Stir-fry chicken with mushrooms and bok choy

This an easy meal anybody can create in a matter of minutes. This is also a good way to get into Asian stir-fry meals. Once you've mastered this simple recipe you'll be able to prepare just about any other stir-fry dish.

Ingredients
Peanut or vegetable oil - 3 tbs.
Garlic - 5 cloves, diced
Brown onion - 1/4, diced
Spring onion - 2 branches, diced
Dark soy sauce - 2 tbs for the marinade, and 3 tbs for the stir-fry
Sesame oil - 1/2 tsp. for the marinade, and 1 tsp for the stir-fry
Chili - 1 whole chili, diced
Chicken fillet - 200g, sliced into small thin strips
Bok choy - 2 branches, coarsely diced
Sugar - 1 tsp.
Lemon juice - 2 tsp.
Cracked pepper - to taste
Salt - to taste
Rice - as much quantity as you like

Step 1 - Cook the rice

Before you begin your stir-fry you must first prepare the rice. This is important. Do not start your stir-frying until the rice is almost fully cooked. This is because the stir-frying stage will only take about 5-7 minutes. So you don't want to prepare the stir-fry too early because the rice will still be cooking.

Step 2 - Marinate the chicken

Place the chicken strips into small bowl. Add the sesame oil and the dark soy sauce. Mix well and set aside.

Step 3 - Begin stir-frying

Once your rice is nearly cooked, place your wok (or if you don't have one use a standard frying pan) on high heat, pour in the vegetable or peanut oil, add the chilli, brown onion, and the garlic. Stir vigorously to make sure nothing gets burned for about 1 minute. Now add the chicken strips, and stir-fry until it is almost cooked. Next add the bok choy, sesame oil, dark soy sauce, sugar, and the lemon juice. Stir-fry until the bok choy is cooked and still crispy. Be careful not to overcook it because this will make the bok choy become soggy. Next add the spring onion, and some salt and pepper to taste. Done! Serve immediately on rice.

Of course you can vary the amount of all the ingredients in this meal to suit your taste. Depending on how salty your dark soy sauce is you may find that you don't need the salt at all. Also do be careful on the amount of sesame oil you put in. This stuff is extremely powerful and it only takes a small quantity to overpower the entire dish.

Sesame Roasted Snapper Recipe with Oriental Sauce

We had watched an Asian fish recipe and developed a tremendous urge to cook up a whole fish. After some bargaining at the market, we managed to get a whole snapper fish monster for only $32! (See left - look at its teeth!). Though we didn't really bargain, its all we had on us in cash and the fish-munger reluctantly knocked $13 off the price to our delight.

We decided to prepare the fish whole, seeing it was such a beautiful specimen (like me). To make this you will need to following ingredients:

Whole fish - can be snapper or cod any size you like. We used a 3kg snapper.

Olive oil

Vegetable oil

4 medium size red chillies 

75g of ginger

5 cloves of garlic

A handful of sesame seeds

1/4 bottle Tsao-sing rice wine/sherry

2 whole limes

1/2 cup soy sauce

White vinegar - 2 tbs

Fresh coriander

Sesame oil - 1 tsp.

Sugar - 1tsp.

Salt 

Cracked pepper

Step 1

Cover large oven tray with tin foil. Cut little slots on both sides of the body to ensure flavour gets through - the reason will become apparent later. Place the whole fish onto the tray and  pour the Tsao-sing rice wine and some olive oil after the wine on both sides of the fish. The rice wine will help to get rid of that fishy taste. Coat the fish in sesame seeds, again on both sides. Dice up some garlic and place randomly inside the slots that has been cut into the fish. Place several slices of lime inside the fish body cavity. Place the fish inside an oven set to 170 degree C for about 45 minutes. For a smaller fish you will only need 20-30 minutes. 

Step 2

Now we can prepare the sauce that will go on top of the fish once it is roasted. Pre-heat a sauce pan on medium heat with some vegetable oil. Dice up the chillies, the garlic, and the ginger into thin and long strips and place into the sauce pan. Gentry stir-fry for about 30 seconds. Now add the soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil and the sugar. Cook the mixture on medium heat for another 30 seconds and the sauce is done. 

Step 3

Once the 45 minutes are up, take the fish out of the oven and place on to a large plate. Take the sauce we prepared in step 2 and pour it over the fish. Spread the sauce evenly over the fish and decorate with some fresh coriander leaves and lime wedges. Viola! Take a minute to stand over the finished meal and marvel at your delicious creation. This will surely impress your dinner guests! 

Gardening for Good

If Winter is getting the best of your creativity and stamina, Gardening can be a great way to restore your health and vitality in the cooler months. The falling leaves, yellowing foliage and muddy soil can inspire you to take to an old pair of Gumboots and the Land. Human’s were meant to sow, pull, and landscape – not to be too feudal about it all – but some down-to-earth peasantry can do wonders for the mid-Winter Willies. 

I’m growing thyme and a combination of flat- leaved parsley and coriander. Herbs can be a great inspiration, especially if you can imagine the end result on your dinner plate. And you earned it. Well done. The cat can get involved too; he just loves the smell, and sounds of native birds, Tui, black jay, and other miscellaneous ornithology flying about your slice of paradise.

So whether it’s your patio or some neglected porch space out front – it’s yours. Let your imagination run wild. This sure is good.

Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

Winter is definitely here and I suddenly have an absolutely BRUTAL flu. The best medicine for this is by far the old chicken soup! And better yet, its very easy to add some noodles to it. Now you have a bowl full of delicious chicken broth, yummy noodles, nutritious veggies, and of course CHICKEN.

Ingredients (serves 2 people):

300g chicken thigh fillet - diced into bite size pieces

1 brown onion - finely chopped

2 carrots - peeled and chopped into bite size pieces

1 celery stick - diced into bite size pieces

4 garlic cloves - finely chopped

3 tbs fresh parsley stems - finely chopped 

8 cups of water

1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns

Salt to taste

1 tbs of vegetable cooking oil

1 bay leaf

100g egg noodles

1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves - coarsely chopped (for garnishing)

Place the cooking oil into a large sauce pan on medium heat. Wait for the oil to heat up and add the onions and the garlic. Saute for about 4 minutes. Now add the chicken, carrots, parsley stems, black peppercorns, bay leaf, and water. Bring to boil and reduce the heat to low. Cover with lid and leave to cook for about 40 minutes.

After the 40 minutes add the noodles and the celery. Cook for a further 3 minutes, add salt to taste, and serve immediately while it's still piping hot. Garnish with parsley leaves. Be careful not to burn your tongue; too late for me.

Keep warm this winter with this great meal which is sure to help kick the crap out of your flu.

Tasty Beef Curry Recipe

My pantry suddenly had a whole bunch of spices so I thought it's time to make some curry.

Ingredients (serves 3 people):

2 whole potatoes

1 whole carrot

1&1/2 inch piece of peeled ginger

2 bay leaves

2 brown onions 

5 cloves of garlic

2 400g canned tomatoes

3 tbs cooking oil

2 & 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 & 1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp chilli powder (adjust how hot your like it)

2 tsp of sweet paprika

3 & 1/2 tsp coriander powder

2 & 1/2 tsp Garam Masala

4 tbs fresh coriander leaves

3 cups of water

500g casserole beef

Salt to taste

Cracked black pepper to taste

Step 1 - Prepare the ingredients

Trim the fat of the beef, cut it into bite size cubes, and set aside. Finely dice up the onion, ginger, garlic, and set aside. Chop the carrots and the potatoes into bite size chunks and set aside.

Step 2 - Brown the meat

Pour some cooking oil into a large frying pan on medium heat. Once the pan has heated up, place the onions, the garlic and the ginger into it. Stir fry for about 2 minutes. Next add the ground cumin, turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, paprika and stir fry for about 1 minute until the spices become fragrant. Next add the beef cube pieces and stir fry for about 2 minutes until the meat has turned a nice brown colour. Now jump to Step 3.

Step 3 - Prepare the curry sauce

Place the canned tomatoes, bay leaves, and 3 cups of water into the frying pan with the beef. Add the potatoes and the carrot pieces. Bring to boil and reduce the heat to low. Leave the the mixture to simmer for 2 to 3 hours until the mixture has reduced to a thick curry.

Step 4 - Final touches

Once the curry mixture has reduced like in the picture above, try to taste and add salt and cracked black pepper to suit your liking. Now mix in the Garam Masala, cover the pan with a lid and leave to sit on low heat for about 3 minutes to allow for the spice to infuse. Serve with some white rice and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

After your make this recipe you will never want to make a curry made from run of the mill curry powder. This is simply delicious. 

Quick and Easy Caesar Salad from Left Over Roast Chicken

This recipe is perfect for left over roast chicken. It takes less than 15 minutes to make and is pretty damn tasty. 

Ingredients (enough for 2 people):
120g of your favourite salad leaves
1/4 roast chicken - shredded
6 tbs mayonnaise
2 slices of bread - toasted
3 cloves of garlic - crushed
2 tsp of lemon juice
1/2 tbs of Dijon mustard
1 tbs of grated Parmesan cheese
1 tbs of white wine vinegar
3 tbs olive oil
Cracked black pepper

Method:

Cut the crust of the toasted bread slices and discard. Cut the remainder of the toasted bread into bite size cubes and place into a large bowl. Into the same bowl place the salad leaves and the roast chicken pieces.

For the dressing place the mayonnaise, garlic, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, Parmesan cheese, and white wine vinegar into a food processor. Grind everything until it turns into a smooth, milky looking dressing. Have a taste and add more of any of the above ingredients to suit your liking. 

Add the dressing to the salad bowl and mix together with the chicken and toasted bread cubes until everything is evenly distributed. Finish off with a drizzle of olive oil, a few twists of cracked black pepper, and serve.

Thai Laksa with Prawns Recipe

I decided yesterday to make Thai Laksa from scratch. Normally I would buy the Laksa and simply add coconut milk and some water but it always felt like I was cheating the recipe.

The following is a list of ingredients which will easily feed two people.

Ingredients for the Paste:

1/2 brown onion - finely chopped

3 cm ginger - finely chopped

1 cloves of garlic - finely chopped

1 stalk of lemon grass - white segment only - sliced

3 fresh chillies

2 macadamia nuts - crushed

1/2 tbs of shrimp paste

3 leaves of fresh mint

1/2 tsp turmeric 

1/2 tsp ground coriander 

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tbs of vegetable oil

Ingredients for Laksa Soup:

1/4 brown onion - finely chopped

5 cm ginger - finely chopped

150g bean sprouts

1 tsp of vegetable oil

1 lemongrass stalk

200 g fresh prawns

600 ml chicken stock 

2 tbs fish sauce

1 tbs sugar

3 cups of baby spinach leaves

200ml coconut milk

2 limes

150 g of rice or egg noodles

Step 1 - Cook the rice noodles

Prepare a pot of boiling water and throw in the noodles. Cook the noodles for about two minutes or however long it's recommended on the package. Pour out the hot water and rinse the noodles under cold water. Pour out the cold water and set the noodles aside.

Step 2 - Make the Laksa Paste

Take the ingredients listed under Paste Ingredients and one by one grind them in a mortar with a heavy pestle. If you don't have one like me you can use a food processor. Grind everything until it turns into a thick paste. If you feel it is getting too dry add more vegetable oil. 

Step 3 - Create the Laksa

Pour in the vegetable oil into a frying pan on medium heat. Add the onion and ginger. Fry for about 2 minutes and add the prawns. Fry the prawns until they're almost cooked. Now add the chicken stock, coconut milk, lemon grass, fish sauce, and sugar. Bring to boil and reduce the heat to low. Add the spinach and the bean sprouts. Cook for about 1 minute and squeeze in two limes. 

Step 4 - Serve!

Place the noodles we prepared earlier into a large bowl. Pour the Laksa on top. Garnish with some coriander leaves and lime wedges.