Recipes

Summer Asian Crunchy Salad

Is anyone feeling the fat of twenty-eleven has come waddling with you into twenty-twelve? Ummm, I’m putting my hand up, double time. Yep, somehow, somewhere the weight has creped upon me; those tuck shop arms have come back to haunt me, the legs just don’t slot one above the other when I try and strike a lady-like sitting pose – seems pudge is the new pudding. I totally blame the horrific Sydney weather which hindered my runs and forced me to do arm exercises with a wine glass, as opposed to weights.

TWO WORDS TO LEAVE BEHIND “EAT ME” INSTEAD IT’S “EAT LESS” THIS YEAR

So new year, new body. It’s time to do some swapping; fast food > healthy options, sitting > squats, alcohol > water, busy weeks > no excuse! Harsh hey?! Don’t be fooled. It’s the five on > two off lifestyle that I’ve enforced. Monday to Friday it’s a strict regime, then the weekends I can whirl through a few cheeky delights. Fair is fair, how can one say ‘no’ to an occasional sweet macaron or pork tonkatsu? Cold turkey is hard to maintain – balance is my mantra.

Healthy doesn’t mean tasteless, c’mon that’s just not in my food-vocabulary. To kick things off in twenty-twelve an easy peasy Asian inspired salad, which is totally good for you and tastes nomlicious.

See ya on the healthy side, who’s joining me?

The long-healthy-road is ahead of me

Look for this little jar at your Asian Supermarket, this one cost me $3.70

The shoots are cut into thin irregular strips, cooked then preserved in chilli oil

Look if you're not afraid of oil or on a health bender, you can skip this step

Slice the red cabbage as fine as you can

This contraption is about $8 from an Asian supermarket and is a lot smaller and flatter than a mandolin

See, little batons in under a minute, makes this job super fast

It's pretty much wack it in the bowl and add the dressing kinda from here

Quite a bit of oil comes out of these little suckers

Layer it up in the bowl, remember to leave out the chilli bamboo and dressing till just before serving

Some thai basil from my little balcony garden, but feel free to use mint or any other soft herb

Here goes drizzle the fish sauce and sugar before mixing the salad

Don't you just love red cabbage and the intense colour?

Add a few thai basil leaves over as garnish then dinner or lunch is served

Side view - this salad is like summer on a plate

I feel healthier already ahhh

My pork tonkatsu from Miso at World Square was this weeks cheeky treat, it was totally worth the wait


LET”S GET COOKING

INGREDIENTS
ONE EIGHTH OF A WHOLE RED CABBAGE
1 CUCUMBER
HALF A JAR OF CHILLI BAMBOO SHOOTS
1 TABLESPOON FISH SAUCE
HALF TABLESPOON SUGAR
BUNCH OF THAI BASIL

STEP 1 Drain the chilli bamboo shoots of any excess oil
STEP 2  Finely slice the red cabbage, place into bowl
STEP 3 Slice cucumber into batons, place into bowl
STEP 4 Add chilli bamboo and Thai basil leaves into bowl (reserve some leaves as garnish)
STEP 5 Add fish sauce and sugar then mix salad together, serve immediately!
Serves 4 as a side salad

HOT TIP

Chilli Bamboo shoots can be found at all Asian supermarkets
This recipe can be easily adjusted to suit your taste buds
If you like it saltier add more fish sauce, add more chilli bamboo if you love it
Substitute the Thai basil for mint if you can’t find it
This salad needs to be served immediately due to the oils from the chilli bamboo
If you are making this in advance mix the chilli bamboo and dressing in just before serving

 


The Bake Blowout

With the looming anticipation of a bit of time off, I’ve been planning my annual bake blowout. Y’see I’m heading to the country, way deep north-west to a little town called Manilla. No, I’m not getting on a plane and landing in an Asian destination, I wish.

Instead, hopping into my little car and driving about five and a half hours inland; where the pace is slow, my iphone 4S is all but dead, the internet is worse than dial up and to top it off twitter and I have a temporary separation in an attempt to work things out in the new year. It’s remote! Pretty much, I make friends with the local RSL with the cheapest drinks ever and load up my laptop with so much reality TV that it starts to chug. It’s the chance to get in touch with my inner sweet tooth and bake.

IT’S KINDA LIKE A BRAZILIAN BLOWOUT EXCEPT WITH FLOUR, SUGAR, EGGS AND BUTTER.

Cause I hardly ever get the time do it. Baking isn’t my best cooking asset, I’d give it a double D – doubtfully delicious – looks totally messy but tastes delish. With all the accuracy that’s required, measuring cups, spoons, millilitres, grams et al – it does do my head in quite a bit. Usually, I keep to my handful of tried and tested sweet recipes, but as this year is all about challenging myself, it’s time to expand the sweet gook book repertoire. Move away from being furious with a hot wok to a become more of a concise, precise and artful being in the kitchen. Let’s be frank, there are no plans of becoming a Zumbo master. I’ll bake till the motion of washing up the batter-ridden bowls and licking sweet or savory batter gets too much.

To officially start the bake off, my Homemade Christmas Crumpets, so much better than a store bought one.

I spied this amaze gingerbread house at Quarter 21, Wesfield Sydney, inspires me to be bake more and explore the sweeter side of cooking

Here I go, scales are out and my accurate hat is on, measuring the flour

Then the yeast, so far so good

Heat the milk up but just before boiling point

Then add your yeast and sugar and let it sit and bubble for five or ten minutes

Make a well int the flour and pour in the hot milk, yeast and sugar mixture

Mix together - it should form a sloppy dough but something has gone awry here oh-no!

I just added more cold milk, in hope it will work out - fingers crossed

Cover with a tea towel and let the batter rise for an hour and a half

Ok mine didn't rise that much, but I hope it still work out

This is the completely messy part, mix your bi-carb soda and water together and beat into your risen batter

The batter is the consistency of thickened cream but stickier

Get your cookie cutters out, this is what I had in my third draw down, make sure you butter them well

The bi-carb soda creates the light airy bubbles in your crumpets

Butter in pan and fill your shape with the batter, these cookie ones were hard to fill cause of the handle!

Slight bake blow out but doesn't matter, it's all about the taste

Cause of my slow filling and blogger-photo-taking, mine are a little brown

I'm persevering! Brown, burnt - nah, it's a contrasting texture

Here's my slightly burnt homemade crumpet christmas stack with some berries. Perfect for Christmas morning and the kids!

Bugger it, a dusting of icing sugar fixes everything - ahhhh

Until my heart falls off. Slight fail.

Enough, I'm smothering these homemade crumpets in Canadian maple syrup...

... then nom nom noming away. They are actually really, fluffy, light and delectable even with all my mistakes

Then I created crumpet dog, just for fun to give my inner Zumbo a workout.



LET’S GET COOKING

375G PLAIN FLOUR
7G YEAST (1 SACHET)
1 1/2 TABLESPOONS SUGAR
200ML WATER
1 TABLESPOON OF BI-CARB SODA
2 CUPS MILK (THIS IS INCLUDING THE EXTRA MILK I ADDED)
METAL COOKIE CUTTERS OR EGG RINGS
BUTTER FOR FRYING

STEP 1 Heat milk till just before boiling point, stir in yeast and sugar. Leave to bubble for 5 to 10 minutes.
STEP 2 Make a well in the flour then pour in the milk mixture, mix together to form a sloppy batter
STEP 3 Cover your batter and leave it in a warm place to rise for an hour and a half
STEP 4 Mix the water and bi-carb soda together, then beat into batter with electric beaters. This step is super sticky and royally messy
STEP 5 Butter your cookie cutters or egg rings, melt some butter in a good non stick frying pan on a low to medium heat
STEP 6 Place you buttered cookie cutter or egg ring in the pan and fill with batter, once slightly golden flip and cook on other side till slightly golden
A good indicator when to turn the crumpets is when the batter forms bubbles that don’t fill in!
STEP 7 Repeat with remaining batter, serve immediately

TOP TIP

Eat immediately with jam, maple syrup, berries, honey whatever takes your fancy
These can be keep in the fridge one made and warmed up in a toaster or sandwich press
Crumpets are great savory as well, smoked salmon with cream cheese, bacon and eggs or a classic BLT – oh yeah!