oatmeal and raisin cookies

It would not be unusual for me to start baking something at about 9 or 10 pm at night. I'd get a craving for something sweet and rush to the pantry to check if I have all the ingredients.  Often it would be something I'd find comforting and would go well with a cold glass of milk. These oatmeal and raisin cookies do the job nicely. The smell of nutmeg envelops the kitchen in a warm dreamy cocoon as the balls of batter begin to expand and turn golden in the oven. Nothing beats the experience of eating freshly baked cookies, still warm from the oven and downed with an icy glass of cold milk.

Ingredients:

120 g unsalted butter

3/4 c brown sugar

1/4 c white sugar

3/4 c plain flour

3/4 c rolled oats

1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

1/2 t ground nutmeg

1 large egg

1 t vanilla essence

3/4 c raisins

1/4 c walnuts, chopped, optional

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C.  Lightly grease a cookie sheet.

Beat butter until creamy. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Beat in eggs and and vanilla. Mix flour, salt, baking powder and nutmeg in a separate bowl then stir into egg mixture. Stir in oats, raisins and walnuts if using. 

Shape batter into 3 cm balls. Place balls on cookie sheet leaving 3 cm in between them. Bake for 20-22 minutes but keep an eye on them when it starts approaching the 20 minute mark to avoid burning. Use a spatula to scrape off the cookies from the cookie sheet and cool on a wire rack.

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 Miso, Bent Street Kitchen's Little Helper.

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hoisin pork ribs & cucumber pickle

I'm constantly on the hunt for rib recipes. I adapted this one from a recipe I saw in Gourmet Traveller magazine by doubling the amount pickle and changing the cooking method for the ribs. I was planning to try the original recipe where the ribs get marinated briefly and then placed straight onto the grill. As it happens, my husband decided to invite my brother-in-law and his partner for lunch and since I hadn't tried this recipe before I decided to play it safe with the cooking method. From my experience, ribs can often burn before they get cooked especially when the sauce is sweet like this one. I didn't want our guests to be dining on charred meat! I decided to pre-cook the ribs at a low temperature so that all I had to worry about was making the sure the sauce would caramelise nicely on the ribs. I increased the amount of sauce so that I don't end up with dry ribs and the extra sauce tastes great with the rice. 

Ingredients:

pork ribs

1.5 kg pork ribs, cut into individual ribs

handful of coriander leaves 

1 T sesame seeds

marinade:

1/3 c hoisin sauce

1/3 c oyster sauce

2 T light soy sauce

2 T shaoxing wine

2 T honey

1 T ginger, finely grated

1 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 t sesame oil

2-3 dashes of ground white pepper

cucumber pickle

2 lebanese cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeds removed, sliced into 3 cm pieces

2 T ginger, finely grated

1 garlic clove, chopped

4 T rice wine vinegar

4 t white sugar

2 t sesame oil

Method:

Mix all marinade ingredients in a large enough bowl to fit ribs and place ribs in it for 30 mins.

Combine ginger, garlic, vinegar, sugar and oil together. Add cucumber and toss until lightly pickled. 

Preheat oven grill to 250°C.

Place ribs on foil lined baking tray and place in oven's topmost shelf. Cook for 10 minutes. Turn over, baste with marinade and cook for another 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 225°C, move ribs to lower shelf to prevent burning and cook for 5 minutes. Turn ribs over again and cook for another 5 minutes. Ribs should be a bit charred but not burnt.

Place 4-5 pieces of ribs on top of some steamed rice on a plate. Top with cucumber pickle, coriander leaves and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

Serves 4. 

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amouse bouche of sweet corn soup

We missed a friend's birthday dinner a few weeks ago and I wanted to have them over for dinner for an extended celebration.  I wanted to create a small and delicious starter to go with our main of hoisin pork ribs. I thought of the traditional Chinese sweet and corn soup but didn't want the heaviness of it. I also wanted it be mostly about the flavour of the corn and its sweetness. 

I looked at different recipes and then tried to pull elements that I liked to create my own. One of the interesting things that came up was how much the flavour varied depending on the corn I used.  I used corn from Harris Farm for my test run and corn from Woolworths for the actual dinner. As soon I pulled the husk off the Woolworths corn, I noticed they didn't feel as plump as the first batch of corn I bought from Harris Farm.  The Woolworths corn resulted in less juice, a paler colour and sadly less flavour. I ended up having to remedy it by putting more salt, nutmeg and cream. In these kinds of recipes where you have very few ingredients, the freshness and quality of the products you use become even more important because there's nowhere to hide. 

I have since done some research on picking the best corn cob and apparently one must check for plumpness in the kernels and the hairy tassels at the top should be brown and sticky to touch. If the tassels are black and dry, this means they're old. Unfortunately, you can't always check the tassels as some groceries present them with the tips already chopped off.

Ingredients:

2 corn cobs

750 ml water

1 T butter

1/2 brown onion, finely chopped

1 T pure cream

sea salt flakes

dash of nutmeg to taste

freshly ground black pepper

a few drops of truffle oil

Method:

Using a sharp knife, shear kernels off the cobs. Put kernels in a saucepan with cold water and a small pinch of sea salt. Gently simmer for 30 minutes, then strain reserving the stock.

Melt butter in saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes until softened but not browned. Add the corn kernels and cook for 3 minutes. Add reserved stock and gently simmer for 15 minutes. Allow to cool slightly.

Transfer soup into a food processor and whiz until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing to get as much juice as you can. If you want to prepare ahead of time, this is when you can store the soup in the fridge until you are ready to serve. When you are ready, gently reheat the soup, keeping your eye on it so it doesn't burn. Add the cream and salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste and simmer for 2 minutes.  Add truffle oil just before serving as its wonderful flavour tend to dissipate with heat.  Serve in espresso cups or shot glasses.

Serves 4.

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Jamie Oliver's stewed fruits

Autumn finally seems to be making its way to Sydney and what better way to say goodbye to summer than with these beautiful dusky pink nectarines and peaches. The original recipe is in Jamie Oliver's "30 Minute Meals" but I've made some minor adjustments by creating more stewed juices so the better to the drizzle the ice cream with. 

Ingredients:

18 ripe plums or a mixture of stone fruits

1 t vanilla extract

2-4 T caster sugar

1-2 oranges

1 cinnamon stick

good quality vanilla ice cream

Method:

Preheat the oven to 220°C.

Halve and stone the fruits and place in a large roasting tray with vanilla extract. Peel zest from oranges and squeeze juice in. Add cinnamon stick, snapped in half. Place in oven and cook for 15-20 mins. The fruits should be soft and can be cut by a spoon when they're done. If they're not yet done by this stage, cover with aluminium foil so they don't burn and dry out and cook for a further 10-15 mins.

Serve with ice cream.

Serves 6-8. 

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easy roast leg of lamb

This recipe probably got me started doing more roasts because the meat came out quite tender and was great for leftovers.  This cut of meat also has little surrounding and inside fat so I didn't have the experience of seeing all the juices turn waxy on my plate as I often do when I have other cuts of lamb.

I wanted something easy so I used garlic and rosemary because they're ingredients that are readily available all year round. Plus, I love the sweetness of the roast garlic so I tend to throw them in a roast whenever I can.

I relied on Jamie Oliver's slow roast method here and that just guarantees you'll have a super tender roast.

Ingredients:

 1 x 2 kg leg of lamb, bone in

1/3 c olive oil

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 large garlic head, separated but left unpeeled; add 2 heads if you love garlic like I do

1 bunch rosemary, half roughly chopped, other half left in sprigs

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Stand lamb at room temperature for 1 hour before cooking. Slash the lamb crosswise at 4 cm intervals on the top side, cutting through the meat no more than .5 cm deep.

Preheat oven to 170 °C.

Combine 50 ml of oil, garlic and chopped rosemary. Place lamb in a roasting pan and season with salt and pepper. Rub oil mixture all over lamb and into incisions. Place garlic bulbs and rosemary sprigs underneath and around the lamb. Add 50 ml of water and cover tightly with aluminium foil. Cook for 3 hours. Remove foil and add 150 ml water. Cook for another hour or until meat falls away from the bone. 

Rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Serves 4-6.

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chargrilled broccoli

This recipe was inspired by a trip to Eveleigh farmer's market. I saw a huge stack of broccoli heads that looked so bright and green that I just had to buy and make something out of them.  

I wanted to cook the broccoli as little as possible so that I wouldn't lose its bright colour. I also wanted to keep the dish simple so that the broccoli's flavour was the star.  I  came across a recipe of grilled broccoli salad that had a lot of ingredients in it so I pared it back and came up with this. 

This was so delicious it never made it as a side for the main meal. My husband and I just ended up eating it as a snack with a nice cold glass of dry white wine while I prepared the rest of dinner. I wasn't sure what to expect from grilling broccoli but I have to say it's probably one of the best ways I've ever had them.

Ingredients:

2 broccoli heads, preferably organic, cut into florets then cut lengthwise along the stalk so that they lie flat during grilling

1 T and 1/4 c extra virgin olive oil

1 lemon, cut in half crosswise

2 T red wine vinegar

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1/4 red onion, finely sliced

sea salt flakes

freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Heat a grill pan to high heat. Toss broccoli with 1 T olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Grill for 8-10 minutes, turning occasionally. Set aside. Grill lemon on both sides until softened.

Whisk 1/4 c olive oil, vinegar and garlic to make dressing. Add onion to broccoli and toss in dressing. Drizzle with juice of grilled lemon to taste.

You can serve this as a side or on its own.

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Serves 4.

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white chocolate rocky road

I think it was around Easter and I remember arriving at my work desk to find a small block of white rocky road wrapped in clear cellophane with a dainty ribbon wrapped around it. My work friend Tracy had made some for everyone. I tended to get to work early and remember chuckling to myself as I heard one gleeful sound after another as each person found the little present waiting for them.

I was never a big fan of rocky road until I bit into Tracy's version. I think the rose water did it for me. I didn't get around to getting her recipe so I tried to create my own by tweaking a recipe I found on Taste.com.au. I just love the rich colours of the pistachios and cranberries against the snowy white chocolate. 

I've given these as gifts or served them with the coffee after dinner.

Ingredients:

300 g white chocolate, chopped

1/2 c dried cranberries

1-2 t rose water or just enough to soak the cranberries

1/3 c pistachios, toasted and roughly chopped

100 g white marshmallows

Method:

Grease an 8 x 26 cm bar pan. Line with baking paper with a 2 cm overhang. 

Toss cranberries in rosewater for 20 minutes then drain any excess liquid.

Place chocolate in microwave-safe bowl and heat in microwave on high for 1-2 minutes, uncovered. Stir every 30 seconds or until melted and smooth.

Put cranberries, marshmallows and pistachios in a large bowl and toss to combine. Add melted chocolate. Stir until combined. Transfer and press into pan. Refrigerate, covered with paper overhang, for 2 hours or until set. Cut into into desired size.

Serves 6-8.

Note: To toast the pistachios, preheat oven to 175 °C. Place pistachios on a cookie sheet and distribute evenly. Bake for 6-8 minutes. They will become fragrant when they are done. Watch them like a hawk because they can burn easily. Allow to cool.

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salt & pepper pork

Salt & pepper crab, salt & pepper prawns, salt & pepper squid. How can anything dubbed as simply as "salt & pepper" taste so good? Problem though is they're often deep-fried dishes and I rarely deep fry anything at home. Don't get me wrong. I love deep-fried stuff and would frequently order them when I eat out.  Let's face it. It's hard to beat that fat-epidemic-inducing combination of a crispy crunchy batter with a tender juicy bit of meat or vegetable pocketed inside.

I came home with a deep fryer years ago and still recall the look of fear my husband

gave me. He was scared I was going to slowly kill us with fat. Hot, sizzling, fat. I thought he was being overly dramatic. I wasn't going to use it all the time, I told him.  As it turns out, when I saw how much oil I had to use to get that crispy crunch for my calamari, I balked. I haven't used that deep fryer since. I still see it, sitting at the bottom shelf of my parents' cleaning cupboard, taunting me for my purchase mistake.

 I searched for a salt & pepper dish that didn't require deep frying and came across Adam Liaw's recipe for salt & pepper pork belly in his book "Asian After Work". This is his recipe with some very minor adjustments to suit my taste. I increased the garlic and shallots because they taste fantastic with rice and there never seems to be enough of them go around whenever I order this dish. This is a simple recipe you can easily whip for a week night meal. In fact, that's what the recipes in Adam Liaw's book are all about.

Ingredients:

500 g pork belly, skin removed

1 t sesame oil

4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1 bird's eye chilli, sliced

4 shallots (spring onions), white and light green sections only, trimmed and sliced

2 t sea salt flakes

1/4 t freshly ground black pepper

handful coriander leaves

Method:

Slice the pork into 3 cm squares, about 1 cm thick.

Heat wok until very hot and add sesame oil. Fry the pork in 3 batches until well browned on all sides and cooked through.

Remove any excess fat from wok and add garlic, chilli and shallots. Fry over very high heat until mixture is fragrant and garlic starts to brown. Return pork to the wok, add 1 t salt and the black pepper. Do a taste check and add more salt if needed. Toss to coat well. Transfer to warm plate and garnish with coriander.

Serves 4.

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soy sauce noodles

This is a staple on our family table whenever we have yum cha. I've had several attempts at making it and this is the best version I've come up with so far. It's a simple yet satisfying dish that's easy to make. 

Ingredients:

500 g fresh egg noodles

2 T sesame seeds, toasted

1 bunch spring onions (shallots) or garlic chives, cut into 3 cm lengths,  halve the spring onions lengthwise if using them

3 c bean sprouts

4-5 T light soy sauce

2 T dark soy sauce

1 T oyster sauce

3/4 t sugar

white pepper

2 T cooking oil

sesame oil, to taste

Method:

Soak noodles in boiling water for 1 minute then drain well. Do not overcook. You can cut the noodles with scissors if you want to break them apart although this is considered bad luck in the Chinese culture.

Combine sauces and sugar adjusting it to your taste. Stir until sugar has dissolved.

Heat oil in wok over high heat. Add bean sprouts and spring onions or garlic chives for 1 minute or until slightly softened. Set aside.

Add 1 T oil to wok and fry noodles for 1 minute. Add sauce mixture and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add dash of white pepper to taste. Add bean sprouts and spring onions or garlic chives and sesame oil to taste. Fry for 1 minute to combine ingredients. Garnish with sesame seeds and serve.

Serves 4.

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Filipino toyomansi prawns

Filipinos love using soy sauce ("toyo") and "calamansi", a citrus fruit we tend to use instead of lemon, in everything. We use it to marinate our barbecued meats and seafood, stewed meats, cured meats and if that's not enough we also use it as a dipping sauce (aka "toyomansi").

Whenever I go home to Manila and have had more pork than I usually consume in a month, which happens within a matter of days, this is the dish I have to help me "detox." Well, sort of. I think detoxing in Manila is next to impossible until you physically fly out of the country. Filipinos love to eat and show their love by relentlessly offering you all manner of temptations around the clock.

I don't really know if there's a proper name for this dish because, as I said, Filipinos use soy sauce and calamansi on so many things. I figure describing the dish as accurately as I can is the way to go in naming it

This dish goes well with some simple sauteed snow peas or green beans.

Ingredients:

1 dozen whole king prawns, heads and shells intact, about 440 g

1 T chopped garlic

4 T light soy sauce

1/2 t dark soy sauce

2 T fresh lemon juice

freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

3 T olive oil

Method:

Using a small sharp knife, make a slit along the back of the prawn and remove the dark vein. If you want to butterfly the prawns, you can cut all the way through the belly side of the prawns. I've left the heads intact because they add a lot to the flavour of this dish.

In a small bowl, combine garlic, soy sauces, lemon juice and some freshly cracked pepper. Place prawns in a shallow non-metallic tray and drizzle with marinade, making sure all the prawns are well coated.  Marinate for 10-15 minutes. Drain.

Heat 1 T of olive in a large fry pan over medium heat. Fry half of the prawns about 1 minute on each side. Add some oil if the pan looks dry. Place prawns in a serving dish. Repeat for remainder of the prawns.

Optional: drizzle prawns with extra virgin olive oil or melted butter; or, if you love garlic like the Filipinos, fry about 1 T of chopped garlic in some olive oil or butter until they're golden brown and drizzle it over the prawns.

Serves 4.

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