Chicken Rendang with a Bang!

So while watching an Australian television program about Malaysian food I felt the inspiration to make a spicy rendang curry, now I have only ever made this curry once before when I was younger and it turned out quite nice so I decided to make it again. The recipe I found for this curry comes from the first season of Masterchef Australia's cookbook everyone might remember this as Poh's dish if you have ever watched the series.

Now instead of serving this with the just the pancakes or roti that you usually serve malay food with I deiced that a japanese sushi rice was good if you have ever had this rice before you will know how good it is with any sort of curry or stir fry as it is sticky and scrumptious.

This dish will serve 4 people

Chicken rendang with coconut lace pancakes

500 gr skinless chicken breast fillets ¾ cup (70 gr) desiccated coconut
1 teaspoon chilli powder
2 tablespoons ground coriander 1 tablespoon ground fennel
1 tablespoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
5 eschalots or 1 large red onion, roughtly chopped I used red onion.
5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2 cm piece ginger, finely sliced
2 cm piece galangal, chopped 2 stalks lemongrass, finely chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil. I used olive oil.
400 ml coconut milk
1 tablespoon caster sugar

Coconut lace pancakes

¾ cup (105 gr) plain flour, sifted 1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
¾ cup (180 ml) coconut milk

oil, to grease the pan

Step 1. Steam or poach the chicken breast (I steamed them for about 15 minutes). Cool and then shred finely.

Step 2. Dry fry coconut in a frying pan or wok until golden. Set aside. Dry fry spices until toasted and fragrant. Set aside.

Step 3. Place eschalots/red onions, garlic, ginger, galangal and lemongrass in a blender and process to form a fine paste. Heat oil in a frying pan and cook paste over medium heat until fragrant and caramelised.

Step 4. Add chicken, dry spice mixture, coconut milk and sugar to onion mixture. Cook until the sauce has reduced slightly. Add toasted coconut. This will absorb most of the sauce. Keep cooking until mixture is quite dry and forms a golden crust on the underside, and keep tossing until all the chicken has a crispy, golden appearance.

Step 5. To make the pancake, whisk flour, salt and eggs in a large jug or mixing bowl until completely smooth. Add coconut milk to make the batter the consistency of pouring cream. Pass mixture through a sieve to give a very smooth texture.

Step 6. Heat a lightly oiled non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Make sure the pan is sufficiently hot before attempting a pancake. Using a jug or an empty milk carton, pour a thin stream of the batter in a zigzag motion. Repeat the action to form a crosshatch pattern. To complete the pancake, circle around the outer edge of the crosshatch pattern.

Step 7. Using a wooden spatula, flick up an edge and gently pick the pancake up with your fingers. Flip onto the other side and cook for 2 seconds. Place the pancake on a plate. Repeat with the remaining pancake batter.

Step 8. Serve the pancakes hot or at room temperature with the chicken rendang.

I hope everyone enjoy's this as much as I did!

Pasta the best italian thing that I have ever met

Okay so, as you may have already read todays lunch will be pasta. If you know me (which hopefully none of you do) I am in love with pasta its just something that I have to have at least once or twice a week, I know its unhealthy and full of carbs but it is good, and it brings enjoyment to many peoples lives.

The perfect pasta can be many different things but it always has to be cooked with love in mind. As love is the main ingredient to any great dish, may it be a full and robust Bolognese to a timid portion of the perfect sashimi, anything has to be cooked with love to make it great.

So today for lunch I made a tuna pasta toss, a simple and delicious pasta recipe I got from watching the movie "Because I Said So" she makes this pasta in a cooking class so I decided it would be a nice lunch for me to enjoy.

serves 4 or 2 hungry people

• 400 g Spaghetti or Angel Hair Pasta
• 70 ml of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large brown Onion diced
• 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 1 large carrot diced
• 185 g can of tuna drained
• A small bunch of Parsley roughly chopped
• A splash of good quality olive oil
• A good quality hard cheese 
• Salt and pepper to taste

Cook the pasta in salted boiling water until al dente and drain in a colander place in a large serving dish. In a hot skillet fry the onion and garlic off in the olive oil for 2 minutes add the carrots and continue frying for another minute. Add the tuna and break up in the skillet, add the parsley and pour into the bowl with the pasta. Toss all together and sprinkle with cheese and drizzle with the good quality oil serve immediately. 

serve with a side salad for a quick and easy dinner for the family or divide and cook for one or two.

A breakfast fit for me

So this morning I woke up to find that it was a wonderful day, here in Australia a wonderful day is when there is only a few wisps of cloud in the sky and the breeze is cool to take away from the enduring heat of the day. So I thought to myself what will I have today and I came up with quiche but not any old quiche so I made mini Bacon and Tomato Quiche's

This recipe could be used exactly the same for a large quiche but I just decided I would make smaller portions and you can keep them for a snack for anytime of the day hot or cold they are always a treat.

•  3/4 cup of Milk
• 1 cup of Cottage Cheese
• 5 eggs
• 1/2 cup of mozzarella 
• 12 Cherry Tomatoes 
• 200 g of Bacon diced, rind removed 
• 2 sheets of frozen or fresh puff pastry 
• Cooking spray to grease the muffin tray or tart tin
• a small handful of Chives finely sliced
• Salt and pepper to taste 

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius or 180 degrees Celsius fan forced. Spray the muffin tin or tart tin with the cooking spray and with the puff pastry cut out 11 cm rounds place them into the muffin tin and press down, you may have to gather the remaining pastry and re-roll it to make 12 of these pastry cases.

Place the cases in the oven and allow to cook for 5 minutes, meanwhile combine the milk, cottage cheese and eggs in a mixing bowl and whisk until combined season with salt and pepper. Also in a small frying pan fry the bacon pieced until caramel in colour and set aside.

Remove the pastry cases from the oven and with a small spoon press the pastry down that has puffed. Place a small amount of bacon in the cases to that they sit on the bottom leave 1/4 of the bacon for later use, now pour the egg mixture into the cases until just below the pastry line. Pop one of the tomatoes into each of the mini quiches and then sprinkle with the mozzarella, place into the oven for 15 minutes or until the filling has set.

Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before removing from the muffin tin arrange on platter or single serving plates and sprinkle the bacon and chives on top serve immediately or omit this last step and put into airtight containers for a yummy little snack.

Okay well I hope anyone reading this enjoys the recipe and tries to make it themselves and I am sure it will be a crowd pleaser this recipe can be doubled infinitely to make as many of these wonderful little treats as you want and I hope you all just have fun and enjoy yourself when cooking these Bacon and Tomato Mini Quiches.

The first cake

Okay so now as I sit here deciding what I want to have as the first post on this new blog I wonder what will happen in the future and then it hit me a chocolate cake! simple enough but also a great crowd please-er I decided that spice it up a bit by making it with two layers with a chocolate ganache filling and I will cover it in fondant to make it pleasing to the eye.

So the cake recipe that I am using is one from taste.com.au and it is a chocolate pound cake recipe I have used this recipe before and it always turns out wonderfully I give credit to the writer of this recipe Liz Macri.

I also doubles the recipe so I could make a high enough cake, I put the original recipe below.

• 2 tablespoons cocoa
• 1 1/2 cups caster sugar
• 150g butter, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda, sifted
• 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
• 2 eggs

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease a 3cm-deep, 17.5cm x 27cm (base) slice pan. Line base and sides with baking paper, allowing 3cm overhang at long ends.

Combine sugar, butter, bicarbonate of soda, cocoa and 1 cup cold water in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 2 minutes or until mixture doubles. Transfer to a large bowl. Cool for 15 minutes.

Add flour and eggs. Using an electric mixer, beat mixture until pale and smooth. Pour mixture into prepared pan.

Bake for 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean. Stand in pan for 10 minutes. Turn, top side up, onto a wire rack to cool completely.

There will be a post or an edit of this post soon of pictures and some other things......

A new start to a new blog

Hello,

my name is Aaron and I am now the gracious owner of this new blog. On this blog I will be sharing my limited but hopefully expanding knowledge in cooking and edible creations. I have a great view on the world of cooking since I have been immersed in it for nearly 10 years I hope to keep on expanding all of my skills and become a resourceful chef, that can be called upon for any help whatsoever.

I hope you have a good day and enjoy this new cooking blog

Aaron