A Quiet Life

Back to the quiet life. A few weeks ago Nikau were at the City Market serving doughnuts and selling kedgeree tea towels. I bought the tea towel and at last got around to making the kedgeree. I can't tell you how to make it, you'll have to buy your own tea towel. I will let you in on the curry secret. Paul told us they use Vencat curry powder and now so do we. Ours was good but doesn't quite match up to the real thing. Kedgeree is a good quick thing to do after work.
I'm not usually a fan of Asian meals. Although I do love cabbage with Asian flavours and one of my all time favourite meals was the Thai beef salad from the Sugar Club in Wellington. I still miss that restaurant. Back to our dinner. We made an amazing Asian beef salad. I realise what I really dislike about Asian food is not the flavours, which I love, but noodles which I loathe. And yet I love pasta. Can't explain.
I digress again. This salad was delicious and a definite do again. First saute a couple of finely sliced shallots until crisp & set aside. Make a syrup by dissolving 1/4 cup rice vinegar & 1/2 cup grated palm sugar in a small pan over a low heat. Then bring to the boil & cook about 3 minutes. Tip the syrup into a bowl & whisk in 2 tbsp lime juice, 1 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 clove garlic crushed, 1/4 tsp chilli powder, 2 tbsp chilli sauce, 1 tbsp vegetable oil.
Rub a piece of sirloin or rib eye steak with a little oil & salt & pepper and fry in a saute pan 2-3 minutes each side. Put it in a flat dish with half the dressing & leave at least 10 minutes, turning a couple of times. We used 250g beef for 2 but the dressing will suffice for up to 600g. (We bought a beautiful piece of sirloin from Ryan, the "boy" at the Gipps St butcher - aged to a deep red.)
In a large bowl add thin juliennes of carrot, some baby spinach, 1 cup finely shredded red cabbage, 2 thinly slice spring onions, a handful Vietnamese mint (regular will suffice) and a handful of bean sprouts. Bean sprouts are really delicious but they spoil quickly and I find it hard to buy them in small enough quantities. We always end up wasting some and I hate waste.
Return to the beef and slice thinly & return to the dressing. Toss the salad and 1/2 the reserved shallots in some of the remaining dressing then toss through the beef. Sprinkle the remaining shallots & some more mint over the salad once plated.
We have just pickled a batch of onions. This year we included both red and brown onions. I hope it works.
This morning Harriet's centre had a gala and she made a multitude of vegan cup cakes. I bought agave nectar cakes & green tea ones. They look so pretty on the plate. I have to comment on the delicious food that was being served. On the barbecue they were doing yummy looking burgers and vege skewers. Someone was making chick pea toasties (Channa Mania was the pitch!). If I hadn't been rushing home to a loaf of San Francisco sourdough, a slab of goats cheese & a dish of herbs, I would have succumbed to temptation.

Persian Feast

It didn't take long for our table to fill up again. We had a guest for a few days and I decided to prepare an Iranian meal from the book we received as a thank you on a previous visit. As I have mentioned previously, Greg Malouf is a favourite middle eastern cookery writer. This latest offering, Saraban, is a culinary journey through Iran. The khoresht was a simple but delicious meal. At least it would have been simple if I had followed my instincts and quickly turned from the polow (pilau/pilaf) described as "a bit of a palaver". But no, once I had chosen my lamb stew, I was seduced by the picture  Shirin polow it was. Don't try this at home if you shy away from a palaver at dinner time. On the other hand, if you want to make it, buy the book or borrow it from the library. It was a worthwhile palaver and I will probably do it again for a special visitor.
Anyway, on to the lamb stew. The Iranian stew or khoresht sits somewhere between sauce & stew and is served with a rice dish. This was really simple and contained a few additions that were new for me. As with any cooking that use spices, you need to make up a spice mix that you can keep in an airtight jar for a few weeks. Thoroughly mix 1 tsp each of ground cinnamon, cumin, coriander, ginger, cardamom, black pepper, freshly grated nutmeg. and ground dried rose petals if you have them. I bought some and they are so pretty & bring an aromatic depth to the spice mix.
In a heavy based casserole, brown about 600g shoulder lamb cut into fairly large chunks and remove from the pan. Add 2 finely diced onions, 1/2 tsp turmeric and 3 tsp of your spice mix and cook until the onion is soft. Stir in 3 tbsp tomato paste and cook for a minute or so before returning the lamb to the pan. Add 200g split yellow peas, 2 dried limes, 2 bay leaves and a good handful of thyme. Pour over 1 litre chicken stock, bring to the boil then simmer on a low heat 1 1/2 hours, until the split peas are soft & soupy & the lamb is very, very tender. At the end add a squeeze of fresh lime juice & season with salt.
Now I haven't found dried limes yet, so I just dropped in a whole fresh lime halved. If you do have dried limes, part way through cooking when they have softened a little, press them against the side of the pan to release the juices.
Aforementioned guest has since posted me a 1/2 dozen from Melbourne & they look truly wonderful. Not at all pretty but very aromatic. I intend to try them out in a fresh herb lamb stew.
Which brings me nicely to our starter. Using any of the following you have at hand - baby beetroot leaves, basil, chervil, chives, coriander, costmary, dill, flat-leaf parsley, French tarragon, mint, radishes, spring onions, summer savory, turnip leaves, watercress - fill a serving plate or basket with about one cup of herbs per person. Greg suggested 4 or 5 herbs you like. I used 11. Serve them with warm flatbreads and a chunk of fresh white cheese such as a creamy feta, buffalo mozzarella, or my personal favourite right now, zickli. Pile some herbs onto a piece of bread, then a chunk of cheese; roll up and munch your way through the leafy goodness. We have had this for lunch a couple of times since and it is so delicious & refreshing.
Now for the rice - if you are steering clear of the palaver polow, I suggest a simple steamed rice enlivened with the addition of some whole aromatic spices which you can remove at the end of the cooking. I saw Nigel Slater do something similar recently. Add any of the things he mentions that take your fancy. At the end sprinkle your rice with pomegranate seeds to serve and grate over some orange peel. It will look as if you have engaged in a palaver.
I made a pudding of roasted dates with coffee syrup. It was delicious but would have been better if I could have bought real fresh-off-the-palm dates. I have never seen them here, have you? Not something my friend can send in the post. Middle Eastern sweets are very sweet and as you know I'm not so keen on making pudding. I would buy Antoinette's baklava or something else from her delicious range of sweets.
And we had leftovers. The stew is in the freezer and we had the rice a couple of days later with left over roast chicken from the day in between.

Table for Two

Cooking for two every night is not the same as cooking for three. We have been thinking ahead as it is often difficult to cook up a smaller quantity of, for example, ratatouille. You need a certain quantity to actually produce the desired consistency. I made the quantity for 4 and served half of it with a fillet of beef. The beef was seared in a pan on a high heat, then cooked to rare in the oven, at 180, for about 20 minutes. Slice to serve. Peter actually made some thick chips cooked on duck fat, which is probably so bad I shouldn't be owning up to it. But you are going to see them in the picture. They are delicious and very well drained. As you can see we didn't overdo it. Any left over beef can be used up in a packed lunch salad. All sorts of left over things go in my salads. It's amazing what works cold with some greens and a dressing. Let me know if you have any new ideas.
A couple of nights later we reheated the remaining ratatouille and served tossed through penne pasta. Ratatouille really does taste better second time around. The flavours meld beautifully. And this is a great quick meal if you are going to be home late or need to rush out straight afterwards.
Try cooking meatballs in a fresh sauce. Make up some meatballs with about 350g pork mince, a clove of garlic crushed, a little salt, sugar & pepper and a tbsp chopped parsley. Brown the meatballs over a moderate heat and then add 1/2 each of a red & yellow capsicum roughly sliced and a handful of black olives. Cook a further 15 minutes then add 2 tomatoes roughly chopped, with a handful of capers. Cook a further 3 -5 minutes. Sprinkle over some balsamic vinegar to serve.
This meal would stand well on its own however I have been introduced to a new vegetable and we decided to add it to this table. Kamo kamo is a vegetable from the squash family which was cultivated by Maori before Europeans arrived here. You may see it in the shops or market called kumi kumi. I am not sure of its origins. There are all sorts of opinions on the Internet but I was told to treat it as a courgette. My instructions were to cut into largish chunks and steam in lashings of butter & pepper. It was delicious. I have modified subsequently. Cut 1 smallish kamo kamo into chunks and toss in ground pepper. Heat a little olive oil in a pan & add the kamo kamo with a knob of butter. Cover the pan tightly with tinfoil and firmly apply the lid. Steam 20 minutes or so. This is better than courgette if you can imagine such a possibility.
Lastly, you know my penchant for beetroot. I found this amazing recipe for grated carrots & beetroot. We used Clevedon buffalo mozzarella. This is the perfect accompaniment for lamb steaks and couscous or on its own for lunch or even a light supper. And it is really yummy in the lunch salad the next day.