Fine Food Recipes!

[Ken]

Simple Saurbraten

This is the simple version and I love it as it is but if you're like Mark, you can use fresh ingredients instead of the dried/powdered stuff.

1.5 lbs lean round steak or sirloin
1 envelope brown gravy mix(makes 1 cup)
1 tb dried onions
1 tb brown sugar
2 tb red wine vinegar
½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp soy sauce
¼ tsp powdered ginger
1 bay leaf
½ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper

Make gravy
Mix in all other ingredients
Bring to a boil
Pour over meat in shallow pan and cover.

Bake for 2 hours at 350 or if you have the time, lower the temp and cook longer.

I like lots of gravy so I'll usually double the sauce recipe. Serve over noodles.

A variation is to use stew meat and cook it all day in a crock pot.

[Mark in Vancouver]

I'll wager it would be slightly improved with real onions and fresh ginger... But sounds good!

[Graeme Robson]

Lamb Vindaloo

Chili pepper was introduced by Portuguese traders during 16th century. With this came the development of Vindaloo dishes in Goa. I believe that Vindaloo is the oldest dish using chili pepper in India. The only evidence I can provide is the time line when Portuguese traded with India and colonization of Goa by Portuguese and use of wine vinegar in the dish. You can use this recipe with mutton or beef as well.

Ingredients
1. Lamb cubed 1": 3 Pounds
2. Vegetable oil: 1/2 Cup
3. Wine Vinegar: 1/4 Cup
4. Tamarind pulp: 3 Tablespoons
5. Salt: 2 teaspoon
6. Finely chopped onion (Preferably ground): 1/4 Cup
7. Minced Garlic: 1/4 Cup
8. Finely chopped fresh ginger: 1 Inch
9. Ground Cumin: 1-1/2 teaspoon
10. Ground Coriander: 1 teaspoon
11. Ground Cloves: 1/2 teaspoon
12. Ground mustard seeds: 1 teaspoon
13. Turmeric: 1 teaspoon
14. Lal Mirch (Ground Cayenne): 1-1/2 teaspoon
15. Ground Black pepper: 1/2 teaspoon
16. Cinnamon powder: 1 teaspoon
17. Finely Chopped Onions: 2 Cup
18. Vegetable oil: 1/4 Cup
19. Degi Mirch (Paprika): 1 teaspoon
20. Water: 2 Cups

Method
Step 1: In a stainless steel or glass bowl, combine items 1 through 16. Cover and marinate in refrigerator for 12 hours.

Step 2: In a heavy bottom pan, add 1/4 oil and heat. Add finely chopped onions, sauté till onions start to turn brown.

Step 3: Remove lamb from marinate and and add to onions. Save marinate mixture. Continue frying the lamb till it is seared.

Step 4: Start pouring the marinate, 2 Tablespoons at a time continue frying as it gets pasty, continue till all the marinate has been added.

Step 5: Stir in Degi Mirch.

Step 6. Add water. Bring to a near boil when the bubbles start to rise to top. You do not want to cook lamb at high temperature to prevent it from getting tough. Turn down heat. Cover. Simmer on medium heat about 30 minutes or till lamb is tender.

Garnish with fresh chopped Cilantro

[Mark in Vancouver]

So good it's worth listing twice!

[Graeme Robson]

Indeed!!

[helen nightingale]

I tend not to use measured out quantities so apolgies for the vagueness!

1) cook some pasta (pasta twists are good, as they dont hold the water much), but cook it so its slightly under-done

2) Fry up some chicken in a wok.

3) add the pasta to the wok, and stir in chopped avacado, minced lemon, lemon juice, lime juice, garlic, coarsly ground pepper, olives and spinach

4) heat till the spinach is starting to wilt a little, and the avacado and olives have warmed though


very simple but very tasty

[Mark in Vancouver]

Penang curry paste:

This is so much better homemade. No powdered anything!

Soak about 10 dried Thai chiles in boiling water and set aside. Then chop thinly and across four or five sticks of lemon grass...

I bought these from a big Chinese supermarket:



I throw these in the Cuisinart, but you still have to chop them first, to get rid of the tough fibres. Once the lemon grass has been whizzed into particles, add half a bulb of garlic (peeled, duh), six or eight large peeled shallots, a two-inch piece of ginger, a handful of wild lime leaves, about a teaspoon of lime rind + 1 tbsp of juice. And set to liquefy.

In a spice grinder, (or mortar & pestle if you're a sucker for punishment), grind two star anise, 2 tbsps pepper corns, 1 tsp coriander seed, 1 tsp cumin seed. Add the resulting powder to the mix. Then add your soaked chiles and about 1/2 cup of the soaking water. Add 1 tbsp peanut or vegetable oil and 1 tsp salt. Puree the hell out of it all, until it's a thick paste. You can add a bit more water if it helps reduce the texture.

This paste can be frozen, and I like to use ice cube trays because one or two cubes of it provide all you'll need for a dish.

[helen nightingale]

would you like to set up a postal order shop for that Mark? that sounds magic

[Mark in Vancouver]

The joys of a change in the weather and a new barbecue! Tonight, it's jerk chicken. Try this sauce on pork, chicken, fish, or goat - if you're of a mind...


1 medium onion
2 scallions (green onion)
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp white vinegar
2 Tbsp lime juice (about one lime)
2 Tbsp dark rum
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger (use ginger, people, not the icky powder for losers)
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 to 3 fresh chiles - use hot ones like bird, serrano, scotch bonnet, habanero...

Throw all of this stuff into the food processor and fully liquefy. Then, with the processor on, gradually add 2 Tbsp olive oil. This makes about 1 cup of paste, but a little goes a long way. This is not a baste!

You can add these to kebabs, but I'm using a whole chicken breast. Make slices into the meat and marinade for about an hour at room temperature or overnight in the fridge. Use about 2 Tbsp of the paste per pound of meat. Simply grill until the juices run clear from the meat.

This is a spicy paste. I'm serving it with buttered basmati rice and a cucumber & tomato salad. And beer.

[Morpheus]

Well this one is definitely not really very hard, but hey easy can be good too right? I made this up this last weekend, and my wife was raving about it all day.

Here it is:

Take a big hunk of venison (or really any kind of meat, I make duck and goose breasts this exact same way) with Venison I use this recipe for the loins, as they are nice and round and easy to make this whole process work easily.

Marinade it for a while (the longer the better, I do it for about 6 hours) in

1/2 teriyaki (I use a full bottle of teryaki)
1/2 coca cola (about a can and a half of coke)

Then wrap the meat in bacon, I use wooden toothpicks to attach them to the meat.

Now that you have your lovely bacon wrapped meat put it on the grill. Now, with bacon all over your meat you dont really want to put this right over hot coals or an open flame. Or you are going to end up with a 5 alarm fire in your grill once that bacon fat drips on an open flame.

If using a charcoal grill place the meat to the side of your hot coal pile

If using a gas grill, turn one half on as low as it will possibly go, and turn the other side as hot as it will go, then place the meat on the "Cool" side..

The meat I just cooked this weekend took me about an hour to grill using this "indirect" heat method, but be patient, its worth it.

[jones57742]

Baked Asparagus:

This is easy but yum yum.

Trim the top of the asparagus to approximate 6" lengths.

Wrap the asparagus with bacon and toothpick the bacon.

*Edit (04/25/2008)
Sprinkle fairly densely with grated Parmesan cheese.

Cook at 275F until the bacon is done.

TR

[Mark in Vancouver]

Preamble... Earlier this week I had to pay a very rare call to a doctor's office to refill an ongoing prescription. The following day I fell ill with a very basic cold. I haven't had a visit to the doctor, nor a cold in the last 18 months. I avoid doctor/dentist visits because they are so copiously unenjoyable.

I avoid the cold, 18 times out of 19, because I use this recipe about once every two weeks. It's in my rotation...

I've talked about it before, but never with these inspiring graphics... ( )



Beef cooked with ginger, a Khmer recipe otherwise known as saiko cha k'nye.


Start with 5 cloves of garlic, chopped.



Have at hand and enormous piece of ginger,



And some steak. I used a 100g piece of tenderloin tonight - very lean.



Peel all that ginger, and gradually julienne each of the pieces:



Slice the beef as thinly as possible across the grain of the meat. You should aim for equal quantities of beef and sliced ginger by weight.




Then it takes about five minutes to make.

Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a wok, until quite hot. Throw in the garlic and stir-fry for a few seconds. Add the beef slices, and stir-fry the lot until the beef has mostly changed colour.

Add the ginger twigs, 2 tsp white sugar, and 2 tbsp fish sauce.



Use a fish sauce that is made in Thailand or Vietnam for best results.

Stir fry the ginger, beef, garlic, fish sauce, and sugar until the ginger begins to wilt. You want it to be cooked, and a little soft. Serve over rice and give a very generous dose of black pepper before digging in.




And if you need to pack your very old cat for travel through the post, do add a little crumpled paper to help take the edge off...

[tariesindanrie]

That looks fantastic!

I'd like to try it with pork, also. With a little bok choy added for color. I am constantly fiddling with recipes...

Maybe some toasted sesame seed also...?

We use a LOT of ginger in my house, but never quite equal parts meat to ginger...I'm excited to try it!


Kate

[Mark in Vancouver]

Use pork, but just make sure that the pieces are sliced very thinly - or cook it separately and add it to heat through once the ginger is cooked. The beef ought to be fairly rare - as always.

[Mark in Vancouver]

Snapper in a Basque sauce


You need a clay baker (Dutch oven?) for this one, so get this first.

Preheat the oven to 450F, and soak the baker (top and bottom) in a full sink for at least 15 minutes while you make the sauce.

In a saucepan, heat 3 tbsp olive oil.
Add and sautee 3 cloves of garlic, chopped, one whole red onion, chopped - cook until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes.

Add 3 anchovy fillets, and cook for a further minute as they dissolve.

Add 3 large tomatoes, de-seeded and chopped, 1/4 - 1/2 cup red wine, 8 or 10 pitted, chopped black olives (use fresh ones, not canned, duh), a sprig of fresh thyme, a small handful of chopped fresh parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Add a 1/4 tsp of cayenne powder and simmer for about 10 minutes.

When the sauce is cooked and aromatic, place a bit of it in the bottom of the clay baker. Add as many snapper fillets as you like, but layer them over and between the sauce. Pour the remaining sauce over top and pop the baker in the oven for 20 minutes.

The fish will be opaque and firm for easy removal. Serve some of the sauce (with chunky bits) on the fish.

Divine! Excellent with rice and veg - we had it with corn tonight. It's really very good.