Category: World Cooking

26
Dec
2016

Consider The Mutton Curry

Today we are taking a huge step back in time and heading back to the time of gas lamps, hansom cabs and thick London fogs. How nice then in this cold inhospitable atmosphere to pop into the Oriental Club for a spicy mutton curry to warm your cockles on a cold winter’s night! Just think, Arthur Conan Doyle could have tucked into this curry as he pondered the intricacies of the first Sherlock Holmes story.

And now you can too!

Our mutton curry comes from 1861 from The Oriental Club’s chef, Richard Terry who made use of the ingredients from the first Asian grocery warehouse in London to recreate a curry recipe he had learned from Indian cooks. It is also indicative of Britain’s and Briton’s long-lasting love of curry!

This is certainly not a curry in a hurry! There are several parts to making this, which is time-consuming but if you have the patience, it is well worth the effort. Also, whilst the original recipe called for mutton, I used lamb. I could not find mutton anywhere – not even dressed as lamb. Funnily enough though, my mum says that in Sri Lanka when any recipe called for lamb or mutton, what they actually used was goat so use what you can get.

First up, you need to roast up some spices to make a curry powder. This will make more than you need for one curry so you will have supplies if you want to make this again or you can use it in other curries.

One thing that is strange about this curry is that you not only need a curry powder but also a curry paste.

Whilst we’re roasting and grinding those spices, let’s talk Sherlock! I am a HUGE fan of the BBC series with Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman and Andrew Scott because who doesn’t love a bad boy right? And I am over the moon excited to see Series 4. Tom Hiddleston! Colin Farrell! This series is going to be AWESOME!

Now, a very weird thing about this curry paste is that it contains lentils which you grind up. I have never heard of this technique before but…hey, if it’s good enough for the The Duke of Wellington, who was the President of the Oriental Club back in the day, it’s good enough for me! The genius stroke is that they help to make the gravy lovely and thick.

Mutton curry (maybe even one based on this recipe!) features as a clue in a Sherlock Holmes story. In The Adventure of Silver Blaze, which not only contains the phrase”Consider the mutton curry,” the title of this post but also “the curious incident of the dog in the night-time”, a mutton curry is doused with powdered opium, putting the stable boy meant to be guarding the race horse Silver Blaze into a stupor and hence rendering him unable to do his job.

The paste mix will also make more than you need for one curry but will keep in the fridge for months.

Sadly, Sherlock Holmes may not have been a fan of curry. At least not according to the 1946 film, Terror by Night. This however is not based on a Conan Doyle story so this is open for debate. Terror By Night is also available for free download here. Personally, I think Sherlock would have been a fan of this mutton curry…with or without a garnish of powdered opium.

The 19th Century Mutton Curry was delicious, dark and spicy, thanks to those lentils, the gravy was lovely and thick and the meat was tender. This was a winner! And hey, I’ve got paste and powder left so I’ll definitely be making it again!

Best served with an ice-cold beer! Whilst watching Series 4 of Sherlock!

Any leftovers? A curry jaffle is THE best hangover food known to man. Just sayin’. Tis the season after all!

Oh and by the way, the Oriental Club still exists and curries still feature on the menu. I am adding to the list for a trip to London next year!

19th Century British Mutton Curry

Print Recipe

A delicious mutton curry from the days of The Raj, Queen Victoria and Sherlock Holmes!

Author: Taryn Fryer

Ingredients

Scale

19th Century British Curry Powder

2 tbsp ground turmeric
5 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cardamom seeds
1/2 tsp ground cloves

19th Century British Curry Paste

4 tbsp whole coriander seeds
2 tbsp yellow split peas
1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
1 1/2 whole cumin seeds
1 tbsp whole brown mustard seeds
1 tbsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp minced ginger
2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
120ml cider vinegar
6 tbsp corn, peanut or olive oil

Curry

675g bones lamb, cut into 2.5cm cubes
2 tbsp 19th Century British Curry Powder
1 tbsp 19th Century British Curry Paste
200g onions, peeled and finely chopped
4 tbsp corn, peanut oil or ghee
3/4 – 1tsp salt

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

For The 19th Century British Curry Powder

Combine all the ingredients in a jar. Mix. Cover with a tight lid.
Store away from heat and sunlight.
Makes 7 tablespoons.

For The 19th Century British Curry Powder

Put the coriander seeds, split peas, peppercorns and cumin into a medium cast iron frypan and set on medium heat. Stir and roast until the split peas are reddish, the coriander has turned a shade darker and all the spices begin to give off a roasted aroma.
Empty them into a bowl and allow to cool.
Put the roasted spices and the mustard seeds into a spice grinder or food processor and grind as finely as possible. Place in a bowl.
Add thee turmeric, cayenne pepper, ginger, salt, sugar, garlic and vinegar.
Stir to mix.
Pour the oil into a small non-stick frying pan and set over a medium heat.
Add the spice paste.
Stir and fry for around 5 minutes or until it browns slightly.
Cool, then empty into a jar.
Cover tightly and refrigerate until needed.

For The Curry

Put the oil or ghee in a heavy, wide, lidded pan. Set it over a medium high heat.
When the oil is hot, stir in the onions and fry them until they are lightly browned.
Add the curry powder and curry paste.
Stir a few times then add the meat and half the salt.
Stir and fry for a few minutes until the meat is coated in the spice mix.
Cover and reduce the heat to low.
Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add 600ml water and increase the heat/ Bring to the boil.
Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook for an hour until the meat is tender and the sauce is thick.
Season to taste and serve.

Notes

If the sauce is not thick enough, remove the lid and let it boil down.

Have a great week! Enjoy your holidays if you are on them, enjoy Sherlock S4 if you are watching. Let me know if you are, we can compare notes after!

Signature 1

Save

02
Nov
2016

Turning Japanese – 1989 Japanese Snack Plate

categories: Chicken & Poultry, Japan, Prawns, Radish, Snacks

Konichiwa dear people o’ the Internet.

Today we are exploring the first part of a two-part series taken from the pages of Vogue Entertaining October / November 1989 with a gorgeous Japanese snack plate.

On the plate today we have Japanese Fried Chicken, Prawn Canapé’s, Radish Canapés, edamame beans, wasabi and mayo! This is so pretty, perfect for a Spring brunch!

The magazine comes from a time when ingenious recipes and inventive ideas may have involved giving your guests a bowl of roses to munch on. Yummy!

Roses aside, we are putting some Spring flavours in full bloom on today’s Japanese snack plate. Just as an aside though, guess which day the J key on my laptop decided to break, meaning it had to be hit about four times harder than all the other keys. The sound track for the writing of this post was tap, tap, tap THUMP tap, tap, tap THUMP.

Minor typing difficulties aside, lets turn our attention to some hors d’œuvres for our Japanese snack plate.

Japanese Stuffed Radishes

Could not be simpler and the crunchy peppery radish is delicious with the salty punch of the caviar. Simply slice your radish down the middle of the stem, then scoop out a small hollow in your radish and fill with caviar. I think nowadays if you were making this you would use tobiko instead of normal caviar but maybe that was readily available in 1989. Come to think of it, I have no idea if it is readily available now!

Stuffed Prawns

Pardon me for having two things stuffed with caviar in this post but seeing as I had to buy it specially, I wanted to get some bang for my buck. Also, if it was good enough for Vogue Entertaining in 1989 its good enough for me!

This is also very tasty with this time a contrast between the sweet prawn meat and the salty caviar. Add a dob of pungent wasabi and some creamy mayo and you have perfection! The original recipe had the prawn heads left on. I took mine off. I just think it is easier to eat with head and shells gone.

It is important to skewer the prawns so they stay straight.

To make these you will need:

12 medium green king prawns
2 tsp salt
25g black caviar

Place a satay stick through the body of each prawn to keep it straight. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Drop the prawns in and cook for 3-5 minutes. Remove from the water and leave to cool.

Remove the satay sticks and remove the heads and shells, leaving the tail. Split the prawns down the back with a sharp knife and remove the digestive tracts. Fill the tract cavity with a little caviar. Repeat.

Soy and Ginger Edamame (loosely adapted from A Moveable Feast by Katy Holder)

These are not from Vogue Entertaining Oct /November 1989 but make a tasty and colourful addition to the snack plate.

200g edamame in pods
1/2 tbsp Japanese rice vinegar
1/2 tbsp light olive oil
1/2 tbsp mirin
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp grated ginger
pinch of sugar

Cook the edamame in boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain and refresh under cold water. Pop the beans from their pods. Combine all the other ingredients in a bowl, stirring well to dissolve the sugar. Pour over the edamame and sit for at least an hour to let the flavours absorb. Strain and add to the plate.

Japanese Fried Chicken

I did not make this for the snack plate. We had it for dinner the night before but I made extra so we could have it on the plate. This is so good. Huh…it’s fried chicken, like it was ever going to be bad! This was great hot from the fryer in the evening and also super eaten cold the next day – it was not too greasy like a lot of fried chicken as leftovers and still quite crispy, although it is not a thick southern style coating.

Here’s the recipe!

Japanese Fried Chicken

Print Recipe

A delicious Japanese take on fried chicken

Author: Taryn Fryer

Ingredients

Scale

500g chicken breast meat, skin on
3 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
1 spring onion chopped finely
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp Japanese soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin
1 tsp wasabi paste
1 small dried chilli, chopped
pinch of black pepper
1 egg white, lightly beaten
2/3 cup cornflour
vegetable oil for deep frying
Mayonnaise, wasabi to serve

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.
Make a marinade of the ginger, garlic, spring onion, sesame oil, soy sauce, mirin, pepper and chilli.
Marinate the chicken for at least 1 1/2 hours.
Mix eggwhite and cornflour well.
Add the chicken and marinate.
Heat the oil.
Deep-fry spoonfuls of the chicken mixture until golden brown.
Drain onto crushed kitchen paper and keep hot whilst the rest of the mixture is cooked.
To serve, spread on platter with dobs of mayo and wasabi

That’s it from me, have a great week!

Signature 1

Save

14
Jun
2016

REPOST FROM 2014 – Adam’s Big Pot

categories: Adam's Big Pot, Asia, Calamari, Squid, Tasty Reads

“I hope somewhere in this book there is a dish or two that you choose to serve to your family. Something that gets asked for again and again, and each time you make it, it becomes a little more your own. Then one day, years from now, when the people you cooked for have left and live their lives and come back to visit, you make that meal for them again. And that’s what makes them feel like they’re home” Adam Liaw, Adam’s Big Pot

Okay. Now that there’s not a dry eye in the house we’ll talk Tasty Reads.

Our latest theme has been Asian food and I kind of lucked out in that I already owned one of of the book choices, the absolute classic Charmaine Solomon’s Complete Asian Cookbook. But ‘s that’s not what we’re going to talk about today. Because, on high recommendation, I bought Adam’s Big Pot.

For those of you who have not heard of him, Adam Liaw was the winner or runner up or something in Master Chef a few years ago. But you don’t need to know that. What you do need to know is that apart from his annoying man-bun, Adam Liaw is immensely likeable.

I on the other hand am not intensely likeable, in fact, I am a contrarian at best and part of my reason for choosing this book was to take it down, It was SO highly recommended I thought there was no way it could live up to the expectations that had been set.

I stand corrected.

This book is AWESOME.

I have not been so excited about a Tasty Reads book since Persiana – only 17 recipes to go after I totally botched the baklava on the weekend. But we’re not here to talk about my cooking disasters.

OK, fine, seeing as you insist. I overcooked the sugar syrup so when I poured it over the pastry it set like toffee so the top of the baklava is tooth breakingly hard and the bottom is as dry as dust. My fault entirely, because after cooking the syrup for the requisite amount of time I thought it looked too watery. And because having made Baklava precisely…let me see…never before, I considered myself a bit smarter than the recipe. (Sigh, eyeroll, face palm).

But lets not focus on the bad, let’s talk about why I am excited by this book!

Adam’s Big Pot – Highlights

This is a very good primer in Asian food, lots of counties are represented – Japan, China, Thailand, Vietnam, India. A great variety without being too daunting.
There are lots of super photos
Adam’s descriptions of each recipe are great
He’s not too prissy – he offers lots of alternatives – eg if you don’t have a master stock handy, use chicken.
His tips are great
The book is beautifully presented
The meals are quick, easy and approachable
Cooking from this book is like cooking with an old friend. He’s just so damn likeable!
The food is super delicious. I have only made one thing I didn’t like (see Dishes Made below).

Adam’s Big Pot – Weaknesses

I feel like I’m being super picky here but you know, just so you know this isn’t paid for by Adam or anything (ha! I wish!).

If you were utterly unfamiliar with Asian cooking and you wanted to try a lot of the recipes in here you may have to buy a lot of ingredients that you may not use again if you did not love the dish and / or they may make you break out into hives (see below).
I think the Bits and Pieces section which is the very first in the book and contains the recipes for the curry pastes, the stocks and all the other base ingredients would have been better placed at the end of the book.
No bread! No roti, chapati, naan or paratha! I would have LOVED at least one bread recipe in here!

Adam’s Big Pot – What I’ve Cooked

Carrot and Cumber Som Tam.

So good. This is Adam’s version of my favourite, green papaya salad. Lovely, fragrant, spicy, fresh.

Tuna Takaki Salad.

Just divine!

Tuna, Corn And Avocado Salad

This is on high lunch rotation! I have made it pretty much every week since finding this recipe. The recipe calls for raw corn, I have used tinned and leftover grilled corn. All super.

Chicken and Cashew Nuts

Something in this recipe made me break out into a horrible rash and massive hives. I suspect it was the dark soy sauce because it was the only thing I have not used before. This probably says more about the excitability of my skin than a real flaw with the recipe because the fussiest eater in the world was perfectly fine. He had seconds and took it to work the next day.

Tandoori Chicken

Starting with homemade tandoori paste! I was RIDICULOUSLY proud of myself for making this. Who makes their own tandoori paste? Isn’t that what supermarkets are for? But it was so easy to do. I will never buy it again! And you know, seeing as I am Ms Allergic to the World, the more things I can control in my diet the better!

And then the chicken:

Salt and Pepper Squid

I love squid. The Fussiest Eater in the World will, however, not touch it with a ten-foot barge pole. So, I quite often make it for one. Adam’s recipe is so quick to cook, it is a great after-work meal for one or many! It’s also why I bought rings instead of tubes – easier to control portions.

I also had absolutely no idea that Salt and Pepper Squid was not a thing everywhere.

Adam says

“You could argue that salt and pepper squid is Australia’s national dish. It’s universally loved and you can buy it in just about any pub, Vietnamese, Thai or Chinese restaurant or Italian café around the country. On top of that, it’s not commonly found in any other country. It’s a truly homegrown favourite”

So, here it is rest of the world. What are you waiting for? Make this tonight. And thank me later!

Salt & Pepper Squid

Print Recipe

A super quick, easy and delicious dish from Adam’s Big Pot.

Author: Adam Liaw

Ingredients

Scale

2 litres peanut oil for deep frying
500g squid tubes, cleaned (or rings)
3 tbsp rice flour or cornflour (cornstarch)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1 bird’s eye chilli, thinly sliced
2 spring onions, trimmed and sliced
1 tsp salt flakes
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Coriander leave, lemon wedges and aioli to serve

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Heat the oil to 200C in a wok or large saucepan.
Cut down one side of the squid tubes and open them flat. Lightly score the surface in a cross -hatch pattern, cut into bite sized triangles and toss in the flour.
Shake off excess flour an deep fry the squid din batches ffpr about a minute per batch or until just cooked and lightly golden.
Drain well.
Remove the oil, leaving about a tbsp in the wok. Heat the wok over medium heat and add the garlic, chilli and spring onion.
Toss in the wok for about a minute, or until the ingredients are lightly browned.
Add the squid and toss constantly scattering with the salt and pepper.
Remove the squid from the wok, scatter with coriander leaves and serve with lemon wedges and aioli.

What to cook Next?

I have some of the tandoori paste left so it would be sensible to make the tandoori chicken again. And the naan and the rojak I made from the Charmaine book when I made the tandoori chicken were super and the flavours went really well together.

However, with so many other delicious recipes still left to cook, including:

Prawn and Grapefruit Salad
Tom Yum Fried Rice
Kuku Paka which is an African chicken curry
Whiting With Nori Butter
Tiger Skinned Chicken
Baked Thai Fish Cakes
Canonigo which is a Filipino desert made from meringue, orange custard and caramel

D0 you cook Asian at home? What is your Asian favourite cuisine? What is your favourite Asian recipe? You know I’m nosy and love to know your business so please leave comments!

Anyhoo, I’ve loved cooking from this book and I’m awarding it Five Golden Rings of Squiddy Delciousness!

Let’s see if the rest of the Tasty Reads crew agrees!

Have a great week!

Save

08
Mar
2016

Torta Mimosa

categories: Cake, Italy

Happy International Women’s Day!

Today we are celebrating with an Italian treat called a Torta Mimosa. In Italy, men give the women they love a sprig of mimosa on International Women’s Day (March 8th). In Australia, it is autumn and we will not have mimosa (what we call wattle) for another six or so months so swapped in some gorgeous lilies instead.

The Torta Mimosa is also traditionally served on International Women’s Day in Italy. Or as the Italians would say, Festa Della Donna – it sounds so much more glamorous when you say it like that doesn’t it?

The Torta Mimosa, as the name suggests is meant to look like a sprig of mimosa. I’m not entirely sure that it does but damn it tastes good!

It’s a sponge cake, filled with creme pâtissière (and I added some lemon curd), then covered with small squares of sponge to create the mimosa look.

It’s light, fresh and a lovely way to celebrate all the wonderful,amazing women in your life!

I am so very lucky to have a many inspirational women in my life – from family, friends, work mates, the tasty reads crew, friends from the gym, to the people who I have met through doing this blog. I feel privileged to know such a number of smart, witty, sassy, strong women, each of whom help to make my life, and the lives of all around them better and brighter.

Oh boy…this recipe is not hard to make but there are lots of parts.

I made Margaret Fulton’s sponge cake from The Great Australian Cookbook. Twice.
I used the creme pâtissière from The Joy Of Cooking
And I also used some bought lemon curd in the layers to add some tanginess.

Here is a link to a very similar recipe on Epicurious:

Torta Mimosa

To all you wonderful women, I wish you a very happy International Women’s Day!

Signature 1

27
Feb
2016

REPOST from February 2016 The Dishiest Dish – Poulet Vallée D’Auge

categories: Apples, Books, Chicken & Poultry, Dish of The Week, Dishiest Dish, France

This week’s highlight came from France…from Normandy to be be precise. Or to be even more precise from the the Pays D’Auge. This is apple country and the chicken casserole that is the Poulet Vallée D’Auge contains both apples and Calvados, the apple brandy that is also a specialty of the region.

And if chicken, apples and Calvados aren’t enough for you how about we add a generous dollop of creme fraiche into the mix. Bon Appetit indeed.

We had a bit of a cold snap in the week so this hearty kind of meal was perfect. And for those of you in the Northern hemisphere who are still in the midst of winter, this will warm any, and all,the cockles you have.

The perfect drink to have with this would be a cider, one from Normandy would be perfect! Or maybe a wee glass of that Calvados.

This is a lovely dish and that sauce is divine!

I also made these prawn cakes from the Paleo book. They looked gorgeous but tasted only ok. I felt the restrictions of the Paleo diet really made themselves felt here. Thai food is meant to have that mix of sweet, salt, sour and heat. The recipe as it stood had no sweet in the dipping sauce. It vastly improved after I added some sugar. They do look pretty though!

The Six Week Challenges

No Alcohol

The six weeks of “no” alcohol are nearly over. I had a bit of a set back this week. A friend of mine resigned from work and we arranged to go for doughnuts so he could tell me all about it. And somehow on the way to the doughnut shop we got waylaid by the little bar on the corner. We were halfway through our glass of vino when we started getting messages. “Where are you? The fire alarms are going off. We need to evacuate the building”. I am the fire warden for our office. Can you believe it? I never leave my desk. NEVER. And the ONE time I go off for a sneaky ~~doughnut~~ pinot, the flipping fire alarms go off.

What could we do? They would have grounded the lifts, we weren’t getting back into the building in a hurry. Nothing for it but to have a second glass o’ wine.

Here is the scene of the crime – Dikstein’s Corner Bar,

We had a lovely New Zealand Pinot but ewwww…did I feel seedy afterwards. Totally lethargic, no motivation to do anything except flop on the couch and tune out in front of the telly for the entire evening. I will say more about this challenge when it is over – in just a couple of days. But after yesterday I am seriously evaluating my relationship with booze.

Meditation

Still struggling with this one. I thought this would be so much easier than giving up booze. Not so. I”ll try to lift my game for the last two weeks. And this one can go back on the list for a re-do later in the year.

Flexibility

I’m LOVING this. And after only a week or so in, I am already seeing the difference! I am mixing it up between two different routines – one has a morning routine and an evening routine so if I get up early enough I do that one. If not, there is another where you do one 10 minute workout for the day. Really happy with this one!

The March Challenge

I have not decided what will replace the no alcohol challenge come the first of March.

I am narrowing it down:

Journalling – I used to journal all the time and love it. And I think in some ways that was my meditation. I REALLY want to get back into it.

Candy Crush – MUST. STOP. PLAYING.

Food – I feel I should replace a “food” challenge with another food challenge – I was thinking maybe a month without bread, pasta potatoes. But Jenny has inspired me to do one around food waste.

I will do what I did last month and see what jumps out at me on the morning of the first! Eeeeekkk – can you believe it’s almost March?

Reading

I have given up on The Apologist for my audiobook. I could not get into it. I had previously started Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantell and I have gone back to that.

You can keep your real Housewives…for real scandal and intrigue, give me the Tudors anyday!

But my major discovery this week was this:

Savage Lane by Jason Starr

Savage Lane = Jason Starr

The hot pink cover had me at hello. I like to read dark and this is pitch black! It is also pitch perfect. Nasty, nasty people doing nasty, nasty things. I’m loving it!

Here is the premise:

“Life is sublime in the idyllic suburbs of New York City. Recent divorcée Karen Daily and her two kids have, for the first time in years, found joy as they settle into the close-knit community of Savage Lane. Neighbours, Mark and Deb Berman have been so supportive as she moves on in life: teaching at the local school and even dating again.

But behind the pristine houses and perfect smiles lie dark motives far more sinister than Karen could have ever imagined. Unknown to her, Mark, trapped in his own unhappy marriage, has developed a rich fantasy life for the two of them. And, as rumours start to spread, it seems that he isn’t the only one targetting Karen”

This is the first book of his I have read but I am now keen to read more. And all of his covers from No Exit Press are equally arresting:

Plants

I am going through a phase where I want to fill my house with plants.

Have started following the jungalow. Her instagram is also amazing!

https://www.instagram.com/justinablakeney/

And have been trying to find a local version of these West Elm Planters.

West Elm Mid Century Planters

Now I just have to buy some plants!

That’s about it. I haven’t really done much else this week except work.

On The Menu

Saffron chicken from Persiana
Lamb Kebabs from the A-Z of Cooking with the tomato salad with pomegranate salad also from Persiana….and eeeekkkk. Sabrina has a new book coming out in May! I can hardly wait!
Honeycomb Cheesecake from A Moveable Feast
Sweet Potato cakes with Lemon Chickpeas

Sirocco

That’s about it for me for this week. Except for the recipe for the Poulet Vallée D’Auge – which you can find here.

What are you cooking, reading, doing this weekend? I am planning to take the dogs down to the dog beach for a play.

Have a wonderful weekend whatever you do.

Signature 1