Thai red beef curry ... my way, the easy way!!

I'm sorry there haven't been many posts recently. We've just moved house and busy settling in, plus day job deadlines just got in the way. I'm so sorry, but I'm back on track now. On to the post ...

I found a jar of Thai red curry paste in the pantry and since I did not know what to make for dinner tonight, I decided to make a Thai red curry using the curry paste and do it with beef. In case you're curious, this is the curry paste I used.

As always, I sort of followed the instructions in the jar but I added a few additional things of my own, so this is not your traditional Thai red beef curry, but more my version of it.

Here's the recipe for what I did:

Ingredients:

• 1 jar Thai red curry paste (any brand)
• 2 brown onions cut into large chunks
• 800g casserole beef cut into slightly large bite size chunks
• 1 large can coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons garlic and chili sauce / paste
• 2 cups beef stock
• 1 heaped teaspoon hot chili powder (optional, only if you want it to kick)
• Olive oil
• Salt to taste

Instructions:

• In a large frying pan, slightly cook the onions in some olive oil until slightly translucent, remove.
• Add some more olive oil into the frying pan, put in the whole jar of curry paste and fry over heat for about 2 minutes.
• Add beef chunks and coat beef in curry paste and fry for a few minutes until the beef is well coated.
• Transfer beef chunks and curry paste into a dutch oven, add onions into the pot.
• Put the pot over heat and pour in the can of coconut milk. Note: shake the can well before opening.
• Add another can (about 2 cups) of beef stock and mix well with coconut milk.
• Add garlic and chili sauce, and taste to see if you are happy with the taste. If not, add a little more chili sauce and if you want more kick in your curry, add the chili powder.
• Bring the curry to a boil and cover.
• Put into oven at 120°C for 3 hours, checking occasionally that it has not dried up, and adding more beef stock if necessary.
• After 3 hours and beef is tender, bring out of oven.
• Add salt to season to your taste if necessary.
• Serve over rice with some vegetables on the side or a light green salad.

This is a pretty easy curry to make overall, mostly because the curry paste is already pre-made and you don't have to do that from scratch. I expect it would be a lot more involved if you (or I) had to make the curry paste from scratch, but I have to admit that I don't like doing that, just because I don't like the way the stuff makes my entire apartment smell, so I'm happy to get it out of a jar. Just make sure that you get a good quality Asian brand, though any brand will do, because you are adjusting the flavor with additional chili sauce and stock to suit.

Most curries will tell you that you can just bring it to a boil and simmer over the stove for 10 minutes until the beef is cooked and it will be ready to serve. I don't do that because (1) I like my beef to be tender and slow cooking it in the oven will give me lovely tender beef and (2) it also allows the curry, chili and stock flavors to slowly integrate. You will get a much more well rounded flavor with slow cooking it.

I used beef stock in the recipe because I like that it gives the curry a lot more depth in the flavor, otherwise, I find the curry has too many high notes and not enough depth. If you don't want to use beef stock, feel free to just use water. With water, you will get a lot of just the curry paste coming through and I often find that the flavors are not well rounded enough with just the curry paste, hence the beef stock.

The entire apartment smelled a great deal of curry for the afternoon as this was cooking in the oven, but by the time I was done, the flavors were well integrated and the beef was tender. Definitely worth slow cooking in the oven!!

In total, I slow cooked the beef for 3 hours at 120°C for 3 hours and then another hour at 90°C but that was more because we were not ready to eat yet and I kept it in the oven to keep it warm. Something to note too, at 120°C, the liquid did not dry up though the curry sauce did thicken up a little, and I did not have to add more stock.

The curry was absolutely delicious and The Boy even had seconds, which is unusual these days because he's on a sort of diet and cutting back on the quantities he's eating.

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Happy birthday to me ... at Two Naughty Chooks

It was recently my birthday ... okay, not so recently, since this post is very belated, but I did have a birthday. :-) As with all birthdays, it is our tradition to go out for a nice meal to a restaurant of my choosing (for my birthday) - The Boy chooses for his birthday!

This year, I picked what is now my current favorite restaurant - Two Naughty Chooks.

We discovered this restaurant last year when we went to a wine tasting dinner, and discovered how amazing the chefs at the restaurant were. This restaurant is owned and run by a husband and wife chef team, Wayne and Brooke Dermody.

Wayne used to work at the Margan Winery restaurant, which is reputed to be a very good restaurant in the region, though now that Wayne is not there, I don't think the food is as good.

As with wine, you follow the winemaker, so too when it comes to chefs and restaurants ... follow the chef!

Two Naughty Chooks offers a wide range of meals on their menu and while it is easy to pick three or four courses from the menu, I prefer to let Wayne surprise me. Of course, everything that comes out, even when I order the "Chef's Choice" is cooked fresh and also from the menu.

This time we went with a four course meal with 2 entrees each, 1 main and 1 dessert.

For entrees, because there were 2 for each of us, it meant that we were able to try out 4 entrees from the menu and we got:

• Mushroom dumplings with sesame soy dressing and chilli jam
• Seared confit chicken wing with corn veloute and romesco
• Beef carpaccio with egg, Parmesan, almonds, pangratatto and truffle balsamic
• Pan roasted langoustine, chimichurri and toasted brioche

Needless to say, these were all sensational.

Mains again were a surprise, and we each got a different one. This is great because is means we get to share and taste each others meals too. We got:

• Lamb rump with cous cous, pearl onions, spinach and jus
• Brisk pastry wrapped ham hock with smoked onion puree and creamed leek

Of course, both extremely tasty.

By the time we got to dessert, we were both pretty full but we found some room for it. For dessert, we ended up with:

• Zokoko chocolate parfait with brownie, crunchy almonds, and milk and mint sorbet
• Banana creme brulee with choc hazelnut purr pastry

It was incredible meal and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

We have a wedding anniversary coming up, I wonder if we'll go there again. I'm sure the menu would have changed as we are getting into the winter season now. :-)

Also, if you've seen my recent blog post about a creamy chicken and truffle pasta, this is where I get my truffle stuff from.

Let me know if you have a favorite restaurant that you love to go to for special ocassions. Be sure to post pictures for me to see either on Instagram or on my Daz In The Kitchen Facebook page.


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How to simmer without boiling over or burning ... guaranteed!!!

This is going to be a very short and simple post of a quick tip which works for me every single time!!

A lot of recipes will ask that you simmer something for 20 minutes on low heat or medium heat.

Very often, I'm pretty sure most of the time, actually, you will simmer the pot of whatever is cooking, be it soup, stew or sauce on the stove top. This can lead to the pot boiling over if it's too hot or burning if you forget to watch the pot.

What I do is I simmer in the oven.

Yes, you heard me right, I said simmer in the oven. :-)

Water boils at 100°C or 212°F, so I set my oven to between 100°C and 120°C or 212°F and 248°F to simmer whatever I am needing to simmer.

I heat up the oven to the correct temperature, and while that is happening, I get my pot of whatever I'm cooking on the stove and bring it to a boil on the stove.

Then, when it is boiling, I transfer the entire pot, covered with a lid, into the oven, and set the timer for it to simmer in the oven for whatever the duration is needed. Just remember to set your timer and get it out of the oven at the appropriate time. It's okay if you run over a little, it won't boil dry in the oven for a very long time.

A word of caution though - make sure that your pot is oven proof. Stainless steel pots are best for this, or cast iron. If you have a pot that has plastic or plastic like material parts, make sure that it can withstand the temperatures that you have set the oven to. I know that Scanpan can withstand up to 160°C or 320°F. You do not want your pot melting in the oven because it cannot withstand the heat.

I promise that this method of simmering is pretty foolproof. No need to check it and constantly watch it, just set the timer and let it go. No boiling over. No burning unless you forget about it and leave it for a long time, and even then, it would take hours and hours before all the liquid would evaporate.

The only caveat I make to that is the fact that if you are slow cooking something over 5 or 6 or more hours, then it will dry down a bit. Check it periodically (every 2 or 3 hours) just to make sure you still have enough moisture in it, and if not, just add a little more boiling water.

I hope you try this out and if you do, let me know how it works for you. :-)


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Creamy chicken and truffle pasta ... OMG!!! so AMAZING!!!

I have recently been on a truffle kick. It all started when we went to the Two Naughty Chooks for dinner and they served an INCREDIBLE truffle ravioli which just made my taste buds sing and dance in rapturous joy.

The restaurant also is the sole distributor for a range of truffle products from Umbria, Italy and on the night we were there, they were offering a small discount on truffle products, so I picked up a few things.

We started off by making scrambled eggs with truffle in it and even videoed the process. You can watch it here.

Being in a truffle mood and a pasta mood the other night, I decided to make a creamy pasta with truffle, but decided that some chicken would go well with it. I did not find a recipe on the interwebs, I just made it up. Fortunately for me, it turned out to be amazing and I seriously think it may be the best pasta dish I have ever made.

Here is what I came up with:

Ingredients:

• 3 pieces of chicken thigh, sliced thinly
• 1 brown onion, diced
• 1/2 jar of Porcini Mushrooms Cream with White Truffle 45 gr
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 200ml dry white wine
• 600ml thick cream
• 1 tablespoon of Masterfoods Season All spice
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 350gm spiral fusilli pasta

Instructions:

• Set water to boil to cook pasta. When water is boiling, put in pasta and cook for 8 minutes
• While water is coming to a boil, start cooking the sauce
• In a deep, large frying pan, heat up olive oil, then put in diced onions and start to saute for about a minute or two
• Add chicken to pan and start to cook. Add Masterfoods Season All and salt and pepper to taste
• When chicken is cooked but not browned, add white wine and bring to a boil
• Add cream and bring to a boil, simmer to reduce and thicken a little (it doesn't need to reduce a lot). Turn off heat
• Check the taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary. You don't want too much, as you don't want the sauce to overpower the truffle.
• By this time, the pasta should be ready, drain pasta
• Put drained pasta into the pan with the sauce and mix thoroughly
• Add the 1/2 jar of truffle into the pasta and mix thoroughly (make sure that the heat has been turned off at this point. You do not want to heat on the truffle as that will reduce the potency of the flavor and taste)
• Once the truffle is mixed through, serve and enjoy!!!

So, this turned out to be AMAZING, as I said earlier. The flavors were rich and exploding in my mouth. It was so good, both The Boy and I had seconds, which was way more food than we should be having, since we are both watching what and how much we eat. We made an exception for this dish! :-)

The Boy also blogged about what wine to go with the dish and you can read about it here.

If you are in Australia and interested in getting the truffle products, you can contact Wayne at Two Naughty Chooks. He'll be happy to help you out.

If you are not in Australia, it looks like you can purchase direct from Guiliano Tartufi's website directly.

Happy truffle eating!!!


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Broccoli and Parmesan cheese soup

As we get into the cooler months, and even when it's not the cooler months, we like our soup. We have been in the mood for soup recently and The Boy decided that he wanted to cook.

He looked into his soup cookbook by his friend Sibel Hodge called A Gluten Free Soup Opera (Gluten Free/Wheat Free Cookbook No 2) and found a recipe for broccoli and Parmesan cheese soup.

Since I love both broccoli and Parmesan cheese, I was not going to object.

I was going to object even less since The Boy was going to be the one cooking. :-)

BTW, I know the recipe book is gluten free, but we are not gluten free and you certainly do not need to look for gluten free alternatives to ingredients, if you are not gluten intolerant. You can just use regular ingredients, which is what we did.

Here's the recipe for the soup:

Ingredients:

• 1 onion - diced
• 2 cloves of garlic - crushed and chopped
• 1 stick of celery and leaves - sliced
• 1 large head of broccoli (including stalk and any leaves) - chopped into chunks
• 1 leek - sliced
• 1 large potato - diced
• 2 pints (approx 5 cups) of gluten free chicken stock / vegetable stock / water (the gluten free is not required if you are not gluten intolerant)
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon chives - chopped
• 2 cups of Parmesan cheese - grated finely
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive oil for frying

Garnish:

• Grated nutmeg

Instructions:

• Fry the onion and leek until soft.
• Add the other ingredients, except for the cheese and bring to boil, simmer for 35 - 45 minutes.
• Blitz with a blender or hand blender until smooth.
• Stir in cheese, then top with grated nutmeg and serve.

Serves 4 - 6

This turned out to be a very tasty and very thick soup, especially with the addition of the Parmesan cheese.

It also stuck to the sides of the pot and bowl a bit from the stickiness of the cheese, so just remember to give your pot and bowls a good soak before washing or wash right away.

The only thing that I would do differently next time (The Boy followed the recipe exactly) is that I would not include the thyme in it. While I love thyme in the cooking, I found the thyme in this soup recipe made it very herbaceous. You might like this, which in that case, by all means leave it it, but for me, I think I'll leave it out.

Overall, it is a thick, rich, creamy soup and very, very tasty. I would definitely make this again, especially on a cold winter's night.


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Easy taco casserole

This is another recipe that The Boy found, and again, from Facebook, I think.

We have been wanting to try this out and invited a few friends over to dinner to be our guinea pigs. It started out as a dinner party for 4 but turned out to be a dinner party for 6.

Even then, with generous portions for everyone, this served 6 people very comfortably, with at least one of my guests having seconds. We still had about 2 reasonable serves as leftovers after all the eating was done.

Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 can pinto beans or Mexican style beans (original recipe: Ranch style beans)
• 1 large bag tortilla chips, crushed
• 1 can diced tomatoes (original recipe: Ro-tel tomatoes)
• 1 cup diced jalapenos (not needed if you have Ro-tel tomatoes)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 cup water
• sour cream and salsa for serving

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees. In a large skillet, brown meat and drain off fat. Stir in beans, tomatoes, onion, taco seasoning, soup and water. Simmer over medium-low  heat until everything is well combined and heated through.
• Grease a 9×13 casserole dish. Put down a layer of crushed tortilla chips, followed by a layer of the meat/bean mixture, then half of the cheddar cheese. Repeat layers. Cover with foil and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until bubbly.
• Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. Top with sour cream and salsa.

First thing to note, is that this is an American recipe, and I've modified the ingredients above a little bit for non-American people as well. I have included the "original recipe ingredient" in parenthesis so that you know what it was asking for, if you were from the US.

I mostly followed the recipe but I did make a few adjustments so that it was more to our taste.

I added a second packet of taco seasoning, just to give the flavor more depth.

I used Mexe-beans from Old El Paso as a replacement for Ranch style beans. If I had not found those, I would have just used pinto or kidney beans. I did not drain the beans as a lot of the seasoning was in the liquid that the beans were in.

With the tomatoes, I used a full can of diced tomatoes and also a cup of chopped up jalapenos to approximate the Ro-tel tomatoes after looking up what was in a can of Ro-tel tomatoes. I did not drain the tomatoes either.

After that, I pretty much followed the recipe to cook the taco filling.

One thing to note: you do need to cook it and let it simmer for a bit to thicken up and reduce as with not draining the beans and the tomatoes, you end up with a lot of liquid. I did not even need to use the 1/2 cup of water that the recipe called for.

Once that was cooked, I did the all important taste test, but found it a bit flat for my liking (I like my food spicy) and added a heaped teaspoon of hot chili flakes and one teaspoon of mild paprika, which really rounded out the flavor for me. Of course, you can skip this step if you do not like hot and spicy, although to me, this just added depth to the flavor rather than heat. None of our friends found it to be too spicy for them.

With regards to the tortilla chips, I did not use plain tortilla chips, because I'm a rebel that way. :-p Instead, I used the Doritos Tortilla chips in the Cheese Supreme flavor. My flavor of choice when it comes to using tortilla chips for anything like nachos and such.

Because I was having people over, I cooked the filling in advance and just before we were ready to eat, assembled and popped it into the oven. Since the filling had cooled down in the meantime, so it had to be in the oven a little longer than the recommended time. I had the casserole in the oven for about 40 minutes with the last 10 or 15 minutes set to 200°C and the foil taken off the top. Of course, this only applies if you had let the filling cool, like I had.

This is a super delicious dish. I served it with sides of homemade guacamole, salsa and sour cream.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did.


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Pre-order Wine Sense - The Art and Appreciation of Wine

Many of you may have read about me talking about The Boy and how he often matches wines to all the food that I cook, something which he is very good at.

The Boy has a genuine love of wine and is one of those people who enjoys wine for the pleasure and complexity of the experience, rather than drinking for the sake of the alcohol. He never drinks to get drunk, but rather drinks because he enjoys the fruit, the process and more importantly, the wine itself.

I'm so proud of him right now. After a lot of work, his book "Wine Sense" is finally ready to be launched. He spent a lot of time working on it - researching and writing.

He has recently launched his pre-order campaign, which you can find here, and I strongly encourage you to go on over an pre-order the book. There are some great options for getting the book and my personal favorite is the $100 Patron Edition, which gives you:

Personally signed dedication by author of hardcover copy (plus Ebook) delivered to you upon book publication and prior to public launch plus Patron acknowledgment and thanks in all future editions of book and on SAZ in the Cellar and InkIT Publishing websites for one year.

I can't begin to tell you how excited I am for him and how proud I have of him, for reaching his milestone.

You can also read more about the model he is using to launch his pre-order campaign called "Crowdsourcing" in a recent blog post which he has written as well.

You can also read about what The Boy has to say about Wine Sense on his Saz in the Cellar blog post about it.

You can find The Boy in all those places below, do head on over and follow, like, connect with him, and all that good stuff. :-)

Twitter: @shipleyaust and @inkitpub

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sazinthecellar

Blog: http://sazinthecellar.com/

I hope you head on over and check him and his book out.


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