Saturday Lunch - Haloumi salad

Haloumi is one of FH ALphie's favourite foods. So when I dropped by the greengrocer on my way back from a physio appointment, and saw the masses of haloumi in the cheese fridge, I knew I had to buy some. I then thought, that since dinner would be a bit of a non-event tonight (we are going to see Sydney FC v Everton ant ANZ stadium), I might make something for lunch. This is a bit unusual for me, as we normally have leftovers for lunch if we are going to be at home - a chance to use up all the strange things left in the fridge.


I remembered Not Quite Nigella writing a post on a haloumi salad not to long ago, so I thought I'd try something similar.

Haloumi salad
serves 2

• couple of handfuls of baby spinach, or other salad leaves
• punnet cherry tomatoes, halved (I used Kumatos)
• red capsicum, chopped
• Lebanese cucumber, chopped
• salt & pepper
• 2 tbs balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
  
• 1/2 - 1 tsp caster sugar
• 250g haloumi, sliced

Combine the salad ingredients (baby spinach, tomatoes, capsicum & cucumber) in a large bowl, season to taste, remembering that haloumi can be quite salty, and toss well.


Combine the dressing ingredients (balsamic, olive oil, dijon & sugar) in a small jar, and shake to combine. Pour into a small saucepan on high heat, and bring to the boil. Once it has started bubbling, remove from heat, and return to the jar. Let cool for a few minutes, and shake again to combine.


Fry the haloumi slices in a dry, non-stick frypan, over high heat. Once they begin to colour, about 2 minutes, turn over, cook for another 2 minutes and remove from pan.

Divide the salad between two plates, top with the haloumi and drizzle with the dressing.

-Alphie

Self saucing puddings and Nigella Lawson

One of the first things I learnt to cook as a child was a chocolate self saucing pudding. It is a recipe my sister and I still make, whenever the need arises... usually a last minute request for desert with dinner or a late night chocolate craving. I saw Nigella Lawson make something similar on an episode of one of her TV shows, at some time in the distant past, when we had the Lifestyle FOOD channel, and stored the idea away for another time.


A few months ago, I thought I might have a go at Nigella's version of a self saucing pudding - most likely because we were out of cocoa. It turned out ok, but it wasn't great. Something was just not quite right about it. After a bit of pondering, I determined that it probably wasn't the recipe, but the method of cooking. You see, the simple chocolate self saucing pudding I learnt to make as a child was cooked in the microwave. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it works, and it works well. Cooking the pudding in the oven gives you a different type of cake, and it's not really what I associate with a self saucing pudding. So this time I thought I'd try Nigella's recipe in the microwave.

Nigella's Holiday Hot Cake
serves 6

• 150g plain flour
• 100g light muscovado sugar (I used brown sugar)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 125ml milk
• 60ml vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 200g light muscovado sugar, extra
• 1 tsp ground ginger, extra
  
• 1 tsp mixed spice, extra
  
• 6 tsp butter
• 500ml boiling water

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, spices, milk, oil and egg in a microwave safe dish (pyrex or ceramic work well).


Combine extra sugar and spices, then sprinkle over cake batter in the dish. Dot the butter on top, and carefully pour the boiling water over the top.

Cover dish with a loose fitting lid (or gladwrap with a few holes poked in) and microwave on high for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on your microwave. Our old super duper one would cook it through in 10 minutes, we now have a smaller, less powerful microwave, and it takes 15 minutes.


Once cooked, it will look pretty weird, ugly even, but trust me, this will work. Allow to stand for 5-10 minutes - or as long as you can resist! Then serve with cream or ice cream.

Of course, if you prefer the oven method, feel free to do it that way (you will probably end up with a more attractive looking pudding), making sure you use an oven proof dish (again, pyrex or ceramic would work well). And bake in a preheated 220 degree oven for 30 minutes.

-Alphie

Monkey Magic, Surry Hills

Tuesday night is usually 'restaurant night' at our place (don't ask). Last night we made the trek to Surry Hills (not really for me, since I work in the city, but it was a bit of a drive for FH Alphie). He had chosen Monkey Magic in Surry Hills for tonights adventure - don't ask me how he found it, FH Alphie rarely chooses. And I'll admit, I was skeptical, as I'm not usually a fan of Japanese food, but it was a pleasant surprise.

Monkey Magic style sushi

I was running quite late, quite ironic given the relative distances we had to travel, but I had forgotten that I didn't have a bus ticket, then couldn't find anywhere that sold them. Once I had a ticket, I had to wait FOREVER for a bus to Surry Hills to arrive, which was then super slow thanks to peak hour traffic, and when I got off the bus, I walked the wrong way down Crown street... you get the idea. FH Alphie wasn't too worried though, as 'they treat cripples well' (he's still wearing his sling), I joked back 'especially ones who look like they've been stood up on a date'!

When I finally arrived, the first thing I noticed was that it looks quite empty from the street, but don't let this decieve you, as when we visited, the upstairs/mezzanine area was much busier.

Crab Leaves

We started with the Crab leaves (crab, ginger, chilli and lime on betel leaves), which were good, and had lots of crab meat, if a little tricky to eat. Then shared the Monkey Magic style sushi selection (large), which was delicious! I was a bit scared of this, as I haven't had great experiences with raw fish sushi in the past, but this was by far the best thing we ordered. The fish was incredibly soft and just melted in your mouth. I could easily have eaten the whole plate, although FH Alphie felt the same way, so it would have been a battle!

Stuffed cabbage roll

Stir fried Asian greens

Next was the Stuffed cabbage roll and Stir fried Asian greens. The cabbage roll looked nothing like I expected (now that I think about it, I'm not entirely sure what I did expect...), but it was quite tasty. Again, difficult to eat with chopsticks, although a knife and fork were provided. I loved the greens, FH Alphie would just roll his eyes and say that I always do. This time though, he agreed with me, which means they really were good.

We skipped on desert as we had to get going, and I'll be honest, I didn't even look at the desert menu, so I have no comments there.

The service was prompt (although it was a Tuesday - not really a busy night) and very friendy. All in all, a great night, it would be a great place for Friday night dinner & drinks with the girls I think (that would give me an excuse to try out something from the cocktail menu!). If you are dining midweek (Monday - Wednesday), theres a winter special - 20% of everything - but make sure you ask, as we didn't and despite it being a Tuesday, paid full price :(

Monkey Magic

3 & 4/410 Crown St

Surry Hills

NSW

www.monkeymagic.com.au

-Alphie

Roast lamb

I mentioned yesterday that I brought lemons back from Mum and Dads. As well as the lemons, we also came home with a lot of lamb. Mum breeds sheep as a hobby, so there is always lamb to be had. She's just at the stage where she is getting too many for the two of them to eat, so she sells them to friends and family, and is trying to start selling them commercially. And, as Mum would say, it's not organic, but it is ethically raised.


FH Alphie and I brought (the equivalent of) one back with us - in cuts mind you, not a whole sheep in an esky! We now have two boned shoulders, four shanks, a boned leg, two 'half' legs (just the right size for a roast for two - but I'll get to that), a backstrap, 12 (or 18?) cutlets, a few chops, some mince, and stir fry strips in the freezer. So it seemed fitting that we had a lamb roast tonight.

I have never really been a big fan of lamb roasts, I generally prefer beef or chicken (weird, since don't like chicken all that much the rest of the time...). I find that roast lamb is often tough and frequently over cooked. So with this in mind, I turned to my cooking bible, Margaret Fulton's Encyclopedia of Food and Cookery. If anyone was going to tell me how to cook a perfect lamb roast, it would be Margaret (p.s. she was on MasterChef last night, and was just adorable).

In the words of Faux Fuchsia, vegetarians, look away now. Everyone else, here's a shot of the gorgeous lamb on its way to the oven.


I used one of the half bone-in legs, about 850g, and cooked it for an hour - 20 minutes at 220 degrees, then 40 minutes at 180 degrees. The 20 minutes on a higher temperature was Margaret's suggestion, as was resting it in the oven for 15-20 minutes. And, no bias here, I promise, it was easily the best lamb roast I have ever had. The lamb was tender and super tasty, and I didn't over cook it, it was perfect, just pink in the middle.

As is customary for a roast, I served it with roast potatoes, carrots & pumpkin, steamed greens (broccoli & beans today), and gravy.

-Alphie

Lemon yoghurt muffins

So we are back from our trip down south. A lot of driving for one weekend, but it was worth it to see my parents.

I try to make a batch (or two) of these muffins every couple of weeks to have with my morning coffee at work. They freeze pretty well, so I just grab one out of the freezer in the morning and it's usually defrosted by coffee time.


I have used orange zest for this recipe in the past, and a combination of lemon and orange zest - it usually just depends what we have at the time. Today I used lemons that I picked from Mum & Dad's lemon tree this morning. We make our own yoghurt, well, kind of, we use the easiyo packets. I used the low-fat greek yoghurt for this.

Lemon yoghurt muffins
adapted from 500 cupcakes, pg 313
makes 12

• 200g plain flour
• 175g caster sugar
• grated zest of 1 or 2 lemons
• 1tbs baking powder
• 225ml low fat plain yoghurt
• 115ml unflavoured oil, I use rice bran oil
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Grease muffin pan (you don't have to do this, I use a non-stick muffin tray, and forgot to grease it today and they came out fine).


Combine the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, lemon zest & baking powder) in a large bowl. Beat the yoghurt, oil & egg together in a small-medium bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Spoon into the muffin pan, and bake for 20 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then eat!

-Alphie

Mum & Dad, penne with broccoli

Sorry for the lack of posts yesterday - we drove down to Victoria after work to spend the weekend with my parents. So dinner was eaten on the road, shh don't tell...

Today is a bit of a guest blog, courtesy of my Mum. I'm still blogging, but she cooked, and I took the photos.

The recipe is based on one in The Silver Spoon, orecchiette with broccoli, but modified (as all Mums do), to suit the ingredients she has. My parents grow a lot of their own produce, and this is a great recipe to use up the smaller heads that sprout from a broccoli plant once the main head has been harvested (they look a bit like broccolini).

Penne with broccoli

adapted from The Silver Spoon, pg 274

serves 4

• 800g broccoli florets
• 2tbs garlic olive oil
• splash chilli olive oil
• 4 anchovy fillets
• pinch chilli flakes
• 400g short pasta
• large handful finely grated parmesan

Boil pasta in a large pot of salted water until al dente.
Put broccoli florets in a microwave safe container with a splash of water. Steam in the microwave for 3-4 minutes, until bright green.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large fry pan over medium-high heat. Stir in anchovies and break up with spoon.
Drain the broccoli and add to the pan with the chilli, stir until heated through and coated with anchovy oil.
Stir the parmesan through the drained pasta, then add the broccoli, and stir until well combined.
Serve with cracked black pepper and extra parmesan.
-Alphie

Beef keema

This is something we have pretty regularly in our house, for a couple of reasons; it's tasty, pretty quick, and we almost always have all the ingredients in the pantry & freezer. And, the recipe came from an Australian Women's Weekly cookbook - you can always count on the AWW to give you a tasty, tried and tested recipe!

Somehow though, it tastes different every time, which is quite strange given that it is one of the few things I cook where I follow the recipe to a tee, every time, especially when you consider how often we have it. It always baffles FH Alphie and I how it can vary so much. Never the less, it is always good. We have gotten to the stage where the 'leftovers' are packed before we eat, to prevent the two of us from eating the whole lot in one go... :shifty:

FH Alphie rates it: 6/10

We also had dessert tonight!! Yay!! FH Alphie volunteered to make something (yes, even with the busted wing - I think he might be getting bored) to compensate for the average day I had at work. He whipped up Ben O'Donoghue's twice-cooked chocolate brownies (delicious. November 2009, pg 51). There is seriously nothing better than coming home to a toasty warm house that smells of brownies, aahhh....

I'm not going to post the recipe for the brownies, FH Alphie claims that he 'just followed the recipe' and didn't do anything special, so doesn't think I should blog about it. So, I'll link to it instead - the brownie recipe is here. I will add this; we cut ours into 15 squares (18 seemed too difficult) and they were waaaay to big, we ended up cutting the rest in half again.

Alphie rates it: 8/10

Beef keema with cumin and currant pulao
AWW Fresh food fast, pg 47
serves 4

• 2 tbs vegetable oil, I use rice bran oil
• 1 small onion, sliced thinly
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp caraway seeds
• 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 tbs dried currants
• 500g beef mince
• 2 tsp hot curry powder
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tbs sweet chilli sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 4 green onions, sliced thinly (optional)
• 2/3 cup frozen peas
• 1/4 cup firmly packed fresh coriander leaves (optional)

I make the rice (pulao), in a rice cooker, because I'm lazy. Heat 1 tbs of the oil in the rice cooker, then, holding the bowl down to 'trigger' the rice cooker, cook brown onion, garlic and spices, stirring, until onion softens. Then add rice; cook, stirring, until rice is coated in spice mixture.


Stir in stock, make sure the rice cooker is on 'cook' (not 'warm') put the lid on, and get on with the keema. Remember, you have to stir the currants into the rice about halfway through.



Heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan. Add mince and stir until broken up and cooked through. Add curry powder and ginger; stir until fragrant. Add sauce, the water, green onion (optional) and peas; cook, stirring, until peas are tender. bring to the boil.


Serve keema on pulao, sprinkled with coriander (optional).


You can, of course, cook the rice on the stove. If you do this, follow the instructions above, and once you have added the stock, bring it to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, 12 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in currants and stand, covered, about 5 minutes or until rice is tender.

We usually omit the spring onions and coriander leaves, unless we happen to have them at the time, as they are not items we typically have in the kitchen.

-Alphie