A refreshing and healthy low fat indulgence. When the peaches were in season, there was a glut from my tree so I ended up removing the skin and stones and freezing the fruit. At first I wasn't too sure how the ice cream would taste using frozen peaches but I have to say it turned out much nicer than when fresh peaches were used.
Makes 1 litre
Ingredients
400gm peaches (weight after skin and stone removed)
100gm sugar
100ml cream
500gm low fat yoghurt
1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp vodka
2 Tbsp sultanas (optional)
Method
1. Add sugar to peaches and set aside for 1 hour.
2. At this stage there will be a fair bit of liquid in the peaches and sugar mix (especially if using frozen peaches). Boil the mixture until thick and syrupy. Leave to cool.
3. Add all the ingredients (except sultanas) into a blender. Blend at high speed.
4. Add the sultanas. Place in the fridge for a few hours or leave overnight to let the flavour develop.
5. Churn in ice cream maker.
6. Scoop to an airtight container and freeze for a few hours.
I use this curry mince mainly as a pie filling. It can also be used as a curry puff filling or just served simply with rice or bread.
Ingredients
500gm beef mince
1-2 Tbsp oil
1 big onion, chop fine
3 clove garlic, chop fine
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, chop fine
2 tsp chilli paste or powder
2 potato, cubed
1 cup frozen peas or diced carrot
1 cup water
1½ tsp salt
2 tsp cornflour or potato starch mix with 1 Tbsp water or soy sauce
Spices
1 tsp tumeric powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp curry powder
The aroma from cooking the paste was just heavenly. The green colour doesn't make the presentation look very appetising but the fragrance of the dish should whet one's appetite.
As with any dish, cook a few hours ahead for the meat to absorb the flavour.
Ingredients
1½ kg chicken pieces
1 onion, sliced thinly
1 Tbsp oil
250 ml water
1¼ tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp lemon juice
In his book French Lessons, Justin North described the crackling as extremely light and puffy. I tried his method twice just to prove that his theory works and it was not first time luck. I was so pleased. Every inch of skin was crackling - no chewy bits.
This method of preparing the skin is less arduous and simpler than in my previous recipe where the skin is first bathed in vinegar water and then poked during the grilling process. There was a lot more handling.
We believe it is the total combination of scoring, salting the skin to draw out moisture, drying the skin in the fridge and frying that makes the skin crackling.
The meat was also very tender and juicy. What we do need is an incredibly razor sharp knife and heaps of practice with scoring the skin as in some parts it was cut too deep.
Ingredients
1kg pork shoulder
1 tsp salt
Marinate for meat:
½ tsp white pepper
½ tsp Chinese five-spice powder
1½ pieces of red fermented beancurd nam yue, well mashed
1 tsp cooking wine
½ tsp sugar
A very easy pickle to make. It was the first time I was able to use the slicing blade that came with my food processor. Within a minute, all the zuchinnis were finely sliced and ready for action.
Redneck said the pickled zucchini reminded him of eating a MacDonald cheese burger. It has that same taste. Have the zucchinis with your cold meat sandwiches, on rolls or add to your salad.
Makes 3 jars (Craig jam jars)
Ingredients
800gm zucchini thinly sliced
¼ cup salt
There was an abundance of peaches from my peach tree this year. Thought it was about time I tried my hand at preserving as Redneck will eat preserved peaches but not fresh ones !
I chose to preserve it in a light syrup as the Red Haven peach is quite a sweet fruit. The peaches are lovely eaten as is or with ice cream.
Makes 8 jars
peaches
Syrup
400g sugar
8 cups water
Ingredients
A few weeks ago while visiting the Avondale Market for the very first time, I chanced upon these garlic chives. What a find ! I love gau choy fah which taste delish simply stir fried with some meat or prawns.
No doubt garlic chives are part of the chive family but they taste quite different to the English version which have a purple flower.
Ingredients
200g garlic chives bud (gow choy fah), cut to 2" length
10 raw prawns
1 clove garlic (mince)
½ cup water/stock
1 tsp cornflour + 1½ tsp soy sauce (mix together)
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Method
1. Heat wok on high heat with a Tbsp of oil. Add the garlic and prawns. Saute until prawns turn a slight pink.
2. Add the garlic chives, stir fry for a few seconds.
3. Add water and cover for 30 seconds (not too long as you want the veg to stay crunchy).
4. Remove cover and stir in cornflour mix to thicken the gravy. Dash of salt and season to taste.
5. Serve hot with rice.
Yee Sang is a salad of raw fish surrounded by different types of colourful vegetables with a dressing of plum sauce. It is usually eaten on the 7th day of Chinese New Year with the salad tossed high with chopsticks as a symbol to mark the start of a prosperous new year.
Yue Sang is not that difficult a dish to prepare. It just needs a small amount of different vegetables shredded into long strips. I haven't included the quantity of vegetables as this is a very versatile dish. I have only bought one of each type of vegetable and in most cases only used half of it.
Plums are in season at the moment and now is as good a time as any to make some jam. Plum jam is very versatile and can be used not only on bread but as a delicious sauce for ice cream.
This year the plum tree gave me a reasonably good crop which the birds kindly left alone. I have fourteen jars of plum jam safely stowed away in the cupboard. This should last us until next year.
Makes 7 x 400ml jars
Ingredients
2.6kg plums (skinned)
¼ cup water
1.75kg sugar
2 Tbsp vodka (optional)
A fudge that is rich and creamy. If you have a sweet tooth, you will like this treat. I normally double the recipe. Great as a Christmas gift.
Makes about 36 pieces
INGREDIENTS
3½ cup white sugar
125g butter
3 Tbsp golden syrup
125ml milk
½ tsp salt
200g sweetened condensed milk (½ a standard can)
2 tsp vanilla essence
Method
1. Place all ingredients except the vanilla in a medium-heavy saucepan.
2. Warm over a gentle heat until the sugar has dissolved.
3. Bring to a gentle boil and cook for 15-20 minutes until it reaches the soft-ball stage* (120C)
4. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla
5. Beat (I use a electric mixer) until the fudge is creamy and thick and has lost its gloss.
6. Pour into a greased 20cm cake tin (I use a tray).
I have already posted the recipe earlier this year but have recently spliced together a short 1:45 minute video on the making of this Italian flat bread. Crank up the volume to enjoy the music of Duel by Bond.
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