Student kitchens
Easy, delicious, healthy(ish) recipes that won’t own your budget.Archive for easy
Fiery red Christmas
I couldn’t help but notice that red is this year’s Christmas colour (yes, sadly I have made it to the mall more than once in the last week), and so I’ve prepared a little red food porn feast for you. Or at least, I like to think the pictures are pretty. Plus, I think they sum up the summer Christmas thing we’re experiencing. Totally untraditional sounding, and so is the food below, but it doesn’t stop me from feeling festively fabulous because I can finally wear pretty flowing skirts and need to slap on sunscreen and sunnies from all the sunlight. But anyway. I know you’re busy. Whether you choose to make any of the following treats, all I hope for you is that you thoroughly enjoy your Christmas feasting experience, red or not. Enjoy the hours of preparation, or if it’s a simple salad that was thrown together at the last minute, savour every drop of flavour. I don’t mean to go all thanksgiving on you, but since getting into gardening this year, I’ve truly begun to relish my food with new vigour. Happy holidays, and best wishes for the approaching new year.
This could not be any simpler, but is so refreshing (I hear Christchurch will have a sunny, warm Christmas for once, and I am already dithering over whether I should go for a short dress or short shorts…decisions decisions). Simply chop up tomatoes, rip up some basil and if you have some, some flat parsley, sprinkle over some extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, and tada! Pretty summer Christmas in a bowl. Teamed up with a bowl of chopped cucumber, fresh dill, squeeze of lemon juice, olive oil and black pepper, these will add colour, vitamins, and a cool calm respite from the BBQed meats at mealtimes. If you’re feeling a bit alternative:
Light and ridiculously crisp kale chips. Preheat oven to 180C (350F), tear up kale into bite sized pieces, brush with oil, sprinkle with salt, and bake on a single layer for about 5-10 minutes. You can do two trays at a time too. Kale is not exactly a supermarket staple though, you either need to grow it (grows well in winter, so you can plant it now), or head to the farmer’s market to pick it up. Stupidly healthy stuff, and the Kale chips looks ever so Christmasy sitting next to some tomatoes, or even as a bed for some kind of savoury treat.
Do I really need to tell you to scoff as many berries as you possibly can?
These mini cheesecakes ended up sinking, and like a lot of Christmas desserts, seemed to go sadly wrong. But don’t panic. Christmas is not for panicking, remember? You probably don’t remember, but in any case, use a little innovation and soon everyone will be asking why you didn’t flunk that cheesecake on purpose in the first place.
And finally, if you’re feeling domestic, or for some reason you’ve invited a whole bunch of people allergic to berries and have punnets to dispose of within days…make this candied fruit/jam like concoction (who cares really what it ends up as, they both taste fabulous) and throw it over any cakes that were a little too dry, or even plain sponges or your favourite vanilla cake recipe. If you’re short on the berries, throw in some chopped rhubarb stalks. If you’re feeling particularly luxurious, add in a split vanilla bean (or half if you’re not making much). All you need is a large handful of berries (or a mix of berries and rhubarb), a splash of water if you want it more syrupy, and about a cup of plain white sugar. Throw it all in a saucepan and let cook on low heat for about half an hour to an hour, stirring every now and then, until the whole thing is syrupy and heavenly. Your kitchen will now smell like a million dollars.
And any syrupy stuff you have spare is absolutely delicious on ice cream, dissolved in hot water as a tea, or drizzled on french toast the next morning.
Now remember to share! Have a fabulous day :)
The omnom thing
I can’t really describe was this IS, but it was really, really good. I tried to replicate one of my favourite dishes at Ginkgo on Hereford St (the aubergine and potato thing), and while I failed miserably, this worked out to satiate my cravings for something BBQ-y, flavoursome and not too complicated. With potatoes, onions, green peppers, eggplant and tofu (if you used chicken I guess I would envy you), this is easily reheatable the next day (and I would argue it’s nicer, like curry the next day) and is a complete meal in itself. The one thing you will need that not everyone has is a hefty-sized frypan or wok, unless you’re cooking for two (but the leftovers are soooo good).
serves 4
4 large potatoes or equivalent, cut into wedges
1 medium sized eggplant, cut into “fries” about 1cm thick
1 green pepper, cut into strips
1 large onion, cut into wedges
6-8 garlic cloves, chopped finely
100g super firm tofu*, sliced thinly, or 100g cooked chicken
about 2 Tbs char sui sauce* (Lee Kum Kee do the best)
1/4c light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1/4c water
freshly ground black pepper
50g butter or 1/2c oil or a mixture of both (hey, fat makes this dish)
*Available in vacuum packed bags at Chinese supermarkets. Char sui sauce is at most Asian supermarkets.
Add potatoes to a medium large saucepan, just cover with water, turn to high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium high and let boil for 5 minutes, covered. Drain and set aside.
In a small bowl, mix the sauces, water, and pepper until you get a dark, runny sauce that still looks syrupy. Set aside.
Heat half the oil on medium heat in a large deepish frypan (more than 10inches) or wok and add the onions. Let onions cook until golden on the undersides. Add potatoes and eggplant, and the rest of the oil. Leave to cook until the underside of some of the aubergine is golden in bits. Drizzle all the sauce over the veges, and cook until the aubergine goes tender and squishy, stirring occasionally. Serve while hot.
To reheat in the pan, just add a teeny bit of oil and heat it up, then add leftovers to the pan, cover, and cook on medium heat for about 2 minutes. Uncover, stir, cover, and heat for another 2 minutes. Continue until heated all the way through (shouldn’t be too long really).
PS. I do realise this is not in the slightest bit festive, being drafted about three weeks ago… :$ However, this is a pretty good fix for leftover boiled potatoes or a quick one bowl dinner at the end of a long day of (ahem) cooking. Or shopping. Hint: avoid malls in your car like the plague, unless you’re in during work hours.
More miso, less misery
So…I went overseas for about a month and forgot to say anything about it, and then I realised wordpress is blocked in China (where I went). Let’s not get into the political frustration of that right now. Personally, oops, and sorry, and if you bought miso due to my rapturous recommendation last post, then here’s another way to use it. Just as fast and easy, quite a bit more delicious. Before I get down to the recipe (miso glazed noodles with sesame oil and spring onions, plus an optional green salad on the side with a super simple soy and rice wine vinegar dressing), let me show you how ridiculous my 5 square meter garden is right now, after 4 weeks of me being gone:
Planted in my precious 5 square metres: sage, thyme, oregano, carrots, leeks, celery (2 types), 4 types of lettuce, kale, snow peas, mesclun salad leaves (my favourite being mizuna red coral), radishes and spinach. In the pots: leek? onion?, flat parsley, chives, garlic chives, blue cornflowers, blueberry bush, rhubarb, and Bob has half a dozen kids of berries.
That’s after I pulled out about 5 carrots whose tops had grown about a metre high. The front pots do contain some of Bob’s achievements, such as the boysenberries, but other than that, there are very few weeds, and Will didn’t even water the vege garden once (to his credit, he didn’t forget, the plants just kept…growing…). I used some organic fertilisery stuff before I left, but the nitrogen fixing from the snow peas staked at the back must have given the plants around their roots a bit of a boost. I have so much vegetable.
In this section: mesclun salad leaf mix (kale, mizuna, mizuna red coral, mustard streaks, some magenta coloured thing, and a whole bunch or other things I dunno the name of…maybe raddichio?), spring onions, carrots, unhappy (ok, dead) purple beans, and flat parsley. In pots: Marigolds and blue cornflowers, plus some more mesclun salad in the big tub…although maybe I shouldn’t grow any more for a wee while…
This is the second 5 square meter vege garden I dug up, but it doesn’t get nearly as much sun, so the spring onions (which is in the same family of onions, which wards off slugs) surrounding the mesclun mix got a bit weed choked. So far the companion planting seems to be working wonders, as this garden has very few bug bites or problems. Let me know if you’re interested. Before you think I’ve lost my mind gardening, let me show you who I feed some of the scraps to:
Bob and Emily’s rabbits! Adam says the left one looks like a Panda rabbit.
Anyway, onto pressing issues such as how to use up that miso you bought!
Miso glazed noodles
per person
A bunch (about 2cm diameter) of soba/buckwheat noodles (see photo below)
3/4Tbs miso paste
approx 1 Tbs chopped spring onion
approx 1 tsp sesame oil
approx 2 tsp canola or cooking oil
Bring about 2-3c unsalted water to the boil in a saucepan on medium high heat, add noodles. Stir occasionally for about 3-5 minutes, until noodles are softened. Drain, but retain some moisture. Immediately add the rest of the ingredients, and stir until thoroughly combined and evenly distributed. Serve.
These buckwheat/soba noodles are my new version of 2 minute noodles, but healthier and just as versatile. They taste different to 2 minute noodles, but not enough for them to be off putting. They aren’t as cheap, however, with this 1.3kg packet costing about $10 at Kosco on Blenheim Rd (most Asian supermarkets, particularly Korean or Japanese ones, have several varieties in stock). Still…1.3kg is a lot of noodle.
Onto the green salad, which consists of mesclun salad leaves (easy find at the vege section at supermarkets, you can pick as much or as little as you like. Growing is easy too, even in containers) and chopped or shaved cucumber. The dressing is just 1 part good Japanese soy sauce (such as Kikkoman), 2 parts rice wine vinegar or white vinegar, 1 part sesame oil and 1 part canola oil. Use about 2 Tbs dressing per serving for good measure.
I’ve had this for dinner and lunch already, and I’ve only been home 2 days! If you want you can add nuts or chopped hard boiled egg to the salad to add even more protein, but remember miso is relatively high in protein anyway. Good luck, and let me know how it goes!
PS. Anyone notice that I didn’t use my DSLR camera? I got a new point and shoot, and thought I’d try it out. Lightroom did wonders too.
Miso-ry soup
When I have no time to cook, I revert to miso soup, the perfect healthy fast food. Not that I wouldn’t eat it otherwise, but miso soup has become a ritual for me for when I have an essay due (like…erm…now). It’s that time of year for students – the end of term is rolling around, and you’re either partying to celebrate, or if you’re an unfortunate law student, you’ve already been cramming since last week. Well, since forever really. So here is my lunch solution to those of you who don’t mind soggy bread or noodles, and want to eat healthy but comforting for the slogging days ahead. Fortunately, it’s super light, so even on sunny days it’s fabulous.
My version of miso is simply some stale bread chopped up into large chunks, with hot miso and some peas (maybe snow peas if there are some in the garden, or kale or whatever) poured over. It takes about two minutes, and I am not exaggerating. The miso contains a pretty impressive amount of protein, plus the veges and carbs are all in there. If you’re wondering what those flowery things are, they are called miner’s lettuce, and you can get the seeds to grow your own at Kings Seeds. Great for pot planting, plus they are frost hardy so you can grow them any time of year.
So, where does one find miso paste? The supermarket has some in the international food section, but most Asian supermarkets stock it for much less (Korean ones tend to have them in stock more often, like Kosco on Blenheim Rd, and they speak great English so it’s not a hard find). One 500g pottle is just over $5 at Kosco, which will last you ages, since you only need 1 Tbs per person. Wikipedia and Annabel Langbein have some interesting facts about miso as well, if you’re interested. I keep mine in the fridge after opening, and I suggest you do too.
Miso with bread
(quantities are per person)
1 Tbs (approx) miso paste
1 c water (approx)
some peas or snow peas
some spinach, bok choy, or whatever green leaves you have, or even some tofu (optional)
a handful of bread cut into large chunks
Place bread in serving bowl. Bring water to the boil in small saucepan. Add miso paste, smoosh a little to dissolve. Once dissolved, add peas and leaves, cook another minute, and pour over bread. Alternatively to save washing up you can dump the bread in the saucepan and eat out of that… desperate times call for desperate measures, you know?
Miso with noodles
Bring water to the boil in small saucepan. Add whatever noodles you want (I use soba noodles, which are healthy yet delicious, also available at Asian supermarkets), cook according to packet instructions. A minute before they’re done, add miso and dissolve it. Add veges, cook another minute, then serve. If you want you can serve it with a poached egg, just add the egg when you add the noodles (just be careful when mixing not to break the yolk).
Just a note: try not to eat more than one bowl of this a day. Miso has a very high sodium content, so unless you get the low sodium stuff, a bowl a day will keep your bodily bits happy.
PS. If you’re wondering about the title, it’s referring to the misery of being too busy to cook. That and existing the day before your essay is due. Sigh.
Taste and haste – apple oat muffins
I am a big fan of Donna Hay. Which is why I was truly elated when I received her Fruit book from my good friend Gina as part of a 21st present. So many helpful hints, definitions for the amateur cook, recipes using the proper measurements…all illustrated with a photography style to envy. However, before I wax lyrical about the loveliness of simple setups and beautiful colour combinations, I shall share the first recipe I tried from the book. As a poor student, I had to improvise a little with the recipe, but even so, I ended up with beautiful muffins, moist and flavoursome, despite the minimal effort required.
As breakfast muffins, these really hit the spot, and I like to think a little healthy with the fruit and the oats. You can easily use a little wholemeal flour (I’ve tried half and half) and you can’t taste the difference really, so if you’re not normally a wholemeal fan, give it a try. The more whole grain goodness you get in there the longer they’ll last you through the day! Which is always nice when you’re at Uni and you realise you have a negative balance on your card. Gah.
Breakfast muffins
makes 12 (I usually divide the recipe by 3 and make 4 but you can freeze them)
3/4c (185ml) oil
1 1/3 c caster sugar (for a milder sweetness)
1/2 c milk or yogurt
3 eggs
3 c flour, sifted
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 c rolled oats, plus some for sprinkling
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 apple, grated
optional: 1 banana, mashed, 250g strawberries, chopped
1 Tbs raw sugar (for sprinkling)
Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Whisk together the oil, caster sugar, milk and eggs until everything is fully incorporated (preferably in a medium large bowl). Sift together the flour, baking powder, oats and cinnamon. Mix in the fruit to the flour mixture. Pour in the liquid mixture, until just incorporated – do not over mix. Spoon into lightly greased muffin tins or ramekins, and sprinkle with some of the rolled oats and raw sugar. Bake 25 minutes in centre of oven or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Let cool in the tin for about 10 minutes before serving.
Oven fries, tried and true.
You’d think something like oven baked chips would be a simple process. If not, a simple google search would surely tell you how to solve the dilemma of getting your chips not to stick, or someone will have posted why they never come out all crunchy like the pre-fried, frozen packeted stuff. Even if you want to bombard me with links confirming your convictions in the food blogosphere, I will tell you this much: every trick that I’ve picked up from google searches and otherwise perfectly likeable food blogs have not made me a happy oven chip maker. Why? Well, even if I wasn’t too lazy to boil the potatoes first for the exact right amount of time, then coat them in chickpea flour to make them crunchy, and somehow on top of that remember to preheat the oven with the pan and oil in…would I? I can say right now that I’ve never done all three, and pretty much never intend to. You know why? Because, GODDAMNIT, they are oven fries. If I wanted perfect fries, it ain’t hard to find them in less time and effort. If I was in the mood for finicky business, I’d make a filo pie or something, right? With caramelised onions, just to up the potential for screw ups (do not ask me about screw ups, by the way, unless you’d like a lengthy rant about the perils of whisking your own mayo or the importance to always use common sense, no matter what a recipe tells you…oh, wait, too late, I seem to have expelled a lengthy sentence within brackets already).
It’s okay…the need to insert a picture has somewhat distracted me. Basically, I thought it was high time for me to post the method I finally figured out that didn’t involve much effort, had a total cooking time of only 30 minutes (even frozen fries require about that much time, except maybe for shoestring fries), and were acceptable to the palate. Of course, I didn’t manage this all on my own, and credit must be given to Emily, new flatmate addition, for making chips one night. There I stood, disbelieving, and now here I am, converted. I may use two to three times as much oil as Emily does, but really, if you’re going to punish me for that, you’re evidently just a nit picker. Nit picker.
One thing I will say about the oil quantity: Loads of oil will mean the chips will end up softening as they cool. On the other hand, if you skimp on the oil, your chips will be relatively hard but drier, which is fine if you plan to drown them in aioli, but I figure I should mention these things. At the end of this post I will also provide some tips should you one day decide to take on the task of making the perfect oven chips/wedges, you nutjob. Heh. Only kidding. Also, I know the guide looks long, but really, I’m just giving you very detailed instructions and tips throughout so that there is pretty much no way you’ll screw this up, unless your oven explodes unexpectedly or something.
The guide to EASY, no-anguish oven fries/wedges
potatoes
oil
salt
pepper
herbs (optional)
Preheat your oven to 230C (450F), with one rack arranged on the VERY bottom, and one rack arranged on the VERY top of the oven. Grease 1-2 baking trays or flat bottomed roasting dish with about half as much oil as you intend to use (see above my note about oil quantity and how it affects chip texture). Cut your potatoes into chip shapes, about 1cm wide and 1cm thick, or wedges about 2cm thick. Place them on your greased tray(s) as you go, all on a single layer, leaving enough space between the chips. This bit is key to the not sticking part of the process – make sure you leave at least a 1mm gap between every chip. Corners can touch, but not sides. Drizzle the potatoes with the second half of the oil you intend to use, and brush with a pastry brush or the back of a spoon to coat the chips in oil (unless you like hard, leathery chips). Remember to maintain that 1mm distance between the chips. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and herbs if you want.
Now, you can do two trays at a time with this method, or one tray (I think one tray serves one relatively student as lunch on its own), but the rotation halfway is essential. Once your oven is up to temperature, place trays in, one on the very bottom, one on the very top. If you’re only doing one tray, start the chips on the bottom rack (they stick the least) Set your timer for 15 minutes (although I’d check at 10, just in case). Once the 15 minutes are up, swap the trays over, or move your single tray from the bottom to top rack. Let bake another 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven once the tops and bottoms are golden, or have golden patches. Wedges may need a few extra minutes. Let cool on trays for a minute before removing with a heatproof spatula or tongs.
Serve with your favourite sauce, or on their own.
Tips & Tricks
Crunch
Instead of putting the potatoes straight onto your tray, put them in a large bowl and add 3/4 of the oil, some chickpea flour, and any herbs/spices you like, plus salt. Toss to just coat the chips/wedges in the mixture, and then spread out on your oven trays.
If you want the chips to be as not-soft as possible, place a napkin/paper towels/serviettes in your serving bowl before putting them in the bowl.
Flavour
Check out my simple cajun spice mix. For a really simple flavour boost, you can use garlic salt (sprinkle onto chips 15 minutes into cooking when rotating so the heat doesn’t zap the flavour), mixed herbs, or simply a pinch of cayenne pepper or chilli powder to add a spicy punch. Lemon pepper always goes well with any sort of seafood.
Check out my sauces and dressings page if you feel like whipping up a really simple dipping sauce while the chips are cooking. Personally I’m a big sucker for tartare, but of course, it all depends on your mood and the day.
Functional quiche
I’ve done quiche recipes in the past, but there are a few things about this one that are worth a mention. The tart dough is what’s leftover from making a Frangipani tart (that’s an almond-y tart), and it’s completely different to the shortcrusts I normally whip up in ten minutes (check past quiche recipes for the fast crust if you’re short on time).
The dough I used is super flaky, very much like using puff pastry, yet doesn’t require nearly as much folding. I made a very thin crust, so the edges were even crisper. You can of course use any pastry dough you want, but this one will be a winner on my list for a good long while. Meanwhile, the filling is the sort of thing you wack up in ten minutes, with whatever veges you have lying around, some eggs, and salt. So really, it’s like an egg & vegetable tart. No added cream makes it really easy to decide to whip up on the day without really needing to pop out for extra ingredients (especially if you make the pastry ahead of time and freeze it…or I suppose you could use store bought…sigh). Perfect for lunch the next day, reheated or cold.
I also got to use my brand new non stick quiche pan, which has higher sides and bigger folds, making it super cute and pretty. What can I say – I’m a sucker for kitchenware sales ($10 from Stevens, down 50%). Bring on the quiches and tarts with a decent heft of filling, I say!
For this particular quiche I used some small broccoli florets and onion that I cooked up first, plus some mushrooms and peas – a strange combination, I know, but it makes a decent lunch with the inclusion of all that greenery, you see.
Super casual, functional yet delicious vege quiche.
makes one 9″ quiche, just under 1″ thick (serving 4 as a large side)
Crust (makes 2 lots, I say make it all and freeze half for using later)
from Manggy’s blog No Special Effects
150g unsalted butter, chopped into 1 inch cubes and frozen 20 mins beforehand
225g (1 1/2 c + 1 Tbs) flour
1/2 tsp salt
75ml (approx 1/3c) super cold water
First thing to do is put your cold water in the freezer. Meanwhile, cut butter, flour and salt together with two knives, two forks, a pastry cutter or a food processor. Do not do this with your fingers, as the heat from your hands will soften the butter and it will not turn out flaky. You want the largest chunks of butter to only be about 2cm at the greatest length, and the whole thing to look like breadcrumbs with some small lumps of butter in. Remove water from the freezer and add gradually to the flour & butter mixture, using a spoon to bring it together into a dough. Only add as much water as is needed to get the dough to come together. Here you may need to use your hands to incorporate the last bits of flour (best to rinse hands in cold water first). See, cold kitchens can come in handy!
Divide the dough in half, form a ball with each half, and flatten into a disc. Place in a plastic bag and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. If you want to make the quiche as a speedy dinner, it’s best to prep the dough the night before.
Filling
4-5 free range eggs
1c broccoli , cut into small walnut sized florets
1 onion, chopped finely
approx 1/3c frozen peas
1 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
pinch dried oregano
cooking oil
optional: 1/2c grated strong cheese
Heat about 1 Tbs oil in a frypan over medium heat. Add onions, oregano and broccoli to the pan, and cook, stirring every 2 minutes, until onion is golden and translucent and the broccoli has changed colour to a much brighter green. You’re only half cooking the broccoli at this stage remember, as it will cook further in the oven. Remove pan from heat, and add frozen peas to the hot pan, and let defrost in the pan.
Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and salt until slightly frothy. Set aside.
Construction
This bit requires you to work speedily, so the pastry stays cold (and turns out flaky). Preheat the oven to 190C (375F), with a rack in the center. Grease a 9″ cake tin, quiche pan with removeable bottom or 9″ springform cake tin (unless they’re nonstick). Make sure all your filling ingredients are ready to go. Flour a working surface, and roll one portion of your dough out to a 13″ circle (you want just under 2 inches of overhang on each side to be the edge of your quiche). Fit into your prepared pan (if using a cake tin, you may need to press the pastry to the sides).
Pour the whisked eggs into the crust, and scatter the broccoli and onion over evenly. Scatter over the mushrooms, and then the cheese. Finish with freshly ground black pepper. Bake in the center of your oven for about 30 minutes (check at 20 minutes), until the sides are golden and the egg filling is just set. Remove from tin and cut up to serve on a chopping board or similar. Enjoy with a fresh salad. 
Fast flatbread, in the pan and out in 15 minutes
No yeast, no rising, no proofing, but still springy, soft with a crunch, and bread-y – not like a cracker-like flatbread, or the base of thin and crispy pizzas. Yes, I know, hardly an inspired opening line, but honestly, that sums this up – it’s unfussy, without need for extravagant investments or dilly-dallying, highly functional, yet fantastic. The best thing around when it’s too late to make rice, or you want a change from pasta and noodles, or when you’re out of yeast, or when you simply can’t, or don’t want to, wait hours for your dough to rise.
For dipping, for serving with soup, alongside a quick lunch-y salad, or just as a snack, this is so easy. I’ve a few tips, as the first time I made this it was a disaster, in more ways than one. I had expected it to come out perfect, and was crushed the way you get crushed when your parents tell you a a kid that there was a last minute call from the office and they won’t be taking you to Disneyland anymore. But no matter – let’s focus on the dozens of perfect flatbreads I’ve produced since then.
Tibetan flatbread, from Fuji Mama (great pics)
makes one 22cm round flatbread, 3cm (just under 1″) thick
3/4 c wholemeal flour*
3/4 c plain white flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup + 2 Tbsp. water, separated
2 Tbsp oil
*If you have no wholemeal but have wheat bran and germ, you can use 1/4c of each plus 1/4c of white instead of wholemeal flour.
Mix flours, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl. Make a well in the center, pour in 3/4c water, and mix (preferably with spatula) until you get a very wet dough – almost like a cake batter, adding the last 1/4c water if necessary. Avoid over mixing.
Add oil to a COLD frypan, and spread it out a little. Scrape the dough into the pan, and spread it out with a spatula or spoon to the edge of the pan. Dribble 2 Tbsp water around the edge of the dough, cover the pan, and turn heat to medium, setting a timer for 10 minutes. Try to use a cooking element that covers the whole base of the frypan. Let cook for 10 minutes, then uncover, and flip, then set the timer for another 5 minutes. It MAY stick when you try to flip it – if this is the case let the pan cool on a cold element for about 30 seconds, then try to dislodge the bread.
Remove the bread from the pan to a chopping board, and cut into wedges to serve (I like to cut it in half, then cut very long, thin wedges). Enjoy!
Winter greens – bok choi with mushrooms, soy and oyster sauce
I searched Tastespotting and Foodgawker recently for winter recipes, and I was finished looking in under half an hour. Most of the recipes involved things like “injecting some spring into your winter,” or using summer veges preserved from the summer. Unfortunately, my tomato harvest only just covered my summer appetite, and buying spring veges is expensive. However, I do have plenty of bok choy in the garden, and because it’s a winter vegetable, there are plenty of cheap bok choy options at the green grocers, asian supermarkets, and even regular supermarkets. Obviously, the Asian route will be cheapest and freshest, plus there are heaps of little varieties that are perfect for this dish.
This is my favourite way to have bok choy now. It’s a little more effort than simply flash-cooking it in the pan with some oil and salt, but ZOMG it is so worth it. Plus the mushrooms soak up all the saucey flavoury goodness and taste phenomenal. If you use little bok choy, they look soo cute and pretty too! Especially arranged in a circle with the bok choy acting as petals, and the mushrooms in the middle…and sauce drizzled all…over…*drools*
By the way, before I divulge the recipe, if you have any space for growing bok choi, it grows fine in winter (you may want to start the seeds off inside and then transplant them to speed the process up) and is actually improved by frosts once slightly matured. It’s soooo much nicer home grown, and you can always peel off the outer leaves and it will keep growing quite happily. Slugs are more of a problem in summer, so now or early spring is a great time to plant them. Kings Seeds offer the best selection (search Pak choi) – if you want to save the seed, remember not to get hybrid varieties. Other names this goes by is: Pak Choi, Bai Chai (Mandarin), “Asian” Greens.
Bok Choi with mushrooms, soy & oyster sauce.
makes one plate serving two as a side dish
one medium sized bunch (about 400g) small bok choy, halved vertically (along the stem). If using just leaves, cut in half horizontally (across the stem), or if using fully mature bok choy, quarter each one vertically. Make sure to wash the dirt from in between the leaves (do this by peeling back the leaves gently without detaching them).
6 button mushrooms halved, or 2 portobello mushrooms, cut into sixths, or shiitake mushrooms soaked overnight, sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 Tbs cooking oil
4 Tbs light soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
pinch salt and pepper to taste
sesame oil for drizzling
Mix soy sauce and oyster sauce together until oyster sauce is fully dissolved in a small bowl, and set aside.
In a large frypan, heat cooking oil on medium high heat. Once the pan is hot, throw in garlic and mushrooms, and cook until one side of the mushrooms has changed colour to be slightly translucent looking. Add all the bok choi stems first, and let cook for about 15 seconds before flipping with tongs. Add soy and oyster sauce combination, turn off heat, and stir sauce in. Let bok choi leaves wilt (you may want to leave some slightly unwilted, as they will wilt further once plated) and stems go slightly translucent and greener, and plate with tongs, arranging however you like (they look prettiest with the middle showing, as pictured below. Drizzle over sesame oil, add a sprinkling of black pepper if desired, and nom.
Pick me up slice
Now that Uni is well under way again, I feel the need to introduce everyone to the humble muesli slice. They last for a good wee while, act as breakfast or a snack, and will save you heaps of money by making them yourself. Being incredibly versatile, they are great for using up leftover nuts, seeds, or dried fruit. They’re also incredibly easy and quick to make. As a bonus, they’re probably slightly better for you than most slices at cafes, with more fibre, protein, and vitamins and minerals from all those nuts, seeds, and wholegrains.
Personally, I think I could have used FAR less sugar, but for those of you who have an unsatiable desire for dental decay and hyperactive mornings, I have left the recipe unaltered. I think mine was super sweet because I added raisins, whereas originally you don’t need them because of the dates. So be warned! If you’re using both dates and another sweet dried fruit, maybe halve the added brown sugar, or even quarter it.
Date, honey and oat slice
makes one 8×8″ slice, about half an inch thick.
100g butter, melted together with 1 Tbs liquid or clear honey or golden syrup
1c rolled oats (the quick cooking kind)
1c roughly chopped dates
1/2c wholemeal flour
1/2c light brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
about 1/2c – 2/3c total various nuts, seeds, or dried fruit, with large nuts chopped or slivered
optional: small handful of pumpkin or sunflower seeds, or 1 tsp sesame or poppy seeds.
Add sugar, flour and baking powder to the butter and honey mix, creating a very wet sticky dough. Preheat oven to 180C, with a rack centered.
Add all your other ingredients and mix well until everything is incoporated evenly. Line an 8×8″ square baking tin with baking paper, leaving wings on two sides (see picture). If you have some, scatter some sesame, pumpkin or poppy seeds onto the baking paper to minimise sticking. Shuffle the muesli into the baking try and using some sort of flat device, or your palms, pack the mixture down as tightly as possible. Scatter the top with more seeds, and press down again.
Bake for about 15 minutes, until the edges go golden and the slice is slightly puffed in places. Let cool in tin before attempting to remove. Pull out using the wings of baking paper, remove the paper from the slice, and cut into whatever shape you feel like (I usually cut them into 8 bars). Great with a sugarless coffee or tea in the morning.
