This is our 19th cooking/blogging experiment from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals. For this one, we chose “Chicken Skewers, Amazing Satay Sauce, Fiery Noodle Salad, Fruit & Mint Sugar.” We picked it because we already had some rice noodles to use up, and we had that particular episode recorded. This week it was my turn to cook, so the Snook was on camera and cookbook duty. There wasn’t a lot of active cooking in this one; it was mostly making sauces and assembly. I managed it in a respectable 34:48, and I think I could shave a little more off that next time!

Substitutions: Our chicken breasts were a bit bigger than the ones Jamie suggests. We used metal skewers instead of wooden ones. We used rice noodles for the salad instead of egg noodles. For the dessert, we used canned pineapple instead of fresh along with strawberries and plain yogurt (rather than coconut yogurt).

Quick verdict: Very tasty! If you like lime, chilli, and coriander, this is the meal for you. Luckily those are some of my favourite things, so I loved this one. The satay sauce really was amazing, and I actually wished I’d held more back to eat on its own (rather than smother it on the chicken). The Snook thought the noodles needed something “more” (like sweetness or salt) but I thought they were fine. (He’s not a big fan of cold noodle salads though.) I was dubious about the lettuce and “garnishes” at first, but I think they gave some welcome crunch. The mint sugar was really good and definitely transformed some simple fruit into something special. Overall I rated it a 9 out of 10, while the Snook went with 8.5.

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This is our 18th cooking/blogging experiment from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals. For this one we chose “Rib-Eye Stir-Fry, Dan Dan Noodles, and Chilled Hibiscus Tea.” We picked it because we had some bok choi already to use up, and we conveniently had this episode saved on our DVR. We went with the same strategy we’ve used for the past few weeks, where one of us cooks while the other is in charge of reading the recipe and photographing. The Snook was on chef duty for this one, and he managed it in a blistering 30:19! The meal name is a misnomer, as there’s not really any stir-frying involved. It’s basically a noodle soup served with greens, sliced steak, and lots of other accompaniments.

Substitutions: We used snow peas instead of sugar snap peas, and regular broccoli instead of sprouting broccoli. Our teabags were “rosehip and hibiscus” rather than just hibiscus. We also left out the mint in the tea, rather than buy a whole bunch just for a couple sprigs. Everything else was as-written!

Quick verdict: Tasty, but also a little messy! There are lots of components to this meal, and it’s one of the ones where you’re not really sure how to eat it. You just put everything out on the table and let people kinda heap things up in their bowls, I guess. Our greens ended up being overcooked, and the chilli oil in our noodles was overpowering. We probably could’ve used an extra tea bag or two in the tea. The steak was great though, and the flavours all worked really well together. The Snook felt that that overall the concept was a really good one, even if our execution didn’t quite live up to it. We both agreed that our version only merited a 7.5 out of 10, but the recipe itself is probably worth 8.5 out of 10. It’s a relatively quick one to prepare, and I think it would be nice for a casual group meal with friends. (Note: the messiness of slurping up noodles probably precludes this one from Date Night!)

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This is our 17th cooking/blogging experiment from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals. For this one we chose “Pork Chops & Crispy Crackling, Crushed Potatoes, Minty Cabbage, and Peaches ‘N’ Custard.” We picked it mostly because we had a lot of cabbage already, and it seemed like a good wintry dish. It was also pretty simple, which was good because I was cooking this one BY MYSELF. As we did last week, we adopted a “rally car” method where this time I cooked while the Snook read out the recipe, timed things, and took photos. Once again, it worked really well!

Substitutions: Our pork chops were a fair bit bigger than the ones he used. We couldn’t get “Maris Piper” potatoes, but we googled them and settled on Desiree as an acceptable substitute. We had plain cabbage instead of Savoy. Everything else was as-written!

Quick verdict: This was a simple, hearty winter meal without anything too fancy. The method for cooking the chops worked well, but the crackling was a disappointment. He doesn’t have you salt it at all(!), so it wasn’t as tasty as it should’ve been. The potatoes and cabbage were both good without being too much work. The dessert was another of his “quick assembly” recipes, and while custard and fruit are always good, it’s not exactly something you’d make to impress. Overall we both rated it 8 out of 10. You probably wouldn’t do this one for a dinner party, but it’s good enough for a cold Tuesday night. My final time was 33:17, so it’s another fast one too!

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Blessed are the cheese-makers…
A few weeks ago I booked us in for a cheese-making workshop with one of the local community colleges. You know we like our food, and we’ve been toying with the idea of making cheese for a couple years now. (As my friend Ailsa said, “Ah, the last Amish skill you don’t yet possess.” It’s part of our long-term strategy to accumulate skills we can put to use when the revolution comes and society collapses.) So last Saturday the Snook and I headed off to Alexandria with a selection of aprons, tea towels, and sharp knives. There were 11 of us there on the day, and our teacher was Zigi Ozeri. He gave each of us a big handout full of recipes for various cheeses. (Do you know how easy it is to make mascarpone? I’m never paying $6 for a tiny tub of it again!) Zigi talked us through some of the strange equipment and ingredients we’d be using, and then we got stuck in! It was like being back in high school Home Ec (which was fitting, because we were using a school kitchen). We split into three groups, each of whom made a fresh mozzarella and ricotta from 4 liters of milk. Zigi also made a labne from some yogurt. A lot of cheese-making is standing around waiting for stuff to get to temperature or curdle or whatever, so we had plenty of time to socialise. We finished the day with a meal of homemade pizza, salads, and lots of cheese! I took some photos…Here’s the Snook measuring out 4 liters of milk from a giant bucket. No, we didn’t get raw milk. Zigi made it very clear that it’s illegal to sell. (I was sad.)

The milk went on the stove over a low heat along with citric acid and lipase. (This recipe is very close to the one we used.) It took a while to get up to the necessary temperature to start curdling.

At the right temperature, we added the rennet. Not long after, we had proper cheese curds and whey!

After cooking, draining, salting, and stretching, we formed it into a big ball of mozzarella and put it in a salt brine. Yay, cheese!

We put the whey back on to boil to try to make some ricotta. We didn’t have much protein left in there though, so we only got about 2 tablespoons. Here’s the Snook draining the world’s tiniest batch of ricotta in a cheesecloth.

Each group also made a pizza and some salads to accompany our cheese. We sliced up our mozzarella and put it on top of ours. It was great!

This is our 16th cooking/blogging experiment from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals. We selected “Tasty Crusted Cod, My Mashy Peas, Tartare Sauce, and Warm Garden Salad” because it seemed vaguely wintery and we had the episode recorded. We also decided to switch up the format of our experiment a bit. Rather than both of us cooking, we decided to play it like a rally car team. Snookums was the cook/driver, while I was the one shouting out instructions (and taking photos). We figured that was the most fair way to test the “30 minute” claim, and it avoided the usual chaos of both of us trying to read from the same recipe. To our surprise, this system worked out amazingly well!

Substitutions: Our fish was “Blue-Eyed Cod,” which is an Australian fish that we figured was close enough to what Jamie used. (North Atlantic cod and haddock aren’t easy to come by Down Under.) Our pancetta was round and had less fat than Jamie’s, which was more like a very thin bacon. The only other substitution was using a mix of rocket and spinach for the salad (rather than rocket and watercress). Everything else was as-written.

Quick verdict: This was FANTASTIC! Neither of us was expecting much, given that Jamie bills it as a grown-up version of fish fingers and mash. But the fish was cooked perfectly, and the herb paste and breadcrumbs were a welcome addition. The tartare sauce was a great accompaniment too. The mashy peas were rustic and comforting (and the recipe made HEAPS). I’d feared the simple salad would be bland, but the warm dressing was a knock-out. We both rated this meal a 10 out of 10. And what’s more: the Snook finished it off in 31:58! RIPPER.

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This is our 15th cooking/blogging experiment from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals… and the FIRST ONE we actually managed in UNDER 30 MINUTES! It’s “Kinda Sausage Cassoulet, Warm Broccoli Salad, and Meringues.” We picked it because we had the episode; it seemed like a good wintery choice; and we had a lot of the ingredients on hand. I was also carb-loading for my long run, so BEANS YAY.

Substitutions: We used a can of tomatoes rather than passata. (Jamie suggested that substitution on the show.) The Snook doesn’t like broccolini, so we used regular broccoli instead. For the dessert, we had mini meringues instead of big ones, and we used frozen raspberries instead of fresh. Everything else was as-written.

Quick verdict: Woohoo, 28:52! It helped that the cassoulet was basically a one-pot dish and the dessert is just assembly. But still, this is by far the fastest meal we’ve found in the book. Also, it’s pretty tasty and it makes HEAPS of leftovers. We were surprised how good the cassoulet turned out given how little cooking time it has. The “dressing” on the broccoli seemed weird when I was making it, but it’s actually really nice and I can see myself using it again. Overall we both rated it 9 out of 10!

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This is our 14th cooking/blogging experiment from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals. We chose Piri Piri Chicken, Dressed Potatoes, Rocket Salad, and Quick Portugese Tarts. We’d been looking forward to this one for a long time, because who doesn’t like Portuguese custard tarts? Nobody.

Substitutions: We couldn’t find yellow peppers/capsicum anywhere (must be out of season), so we just used a single red one. We used just white vinegar instead of white wine vinegar. And the sugar for the tarts was just plain rather than “golden caster”. Other than that, everything was as-written.

Quick verdict: This is the first recipe where I think the time is an outright cheat. We were both working flat-out the whole time and we didn’t come anywhere close to the deadline. Our time was 39:50. (Sure, having everything memorised would save you a couple minutes, but not many.) Also, we found a mistake in the recipe! That was annoying. In terms of flavour, I thought the potatoes were the highlight. I’d never had sweet potatoes done in that way before, and I can see myself repeating it in the future. (The Snook thought it had too much lemon, but he also thinks Jamie tends to go overboard on lemon everywhere anyway.) The chicken was very good, and the tarts turned out surprisingly well (with a couple caveats). The Snook rated the meal overall as 8/10, while I gave it 8.5/10.

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This is our 12th cooking/blogging experiment from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals. I knew the lucky streak had to end at some point! This was was a DUD. I was feeling cocky so we decided to go for another “challenging” meal: Liver & Bacon, Onion Gravy, Smashed Potato, Dressed Greens, and Berry & Custard Ripple. Unfortunately we ran into a lot of problems. We didn’t have the matching TV episode (as far as I can tell, it hasn’t aired yet anywhere), so we were working from just the recipe. It wasn’t til after we bought all the ingredients that we realised it was going to require FOUR stove burners… and we only have three. So we had to get creative. I’d like to say it was all worth it in the end, but to be honest, I found this one pretty underwhelming.

Substitutions and changes: We used the potatoes we had on hand, rather than the red-skinned called for in the recipe. We couldn’t find calves’ liver and had to settle for lambs’ liver. For the “seasonal greens,” we went with silverbeet. Our fresh berries were raspberries, and the tinned fruit was peaches.

Quick verdict: Meh. It was liver. I haven’t had it very often, and I wouldn’t say I’m a huge fan. We tried to cook it to specification but it was still a bit tough and dry. (The Snook thinks it was overcooked.) The mash, greens, and gravy were all fine, if a bit ordinary. The dessert was kind of a mess. There wasn’t really a good photo in the book, so we had to just follow the instructions. Total elapsed time was 46:11, but given our cooktop limitations, you can’t really go by that. I rated it a 7 out of 10, while the Snook gave it an 8.

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