Revisiting some favourites

This week I cooked two of the first three 'R' things that came to mind - rendang (a curry) and rhubarb.  The third thing that came to mind was roast, of any sort.  I couldn't decide what kind of roast and in the end, the need for a good curry on a cool winter night won out. 

To start the evening, I threw together a plate of 'red' foods - roasted tomatoes, tomato and red capsicum pesto, peppadews stuffed with feta, a red chilli cheese and salami sticks. All washed down with a lovely dry French Rose.

I have previously shared the beautiful Spirit House Beef Rendang recipe and you can find it here.  I started making it two days ahead, as I knew I'd be short for time and you just cannot hurry a good curry.  So if like me, you're cooking it ahead of time, just do the first half (up to step 3), then let it cool, put the lid on the saucepan and put it in the fridge for up to two days before reheating, adding the coconut cream and finishing it off.  You could also freeze it at that point as well, saving you an hour of cooking time.  Thanks to my sister who willingly gave me a batch of the rendang paste, from her freezer, which made my job even easier.

The rhubarb was a no-contest decision.  It's strange how much the price of rhubarb fluctuates, even when in it's peak season.  The last time I bought it I was caught out as the price wasn't listed at the supermarket, and when I went to pay for it, I nearly fell on the floor.  This time, I bought it at the markets, so I knew what I was paying for it.  Donna Hay's Rhubarb Dumplings recipe uses such a massive amount of sugar - 2 cups - that you'd think you were making rhubarb jam! It is so sweet, that I think you may as well not have the rhubarb in there (especially given how much you've paid for it), With all that sugar, you end up with a red sugary syrup, and totally miss that unmistakable rhubarb taste and feel in your mouth.  In my version of the recipe below, I have cut her amount of sugar in half and added some Rose (wine) as it was cooking, to balance the sweetness.  You could definitely use even less than what I have written below, perhaps 3/4 cup.  You don't need to include the Rose either, I just was trying to balance the sweetness and it certainly helped.

Rhubarb Dumplings (Serves 4)
500g rhubarb stalks, leaves discarded (they are poisonous)
1 cup (220g) caster sugar
2 cups (500mL) water
Splash of Rose (wine)
Dumplings
1 cup (150g) plain flour
2 tbsp (30g) caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
75g butter, chopped
1/4 cup (60mL) milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
icing sugar, for dusting

1. Chop rhubarb stalks into about 5cm pieces and place in a medium sized saucepan.
2. Add water, sugar and a splash of Rose (wine) and stir to combine.  Place over a medium heat, bring to the boil, then allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes, until rhubarb is tender.  Remove from heat and set aside 
3. For the dumplings: place flour, caster sugar, baking powder and chopped butter into a food processor, and process until combined and resembling fine breadcrumbs.
4. Add vanilla and half the milk.  Pulse and add remaining milk, as it comes together into a smooth dough.
5. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface.  Divide mixture into small dumplings.
6. Divide rhubarb amongst 4 small (375mL) ovenproof dishes and place dumplings into rhubarb.
7. Bake at 180C for 20 - 25 minutes or until dumplings are cooked (test with a skewer).
8. Dust with icing sugar and serve.

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Chilly nights = chilli nights

So it's winter in my part of the world.  Compared to a lot of other places, winter in south-east Queensland is usually quite mild, averaging 9C over night and about 21C during the days.  This past month though has seen some very cold nights (4 -5 C) following clear crisp days.  This kind of weather says chilli to me!  Below is my favourite Chilli Con Carne recipe.  No need to buy the recipe base mix in the supermarket, you just need chilli powder and ground cumin instead.  Add as much or as little chilli powder and fresh chilli to suit your taste - you do need some though, otherwise it's just savoury mince!  As always, with fresh chilli, taste a small piece as you are chopping it up so you can gauge the heat level.

To follow this chilli, why not calm down the taste buds and keep the insides warm with Rhubarb and Apple Crumble - a winter favourite!

Chilli Con Carne

500g lean beef mince
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 long green or red chillies, seeded, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder (to your own taste)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tins (400g - 410g) chopped tomatoes
400g tin red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
250mL Beef (or vege) stock
1/2 bunch coriander leaves

1. Heat some oil in a large heavy based pan over high heat.  Cook mince, stirring, to break up lumps, until browned.  Remove mince from pan and set aside.
2. In the same pan, add another splash of olive oil and cook onion, garlic, chillies and spices, over a medium heat, until the onion has softened and the spices are fragrant.
3. Add the mince back into the pan and stir in the tomato paste.  Add chopped tomatoes and kidney beans.  Stir well.  Season with salt and pepper.
4. Carefully stir in the stock.  Cover and allow to simmer for about 45 minutes.  (You can also do all of this in a heavy-based oven-proof casserole dish, and at this point bake at 180C for 45 minutes).
5. Whilst it's bubbling away, cook/steam rice.  You might like to make a quick guacamole at this point too - mash an avocado or two, add in 1 - 2 finely diced tomatoes, 1 small red onion finely diced, the juice of half a lemon or lime (to your taste) and a splash of tobasco sauce (to your taste).
6. Serve the chilli on steamed rice, garnish with coriander leaves.  Also serve with corn chips, sour cream and guacamole on the side.

Rhubarb and Apple Crumble
6 - 8 stalks rhubarb, leaves discarded (they are poisonous!)
2 apples, peeled, cored, roughly chopped
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/3 dessicated coconut
1/3 cup brown sugar
50g butter
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Roughly chop the rhubarb stems.  Add rhubarb and apple to a small saucepan with the caster sugar.  Add a little water, and allow to stew till cooked through.  Keep an eye on it!
2. To make the crumble: mix together the oats, coconut and brown sugar.  Rub the butter through the dry ingredients.  Mix in the cinnamon
3. Once the rhubarb and apple is cooked taste it for sweetness, add more sugar if necessary (remembering there is sugar in the crumble as well).  Then pour it into an appropriate sized baking dish.
4. Loosely place the crumble over the top.  Bake at 180C for 10 - 15 minutes or until crumble looks brown and crunchy.  Serve with cream or icecream.

Three Little pigs went to the Market

So it was my turn to make a holiday 3 course meal this week. I had made the decision to do a slow roasted pork belly after reading this months edition of Delicious magazine. This was going to be my "main event" and I needed to have a starter and dessert (pondering, pondering, pondering) then i saw the new "Donna Hay" magazine which had caramel desserts in it so, not being the best caramel chef i thought why not, give it another go. So dessert was planned in the form of a rhubarb Tarte tatin. After further reading of the "Donna Hay" my starter was chosen in the form of Black bean pork and Wombok dumplings.

Thank goodness for holidays. I had all day to prepare and boy did it help LOL.

To start with made the Rhubarb Tarte Tatin. We have worked out that when I do my caramels I have the stove on too high therefore the caramel turn to toffee. (Yay we have finally worked that one out). The Tarte Tatin is very simple to make - Gently dissolve 3/4 cup caster sugar in 1/4 cup of water. Once sugar is dissolved bring temp up to med and bring to boil till light and golden. Add 50g of butter and 2 cinnamon sticks stir till well combined. Pour caramel into into greased tin and arrange rhubarb pieces into caramel. Top with puffy pastry and fold in edges around the rhubarb, cut into top 3 small piercings. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Turn out to serve.

The Pork dumplings were just as easy. Thinly slice a Wombok chinese cabbage and fry up with 2 crushed cloves of garlic till wilted and softened. Allow to cool. Place 400g pork mince, 1 egg white, 2 tbs of black bean paste and chopped chives with cabbage and mix until well combined. Thanks to Rose for the dumpling crimper machine thingy, it made making the dumplings so much easier. Place a gow gee wrapper on crimper thingy and put a teaspoon of pork mixture on and crimp together. To cook the dumplings I put water into bottom of fry pan and steamed the dumpling for 5-7 minutes and then transferred them into another fry pan to crispen one side. To serve the dumplings I put some Chinese Black vinegar and chilli oil onto plate and placed dumplings on top.

The Pork Belly was again simple yet time consuming (only in the baking). Mix 2 cloves of garlic, 2 tbs thyme leaves, 1/2 tsp caraway seeds, 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes, pinch of ground cloves in a mortar in pestle. Add 1 tbs of lemon juice and 2 tbs of olive oil, mix into a paste. Rub this paste onto the rind of a scored pork belly. Let this stand for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 220 deg. Arrange some onion slices in a roasting pan and sit the pork on top. Roast at 220 deg for 30 minutes then reduce temp to 170deg and roast for 3 hours. Rest pork belly for 20 minutes. I removed the rind and put it under the grill for a few minutes to crispen up the crackling. I served the slow pork with an autumn salad (baby spinach, radichio, pancetta, red onion, swiss brown mushrooms, roasted hazelnuts, dressing honey, red wine vinegar and dijon mustard, olive oil) and pea mash.

This dinner was very simple to make and very nice to eat. We both enjoyed a glass of sav blanc which went down well with each course. The 3 pigs refers to the pork mince, slow roasted pork and the pancetta (thanks Rose). Look out for next week when the structure of our Wednesday night dinner changes. We are going back to our old ways where we choose an ingredient that must be used for the meal. I have chosen Quinoa for Rose. I wonder what she will decide to make - tune in next week to find out.

I'm going to score this 3 course meal 4.5 wooden spoons - just because.