Beef Massaman Curry in a Slow Cooker

Posted on 20 June 2013 by Linda Peek

Of all the posts on Café Cat, the most popular to date is the Beef Korma cooked in a Slow Cooker. When people search on Google for a beef curry cooked this way, my recipe comes up first.

A slow cooker is the perfect way to cook a curry or a stew. As the meat cooks slowly the liquid doesn’t evaporate the way it does in the oven, so it’s best to add about a quarter or half the amount you would normally use. You can always add more later if necessary.

I’ve adapted this Thai Massaman Beef Curry by Bill Granger for the Slow Cooker. It’s nice and spicy, without being overly hot. If you’re going to serve it with rice, we didn’t think the potatoes were really necessary, so leave them out if you prefer.

1 tsp crushed dried chilli
1 Tbs finely chopped fresh ginger
2 tsp cumin seeds
Seeds removed from 5 cardamom pods
1 red onion, cut in half
6 cloves garlic
1 stalk lemongrass (white part only)
2 Tbs coriander roots
1 Tbs Tamarind paste
2 Tbs vegetable oil
1.2kg stewing beef (blade, shin, chuck) cut into 3-4cm pieces
400ml can coconut milk
1 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs fish sauce
¼ cup water
400g small potatoes, scrubbed and halved (optional)
To serve:
1 Tbs lime or lemon juice
Fresh coriander sprigs
2 Tbs roasted peanuts, chopped
Steamed rice

In a mortar and pestle pound the chilli, ginger, cumin, cardamom and 1 tsp salt until finely ground. In a food processor whiz the red onion, garlic, lemongrass, coriander root, tamarind paste and 1 Tbs of the oil, until finely chopped, then mix in the chilli-spice mix.

Heat remaining 1 Tbs oil in a large frying pan and brown the meat in 2 or 3 batches, for about 2 minutes each side, then place in slow cooker. Add the curry paste to the frying pan and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until fragrant. Add to slow cooker with the coconut milk, sugar, fish sauce, potatoes (if using) and water. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until beef is tender. Stir every couple of hours, adding a little more water if necessary.

To serve: Add lime or lemon juice, check seasoning and serve garnished with the coriander and peanuts, with steamed rice on the side.

Note: If preferred curry can be cooked in a heavy casserole with a lid in the oven where it will take about 3 hours at 160°C. In this case increase the water to ¾ cup and add the potatoes, uncooked, about halfway through cooking time. For low-carb version omit the potatoes.

Serves 4-6

Moroccan Lamb

Posted on 17 June 2013 by Linda Peek

I started making this Moroccan lamb when we were living in Paris. I served it when my Dad came over from the UK with the rest of my family to celebrate his 80th birthday in 2000. The recipe has evolved over the years and become a family favourite. Our eldest son James makes it so regularly it has become his signature dish.

1 leg or shoulder of lamb, trimmed of excess fat
1/3 cup lemon or lime juice
1 Tbs tomato paste
1 tsp ground cumin
1-2 tsp sambal ulek (harissa or chilli paste)
1-2 large cloves garlic crushed
1 Tbs fish sauce
Moroccan vegetables:
Oven roasted vegetables
1 can chick peas, drained
1-2 tsp cumin, to taste
Mint Yoghurt:
1 cup thick Greek yoghurt
½ cup chopped fresh mint
1 clove garlic, crushed
pinch salt
1/2 tsp honey

Place lamb in a roasting pan. Combine remaining ingredients and spread over both sides of lamb. Cover and leave to marinate for several hours or overnight in the fridge.

Preheat oven to 160°C. Remove lamb from fridge and allow to come to room temperature, then add 2 cups water. Bake lamb, covered tightly with aluminium foil, for 3 hours, turning and basting every hour or so. Increase temperature to 180°C, remove foil and cook for another 30-40 mins. If all the liquid has evaporated, add it bit more water. Meat should be very tender and almost falling off the bone. Slice and serve on a bed of Moroccan vegetables, garnished with a dollop of Mint Yoghurt.

Moroccan vegetables: Click on the link to find the recipe for oven roasted vegetables. Mix in the chick peas and cumin about 10-15 minutes before the vegetables are ready. As the lamb and veggies need different oven temperatures you may prefer to make the roast vegetables earlier in the day, mix in the chick peas and cumin and leave the baking tray aside. Then to serve, if they have got cold, put the tray into the oven for the last 20-30 minutes of cooking time of the lamb, then they will both be ready at the same time.

Mint Yoghurt: mix yoghurt with remaining ingredients and refrigerate until serving time.

Serves 6-8

Quick Banana and Oat Bread

Posted on 13 June 2013 by Linda Peek

Matthew’s not mad about bananas or coconut, so I usually avoid using them in cakes. Sometimes I sneak them in and hope he won’t notice.

This recipe only uses one banana, so the flavour isn’t overpowering. It’s delicious served fresh on the day it’s made. Or you can keep it in the fridge, well-wrapped, for up to a week and serve it toasted.

As it doesn’t contain any fat this banana bread is quite healthy, eaten on its own. But of course it’s even nicer with things on top! Serve it toasted for breakfast, topped with butter and jam; with a sliced banana, ricotta cheese and a drizzle of honey or with home made strawberry jam and ricotta as shown in the photo. I like to freeze the individual slices wrapped in plastic wrap so they can then be toasted from frozen and are ready in a jiffy.

1 ripe banana
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk (see note below)
2½ cups self-raising flour, sifted
½ cup oats
½ cup desiccated coconut
¼ to ½ cup honey, to taste
1 tsp vanilla essence
½ cup sunflower kernels (shelled sunflower seeds)

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a large loaf tin and line the bottom with baking paper. Place banana in food processor and process till smooth. Add remaining ingredients except sunflower kernels and process just enough to mix. Add sunflower kernels, tip into prepared loaf tin and smooth the top. Sprinkle with a few more oats, press them in, then bake for an hour, or until well-risen, golden brown and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Can take up to an hour and a quarter, depending on your oven. Cool and serve fresh or toasted. Can be frozen.

Makes one loaf

Note: if you don’t have buttermilk substitute half milk and half plain yoghurt. If you don’t have any sunflower kernels, double the oats or the coconut.

Ginger Crème Brulée with Quince Compote

Posted on 10 June 2013 by Linda Peek

There’s a new restaurant in Braddon called Eighty Six which everyone is raving about. I haven’t been yet but my son James has already been twice (it’s only been open about a month!) and says the food is delicious. He especially enjoyed the Ginger Crème Brulée with Quince Chutney, so as quinces are in season I decided to have a go at making it, based on his detailed description! It was delicious.

I’m looking forward to going to Eighty Six to try the original and see how it compares. Using raw sugar on top is a tip from Heston Blumenthal — he says it caramelises more quickly than refined white sugar. But if you don’t have any just use white sugar.

When coring the quinces, core generously to make sure you remove all the fibrous bits in that area. Serve any leftover compote with labneh.

Quince Compote:
6 quinces, peeled cored and cut into 1 cm cubes
⅓ cup honey
½ cup orange juice
1 Tbs grated fresh ginger
5 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
6 cloves
Crème Brulée:
600ml thick cream
6 egg yolks
3 Tbs caster sugar
1 vanilla pod or 1 tsp vanilla essence
2 Tbs grated or finely chopped fresh ginger
To serve:
Raw sugar

Compote: Preheat oven to 150°C. Place the star anise, cinnamon and cloves in a small piece of muslin or a handkerchief and tie into a bundle. Place in a heavy iron casserole dish with remaining ingredients. Stir then cover and bake for one and a half to two hours, or until quince is tender, reddish in colour and juices are thickened. Stir regularly and add a dash more juice if it’s getting too dry. When compote is ready it should be like a thick compote, jam or chutney but the pieces of fruit will still be whole. Discard the spices in the bag. Cool then store in the fridge where it will keep for up to a week. It can also be frozen to use when quince are no longer in season.

Crème Brulée: Preheat oven to 140°C. Place 8 small ramekins in a roasting pan or dish and boil the kettle. Place a heaped teaspoon of compote in the bottom of each ramekin and spread it out. Heat cream, vanilla (pod and seeds scraped off or essence) and ginger until boiling point. Meanwhile beat egg yolks and sugar until light and airy. Mix a little of the hot cream into the egg yolk mixture, then pour it all back into the cream and stir quickly to combine. Turn off heat and leave to macerate for 5 minutes. Pour through a sieve into a jug, then fill ramekins almost to the top. You may have enough to fill 9 depending on the size of your dishes.

Add boiling water to come about a third of the way up the sides of the ramekins then bake for 20 mins, or until set but still be a bit wobbly. Ovens vary. Remove from oven, remove ramekins immediately from water bath and cool. Refrigerate, covered for several hours or overnight.

To serve: Spread 2 teaspoons of raw sugar over each custard. Using a cook’s blow torch, caramelize the sugar until it melts and turns golden brown. Some restaurants in France serve them straight after torching the tops, so you have the contrast of warm and crunchy with cold. If you like your brulées very cold put them back in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving. After 45 minutes the crunchy top will start to go soggy so don’t leave them too long.

Serves 8

Apple Tart Rue de Vermont

Posted on 7 June 2013 by Linda Peek

When I worked for the British Mission to the UN in Geneva, located on the 5th floor of a large building on the Rue de Vermont, there was a patisserie at street level. By mid-morning irresistible smells came wafting up through the office window, so someone was dispatched to buy a few slices of apple tart, still warm from the oven, to keep us going till lunch time. Those were the days when I could do that on a regular basis, without it going straight to my hips!

Before I left Switzerland I asked the owner if she would part with the recipe and she was happy to do so. Puff pastry is a bit of a pain to make, so I usually buy it. That is until I discovered Nigella Lawson’s food processor version which is a cinch to make and of course much nicer. Actually any pastry will do and you may prefer to use shortcrust pastry, bought or home-made.

Nigella’s Food Processor Puff Pastry

2 cups plain flour
Good pinch of salt
250g butter, cut into ½ cm slices
2 tsp lemon juice
4-5 Tbs cold water

Filling:
1 kg eating apples, peeled and sliced
2 eggs
2 Tbs plain flour or almond meal
½ cup milk (or half milk and half cream)
2 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs unsalted butter
Extra sugar

Pastry: place flour, salt and butter in food processor. Pulse until butter has been cut into small pieces but is still visible. With the motor running add the lemon juice and enough water for the pastry to start to stick together, then stop immediately. Don’t process for long because you want to keep the pieces of butter intact.

Tip out the sticky crumbs and with floured hands form them into a neat rectangle about 15 cm long and about half as wide. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 mins. Remove from fridge and roll pastry until the long side is twice as long. Fold one end into the middle and the other end over it to the edge, like an envelope. Turn pastry so the open ends are at the bottom and top, then roll again into a long rectangle. Repeat the folding and rolling twice, but the last time don’t do the final rolling – leave it with the open ends. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate several hours or up to three days. Can be frozen.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Remove pastry from fridge and, unless you’re working on a hot summer’s day, let it stand for a short while, so it’s not rock hard. Roll out on a floured surface and use to line a rectangular metal Swiss roll or slice tin, trimming off any excess. Mine is 35x25cm. Arrange rows of overlapping apple slices over the base. Be generous – the pie should be very full with the apple slices standing almost upright.

In a small bowl with a fork or balloon whisk, mix egg with flour (or almond meal) and sugar, then gradually mix in milk/cream. Brush over the apples to moisten them, then pour the rest over. Tilt tin to ensure it reaches the corners, then dot the apples with very small pieces of butter and sprinkle lightly with extra sugar. Bake for about an hour or until well browned, almost burnt in places, to give it that authentic European patisserie look. If liked shake over some extra sugar and serve warm, just as it is, or with cream or ice cream, or both!

Serves 12

Dominique’s Lemon Tart with Rhubarb

Posted on 3 June 2013 by Linda Peek

When we were living in Paris I was a member of a Franco-Australian group which met once a month. We took it in turns to host the meeting which took the form of afternoon tea, with an hour speaking in English followed by an hour speaking in French. When it was her turn to host the group Dominique made this very unusual Lemon Tart. The crust is quite thick but it’s like a delicious shortbread that blends in with the filling, so it doesn’t seem to matter.

The recipe fills a normal 20-25cm (8-10 inch) round pie dish. In the photo I have used a rectangular meat-roasting pan (26x33cm) and increased all the ingredients by about a quarter. I wanted something to cut into squares to serve a large crowd. I have put those quantities, for a bigger pie, in brackets. The original recipe was sprinkled with flaked almonds, but I used rhubarb instead because it needed using up!

Pastry:
200g marzipan (at room temp) (250g)
200g butter (at room temp) (250g)
2 cups plain flour (2½ cups)
Filling:
100g ground almonds (125g)
3 large eggs (4)
1 cup sugar (1¼ cups)
1 large lemon (2 smaller ones)
pinch salt
1 Tbs flour (1 heaped Tbs)
1 cup cream or sour cream (1¼ cups)
50g flaked almonds (80g)

Pastry: Preheat oven to 170°C. Process marzipan and butter in the food processor until well combined, then add the flour and process till it starts to stick together. Tip the sticky crumbs into a tart tin or large quiche dish. Using fingertips, press pastry all over the bottom and up the sides to form the crust.

Filling: No need to wash the food processor to make the filling. If almonds are not already ground, put them in the food processor first and process till fine. Cut the lemon into quarters, remove the stalk and pips then add to the food processor with the sugar, eggs, cream, flour and salt.Mix until fairly smooth.Pour into the pastry case and sprinkle the flaked almonds all over the top. Bake for 40-60 minutes until deep golden brown. If the edges start to get too brown, cover them with a collar of foil. Serve with cream as a dessert or for afternoon tea, dusted with icing sugar.

Serves 8-10

Note: This tart is nicer if you let it get slightly over-cooked so the edges become crunchy.

Variation: omit flaked almonds and top pie with a bunch of rhubarb, washed, trimmed and cut into 6-cm lengths.

Home-made Pizza

Posted on 30 May 2013 by Linda Peek

A proper Italian pizza has a thin, crispy crust and minimal topping. Nothing remotely like the thick, soggy versions sold in many fast food chains. The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana says that when cooked a pizza base should be no more than 4mm thick at the centre, though it will be thicker around the edges. And they should know, they invented them.

When our kids were growing up pizza featured regularly on the menu. The pizza delivery motorbikes never came to our house because my view is that anything home-made is better than the bought version, not to mention cheaper. At the time our offspring thought they were deprived, but now they have their own families and also make their own.

For a larger group make 3-4 times the recipe and form the dough into balls. Have the toppings ready in small dishes and let people choose their own. With a salad and a bottle or two of vino you’re all set for a casual meal which appeals to all ages.

15g fresh yeast or 7g dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp salt
2 cups plain flour (preferably 00)
1 Tbs olive oil
½ to ¾ cup warm water

Mix ½ cup warm water with yeast and sugar. Leave for 10 minutes. Sift flour and salt into a bowl, add oregano, oil and yeast mixture. Mix well, adding more warm water until you have a firm, not sticky, dough. If preferred make in a food processor or in a mixer with a dough hook.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead for a couple of minutes until smooth and springy. Form into a ball, place in a lightly oiled bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover and leave at room temperature for an hour, or until doubled in size. Alternatively, cover and refrigerate overnight to prove more slowly.

Preheat oven to its highest temperature. If using, put pizza stone in the oven to get really hot. Knead dough lightly and form into a ball (or two balls) and leave, covered with a tea towel for about 20 mins or until doubled in size.

To assemble pizzas place a ball of dough on a lightly oiled pizza pan and press out to size using oiled fingers, working from the middle out. If using a pre-heated pizza stone, or a wood-fired pizza oven, press dough out into a large round on a well-floured pizza paddle.

Arrange toppings on pizza – be sparing – less is more. Slide onto stone if using one and bake for about 5 minutes or until golden and crispy. Time will vary depending on your oven. Our outdoor wood-fired oven shown in the photo heats up to over 400°C, so pizzas only take about 3 minutes. In an ordinary oven they can take up to 12 minutes. Keep an eye on it.

Makes one very large or two medium pizzas

Topping suggestions:

Tomato sugo (sold in jars to go with pasta) with thinly sliced mushroom, sliced pepperoni or chorizo and grated mozarella
Pesto with sliced fresh buffalo mozarella and sliced fresh tomatoes
Pesto, peeled prawns, grated mozarella and pine nuts
Additional toppings: stoned olives, anchovies, sun-dried tomatoes, caramelized onions, extra oil, fresh herbs

Lamb Pies with Mushrooms and Herb Butter

Posted on 27 May 2013 by Linda Peek

One of my favourite places to lunch with friends is at the Palette Cafe, located in the Beaver Galleries in Deakin. They are not open in the evening and are closed on Mondays.

In the warmer months my favourite dish was the avocado and smoked salmon salad served on a spicy gazpacho-style tomato sauce. It’s so good, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve ordered it! One of my friends always has the brains with crispy bacon, which she says are to die for. I have been there umpteen times and never had a bad meal. We went there for Mother’s Day brunch and it was excellent. Anyone who can make scrambled or poached eggs which are as good as the ones you make yourself wins my vote. Hats off chef, Meaghan Pidd.

I recently ate one of Meaghan’s delicious lamb pies, served on a bed of sauteed mushrooms, so I decided to make something similar. Eight pies might be too many but you could do as I did – bake four and freeze the rest, then just make half the mushroom mixture. While meat pies are not for those trying to cut down on cholesterol, on a cold winter’s day they just hit the spot!

About 7 sheets of ready-rolled bought puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
Filling for Pies:
1 Tbs olive oil
25g butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 kg lean lamb e.g. leg, shoulder (weight after trimming)
1 cup white wine
1 Tbs brandy
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried thyme or 1 Tbs fresh, chopped
½ a chicken stock cube
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 heaped tsp cornflour mixed with 2 Tbs water
Mushrooms:
500g button mushrooms
50g butter
¼ cup sherry
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Herb Butter:
¼ cup parsley sprigs
1 small clove garlic, crushed
125g butter at room temperature
Pinch of salt if using unsalted butter

Heat oil and butter in a large heavy-based pan and add the onion and garlic. Cook gently, stirring often, until soft but not browned. Cut the meat into 2cm cubes and add to the pan. Turn up the heat and cook, stirring continuously, until the meat starts to brown. Add the brandy and continue to stir as it evaporates. Add remaining ingredients apart from cornflour mixture. Simmer until meat is tender. This will depend on the meat, but shouldn’t take long. If there’s not enough liquid, add a dash of water. When meat is tender add cornflour mixture, stirring until the sauce thickens. Cool, then refrigerate several hours or overnight.

Cut sixteen circles of pastry about 15cm in diameter using a saucer or bowl to cut around. You may only get one per sheet of pastry, then you will need to gather the trimmings, re-roll and cut the rest. Divide meat filling amongst 8 of the circles, leaving 2cm around the edge. The gravy will have thickened, so it can all be used. Dampen edges of pastry circles, place another circle on top. The tops will seem too small, but if you go round squeezing the edges together they will stretch to fit. You will end up with 8 flying saucer shaped pies. Invert them onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. They can be refrigerated at this stage for up to 24 hours, covered, or frozen for up to a month.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Thaw pies if frozen. Brush with beaten egg. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve on a bed of mushrooms with a slice of herb butter on the side.

Mushrooms: wipe mushrooms and cut into quarters, or eighths if they are larger. Heat butter in a non-stick frying pan and cook mushrooms, stirring, until slightly softened. Add sherry and mustard. Cook for a minute or two to evaporate some of the liquid, then season to taste.

Herb Butter: place herbs in food processor and chop very finely. Add butter, garlic and salt and process to mix well. Scrape out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Use the plastic to form butter into a small log about 2cm in diameter, wrap in the plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. It will keep for two weeks in the fridge.

Serves 8

Dream Bars

Posted on 20 May 2013 by Linda Peek

This recipe first appeared in the Australian Women’s Weekly Big Book of Beautiful Biscuits when it was published in 1982. I’ve been making it ever since and it’s always popular.

The original recipe uses 2 cups fruit mince (mincemeat) but I use a cup of dried fruit and a cup of jam instead. It’s great for using up all those bits of jam and marmalade at the bottom of jars – something my family say I’m famous for. It’s always a great achievement when you can find things in the fridge which need using up and turn them into something finger lickin’ good.

When I returned to take the photo someone, who shall remain nameless and blamed the dog, had already eaten a piece.

Base:
180g butter at room temp
2/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
2 cups plain flour
Topping:
4 eggs
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tsp vanilla essence
2 Tbs Plain flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
3 cups dessicated coconut
1 cup jam (any flavour)
1 cup dried fruit

Preheat oven to 180°C. Process butter and sugar in food processor until creamy. Add sifted flour and mix until you have crumbs which are starting to stick together. Press mixture into a greased Swiss Roll tin or slice tin (mine is 35x25cm) lined with baking paper. It doesn’t have to look very smooth but it does need to be evenly spread to cover the base. Bake for 10 mins or until golden.

Process eggs, sugar and vanilla in food processor. Add coconut, jam and fruit and process just enough to mix. Spread topping over the cooked base, bake for 25-30 mins or until firm and golden brown. Cool, dust with sifted icing sugar and cut into squares.

Variation: Frangipane Bars: make the base as above. When cooked, spread with about a cup or so of raspberry jam or lemon curd. For the filling mix 125g butter, softened, with 1 cup caster sugar in food processor until light and fluffy. Add 4 eggs, ¼ cup plain flour, 3 cups almond meal (or another ground nut) and a tsp of vanilla or almond essence. Spread evenly over the base, sprinkle with flaked almonds and bake for 25-30 mins or until firm and golden brown.

Chicken and Squid with Rice Noodles

Posted on 16 May 2013 by Linda Peek

This recipe is based on one by Neil Perry. The original recipe only had half a cup of chicken stock. I added extra liquid to make it more of a soupy stir-fry. I also added a touch of sugar – as per my grandmother’s rule of always adding some sugar to anything savoury and some salt to anything sweet – and some ginger.

It’s a delicious, light and easily-digested supper which takes no time at all to make. If you don’t like squid (which I bought in Woolies) just increase the chicken.

2 Tbs oil
3 boneless chicken thighs, thinly sliced (or 2 breasts)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 beaten egg
250-300g fresh rice noodles (I used 220g pack of Kan Tong Shelf Fresh)
3 Tbs soy sauce
1 cup chicken stock
1 squid tube, cut into thin rings
1 bunch Chinese greens e.g. Bok Choy, washed and thickly sliced
2 cups beansprouts
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbs grated fresh ginger
To serve:
¼ cup crushed roasted peanuts
2 spring onions, finely sliced on the diagonal

Heat oil in a wok and stir fry chicken for 3-4 minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon. Add garlic and cook for a minute, stirring, then add the egg. Continue to stir-fry as you add the noodles, soy sauce and chicken stock. Return chicken to the pan with squid, ginger and greens and continue to stir-fry for 2 minutes or so. Don’t overcook or the squid will be tough. Add sugar, season to taste and at the last minute add the beansprouts, plus a little more water if necessary. Serve in shallow bowls garnished with the peanuts and spring onions.

Serves 4