Green Pea Soup from 'The Witches'

This is probably one of the best soups I've ever made. I found this book at a second hand bookshop in Northcote, and I couldn't resist. It's a good sign when there was no need to add salt or pepper at the table.

Serves 4-5

You will need:
2 large saucepans
food processor
sieve

1oz (25g) butter
12 spring onions, roughly chopped
1 small potato, roughly diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
12oz (350g) frozen peas
1 1/2 pt (900ml) chicken stock
salt and pepper

Garnish:
6oz (175g) frozen peas
5 fl oz (150ml) double cream

Melt the butter in a large saucepan.

Add the spring onions, potato and garlic.

Cover with a lid and sweat for 10 minutes.

Add the peas, stock, salt and pepper, bring to the boil and simmer slowly for approx 15 minutes.

Remove from the heat and liquidise.

Pass through a sieve into a clean saucepan.

Reheat, adding the peas to garnish and cook until just tender. Add the cream and heat through, correcting the seasoning.

Serve in warm soup bowls with hot crusty bread.

Vanilla-Flavoured Sweet Potato with Oranges

Another one of those dishes I wanted to try after a weekend hanging out with the cookbooks. I've been researching Japanese food, and I liked the lightness of this dish. Unfortunately, I cooked it too early while preparing dinner, so it was quite cold by the time the Roast Pork Loin was ready. I may also have simmered the liquid for too long. Oh, but smell the orange and vanilla!

Serves 4
225g (8oz) sweet potato, peeled
1 orange, sliced
1 vanilla bean, slit lengthways
50g (2 oz) granulated sugar

Chop the sweet potato into chunks 2.5cm (1in) thick and soak in cold water. Drain, then put the chunks in a saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Drain off the cooking water. Add the orange slices, vanilla bean, sugar and 450ml (16fl oz) of fresh water to the pan and cook until the potato is soft.

Take out the chunks of potato and transfer them to a serving dish. Reduce the liquid by half and drizzle it over the potato.

Scrambled Eggs with Chorizo and Cheese

There shouldn't even be a recipe for this, it's really a make it up as you go along type breakfast on a lazy Sunday morning.

5 large eggs
a handful of chorizo, sliced liked matchsticks
a handful of mozzarella cheese, grated
a pinch of dried Rosemary
salt and pepper, to taste
a knob of butter, for cooking

7 slices of bacon (optional)
peanut oil, for frying

3 or 4 slices of bread, even better if it's homemade

Break the eggs in a bowl, and beat lightly. Stir in chorizo and cheese, add salt and pepper to taste. Be mindful that chorizo may be salty, so go easy on the salt.

If serving with bacon, pre-heat your frying pan now to medium high heat. Pre-heat a saucepan on medium-low heat, then melt a knob butter, and swirl butter around base of saucepan. When butter starts to sizzle, pour in egg mixture. Cook over medium-low heat, leaving egg to cook without stirring for 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, pour peanut oil into pre-heated frying pan, then spread out pieces of bacon, and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until bacon is brown on both sides.

Place two plates in microwave, and heat for 2 minutes. Check in on your eggs while bacon is cooking, start turning and stirring egg with a wooden spoon. You want to get a runny consistency, slightly firm, but still wet. Stir regularly, as cheese will brown on the bottom of the saucepan. Remove from heat when still slightly wet. It will continue to cook in its own heat.

Place slices of bread in toaster, and spread with butter when ready.

When bacon is cooked, remove warmed plates from microwave, lay a kitchen towel on one plate, and transfer bacon to plate.

Place buttered toast on warmed plates, spoon egg onto toast, and lay bacon on the side. Serve immediately.

Vanilla Coffee

I found this in Hot Drinks, a new book I found at The Book Grocer last weekend. I found some vanilla beans in the pantry, and had them ground with my coffee beans this morning. The aroma was there even before I made my espresso shot. Mmm...

1 oz. coffee beans
2 vanilla beans, roughly chopped
milk and sugar, to taste (optional)

Serves 4

Put the coffee beans and vanilla beans in a coffee grinder and grind finely. Use this mixture to make coffee in a your preferred method adding milk and/or sugar if you like.

Manhattan Cheesecake

This is one of the cakes I return to time and again, but quite surprisingly, I haven't done one since I got my KitchenAid in July last year. It was a breeze on the KitchenAid this time, and it's the first time I've blitzed the biscuits in the chopper attachment of my faithful stick blender. I then transferred the biscuits to my stand mixer, and poured in the melted butter for a better mix-through for the base. I also made up the topping on the same night, then chilled it in the fridge after it cooled, so it was all ready the next morning. The cake in the photo below didn't last very long when I brought it to work today.

Sunflower oil, for brushing
85 g (3 oz) butter
200 g (7 oz) digestive biscuits, crushed
400 g (14 oz) cream cheese
2 large eggs
140 g (5 oz) caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
450 ml (16 fl oz) soured cream

For the berry topping:
55g (2 oz) caster sugar
4 tbsp water
250 g (9oz) fresh blueberries
1 tsp arrowroot

Preheat the oven to 190 deg C (375 deg F or Gas Mark 5). Brush a 20-cm (8-inch) springform tin with oil. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Stir in the biscuits, then spread in the tin. Stir in the biscuits, then spread them in the tin. Place the cream cheese, eggs, 100g (3 1/2 oz) of the sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of the vanilla essence in a food processor. Process until smooth. Pour over the biscuit base and smooth the top. Place on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes until set. Remove from the oven and leave for 20 minutes. Leave the oven switched on.

Mix the cream with the remaining sugar and vanilla essence in a bowl. Spoon over the cheesecake. Return it to the oven for 10 minutes, leave to cool, then cover with clingfilm and chill in the refrigerator for 8 hours, or overnight.

To make the topping, place the sugar in a saucepan with 2 tablespoons of the water over a low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat, add the blueberries, cover and cook for a few minutes, or until they begin to soften. Remove from the heat. Mix the arrowroot and remaining water in a bowl, add to the fruit and stir until smooth. Return to a low heat. Cook until the juice thickens and turns translucent. Leave to cool.

Remove the cheesecake from the tin 1 hour before serving. Spoon the fruit topping over and chill until ready to serve.

Variation
You can vary the look and flavour of this cheesecake by using other berries to replace some or all of the blueberries, such as raspberries or blackcurrants.

Steamed Egg Custard with Prawns and Shiitake

This is one dish I've been wanting to try for some time, so when I was thinking of what to cook for Sunday brunch, the request being "something light", I thought this variation on eggs at brunch would work well. I used chopped fishballs because I was out of prawns, and it worked a treat. Remember to cool your chicken stock (stick it in the freezer for a while if you need to) before mixing with the egg, or the heat might cook the eggs before they're steamed! I also used a pizza tray on a ring rack, in place of a bamboo steamer. The egg custard didn't turn out as silky smooth as I expected, but I loved it taste wise. Nick is not a fan of shiitake mushrooms, so I ended up finishing half his serving.

160g peeled uncooked prawn flesh, chopped
2 teaspoons shaoxing rice wine
pinch of white pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
4 large or 12 small shiitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 20 minutes, drained and squeezed
4 large free-range eggs
1 1/4 cups (310ml) chicken stock
pinch of salt and white pepper

Topping
1 spring onion, finely chopped
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil with a few drops of sesame oil mixed in

Serves 4

Half fill a wok with water, place a large bamboo steamer on top. Ensure the steamer will hold 4 Chinese rice bowls or ramekins around 25cm in diameter comfortably.

Combine the chopped prawns, shaoxing pepper, sugar and soy sauce and set aside to marinate for 10 minutes.

Remove and discard the woody stems of the shiitake and slice. Set aside.

In a bowl, briefly mix the eggs, stock and salt and pepper. Using a pair of chopsticks do slow figure 8s to do the mixing, rather than madly whisking, you will achieve a much silkier result.

Divide the prawns, mushrooms and egg mixture into the 4 bowls and steam with the bamboo lid on for 7-10 minutes. The custards should be an opaque creamy colour when done and still very wobbly.

Remove the bowls from the steamer, sprinkle each one with the chopped spring onion and 1/2 teaspoon of the soy sauce. Heat the peanut oil in a small saucepan, until beginning to smoke. Immediately pour over each egg custard but be careful, there will be spitting. Serve while hot.

Cantonese Wonton Soup

I first made this earlier in the month for our Chinese New Year Dinner, and it's still being talked about. It is probably the simplicity of the dish that draws people in, and it's great to have friends round helping to wrap the wontons. I served this tonight as part of a Noodle with Wonton Soup meal, and had the recipe doubled, so we ended up with plenty to go around. I've also used chicken mince instead of pork on both occasions, due to special dietary requirements.

225 g (8 oz) wonton skins, thawed if necessary
1.2 litres (2 pints) chicken stock
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Chopped green spring onion tops, to garnish

For the filling:
225 g (8 oz) raw prawns, peeled, de-veined and coarsely chopped
225 g (8 oz) minced fatty pork, or chicken mince
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons light soy sauce
3 tablespoons finely chopped spring onions (white part only)
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh root ginger
1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 egg white, lightly beaten

For the filling, put the prawns and pork in a large bowl, add the salt and pepper and mix well, either by kneading with your hand or stirring with a wooden spoon.

Add all the other filling ingredients and mix thoroughly. Cover the bowl with cling-film and chill for at least 20 minutes.

To stuff the wontons, put 1 tablespoon of the filling in the centre of each wonton skin. Dampen the edges with a little water and bring them up around the filling. Pinch the edges together at the top so that the wonton is sealed; it should look like a small, filled bag.

Put the stock, soy sauce and sesame oil in a large pot and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and poach the wontons in it, in batched, for 1 minute or until they float to the top.

Remove the wontons immediately and transfer them to the pot of stock. (Poaching them first results in a cleaner-tasting broth.) Simmer them in the stock for 2 minutes. Transfer to a soup tureen or individual bowls, garnish with the spring onion tops and serve immediately.

Prawn and Chicken Laksa

Until I make Laksa paste from scratch, I will use AYAM Malaysian Laksa Paste, and its recipe on the jar! I have also shredded poached chicken on both occasions, and doubled the amount of prawns and coconut milk.

1 jar AYAM Malaysian Laksa Paste (185 g)
1/2 can AYAM coconut milk (270 ml)
2 'cakes' of AYAM instant noodles
250 g peeled and cooked prawns
1 1/2 cups of water or vegetable stock
5 pieces fried bean curd, sliced
100 g bean sprouts
coriander, to garnish

Combine Laksa Sauce, water or vegetable stock, coconut milk in a saucepan, cover, bring to boil. Add bean curd and prawns, then reduce heat. Meanwhile, prepare noodles according to instructions on the packet. Divide between two bowls. Ladle the soup over the noodles, top with bean sprouts and sprinkle with coriander.

A few hints: add hard boiled egg cut into two. Replace prawns with chicken or fish fillets. Add a few slices of red and green capsicum.

French Toast

I'd a loaf of homemade bread from the day before, and we thought of having this for breakfast when we were walking Cajun in the park on a Sunday morning. It's easy to put together, and great with a cup of latte. I found that doubling the recipe gave the bread a little more to soak in, but there was still some leftover after 6 or 7 slices, so be sure you've got hungry people at the table!

Mix together 25ml cream, 2 eggs and 45g caster sugar. Dip 6 slices bread (either fresh or day-old bread is suitable), on at a time, into the milk and egg mixture ensuring both sides are soaked.

Heat a knob of butter in a frying pan. Remove the bread from the mixture, drain off the excess liquid and cook on both sides until golden brown and cooked through.

Chinese-Style Glazed Livers

I bought a pack of chicken livers at the supermarket, with the sole intent of making chicken pate. It was the perfect weekend for some freshly home baked bread, and a little pate on the side. Anyway, it turned out I didn't need that much chicken livers for the recipe, so I looked up The Cook's Companion for a recipe I could use for the remainder. It became my late Saturday lunch (Nick feigned a headache, and didn't have any), and turned out pretty alright.

500 g chicken or duck livers, trimmed
1 tablespoon freshly chopped ginger
2 spring onions, cut into 4 cm lengths
1/4 cup dark soy sauce
boiling water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon rice wine
1 tablespoon sesame oil
black rice vinegar

Put livers into a frying pan with ginger, spring onion and 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce. Barely cover with boiling water. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 2 minutes, then drain and discard ginger and spring onion.

Heat oil in a wok. Toss livers in hot oil for 30 seconds. Add remaining soy sauce, sugar and rice wine and toss to shake together. Sprinkle in sesame oil and stir once. Splash in a few drops of vinegar, shake to mix and tip onto a serving dish. Serve warm or hot.

Stir-Fried Beef with Oyster Sauce

It took me some time to master the stir-fry, but I feel a little more confident with bringing out these quick meals now. I had this in mind when I thought about the steaks in the freezer on the way home from work. The Chinese broccoli leaves are not in the book's recipe, but some I had cut but did not use when I steamed veggies for the Lamb Rump Steak with Rustic French Rub the night before.

450 g (1 lb) lean beef steak
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
2 teaspoons Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
2 teaspoons cornflour
3 tablespoons groundnut oil
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped spring onions, to garnish
2 cups Chinese broccoli leaves (optional)

Cut the beef into slices 5 cm (2 in) long and 5 mm (1/4 in) thick, cutting against the grain of the meat. Put them into a bowl.

Mix in the soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine or sherry and cornflour. Leave to marinate for 20 minutes.

Heat a wok until it is very hot, then add the groundnut oil. When it is very hot and slightly smoking, add the beef slices and stir-fry for 5 minutes or until lightly browned.

Remove the meat from the wok and drain well in a colander set inside a bowl. Discard the drained oil.

Wipe the wok clean and reheat it over a high heat. Add the oyster sauce and bring it to a simmer.

Return the drained beef slices to the wok and toss them thoroughly with the oyster sauce. If using Chinese broccoli leaves, add them at the same time as beef, and toss until leaves have softened. Do not add water, as moisture from the leaves will be sufficient for the sauce. Turn the mixture on to a serving platter, garnish with the spring onions and serve at once.

Lemon Loaf

What else would you do with three lemons in the fridge? Make a lemon loaf! I've always wondered how they kept cakes so moist, then I remembered this same method of pouring syrup over the loaf once they're out of the oven. Mmm...

320 g caster sugar

3 eggs

grated zest of 2 unwaxed lemons

350 g plain flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

250 ml whole milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

200 g unsalted butter, melted

LEMON SYRUP

freshly squeezed juice and zest of 1 lemon

50 g caster sugar

a 23 x 13-cm loaf tin, greased and dusted with flour

Makes 8-10 slices

Preheat the oven to 170 deg C (325 deg F) Gas 3.

Put the sugar, eggs and lemon zest in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a hand held electric whisk) and beat until well mixed.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a separate bowl. Combine the milk and vanilla extract in another bowl. Add one-third of the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and beat well, then beat in one-third of the milk mixture. Repeat this process twice more until everything has been added. Turn the mixer up to high speed and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Turn the mixer down to low speed, pour in the melted butter and beat until well incorporated.

Pur the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and bake in the preheated oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes, or until golden brown and the sponge bounces back when touched.

FOR THE LEMON SYRUP: While the cake is baking, pour the lemon juice and zest, sugar and 100ml water in a small saucepan and bring to the boil over low heat. Raise the heat and boil until it has reduced by half, or until it has a thin syrup consistency. When the hot cake comes out of the oven, put it on a wire cooling rack in the sink and pour the syrup all over the top. The excess syrup will run over the edges into the sink. Leave to cool slightly in the tin before turning out onto the wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Rustic French Rub

I am sharing just the recipe for the seasoning for the meat, as you will probably have your own way of steaming vegetables, and mashed potatoes. I found this in the booklet which comes with Jamie Oliver's Flavour Shaker, have used it many times for various meats, and it's turned out beautifully! If you haven't got fresh sprigs of sage, rosemary and thyme, use a teaspoon of each dried herb, which you can store in your pantry so they come in handy when you need them. Use a mortar and pestle if you haven't got the Flavour Shaker.

1 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 teaspoons sea salt
a few fresh sage leaves
a small sprig of fresh rosemary, leaves picked
a prig of fresh thyme, leaves picked
1 clove garlic, peeled
zest of 1 lemon

Put the black peppercorns and sea salt in the bottom part of the Flavour Shaker, drop the ball in and screw the top on tightly. Shake for about 10 seconds.

Unscrew the Flavour Shaker and add the sage, rosemary and thyme leaves. Screw the top back on and shake again for about 20 seconds until the leaves are bruised. Now add the garlic and lemon zest and shake for a few seconds more until the garlic is crushed. The herbs won't be totally mashed, but their flavour they give to the rub will be amazing.

Rub into a leg of lamb or pork chops before cooking. All the flavours of Provence in a few shakes.

Classic Chinese Steamed Fish - Cantonese Style

This was a dish I wanted to get right, and I'm not sure why it meant so much for me to do so. I'd set myself to do this for a Chinese New Year dinner I'd organised, and I did this having never steamed a fish, let alone a whole fish. The whole experience was a new one for me, from buying the fish at the fishmonger's, having it cleaned, right through to finding a rack to stand the plate in the wok, and a claw to remove the plate from the wok. It's a dish I will cook again!

1 x 1 kg whole white fish (barramundi, baby red snapper, coral trout), cleaned
2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
freshly ground white pepper
2 tablespoons finely shredded ginger
a dozen coriander sprigs
2-3 spring onions, shredded diagonally (soak in ice water if you want beautiful curly tendrils but not necessary)
steamed jasmine rice, to serve

MARINADE
1 1/2 tablespoons shoaxing rice wine
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger
1 teaspoon sesame oil

serves 2 or 4-6 as a shared meal

Place the fish on a large plate and make three slits to the bone 3cm apart on both sides of the fish. Spoon over the marinate of shaoxing, soy, ginger, and sesame oil, massage gently over the entire fish. Clingfilm and marinate in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Balance the plate of fish on a metal trivet in a wok and steam, covered with a domed lid, for 5-8 minutes, or until the fish is cooked. To test if the fish is cooked, insert a small sharp knife into the thickest part of the flesh and part gently. If the flesh is translucent, it is cooked. Remove the plate from the wok and set aside.

Heat the peanut or vegetable oil in a hot wok until it smokes. Sprinkle the fish with pepper, shredded ginger, coriander and spring onions, then slowly pour the hot oil over the fish to crisp the skin and scald the aromatics. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.