Slow Cooking

I must admit, I'm probably one of the slower ones to pick up the art of (and love for) slow cooking.  There's something about leaving an electrical appliance turned on all day when you're out of the house that just doesn't sit quite right, yet I'm quite happy to sit in another room for the same amount of time and rarely even check on it after the initial stir to combine instructions ....

I'm discovering I'm actually quite a fan!  A while ago a colleague at the office decided there was a definite gap in the market for Australian recipes, and ones that didn't include "1 can of condensed soup" as the base of the meal!

I've been lucky enough to find quite a few nice recipes in recent times, and tonight's was again a winner - it was eaten up before we managed to take a photo so we might have to make that one again another time, but the recipe is below:


Indian Sweet Curry Beef

Ingredients:

2 carrots
1 onion
1 stalk celery
2 apples, grated
1kg lean stewing beef (I used 500g and it was plenty enough)
1 tablespoon sultanas
1 tablespoon relish or chutney
1 tablespoon tomato sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon golden syrup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1.5 tablespoons curry powder
2 teaspoons sat
1/2 cup stock or water
3 teaspoons cornflour (optional)



Method:

Peel the carrots and onion and cut into 1cm dice.  Cut the celery into 1cm slices. Peel, core and grate the apples.  Place into the slow cooker.

Remove any visible fat from the meat and cut into 2cm dice.  Place on top of vegetables.  Add the sultanas, relish or chutney, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, golden syrup, brown sugar, curry powder, salt and stock/water.  Stir gently to combine.

Place lid on cooker and cooker for 4-5 hours on High or 8-9 hours on Low.

If necessary, mix the cornflour with about 2 tablespoons of cold water to a paste and use a little or all or it to thicken the curry.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with steamed rice.

Food Memories

Taken from the Melbourne Age newspaper recently:

Click here for full article

"There are lots of ways of tracing your own personal history. You can go back through family photo archives and trace the hair styles. You can do it with music, by listing the songs that symbolize special times in your life. Or you can do it with food. Food has an incredible power to evoke the past; to remind us of special occasions, disasters and triumphs, and those long gone. I think of my father every time I grill a lamb chop on the barbie, and of my grandmother every time I smell porridge cooking.

To write your own food biography, come up with ten dishes from your past to your present, from your very first food memory to your current obsession. Write them down.  They don’t have to be the best ten best dishes you’ve ever had in your life, just represent you at certain ages and stages. That’s your entire life there, plate after plate.

Your list will be different to mine, and different to your nearest and dearest. A stranger could look at them and know so much about you and your life; where you came from, who you became, and everything in between. The places you have lived will be in there, the people you have loved and who have loved you. Every dish tells a story, good or bad."

The article goes on to give the author's food, and I've decided this is something I plan to do in the next few days, after being inspired by my friend Nicole and my Sister-in-law Felicity to do so!   

It sounds like a bit of fun - I'd love to read other memories as well!

Post Title

Sichuan Pork

with peppered Asian Greens

Ingredients

1. 500g boneless pork loin, cut in thin strips
2. 5 tablespoons soy sauce
3. 2 tablespoons cornflour
4. 1 tablespoon peanut oil
5. 1/2 cup roasted peanuts
6. 1 teaspoon crushed sichuan/red pepper
7. 1 clove garlic, chopped finely
8. 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
9. 1/2 cup chicken stock
10. 2 tablespoons Shaoxing (Chinese rice wine vinegar)
11. 2 tablespoons dry white wine
12. 1 teaspoon sugar
13. 1 red capsicum, cut in strips
14. 2-3 spring onions, sliced diagonally
15. 2 tablespoons water

Directions

1. Marinate pork strips in combined 3 tablespoons soy sauce and 1 tablespoon cornflour for 30 minutes.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in wok. Stir-fry peanuts and crushed red pepper over medium-high heat for 2 minutes; remove.
3. In remaining oil, stir-fry pork and ginger until lightly browned. Add garlic.
4. Add stock, vinegar, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, wine and sugar. Cover; simmer 3 minutes.
5. Add capsicum and spring onions; cook 2 minutes.
6. Add combined 1 tablespoon cornflour and water. Cook and stir until thickened. Stir in peanut mixture. Serve immediately.

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Buttermilk Loaf

From the TV Show "Gourmet Farmer"

Ingredients

1. 2 cups self-raising flour
2. 1/2 tsp ground ginger
3. 1 tsp mixed spice
4. 1 tsp ground cinnamon
5. 1 cup caster sugar
6. 1 large cup sultanas, currants and raisins, mixed
7. 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
8. 1 tbsp treacle (optional)
9. 1 cup buttermilk

Directions

1. Sift the flour with the spices and add sugar, fruit and nuts. Mix treacle, warmed over hot water, with buttermilk. Fold in gently. Spoon into a buttered and lined loaf tin. Bake for 3/4 an hour to 50 minutes in a moderate oven (180C). (I like to test it with a skewer as I would any cake.)
2. Slice and butter when cold.

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