Redskin Fudge

2015 has started off just how my 2014 ended. Quiet, low key and taking some time out for a much needed rest. Not exactly how I planned to spend my holidays, but it was taken out of my hands.

 

Unfortunately I've been using this time to recover from a nasty fall down some stairs just before Christmas. Knees, back and neck injuries... Time, resting and recouping and lots of physio has helped and slowly getting back on my feet so to speak. I'm back at work and taking each day as it comes. Definitely getting there. Thanks to everyone for the kind messages and thoughts.

 

So to kick start the blog for the year I was enthused enough to get into the kitchen this weekend for a little bit.  

 

This recipe for slow cooker redskin fudge is doing the rounds on Facebook and social media and I was intrigued by it.  Growing up I loved redskins, especially if they are hard.  Remember they sometimes were chewy and gooey and sometimes they were hard and snapped......

I do not know the origins of the recipe and its freely available if you google it.  My head was at war as to whether to make it or not...new year's resolutions and all....*sigh*... but the good thing is I can take it to work and fob it off to others!! hahaha

 

Ingredients

2 x blocks Cadbury Dream (I used Cadbury white cooking chocolate as its nearly, if not, the same)
1 x tin condensed milk
1 x bag of redskins
1 tsp of vanilla essence (I used extract)

 

Method

Throw all into a slow cooker and cook on high for one hour.
Stir half way through and at end to blend ingredients together.
Pour into a baking paper lined deep baking tray.
Let cool.
Refrigerate until set.
Cut into bite size pieces.

 

 

This turned out to be super sweet and very rich. As a non sweet tooth eater I found it too much however my sugar loving niece loved it!

A Masterclass with Matt Moran @ Sydney Seafood School, Fishmarkets, Pyrmont

I have been blessed with wonderful family and friends, who in their ultimate wisdom and knowledge of my passions and hobbies, have been overwhelmingly generous celebrating with me reaching the big 4-0 and have lavished me lots of foodie gifts!  

One of those gifts was a hot date with Matt Moran (okay I had to share him but that's not the point).

Last night found me sitting beside one of my dearest friends A (along with 40 odd other randoms), smiling and laughing along with celebrity chef, Matt Moran at the Sydney Seafood School at the Fishmarkets at Pyrmont.

This was my first time doing a class at the Sydney Seafood School and I was super excited about doing it with a Celebrity Chef (yeah that sounds naughty!)

We were greeted in reception and ushered through to the lecture style room. Tiered seating offered a great view of the kitchen bench which also offered TV screens and mirrors for added coverage.
After introductions were made (not that any were really needed!) we were regaled of stories of his upcoming Season 2 of Paddock to Plate, along with chef/kitchen stories and of course following instructions on the 3 recipes that he was cooking (which in turn is what we would be cooking following the session).

 

Matt in action

My mouth was drooling just watching him cook and I have to say watching a chef in action is amazing.  They are so methodic and make it all look so easy. 

After this session were were then ushered into the main kitchen area where we were put in to groups of 6 at a bench and after introductions to our team for the evening we discussed amongst ourselves which dish was being cooked by whom. Two people to a dish. A and I were eager to do the Crab and Pea Risotto.



Everyone ended up helping everyone prepare our ingredients anyway, and we all were chatty and happy as we chopped, diced and sliced.

A having a go at skinning a squid

Matt made his way around to all the benches, overing tips and advice on our dishes, along with some photo bombing.

I really enjoyed this cook.  It was social and fun and learning to cook dishes that I hadn't attempted before.

icing down my peas (and yes I pea'd on the floor!)

 

 

This was the first time my friend A had attempted to cook seafood - I think she may just give it a go in her own kitchen now!

 

 

During our cooking time, I quickly popped out to purchase yet another cookbook (so don’t need another one right!!!!) and chose Dinner at Matt’s. He was close by to sign my copy and for a quick photo or two. He also signed my huge Birthday badge that A asked me to wear for the evening.

meeting Matt Moran

Matt Moran cookbooks

So what did we cook?
We start with risotto.  A dish that I very rarely eat.  I have attempted risotto in the past and I have always been disappointed in it. It's either to chalky, gluggy or starchy.  Over the past 5 years I haven't been eating alot of starchy carbs (ie bread, pasta or rice) not because of any allergen or dietary issues, just because I have adopted a high protein, low carb approach due to some surgery I had on my tummy.  There are days I wish I could eat a whole bowl of rice or pasta (just never going to happen) *sigh*...anyway I digress......


 Crab & Pea Risotto

 So this is the dish that A and I were allocated.  A did most of the actual cooking of it.  I mainly chopped and threw in the ingredients.

crab and pea risotto

I haven't cooked crab before.  Love to it when the luxury permits.  We used prepacked raw spanner crab (which takes the cooking and picking time out of the equation) and fresh peas.  We all mentioned how shelling fresh peas took us back to our childhood when we used to sit with our mum (or grandma) and shell a big bowl.  One of the ladies on our bench mentioned that her grandma made the kids whistle during the shelling.  Why I asked?  Because if you weren't whistling it meant you were eating the peas!!!! LOL....so true!!!

I was very taken with this risotto and it's a definite on my recipe radar.

Chilli, Salt & Pepper Squid

chilli squid with fresh lime

 
Again, calamari is a dish I love to eat when out but never attempted at home.  But that has changed.  this was spicy and the calamari was tender.  Just make sure that your oil is very hot to ensure a crispy batter.

The ladies did a fantastic job, and plating was very pretty.

Steamed Blue-eye Trevalla with garden herbs and Sauce Vierge

blue-eye trevalla

This was surprisingly simple and easy to cook and definitely will be on the menu at a dinner party soon.  I think this is the first time I've taste trevalla.  It's a good meaty white fish but light and so very tasty.  The fresh herbs used are sensational and the tomato, lemon and peppery flavour of the sauce pairs well.

Receipes were easy to follow and plenty of staff on hand to show you where all our ingredients and cookware was placed around the benches.

I have always been wary of cooking seafood at home, mainly because it can be a very expensive protein to stuff up (and easily at that) and there have been plenty of times I've overcooked my fish but after tonight’s cooking class I feel a little more confident that I could do more seafood dishes at home.

Overall, I think we cooked, dished up and plated rather well in the 1 hour time slot and it was lovely to sit down with our ‘team’ and eat our creations ‘family’ style, chatting over a glass of wine and some fine food (if I do say so myself).

A & I celebrate over a glass of wine

 

The dining room is abuzz with activity.  We have set our own tables and we are to also clear them at the end of the meal.  Helps the staff with clean up.


I love the lighting in the dining room and absolutely love the design of the lights!

lighting in the dining room

If you like cooking, learning new techniques, cooking classes, celebrity chefs and/or seafood, I would recommend booking in to do a class.  The School offers a great current program.

Thanks to A, I and A for the wonderful birthday gift and being able to share this experience my my dear friend.  It was a fabulous night.  I have a feeling we will be back doing another class in the future!

My Plate: Peppermint Crisp Pie

peppermint crisp pie

 

It's been an epic weekend.  Birthday celebrations saw me at the Good Food and Wine Show on Saturday with some close friends, which then continued on into the night with a girls night in, with copious amounts of wine and good food, not to mention the fantastic group of girlfriends I am blessed with.

Sunday dawned a bit fuzzy and hazy (and I'm not talking about the weather) and it was an afternoon of family gatherings to celebrate the birthday and catch up with some family.  The original menu that I had planned didn't happen because the weekend ended up being much busier than originally planned, but I did do this dessert!

Peppermint Crisp Pie.  It's an Apples for Jam recipe by Tessa Kiros.  I have adapted the recipe to accommodate Australian 'equivalent' products and slight changes in measurements.  You will need to make the dulce de leche prior to making the dessert.  You will need at least 4-5 hours to make the caramel and let it cool.

Ingredients

1.5 packets of Marie biscuits ( you may not need all the crumbs)
150g butter, melted
1 tin of dulce de leche (sweetened condensed milk boiled)
whipped cream
3 peppermint crisp bars, crushed (or grated peppermint chocolate)

Method

Take labels off the tins. Place unopened tin of sweetened condensed milk into a saucepan and cover with water (at least an inch above the can).  I also placed a clean tea towel into the saucepan around the tin to keep it from bouncing around  (I did 3 tins to make extra caramel and used 2 tea towels).  Bring to a boil and then turn down to simmer for at least 3 hours.  Ensure water level does not drop below the tops of the tins (or may have have a caramel explosion in your kitchen).  Turn off and let the tin cool down. DO NOT OPEN WHILE HOT!*

Crush biscuits in a blender to make a crumb.  Place in a bowl and pour in melted butter.  Mix together.

Pack crumbs into pie tin (20cm pie tin) and pack down to make a crust.  Place in fridge to set until ready to serve.

Place pie crust on a plate, top with dulce de leche, whipped cream and sprinkle the crushed peppermint crisp (or grated peppermint chocolate) over the top.

As I hadn't made dulce de leche before, I was super impressed with myself when I opened the tin and saw the deep sweet, fudgy caramel.  This is a super easy dessert (once you have the caramel made) and I think it was the crispy peppermint shards on top that gave it the wow factor. 
* You can store unopened tins of caramel in the fridge or pantry.  I have kept some in a container in the fridge to have sneaky spoonful or two.  It's sinful but oh so delicious!

Lentil, Chilli & Mint Soup

When I first began this little project, I was cooking and photographing the dishes more than I was posting them here...yeah I've said it before I was a slack blogger in the early days!  So it's time to dig out some of those recipes and post them! 

This soup is a winner for winter.  It's easy to pull together and perfect for a cold winters night.  I've adapted it from a Donna Hay recipe from her 10 Minute Meals cookbook (which I have a personal signed copy wishing me a Happy Birthday).

I am now focusing on my inner Donna Hay....food stylist extrodinare. She makes things so delectable on a plate.  There's alot to learn.

I will admit that I cooked mine for nearly 20 minutes to get a smoother, softer lentil because 10 minutes didn't seem to really cook it and I played around with the spice level to suit my personal taste.

Red Lentil, chilli and mint soup

Ingredients

1 tbs vegetable oil
1 small brown onion, chopped
1 cup of red lentils
1 long red chilli, diced
1-2 tsp lemon rind, minced
1/2 tsp cumin
1 litre of chicken stock (you could use vegie stock)
handful of mint leaves, washed and chopped
greek yoghurt

Method

Fry onion, chilli, lemon and cumin in oil
Add lentils and stock and bring to a boil
Simmer for about 15-20 minutes until smooth and creamy
Stir in mint
top with yoghurt and mint and serve

My Plate: Red Duck Curry with Lychees and Sticky Rice

I was inspired to cook this dish for a mini dinner party (AKA me and a friend) the other night.  I had this dish on my list of must do's for awhile now and I knew it would be a perfect meal for the two of us, especially as it's getting a little cooler now.

I headed to Hurstville and decided to by half a roast duck from Mr Chao BBQ Meats on Forest Rd.  They had a window full of succulent, crispy, shiny skinned birds hanging in the window and a steady flow of customers out the door. Always a good sign!

Mr Chao BBQ Meats

 

A half duck is $14 (whole is $27) and you can have this prechopped (for ease) or not.  I opted not to so that I could have a go with my new meat cleaver at home!

I prepared all my ingredients before my friend arrived so all I had to do (after a bottle of Verve Cliquot and well into a bottle of Pinot Gris) was cook it.  Taste testing the balance of flavours was comical as I hadn't used all the coconut milk and cream and a my friend took a taste he nearly keeled over from the chilli burn....so I threw in the remaining coconut milk, some more sugar.  Once I added the tomatoes and lychees the flavours mellowed (although still had a kick that a red curry should have!)

I was super impressed with myself and the balance of flavours and the flavourful duck made for an elegant dinner....certainly will be adding this to the repetoire!

Red Curry Roast Duck with Lychees

Sticky Rice

This recipe was from a cookbook called The Food of Thailand.

Ingredients

1/2 chinese roast duck (chopped)
2 tbs red curry paste (I always use Maseri brand)
60ml coconut cream
440ml coconut milk
handful of cherry tomotoes
2 tbs brown sugar
2 tbs fish sauce
7 kaffir lime leaves (sliced finely)
1 tin of lychees
handful of Thai Basil leaves

Method

Add coconut cream to wok and heat through until cream starts to seperate, about 5 minutes
Add red curry paste and mix through, simmer for about 2-3 minutes
Add coconut milk, fish sauce and brown sugar
Add duck
Add lychees and tomoatoes
Add lime leaf
(taste and add more fish sauce or sugar to balance the flavours)

Sticky Rice
2 cups of glutinous rice
Add rice to bowl and cover with cold water (about 5 cm above rice) and soak overnight
line a bamboo steamer with muslin cloth
drain rice and add to steamer
Bring saucepan of water to the boil and turn to simmer, place bamboo steamer over saucepan and steam rice for approx 35-40 minutes (or until cooked through).  Remember to check the water level and top up if boiling dry.  The rice will have an opaqueness to it  and not be gluggy.

My Plate: Tostada

I have been interested in Mexican food for a while now.  I wanted to know more beyond the commercialised Tex Mex/Nachos/Tortilla and Burrito market that we automatically think of when we mention Mexican.  Furthermore, I was eager to learn to make my own corn tortillas!

Not being able to find masa harina flour (which is a corn maize flour) in a normal deli/supermarket/gourmet store I ordered some Mexican pantry staples online from www.fireworksfoods.com.au.  Along with my two bags of masa harina flour, I also purchased a packet of dried ancho chilli,s a jar of tender cactus leaves (sliced) and 2 bottles of liquid smoke (one in hickory and one in mesquite flavours).  Why not? Impulse cooking purchases which I have yet to use.  I was also very close to purchasing a tortilla press, but I refrained (for now). I received the delivery within 2 days, which was perfect timing for a day in the kitchen over a weekend.

Now I will admit my tortilla making didn’t really turn out as such and I certainly need to practice a little more.  The mixture was either to dry or then to wet! As I dry fried them, they cracked and fell apart. They came out a little thick and clumpy and not pliable….I need to perhaps refine the water/flour ratio.  So no photos of tragic, misshapen, unedible tortillas, however I did turn the tortilla into a tostada! Kitchen comeback or what?!

So, what is a tostada?

It is similar to a tortilla, but deep fried.  This was a way of using old tortillas that were not fresh enough to use as a tortilla…similar to toasting bread to use up day old (or more) bread in the western world.

They are Mexican but are also found in the American Southwest.

Tradition toppings for tostadas range from seafood and stews to traditional taco toppings (called ‘guisados’) and anything that is sticky to keep the topping on while eating it.

So what did I put on my tostada?

tostada

• crumbled feta (because I didn't have any quesco fresco (which is a fresh mexican cheese)
• refried beans
• fresh salsa (onion, coriander, tomatoes, shallots)
• roast pork belly

This was delicious!  The fatty roast pork belly melted into the refried beans and the fresh salsa and cheese were perfect accompaniments.

Now I just need to get back into the kitchen and perfect that tortilla!

The resurrection of the blog and a facebook page

I've decided that this blog space has been sporadic enough.  With the view of me actually writing and taking photos I keep telling myself to focus on it but time just gets away from me and I never seem to really focus on it.... ..I've procrastinated far to long...it's now time to actually pull my finger out and do it more often. 

I have plenty of photos and material to occupy the space for sometime.....so I'm going to dig deep into the memories and photo archives of some delicious travel eats and start posting.

To go along with this 'new/old/resurrected' project I've also created a facebook page to go along with it....so you can follow me there to.  Mainly covering photos of My Plate, which is a project that I like to do when I'm dining out or cooking at home...

Please support my endeavours in the culinary eating world that I love so much!

Here is a link to my page Roofood.  I hope you will pop over and visit!

Tofu with shallots, coriander and chilli

This has been a go to quick meal for me many times and I love it.  It's so simple and fresh (although there is a fair bit of oil in it).  It's a Chinese style tofu dish which I have slightly adapted to suit my taste (mainly the quantity of oils and soy sauce).  Quick and easy, colourful and tasty!

Tofu with coriander, shallots and chilli

Recipe ingredients

A block of silken or regular tofu, cubed or sliced
a bunch of coriander
a red chilli, sliced
2 shallots sliced
2 tbs peanut oil
1 tbs sesame oil
1-2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs fried shallots (you can get these at the asian grocery store or large supermarkets)
1 tbs peanuts (optional)

Method

• arrange tofu on a plate, put soy sauce on top and warm through (I do this in the microwave for about one and half minutes
• arrange coriander, shallots and chilli on top of tofu
• meanwhile, heat oils (together) in a frying pan until just smoking then pour over the top of the tofu.  This will sizzle and spit so be careful.  It should wilt the coriander, shallots and chilli and puddle in the base of the dish with the soy sauce.
• top with fried shallots and peanuts (if using)

Serves 1-2

Carmelised Pork with Ginger and Vinegar

I got myself back in the kitchen last week inspired by my recent readings of Kylie Kwong.  I decided on this dish - carmelised pork with ginger and vinegar.  I have not  slow cooked pork belly like this before.  Usually I roast it to a super crunchy pork crackling state.  Slow cooking it makes the skin go all gelatinous and gooey....pork bliss!

Now I can only assume that you leave the skin on because the recipe only said pork belly.  It didn't state whether to the leave the skin on or not.  It worked for me leaving the skin on and the flavours were delish.  I did realise afterwards that I used palm sugar instead of brown sugar, so not sure if that changed the sweetness of the dish.  My pork certainly wasn't as dark as was pictured in the book...(but hey food photography always looks better!)

As I was a solo diner for this meal I had a heap of leftovers and the next day the flavours were even better.  I also was able to skim off the solidified pork fat that had set at the top of the container.  The sauce was a jelly.  Perfect!

My Plate

I'm really not doing terribly well with this whole food blogging thing am I?  I hope one day that I can focus on it a little bit more.  In the mean time, I have started facebooking food photos when I'm out socialising...that is one consistency with me...I take photos of food, not your everyday meal, but when I'm dining out or when I cook something special.

The past few months have been crazy....i'm slowly getting back on my feet.  I am moving AGAIN but this will be the last time (for a long time)...I grounded myself by purchasing some property...it's small, but it's big enough for me.....and I finally will have my own kitchen again (meaning lots of cooking again!)

So a new little project is to post them here to.  If I don't get a post up on the whole meal, at least a photo will be something!

Bucket of Prawns - Blue Fish, Darling Harbour