DD refused to go with me on the day it was valid for.

He wasn't completely mean though, and he offerred to take me another day, but I couldn't justify spending $44 just for us to go in a buy a $3.50 ice cream (he doesn't like strawberries, so he wasn't very excited) and some international food, so we didn't end up going.

Now, on the last day of the EKKA, I'm kicking myself for not going. Next year!!!

To make up for refusing to go with me that night, DD went out a bought me an ice cream maker so I could make my own strawberry ice cream. So far I've made a vanilla bean ice cream and a chocolate ice cream.


The vanilla bean ice cream was awesome. I used the Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from The Chocolate Gourmand, which is something he has tweaked to get the best of both egg-based ice cream and non-egg based ice cream. Yum yum yum! It was yum before it went into the fridge to chill, it was yum after it chilled and before it went into the ice cream maker, it was yum when the ice cream maker failed me and I had to put it in the freezer to freeze and it was yum once it was frozen.

I think the yuminess of the ice cream was all that saved my first ice cream attempt. I don't know what I did wrong, but the mix just wouldn't freeze. I had frozen the bowl in the freezer for the required 24-26 hours, there was no liquid sound when I moved it about, I chilled the mix for several hours before I put it into the ice cream maker, but it just didn't work. The manual suggests that since I freezed the bowl as required and I chilled the mix as required then the ratio of ingredients must be off. I said okay then, and my second attempt was a chocolate ice cream using a recipe from the ice cream maker manual.

I also chilled the mix overnight this time, just in case the several hours I had the vanilla one in the fridge for actually wasn't enough. It came out of the fridge looking and tasting like Yogo, so I have to admit I was a little apprehensive at that stage. However, I put it in the ice cream maker and the stupid thing didn't freeze again!!! I'm going to have to get a thermometre and check my freezer temperature. It's the only thing I can think of. And damn, if it's this much trouble making ice cream now, when it's still winter, I don't want to think how much it will fail come summer.

I should have just gone to the EKKA.

Anyway, once the mix had had it's hour in the ice cream maker I put it in the freezer still unfrozen. I did the same thing with the vanilla one, but with the vanilla I stirred it every hour or so just in case. I didn't do that to the chocolate one, and it still turned out fine and creamy. So, even though the ice cream maker isn't freezing the mixes, it does seem to be churning them enough that I can finish them off in the freezer without too much trouble. It's just a pity that the chocolate one still tastes like Yogo (blech).

Slightly unrelated to ice cream, but this is the second time I've used my Callebaut chocolate buttons in cooking and been less than impressed. I made my bearclaws first with cheap supermarket couverture chocolate and then with Callebaut buttons and I liked the taste of the cheap supermarket one better. I think it was because the supermarket one had a bitter taste to it? I don't know. My Callebaut buttons taste great on their own!!

A big present

The food processor I won in a subscription prize from the Australian Healthy Food Guide arrived this week. It's fantastic! So beautiful. In fact, I loved it so much that it beat out the breadmaker for a permanent spot on the kitchen bench and my breadmaker was relegated to the top of the fridge.

It comes with three different sized bowls and two slicing attachments and a dough blade and an egg whisking blade and it's so pretty!! Unfortunately, I haven't used it yet. I want to make something special in it to break it in, and I can't decide!

I need to name it too. I don't know why - none of the other appliances have names (I promise!)

I didn't realise that it was going to come with slicing attachments and two days before I went out and bought myself a mandolin. Oh well, there's bound to be something that needs cutting that is really too small to bring out the big processor ;-)

heehee, there's even a copy of Healthy Food Guide on top of the pile on books in the background

Food Experiments

I've been putting off posting because I didn't want to move Chucky from the top spot, but I know he'll understand: to a dog, food is very important.

I have been cooking even if I haven't been posting, so there are few catchup posts in the works that will be coming up soon.

I mentioned our trip to the big supermarket before, I also bought a big bunch of nice looking asparagus. I've never had asparagus before, and it seems to be popping up in a lot of places. I found out it was in season here (which is an awesome website) and decided to give it a go. Of course, then my biggest problem was deciding what to cook with it, but I went for the classic choice of wrapping it in proscuitto and grilling it.

I honestly can't remember which recipe I ended up using. I know I was going to use one of Giada's, but then there were two different ones on taste.com.au and another that I found on Recipezaar. Anyway, it involved first boiling the asparagus in salted water, then wrapping it in proscuitto, seasoning it with oil and salt and pepper and then grilling it until the proscuitto goes crispy.

mmm blurry

It was very nice, but too salty. Next time I won't season the water so I can have more control over the saltiness. I even tried it with some parmesan grated over.

Next experiment was thanks to Michael Smith and his Chef at Home show. I was watching an episode where he made a Watermelon and Basil Salad. I have seen something like this made before (I think it was on one of Jamie Oliver's shows) and I was curious about how it would work, so I gave it a try.


It wasn't bad. It was quite an interesting taste, and I couldn't picture it being part of a meal. I ate quite a bit of it after I made it, but I did end up throwing the rest away. I think I prefer being a purist with my watermelon.

Sad news

My beautiful baby boy passed away on Tuesday after 2 days at the vet with a paralysis tick and a lung infection. Chuckie came into our lives when we rescued him from an animal refuge when he was about a year old (they didn't know exactly - his previous owners didn't care). His previous owners has neglected and mistreated him, and he was a timid and scared little thing. So much so that he became too distressed when the shelter put him in with normal sized dogs, so they had to put him in the Jack Russell cage. While he lived with us though (about 7 years), he lost his timidity - so much so he became quite cocky and cheeky. He was convinced he ruled the roost at home, and he was almost right. He was a little spoiled ;-) But we loved him. So much. He was everything you could ever want in a dog and more. I'll miss you my Chuckie.

Blissfully satiated.

I have never seen a show by Sandra Lee, but I've read numerous less-than-complimentary comments about her "semi-homemade" style of cooking. Shun me if you will, but as far as I can tell the above plate was "semi-homemade" and I loved every bite of it, and I'm now sitting here typing with a replete smile on my face...

We went shopping at a big Coles today, and they had the most lovely looking pre-garliced prawns in their little prepackaged fish section (there are a lot of "pre"s happening here, have you noticed?). I love seafood, but DD hates it, but today I defiantly put a tray of prawns in the trolley. The rice is You'll Love Coles frozen Thai flavoured Ready Rice, which I never knew existed - but now, where have you been all my life? I am one of those people who always either forgets to put the rice on before I start the rest of meal so then everything is waiting while the rice cooks or I just completely forget about the rice altogether OR I'll be having a low-carb meal and DD wants rice and I'll forget (again). So there is always instant rice somewhere in the pantry. And this is much nicer and in much smaller portions. Awesome.

When we got home I threw the garlic prawns in the pan and sautéd them lightly and put the rice in the microwave for 2 minutes and then it was ready to plate. It was spectacular. Love love love!!!! (PS: see my new plate???)

Bearclaws

mmm cookie goodness

This recipe came out of The Girl Can't Cook by Cinda Chavich which I raved about here. I was flipping through the breakfast section and read

Okay, cookies aren't the best thing for breakfast, but these cookies - as big as a bear claw - are chock-a-block full of good things like rolled oats, nuts and seeds.

And I was hooked. I am a big breakfast hater, because all the quick stuff people eat every day I hate with a passion - cereal and milk makes me feel ill every time I eat it - and you can only eat toast so many times. Especially when there's no plastic bread (TM Nigella) in the house and you've only got frozen mini paninis. I'd skip it, but if I do I feel awful. So these really piqued my interest.

First you cream some softened butter and brown sugar together (I used a low fat, cholesterol helping butter blend) before adding in two eggs. In another bowl, throw in some plain flour, some wholemeal flour, some baking powder, some bicarb soda and some rolled oats. I was supposed to add wheat germ too, but my bag of wheat germ has mysteriously disappeared, I substituted 1/4 cup extra of rolled oats instead of the 1/4 cup of wheat germ. Add the dry stuff to the wet stuff and mix (Cinda says with your hands, I used a wooden spoon). Lastly add some chocolate chips (I used dark couverture cooking chocolate, more because I was too cheap to add my Callebaut chocolate chips), some sunflower seeds and some almonds, then bake.

I baked them a little quicker than it says too, because I can't stand crisp biscuits. My biscuits have to be chewy.

The halved recipe ended up making about 24 big cookies, and they are spectacular. They taste amazing and have a wonderful flavour. And, they are full of fibre-y goodness so they fill you up too! DD's comment on them: "gee, they're solid little f&*%ers", which is true, but I think he liked them. I liked them.

I put the recipe the way I made it into my Living Cookbook program to calculate it's nutritional value, and each cookie is only 168cal. Tasty, filling and won't blow the diet, what more could you want?

Amazon delivery

I mentioned a little while ago finding Bill Granger's Bill's Food at Amazon.com for US$6.99, I bought that and a few other cookbooks in an extremely fun spending spree (DD, I promise it wasn't really a spree, they were cheap, I swear!). I picked them up from the post office on Monday, and the excitement still hasn't passed. I would be carrying them around every with me if they weren't so heavy. I'm making do with keeping one or two of them with me all the time for emergency cookbook reading.
I haven't really read any of them yet except for The Girl Can't Cook by Cinda Chavich. I'm only halfway through it, but I'm having trouble putting it down. I've been putting little post-it notes on the recipes I want to try, and there's almost as many notes as pages. Plus, she has the useful hints/tips/comments throughout the book which are really good. I am singing this book's praises to anyone who'll listen. It's well worth a look, really varied recipes, simple enough to not be intimidating but with enough pizazz to be useful to established/experienced home cook. I love it already!

Fabulous Indian Food Store

We visited a lovely Indian specialty food store on the weekend. I was amazed at how many fantastic spices and sauces and rices and things there were, and couldn't believe I've walked past it so many times and have been in there before! I bought some wonderful spice mixes and meal kits and can't wait to go back.

I was prompted to go in there looking for masa harina because I had this strange whim which wanted to make corn tortillas. This whim came about while reading the Homesick Texan's blog, and didn't disappoint.

We had these with some Old El Paso chilli con carne-style minced beef. I love the flavour of these, but the smell was the best. I could just smell the masa harina all day.

We also bought a biryani spice mix, which I mixed with some natural yoghurt and water and then simmer with some cubed chicken and cooked rice (as per the instructions on the box!) for a wonderfully spicy biryani. The boys inhaled this - they had finished and were taking the bowls to the sink before I even started mine. I was talking to my mum on the phone soon after and now she's got me worried I'm not feeding them enough.

Biryani mix

mmm, spice paste

blurry biryani

I love kitchen gadgets

I've been hankering after a digital scale for a little while now, and this weekend decided to go and have look at prices for them. I found a few, but ended up with this little beauty.


He has a removable bowl, so you can use whatever you like as your base. He has one of those cool functions where you can reset the weight before each ingredient so you don't have to keep changing bowls AND he weighs up to 5kg in 1g increments. He is awesome.

And, because he and his friends were in a big incorrectly priced pile at the store, he was only $19.86.

Eureka!

I really really love Nick Nairn's Chicken Saltimbocca from Top 100 Chicken Breasts. On a whim, I decided to deconstruct the saltimbocca and toss it through some pasta.


I just chopped up some chicken breasts, some pancetta (this time), and some sage coated lightly in some seasoned flour and pan fried.

It smelled yummy too!

Dinner!

DD loved it. So much that he's been sending me emails from work telling me to make it again because it was [in big red letters] AWESOME. I did make it again, properly with proscuitto and it was even better the second time. Definately a keeper.

long time no post

I've been busy at work and our internet has been funny and all these other excuses have stopped me posting, but I've still been cooking, so prepare for some catchup posts!

I bought a packet of Creative Gourmet's frozen fruit salad just for some nice light snacks/breakfasts. Here it is with a dollop or two of King Island Dairy Gourmet Vanilla Bean yohurt - my most favourite yoghurt ever! - and some fresh strawberries.

sorry for the dark picture

I bought a copy of Hugo Arnold's Wagamama Ways With Noodles cookbook, and broke it in by making Five Spice Beef with Rice Noodles, substituting beef with chicken and rice noodles with egg noodles. It was wonderful - I love five spice.


Unfortunately, DD was working lates when I made this, and only ate lunch at 3pm so he refused to even try it. He missed out.

Last weekend we visited the Jan Powers Farmers' Market in New Farm. I love these markets, and drag DD there every second and fourth Saturday. I love the fresh fruits and vegetables and herbs, and the fresh pasta and the wonderful strawberries and the Dello Mano brownies and the cheeses and the German sausages and everything else! They also have beautiful looking fresh seafood, which DD won't go near (it smells, apparently). This weekend I ignored him and bought 1kg of beautiful fresh Tasmanian mussels. I've never cooked any mussels before, especially not ones that require preparation. But, Nigella came to the rescue, as her recipe for Thai Flavoured Mussels had a fairly comprehensive how-to.

Yummy, low fat goodness!