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Posts from the ‘Recipes’ Category

Jul 23

3 Comments

Pork and Habanero Chilli

Warning: The salivating, addictive qualities of this dish will send sensations of heat through your body that will last for days. The beans do not help either; but damn it’s good!!

Ingredient list:
300g pinto beans
150g black beans
1kg pork mince
1 very large brown onion, diced
6 garlic cloves
400g canned tomatoes
1 heaped tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp chile powder, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, cumin
1 heaped tbsp masa flour
3 heaped tbsp ground habanero pepper
1 habanero pepper, seeds and all
2 tbsp salt
300-400mL beef stock

Soak the beans overnight; Remove any beans that are floating. Rinse them, and boil them for 3 hours (until tender) – starting from cold, unsalted water. Some say boil them with a tomato in the water to help them soften, or add thyme/rosemary for added flavour, but I prefer to save the money and put it towards my beer fund.

Sweat off the onion and garlic until tender. Add the pork and the herbs, spices and peppers and brown them off.

Add the tomatoes and tomato paste, (drained) beans, and enough beef stock to barely cover the goods. Bring it to the boil, stirring frequently (making sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot).

 Into this clean*ahem* oven for 4 hours at 180C/350F

After 4 hours, out of the oven, give it a stir and let it rest for at least 30 mins. Great with nachos; just grate a whole lot of mozzarella/cheddar cheese on top of some corn chips with this chilli and I guarantee you will smash all 5 litres in one go*.

(*not a guarantee)

Sep 19

7 Comments

How to bbq ocean trout

1. Catch fresh fish (see this video for tips and tricks)

2. Fillet fish, skin on. marinade with finely sliced fennel, blood orange slices (and zest), sea salt, freshly ground black peppercorns, olive oil

3. Fry on well oiled bbq grill medium-high heat, skin side down. 2 mins, flip over. Peel off skin (should come off really easily if your grill was hot enough).
Fry other side of the skin for another 5 mins, until all the moisture cooked out, then fan it out as pictured above to crisp it up. As for the other side of the ocean trout for another 3 mins should do (should be medium rare – it’s fresh fish!)

I would have a shot of the finished product, but they ate it all as soon as I put it out -_- you can’t leave crackling alone for a second…

Here’s an after shot?

Jun 7

7 Comments

Mother Sorbet

Chocolatesuze loves Mother. Therefore, make mother sorbet for her birthday – very logical right?

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Jun 4

10 Comments

A Vegetarian option: Quorn

There are a couple of things in life that freak me out: Spiders, lady boys, the toilets at the beach, getting off at Punchbowl station, frozen food and vegetarians.

So when I see a frozen product described “meat free, soy free protein”, I naturally… well… Freak out.

However, I must not judge vegetarians and ‘meat-reduced’ dieters as it’s their choice of lifestyle (however, I still do not understand it; and actually do pity you. And yes, I can see that dirty ‘you’re so patronising’ stare). I am however up to the challenge to cook such dishes. So, if there are vegetarians out there who:
a) wish to have a meat-like substance/sustenance the meat  in their dishes
b)  need to convince your carnivorous spouses to eat healthier
c) really want meat, but need a low-fat, high-fibre version of it

Quorn is for you.

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Nov 29

3 Comments

For Charity

The festive season in a successful commercial kitchen does not allow for basic human necessities like sleep and a half descent staff meal (hence very short-tempered chefs; who still have to feed the mass hoarde of hungry customers – 270 in 3 hours), making Mondays and Tuesdays seem like Fridays and the weekend to feel like about the 3rd or 4th layer of hell (bearable, but cannot be survived without screaming) I did however found some time to cook with love; giving out some soup at my local church to support a missionary.

Of course, as a proud chef, it can’t be just any soup:

Roasted Garlic soup & almond soup w shredded white chicken, blood orange and herb salad

This dish is fairly simple, but very fiddly, having 3 parts: soup, chicken and salad.

Soup:
8 whole garlic bulbs
1 white onion, finely diced
1L chicken stock
270mL thickened cream
1 ciabatta loaf
large handful of slithered almonds

Roast the garlic in a 200 degree oven for 30 mins, or until the cloves are soft enough to squeeze out the insides. Meanwhile, sweat the onion in some olive oil for a couple of minutes (don’t forget: season!), then add the stock and the cream. Bring to the boil, reduce to simmer for 10 minutes. Tear out the insides of the ciabatta and toss it in. When the garlic is ready, squeeze out the insides straight into the pot, add in the almonds, then blitz with a hand blender.

White shredded chicken:
2 chicken breast fillets
3 coriander root
2 large knobs ginger
3 shallots, white only
1L water

Bring water, coriander root, ginger, shallot whites and a handful of salt to the boil. Reduce to simmer and in with the chicken – 7 minutes; check if it cooked by making an incision in the fattest part of the breast, if yes, shock in ice water. The leftover liquid can be used to make awesome chicken soup.

Shred the chicken, making sure to tear it along the fibres, not tearing through them. You’ll see what I mean when you start shredding. If you need a video demonstration let me know.

Blood orange, coriander, mint, salad:
Segment the blood oranges, pick and wash the coriander (lots of dirt in these things), pick the mint. Mix some of the orange juice with olive oil and whisk to dress the salad.

Serve the whole thing hot or cold. Good either way.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go back to work to feed the next wave of guests.

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