Steamed Buns

I have always loved the sweet, doughy steamed pork buns in Chinese restaurants.  Therefore, I was delighted to find this recipe for Steamed Chinese Five Spice Chicken Buns.  Although the filling isn't quite as yummy as the stir char-siu pork that the Chinese do so well, it was still pretty good and I will certainly be making them again.  Based on some of the comments on the recipe, I rolled the dough a little thinner and put a bit more filling in each one than the recipe suggests so the buns weren't too doughy.  It is also a great recipe for the kids to help with too!

Recipe: Tofu Pastries

I found this recipe in an old Family Circle "Complete Vegetarian Cookbook" and it has become a bit of a family favourite.

Makes: 8 triangles

250g (5 oz) firm tofu
2 spring onions, chopped
3 tsp chopped fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp cornflour
2 sheets ready-rolled puff pastry
1 egg, lightly beaten

Drain tofu, then pat dry and cut into small cubes (mine usually end up being around 1cm cubes - you wouldn't want them any bigger than that). Put the spring onion, coriander, zest, soy and chilli sauces, ginger, cornflour and tofu in a bowl and gently mix. Cover, then refrigerate for 3-4 hours.

Preheat oven to hot 220C (450F/Gas 7). Cut each pastry sheet into 4 squares. Distribute the filling amongst the eight squares. Brush the edge of each square with egg and fold into triangles, sealing edges with a fork.

Put the triangles on two lined baking trays, brush with egg and bake for 15 minutes (or until golden).

The recipe also includes a dipping sauce:

1/4 cup (60g/2 oz) sugar
1/2 cup (125ml/4 fl oz) rice vinegar
1 small lebanese cucumber, finely diced
1 small red chilli, thinly sliced
1 spring onion, extra, thinly sliced on the diagonal

Place the sugar and vinegar in a small saucepan and stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and add the cucumber, chilli and extra spring onion. Cool completely before serving.

Recipe: Lentil & Olive Spaghetti

I discovered this recipe in the October 2009 issue of Good Taste magazine and it has become a bit of a family favourite. My kids are as wild about olives as they are blue cheese, so there is always much excitement when this dish is placed in front of them. It is a terrific alternative to bolognese or a plain tomato pasta sauce. I also like it as I usually have the ingredients in the pantry (and fresh mint growing in the garden), so it's especially quick and easy.

For some reason, I never seem to be able to find this recipe on the taste.com.au website, so I thought I would post the recipe here.

Lentil & Olive Spaghetti

Serves 4

2 tbs olive oil
2 large brown onions, halved, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tbs tomato paste
1 x 800g can chopped tomatoes
1 x 400g can brown lentils, rinsed, drained
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
100g pitted kalamata olives
1/2 bunch fresh mint, chopped
375g dried spaghetti pasta (or similar - as you can see from the picture, I also use linguine)
grated parmesan cheese to serve

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook onion, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until golden. Add tomato paste, tomato, lentils and balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes or until heated through. Stir in the olives and mint.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water following pack directions. Drain. Combine the pasta and sauce in the pan. Divide among serving bowls and top with some grated parmesan.

Pomegranate Molasses

My husband surprised me last week when he returned from the supermarket with these babies...


I don't think I've ever held a pomegranate, let alone cooked with one, so I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do with them. And so, in typical style, I promptly forgot about them until I saw them in the almost empty fruit bowl this morning. They looked like they needed to be used straight away. I had heard Pomegranate Molasses mentioned on TV cooking shows, so I thought I'd do a bit of research to see whether that was something I could do. I found quite a range of recipes, some using either lemon or lime juice. I had neither lemons nor limes in my rather pathetic looking fruit bowl, but I did have one orange (which I had been saving to serve with my pawpaw, but more of that later), so I ended up using this recipe (which was accompanied by a handy video showing how to juice the pomegranates). I had to adapt the recipe slightly, as my two pomegranates only yielded one cup of juice. Here is what I ended up using:

juice of two pomegranates (approx. 1 cup)
juice of one large orange (approx. 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup sugar

I brought the juice to a boil and let it simmer for around half an hour, until it was beautifully thick. I then poured it into a sterilised jar (taking great care to lick the saucepan afterwards!).

Not a great photo, but you can see the thick, rich red syrup on the spoon. Here's a better look at the oozy goodness inside the jar...


This stuff is truly delicious! I look forward to experimenting with ways to use it. I'm sure it would be lovely mixed with some sparkling mineral water or soda water, and I'll no doubt be trying it with yogurt and ice cream. Of course, I didn't have any of these things in my fridge today, but I did have some pawpaw. I don't really like pawpaw on it's own, I prefer to serve it mixed with freshly squeezed orange juice. As I no longer had an orange in my sad fruit bowl, I figured that the pawpaw and pomegranate molasses might just make a delectable combination. I was right!


I would be happy to make this syrup as a gift for a foodie friend or relative.

Mother's Day Gift: Chai Syrup

We're off to visit my mother-in-law this weekend, so I thought I would make this Chai Syrup for her as a Mother's Day gift. I don't like my beverages too sweet, so I usually omit the sugar.

I think I might just have to give it to her early, so we can share some during our visit! Yum :)

Recipe: Carrot, Broccoli & Blue Cheese Quiche

My family goes mad for blue cheese. My 3 yo daughter especially gets very excited at the mere mention of blue cheese. I often put blue cheese on pizzas and in quiches. This Broccoli, Carrot & Blue Cheese Quiche is one of our favourite recipes.


INGREDIENTS
Shortcrust Pastry
2 cups plain flour
125g butter
1/2 tsp salt
4-6 tbsp cold water

Filling
250g broccoli
6 spring onions
2 carrots, sliced
3 eggs
4 tbsp milk
2 tbsp cream
70g blue cheese (add more if a stronger flavour is desired!)

METHOD
Place the flour, salt and butter in a food processor and pulse until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Gradually add enough water until the dough starts coming together. Turn out onto a clean surface and shape into a ball. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Roll pastry out thinly on a lightly floured work surface and line a greased pie dish with the dough. Blind bake pastry for 15 minutes, remove weights and bake for a further 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the carrot and broccoli in salted boiling water for 4-5 minutes. Drain well. Arrange the vegetables on top of the baked pastry case and then top with crumbled blue cheese. Beat the eggs, milk and cream in a jug, seasoning as required with salt and pepper. Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables and bake for 40-45 mins, or until set.