One more chat...

I've been thinking a lot about my Grandparents lately, and remembering all the stories, games, laughs, smiles, hugs and love.  I think about them a lot, and I'm not sure why they've been more in my mind over the past couple of weeks.  Perhaps it's because of the new additions/inclusions to the family since they've been gone or the new additions to the family soon to arrive/be included who will make their mark?  Or perhaps it's because I just had another birthday and that always makes me think about things.  I do know it's definitely because I miss them, and miss being able to pop in and have a quick chat and a laugh, ask questions and talk about silly or serious things.

A work colleague was telling me last week that during the school holidays, that he was off way down south, taking his whole family 'back home' to visit his grandparents.  He was moaning about how long it was going to take and what a hassle it was.  I stopped him and said "What I wouldn't give for one more conversation with each of my Grandparents!"  He just laughed this off.  My off the cuff statement has really made me think - what would I ask or tell them if I could just have one more chat.

Anyway, the following day, we were having a shared staff breakfast, and with the thought of one more conversation with my grandparents still fresh in my mind, I made Grandad's scones.  I guess for me now, with all of my grandparents gone, the best thing I can do to live out their legacy is keep sharing their stories, their recipes, their games and their love with everyone.

As I've said in a previous post on this blog, Grandad was not the most conventional cook and certainly didn't ever write down his recipes.  You just learnt them from watching, being involved and hearing the stories of their creation.  This recipe came to be written down several years ago when my Mum sent it to one of my cousins.  Grandad would never have given exact quantities, so if you make these scones feel free to just chuck quantities in as you see fit.  Grandad's scones are something of a legend in our family - see step 1!  Enjoy!!!

Grandad's Scones (makes about a dozen, depending on size)
1 egg
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup sour milk or cream (ie milk/cream which has passed it's used by date and is souring)
Self Raising Flour (several cups - you'll have to work this out as you go along)
1/3 cup warm water
extra milk (for brushing top of scones before cooking)

1. BEAT THE HELL OUT OF AN EGG! (exact words!)
2. Whisk in the sugar. 
3. Add sour milk/cream.  Combine.
4. Start adding in flour and mix.  Keep adding flour till you get a good dough consistency.
5. Grandad's 'trick' - when the dough is a good consistency, add in the warm water.  Combine. Then add more flour to bring back to good smooth dough consistency.
6. Roll out on a floured surface.  Cut scones out (with a cutter or a small glass dipped in flour).
7. Place on a floured baking tray.
8. Brush the top with milk (helps them to brown).
9. Cook for 12 - 15 mins in a hot oven (220C), till they have popped and are brown on top.

Eat them fresh and warm from the oven.  Grandad used to say that the best scones were the ones you could just break apart, ie don't cut them open with a knife!

A sweet little thing

Lemons beginning to fruit

And it's back to the kitchen, as Spring takes hold of our weather here in south-east Queensland.  Not long now till the rains will arrive (we hope) which will freshen everything up, and help us all to stop watering less.  Whilst we've been away from the blog, I've planted a little garden at my back door.  Winter is probably not the best time to do that, but nevertheless all the herbs and chillies have thrived in the cooler conditions, and are all set now for the warm spring and hot summer heading our way.  Even better news, is that the chillies and lemon tree have been flowering and now the fruit is coming on.  If only my poor old lime tree would catch on to this idea!  Anyway, I'm very much looking forward to using my own chilli and lemons very soon.

My co-conspirator in the kitchen has been laid low for almost 40 days now with the dreaded whooping cough.  So in an attempt to lift his spirits, I cooked dinner my house then took it to him!  The Indonesian Beef Rendang that I made was the perfect dish for a moveable dinner challenge. I did up to step 4 of the rendang, then bundled it up to transport.  Finally adding the coconut when I was ready to serve.

You'll need to find the biggest mortar and pestle you can to make this rendang paste.  It makes enough for 4 curries - you use about 1/2 cup per curry.  I ended up blitzing several ingredients in the food processor and had numerous bowls of these covering the bench.  The softer ingredients I pounded in the mortar and pestle, then combined everything at the end.  The rest of the paste that you don't use for this recipe can be frozen for up to 6 months, in 1/2 cup portions.

When you eat this curry, the first taste you get will be a sweet one (due to the addition of kecap manis - sweet soy sauce).  Shortly thereafter you will get the slow burn of the chilli.  Remember to always taste the chilli as you're chopping it up, and adjust the overall amount to suit your own tastes.  And, as with all curries this rendang is even better the next day for lunch!

Indonesian Beef Rendang

Rendang Paste
2.5 tbspn black pepper (whole)
2.5 tbspn coriander seeds, roasted and ground
50g fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
50g galangal (this is a really tough ingredient, so be prepared for a wrestle when chopping it up)
250g large red chillies, seeded, chopped (taste a piece to check for heat, and adjust quantity to taste)
40g bird's eye chillies, finely chopped
50g garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
200g shallot, peeled and roughly chopped
100g candle nut (can substitute macadamia nuts)

1. Roast the coriander seeds and peppercorns.
2. Then pound spices, ginger and galangal in mortar and pestle.
3. Add both chillies, garlic, shallots and candle nuts and pound to form a coarse paste.


Rendang
2 tbsp vegetable oil (eg Rice Bran oil)
1/2 cup rendang paste (see above)
750g chick beef, cut into 2.5cm cubes (use any type of braising beef)
2 stalks lemongrass, bruised
1 tumeric leaf (substitute 2 kaffir lime leaves - tear/squash them a little to start to release the flavour)
4 slices galangal
1 cup water
500mL coconut cream
2 tbspn dark palm sugar
1/3 kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
3/4 cup dessicated coconut, toasted

1. Heat oil in heavy based pan or wok and fry paste for 2-3 minutes.
2. Add meat, lemongrass, tumeric leaf and galangal and cook until meat is sealed all over.
3. Add water and simmer gently for 40 minutes.  Give it a stir every now and then.
4. Add coconut cream, palm sugar and kecap manis.  Stir to combine.  Simmer for further 45-60 minutes until meat is tender and sauce is very thick.
5. Stir in half the toasted coconut (it will soak up some of the sauce) and stir to combine.  Add remaining coconut a few minutes later if needed.
6. Serve with steamed rice, and garnished with crispy fried shallots and coriander leaves.

Tips from the masters (no not me!)

Recently I attended a cooking class at the Sunshine Coast's Spirit House Cooking School.  Every one I talk too has either eaten there, done a class there or it's on their to do list.  Can I say.... do not wait any longer, get down to Yandina and get eating and get cooking.  It is the best way to learn great recipes and pick up nice little tips from the professionals.

Here are a few little tricks that we learned throughout the day.  You probably know them, but they were 'aha' moments for us:

• don't ever use white wine vinegar in Asian cooking as it's far too strong
• only use vegetable oil in Asian cooking, e.g. Rice Bran oil
• use white peppercorns, as the black ones are too strong
• in working out how many serves a recipe makes have a look at the protein, in Australia we allow 150g or so per person
• lime juice loses it's flavour and colour very quickly, so don't squeeze them too far ahead of time
• to 'peel' ginger, just scrape a teaspoon along the skin
• use coconut cream for curries and coconut milk for desserts
• use your mortar and pestle to grind things up for quick cooking curries, as you've already started to break them down and release the flavour; use your food processor to blitz things for longer cooking curries as they will have longer to break down
• with a master stock, strain it after using, allow to cool, scrape off the fat and freeze; you must boil it each time you re-use it.  If it starts to thicken make a new batch and add it in to the original batch, and it will keep on getting better and better each time.

Happy cooking!
P.S. I'm not responsible for making that pineapple look that beautiful, but I did chop it up later!