September 14, 2012

• Fun in the Kitchen, Actually Cooking! 3 for 1. :)

   

   

   

  As well as screaming at rats and taking photos of pretty silver things in the sky, I actually did a load of food stuff in the kitchen yesterday when I got home from work. Yayy!

  I plonked Shane on top of the washing machine (his regular vantage point so he can hear what’s going on), and made three things.

  (Pearl, I didn’t have enough salt to ‘brine’ the potatoes properly for your recipe, so I’ll be making that on Sunday after I buy some more. It looks too good to not do it properly!)

  First up, ‘Crushed New Potatoes with Turmeric Cream’. Though, because I had no turmeric either, it’s actually ‘Crushed New Potatoes with Ground Cumin and Black Onion Seed Cream’, with a spring onion (scallion) sliced in for good measure. *Drools a bit*

   

  

  1) Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Cook potatoes in a large pan of water for 6~8 minutes until just cooked. Drain well, place in a single layer in a shallow ovenproof dish, and lightly crush the back of each spud with a fork. Cool slightly.

  2) Meanwhile, heat a large pan and add the turmeric/cumin & onion seeds/whatever spice you fancy! (Says Mouse Toast over a low heat for 30 seconds. Add the cream (350mls/12 fl.oz), bring to the boil, and simmer for one minute.

  3) Allow to cool. Stir in a massive handful of chopped parsley and the sliced spring onion, and pour over the potatoes. Bake for 35~40 minutes until bubbling. Serve immediately. (Or allow to cool, cover and refridgerate, and keep your hands away from it ‘cos it’s for dinner at work the next day!) More to come….. >

   

  While that was in the oven, I made Pesto. Shane got me into this in a big way when he was over here in February, and this was the second lot I’ve made since then.

  

  Instead of using my blender/liquidiser thing that takes forever ‘cos I have to keep stopping it and dragging all the stuck leaves from around the blades, I did it totally by hand with a pestle and mortar. *Polishes halo for a second time in as many days*

  The amount of each ingredient is pretty much ‘as you like it’, plus I’ve thrown the packets in the bin and can’t remember the sizes.

  One big packet of pine nuts.

  2 bags of fresh basil.

  3 fat cloves of garlic.

  1 green chilli. (Not the really hot, skinny ones unless you like it that hot!)

  Olive oil.

  It was basically a case of grinding everything up in the mortar with the pestle (or the other way around??). I started with the nuts, put them in a bowl, then added a little of it to small amounts of ripped basil leaves to give something to pound against. Then the garlic and chilli, and finally just stirred in enough olive oil to sort of bind it all together without being sloppy. It keeps for ages in a sealed tub in the fridge, but doesn’t usually last long….

   

  Finally, here’s what I actually made to eat then, for tea. Prawn, Ginger and Pak Choi Noodle Soup ~ truly delicious! Nice and light when the weather’s hot, but with enough kick from the ginger to wake your mouth up.

  The Ingredients ~

  

  What I did with them ~ Boil a big pan of water (1.5 liters). Throw in a couple of stock cubes (I used 1 veggie and 1 chicken), and a packet of dried noodles. (‘Ramen’ noodles, Shane tells me you guys in the States call them). Slice up a couple of pak choi, and peel & slice thinly a big lump of fresh ginger (that thing that looks like a mini banana is the amount I used. Throw a packet of cooked King Prawns into the pot, along with the pak choi and ginger, and let it all bubble away for a couple of minutes ’til the pak choi softens but the prawns don’t end up like leather. And this is what you get at the end!

  

  Yummy yummy yummy.

   

   

   

  • 2:05 pm
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