Category: Crafts

Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals #22: Thai Red Prawn Curry
This is our 22nd cooking/blogging experiment from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals. For this one we chose “Thai Red Prawn Curry, Jasmine Rice, Cucumber Salad, Papaya Platter.” We picked it because we felt like doing a seafood recipe; we had the episode recorded; and we thought we had a good chance of the required produce being in season. The Snook was on duty for this one, and he managed it in 35:17. It was pretty darn good!

Substitutions: Our small prawns were frozen, but Jamie said on the show they were okay to use. We used coconut cream instead of coconut milk (since we already had some in the pantry). We didn’t bother with the prawn crackers. Other than that, everything was as written in the recipe!

Quick verdict: Well, the first thing you notice is… It wasn’t red! We think the Snook may have gone a bit overboard with the coriander when making the curry paste. It’s not really a problem though, because I’m addicted to coriander. This was one of those meals that ticks all my favorite flavour boxes: garlic, chilli, coriander, sesame oil, lime. It was very fresh and very yummy! The Snook thought the curry wasn’t very “curry,” but he still liked it. The cucumber salad was a revelation, and we ate the whole bowl between us. Unfortunately we weren’t able to use our oven for the crispy prawns (on account of it EXPLODING earlier in the day) but cooking them on the cooktop worked well enough. The fruit platter was simple but tasty. The Snook rated it 8.5, while I gave it a 9 out of 10. The preparation was slightly unusual, in that each dish was pretty much completed before moving on to the next (instead of interweaving the steps, as he does on the other recipes). Still, I think you could shave a few more minutes off this one with practice. Read on for a photo essay of the preparation.Pre-start prep: We got out all the necessary ingredients, tools, and cooking vessels. The kitchen was clean (well, as clean as it gets) and everything wiped down and ready to go. The kettle was boiled and the food processor equipped with the standard blade. We had a frying pan for the crispy prawns, a pot for the curry, and a saucepan for the rice.

First up are the ingredients for the cucumber salad: ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, lime, cucumber, coriander, and red chilli.

Next are the bits for the rice: just basmati rice and jasmine tea bags.

Next are all the bits for the curry: lemongrass, red chilli, garlic, kaffir lime leaves, coriander, red peppers in oil, tomato paste, fish sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, big raw tiger prawns, sugar snap peas, small frozen prawns, coconut cream, and lime.

Lastly, the ingredients for the dessert: papaya, Greek yoghurt, lime, bananas, mint, and biscuits.

Pots and pans, ready to go! Big pot is for curry; frying pan is for crispy prawns; saucepan is for rice.

Here we go! The Snook started by peeling and grating fresh ginger onto the serving dish for the cucumber salad.

He then added soy sauce, extra virgin olive oil, sesame oil, and the juice of a lime.

Then he used the peeler to slice off ribbons of cucumber into the bowl. (We don’t really have a proper speed-peeler, so that would probably save you a couple minutes of hassle.)

Next he finely sliced the stalks of a bunch of coriander…

…before adding them to the cucumber salad. A bit of finely chopped chilli finished it off.

Now on to the rice! He added one mug of rice to the saucepan with a pinch of salt, a splash of olive oil, two jasmine teabags, and two mugs of water. This was left to boil and then steam.

Next up is the curry paste. He started by bashing up some lemongrass.

The lemongrass got added to the food processor along with red chilli, garlic, and kaffir lime leaves.

He also added coriander (maybe a bit too much), jarred red peppers, tomato paste, fish sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, and ginger.

WHIZZZZZ!

This is the paste mid-blitz; he actually got it a bit finer than that in the end.

The large tiger prawns were tossed into a hot frying pan to begin cooking…

…to which a scoop of the curry paste was added. These were supposed to go under the grill, but the Snook left them to cook on the stove (since our oven is out of commission).

The Snook began the curry by combining sugar snap peas and small frozen prawns in the big pot.

He then added the remainder of the curry paste and let it stir fry for a bit.

To make the sauce, he added the coconut cream.

While the curry cooked, he started prepping the fruit platter. The papaya was cut in half and the seeds scooped out.

He grated a bit of lime zest over some Greek yogurt.

He added banana slices to the papaya, then squeezed lime juice over the platter.

The finished dessert platter with fruit, yoghurt, and almond biscuits.

Here’s the finished rice! He removed the jasmine tea bags and fluffed it with a fork.

The crispy prawns probably didn’t get quite as crispy as they would’ve in the oven, but they still looked good!

For the final step, he added coriander leaves to the curry.

And here’s the finished meal of jasmine rice, Thai “red” prawn curry, crispy prawns, and cucumber salad!

Tasting notes: We both really liked the cucumber salad, though it felt like more of a “pickle” than a salad, really. The Snook felt the curry was a bit non-traditional, but it was still tasty. The method of cooking the rice worked very well. I really liked the fruit dessert, but it was sure expensive! (Like $6 for the papaya and $3.50 for two bananas. OUCH.) We both preferred this one to the green curry, which had noodles rather than rice. If you’re a fan of Thai food, this is an easy meal to put together and would really impress a guest! I really enjoyed it.

Stay tuned for another recipe from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals!

Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals #21: Pork Fillet & Catherine Wheel Sausage
This is our 21st cooking/blogging experiment from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals. For this one we chose “Seared Pork Fillet & Catherine Wheel Sausage, Meaty Mushroom Sauce, Celeriac Smash, and Garlicky Beans.” We chose this one mainly because it seemed fairly low-carb. (I’m back on the diet.) Unfortunately this episode hasn’t aired yet, so all we had to refer to was the recipe in the book (and a couple YouTube videos). I was on chef duty, and it actually ended up being a fairly complicated meal with lots of components. My clock time was 36:37, but the sausage spent a few minutes longer than that in the oven. Oh, and I got to cut up KIDNEYS for the first time in my life. It was like high school biology class all over again!

Substitutions: Pork kidney seems to be unheard of here, so we went with lamb kidney instead. We used just plain button mushrooms instead of “white or chestnut” mushrooms. I used some cheap cooking sherry in place of the Marsala. I didn’t have long wooden skewers for the sausage so I used several toothpicks instead. Other than that, everything was as written in the recipe!

Quick verdict: This was one of the best recipes in the book in terms of the harmony of all the flavours. All the various components complemented each other so well! It was also perfect for a winter night. I was dubious about the mushroom and kidney sauce, but it was the highlight of the whole meal. Seriously, SO GOOD. (Well worth the effort and grossness of prepping the kidneys.) I ran into some problems with time management and there are things I’d do differently next time. Still, we both rated it a 9 out of 10 for tastiness! Read on for a photo essay of the preparation.Pre-start prep: We got out all the necessary ingredients, tools, and cooking vessels. The kitchen was clean (well, as clean as it gets) and everything wiped down and ready to go. The kettle was boiled and the oven turned to 220C. We had an oven-safe frying pan for the sausage, another frying pan for the sauce, a saucepan for the beans, and a roasting tray for the fillet.

First up are the ingredients for the pork components: pork fillet, pork chipolatas, fresh rosemary, red apples, and sugar.

Next for the “smash” we have: celeriac, fresh thyme, and lemon.

Here are the ingredients for the sauce: smoked streaky bacon, fresh rosemary, (lamb) kidneys, mushrooms, sherry, cream, and English mustard.

And lastly, all that was needed for the beans: green beans, garlic, and lemon.

Pots and pans, ready to go! (The Pyrex bowl is for cooking the celeriac in the microwave.)

Here we go! I started by butterflying the pork fillet, presumably to make it thinner so it’d cook faster.

Next I drizzled it with olive oil, salt, and pepper before dropping it into the hot frying pan to sear.

Once the fillet was browning, I got to work on the celeriac. I had to peel the whole thing and then cut it into big chunks. (I have a feeling this is where I lost a few minutes of time. These suckers are awkward to deal with!)

I placed the celeriac chunks in the Pyrex bowl with salt, pepper, lemon juice, a bit of boiled water, and the squeezed lemon half. This was covered with a double layer of cling film and put in the microwave for 12 minutes.

Next I began the sauce by slicing up the bacon. (I should note that I was also flipping the pork fillet every minute while doing this other stuff.)

The bacon went into a hot frying pan to cook. (You can see the browned pork fillet in the background.)

Next I sliced up the mushrooms. (I should’ve used the food processor for this, even though the recipe didn’t require it. It would’ve saved some time.)

These were added to the bacon along with some olive oil and rosemary.

And now it was time for the three lamb kidneys. I almost made the Snook do them instead, but I persevered. They weren’t that bad, but there was a chunk of white sinew in the center of each one. (I probably lost a few minutes while trying to work around that.)

The kidney was added to the bacon and mushrooms, along with a good grind of black pepper.

Finally for the fun part! I started assembling the “Catherine wheel” sausage. My chipolatas had a lot more links than Jamie’s did, so it took me a while to get them all untwisted and joined up.

As I coiled the sausage, I inserted toothpicks to hold the whole thing together.

Dr. Amy took great interest in the sausage assembly.

At this point the pork fillet went into the oven on the roasting tray, and the Catherine wheel went into the vacated fry pan to cook.

I’m sorry to say that my toothpicks didn’t work that well. The whole wheel started to puff up in the middle, and the toothpicks weren’t enough to prevent it. In the future, I’ll use the skewers. I picked some rosemary leaves over the sausage as it cooked.

Back to the sauce! I added the cooking sherry and let it cook off. (I didn’t set it on fire because I’m a wimp.) I also added cream and English mustard.

Next I trimmed my green beans…

…before dropping them into the saucepan of boiling water.

At some point in all that, I also put a halved apple in with the sausage. Now I sprinkled the cut halves with sugar…

…before popping the whole pan into the oven.

Finally time to mash the celeriac! I drained it and chucked the lemon half. It was woody as all hell, so I actually put it back in the microwave for a few more minutes.

The beans were cooked, so I drained them.

To finish the beans, I added lemon juice, minced garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

I went back to the celeriac for some more mashing, and I pretty quickly gave up on the idea of it ever being smooth. I finished it with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

A splash more water, and my meaty mushroom sauce was complete!

Here are the finished beans as well.

Lastly, I sliced up the (rested) pork fillet.

And here’s the finished pork fillet. Probably a little overcooked, but still good!

As the very final step, I pulled the finished sausage and apple out of the oven.

Here is the completed meal of “Seared Pork Fillet & Catherine Wheel Sausage, Meaty Mushroom Sauce, Celeriac Smash, and Garlicky Beans.”

Tasting notes: We were blown away by how good the sauce was. I know most of you are probably thinking “kidney = BARF,” but you just have no idea. Very savoury and moreish! I was annoyed that the celeriac didn’t go more “mashy,” even after I gave it the extra cooking time. It was still perfectly tasty and edible though, even if it was rather chunky on the plate. The garlicky beans were yummy. Both the pork fillet and sausage were excellent – but why do two? I think if I cooked it again, I’d just do one or the other. The Snook agreed that as written, getting the whole thing cooked in 30 minutes would be very difficult. Still, this is an excellent winter meal that fills you up and makes you happy. Highly recommended, and rated as 9/10 by both of us!

Stay tuned for another recipe from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals!

Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals #20: Chicken Pie
This is our 20th cooking/blogging experiment from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals. Woohoo! We’re 40% of the way through! For this one we chose “Chicken Pie, French-Style Peas, Sweet Carrot Smash, Berries, Shortbread & Chantilly Cream.” You may recall that I actually tried this recipe already back in January, before we started this project. We wanted to document it properly though, so the Snook stepped up to cook this one. We also rewatched the episode to refresh our minds. This was also the first time we’ve ever had an audience: our friend Sharon from Flavour Crusader was here! I think the extra spectator may have unnerved the Snook a bit, as his time was uncharacteristically slow: 39:56. Still, that’s 5+ minutes faster than I managed it back in January…

Substitutions: We used plain cream instead of creme fraiche for the pie filling. We had one large lettuce instead of two small ones for the peas. And the Snook assembled the dessert into a trifle (with some lemon curd) rather than leaving it as constituent parts, as you can see above. Other than that, everything was as written in the recipe.

Quick verdict: The perfect winter meal! Very tasty and filling. The chicken in the pie was a bit chewy, but I suppose that’s to be expected when using breast. (Jamie never seems to use thighs?) We overcooked the peas a bit, but they were still good. The Snook’s improvised trifle for dessert was beautiful, the perfect cap to the meal. Overall we both rated this one 8.5 out of 10, but I think there’s still a little room for improvement next time we make it. Read on for a photo essay of the preparation!Pre-start prep: We got out all the necessary ingredients, tools, and cooking vessels. The kitchen was clean (well, as clean as it gets) and everything wiped down and ready to go. The food processor was prepped with the slicing disc. The kettle was boiled and the oven turned to 200C. We had a big roasting tray for the pie (which was a mistake), a small saucepan for the carrots, and a bigger saucepan for the peas.

First up are the ingredients for the pie: chicken breasts, butter, spring onions, button mushrooms, flour, English mustard, cream, chicken stock, thyme, nutmeg, puff pastry, and an egg. Oh, and Sharon hiding in the background!

Next are the ingredients for the side dishes: carrots and thyme for the smashed carrots; and lettuce, butter, flour, chicken stock, mint, frozen peas, and lemon for the French-style peas.

Lastly, the bits for the dessert: strawberries, elderflower cordial, lemon, mint, shortbread biscuits, cream, vanilla, and icing sugar.

Pots and pans, ready to go! Roasting tray for the pie (again, more on that mistake in a minute), big saucepan for peas, little saucepan for carrots.

Food processor with slicing disc.

Here we go! The first step was to cut up the chicken breasts. Dr. Amy Jones decided this was the perfect time to beg for a bit of chicken fat. (Could you resist that little pink nose? No way.)

Next the Snook got the chicken cooking in some olive oil and butter in the roasting tray.

Next is the veg. He first cleaned and trimmed the green onions…

…before feeding them into the food processor along with the mushrooms. (You’ll recall that this was a major nightmare for me on our first attempt at this dish, as we had our old crappy food processor then. This time it worked PERFECTLY. Three cheers for decent appliances!)

He then dumped the veg in with the chicken to cook.

Next he added flour, mustard, cream, and chicken stock to make the sauce.

Lastly, he seasoned the pie filling with salt and pepper before grating over a bit of nutmeg.

The next job was the carrots. He cleaned and trimmed them…

…before chucking them in the food processor. WHIZZ!

He put the carrots into the small saucepan with some olive oil, salt and pepper, thyme, and water. Then he covered it and left it to cook.

Here’s where you can see the problem with the roasting tray. It just didn’t heat evenly on our induction stove, and the mix was starting to “catch” in the middle. So the Snook made the snap decision to transfer the mix to a Pyrex casserole for baking. (On the episode, Jamie does it all in the one tray. The recipe actually recommends you use two separate pans though. We’d have saved time if we’d done it that way from the start!)

Now for the puff pastry crust. Rather than worry about rolling it out to the right size, the Snook just cut a bit off a second sheet and seamed them together to make a big enough lid.

Next he carefully placed the pastry on top of the pie, folding and tucking the edges as needed.

He also lightly scored the top of the pie as instructed.

After a quick egg wash, it went into the oven!

The carrots were still bubbling away.

Onto the peas. He started by slicing up our cos lettuce.

In the large saucepan, he cooked butter and flower together to make a roux.

Then he added chicken stock and whisked to make a thickened sauce.

He then dumped in a bag of frozen peas, the sliced lettuce, and a handful of mint leaves. He seasoned it with lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and left it to cook.

Time to prep the dessert! He cleaned and trimmed the strawberries…

…before tossing them with mint leaves and elderflower cordial.

Next he used the electric whisk to beat cream, icing sugar, and vanilla until it was thick.

Yummy.

The carrots were finished, so he drained off the liquid and used a potato masher to smash them up.

And finally the pie came out of the oven, golden and beautiful!

The finished meal of chicken pie, French-style peas, and carrot smash.

And the finished dessert! He created a trifle by layering crumbled shortbreads, lemon curd, the strawberries, and the chantilly cream in a glass.

Tasting notes: This is one of the best meals in the book in terms of the way the various elements work together. The pie on its own might be a little boring, but the vibrant carrots and savoury peas complement it perfectly. We overcooked the peas a bit, but there was still a bit of crunch to the lettuce and it tasted fine. The chicken breast was fairly chewy, but that was to be expected given the type of meat and the short cooking time. The dessert was the real highlight, and I think the Snook’s change to a trifle was a big improvement on the original. That little bit of lemon curd in the bottom just made it so special and lovely! We’ll definitely remember that trick in the future. I figure we can still cut another five minutes off this one if we manage to cook the pie filling in the right pan from the get-go. Overall an 8.5 out of 10, and an excellent dish to warm up a cold winter’s night…

Stay tuned for another recipe from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals!

Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals #19: Chicken Skewers
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. Read on for a photo essay of the preparation!Pre-start prep: We got out all the necessary ingredients, tools, and cooking vessels. The kitchen was clean (well, as clean as it gets) and everything wiped down and ready to go. The food processor was prepped with the standard blade attachment. The kettle was boiled and the grill was turned on full whack. We had a baking tray for the chicken, a saucepan for the noodles, and a frying pan for the nuts. You’ll also need a number of serving bowls and platters, as well as a separate cutting board for the chicken.

First up are the ingredients for the satay sauce: coriander, chilli, garlic, crunch peanut butter, soy sauce, ginger, and limes.

Next up is the chicken breasts, along with honey and olive oil for drizzling.

Ingredients for the noodle salad: rice noodles, cashews, red onion, chilli, coriander, soy sauce, lime, sesame oil, fish sauce, honey. We also have baby lettuce, coriander, chilli, soy sauce, and lime for the garnishes.

Lastly, the ingredients for the dessert: pineapple, strawberries, mint, sugar, lime, and yogurt.

Pots and pans, ready to go! The baking tray with the skewers is for the chicken. The saucepan is for the noodles, and the frying pan is for the cashews.

Here we go! I started preparing the satay sauce. Here I’ve combined coriander, garlic, and peanut butter in the food processor.

I also added a red chilli and some ginger, which I peeled.

Next I grated in the zest of two limes…

…before adding the juice of one of them.

Time to whiz!

I had to add a few lugs of water to get it to the right consistency.

I put half of the satay sauce on the baking tray for the chicken. (Actually, this probably more than half. I wish I’d held back more!)

The remainder of the sauce went into a bowl with some olive oil, to be eaten straight as part of the meal.

Time to make the skewers! I lined up the four breasts as Jamie instructed and then ran them through with my metal skewers.

Then I used my knife to trim up the sides and then slice down between to make the kebabs.

I stuck all the extra trimmed bits on the end of the skewers. Then I used my knife to “chop” all around the chicken to provide extra surface area. (He does this on the episode.)

I placed the skewers on the tray of sauce and rubbed them all over to coat.

A little bit of salt and olive oil was added as the final step.

The skewers went into the oven with a timer on 8 minutes!

Now for the garnishes. I removed the base from the lettuce and then clicked all the leaves off into my salad spinner. Then I washed and spun them dry.

Time to start my noodles! I placed my rice noodles in the saucepan and then poured boiling water from the kettle over them.

Next my cashew nuts went into the frying pan to toast. I didn’t bother bashing them up, as Jamie left them whole on the episode. I also added a little olive oil, as he did. (This is a step where I lost a few minutes due to the pan being cold. Next time I’ll turn it on from the start so it’s hot.)

Next I started work on the dressing for the noodles. I put half a red onion, a chilli, and a bunch of coriander stalks into the food processor.

The book tells you to whizz the aromatics, then add the liquids in the serving bowl. But in the episode, Jamie did it all in one step in the food processor. So that’s what I did. I added soy sauce, olive oil, lime juice, sesame oil, and fish sauce to the mix.

Once whizzed, the resulting sauce was poured into the serving bowl to await the noodles.

Time to flip the chicken! This is how it looked when it came out. It was cooking nicely.

I flipped each skewer over and then drizzled them with honey before placing them back under the grill.

The noodles were softened, so I drained them before rinsing them in cold water, draining again, and adding to the bowl.

My cashews still weren’t ready, so I began prepping the dessert by scattering pineapple and strawberries over my platter.

Once the cashews finally started toasting, I added some honey and some sesame seeds. (He used the sesame seeds on the show but not in the book.)

Back to dessert. I began pounding up some mint in the mortar and pestle.

I added some sugar for abrasiveness, then added more to soak up the moisture that came out of the mint.

Finally the nuts were done, so I added them to the noodle salad along with a handful of coriander leaves.

To complete the salad, I simply tossed everything together as best I could.

The finished salad, with a little extra coriander and chilli to “tell the story” on top.

To finish the dessert, I scattered mint sugar over the fruit and added a dollop of yogurt and a lime wedge to the platter.

Here is the completed garnish bowl of lettuce, coriander, chilli, and lime.

And lastly, the chicken! We let it go a little longer than 8 minutes on the second side to try to get some caramelisation happening. (I think maybe next time I’ll move the shelf closer to the grill, which might shave off another minute or two.)

And here is the completed meal of chicken skewers with amazing satay sauce, noodle salad, and garnishes!

Tasting notes: We had been worried the chicken wouldn’t cook through, but it was fine. If anything, it was maybe a little overdone in the middle! Next time we’ll move it closer to the grill for less time. I liked the cold noodle salad, but the Snook found it lacked something to balance out the chilli and lime. He added some more soy sauce to his and seemed to like that. (He also liked the leftovers more the next day, so perhaps the flavours had sucked into the noodles more at that point.) I thought the honey cashews added some nice sweetness and crunch. The satay sauce itself was fantastic, and eating a chunk of chicken in a lettuce cup with some sauce was really, really good. The dessert was better than I expected, considering it was pretty much just some fruit! But the mint sugar really added something, and we polished off the whole plate pretty quickly. Overall this is a quick, fresh, and zingy meal for those of us addicted to lime and coriander! I rated it a 9 out of 10, while the Snook gave it an 8.5. Next time I’ll make double the satay sauce, I think…

Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals #18: Rib-Eye Stir-Fry
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!) Read on for a photo essay of the preparation.Pre-start prep: We got out all the necessary ingredients, tools, and cooking vessels. The kitchen was clean (well, as clean as it gets) and everything wiped down and ready to go. The kettle was boiled and the grill pan was put onto high heat. We had the grill pan for the steaks, a large pot for the greens and noodles, and a large jug for the tea. (You’ll also need a couple cutting boards and several bowls to serve everything in.)

First up are the ingredients for the steak: 2 rib-eye steaks (sold here as “Scotch fillets”), Szechuan pepper, Chinese five-spice, ginger, red chilli, garlic, lime, and coriander.

Next the greens: snow peas, bok choi, broccoli, black bean sauce, and lemon.

Now all the bits for the Dan Dan noodles: chilli oil, soy sauce, garlic, beansprouts, coriander, spring onions, egg noodles, beef stock cube, lemon, honey, and lime juice.

Lastly, the ingredients for the tea: rosehip and hibiscus tea bags, clementine (mandarin), lime, sugar, and ice.

Pots and pans, ready to go! The grill pan is for the steak; the pot is for the greens and noodles; and the jug is for the tea.

Here we go! The Snook started by seasoning the steaks with salt and pepper.

Then he got to work pounding Szechuan pepper in the mortar and pestle. (We use this stuff on mapo tofu fairly regularly; it’s really nice in Asian dishes.)

He put some of the Szechuan pepper into our two serving bowls and then sprinkled the rest over the meat along with five-spice.

Next he drizzled the steaks with olive oil and rubbed the spices in. He also continued prepping the bowls with chilli oil, soy sauce, and crushed garlic. (Note: We only used one tablespoon of chilli oil each, and it was still really hot. So be careful with it!)

Time to get the tea going! He added two tea bags to the jug along with a spoonful of sugar and the skins of the mandarin and lime.

The grill pan was nicely hot, so he put the steaks in for 2 minutes each side.

Now he went back to the tea and filled the jug halfway with boiling water so it could steep.

Next he prepared the bowl of “garnishes”: beansprouts and coriander.

After two minutes, he flipped the steaks. They looked great!

Time to get the greens going! He prepped the snow peas and sliced up the bok choi and broccoli.

The greens went into the pot with more boiling water from the kettle.

Yet more prepping of the serving bowls! Next he had to slice green onions to place in the bowls.

When the steaks finished cooking, he put them on a clean cutting board to rest. He then grated ginger and chilli onto the board.

Then he drizzled over olive oil and lime juice before tossing the steaks in the dressing.

The next step is to finish the greens. He spread black bean sauce on the serving platter…

…before fishing the veg out with tongs and piling it all on top.

The greens were finished with olive oil and lemon juice. (We could tell at this point they were overcooked. Still, they smelled nice.)

The tea had finished steeping and was a beautiful reddish-pink. The Snook removed the tea bags and added handfuls of ice to cool it down. He also squeezed in the juice of the mandarin and lime.

The egg noodles were added to the cooking water left over from the greens, along with a stock cube.

Yet more prep work on the bowls! He finished them off with lemon juice and a bit of honey.

It was finally time to slice up the steaks. He cut them at an angle and then tossed them in the accumulated juices and dressing.

Here’s the finished dish of steak, complete with coriander garnish.

And here’s the finished jug of iced tea. (We later topped it up with more ice.)

Finally, he dished up the noodles into each bowl to finish. Here’s the completed meal of Dan Dan noodles with rib-eye steaks, greens, and garnishes, along with a glass of chilled hibiscus tea.

Tasting notes: The steak was excellent. Really just perfect. The noodles were good until we dug down and hit all the chilli oil. Yowza! Yeah, we’d definitely use less next time. The greens were overcooked, but the black bean sauce made for a really nice dressing. The tea could’ve been stronger, but it was still sweet and refreshing (which we needed to cut through the chilli). So yeah, our execution of this one wasn’t perfect, but we only need to tweak a few things next time to get it right. It’s a warm, slurpy kind of meal, just the thing for a cold winter’s night. (We had enough steak and greens left over to make another batch of soup for lunch the next day too!) So a 7.5 for execution, but an 8.5 for the concept.

Stay tuned for another recipe from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals!

Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals #17: Pork Chops & Crispy Crackling
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! Read on for a photo essay of the preparation.Pre-start prep: We got out all the necessary ingredients, tools, and cooking vessels. The kitchen was clean (well, as clean as it gets) and everything wiped down and ready to go. The oven was turned to 180C and the kettle was boiled. We had a big roasting tray and frypan for the chops, a saucepan for the cabbage, and a small saucepan for the peaches.

First up are the ingredients for the pork: pork chops (skin on), garlic, fennel seeds, sage, and honey.

Next the smashed potatoes: potatoes, half a lemon, wholegrain mustard, and parsley.

The cabbage is very simple: just cabbage and mint sauce. (We used some of the Snook’s homemade mint sauce.)

And the bits for the dessert: tinned peaches, cinnamon stick, custard, shortbread, and mint (which we didn’t bother with).

Pots and pans, ready to go! The big frypan and the roasting pan are for the pork. The big saucepan is for the cabbage, and the small one is for the peaches.

Here we go! I started by trimming the skin and some of the fat off each of the pork chops to make the crackling. (This wasn’t easy, and I may have lost a few minutes here due to my inexperienced knife skills.)

Then I cut the strips into quarters to make thinner crackling. (Note: We both think we’d leave it thicker next time.)

The skin went into the hot frypan, fat side down.

Now for the potatoes. I gave them a wash and picked off any gnarly bits.

I cut them all in half, then placed them in a bowl with half a lemon, salt, and pepper. A double layer of clingfilm went on top and then they went into the microwave.

Back to the chops. I scored the fat on the back of each one, then seasoned with salt and pepper.

The crackling was getting pretty crispy, so I flipped the pieces over. I also added 8 unpeeled, squashed cloves of garlic.

Next I transferred the garlic and crackling to the roasting pan with some fennel seeds and put it in the oven. I then put the chops in the frypan, standing them on edge to render the remaining fat.

While the chops were cooking, I prepped the cabbage by removing the core and outer leaves, then cutting it into wedges. These went into the saucepan with boiling water to cook.

Once the fat on the chops was golden, I laid them down flat to brown up on each side for a few minutes.

Next I took the roasting tray out of the oven. The garlic was smelling nice.

The pork chops went into the tray, along with some fresh sage. I tossed everything together to coat.

Then the whole thing gets drizzled with honey and put back in the oven to finish.

The dessert didn’t require much cooking. I dumped the peaches into the small saucepan with a cinnamon stick and let it cook.

By now the potatoes were cooked, so I added wholegrain mustard, salt, pepper, and olive oil to the bowl.

Chopped parsley was added, and then I “smashed” everything up as best I could. The potatoes were finished!

The cabbage was now tender, so I took it off the heat and drained it.

The peaches were still simmering away…

To finish the cabbage, I added mint sauce, salt, pepper, and olive oil.

After a quick toss, the cabbage was finished!

At this point, I would like to draw your attention to the benchtop. “Some chefs,” I said pointedly to the Snook, “like to work CLEAN.”

As soon as the oven timer went off, I pulled the finished pork chops out. They looked pretty good!

The finished meal of pork chops with crackling and garlic, minty cabbage, and smashed potatoes.

To finish the dessert, I poured custard into a bowl and topped it with the cooked peaches. Then I crumbled some shortbread on top.

Tasting notes: I had high hopes for the crackling but was disappointed. It was just hard, chewy little shards without much flavour. I really think it needs to be salted before it’s cooked. Rodd said, “I think the crackling method he described is not very effective.” The pork chops were cooked well. We both liked the veg, and Rodd thought that the flavours all worked nicely together. Dessert was a little boring, but hey, it’s hard to go too wrong with fruit and custard. As I said before, this is a decent 8/10 weekday meal but probably not something fancy enough for a date or a dinner party. At only 33 minutes preparation time though, it’s certainly one of the quicker and easier recipes we’ve tried!

Stay tuned for another recipe from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals!

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!