Pork & pumpkin – my 30 minute meal

I’ve finally started cooking with a bit more vigour again. Probably because I’ve got a cooking “partner” now. Also, I bought Jamie (Oliver)’s book 3o minute meals. I’ve tried 3 mains and a salad. Really – I can’t cook them in 30 minutes, Jamie.

This is what I can cook in 30 minutes – Pork and pumpkin stirfry! It also will get a tick from the 4 ingredients book I just realised! It’s very welcomed by Joel, Elijah and myself ( I’m sure Toby too, but there’s hardly any left usually ). I’m sure most would enjoy it too except my father who absolutely abhors pumpkin.

3-4 cloves Garlic, 400gm minced pork ,800gm roughly slicked Japanese pumpkin ,1/2 -3/4 tbsp soy sauce. Coriander for garnishing.

Mince 3-4 garlic cloves. Fry them in medium heat with some oil till slightly fragrant. Add on roughly 400gms minced pork. Keep frying on medium heat till pork is slightly browned. Add about 800gms of japanese pumpkin and mix through with the pork. Add about one cup of water (2oomls) then close with a lid to let simmer and cook the pumpkin thoroughly. Check after 5 minutes and add more water if needed. It is ready however you like your pumpkin to be. Have it with rice.

Muffin Jackpot

The recipe muffins I’ve collected over time (to me) either contained too much oil or fat in them or had that alkaline taste to it because of the baking soda or baking powder which my husband does not like. Therefore with this one, I feel as though I’ve hit the muffin ” jackpot”. It contains only 2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil for about 12 non-overflowing American sized muffins and did not have that odd taste to it. So, it’s a winner with us and makes a great on-the-go breakfast. Well, it still has a moderate amount of sugar which could be reduced or replaced with honey which I have not personally tried. (Not that honey has no sugar or is far superior than sugar ). This recipe comes from  “Tarts”, a cafe in Western Australia and supplied by Delicious magazine.

2 1/2 cups (375gm) self-raising flour

1 cup (220gm) caster sugar

1/2 cup (90gm) white chocolate drops – I didn’t have any in the fridge so I just used my dark chocolate and broke in into bite size pieces

2 eggs

2 tablespoons sunflower oil – I used canola oil

1/2 cup (140gm) natural yoghurt – I used Jalna pot set natural yoghurt which was reduced fat

3/4 cup (185ml) milk – again, I used low fat milk

1/2 cup fresh or frozen berries

1. Preheat oven to 180 C. Line muffin trays. This makes about 12 if you’re not intending for muffin “tops” – the overflow bits. I find this can be messy sometimes for me.

2. Mix flour, sugar and chocolate in a large bowl.

3. Mix eggs, oil, yoghurt and milk in another bowl.

4. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones. Then fold in the mixed berries.

5. Spoon the mixture into the muffin trays and bake for 25-30mins until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool for 5-10mins.

Enjoy without too much guilt! The blueberries can be replaced with banana or maybe peaches ( I haven’t tried )

* Take care not to overmix because with any cakes /muffins it will become chewy in texture.

Poh’s new show

I stumbled upon Poh’s Kitchen yesterday on the ABC channel. I remember reading she was coming up with this TV show and finally it is here! She made a chiffon cake which I have never attempted but I love eating chiffon cakes, and the guest chef made almond croissants… ohhh yum yum! I love almond croissants. I thought it was good that she had explanations about the chiffon cake ( eg why they called for the non grease, non stick pan ) instead of just dumping the recipe for viewers to make. Some cooking shows I’ve watched just tell you add this and that and here comes the bbbbbeeautiful cake! When I was younger I made some cookies which turned out ROCK hard and I think from that day on I became more skeptical of recipes if they just don’t sound quite right.

Ahhh okay, once I deliver my baby ( and I pray I will have a  smooth delivery and a fantastic boy who drinks and sleeps like clockwork … okay all mothers’ can roll your eyes and say “yeah right” ) perhaps I should make time once a week to bake all these yummies. Or, alternatively pass baby on to my wonderful, compassionate, understanding husband while I bake. Or any volunteers out there? ( You get to sample the finished product for your time )

Okay let me not digress too much. For you Poh fan’s out there since Masterchef, catch her on ABC1 18:30pm Wednesdays, or ABC2 18:00pm Thursdays or on ABCiView.

Orange Chiffon Cake

Almond Croissant

Duck and a sleepless night

Another sleepless night. Nowadays, when I have people over at our house I can’t get to sleep till wee hours in the morning perhaps about 4-5 am. It is quite fustrating as I toss trying to get to sleep and finally wake up because I know it is futile just lying there.

We celebrated 2 birthdays in a night and I managed to try a duck recipe from another blogger, Terri. Her blog is good and I enjoy reading and trying her recipes. Yes, I think it is meant to be Lor Up or Teochew Duck. However I think the original recipe is more complex. Although I am half Teochew (from mum’s side) I’ve never cooked this before as my mum doesn’t know the recipe herself . So I think I better do some pestering to get the real deal. Anyway, I was happy with the outcome and hope my guests were happy enough as a compensation for the birthday cake I attempted as it was … perhaps a disaster. Boo.

The duck was not difficult to cook, but I’ve never cooked a duck ever before hence I was cautious to try not to burn or spoil it. I also went “duck” hunting to see where they stock it. I found them at Woolies and the Adelaide Central Market and specialty butchers. The whole ducks I saw were of course more expensive than chickens (free-range) and the cheapest I found was in Woolies and shockingly not the market by about $2-3/kg. This is for the same type of duck, same source and packaging! Goes to show our fresh market is not cheap so shop around.

Anyway, onto the recipe! It took me 2 hours this first time but it could be faster the next time as I’m sure practise makes perfect.

1 whole duck

180ml light soya sauce (I used less the Terri)

150gm sugar

about 250-300ml water

7 thick slices ginger

4-5 Tbsp vegetable oil

1. In a cold wok, put oil then add sugar and ginger. Then heat up the wok till medium and stir sugar till melted and slightly golden (caramelised ). I found that quite a bit of my sugar did not completely melt however this did not affect the outcome as it will dissolve later.

2. Add the duck and sear the skin till golden brown all over by turning all over.

3. Add soy sauce and water and stir. Bring the sauce to simmer then cover for about 1 hour or until cooked.

4. Remove oil and if the sauce is too runny simmer a little longer uncovered to reduce. Add soy sauce/sugar to adjust to taste and serve with duck.

Hope you try this!

* We didn’t chop the duck up but I think this would be a good idea next time as some pieces were bigger than others and the guests might be shy so guess you have to do the work.

Homemade pizza

So I did get up to making pizza after pesto. Afterall, I did want fuss-free easy meals for the weekend. I was disappointed and horrified at first because my trusty bread machine (maybe not so trusty afterall) did not churn out the dough it usually does – smooth and soft. Instead the dough was slightly hard, and underproved. After contemplating, I decided I’d still use it – afterall if I baked mixed flour, water, yeast and oil surely it can somehow be eaten right? And the dough really was very forgiving. I kneaded it with a little more water, pinrolled it freestyle and added pizza toppings and voila! – the dough was quite good after baking. And the best part is, no need for second proving for pizza dough – just straight into the oven. I think what must have happened is it needed slightly more water for the bread machine and unfortunately sometimes I can’t judge when using it (as appose to hand kneading). If kneading by hand, I’m sure it’ll turn out well.

As for the pesto, it was a good alternative to tomato pizza base. A little goes a long way; it had a generous flavour for a little spread.

Now, I just need to check out why my bread machine acted out… I’ll have to try the recipe again with more water this time.

Pizza dough - makes 2  roughly 30cm pizza ( depending how thick you like your crust )

7 gm (2 1/2 tsp) instant dried yeast

3 tsp caster sugar

3 1/2 cups (435gm) white bread flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil

1. ( This is the hand knead version as I haven’t retried with the bread machine ). Place yeast, sugar and 1/3 cup (80mls) of warm water in a bowl, stir well and leave in a draught free place for 5 mins or until bubbles appear on the surface. If it doesn’t bubble discard because the yeast is dead and start again.

2. Sift flour and salt in a bowl and make a well in the center. Add the yeast mixture, oil and 1/2 cup (125ml) warm water and mix together. Add more water if dough is dry. Gather the dough and knead until soft and elastic.

3. Place dough in an big oiled bowl and cover with a damp towel. Leave aside for 1- 1 1/2 hours or until dough has doubled in size.

4. Once dough has proved, punch down and divide into 2. Knead briefly on a lightly floured surface for about 2 mins and shape into desired shape.

I like thinner pizzas and therefore my dough was under 1cm thick when rolled/pressed out.

5. Top with your favourite toppings and bake at 190 C for about 30mins. The thinner the dough the faster the baking time.