Japanese Curry

Yet another recipe hoisted from Closet Cooking, but oh so good...too good, in fact, not to share. It's like a stew/curry that is slightly spicey as well as slightly sweet.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon oil
1 pound (1/2 kg) diced beef
2 onions (chopped)
1 sweet potato (grated, in food processor preferably)
water
carrots (cut up)
2 potatoes (cut up)
1 sweet apple (grated)
1 tablespoon honey
1 box Japanese curry roux

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a large pot.
2. Brown beef on all sides.
3. Set beef aside.
4. Add onions and saute until soft.
5. Add the beef and cover in water.
6. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the beef is fall apart tender, about 1 hour.
7. Add carrots, potatoes, apple, honey and curry roux.
8. Cover in water.
9. Stir until the curry roux is fully dissolved.
10. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 20-30 minutes.

Serve over rice

Plum Clafoutis

I was just watching the birds knocking some plums off the tree so decided I should try and find one more recipe. Awful timing to have to sort out sweets recipes as we're not yet done with all the xmas goodies!

6 tbsp caster sugar
14 ripe plums, halved and pitted
3 eggs
1 1/4 c low-fat milk
3/4 c plain flour
1 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 190 C. Butter pie dish and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the sugar over the bottom. Arrange the plum halves, cut side down, so that they cover the entire bottom of the pie dish. Sprinkle 2 tbsp of sugar over the top of the plums.
In a blender, combine the remaining sugar, eggs, milk, flour, lemon zest, cinnamon, vanilla and salt. Process until smooth, about 2 minutes. Pour over the fruit in the pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until firm and lightly browned. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing.

P.S. Make sure it's cooked before you take it out of the oven...otherwise, it will fall:( I almost had a gorgeous pic for you, but I took it out too soon.

Crockpot Stewed Plums

Seems to be many ways to stew plums, although I do think I will go with the crockpot and a simple recipe.

3 pounds (1.5 kg) Ripe Plums
1/2 c sugar
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 cup water

Halve plums and put in crock pot. Add the sugar, cinnamon and water. Put on the lid of the crock pot and cook on low for about 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Plums will be soft but maintain their shape. Cook on high if you prefer them to be a mushier texture. I think I'll do some of each, since I have so many freakin plums!
*Freeze for later use.

Plum Pie

I'm going to be making about 10 of these unless I can figure out some other plum recipes;) Our tree is ready to pick (I even caught the neighbour behind us helping herself!) and there are loads, despite half of them already falling to the ground.

Ingredients:
4 c sliced plums
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 unbaked 9-inch deep dish pie pastry

Topping:
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 tbsp cold butter

1. In bowl, combine first 6 ingredients; pour into pastry shell.
2. For topping, combine sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg.
3. Cut in butter until coarse.
4. Sprinkle over plums.
5. Bake in preheated 375F oven for 60 minutes or until golden brown.

Crockpot Gingerbread Latte

Well, since I have to be the designated driver tonight and I'll be up later than my usual time, I thought it would be a good time to try the Gingerbread Latte recipe I've kept bookmarked from A Year of Crockpotting. As the Wassail turned out so yummy on Christmas Eve, I think it's worth giving another of her drink recipes a go. Even more exciting as the local Starbucks shut down and I couldn't get any warm liquid holiday cheer the usual way.

4 c milk (2% or lower is best to not worry about curdling)
1/2 c white sugar
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup strong black coffee, or a freshly-brewed shot of espresso (per drink)

Put milk into crockpot, and whisk in the dried spices. Don't add the coffee. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours, or high for 1-2. The milk should be quite hot, but don't let it boil. Pour over hot coffee or espresso.

Optional: top with whipped cream
Note: Can cause serious sugar/caffeine high!

Tofu and Vegetable Green Curry

2 tsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup (75g) green curry paste
4 spring onions, finely chopped (optional)
2 tbs fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/2 head broccoli, cut into florets
1 sm-med pepper/capsicum
1 sm eggplant
400ml can light coconut milk
1/2 tsp coriander, or to taste
100g green beans, cut into 3cm lengths
300g firm silken tofu, drained, cut into thick strips
2-3 basil leaves or a dash ground basil leaves
steamed rice, to serve

Heat the oil in a large deep frypan or wok over medium heat, then add the paste and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the spring onion, fish sauce, sugar, broccoli, red pepper, green beans, coconut milk, basil leaves, coriander and 1 cup (250ml) boiling water. Stir to combine and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, then gently stir in tofu. Serve over rice.
*Variations on veg are always acceptable in a curry. I'm skipping the green beans and using plum tomatoes, as they were on sale today;) My only warning would be don't overload on the veg or you won't have enough 'sauce'
Pssst, if anyone has a favourite suggestion for green curry paste please recommend!

A Review of Christmas at Our House

As the original post was long enough already, thought I'd begin a new one to let you know how things worked, out since I was trying a few different things. The first thing I made was Mary's rum cake and it was fantastic. My fears about the vanilla yogurt being a poor substitute for instant vanilla pudding (which I couldn't find here in Oz) were unfounded. Two tips: make sure not to over-bake or it will dry out and use all of the glaze. Primo! A Year of Crockpotting is going to be my new source for beverage recipes, especially as Starbucks in Adelaide has shut down. I think Gingerbread Latte will be next. The wassail was excellent, even though I used regular apple juice instead of cider (didn't pay enough attention and I think it may be difficult to find anyway). Steve and I drank the entire crock pot of it that night! The lamb rogan josh was good, and I may need to try some more Indian recipes, as it was much easier than I thought. I found paneer cheese at the grocery store here so something with that will be next:) Oysters have the consistency of post-nasal drip...yuck! Perhaps you simply need to cook them longer. The ribs were excellent with KC Masterpiece bbq sauce and the cole slaw was really nice, although next time I think I may shred the slaw in the food processor. Now on to New Year! Will be testing out some Thai style curries;)

Fruit & Yogurt Smoothies

I've been experimenting with smoothies lately. Have made strawberry-banana, mango and mango-strawberry so far. It's a great way to get some fruit and yogurt in and a quick brekkie.

Fruit
Plain yogurt
Ice
Honey (optional)

Just put all in blender. Play around with amounts to get the consistency and flavour to taste.

Basic Vegetarian Curry

This curry does not include a particular curry paste or curry powder, but spices instead. I was worried it might be a bit bland but it was really tasty. Serving over rice is optional, especially if you are warming it up for leftovers, as all the juice will cook off 2nd time around. You can also leave out the chickpeas and simply add a couple more potatoes. Another option is to take a bit out and pop it in the blender if you like a creamier curry.

1 package frozen vegetables of your choice
1 can chickpeas
2-3 small potatoes, chopped into small pieces & cooked
2/3 c vegetable stock
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp grated ginger or powder
1 finely sliced clove of fresh garlic
1 tsp turmeric
¼ tsp chili powder (or more, to taste)
1 tsp cumin powder
½ tsp coriander powder
salt & pepper to taste
1 tbsp oil

Heat oil in a non-stick fry pan and fry the onions, garlic, cumin and coriander for five minutes. Add potato, frozen veg, chick peas, ginger, turmeric and chili powders, vegetable stock, salt & pepper. Cook on medium heat for fifteen or twenty minutes. Serve over rice.

Lamb & Mushroom Kofta

I grabbed this one from Boozy Susie and modified it just very slightly. I lurve my food processor today. Actually, I always love it but I used it twice today and it just made this recipe soooo easy.

1 cup mushrooms
1 red onion
2 garlic cloves
parsley, to taste (I used dried, although fresh would probably be nicer)
1tsp ground coriander
1tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
500g lamb mince
butter
salt & pepper, to taste
olive oil

Melt butter in large frying pan over high heat. Add mushrooms and cook whilst stiring for 5 min or until tender. Set aside. Combine parsley, onion, garlic and spices in a food processor and process until finely chopped. Add mushrooms and mince and process until combined. Season with salt and pepper. Use hands to mould mixture into meatball sized balls. Place on a plate or tray and pop in fridge for 30 minutes. Heat olive oil in pan and fry until cooked through, or place on metal skewers and bbq or grill.

*Served with homemade hummus and store bought tabouli;)

**I also think these would make great burgers, perhaps with a tzatziki sauce mmmm.

Tofu & Vegetable Red Curry

1/4 cup water
1 medium onion, sliced up
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large garlic clove, chopped
2 tsp bottled red-curry paste
1 (14-oz) can unsweetened coconut milk
1 tsp salt (optional)
1 (1-lb) package frozen mixed vegetables (or fresh to your preference)
1 (14- to 16-oz) block firm tofu, rinsed, patted dry, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (optional)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
rice, to serve

Cook onion in oil in a wok. Reduce heat, then add garlic and curry paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in coconut milk, salt, and 1/4 cup water and bring to a boil. Stir in vegetables and return to a boil. Cover pot, then reduce heat and cook at a brisk simmer, stirring occasionally, 2 minutes. Gently stir in tofu and simmer curry, partially covered, until vegetables are tender, 7 to 8 minutes. Remove pot from heat and stir in fish sauce and salt to taste. Serve curry with rice.
*Usual modifications: I skipped the tofu and used broccoli, plum tomatoes and a can of chinese veggies

Eggplant with Tofu & Red Pepper

You can either use tofu or just throw in a package of frozen veg if you're not keen on tofu.

1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp olive oil
10 oz tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tsp minced fresh garlic
chili powder, to taste
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch squares
1 eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
rice, to serve

In a bowl, mix oyster sauce, sugar, and sesame oil; set aside. Heat tbsp olive oil in a large pan or nonstick wok over medium-high heat. Sauté tofu about 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove from pan. Reduce heat to low and add remaining tbsp olive oil, and garlic; sauté until soft, about 4 minutes. Add bell pepper and eggplant. Raise heat to medium. Stir-fry 10 minutes, flipping eggplant after 5 minutes to cook on each side. Add oyster sauce mixture and stir well. Add tofu to pan and mix. Serve over rice.
*You can also use fresh chiles instead of chili powder
**I also used plum tomatoes as I had them