Soy Braised Fresh Mushrooms

We went a bit overboard when fresh flat mushrooms were on special at $3/kg bag. With beef wellington in mind, we bought 3 packets.

After the high cholestrol meal, we wanted something clean and simple for dinner the next day.

I decided to braise some of the mushrooms and have plenty of sauce to go with the homemade fresh noodles. The mushrooms were braised until they were really soft and it went extremely well with the silky smooth wanton noodles. The sauce was to die for !!

Ingredients
300g fresh mushroom

1 Tbsp cooking oil
1/2 tsp sesame oil
2 clove garlic, minced
1 small slice ginger, julienne

Sauces :
1 Tbsp Yuen Chun dark soy sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
½ tsp sugar
1-1½ cup water or stock

2 tsp cornflour mix with a little water

Method
1. Heat oil in pot and fry garlic and ginger for a few seconds.

2. Stir in the mushrooms. Add in the water slowly.

3. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients. Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the mushrooms are soft.

4. Stir in cornflour.

5. Serve with noodles or rice.

Tip
The brand of dark soy sauce does make a difference to the flavour of the dish. Yuen Chun dark soy sauce will also make homemade wanton mee taste very authentic.

Christmas Fruit Cake

Have you made your christmas cake yet ? If you haven't, it is time to get cracking. Christmas is but just 6 weeks away. This leaves you with enough time for the fruit cake to mature ensuring the best possible flavour.

This the second year running I am making the cake from this recipe. Lovely and moist and the steps are easy and straight forward. From now till christmas, it will be dribbled with rum or brandy every week.

Fruit cakes are best made a few weeks or 2 months in advance.


Makes : 3 x 6" (15cm)round cake

Ingredients
225g softened butter
200g sugar

6 eggs

2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 orange, grate rind and juice (¼ cup)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond essence
½ tsp baking soda dissolved in 1 Tbsp water

400g flour
1.5kg dried fruit mix

Method
1. Mix half the flour into the dried fruit mix.

2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg one at a time (if the mixture cuddles, add a tablespoon of flour with each egg). Beat well.

3. Add the spices, grated orange rind, orange juice, essences and baking soda. Stir in the remaining flour.

4. Add the dried mixed fruit and mix thoroughly to combine.

5. Spread mixture into a 23cm (9 inch) tin lined with greaseproof paper. Level the surface (wet your hand) leaving a slight indentation in the centre.

6. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 150 deg C (300F) for 1½ hours (cover the top of the tin with a cardboard with a hole in the middle to let off steam).
Lower the heat to 140 deg C (275 F) for another 1-1½ hours longer (remove cardboard) or until a skewer in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

7. If you like, brush with a tablespoon of brandy, whisky or rum over the cake while hot. Leave in the pan for an hour before removing to cool on rack.

8. Every week till Christmas, drizzle with a tsp of alcohol.


Note :
1. This moist and fruity cake would make a great birthday or wedding cake as well.

2. To store : Leave the baking paper on, cover with another layer of baking paper and foil and store in an airtight container. My 6" round cake fits perfectly into 2L ice cream containers.

3. After the New Year, any leftovers is sliced up and frozen in airtight containers.

4. The fruit cake can be iced but I prefer to keep it simple and just dust with icing sugar.


Tip
1. Prepare the cake tin the day before. Use either a 9"(23cm) or 3 x 6"(15½cm) tins. Grease and line a deep-sided cake tin with 2 layers of baking paper. Wrap the outside of the tin in about 8 layers of newspapers, securing with strings.

2. Last year I made this recipe into 2 x 6" round tins but I find the cake a bit tall 3½"(9cm) and it took ages to cook. This year I have spread it to 3 x 6" tins and it was a perfect height of 3"(7cm) and it baked within the 3 hours timeframe.


3. My 6" round tins are recycled from LKK sauces.

4. Drizzle the fruit cake every week (until Christmas) with a tsp of rum or brandy. The cake will smell divine and it will take a bit of willpower to resist the temptation to eat the cake pronto !


Recipe : eelcat @ lifestyleblock by Allyson Gofton(adapted)

Salting Chicken Eggs with Brine solution

Having tried different methods, I find soaking the eggs in wet brine solution is by far the best and most sucessful. It is really easy as there is no cooking skill involved. All that is required is dissolve some salt in water and one month later.....viola salted eggs. Cost wise it is cheap....price of ordinary eggs and some salt.

As we don't eat a lot of salted eggs, I salt about 5 at a time in a small plastic container.To salt the eggs, use whatever available sized container you have as long as the eggs stay submerged by the brine.

This lot was actually salted for mooncakes but I haven't got around to making the mooncake yet (too busy playing armchair golf !). Thank goodness I don't adhere to a strict festive calender ! Hard boiled salted eggs goes well with rice porridge.


Ingredients
1 cup water to ¼ cup salt (ratio)
large chicken or duck eggs

plastic or glass container

½ tsp szechuan peppercorn per 1 cup water (optional)

Method
1. To work out how much liquid you need, place your eggs in your chosen container. Pour cold water into the container. Drain the water out to a measuring jar to work out the salt ratio.

2. Dissolve the salt in hot water. Leave to cool.

3. Pour the salt water into the jar to completely cover the eggs. Add the szechuan peppercorn (optional).


4. Label and keep in a cool place for at least 1 month.

5. Remove eggs and store in the fridge. Use as required.


Note :
1. Sea salt or ordinary salt can be used.

2. If you add szechuan peppercorn, the salted eggs will taste peppery. Omit if you want plain unflavoured eggs.

Tip
1. Make sure the eggs are totally submerged when the lid is shut. If it floats, add a plate of some sort (not metal) to help keep it down.

2. I use the biggest eggs I can buy as I prefer big egg yolks.

Beef Wellington

We have always been fascinated when the contestants in Hell's Kitchen stuff up Gordon Ramsay's beef wellington. Of course we were intrigued as to how they could mess up something as simple as cooking a piece of meat wrapped up in pastry.

It is actually not hard to make but the trick is to cook the meat just right. In fact we love it so much that I am always on the lookout for mushrooms on special. I prefer to make our own flaky pastry as it is far less fattening than puff pastry.

A 5-star restaurant meal for a fraction of the cost.

Ingredients
400g mushroom
¼ onion

350g beef sirloin or scotch (or any tender cut)
2 slices bacon or parma ham
300g homemade flaky pastry or puff pastry

salt and pepper
mustard
egg yolk or beaten egg


Method
1. Prepare flaky pastry or if using bought puff pastry jump to step 2.

2. Blend mushroom and onion until mushy. Season with salt. Saute in cast iron pan until moisture have evaporated (about 10 minutes). Remove and leave to cool.

3. Season meat with salt and pepper. In a very hot pan with a bit of oil, sear the meat quickly on all sides. Set aside to cool.

4. Brush meat with mustard.

5. Lay bacon on gladwrap. Spread a thin layer of mushroom evenly over bacon.

6. Place meat on top of the mushroom and wrap bacon over the beef. Wrap tightly with glad wrap, twist the ends and chill for at least ½ hour.

7. Roll pastry until big enough to cover the meat. (Roll the edges thinner so the fold ends are not so thick when folded over.)

8. Unwrap the meat from the clingwrap and place on top of pastry.

9. Brush pastry with egg yolk (or beaten egg). Cover the meat with the pastry, tucking the sides securely and sniping off any excess pastry at the ends. Rest in the fridge for at least 5 minutes.

10. Brush with egg wash, score and sprinkle some rock salt over pastry.

11. Grease the baking pan. Bake in a preheated oven 190-200C for 20-30 mins. Rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting into thick slices. Serve with crispy fried potatoes and vegies or salad.

We got a bit carried away with mushrooms on the above pic !

Tip
1. Watch this video of the great master Gordon Ramsay making his infamous beef wellington.

2. Cast iron pan is best for cooking the mushroom as the moisture evaporates without burning.

3. Make sure your bacon is the type that does not ooze out a lot of moisture (or the pastry bottom will get soggy from the liquid). I prefer the Aussie bacon (from Countdown) which is dryer.

4. Parma ham would be best but because it is so overpriced here, I have replaced it with bacon. The other alternative would be to use ordinary thinly sliced ham.

5. If you need to increase servings, best (and easier) to make 2 or 3 individual wellingtons instead of making one huge one.

Curried Roasted Pumpkin Soup

Mr Redneck is quite fussy when it comes to pumpkin soup. We have tried various recipes and combinations but this is the one that have passed the test.

I was lucky that the garden managed to produce a few pumpkins last season and it stored well over the winter months. However one or two turned out to be the watery type which is good enough for soup. I usually make a whole pot to freeze for future lunches.

Nothing like a hot soup to warm up the body in the cold winter. Pumpkins are very healthy and is in the superfood category. If you don't add cream to this soup, this will turn out to be a non fattening yet delicious meal with very few calories.


Ingredients
1.5-1.8kg whole pumpkin

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp Baba curry powder
2 Tbsp tomato paste
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
¼ tsp salt


Method
1. Cut pumpkin into 4 or 6 big segments (remove seeds, leave skin on). Bake in preheated oven 200C for 30-45 minutes or until pumpkin is softish. With a spoon scoop out the soft flesh. Discard the skin.

2. Heat oil in a large heavy based pan. Add onions and cook over low heat for 3-5 minutes until soft.

3. Add curry powder and cook for another 1 minute.

4. Add tomato paste, roasted pumpkin flesh and stock and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until pumpkin is soft.

5. With a hand blender puree the mixture until smooth. Return to the stove to reheat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

6. Serve with crusty french bread.


Note
1. For stock I usually use powder chicken stock with no added msg.
2. Pre-roasting the pumpkin gives the soup that richer colour.


Tip
1. If you have the watery type pumpkin, pre-roasting it will take away that raw bland taste.

2. To freeze, leave the soup thick so you don't end up with big containers of soups in the freezer. The soup can be thinned down with milk to the individual taste when defrosted.