Beef Teriyaki

Posted on 5 February 2014 by Linda Peek

Beef Teriyaki is one of my favourite stir fry recipes. There are other stir fries I’ve made once or twice, but I’ve made this one dozens of times. It’s quick, easy and adaptable – just as delicious at room temperature as it is hot.

With the addition of lots of veggies, a small amount of beef goes a long way. Use Singapore noodles, Hokkien or similar. We find the amount of soy sauce is about right, but soy sauces do vary from brand to brand. If you find it’s a bit too salty make a note and next time use less soy sauce and make up the difference with water.

500g beef – I use 2-3 thick rump or topside steaks
3 Tbs vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 large onion, halved and sliced
1 large red pepper, sliced
4 medium zucchini (courgettes) sliced or cut into sticks
2 medium carrots, cut into sticks
250g mushrooms, sliced
½ cup soy sauce
1 Tbs sugar
¼ cup dry sherry
450g packet of fresh, pre-cooked Chinese egg noodles (omit for a Low Carb meal)

Freeze steak a bit to make it easier to slice thinly. Slice downwards into paper thin strips. Dry well on paper towels. Heat oil in wok or large frying pan. Add meat and garlic and stir fry for 1-2 minutes over high heat or until browned. Remove meat from pan, leaving the oil behind. Add onion and stir fry 2 minutes, then add remaining vegetables except mushrooms and stir fry for 5 minutes or until al dente. Add soy sauce mixed with sugar and sherry. Meanwhile cook noodles in boiling salted water according to packet instructions. Return meat to pan with mushrooms and stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Fold through drained noodles and stir fry for about a minute.

Note: if using dried noodles you will need only 125g and they will take longer to cook. If liked you can always add a touch of fresh chilli and substitute other vegetables such as broccoli, green beans, cauliflower or asparagus.

Serves 4

Baby Eggplants with Pickled Red Onions

Posted on 29 January 2014 by Linda Peek

This quick and easy side dish is originally from Nigella Lawson. I’ve made it several times and adjusted it slightly by adding a touch of honey, which I think is an improvement. If preferred just leave it out.

It goes particularly well with lamb and is a perfect addition to a summer barbecue. It also makes a tasty lunch with the addition of crumbled goat’s cheese or feta and crusty bread to mop up the juices.

Recipes using eggplants usually require you to salt, drain, rinse and dry them. This process is said to draw out the bitterness, but to be honest I’m not convinced it makes much difference. You will be relieved to hear that you don’t need to do it in this recipe. As you can see in the photo, the eggplants I used weren’t really tiny ones, but they weren’t massive either. Use whatever you can find. If you leave the onions to pickle for longer, before adding the oil, they get softer. Any leftovers are very tasty.

500-700g small/baby eggplants (aubergines)
3 Tbs olive oil
3 Tbs chopped fresh oregano or marjoram (or 3 tsp dried)
Salt
1-2 red onions, depending on size, halved and thinly sliced
3 Tbs red wine vinegar
½ tsp salt
¼ cup water
3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp honey
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
Fresh oregano or marjoram, chopped, to garnish

Preheat oven to 200º C. Slice eggplants in half lengthwise. Keeping the stalks on makes the dish look more rustic. Place the regular olive oil in a shallow roasting pan and mix in the fresh or dried herbs. Rub the cut side of each eggplant in the oily mixture to coat it, then arrange them cut side up in the pan. Season with salt then bake for 15-25 minutes or until tender and starting to turn golden brown. Cooking time will depend on the size of the eggplants.

Meanwhile mix onion with vinegar, salt and water and set aside to macerate for an hour or more, mixing from time to time. Recipe can be made several hours ahead to this point.

To serve, arrange eggplants on a serving platter. Add the extra virgin olive oil, the garlic, honey and pepper to any juices left in the baking pan. Drain the onions, discarding liquid and add them to the pan and mix well. Distribute onions over the eggplants and sprinkle the fresh herbs over the top. Serve at room temperature.

Serves 4-6

Notes: substitute other fresh herbs in season such as coriander or basil. If liked, crumble some goat’s cheese or feta over the top to make the dish more filling.

Chicken Biryani

Posted on 22 January 2014 by Linda Peek

I watched Rick Stein make this on his TV programme about India and decided to give it a try. We’re not big meat eaters, but we prefer to fill up on protein and vegetables rather than carbs. So I cut the 600g of rice in Steins recipe down to 400g and increased the chicken meat from 600g to one kilo. If you prefer to use the original recipe you can find it online.

This recipe serves 6-8 and is perfect for entertaining. We didn’t have guests coming which meant there were delicious leftovers to reheat and serve later in the week. I found it easier to mix the saffron and rosewater into the rice rather than sprinkling it over the layers as Stein does. If you don’t have any rosewater don’t worry – the flavour is very subtle so just leave it out. I’ve added a teaspoon of sugar as I always do with savoury sauces, especially if they contain tomato.

A Biryani is supposed to be dry with separate grains of rice. If you prefer more sauce don’t do the final layering in the casserole. Instead boil the rice completely, then drain and serve in one dish. And stop cooking the chicken when there’s more sauce left and serve it in another dish. Alternatively serve the Biryani with another curry which has lots of sauce, such as a vegetable curry.

When we lived in Copenhagen we had an Indian housekeeper called Rajan. He was always telling me that the two steaks or chicken pieces we were having for dinner would feed his family in India for a week. Having inherited my mother’s War mentality I hate to see good food go to waste, so I’m pretty frugal and good at using up leftovers. But by Rajan’s standards all Westerners are wasteful. He would often rock his head from side to side and say “Madam very wasteful”.

Once we had a reception for several hundred people and I needed lots of coriander for one of the dishes. That week the supermarket only had it growing in pots so I bought eight. When Rajan saw me throwing the completely denuded plants into the bin next day he was horrified. Unbeknownst to me he rescued them, took them to his room and kept them on the window sill. It was the middle of winter and far too cold to plant them outside. Two months later in walks Rajan clutching eight flourishing coriander plants, a big smile on his face. It was a real “Ta da” moment, so I made all the right noises and told him how wonderful he was. He was very pleased with himself, this incident being further proof that Madam was indeed very wasteful.

Rajan and I spent many happy hours working together in the kitchen and putting the world to rights. He was often difficult to understand, especially when discussing India-Pakistan politics or cricket, so I usually found it easier just to agree with him. I tried on several occasions to get him to call me Mrs Peek, but he would always reply “Yes Madam”.

400g basmati rice, soaked in cold water for an hour
Marinade:
1 cup plain thick yoghurt
2-3 green chillies (mine were 10cm+ long so I used 2)
1 tsp chilli powder (I substituted a rounded tsp of Sambal Oelek)
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 heaped Tbs grated fresh ginger
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground turmeric
1 kg boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut in halves
Fried Onions:
1 cup vegetable oil
3 medium onions, thinly sliced
Remaining ingredients:
10 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick, broken
5 cardamom pods, bruised with a rolling pin
2 bay leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
100g clarified butter or ghee, melted
Pinch saffron soaked in 4 Tbs warm milk for 15 mins
2-3 tsp rosewater
To garnish:
A handful of dry roasted cashews and/or pistachio nuts to garnish
A handful of raisins (not in Stein’s recipe but in many others)
Fresh coriander, roughly chopped

Mix chicken with marinade and put aside for an hour or more. Drain rice and cook in plenty of boiling salted water for 5-7 minutes or until just tender but still firm. Put aside to drain. Heat oil in a wok or large frying pan and cook the onions for 10-15 mins or until golden brown and crispy. Drain on paper towels.

Remove all but 3 Tbs oil from the pan. Keep the rest of the oil for another use. Cook the whole spices for a minute then add the chicken and its marinade, the tomato and salt and cook, stirring and turning the chicken from time to time over a moderate heat for 20-30 minutes, or until chicken is tender and liquid has mostly disappeared. Stein says to add a splash of water to the sauce if it starts to catch before the chicken is cooked, but I didn’t find this necessary.

To assemble the dish, mix saffron mixture and rosewater into the cooked rice. If you don’t have any saffron, substitute 1-2 teaspoons of turmeric. Place half the clarified butter or ghee and 3 Tbs water in a large heavy casserole with a well fitting lid. A Le Creuset-type is perfect. Spread over a third of the rice, then half the chicken and a third of the fried onions. Repeat with another third of rice, the remaining chicken, another third of the onions and finally the rest of the rice. Keep the remaining third of fried onions to garnish. Drizzle the remaining clarified butter or ghee around the edges of the rice so it drips down the sides and prevents sticking. Put the lid on the pot and place on the stove on a high heat. Lift up the lid to check and as soon as you see steam rising put the lid back and turn the heat to very low for 30 minutes.

Tip the Biryani onto a large serving platter, making sure you scrape up the crispy bits from the bottom of the casserole, as they are particularly delicious. Garnish with the remaining fried onions, the nuts, raisins and coriander.

A side dish of raita – a yoghurt and cucumber dish for which there are plenty of recipes online – goes well, as does a dish of fruit chutney.

Serves 6-8

Quick Gazpacho for Two

Posted on 15 January 2014 by Linda Peek

Having just picked our first Lebanese cucumber I decided to whip up a quick gazpacho and serve it for lunch 10 minutes later. I have a good recipe which makes several litres and serves a crowd, but it takes more than 10 minutes to make. So I threw the cucumber into the food processor, added some other ingredients until it tasted right, and here it is.

2 cups tomato passata from a jar
1 small Lebanese cucumber, washed and ends trimmed
¼ cup olive oil
1 thick slice of onion, red or white
1 Tbs sweet chilli sauce
1 small clove garlic, crushed
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Juice of ½ a lemon
Water
To garnish:
Greek yoghurt
1 small or ½ large avocado, diced
Fresh coriander or parsley, roughly chopped with scissors

Place all ingredients except garnish in a food processor and whiz till smooth. Add enough water to make to desired consistency (it won’t need much) and adjust seasoning, then whiz again. Chill until serving time, or if you’re in a hurry just add a couple of ice cubes when you add the water. Divide between two serving bowls. Garnish with a dollop of Greek yoghurt, some diced avocado and chopped fresh parsley or coriander

Optional extra: some home made croutons. You can also add some red capsicum or a touch of fresh chilli. Instead of avocado top with some diced cucumber and/or tomato.

Serves 2

Spicy Lentil and Chick Pea Salad

Posted on 8 January 2014 by Linda Peek

Some friends are on my culinary wave length, so I know when they give me a recipe and say this is great I will like it. This lentil salad recipe came from my friend Lynne. I just added the chick peas which provide a nice flavour and texture contrast. Leave them out if you prefer.

1¼ cups (250g) green lentils
½ red onion, finely chopped
1 small red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
1 red capsicum (pepper) seeded and diced
Grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup sweet chilli sauce
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ cup fresh coriander, chopped
2 tbs sesame oil
2 tbs toasted sesame seeds
Pinch salt
1 can chick peas, rinsed and drained

Place lentils in a saucepan and cover with plenty of water. Bring to the boil and cook gently for 5 mins. Remove from heat and stand for 5 mins or until lentils are al dente. Time will vary according to the lentils you use, but don’t overcook or you won’t get a nice crisp salad. Drain and rinse under cold running water. Add remaining ingredients, then cool. Can be made a couple of days in advance and kept in the fridge, which only improves the flavour.

Serves 6

Mango Cheesecake

Posted on 2 January 2014 by Linda Peek

I was looking for a dessert to serve on New Year’s Eve that could be made ahead, didn’t involve turning on the oven, used seasonal fruit, could be transported from Canberra to Sydney with ease and didn’t include raw eggs, making it suitable for a pregnant lady.

This recipe which meets all the criteria appeared in a recent advertisement for Kraft Philadelphia cream cheese.The only change I made was to increase the lemon rind from one teaspoon to one tablespoonful.

Mangoes are at their cheapest in Australia at this time of year. Choose ones which are not over-ripe as they’re easier to slice thinly and curve for the decoration. I made the cheesecake the day before and took it to Sydney in an Esky (Australian name for a cold box, for those who don’t know) on New Year’s Eve. All I had to do was arrange the mango slices on top and it was ready to serve.

The original recipe didn’t include passionfruit, but we ate the leftovers on New Year’s day with some pulp spooned over. It was a definite plus, enhancing the flavour of the mango and providing colour contrast.

200g fresh mango, puréed in food processor
¼ cup glucose syrup (also known as Corn Syrup)
1¼ cups sweet biscuit crumbs (e.g. Digestives, crushed in food processor)
75g butter, melted
500g cream cheese at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
1 Tbs grated lemon rind
2 tsp gelatine dissolved in
¼ cup boiling water, cooled
220g white chocolate, melted and cooled
1 cup cream, softly whipped
2 mangoes extra, thinly sliced
Pulp from 2 passionfruit (optional)
Thick cream to serve

Place mango purée in a saucepan with glucose syrup. Cook, stirring over a medium heat for 15 minutes or until thickened and reduced by half. Set aside to cool.

Combine biscuits and butter and press evenly over the base of a 20-22 cm springform pan. In food processor or by hand beat cream cheese, sugar and lemon rind until smooth. Mix in gelatine mixture and melted chocolate, then fold in the whipped cream. Pour filling over biscuit base. Spoon over mango mixture and swirl through the white mixture using the tip of a knife, smoothing the top. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight. Serve decorated with fresh mango slices and, if liked, some passionfruit pulp. Serve thick pouring cream separately.

Serves 12

Variations: use peaches, apricots or strawberries instead of the mangoes – pulp in the filling and sliced fruit to decorate. For a Ginger Mango Cheesecake use ginger nut biscuits for the crust and mix 2-3 Tbs finely chopped crystallised ginger into the filling.

Note: if preferred, omit the white chocolate and use one and a half cups of cream, whipped. When whipped the cream will more than double in volume.

Roast Cauliflower

Posted on 23 December 2013 by Linda Peek

I’ve always been a fan of green vegetables such as cauliflower, brussels sprouts and broccoli, which a lot of people don’t like. When I was growing up cauliflower was boiled – usually for far too long – and served with a knob of butter, or margarine, if you were lucky. Sometimes a parsley or a cheese sauce would vastly improve the situation. But when I think back to those over-boiled veggies, I realise it’s hardly surprising some people were put off eating them for life.

All those vegetables which were traditionally boiled in water are much nicer when roasted in the oven with olive oil. Asparagus for example takes on a whole new character when cooked in this way. If you’ve never roasted caulfilower, give it a try. You might even convert some members of the family who don’t normally like this vegetable.

1 small or half a large cauliflower, cut into large flowerets
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2-3 Tbs olive oil
3 Tbs pine nuts
1 slice bread, made into crumbs in food processor
2-3 Tbs snipped chives

Pre-heat oven to 180ºC. Place cauliflower in a shallow roasting pan. Sprinkle with cumin, paprika, salt and pepper and drizzle with oil. Mix with fingers to coat thoroughly, then bake for 30-40 mins or until cooked “al dente”. About halfway through the cooking time give the cauliflower a stir and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs and pine nuts.

Serve garnished with the chives, either hot or at room temperature. It’s even nice cold.

Serves 4-6

Mini Leek Quiches

Posted on 18 December 2013 by Linda Peek

As an Ambassador’s wife – an unpaid job I enjoyed for many years – I made food for more cocktail parties than I can remember.

Working on 10 per person, I used to reckon that a two hour cocktail party for 300 guests needed 3000 canapes. Some people eat less, but others definitely eat more and it’s always preferable to have a few left over than to run out. The trick is to start a week or two before the event and freeze anything which freezes well, which covers pretty much anything using pastry, such as mini quiches and empanadas. That just leaves the things that don’t freeze well – prawns, smoked salmon and so on – to be made on the day of the party. A chest freezer is essential in order to do this on a grand scale. I used to keep a running tally of how many items we had made so far – 200 of this, 300 of that – until the grand total came to however many we needed.

Nowadays our parties are much more normal in size, but I still like to plan ahead. These little quiches can be frozen and baked when needed so they are perfect. You can use various fillings, but leek or onion, spinach and feta and quiches lorraine are always popular.

I’ve just made a few trays to have on hand over the Christmas-New Year period and you can see them in the photo, all ready to go into the freezer. Having collected them from second hand shops over the years, I have enough patty tins to make about 200 mini quiches. I also have some smaller tins, which produce a one bite, elegant little morsel, but they’re very fiddly to make so I usually make these bigger ones, especially now that I have officially retired from diplomacy!

Shortcrust Pastry (make twice):
250g plain flour
125g butter
good pinch salt
3-4 Tbs cold water
Filling:
6 leeks, washed trimmed and chopped
50g butter
4 eggs
300 ml cream
150 ml milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ tsp grated nutmeg
2 cups grated cheese (gruyere is best, but cheddar will do)

Pastry: Place flour, salt and butter in food processor and process until it looks like breadcrumbs. With the motor running gradually add about 3 Tbs cold water, stopping the motor as soon as the mixture starts to form a ball. Tip out, form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed. Can be refrigerated for 3-4 days or frozen for a month or two. For this recipe you will need to make this recipe twice.

Filling: in a large frying pan melt butter and add leeks. Fry gently for 15 minutes, stirring frequently, or until soft. Do not allow to brown. Cool. In a large bowl beat eggs with cream, milk, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Add cooked leeks and grated cheese and mix well.

Roll out pastry thinly using a little plain flour to prevent sticking and cut circles to fit patty tins. Very lightly grease the tins, then line with pastry circles. Fill with leek mixture, level with the top of the pastry. Freeze tins uncovered until frozen, then cover each tin with a supermarket bag. Once frozen the plastic bags won’t stick to the quiches, so you can store them stacked one on top of the other.

To serve, remove plastic bag and bake from frozen for 30-40 mins at 180°C. If not frozen they will take 20-30 mins. Cool for 5-10 minutes, then remove from tins with a knife and serve warm.

Variation: for Mini Onion Quiches use 6 large onions instead of leeks

Makes 65-70 mini quiches

Moroccan Carrot Salad with Olives & Feta

Posted on 11 December 2013 by Linda Peek

When we lived in Chile in the 1990s I was President of Santiago Stage, an amateur theatre group which produced 3 or 4 plays a year in English. We raised money for a hospital which treated burnt children called Coaniquem and over two years we completely transformed a children’s home for 130 orphans called Los Girasoles. It was very satisfying and we had a lot of fun doing it. Our sitting room became the set for rehearsals for weeks on end. Fortunately I have a very tolerant husband.

While I was in Santiago recently my dear friend Elaine hosted a lunch to reunite our thespian friends. Elaine and I met in 1992 when we both had parts in a play called Home by David Storey. It’s about a home for people who are not quite right in the head, so we were definitely type cast. Elaine’s paternal uncle was the famous British actor Quentin Crisp and she has inherited his ability to tell a good story and make people laugh. When we took the play on tour to Concepcion (yes, we were very proud telling everyone that!) Elaine and I spent several hours in the dining car of the overnight train, drinking pisco sours and telling each other stories. We laughed so much I had a pain in my side. How we managed to get back to our carriage and into our narrow bunks I will never know. Elaine says I made her climb the ladder and sleep in the top bunk, but I honestly can’t remember.

When we arrived in Concepcion we were met by the head of the British Council. He had undertaken to book the theatre and sell tickets and we were staying at his house. As Elaine and I unpacked we could hear him making frantic phone calls. He had completely forgotten we were coming and hadn’t sold any tickets. We performed to an audience of about 20, but fortunately they all clapped loudly.

The day of the Santiago Stage reunion lunch was warm and sunny so we were able to sit outside. Elaine decided to do a buffet, consisting of quiches and lots of different salads and I helped. This carrot salad has been in my repertoire for many years and it’s always a good addition to a buffet, being both unusual and filling. Elaine had a lovely orange plate which was perfect to serve it on. Using whole baby carrots, if you can get them, makes it look even snazzier.

1 kg carrots peeled and cut into fat sticks
2 large onions, chopped
2-3 bay leaves
2 Tbs fresh thyme or 4 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cumin powder
4 Tbs olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbs sherry vinegar (or substitute another vinegar)
100g stoned green olives (I use pimento stuffed ones, cut in halves)
100g feta cheese (or substitute soft goat’s cheese)
Juice of one lemon or lime
Chopped fresh coriander
2 Tbs finely chopped preserved lemon, skin only (optional)

Heat oil in a large frying pan and cook the onions gently until soft – 5 minutes or so. Add the carrots and cook, stirring for 5 minutes more. Add thyme, sugar, cumin, salt and pepper, cover and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring from time to time. Add vinegar and cook for 15 minutes, stirring once or twice. Add olives, cover again and cook for another 10-15 minutes. Carrots should still have a bit of bite left in them. Place in a serving dish. Add the feta cubes and squeeze over the lemon or lime juice at the last minute. Garnish with the coriander and preserved lemon, if using. If preferred, keep the olives till the end and sprinkle them over with the coriander as a garnish as I did in this photo. Serve at room temperature.

Serves 8-12 as part of a buffet

Vichyssoise

Posted on 4 December 2013 by Linda Peek

The leek crop started to go woody and needed to be pulled up. As you can see in the photo there were quite a few, so I decided to make Vichyssoise and some mini Leek Quiches to freeze for the holiday season, which I’ll post in a few days. I freeze them uncooked and they are great to whip out and bake when people drop in for a drink.

Some people don’t like cold soups but Vichyssoise is equally nice served hot or cold. It’s one of those traditional French dishes which never goes out of fashion. It freezes well just after blending, before you add the cream. If you want to cut down on the cream, replace half or two thirds of it with milk. It won’t be quite as creamy but still delicious.

2 kg potatoes
2 leeks or 1 leek and 1 large onion
300 ml cream
6 cups chicken stock (preferably homemade)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Peel and chop potatoes. Wash and chop leeks, keeping all of the white part and some of the green. Place vegetables and stock in large pan, bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered for 30 mins or until tender.

Blend soup till smooth in an electric blender then return to pan and stir in cream. If soup is too thick add a little milk to achieve desired consistency, then adjust seasoning. Serve chilled, garnished with snipped chives, a little extra cream and some freshly ground black pepper. Alternatively soup can be reheated, without boiling and served hot, topped, if liked, with a few bits of crispy bacon as shown in the photo.

Serves 6