Sad Squid... and Super Scrummy Sticky Pork.....

This story is a case of bad news vs good news. And it’s always far more sensible to start with the bad news and then round off with the good news, so that’s what I shall do.
Firstly, I don’t particularly enjoy leaving bad reviews, but since I myself am addicted to reviews (for everything from recipes, to hotels, to movies, to clothing, to books....) I like to think that leaving a not so glowing review, is kind of a community service thing, no? I know that despite reading bad reviews, I’m still curious enough to go and find out for myself by either trying, making or buying and learning my lesson, in my own way (and sometimes the hard way!). I also find them to be a nice yardstick as we all know that not everything can be perfect all the time!

So, disclaimer aside, I just think I need to share the story of our not-so-flash lunch at ‘The Beach Bar’ at Port Beach – a la the old Oyster Bar on the Beach from the ex Mead’s stable. Whilst the company was outstanding, the view divine and the weather perfect, the food and the service left a lot to be desired. The service was also reminiscent of Fawlty Towers – everything we initially wanted to order was unavailable, our meals were delivered twice and the waitress was so over-zealous she kept trying to clear our tablewear whilst we were still eating.

We ordered a Hawaiian stylee pizza, the Chilli Salt Squid and some fries, which came to $69 for the three dishes. We also ordered a serve of the prawn & pork dumplings from the yum cha menu, but since they looked so unappetising, none of us actually ate them (nor paid for them come to think of it...) so we can’t comment on them. The pizza was OK, although veered definitely to the processed side of things with tinned pineapple and fake ham and even the cheese was standard (I spotted a service person carting in lots & lots of packets of pre-grated Mainland cheese, you know the stuff in the green bags that one buys at the supermarket?). It did come out quickly and was nice and hot on a fresh home-made base, but that was the highlight. The squid on the other hand was abysmal. It was cold, soggy, bland and clearly from the frozen squid factory – the insult was that the chef couldn’t even manage to cook it so it was at least hot and crispy! The accompanying salad was wilted and old and tasteless!

I’ve never ever had a good meal from this establishment, and it is rather clear that despite having new owners, it’s still woeful. Funnily enough, my dear friend Alicia’s family were dining at Salt next door (the posh bit) and they also mentioned their disappointment in the meals....

So, in light of what was a long anticipated lunch that wasn’t really even eaten, I’m going to whip up my favourite super scrummy sticky pork for dinner tonight and hoover that down greedily whilst I watch the Biggest Loser and Underbelly. How delicious!

This pork is so super easy and quick to make – I love it with steamed rice and I make extra marinade that I reduce down to a sauce so I can slather the rice in extra syrupy juicy goodness. I stumbled across this recipe on the Spencers Spices website and this is it, with some slight moderations.

Sticky 5 Spice Pork

½ kg pork belly strips
2 tsp garlic, minced
2 tsp ginger, minced
1 tsp Spencers Chinese five spice
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup soy sauce
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp Shao Hsing (Chinese) cooking wine

Preheat oven to hot – around 200’C.

Cut pork belly into 3 cm pieces and place in a large bowl. In a separate bowl combine garlic, ginger, five spice, brown sugar, sauces and wine. Mix until sugar has dissolved.

Pour half of the saucy spice mix over pork and swoosh around well until the pork is well coated.

Place pork on a greased baking tray and bake for 45 - 55 minutes until pork is tender and crispy. If you find there are some extra juices lurking around in the pan, pour these off into the remaining marinade, as this will prevent your pork getting ‘sticky’ and crispy!

With the remaining marinade, heat to a boil in a small pan on the stove and boil for a few minutes until thickened.

Serve pork over steamed rice, with sauce to taste. If you have some nice spring onions or coriander, sprinkle over the top and enjoy.

Tasting Notes:

• This will serve say, 3 modest people or 2 greedy people..... like me!
• This is great.
  This is easy.
• Make it this week.
  
  

Chicken Dinner.... or Swamp.... or Soup....

So I had my very first crock pot failure with George yesterday. It was so bad that George has been shoved to the back of the cupboard as punishment.

I tried to make “Chicken Dinner” – a recipe I found on Recipezaar (a favourite resource of mine when bored at work, for research of course) - and on paper it sounded too good to be true. It was.

It was so bad, it was almost inedible. When cooked, the bird was over 2/3 submerged in liquid and when I tried to remove it, the whole thing imploded. So I ended up with a big bowl of swampy soup-like, chicken scented wrong.

Given I’d only put ¾ cup of liquid in, it was a devastating thing to see –so I promptly went to Google to find out why.... and I stumbled across this site that gives some rather good advice on crockpottery in general. One thing I’ve never got is the liquid thing in a slow cooker –my worst fear is to come home to a burnt, dry mess caked on the bottom of the bowl. It’s never happened. And I will never doubt this theory again after the vision of my drowned chook.

It seems that the steam creates a vacuum – assisting cooking and obviously thus providing more liquid through condensation. On this basis, the roast chicken dinner was clearly never going to be a winner (what WAS I thinking?).

So, instead of sharing the recipe of disaster, or the post-mortem photos, stop by and refresh yourself with this and other handy tips on slow cooking. Go to iVillage’s Cooking How-To Page on Slow Cookers, found here http://food.ivillage.com/cooking/slowcooker/0,,8tgn,00.html

It’s where I should’ve gone before I attempted this sad recipe. It also looks like I’ll be using traditional cooking techniques for a while, while George sits and thinks about what he’s done.... it’s lucky I’ve still got that massive chunk of Chilli Romano cheese, good pasta and a pot!

Really, really, really good Mushroom Risotto

So I've managed to tear myself away from George - finally! And to get the (traditional) full slow food cooking experience, I decided a risotto was in order.

I also had some wonderful stock that I wanted to put to good use, as well as some porcini mushrooms and a lovely large hunk of Chilli Romano cheese that I picked up at Northbridge Continental on the weekend.

I do have to admit that the stock was a by-product of the crockpot.... it was courtesy of my first attempt at doing Corned Silverside and it was just too good to dispose of, so I froze it with a nice risotto in mind. And strangely it worked amazingly well with the porcini mushrooms. The result was a lovely rich risotto with a really interesting depth of flavour. And it's such a good excuse to do another Silverside next time I see it on special!

And as I mentioned to A today, I really don't like a reheated risotto - it is something about the texture and the glugginess that doesn't fare so well the next day. However I don't mind a bit of cruch.... so I managed to throw together some tasty little risotto cakes with the leftovers. How sensible and decadent!

Porcini & Fresh Mushroom Risotto

1 10gm packet dried funghi porcini
1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms
1 cup hot water, more if needed
2 cups of stock (I used ‘beef’ from the silverside but any could be used)
1 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
2 cups arborio rice
1 sprig rosemary
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 tablespoon butter
Cheese to taste (I used Chilli Romano)

Soak the mushrooms in the cup of hot water for about 20 minutes.

Chop the onion and fry it off in half the olive oil (a good tablespoon). When it starts going translucent, add the garlic and sauté. Add the remaining oil, then the rice and stir until well coated and the rice starts to turn clear.

Meanwhile pop stock and wine in a saucepan and bring to a simmer.

Drain the mushrooms, reserving the liquid to add to the simmering stock. Chop mushrooms finely and add to rice.

Add a cup of the hot stock to the rice and stir, stir away until it absorbs. Continue adding stock and stirring. Keep adding, tasting as you go....

After about 10-15 minutes, add the sprig of rosemary and fresh mushrooms.

Continue cooking, stirring and stocking until the rice is done to your liking.

Remove the rosemary and discard. You may find you need to add more liquid at this point if you have run out of the stock mixture (I added some hot water as the risotto was already lovely and rich).

Finally add the butter, cracked pepper and a bit of cheese – stirring until it all goes creamy and gooey and yummy. Serve up with some freshly grated cheese on top. Yum!

For Risotto Cakes / Balls:

With wet hands (trust me on this), roll the leftover rice into small balls, then coat in flour, dunk in egg and roll in breadcrumbs and add to a pan of hot olive oil. Cook until crispy and lovely and then drain on paper towels.

Tasting Notes:

• This was just lovely. I think the stock made the dish - I'll post the Corned Beef recipe for the ingredients.


• The rosemary was an impromptu addition and it worked marvellously; it gave a lovely fresh taste to the richness of the porcini.


• The Chilli Romano also matched really well, giving a nice hint of heat.


• I never usually add butter at the end, however this was a special treat and it was entirely worth it.... I'm not sure I could go back to not adding butter!
  
  

Crock Pot Corned Beef / Silverside.... with Yummy White Sauce

Yet another masterpiece from George..... I'm going through a phase of trying out retro dishes I grew up with, but have never made. I did try trifle the other week and it was a colossal failure. I didn't even complete it before tossing it. I shall go back to letting Mum do that one... once bitten, twice shy I say!

This dish, on the other hand, was a winner! And it was so easy to make, with plenty to go around.... mum got a serving, I got a serve for dinner and plenty of leftovers for lunches! No offence to mum but her's never quite turned out this tender and tasty... I was really impressed with the impregnation of flavour - and now I won't cook this any other way. Good on George. Good on me.

And don't forget to save the stock.... it was marvy recycled into the Porcini Mushroom Risotto.

Slow Cooker Corned Silverside with Mustardy White Sauce

1 Piece Silverside / Corned Beef
3 Carrots – cut in halves
4 Potatoes – halved, unpeeled
2 Onions - small, whole, peeled (pickling)
Peppercorns – black (about 10)
Ginger - small knuckle (fresh)
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
½ Cup Vinegar – I used white, with a splash of white balsamic
Warm Water

Spray inside of crock pot with non stick spray, layer carrots in the bottom. Add beef, poke in the potatoes, onions and ginger and then sprinkle peppercorns around the meat.

Mix sugar with Vinegar until dissolved. Pour over beef, and top up with warm water until meat is covered. Cover and cook.

I cooked this on low for 10 hours and it was meltingly, fall apart tender. I’d almost go as far to say it was slightly overdone, but I was at work and unable to turn it off!

Serve with vegetables and white sauce.

*** Reserve stock for the White Sauce and the Mushroom risotto (see other posts)! This must be strained though..... Line a sieve with paper towel, strain, discarding all the peppercorns and bits.

White Sauce with Mustard

2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons Plain Flour
1 Cup Milk
1 Cup Stock/Cooking Liquid from Silverside
1 teaspoon Mustard

Melt butter until bubbling. Stir in flour and cook for a minute or two. Add mustard and stir to combine. Add milk slowly, stirring to thicken taking out the lumps as you go. Add stock slowly until the sauce reaches desired consistency and taste.

Tasting Notes:

• This was super! Yay for retro dinners!


• The meat was divinely tender – it fell apart on carving but was the tenderest corned beef I’ve had. It also had a lovely mellow flavour from slow cooking with the sweet carrots, vinegar and brown sugar.


• Next time, I may shave an hour off the cooking time.


• Most recipes say to discard the stock, but it was just so lovely and tasty that I couldn’t part with it. It worked beautifully with the porcini mushroom risotto.... and would be equally as fab with pumpkin.


• This was so easy.... 2 minutes to prepare, and lovely comfort food. Don’t peel the potatoes as they will hold their shape and remain waxy rather than watery.


• A recommended cooking this in Ginger ale - I didn't have any. Hence I added a nice chunk of fresh ginger and it worked! It was a subtle flavour and could be done without, but I liked it....

It worked!

Excitement!

As mentioned everything slows down for me in summer, which is kind of why the slow cooker seemed so appropriate. I've had one gathering dust in the back of the cupboard for years now. The first recipe I made wasn't entirely a success (onions really do taste so much better when you sweat them off) and since then he's seen more action in a friends kitchen who borrowed him to make killer boston baked beans. So I've been experimenting recently with roast lamb and veg and US style BBQ ribs.

I won't lie, I wasn't super jazzed with the results of the lamb. Everything all kinda tasted the same which isn't what you want. I think the whole deliciousness of roasted meat and veges comes down to the roasting (duh!) and its effect of evaporating off the liquid to impart a concentrated flavour and wonderful crispiness. Yeah well, the slow cooker makes everything moist. I described it as a 'flabby' flavour. I think H found this description off-putting.

The ribs on the other hand worked well. I cooked them for about 5 hours on the auto function that does a little high and then a lot of low. I made a sauce combo of smokey BBQ, tomato, onion, Mexican chillies and Coke. We ate them as ribs the first night after blitzing them under a hot grill. They were pretty yum but the second night was awesome. We pulled the grilled meat of the bone, before shredding and dousing it in extra sauce and warming gently in the micro. Then we slipped that deliciouness in generously buttered little bap rolls and served them with coleslaw and cold boiled baby potatoes sprinkled with loads of salt.

Heaven!

And no photos as that was dinner from probably 2 weeks ago. This week we focussed on simplicity. Pate on toast. Rice and salad. Oreo's and pints of icey soy milk.

Instead I'll post the link to the enormously cool slow cooker book I discovered (is 'enormously cool' and 'slow cooker' mutually exclusive???)

Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook

Testing....testing....

I've been a bit slow off the mark with this blog business. In fact being a Sunday in summer I'm a bit slow in general.

West Australian's are colloquially known as sandgropers, or at least we were (I bet H remembers the little gold and black furry number dubbed Sunny that was popular with kids back in the 80s.) Unlike everything else 80s the term 'sandgroper' seems to have gone out of fashion and stayed that way. Sandgropers, as it turns out, are wee burrowing insects that love nothing more than hanging out in sand (I'm not sure where the groping part comes in....). Well I'm less of the hanging out in sand Perthite, more of the burrowing away kind.

Summer for me does not equal long days stretched out on a towel at our famous beaches wearing nothing but a teeny bikini. Instead I hide myself away in my darkened lounge with a book and a fan for company. I generally slow down in the heat and that includes all brain functions.

So seeing it is the beginning of another furnace like week in Perth and I'm attempting my 1st blog ever (poor H has been feeling lonely) I feel a little test is in order as I'm not at all confident that this is going to work.

So again....testing....testing....123.....

Slow Cooker Lamb 'Pot' Roast.... another frozen delight!

Not that this blog is all about slow cooker cooking, but it seems to be the latest lifesaver in my house... It also proves my enduring love for George (George Foreman that is).

So as mentioned, with a poorly mother, George has been proving invaluable in doing all the cooking for us while I go to work. In a bit of a rush the other morning, I decided to throw a bit of a meal in the pot... and it was a winner. More so because I threw the hunk of lamb in the pot FROZEN which to me, is the height of convenience and laziness! It turned out perfectly cooked and fell apart on carving it.

Easy Slow Cooker Pot Roast

1 Marinated Mini Lamb Roast (frozen)
3 Potato - chopped into quarters
1/2 Pumpkin - chopped into chunks
1/2 Cup Liquid - I used Worcestershire Sauce, a splash of light Soy, a splash of Garlic & Soy Marinade and water

Spray the ceramic pot with non stick stuff, layer in potatoes and pumpkin. I then added a wee pinch of Vegeta over the top and then plonked in the frozen lamb. Pour the liquid over and pop the lid on.

I cooked this on low for about 10 hours while at work. Everything was perfectly cooked and was sitting in a lovely juice.

I strained this off and made a nice gravy by adding a bit of gravox, in a pan on the stove.

Tasting Notes:

• You'll see from the photo that I also added some mushrooms and zucchini to the top. This I would not do again - neither lasted the distance or looked appetising at the end of the day!
• Adding frozen meat was just perfect - all up this took all of about 4 minutes to throw together, which suits me at 7.30am!
• I used a pre-marinated mini lamb roast from the butcher (whose name escapes me, but they are located at the little set of shops in Brentwood on Cranford Ave - they are wonderful!). This piece gave 2 generous servings.

George. The new man in my life.

So, there's a new man in my life. His name is George. George Foreman and he's a slow cooker.

I'd been thinking of getting one for ages, but A's recent tribute to Australia Day - lamb shanks in the slow cooker - sounded so good, and so easy, that I just had to go and buy one.

And given the recent heat, and the fact that my apartment is the size of a postage stamp, it all seemed to be very sensible for keeping the heat to a minimum. And so far, our relationship has been wonderful... we've shared several dishes together - meatloaf, pork ribs, potato bake, lamb pot roast, rice pudding and just last night, the easiest Spag Bol sauce in the whole world.

It's also been a godsend the last week as my mother has been rather ill.... I've been able to plop a few things in the pot in the morning and come home to a full cooked meal that I just plate up and take over to her! Super easy!

So today I'll share the Easiest Spag Sauce in the world. And whilst it is not rocket science, it is just so darn convenient! I'd also like the share the ease and joy that throwing frozen food into the pot brings....

Super Easy Spag Sauce

250gm Beef Mince -frozen (* see note)

250gm Pork Mince - frozen

1 500gm Jar Pasta Sauce with Basil (I used Coles)

1 400gm Tin Italian Peeled Tomatoes

1 tsp Minced Garlic

2 Tbs Worcestershire Sauce

Sprinkle Sugar

Plop mince in the pot. Add all other ingredients.

I cooked on high for 2 - 3 hours, then switched it to low and cooked it for another 3 hours.

I did stir this a few times to break up the mince and move it around to cook evenly.

I'd also suggest giving the bowl insert a quick spray with non stick spray stuff - I didn't but I'm sure it would've been useful!

Tasting Notes:

• This is a lovely dense, meaty sauce. Usually I add vegies such as zuchini, carrot and onion, however this time I was so lazy that I did not bother. These can of course be added (grated) for the last hour or two of cooking if you wish.


• This was the easiest thing I think I've ever made! I will certainly be making this again!

* Re: Frozen foods. All the research I've done, shows that frozen foods can be added to a crock. The tip is to use warm or room temp liquids with the frozen meats. I've done it twice now - once with a mini lamb roast, and with this and both times the meals worked perfectly! Obviously, if you aren't comfy with this, please thaw your meat first. You can also brown off the meat on the stove first if you can be bothered....

For further health & slow cooker safety tips, this is a great site http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/9632/is_slow_cooking_a_crock.html?cat=22