Kat is sick ... vertigo. so no posts for a while. back soon

Chinese shredded duck salad

Another Luke Mangan recipe I tried and tweaked to make my own was Mangan's shredded duck salad.

This recipe can get a little expensive, you need to buy a whole BBQ duck from your local china town, the same shop where you buy Chinese BBQ pork, succulent tastiness which no one can resist.
To start the salad you need to remove all the meat and skin from the duck carcass and chop into small pieces.

Now, the recipe calls for fried wonton skins and fried noodles, However I decided to make a healthier version of the salad since the duck is fatty enough without deep fried noodles, so i thinly slice snowpeas instead for the crunch factor.



So, to make the salad, put a big bunch of baby spinach in a large salad bowl, add 12-18 mandarin segments (I also added the segements from a ruby grapefruit for another dimension of freshness to the salad), a bunch of enoki mushrooms and 3-4 thinly sliced shallots and in my case the finly julienned snowpeas.
Add the shredded duck and dress.


The dressing for this salad is so easy to make; 3 tbsp of red wine vinegar, 1 tbsp of soy sauce and 1 of sesame oil, about the same amount of hoisin sauce, 1 tsp of sweet chilli sauce, 1 tbsp of grated ginger and a pinch of castor sugar.
I also added the fruity sauce that came with the BBQ duck.



This is a great salad, fruity and fresh with a great gamey flavour and crunch from the snowpeas

Easy, relatively quick and packed full of flavour.

Wonton Soup

I love going up to Flemington for BBQ pork and Wonton soup, so when I came across Luke Mangan's 'Sanfran Wonton soup' I got pretty excited. Although, I was a little dubious, how could the soup I have tried and failed to recreate so many times be so simple, surely the recipe must be more complex.
But no, the wontons are a delicious mix of 250g's of prawns and pork belly, 1 small can of water chestnuts and 6 - 8 roughly chopped shallots, whizzed in a food processor, until you have a 'chunky' mixture, not a smooth paste, texture is key.

Add the prawn & pork mixture to 1 tbsp of chopped coriander, 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger, 1 egg white, 1 tbsp each of Chinese wine, light soy sauce, 1 and a half tbsp of hoisin sauce and 1 tsp of Chinese chilli sauce, sesame oil, 4 good twists of a pepper grinder and a pinch of cooking salt ( about half a tsp)

To make the wontons lay out store bought wonton skins on a bench dusted with cornflour or on a sheet of baking paper, place a tsp of the mixture in the centre of each skin, brush all the edges with water and fold over the sides to form a triangle, then join the 2 corners across the middle to form the traditional wonton shape.

I like to freeze the wontons for a while before cooking them, I find that it helps to set the shape of the wontons and allows for a truer cooking time ( place wontons in boiling water, when they float cook for a further 2 minutes or so, then they're ready).

To make the soup simply bring to the boil 2 litres of good chicken stock (I used Campbell's chicken stock, in a tetra pack, it tasted really good), just before serving add thinly sliced BBQ pork, thinly sliced shallots (2-3 shallots) and enoki mushrooms.

To serve place the cooked wontons in serving bowls and top with the soup and BBQ pork.

Amazing taste, minimal effort, not exactly weight watchers healthy but it's not too bad, it all depends on the quality of pork that you use in the wontons, However if i may suggest don't be to lean with the pork, some pork fat enhances the flavours.

Try it out, as a started or add some rice/egg noodles for a main meal.

Tonight

tonight I'm going to cook a little Chinese delicacy.
I'm thinking duck and mandarin salad, and homemade won ton chicken soup for a starter.
I'll fill you in tomorrow.
Cook something yummy for yourselves tonight, you can even let me know how it goes if you want

Pizza ...when the moon hits they sky like a big....

Pizza is one of my favourite things to make, packed full of flavour it's the perfect arena to experiment with different combos and on top of all that it's a huge crowd pleaser.

My tip for making pizza is a bread maker. Easy, quick and mess free (relatively speaking).
There's nothing wrong with store bought pizza bases, but for me I like to control the thickness of the dough (thin crust is my favourite).

For pizza sauce, I like to use 'five brothers' tomato and basil pasta sauce, it's neutral enough to not overwhelm the toppings but provides a good base.

I usually make enough dough for 4 pizzas. (I love leftovers, as much as I love cooking, I don't particularly want to do it every day). I roll out the dough rather thin and use some great pizza trays which are round and have holes, this allows the crust to cook from below and above making for a crisp, well cooked base.

Tip: once you've rolled out the bases, brush with a decent amount of olive oil, and leave to 'soak' in for at least 5 minutes before you put on the tomato sauce.

Now, toppings:
1: prosciutto and fresh rocket pizza
2: ham and egg
3: salami and fresh tomato
4: chicken and artichoke ( however, this time i was experimenting and just tossed some leftover Italian sausage and tonnes of garlic in the base for a cheesy garlic bread).

Here is how to make pizza:
1: prep each base with the tomato sauce, to 1 pizza add garlic.
2: slice up some mozzarella and fan equally over each base, next tear up some bocconcini and scatter over the pizzas minus the garlic pizza which is now ready to go in the oven.
3: layer one pizza with shredded ham, 1 with thinly sliced tomatoes and then salami and 1 with the prosciutto ( with the prosciutto pizza you can add the meat either before or after baking, i suggest after for a fresher taste, but it really depends on the quality of prosciutto you can get your hands on).
4: add quartered boiled eggs to the ham pizza ( about 4 eggs, hard boiled).
5: top each pizza with a scatter of grated mozzarella and tasty cheese and perhaps a little Parmesan or Pecorino, don't forget a sprinkle of seas salt and a twist of pepper. ( the only pizzas i would avoid the cheese treatment with is the garlic pizza and the prosciutto pizza with just need a little bit of freshly grater Pecorino after coming out of the oven).
6: you want to cook your pizzas in a hot oven (200 degrees Celsius, fan forced) for about 20 minutes. Turn down the oven if your pizzas are cooking too fast, if the topping cooks too fast you'll think they're ready but the base will be soggy.

Earlier I mentioned a chicken and artichoke pizza, to make this one you want to thinly slice some chicken thighs are cook off with some dried mixed herbs, salt and pepper.
slather some tomato sauce on the pizza base and sliced mozzarella and bocconcini. Spread the chicken across the base and you want an almost equal amount of artichokes in brine torn up. ( artichokes in brine, a huge jar, is really cost effective/ and soo tasty).
top with a little more cheese, salt and pepper. Toss in the oven, 20 minutes later, gorgeous, tasty pizza.

When you take the pizzas out of the oven you want to put some fresh rocket on the prosciutto pizza (if you opted not to cook the prosciutto, you'll obviously need to lay the meat over the cooked base before you add the rocket aka arugula).

Like I said, fast, tasty and great for feeding a crowd. Kat's pizzas.

Quick Sausage Pasta

Despite all my good intentions, healthy eating and all, I just could not resist making one of my favourite pasta recipes for you.

This is a recipe that I rely on, especially after a long day at work, it's a great quick tasty dinner and the leftovers are great for lunches.

This recipe is from the 'River Cafe Cook Book'.

All you need is 5 good quality Italian sausages, skinned (which is actually really easy to do, when you cut the sausages apart from their string you can just push the mince out of the casings, when you do this I suggest you 'mush' the meat together, as even though the recipe asks you to break the meat up in the cooking process this is actually easier to do if you start with something resembling a slab of minced meat).

Heat a good quality, non-stick saucepan ( with lid), add some olive oil and red onions. Once the onions have cooked down a little add the sausage meat, some finely chopped fresh rosemary, 2 chopped dried chillies (small), 1 bay leaf and about 1 tsp of cooking salt.
You want to let this cook on a medium to low heat until the meat is cooked through and getting a little colour.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to the boil, once boiling add a generous amount of cooking salt (about 1 tbsp), don't be afraid of adding salt to your pasta water, this is where the pasta gets it's flavour.

Now, when it comes to adding oil to your pasta water, I'm conflicted, personally I don't think it does anything, but really what does it hurt.

For the pasta it recommended you use penne, but I prefer rigatoni, It's up to you.

Next, the river cafe cooks use Parmesan cheese and cream in their sauce, I prefer just to add 2 bocconcini balls, torn up which adds creaminess and cheesiness to your sauce with hopefully less calories. Once you've added the cheese take the sauce off the heat if you haven't already.

When your pasta is cooked (aldente, anything more is just mush), toss it all together in the sauce pot and set it stand for a couple of minutes so the pasta absorbs some sauce and the whole dish just thickens up slightly.

Bon Appetit

Healthy Dinner

After many days of indulging my love of European cuisine I've decided to follow in the foot steps of my food hero Rick Stein and enjoy some of the simpler healthier meals of the Asian persuasion available in our fair multicultural Australia.

Last night I made a deliciously light salad of finely shredded cabbage (thanks to my mandolin, a fabulous if dangerous kitchen implement), julienned carrot, cucumber and Spanish onion. To top it all off I poached a couple of chicken breasts in a little concoction of my own.
recipe: 1 litre of water, 2 tbsp of dark soy sauce, 1 star anise, 2 coriander stalks, some shallots, 1 tbsp of rice wine vinegar, 2 tsp of salt and 6 twists of a good pepper grinder, and 1 tsp each of ginger and garlic. Bring to the boil for a few minutes. Add the whole chicken breasts and bring to the boil again, simmer for 5 minutes and then take off the stove and let the chicken sit in the broth, covered for at least 20 minutes (I prefer to let the chicken sit for 30 minutes plus). After letting the chicken sit in the broth, remove and set on a plate until cool to the touch.

Shred the chicken breast by hand and add to the salad. For a little bit of extra volume I like to add a little bit of vermicelli ( or bean thread) noodles.

To make the noodles, just submerge in boiling water until soft, then using scissors cut into short lengths and add to the salad.

Tip: You don't need to salt and pepper the salad because the chicken will already have plenty of flavour from the poaching broth.

When it comes to making Asian inspired salad dressings, I find it difficult to pick a recipe, so I have found the perfect solution, buy a bottle of Thai dipping sauce ( the on used for spring rolls) and use as a dressing.

There you have it, a light and delicate salad, full of healthy veggies and poached chicken, for when you feel like you've over indulged on the European cuisine.

The Perfect Roast Chicken

How to make the best roast chicken, never dry and always full of flavour.

Check out my 'tips and things you need to know' page for my recipe for the perfect rooast chicken.

Bullfighters Beef Stew

Rick's bullfighters beef stew is a hearty dish more likely to appeal to carnivores than veggie lovers.

This dish is a rich play on boeuf bourguignon, improving with age.

The recipe asks you to marinate the meat overnight and this is one of the few times I actually agree. Usually when you are cooking with strong flavours you can get away with a few hours of marinating or even not at all.

the best thing to remember about cooking, is that you don't have to follow recipes exactly, adding and subtracting is what makes the dish yours and not someone elses. for example, I'm not a fan of olives so I left them out of the recipe.

Tip: make your own bouqet garni out of fresh herbs, dried sachets from the spice section of the supermarket just doesn't impart the same flavours.

Assiette

Going to Assiette on the 1st of May for degustation and matching wines.
review forthcoming.

Steak Frites

What do you do with steak, potaoes, tomatoes and sausage that you haven't had or made a thousand times before?

well, i'll tell you, use a little imagination and inject a little nostalgia into your kitchen.

I served up a rare steak ( depending on the thickness you're looking at 3 minutes each side and a couple of minutes in a hot oven 180 degrees, then rest for 5 minutes to let the natural juices of the meat settle all the way through the meat).
i also made some 'healthy' chips. hand slice some potatoes (jullienne), and then toss in a hot pan with a little butter ( i use a home made flavoured butter of eschallots and chives) and a little olive oil ( adding olive oil to butter stops the butter burning), once the potatoes are softened and coated with the butter, place on a lined baking tray and sprinkle with sea salt. put in a hot oven (180) and leave to cook until ready ( this varies on the oven and how thick you cut you potatoes, i baked mine to superb crispyness approx 15 minutes.

Along with the steak and 'french fries' i made a really simple little salad of tomatoes, capers, eschallots, parsley and a tangy dijon dressing with sliced Toulouse sausages.

tip: the secret to good meat, is unsuprisingly a good butcher. so scout out some butchers

Jamie Oliver's Tomato Focaccia

The other weekend i decided to use some left-over fresh yeast to make a focaccia.
a little research later, and i came up with Jamie Oliver's tomato focaccia.

a funny little annecdote: when i was a little girl i remeber my mum and sister cooking up a storm in the kitchen and i asked what was for diner?
mum: "foccacia"
me: (i heard: "for katsia" [my nick name]) what's for me?
mum: focaccia...
me: yeah, what's for me?
mum: no, it's bread.
me: ohhh

And so, for me, i love Jamie's fresh tomato focaccia with blanched cherry tomatoes, fresh garden herbs and olive oil for a delicious baking treat.

the beginning of the end...

My love of Great food started with going to fancy restaurants for special occasions.
Degustations with matching wines ring a bell?
I love getting dressed up, being treated like a VIP and sampling all the iconic dishes a chef has to offer.
My recomendations:
Quay: http://www.quay.com.au/ (check it out)

a firm favourite in my book. atmosphere ****, food *****, service *****. degustation ... unbeatable.

(photo: Rare-breed pig belly with a gentle braise of green-lipped abalone, handmade silken tofu, Japanese mushrooms and chive flowers, Quay, Sydney, NSW
Quay’s chef Peter Gilmore is pork belly royalty, having been credited with popularising the neo-classic combination of scallops and belly. Here he takes the surf and turf angle in a different, yet equally winning direction.)