Uzbek Plov

This recipe was given to me when we visited Tashkent, Uzbekistan this year. It's delicious.

Ingredients
1kg fat lamb, shoulder or rib 
1kg medium grain rice (paella type)
200-250ml oil
1 kg carrot
2-3 medium size onions, thin sliced
1-1.5 Tbsp cumin
10g raisins
10-12 black peppercorns
2-3 whole heads garlic (the younger the better)
A few whole chillies
Salt to taste

To cook: 5 lt wise heavy-based pan or pot

Method
1. Wash the rice under running water until clear, cover with boiling water and let it soak for a while. Cut the meat with bones into match-box sized pieces. Cut the carrots into thick sticks (1/2 cm thick). Clean the heads of garlic from roots etc.
2. Heat oil in cooking pot on high heat, deep fry meat until golden brown in a few batches. Fry onions until golden, add meat back and mix well.  Add carrot, stir from time to time, until it starts to wilt and browns a little (15-20 mins).  Add the cumin – crush it just a little to release the flavor- and peppercorns and stir gently to keep carrot from breaking.
3. Lower heat to moderate, pour on hot water sufficient to cover, add salt and let it simmer for 40 mins until almost all water is evaporated and meat is tender. As with paella, resist the urge to stir!
4.  Turn heat to high. Drain rice and place of top of meat and vegs in one layer, stick the garlic and whole chilis in it and scatter raisins if using and carefully pour on boiling water over, being careful not to disturb the rice too much. Cover the rice with about 2 cm of water and let it boil. Add salt. As the water is absorbed reduce the heat but still keeping it gently boiling.  Check as the water is absorbed to ensure it is cooked but still al dente (make holes in the rice to the bottom of the pan to check water level).
5.  Reduce heat to minimum. Cover tightly with a lid and let it steam for 20 mins.  Turn off the heat, remove the garlic and chilies to a separate plate. Carefully mix rice with meat and carrots, adjust seasoning if needed.
Pile the plov onto a big warm plate and serve with garlic, chilies and thinly sliced tomato, sweet onions, chili and salt salad. Enjoy!



Chook’s note: Meat cuts in Uzbekistan are different to Australian but the trick is to incorporate bone and fat for a deep, rich flavour.

The salad is obviously a matter of choice. Serve with whatever takes your fancy. I squished the garlic back into the rice mixture - yum. 
Central Asians love fatty fried meat, but this dish would not suffer if you pulled back on the oil and used a leaner cut but remember fat means flavor! Its worth trying it with goat or beef.

Smoked fish chowder 

Ingredients
30g butter
1 onion sliced
2 Tbsp plain flour
2 cups milk
2 cups fish stock (or chicken stock with a splash of fish sauce)
½ cup white wine
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut in 2cm cubes
400g smoked cod, bones and skin removed and flesh torn into large pieces
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup chopped parsley
Serves 4

Method
Heat the butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring for 3-4 mins or until starting to soften (do not allow to brown).
Add the flour and cook, stirring for 1 min, ensure the flour doesn’t brown on the base of the pan. Gradually add the milk whisking until smooth. Add the stock and wine and continue to stir for 3-4 min or until the mixture thickens slightly.
Bring to a simmer and add the potatoes. Cook for 6-8 mins or until potatoes have softened.
Add the cod and cook for a further 5 mins. Stir through seasoning and parsley.

Chook’s note: this is so simple but very tasty.  Try either substituting or adding mixed seafood for a more complex flavor if you prefer.  Serve in scooped out sour dough cobb loaf for a touch of the San Francisco pier front.

A few bits and pieces to tart up some of your dishes

Tarragon tartare sauce
This is a delicious twist on an oldie
Ingredients
2 Tbsp cornichons (sm gherkins) finely chopped
1 Tbsp baby capers (in vinegar not the salted ones), drained and finely chopped
1/2-1 anchovy fillet finely chopped
1 shallots finely diced (could substitute a little onion)
1 Tbsp flat leaf parsley chopped (could use dried parsley but go easy)
1 tsp tarragon leaves chopped
150g mayonnaise
Salt and white pepper to taste
Lemon juice to taste

Method
Mix all chopped ingredients into mayonnaise and adjust seasoning and lemon juice to taste.

Crispy capers
Crisp in pan with little oil. wonderful zingy surprise topping. Oh and another crispy mouth popper is fried rosemary. Try it.

Mushrooms - dried

* Try blitzing dried mushrooms, whatever variety you have in the cupboard, to add to casseroles, soups or sprinkling on risotto. Dont use too much because they can be very strong.

* Save the liquid from when you soak dried mushies and freeeze in ice cube trays. Good to add a little extra flavour to many dishes.
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Curried parsnip soup

This is a real favourite - if you can get good parsnips! You can substitute cauliflower for parsnip or even use both. I have also mixed carrot and parsnip with great taste outcome.
Ingredients
3Tbsp olive oil
2Tbsp butter
8 brown shallots, finely sliced
4 large parsnips, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp curry powder
4.5 cups milk
1.25 cups cream (you can substitute milk for the cream without compromising the flavour)
Salt and pepper to taste
Coriander to serve

Method
Heat oil and butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and cooked until soft then add curry powder stir then add the parsnip. Cook for 5 mins.
Add milk and cream, bring up close to the boiled and cook gently uncovered for 20 mins (vegetables should be cooked through and soft).
Cool a little then purée. Add seasoning if needed.
Serve sprinkled with coriander and a drizzle of olive oil.
Serves 4-6 depending on serving size.
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Pumpkin Soups

Before we went travelling, a lovely man gave me a humongous pumpkin which sat patiently waiting for us to return. I have made a couple of soups and I've still got loads left. First is a creamy and tangy favourite and the other, Seedy Pumpkin, I threw together many years ago. It's one of those recipes that jiggles around a central idea - in this case pumpkin and seeds.

Thai-style pumpkin and coconut cream soup

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
4 brown shallots, finely sliced
60g fresh ginger, grated
1 tbsp chopped lemongrass (white part only)
good pinch chilli powder
6 cups peeled and diced butternut pumpkin
2 cups vegetable stock or water
1 270ml can coconut cream
11/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
splash fish sauce (I add at least 2 Tbsp)
juice of 1 lime
1-2 kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded
Optional
coriander leaves
roasted, chopped macadamia nuts
Serves 5-6

Method
Place olive oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over medium heat.
Add shallots, ginger, lemongrass and chilli powder and cook for 3-5 minutes or until soft and translucent.
Add pumpkin and stock, bring to the boil and simmer gently until the pumpkin is very tender.
Puree the soup. I use a stick blender – be careful of the splashes! Or you can pop it in a blender in small batches.
Add coconut cream, season with salt, pepper and fish sauce, and heat through without allowing soup to boil. Adjust seasoning, then add lime juice and finely shredded kaffir lime leaves.
To serve:  just as is or garnish with shredded lime leaves, coriander and macadamias.

Chook's note:  You can substitute fresh chili but be careful not to spoil the delicate flavor of the pumpkin, the ginger will add a certain amount of heat.
Don’t overdo the lime leaves. Some can be quite strong and you risk overpowering the delicate flavor of this creamy soup.
If like me you shred and freeze lime leave when they are available, add 1-2 Tbsp to the soup)
If you prefer a less creamy soup use coconut milk but get a good brand.
Fish sauce! We have developed quite a ‘thing’ for fish sauce. Ghastly smell in the bottle but an amazing flavor enhancer.  We usually add it slowly a few tsp at a time. You’ll find individual flavours, such as the lemon grass, are heightened the more you add BUT there is a limit! Be careful to STOP BEFORE you start tasting the fish sauce. It’s a fine balance!

Seedy pumpkin soup

Ingredients
1-2 Tbsp butter and/or oil
1-2 Tbsp of the following to taste
Mung beans (if available)
Pumpkin seeds
Sunflower seed
Caraway seeds
Mint and tarragon – dried or fresh (don’t overdo it)
3-4 spring onions or 1 leek - sliced
Pumpkin 6 cups chopped
2 -3 cups stock – depends on the type of pumpkin
Salt and white pepper to taste
'Splash' of fish sauce to enhance if needed

Method
Heat the oil and butter and brown the seeds and beans. Add the onion or leek and saute till soft and aromatic. Add the pumpkin and stock and bring to the boil.  Add the herbs.
When the pumpkin is soft, blend and mash leaving some texture for mouth feel. Adjust seasoning and, if you have it, add fish sauce cautiously to taste.  Add a little sour cream or crème fraiche if you like a creamier soup.

Chook's note: This is a fairly forgiving recipe but remember not to overpower the delicate flavor of the pumpkin.  It’s one of my ‘make it up as you go’ recipes written on a scrap of paper at some point in its history so the quantities are not necessarily balanced. Just taste as you go. 
Be creative and add ingredients that appeal to you. 

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July-August Travelling a deux along the low roads!

For those of you who have not been initiated into the finer art of cooking in a way-too-small camper van with just one workable gas burner - and a microwave (when there’s power), you might get a chuckle from this -  or vow never to try it! 

We worked out that we can cook on both gas burner and microwave at the same time if we set up the microwave on the bed (resting on the top of the little picnic table). What do they say about necessity and mother! Safety issues? hmm well .....

Our fare was simple. Sometimes we relied on prepared meals which we could simply bung in the microwave. Tescos supermarkets stock a good range from curries and Irish stew to fish pie and pasta. But I usually supplement these with fresh vege - to get all those lovely vitamins and minerals. 

Then there’s the trusty favourite omelette to which I usually add leftovers and the absolutely essential ingredients - onion and butter! We managed to cook various meats - pork, rissoles - to serve with swede, potatoes and beetroot, leek and greens. And there’s a lot to be said for baked beans with jacket potato or a good Irish pie - we’ve had a couple of corkers. All with cholesterol-free butter of course 😏!

We ate well albeit as I said, simply. At the end of the day of driving and sightseeing, I was not very creative.  I was the navigator and trying to predict which roads to take when I only see the signs for  4-5 seconds and the places not on any of the maps I was using - not to mention they are written in Gaelic and English and some only in Gaelic! We travelled a lot of the time in the Gaeltacht so it can be more than a tad confusing. End result was that my brain was rather stretched by the end of the day and well and truly ready for a cider or beer or wine with some good Irish cheese. We were pretty happy campers! 

Essentials shopping list. 

A selection of cheeses, butter, mayo and mustard (for the sandwiches), onion, crackers (for the cheeses), and spreads for the crackers for afternoon snacks when the worms start to gnaw, bags of nuts (personal favourites roasted pistachio). Fresh fruit and vegetables along the way; we’ve been eating delicious plump cherries ever since China. And an absolute essential is a supply of wine etc. 

An ‘interesting’ mixture of leftovers tray to turn into an omelette. It was delicious. 

Our wee van which was home for 5 weeks

The backdrop mist nights was pretty magic. Here it was so quiet except for the sound of a mountain stream rushing over rocks 50 metres away. Doesn’t get much better than that. Food seems secondary - but not the wine!!