Beef Rendang...

Here is our version of a Rendang curry...
(Bits have been taken from a post I made on a Simple Savings Thread .. Some alterations have been made..)

Beef Rendang 
Paste...
5-6 cloves Garlic, chopped or 6 heaped tsp of minced garlic
2 x 10cm stalks Lemongrass, chopped (you could just add a very well bruised stalks straight into the curry but we found it became very tender when processed & wasn’t tough al all in the finished product)
1 Tbsp fresh Ginger, grated 
2 Tbsp fresh Turmeric or 1 heaped tsp of powder
2 Tbsp Fresh Galangal, grated
Chillies to taste… I will be using 1 large from the patch & adding paste if needed..
2 medium onions, chopped
About ½ cup water to help ingredients combine in processor…
3 tsp Coriander powder
3 tsp Cumin powder
10 Curry leaves

Add all above ingredients into processor & blend into a paste...
Other ingredients...
1kg of diced beef
2 x 400ml tins lite Coconut Cream
½ tsp Tamarind paste
1 tsp/cube palm sugar (If you have Tamarind sauce you can use 1 Tbsp of that instead of the paste & sugar)
All ingredients are then added to a pot & brought to a boil
Once boiled then reduce heat to a medium simmer for an hour… Don’t forget to stir about every 10 min & have a taste test or 6 as well…
Reduce to very low & simmer for about an hour or until the liquid has been absorbed stirring occasionally… Remove the Lemongrass now if you put it in whole then serve by itself or with your favourite rice...

Hope you enjoy it, We do regularly...
Have a great one...
: )»

Yoghurt from scratch...

For years now we have been making Yoghurt using the Easiyo system... The system includes a flask that holds boiling water & a canister... A package of Yoghurt culture is added into a canister with enough water to make up a litre  of Yoghurt, given a good shake, sealed into the flask containing the boiling water then is left for 8-10 hours to let the bacteria do its thing by multiplying into some very nice yoghurt... There are a few different brands of Culture available at the Stoopidmarket in different varieties such as fruit/honey flavoured, Greek style, Low fat & drinking... The cost for this is about $3-4.00 pet litre V's about $5-6.00 for brand name natural Yoghurt so it saves you a bit...

A few years ago we joined the Simple Savings web site where another method of stretching the packet culture was found... To is done by reducing the amount of starter culture to 2-3 heaped Tablespoons, adding 1 1/3 cups of milk powder & the required amount of water to make up a batch... This was a great way to bring the price of a litre of excellent tasting yoghurt, free of additives, down in price even further to about $1.50 per litre...

During my search for some lids to do some canning/preserving with I cam across Green Living Australia that not only sold the lids but also cultures & all the bits needed to make your own Cheese's & Yoghurt's at home... We purchased 2 Yoghurt cultures from them, a normal culture & a Pro Biotic culture...

 We have only made it on the UHT milk (shown above) but will be having a go with powdered milk as soon as this batch is finished... The costings for the UHT batch is $1.25/L...  It would come down $0.96/L on powdered milk...
The Pro Biotic Is a massive savings on buying the little bottles from the shops... $9.32/L from Aldi is the chepest store bought I could find but by making your own you can get it down to an amazing $1.10/L using UHT milk or cheaper if you get the full  1000 batches from the packet...
It has been pointed out to us that as UHT milk has been heated to high enough temperatures to kill off any bacteria that may have been lurking in the milk so doesn't need to be boiled before using & is ready to go once brought up to temperature..
Just a note on the culture, once opened it needs to be kept at very cold temperatures to keep the culture alive.. You also get 2 jars with the packet that are used to divide & then store the culture... All instructions are given upon purchasing for dividing & storing...

As well as the Yoghurt culture's we also purchased a Feta Cheese making kit, lids of various sizes for preserving, jar lifter, Soap nuts for clothes washing & some very small measuring spoons in the following sizes,
Tad - 1/4 tsp
Dash - 1/8 tsp
Pinch - 1/16 tsp
Smidgen - 1/32 tsp
Drop - 1/64 tsp
Tickled our fancy & have already come in handy when dividing up the Yoghurt culture...
I would Like to thank David at Green Living for all his help, encouragement & generous gift of recycled jars to help us start off with some preserving....


 Please note, anyone who tries this does so at their own risk... We take no responsibility for any adverse reactions suffered by people trying to copy our methods...
Just covering our Butts !!!!
**NODS**
Is a sad day when you feel a disclaimer is needed...   
 Have a great one all....
: )»

Bits from the wedding...

Just a few pic's from our wedding last week....

 

Have a great one...
: )»

Thai style Pineapple Coconut & Chicken Curry...

Have been craving a warm salad dish my Mum has made a few times... It was made with Toasted Coconut, BBQ Chicken, Pineapple but can't for the life of me think of the other ingredients so whipped this up to help satisfy the cravings until I can quiz her...

Thai style Pineapple Coconut & Chicken Curry...

Marinade...
2 chicken breasts, diced
1 medium Red Onion, sliced thinly
250ml Coconut cream (I used 250ml of water & 8 dessert spoons of Coconut milk powder)
2tsp Red Thai curry paste
1 heaped tsp of minced Garlic
3 heaped tsp of minced Galangal
2 heaped tsp of minced Lemongrass stalk
1 Kaffir Lime leaf, sliced
1tsp Lime juice
1tsp Fish sauce

- Mix all ingredients in a bowl & leave for ½ an hour

Stir fry Paste...
2Tbsp of oil
1tsp Red Thai curry paste
1tsp of minced Garlic
3tsp of minced Galangal
2heaped tsp of minced Lemongrass stalk

- Mix & set aside

Veggies...
3/4 cup of segmented Pineapple (I used "Fresh" Frozen pieces)
Large handful of Beans, Chopped into thirds
1 ½ Celery stalks, cut into thin strips (julienned)
½ Red Capsicum, chopped
Handful of Thai or Sweet Basil, roughly chopped
Small handful of Snow Peas, chopped into thirds
Method...
- Heat oil in Wok
- Add Stir fry paste, Stir fry for 60 seconds
- Add Chicken & Onion without marinade, Stir fry until chicken is browned (4-5 min)
- Add Pineapple, Beans, Capsicum, Celery Stir fry for 60 seconds
- Add 1/2 to3/4 of the marinade to form a sauce & let cook for 3-4 minutes. (I use a lid to help steam the veggies a bit)
- Add Peas & Basil, toss through quickly then serve with rice or noodles...
Some toasted shredded Coconut to garnish would of just set the whole dish of... Next time maybe...

Hope you enjoy it is you try it....
Have a great one...
: )»

A few Recipe Clips...

Have been a tad slack with this Blog now that the girls & I have discovered You Tube... No excuse really...
We have made a few Cooking clips... Hope you like them...

Lemon & Dill Chook...

2 Chicken breasts, Diced
Marinade for Chook...

1/3 cup chopped Dill

Juice of 1 large or 2 small Lemons

Dessert spoon of Garlic

- Place all Ingredients into dish, mix well then let stand for 10-30 min  

Veggies...

1 Medium Purple Eggplant, chopped roughly

½ a Red Capsicum, chopped roughly

1 Med Zucchini, chopped roughly

1 large Kohlrabi, sliced into fingers.. (Green tops  would of been used as well but were a tad wilted from a night in the fridge.. )

2 Shallots, Whites chopped into 2cm sections & greens sliced thinly for garnish...

About 1 small head of Broccoli, divided into small trees

Handful of Bush Beans, cut into thirds

- Add Tbsp of oil to pan/wok, heat then fry off chook mixture in batches then set aside

- Add another Tbsp of oil & heat 

- Add Shallots, Eggplant, Capsicum, Zucchini, Kohlrabi & fry for a few minutes

- Add in Beans, Broccoli & Chicken with a bit of water to help the veggies steam if needed (I use the Grilling plate from the convection Microwave as a lid to help the steaming process)

- Garnish with Shallots Greens & extra fresh Dill..

Would be nice served with steamed rice me thinks....

Quick Chicken Coconut Curry... 

 

2Tbsp of oil
2 Poached Chicken breasts, chopped roughly (poached in Chicken stock powder & water)

2 dessert spoons of minced Garlic

1-2 dessert spoons of minced Turmeric (or 1Tbsp of dried )

Medium sized Red Capsicum, diced large

1 medium Onion, chopped

400g Tin diced Tomatoes, liquid reserved in a bowl for later
400ml tin of Lite Coconut cream

1 dessert spoon Curry powder (2 would of been better but the Spawn don’t like too much spice)

2 medium Sweet Potatoes, chopped roughly1 medium Onion, chopped in half then sliced thinly

3 Green Thai Eggplants

¾ cup of Sultanas

 Large handful of Bush Beans, chopped into ¼’s
1 cup frozen Peas

 -  Add oil to pot & heat 
- Add turmeric, Onions & Capsicum & fry for 2 min 
-  Add Chicken then stir while cooking for a minute or so
- Add diced Tomatoes, Coconut cream,  Curry powder & reserved Tomato juice if needed (depends on amounts of other ingredients used as to if extra liquid is needed)
- Add Sweet Potato & Eggplant.
- Add Extra liquid at this stage as well if needed... You could add water, Tomato juice or Liquid (stock) form poaching chicken
- Add Sultanas & more liquid if needed keeping in mind that the Sultanas will absorb liquid
- Simmer on low for 40 min while stirring/checking every 10-15 min or so...

Have made this or a version of it a few times now & hope you enjoy it as much as we do if you try it...

 If you are a Simple Savings member you can find it here...

Shall be posting a tad more often now that we are back into a routine...

Have a great one all...

: )»

Persian Style Chicken...

 I did lift this straight from a post I did on Simple Savings... Tasted so good I wanted to include it with Pictures...

Persian style Chook...
Spice blend
1tsp each of Cardamom pods, Coriander seeds, ground Cumin, ground Nutmeg, ground Cinnamon
2tsp of Sesame seeds
1/2tspof black pepper
3 Star Anise
5 Cloves

Whiz up the above in a small processor... I use a little "Rocket" blender...
Other Bits...
2Tbsp butter
2Tbsp Rice bran oil
1/2Tbsp Frozen Ginger
1Tbsp Frozen Turmeric
1Tbsp minced Garlic
1 large Onion, diced into large pieces
500g diced Chook
2 x 400g tins of diced Tomatoes
1 x 400g tin Chickpeas


- I heated the oil in a Med size enamel Casserole pot then fried the spice blend, Ginger, Turmeric & garlic for about a minute & a half then added the onions.
-Once the onions turned translucent the chicken was added.
-When the chicken was sealed the 2 tins of diced Tomatoes & the tin of Chickpeas was added, brought to the boil then left to simmer.
-Let it simmer for about 1/2 an hour then serve on Sultana & Sesame seed Couscous...

Sultana & Cashew Couscous...
3/4 cup Chicken stock... will make ours up with stock powder
3/4 cup of Couscous
1/3 cup of Sultanas
1/3cup of Cashews
-Pour ¾ cup of boiling water into a bowl & stir through 1 heaped teaspoon of Chooken stock, add the Sultanas & couscous then stir... Let sit until all the liquid has been absorbed then stir through Cashews...

The Sultanas could of been a tad plumper me thinks...
Next time I think I will let the Sultanas soak for a few min's in some hot water before adding them in with the stock & Couscous...


: )»

A few bits from the weekend...

This week I made up a batch of yoghurt using some Vanilla sugar as the sweetener & I must say that it was most impressive... So much so that I snipped open one of the vacuum sealed packs of Vanilla beans & made a MEGA batch of vanilla sugar for future batches of yoghurt... I am storing it in one of the EXTRA Large Moccona coffee jars we purchased from the hospice op shop in Ipswich... Should be ready by May hopefully...



We harvested the Lemongrass from the patch on Saturday so we could use the barrel it was in for a Zucchini plant... The smaller stalks were all whizzed in the processor for storage in a container... The larger stalks were just sealed in Ziplock bags & all were placed in the freezer for curry pastes & meals at a latter date...


In keeping with our Asian for a month (well, when I cook during the week at least) we had a simple Japanese Katsu style curry made with "Golden Curry" blocks...

3Tbsp Rice bran oil
1 onion, diced chunkily
1Tbsp of minced Garlic
2 medium long Chinese Eggplants, diced large
¼ of a Red Capsicum, diced large
Small head of Broccoli, chopped into "Little trees"
Stalks of 2 small Broccoli heads, slice thinly
3 cups of water with 2tsp of Chook stock powder added
½ a packet of S&B Golden Curry

-Fry Garlic & Onions in a med enamel Caserole pot until Onion is translucent
-Add Eggplant, Broccoli stalks Capsicum until they brown slightly, 3-4 min on high heat
-Stir in Made up stock & once it boils, reduce to simmer for 5-10 min  (I like my veg to have some crunch so normally only leave it 5 or so min)
-Add ½ a packet of Curry blocks & stir until dissolved then serve over Favourite crumbed meats or just eat as is... I like it over Crumbed Chooken but have purchased it from resturants served over Crumbed Pork & loved it just as much...

Last night B☼ & I went out to a Mexican restaurant (well known & established Brisbane restaurant) & blew $50 on what I can only call Tomato flavoured mince wrapped in tortillas with grilled cheese on top... No heat or spice flavourings you would expect like Chilli, Cumin or Coriander... Most disappointing...  I think I may have spoiled us by cooking all our meals from scratch me thinks... I think Mexican is the next Cuisine that I shall be delving into further after watching some clips on a Gardening YouTube channel I subscribe to...
MMmmm, Enchiladas !!!!

: )»

Thai Satay Chicken strips...

Have had a few problems trying to find the frozen spice roots that we  vacuum sealed & stored in the freezer from last years crops... While trying to dig the Turmeric & Galangal out today I was assaulted by 4 rounds of frozen Brie & a small container of frozen lemon cubes... I decided something had to give... I pulled out the Turmeric, Ginger & the mini processor then away I whizzed... Going from left to right there is Galangal, Turmeric & Ginger.... It will make it a lot easier when it comes to cooking... I figure that 1 Dessert spoon = 1 cm of whole root...
I don't know about freeing up much space as I was still assaulted by a round of Brie when I was getting some meat out for tomorrow night..

On to tonight's meal... I am not going to post every nights meals just ones I like & I can see a future for this or a recipe very similar in my coming menus... I don't think it really needed the sauce & could of stood alone quite proudly on the plate...

 It was based on this recipe with a few alterations...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBKxWpzwYw0

Thai Satay Chooken strips

3 Chicken breasts cut into strips lengthways

Marinade

2Tbsp of grated Galangal

2Tbsp of grated Turmeric (1Tbs of powdered)

5cm of Lemongrass stalk end, chopped finely

1Tbsp pan fried Coriander seed (1 tsp of powdered would do I think)

2tsp ground Cumin

½ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp raw Sugar

200ml Coconut cream (was ½ a can, other ½ to be used in sauce)

Pepper to taste

- I mashed the Galangal, Turmeric, Lemongrass & Coriander together in a Mortar (Next time I will do it in a mini processor)

- Add the rest of the ingredients & mix well for a few minutes, add pepper to taste

- Add to Chicken strips & refrigerate for half an hour minimum... (Ours were in the fridge for 2 ½ hours...)

Marinated strips can be skewered if desired but I cooked them without on a frypan brushing on marinade in between turning the strips...

Satay Sauce

½ cup roasted peanuts, chopped

1 Tbsp heaped Crunchy peanut butter

2Tbsp Red Thai Curry paste (1 more will be added after the kids have been served for B☼ & I)

200ml Coconut cream

1Tbsp raw Sugar

1Tbsp Fish sauce

1Tbsp Soy sauce

- Add Coconut cream, paste, Peanut butter & nuts to a saucepan.

- Bring to the boil, add remaining ingredients & reduce to simmer for 2-3 minutes.

- Serve over Chooken strips, skewers...

The sauce went great with the nice crunchy salad as well but I have

had better ones made by B☼ so might find out her secret for next time...

RB

Chinese style Eggplant & Veg Stir fry..

We had a bit of a garden clean out yesterday & ended up with heaps of small Eggplant fruit so decided to use up as many as I can in one go...

Chinese style Eggplant & Veg Stir fry..
- 2-3Tbsp of Rice bran oil (or oil of choice)
-300g or 1 Medium Japanese/Lebanese Eggplant, chopped into 3cm long chunky pieces
- ½ a small head off Broccoli, chopped into small trees
- Handful of green beans sliced in ½
- 3 shallots, sliced with greens tips reserved for garnish
- 2 orange chillies, seeds removed then chopped finely for garnish
- dessert spoon of chopped/crushed garlic
- 2cm  piece of ginger, grated/chopped (or about 1 heaped tsp of jar ginger)

- 1Tbsp of Ketjap manis (adds sweetness)
- 1Tbsp Soy sauce
- 1Tbsp Oyster sauce
- 1½ Tbsp White Chinese cooking wine
- 1tsp of Sesame oil
Mix Sesame oil, sauces & wine together in small bowl/cup

Make certain that all ingredients are prepared beforehand as wok cooking happens fairly Quickly...

-Heat Wok until hot then add oil 
-Add Eggplant once oil is hot & stir fry for 2 minutes
-Add garlic, chilli & ginger, cook for 1 minute stirring the whole time
-Add in vegetables & toss

-After cooking for a minute add in sauce mix & continue to toss the veg cooking for a few more minutes then serve...

Sorry about the steamy finished shot.. 
Hope you enjoy it as much as we did if you try it...

Have a great one...
: )»

Thai green Curried Prawns & veggies...

I posted one of  B☼'s Thai curry paste recipes On Simple Savings & got the taste for one...
So while B☼ was at Ju Juitsu with the Moo I threw some ready prepared goodies into the wok & cook her up a quick Green Prawn Curry...

Ingredients...

250g pealed green prawns
½ red Capsicum, diced
Large handful of green Beans, chopped in half
1 medium Lebanese eggplant, diced
1 med Carrot, sliced thinly
1 stalk of lemongrass, 5 cm section of Galangal & 3 shallot whites, Whizzed in blender
1 Kaffir Lime leaf, torn
½ jar of Green Thai Curry paste
1 dessert spoons of minced Garlic
1Tbsp fish sauce
1-1½ cups of Coconut milk
1tsp of crushed Chilli paste

Heat Wok then fry Curry paste & Garlic for 2 minutes.. Add prawns & cook for a minute.. Then add veggies, Lemongrass, Galangal, lime leaf & Shallots, stir for a minute or 2 then add Coconut milk & Fish sauce.. Simmer for a few more minutes then serve...

I sprinkled some crunchy fried onions on just to finish it off...


Have a great one...

: )»

Shade cloth Window blinds...

Just a post to show how we screened out the Summer sun from our bedroom for some SS peoples...

We get the harsh afternoon sun hit our bedroom every day during summer so to stop the room heating up to much I installed some Semi permanent Shade cloth blinds... All bits, except for the Shade cloth, are from fly screens we have saved from the tip...
   1st a bit of fly screen "track" was screwed into place at the top & bottom of each window making sure that the track on each all 3 windows was level...

 To stop little beasties from making nests in the track bits of the plastic right angle screen joiner were inserted to block the ends... These were made by cutting the plastic joiners curved ends off... Prettier ends could of been made but I find these fill the gap nice & snugly...
 The Shade cloth is a piece of 90% (block out) that we purchased from the scraps box at Bunnings for about ½ the retail price... Was a while ago so forget how much exactly... I found the best way to cut it to stop it fraying is to use a hot Soldering Iron as it fuses the fibres together... Probably best to do outside as I think the fumes would  be rather toxic...


The shade cloth is held in place just using the normal fly screen "spline"...  It makes it easier to take the cloth out during winter to allow for the afternoon sun to warm up our bedroom then putting it back in place for Summer...

HTH
Have a great one all.....

: )»

Quinoa & Roast lamb Salad...

Quinoa is one of our favourite grains/seeds to cook with...
This is the base to a salad that we add what ever takes our fancy at the time...

Quinoa Salad...

1 cup Quinoa
2 cups of chook or vegetable stock... I just add a heaped tsp of Chook stock powder...

½ large cucumber, diced
2 sticks of celery, diced
½ large red capsicum, diced
100g of Danish Feta, diced
10 large sun dried tomatoes, slithered
1/8 cup of the tomato marinade
handful of parsley, chopped
small handful of sweet basil, chopped
½ large red onion, diced finely
¼ cup sliced olives

Tonight we added about 300g of cold roast lamb, diced

Bring the Quinoa to the boil in the stock then reduce to a simmer until all the liquid is absorbed.
Empty into a bowl & leave to cool.
Add the remaining ingredients once cooled & toss well....

We have added tinned kidney beans, julienne carrot, corn kernels as well as left over cooked meats including thinly sliced Sausages... Makes a great vegetarian salad for guests as well due to the Chicken stock powder we use contains no animal products...

Have a great one all...
: )»

Afternoon Update 12/1/11

Left: Back door neighbours...

Right: Lawrence Street North Ipswich...

 Lawrence Street North Ipswich...

 Water level on house at East Ipswich
12noon...

Left: Pine street towards Town Bridge...

Right: Fitzgibbon Street North Ipswich: 1974 level was equal to the guttering on the second last house on right of Pic...

 Fitzgibbon Street North Ipswich

Ipswich flood shots.... 12/1/11

Left: Back door neighbours..


Right: Trampoline floating down the river...


Left :Boat moored to house????










Left: ABC day care ½ way down Lawrence St..






Left: View from Bus stop out front looking over river...








Left: House at east Ipswich on other bank...

Right: Looking to East Ippy from Cnr of Pine & Fitzgibbon st...