'Kashmir' Lamb - a 1982 mock up

 

Woman's Day May 4 1982 - almost a collector's item!

Ingredients
1 Tbsp oil
1 onion, sliced
½ capsicum, sliced
1 Tbsp parsley, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp pine nuts
½ cup raisin
3 cups cooked rice
1 cup cooked lamb, sliced
3 beef stock cubes crumbled 
A little water if needed
1 Tbsp curry powder

Method
Heat oil in large frying pan. Add onion, capsicum, parsley and garlic.
Cook until soft, stirring occasionally.
Mix in crumbled stock cubes and remaining ingredients.
Gently stir over a medium heat until all ingredients are combined and heated thoroughly. 

Chook’s note:  The page I tore out of the magazine containing this recipe (see above) is a bit ragged and splattered but this is the recipe as it appear all those years ago - the TV recipe of the week!
I substitute the pine nuts with almonds and I reckon you could make lots of other substitutes. It’s not haute cuisine (I think I had simpler tastes back then and the kids liked it) but it's simple and cheap and a great way to use up left over roast meat (if you have any!).

Roast chicken pie

Ingredients
Short and puff pastry bottom and top
½ roast chicken shredded
1 tbsp olive oil
3 rashers smoked streaky bacon, chopped into lardons
1 leek or onions, sliced into rounds
45g butter (or less)
45g plain flour (or less0
120ml milk
100ml chicken stock
50g peas
Sliced mushrooms (2-3)
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
25g pack parsley, roughly chopped
1 egg, beaten, to glaze

Makes 1 lg(23cm) pie or if you have lots of filling 1 lg and 1 sm.

Method
Heat oven to 220C/200C fan.
In a large, non-stick frying pan, heat the oil, then fry the bacon. Once browned, reduce the heat, add the leeks/onions and cook until they have softened. Mix the butter and flour into a paste and add to the pan, stirring to coat the bacon and leeks. Add sliced mushrooms and cook a couple of mins. 
Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly to ensure the mixture doesn’t get lumpy. Add the chicken stock and peas, cook for 2 mins, then add the mustard and remove from the heat.
Add chicken to the pan with the parsley.

Line pie dish, spoon in filling and top with pastry. Crimp and seal the edges. Brush with the beaten egg, then cut a few slits in the middle for steam to escape. Bake for 45 mins until golden. 

Chooks note: I sprinkle the top with slightly crushed fennel and/or carraway seeds. The pie freezes well. The pie in the pic was made with all short crust pastry but s flakey top is lovely.

Slow cook Rabbit stew

 

Ingredients
1 small rabbit, cleaned and jointed (into large chunks – maybe 4)
Flour for dusting
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
2 rashers of smoky bacon cut in large strips
1 onion diced plus 2-3 spring onions cut in batons
1 medium carrot cut in chunks
1-2 bay leaves (I find they can be astringent so use your own judgement on number)
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 whole Allspice berries
100ml red wine
150ml chicken stock
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2-3 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped OR half tin of diced tomatoes
A spring of dried oregano or 1/2 tsp dried oregano
Parsley stalks
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Optional 1-2 shiitake mushroom – fresh or dried (I simply chopped the dried mushrooms and buried them in the pot)

Method
Wash the rabbit pieces well, then pat dry and dust with flour. Heat the olive oil in a large pan and lightly fry with the bacon. Place meat in slow cooker
Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot. Season with a little salt and pepper and cover the ‘crock’ pot (this can also be done in a slow oven).
Cook on high for 45 mins then reduce heat to low and cook for 5-6 hrs until the rabbit is tender. Check and give a light stir occasionally.
You can thicken the sauce near the end if it is too liquid but serve with risoni or rice and that will sop up that delicious juice (almost the best part).

Depending on size of rabbit, this will serve 4-6 people.

Chooks note:  I haven’t tried this but my taste buds say that fennel would go very well with this dish. Recommend you quarter a few fennel bulbs, lightly fry in EVO and add to the pot an hour or so before the end of the cooking time.  A nice garnish would be a handful of crispy butter-fried sage leaves but the dish really stands alone.

If you’re lucky enough to get the heart and kidney, save them for a breakfast fry-up with a tiny bit of mustard, tomato paste or Worcestershire sauce, onion and bacon. 

A quick and easy fish curry

 

Ingredients

2 Tbsp coconut oil

1 onion finely chopped

3 cloves garlic thinly sliced

2 Tbsp freshly grated ginger (about a 5cm piece)

2 tsp curry powder

1 tsp ground turmeric

10 – 15 fresh curry leaves

400ml coconut milk

2 med tomatoes roughly chopped

1 tsp salt

600g firm white fish cut into 3cm chunks

1 cup chopped fresh coriander

Juice of 1/2 lime 

Method

* Melt the coconut oil in a deep pan and saute the onion for about 5 mins over a medium heat until translucent and just starting to brown.

* Add the garlic and ginger, and cook, stirring gently for 1 min.

* Add curry leaves (careful as they spit) then the curry powder and turmeric, stir over a medium heat for a further min until the mixture is fragrant.   

* Slowly stir in the coconut milk, scraping up the spices and onion from the bottom of the saucepan.  Bring the pan to a gentle simmer.

* Add the chopped tomato and continue to simmer for about 5 minutes or until the tomato begins to soften.

* Add the fish and the salt to the sauce and gently poach for about 6–8 mins, or until the fish is cooked.

* Gently stir in the coriander and lime juice - and breathe that wonderful aroma!

Serves 4

Chook’s note: I use good old Clive of India curry powder – the smell is delicious. I’m sure this would be fine without the curry leaves if you can’t get them but they do add a little extra dimension. 

Ginger – I always have tiny bags of grated fresh ginger in the freezer. Each one 1 Tbsp or there abouts. I also keep a nub of ginger frozen for those recipes that call for sliced or chunks of ginger. 

A firm fish is best for this dish. I used mackerel but use whatever you can get (cheap).

Choux pastry

 

An unassuming little sugary morsel thanks to Alexandre

From a fascinating lecture on the Antarctic's Ross Sea, an unlikely oasis of fecundity, I dashed to the kitchen to learn how to make choux pastry - and you wonder what entices us to travel!?  We had these, and other wee fancies, delivered to our cabin every night -  instead of traditional pillow chocolates, thank goodness.

The ingredients are simple, it’s the mixing that matters. Who hasn't made choux pastry?

Ingredients

263g eggs (4-5 eggs)

145g flour

125ml milk

125g butter

125ml water

1 tsp or less salt

1 tsp or less sugar

These are just wee morsels but they melt in you mouth

Method

Bring milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to a boil. 

Lower the heat and add the flour and mix till 'dry'. It’s all in the mixing!

Add eggs one by one folding through with a spatula.

Pipe onto a tray and sprinkle with sugar - probably our raw sugar equivalent.

Bake at 180C for 45 mins

Chook’s note:  I didn’t count the quantity we made but I’ve halved the ingredients and reckon this will make a couple of dozen.

Far Breton

 

The lesson was accompanied by French cider

Recipe compliments of Alexandre Chef d’hotel, Commandant Charcot.
Being on board this rather luxurious icebreaker, Le Commandant Charcot for 4 weeks as we navigated around half of Antarctica, gave us ample time to enjoy some cooking classes with the chefs on board, predominantly Alexandre. Our classes were made up of Australian, French and US passenger so discussions were interesting. This is one of many of the dishes that we learnt to make - and yes the French do indeed use loads of eggs and cream and butter. Delicious! And the 
Far Breton is a traditional cake or dessert from Brittany and that is where Alexandre our chef comes from. In this class he was making enough for 8 (so that we all got a taste) so I have reduced the recipe to make one 30cm cake.  

Ingredients
450ml milk
110g flour
105g sugar
3 lg or 4 sm eggs
12g rum
15g butter
200g prunes

Method

Soak prunes in warm water for about 30 mins

In a bowl beat eggs with the flour and sugar. Gradually incorporate the milk without stopping to mix then add the melted butter and rum.

Drain prunes and place in the dish and pour the egg mixture over the top.

Bake for about 1h 20 in 190C oven. *The time and temp are based on cooking a large batch not to mention that the Bretons tend to cook these until the top is quite dark. Just make sure you keep an eye on it and use your own judgement.

Serve warm or cold

Alexandre - a generous teacher

Chook’s note: this was delicious and not unlike clafoutis which we were offered many mornings for breakfast – along with a mountain of other delicious pastries and breads.

Bon appetit!

Hot & sour cherry sauce with crispy chicken

 

I have adapted this recipe from the original which called for a boned flattened chicken to serve 6. This version gives 2 generous serves.

Ingredients
2 chicken Maryland
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2-3 small red onions, halved
coriander sprigs, for serving

Hot & sour cherry sauce
1 cup (125g) cherries, pitted, halved
1/3 cup (70g) brown sugar, firmly packed
30g caster sugar
1 piece star anise
40ml Chinkiang vinegar
1 long green or red chili roughly chopped
A little lemon zest

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced).  

Place chicken onto an oven tray or shallow pan with baking paper.

Rub chicken all over with oil and season generously with sea salt flakes.
Roast for 1 hour or until chicken is golden brown and juices run clear. If you plan to serve with jacket potatoes toss these in the pan with the chicken. Add onions to the tray halfway through cooking time.

Preparing the sauce 

While the chicken is cooking, combine all sauce ingredients in a medium saucepan. Stir until mixture comes to the boil then cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 mins or until cherries are soft. Cool slightly, discard star anise; blend until smooth.

Pour sauce over chicken to serve with sprigs of coriander and extra cherries.

Chook’s notes: The sauce makes about 1½ cups. Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to a week or freeze to use later – it goes well with lamb fillets. The original recipe suggested gently pushing butter under the skin. I think the meat has sufficient rich juices without the need for butter. It's simply a matter of personal choice.