Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Food Academy- Steak and mushroom pie.

Use any old tough cuts of steak for this (blade, chuck, stewing etc) recipe. After simmering in the beef stock and red wine, the meat will become tender and tasty.
If your sauce does reduce to nothing, you could add more beef stock and red wine to bring it back. The cornflour will thicken the sauce at the end.
Remember to put holes in your pastry lid to allow the steam to escape and to brush with milk or egg wash to give the golden brown colour.

Steak and Mushroom pie.

Ingredients
·      Stewing beef (chuck), 1 ramekin, cut into 2cm dice
·      Oil for frying
·      Onion, ½ , finely diced
·      Garlic, 1 clove crushed
·      Button mushrooms, 4-6, quartered
·      Beef stock, ¼ cup
·      Red wine, ¼ cup
·      Parsley, 1 tsp, chopped
·      Thyme, ½ tsp
·      Tomato sauce, 1 tsp
·      Salt/pepper
·      Puff pastry, 2 sheets
·      Cornflour, 1 Tbsp
·      Milk to glaze
·      Tin foil pie dish

Method
1.    Heat up the oil in the fry pan (medium high) and brown the meat.
2.    Remove from the heat and drain.
3.    Fry the onion, garlic and mushrooms until soft.
4.    Return meat to pan.
5.    Add the stock, wine, tomato sauce, seasoning and herbs.
6.    Bring to boil and then simmer until the meat is tender (20-30 min).
7.    Mix the corn flour with a little cold water and add to meat. Bring to boil to thicken. Allow to cool.
8.    Line a pie dish with the pastry.
9.    Fill with the meat mixture.
10. Cover with a pastry lid and seal the edges. Make a slit/holes in the top.
11. Brush with milk/egg wash and bake at 2000C for 30 minutes.
12. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before eating.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Quick Custard Squares.

A fast way to make custard squares. We use cream crackers instead of pastry so no need to bake in the oven.
Warning: it does have a lot of sugar in it, only eat small amounts.

Quick Custard squares

Equipment
·      Loaf tin
·      Sharp knife
·      Mixing bowls
·      Wooden spoon
·      Whisk
·      Pot
·      Measuring cups/spoons
Ingredients
6 plain square cream cracker biscuits eg (Huntley and Palmers)
1/4 cup custard powder
1 1/4 cups milk
1/4 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla essence

Icing
1/2 cup Icing sugar
1 knob of butter, melted
1 tsp passionfruit pulp
1 - 2 tsp hot water
Method
Use 6 (3 bottom, 3 top) square crackers to line a loaf tin.
Cut crackers with the knife to fit if necessary.
Mix custard powder to a smooth paste with a little of the milk.
Separately heat the rest of the milk then add the sugar.

With a whisk, stir in the custard powder paste and continue to heat and stir until boiling and thickened. Remove from heat and add vanilla essence then pour custard over crackers.
Top with remaining crackers, leave until cool, then refrigerate until quite cold and set.

Icing
Combine icing sugar and butter with passionfruit pulp and mix until smooth.
Spread over cooled crackers after they set. Cut into squares when set.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Lasagna.

Full of carbohydrates (pasta), meat and cheese, the lasagna is a kiwi favourite.
I have used the dried small lasagna for this recipe which needs to be cooked to "al dente" before being added to the meat and sauce.
To make the cheese sauce, first make a ROUX (butter, flour and milk) which turns into a white sauce. By adding the cheese, you make a cheese sauce.
Layer your pasta with the meat and cheese sauce in an oven dish, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and then bake/grill to finish.
Serve with a salad to balance the meal. Lasagna does have a lot of fat in it, that is why it tastes so good.

Lasagna
Equipment
·      Pot and lid
·      Sieve
·      Sharp knife and chopping board
·      Small fry pan
·      Measuring cups/spoons
·      Oven dish
·      Mixing bowl
Ingredients
·      Lasagna pasta, 2 cup
·      Salt, a pinch
·      Beef mince, 1 ramekin
·      Onion, ½ sliced
·      Garlic, ¼-1/2 tsp
·      Tomato puree, 2 tsp in ½ cup water
·      Oil, a small squirt
·      Seasonings (salt/pepper)
·      Butter, 25g
·      Flour, 2 Tbsp
·      Milk. 1 cup
·      Cheese, 3 Tbsp
·      Herbs, pinch
·      Breadcrumbs, 1/3 cup
Method
1.    Preheat oven to 1750C.
2.    Bring a pot ¾ full of water to the boil. Lid on.
3.    Add a pinch of salt.
4.    Add the pasta, stir and bring back to the boil.
5.    Boil, uncovered for 15 minutes or until pasta “al dente”. Drain through sieve and leave in mixing bowl.
6.    Heat up the fry pan with a little oil (medium heat).
7.    Add the onion and fry until soft.
8.    Add the mince, garlic and seasonings and cook through (5-10 minutes). Add tomato puree with water. Leave to reduce on low heat.
9.    Place the butter in the pot and melt.
10.  Add the flour and cook for 2 minutes until frothy.
11. Take off the heat and add the milk, stirring all the time. Return to heat.
12. When the sauce is thick, add the cheese and herbs. Mix through and remove from the heat.
13. Layer the pasta, meat and sauce in the oven dish.
14. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top and bake for 15 minutes.



Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Food Academy- Laksa (red/green curry)

Beware of the kick of the laksa!
You can replace the chicken with pork or seafood. You can add different green vegetables as well.
Just start with the base soup (curry paste, stock, coconut milk/cream, fish sauce and palm sugar) and then go from there.
I have used Udon noodles for this but you could use rice or egg noodles.
Don't forget the mung bean sprouts and fresh coriander to finish.

Asian Red/Green Curry (Laksa)

Equipment
·      Large frying pan
·      Pot
·      Sieve
·      Chopping board and sharp knife
·      Measuring cups/spoons

Ingredients
·      Red or green curry paste, 1-3 tsp (mild, medium, hot)
·      Coconut milk, 1 cup
·      Chicken (or pork or prawns), 1 breast, cut into chunks
·      Thai fish sauce, 1 tsp
·      Chicken stock, 1 cup, hot
·      Bean sprouts, half a handful
·      Palm sugar, ½ tablet, crushed
·      Chinese cabbage, ¼, shredded
·      Coriander leaves, chopped
·      Chilli flakes, light sprinkling
·      Rice noodles
·      Oil for frying

Method
1.    Place the curry paste into a large oiled frying pan on medium heat.
2.    Stir fry for 2 minutes.
3.    Add the chicken stock and bring to boil.
4.    Add coconut and bring to boil. Turn heat down and simmer.
5.    Add fish sauce and palm sugar.
6.    Add the chicken and Chinese cabbage to soup and simmer for 15 minutes. Season
7.    Boil a pot of water for the noodles, cook until soft then drain.
8.    Add the noodles and bean sprouts to bowls.
9.    Pour the soup over the noodles and garnish with fresh coriander and chilli flakes.