a few squid is all it takes

I love calamari (also referred to as 'squid'), so it's unusual that I've never once cooked with it before.  I mean, I get well excited if I see it on a restaurant menu (not including fake calamari rings you see on pub menus, though they too have their time and place).  So you can imagine my excitement when, over the weekend, whilst reading a recipe for 'squid and saffron rice salad' Emma offered to show me how to cut up, prepare and use a whole squid.  I'd never even looked at the squid in the supermarket, frozen or otherwise, having always assumed that it must be terribly difficult to prepare.  Well, Em imformed me, it ain't necessarily so...

With making the aforementioned salad in mind we traipsed about the Taupo supermarket in search of our animal.  Unfortunately they were entirely out of whole squid.  So plan B - some frozen squid tubes, to make salt and pepper friend squid, as an appetiser.  Learning to cut up and prepare a whole squid will have to wait for next time.  

Once the squid had thawed out (doesn't take long, especcially on a warm day) Emma cut the tube along one side, so she could open it out flat.  She then scored it all over one side and cut into pieces (see awesome diagram).  When scoring the flesh it's best to use a slightly serrated butter knife, rather than a sharp kitchen knife, as they tend to make a wider cut, without just cutting right through (which you don't want).  Together we coated it in a mixture of flour and cornflour, seasoned with salt and pepper (a little paprika, lemon-pepper, garlic salt etc would make nice additions/substitutions here).   

Dave, reputed Squid Cook King, stepped in at this point, to take over my position as Emma's culinary partner, one I was happy to relinquish, leaving me watching as the coated strips of calamari were shallow-fried in a combination of hot butter and oil.  Don't cook for too long, or they'll become rubbery - they curl a wee bit when ready.  Serve hot, sprinkled with a little sea salt (Maldon was the preferred type on this occasion) and a good grind of pepper.

Nb: Be careful also not to oversalt them before serving - better to use the salt sparingly and place a dish of salt on the table, so people can add more to taste.  

skulking in the stews

I love trying new recipes.  This was one I found on mindfood.com when having a look through their latest lot.  A few days after finding it there were 5 for dinner and it was a cold night, so what better than a warming, tasty casserole?  Until relatively recently I'd always thought of casseroles and stews as that tasteless, old-fashioned, boring meaty soup-glop.  But, having tried a few damn good casseroles over the past couple of years, and trying some different combinations myself, I've realised how wrong I was.

Casseroles (and stews, for that matter) are only boring if you leave it as meat, water and veges.  Blah.  Throw in some herbs and spices (especcially spices), and pan cook a bit before the liquid gets added and badabing badaboom, you're onto a winner.  Served with rice, couscous, pearl barley, pasta, toast (buttery toast with a tasty casserole, yum, now I'm almost wishing winter were back again!).  I'll try and hunt out a good recipe I had for a cuban-inspired casserole too, 'cause that was awesome.  It had a homemade salsa verde, with heaps of coriander.  But, for now - hearty cajun lamb!! 

2 tbsp olive oil
1 kg lamb rump steak, cut into 3 cm pieces (give or take)
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 red capsicum, finely chopped
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
good grinding of black pepper
1 tsp each salt, cajun, paprika and dried thyme
400 g tin tomatoes
1/2 cup chicken stock (or water)
rice, to serve

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius.
2. Brown lamb in large pan.  Once browned add onion, garlic, capsicum and celery, cooking for further 5 minutes or so. 
3. Add spices, stir through, add tomatoes and stock.  Bring to the boil. 
4. Transfer to casserole dish (with a lid).  Cover and cook for about an hour and a quarter.  Serve with rice.

Nb: I cooked ours for about an hour an a half, and it was fine.  Also, it stayed warm in the oven, once oven turned off, for a good hald hour more, so no hurry.  Just be sure it's not drying out and you're fine. 

an oldie, but a goodie

You can't really beat the good ol' chocolate cake.  It mightn't be your favourite, but it's almost universally popular and, when undecided on what to bake, this cake is an easy option, every time.  I love carrot cake, but like making chocolate because of how easy it is to do and the fact that it's like a blank canvas - you can decorate it, ice it, dust with sugar, whatever - it's good with almost anything.  

Ordinarily i'd stick with the more typical chocolate icing.  This time however I had Harry, who's six, helping me bake, so it was decided that we'd make three colours of lemon icing.  The cake, when finished, looks like something on acid, but it tastes GREAT!  Lemon icing and cake = surprisingly good!  

The cake itself comes from good ol' Edmonds (another oldie, but a goodie).  Can't beat it. 

175 g butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 eggs (I used 4, 'cause they were small)
1/2 cup cocoa
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.  Grease 22cm round tin.
2. Cream butter, vanilla and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. 
3. Sift together cocoa, flour and baking powder.  Fold into the creamed mixture, alternately with milk. 
4. Pour into prepared tin and bake for 55 minutes (or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into centre). 
5. Leave on wire rack to cool, then ice. 

For the icing we mixed icing sugar (start with about a cup and see how you go - you may need more, depending on how much icing you want) and lemon juice together, adding the juice until the consistency was right (you could use water, orange juice, lime juice).  Then add colouring, if desired.  Ice and decorate. 

from the deep deep depths of ceylon...

This isn't the first time I've come across a good recipe whilst perusing a Rick Stein cookbook.  This one came from Far Eastern Odyssey and is just brilliant, because it's so simple.  He's picked up a recipe for roti, from street vendors in Sri Lanka, and has passed it on to the reader in its most simple form.  Fantastic, good work, Ricky. 

This is a recipe for gothamba roti, typically used in a number of Sri Lankan dishes, made with gothamba flour.  I have just used ordinary white flour and it was fine.  Perhaps buckwheat flour would be a nice option though, if you have some.  The ingredients below are as listed in Rick's recipe, but I think next time I make them I'll add a smidge more salt (up to you) and a teaspoon of sugar, 'cause they could've use a little more je ne sais quoi.  See how you go - make 'em once, then alter as your taste buds direct.  I served them with a green thai beef curry, so lack of flavour wasn't really an issue. 

300 g flour
1 tsp oil (I used sesame)
3/4 tsp salt
250 ml warm water
extra flour for kneading

1. Mix all ingredients (except the extra flour) together in bowl into a pliable dough.
2. Turn onto floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes, dusting with more flour as needed.
3. Put into oiled bowl, cover with cling-film and leave somewhere warm (or at least no drafty) for 30-60 minutes.
4. Divide into about 10 pieces.  Form into disks, cook in hot oiled pan (I formed the disks as they were needed for cooking *), about 2 minutes on first side, then 1 one other side. 
5. Serve warm with curry.  YUM!! 

NB: * - I didn't actually form the disks - this job was taken over by KB, who has greater skill in dough-manipulation. 

Ragin' cajun apple pie

About five years ago I was watching the Food Network (or Food TV, or Food Channel, or whatever it's called on Sky here in kiwiland), Emeril Lagasse Live - the ragin' cajun!  He made an apple pie with custard inside it.  It looked so good that I immediately trawled the sky guide to see when the show would be repeated.  The next time I was ready - pen and paper - that recipe was a keeper!  I made the pie soon afterwards and it was really good, and easy to make.  So it's strange that, after that one time, I never made it again.  Until last week (I came across the recipe in a serendipidous moment, whilst actually looking for something else.  Happy days). 

You're supposed to slice the apples thinly, but I can never be bothered.  I just cut them off the core in chunks.  It tastes the same, it just looks a little more rustic.  If you can't get all the custard in, don't worry.  Just pour in as much as you can without it overflowing - placing the pie dish on a baking tray is a wise move, just in case... 

I'm going to make this one again this afternoon, but will use half apples and half tinned peaches.  If you have other fruits (rhubarb, or berries in summer), use them too.  I'd probably leave at least half apples, but other than that, use what you like best!  Enjoy!!

2 x sheets sweet shortcrust pastry
2 tbsp butter
1 cup brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
800 g apples, sliced (granny smith are good)
1 egg, for brushing
¼ cup sugar
½ cup cream (maybe a smidge more, see how you go)
1 egg yolk
½ tsp vanilla essence

1. Line pie dish with one sheet of pastry. 
2. Melt butter in pan. Stir in brown sugar and cook for 1 minute.
3. Add cinnamon and apples. Sauté for 3 minutes.  Turn into pie base.
4. Cut hole in second sheet, cover pie with this. Crimp edges, brush with egg yolk.
5. Cook for 15 minutes.
6. Whisk together sugar, cream, egg yolk and vanilla. Pour into hole in pie’s centre.
7. Cook for further 30 minutes.
8. Either cool completely and dust with icing sugar, or serve warm from the oven with icecream or cream.

LAKSAAAAAA!!

Laksa is my favourite south-east asian dish.  The coconutiness mixed with a little bit of heat makes for a really amazing flavour.  There're innumerable malaysian restaurants in Wellington, each particularly good for a particular dish or two, but for laksa (for me anyway) it's Satay Kingdom, down the Leftbank Arcade (off Cuba Mall).  Their vege laksa with tofu is the best i've ever had, hands down. 

However, seeing as I now live in the Mighty Waikato, it's a trifle difficult to get my laksa-fix (the laksa-flavoured Trident 2-minute noodles are good, but...), so I decided it was time to take the proverbial bull by the horns and make this king of soups for myself.  I've used chicken, because I'm a bit of a retard with the deep-fried tofu, so thought i'd leave that for next time.  So, here we are - chicken and vege laksa, adapted from a recipe found on Mindfood.  Hope you love it!  As with most recipes on here you can add pretty much any vegetable you like, swap chicken for prawns, etc.  I've used some baby corns too and, next time, will roast some chunks of kumara in advance and have those in there too.  Shake it up, serves 4.  :) 

125 g rice noodles (I like quite fat ones)
2 zucchini, cut into slices (or 1 eggplant, thinly sliced and salted)
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tbsp red curry paste
1 medium onion (optional)
400 ml tin coconut milk
600 ml hot chicken stock
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 stalk lemongrass, bruised
150 g beans/sugarsnap peas, cut in half
1 tsp brown sugar
zest and juice from 1 lime (or lemon)
handful fresh coriander/basil

1. Put noodles in a wide bowl and cover with boiling water for 5 minutes to soften. Drain, refresh in cold water and set aside.
2. Preheat grill to high. Put zucchini on baking tray, brush with oil and season with salt. Grill for 4-5 minutes each side until golden. Drain on kitchen paper.
3. Stir-fry curry paste in a large pan or wok over medium heat for 1 minute (with onion, if using). Stir in coconut milk and stock and bring to a simmer. Add chicken and lemongrass, cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Lift out chicken with a slotted spoon and shred.
4. Return chicken to pan with sugar snap peas and aubergine. Simmer for 2 minutes. Stir in noodles, sugar, lime zest and juice and most of the herbs and heat through. Ladle into bowls. Serve with lime wedges (extra) and remaining coriander or basil leaves.

we need more neon foods

Well, maybe not neon like the zinc we used as sunblock when we were kids, but definitely bright.  Turmeric is the queen of spices for this - she'll make the most boring of foods suddenly exciting.  Take this soup recipe for example.  When somebody gave me this (and apologies, I can not remember from whence this came) I politely smiled and graciously accepted the recipe.  Of course, the whole time I'm thinking "cauliflower soup? no freakin' way, my friend". 

Well, talk about having to eat my proverbial hat.  I eventually made the soup and had to not only admit that it tasted amazingly good, but it also looked cool - it's BRIGHT yellow, as neon as food can legally get in NZ.  Seriously, this stuff is the shizzle.  I've made it a few times now, for various different people and it has been enjoyed every time.  Most people look a little skeptical before trying it, but it don't last.  So, do something more interesting with that cauliflower going soft in the bottom of your vege crisper than pair it with cheese sauce (no disrespect to the cheese sauce though!).  If you've time, make some naan's too, for dipping.  YUM!! 

4 tbsp olive oil

2 medium onions, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 med. head cauliflower
2 tsp curry powder
1-2 tsp turmeric
salt and pepper
300 ml hot chicken stock
300 ml milk
extra hot water
100 g chedder, grated

1. Heat 1/2 oil, cook onion and celery in large pan. Add remaining oil and cook cauliflower florets for 4-5 minutes, with spices and salt and pepper.
2. Pour in stock. When simmering add milk - if liquid not covering veges, add a little more water.
3. Simmer gently for about 10 minutes, or until florets are cooked (but not overly mushy).
4. Blend (I use my wand thingee) and, over low heat, stir in cheese. YUM!!