Pressure Cooker- Red Wine Lamb Shanks

I don't shy away from my meat. One of my favourite things to have during winter is a lamb shank. Given that we have a pressure cooker now, I tend to use it to cook lamb shanks rather than a slow cooker- somehow, I never get to prepare everything in the morning to make a nice melt in your mouth lamb shank!

There is a butcher near where we are that does a french lamb shank really well. He said 1 per person is plenty and so true that was. It had plenty of meat and I couldn't even finished mine. The magic of lamb shanks comes from using an acid to soften the meat and long and slow cooking time.

I like to serve mine with a big batch of vegetables. The best thing is that I pressure cooked it before I went to the gym. Switched the fire off, and away I went. When I returned, I turned it back on again for the last 30 minutes or so and it was just perfect.

This does make me think- do you use your slow cooker or pressure cooker more at home?

Melt in Your Mouth Red Wine Lamb Shanks (Serves 4)
4 Lamb Shanks
1 red onion diced
1 tablespoon of garlic
1 tinned of diced tomatoes
1 tsp of dried chill flakes
1 capsicum diced
1 carrot diced
1 cup of red wine
1 cup of beef stock

Brown lamb shanks first. Remove from heat and set aside. Saute garlic and onion till soft and add in all other ingredients. Simmer for a few minutes before adding shanks back on again. Place cover of pressure cooker on and cook for a good 1-1.5 hours. If you can, cook for another 30 minutes to make it really melt in your mouth. I turned it off at that point, went to the gym, came back, turned it back on and had a shower!

Then dinner was done!

Proscuitto Wrapped Basil Meatloaf

You guys know that I love my meatloaves. I honestly think they are underrated in the normal home kitchen. There are so many ways to play around with it that I can't stop experimenting and coming up with new quick and easy meatloaf ideas. I can see Asher having this for dinner one night!

We love going to farmers markets. Manning Markets is our go to for our weekly shopping recently. It just seem to carry everything we need. From grass fed meats, to organic vegetables (more for Asher) to one of my favourite coffee... What else can we ask for?

In come naturally smoked chorizo and bacon. No sulphites. Just salt smoked. Amazing. Then we spotted another store that sells smoked chicken breasts and proscuitto. Oh I'm in love.

All I did was to mixed chicken with egg, salt, pepper and fold in some home grown basil. Push it to a loaf pan and wrap the proscuitto on it. It's one of the quickest dinners I have prepared. Everything in the oven and ta dah.. dinner all done when Asher is asleep.

Proscuitto Wrapped Basil Meatloaf 
6 pieces of proscuitto
500 grams chicken mince
1 bunch of basil leaves
1 chopped onion
1 tablespoon of chopped garlic
2 eggs
salt
pepper


Mixed egg, salt, pepper, onion and garlic with mince. put mixture into lined bread loaf pan. Pushed it firmly and packed it tight. Carefully (who am i kidding..) place proscuitto overlapping on to the meatloaf. Bake in preheated oven for 25- 30 minutes.

Mini Pork Sliders with Bacon Guacamole

There are something very attractive about mini food. Having the word mini in front of any food title makes it looks much better too.

I made this for a quick lazy Sunday lunch one day (That's another thing about keeping sane.. lazy lunches. How did we forget those?) and kept up with an idea about making bacon guacamole to go with it. Salty bacon, creamy avocado and spicy tabasco sauce makes it a very very delish side to go with any pork patties.

In fact, I think I can probably have the guacamole by the spoonful.

But just as good with mini pork sliders. ;)

Mini Pork Sliders with Bacon Guacamole (Serves 4)
500 grams pork mince
1 tablespoon of garlic
1 tsp of sesame oil
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon of worchestershire sauce
1 egg
1 tablespoon of almond meal

Bacon Guacamole
1 rasher of bacon- lean bit. Grilled and chopped
1 tomato chopped
1 avocado mashed
1/4 lemon juiced
1/4 red onion chopped finely
as many drops of tabasco as you can take.


For the pork patties- mix everything together and marinate for 10-15 minutes. Make into shape of mini patties and pan fry both sides for 5-8 minutes each.

Guacamole- Mix it all up, season and taste.

Tau Cheo (Soya Beans) Pork Ribs

It's not often that we have ribs in our home. I'm usually nervous about the fat content with these babies. A friend recently shared with me this recipe and I just simply could not resist it. It's good old fashion ribs made at home- the Cantonese/Chinese way.

The photos are not really appealing aren't they? It's pretty difficult to make a pile of bones enticing. The taste however, .. mmmmmmmm. You could hear us licking our fingers more often than talking while having dinner that night.

The sauce is made up of soya bean paste-that's the magic to this dish. With the addition of ginger and chili...It's so good with a bowl of rice.

so we conclude- the winner of pork ribs are not bbq ribs anymore in this household. It's getting in touch with our Chinese roots and making it the Tau Cheo Way!

Another conclusion? The best place to eat pork ribs? At home. With all 10 of your fingers.

Tau Cheo (Soya Beans) Pork Ribs (serves 4)
Around 700 grams of Pork ribs
1 generous tablespoon of minced garlic
1 onion sliced
1 knob of ginger peeled and sliced
3 chilli padi (You can also use some dry chili)
1 tablespoon of white vinegar
1.5 tablespoon of salted soya bean paste (from oriental stores)
1 cup of water
potato starch or corn flour mixed with a little water

Fry onion garlic, chilli and ginger till nice and fragrant. Brown ribs with the mixture. Then, add in vinegar and the salted soya bean paste. Add 1/2 cup of water first and simmer. Cook for around 45 minutes or so till the meat looks like it is falling off the bone. Taste and if it is too dry add more water. If too watery, add the corn flour/potato starch mixture. Serve with rice and stir fry veges.

Thai Inspired Spicy Noodle Salad

I'm backkkk! The highlight of the trip is of course being part of the bridal party of my best friend's wedding. My gorgeous friend is married!! All those primary and secondary school days memories flooded back as I watched her walk down the aisle. She was brave, she allocated the task of being an emcee in her dinner banquet. I was emotional, as I saw those photos in Peg's childhood slideshow, it struck me how much we have grown (alas, not in height, I meant wisdom and age....).I recall those study days, sleep overs, singing KTV none stop for 6 hrs. Ah... and now both of us are married.

Congratulations Rane and Peggy! 

Before I left for Singapore, hubby and I were invited to a last minute pot luck gathering. I arrived home from work at 6pm and was ready to leave home with our dish by 6:35pm. Glad I did bring something because turned out that everyone brought either pizza or kfc-neither dishes would have sat well with my stomach (or weight!).

This dish isn't anything fancy. In fact, I was trying to do a salad but everyone at the gathering thought it was a stir fry noodle dish. Oops. I didn't even correct them! I just smile and nod.Oh well, they finished the bowl which is the main thing.

I was trying to be real quick and cooked some pork mince with chili, fish sauce, sugar and soy. The result was a tangy mixture! I tossed it through some mung bean vermicelli. However, I did a taste test then, and it was blend. So I mixed some lemon juice, fish sauce, sugar and some stock in a jar. Stir it, pour it over the noodles, toss, added some fried shallots and viola, it tasted much better then!

So I'm still not sure if this is a salad? or?? Can someone suggest a new name perhaps? Whatever it was, it was quick, easy and beats fast food any day.

Thai Inspired Spicy Noodle Salad (Serves a party of 8-10 people or feeds 4-5 for a meal)
300 grams of pork mince
around 100 grams roast pork (left overs)
1 tablespoon of garlic 
1 cup of snow peas peeled
2 carrot shredded
2-3 sprigs of spring onions chopped
1 red chili chopped

2 tablespoons of fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
2 tablespoon of soya sauce
1 tablespoon of plum sauce 
1/4 cup of water

"Dressing"
1/4 cup of lemon juice
2 tsp of fish sauce
1/2 tsp of sugar


1 medium bunch of mung bean vermicelli quickly blanched with hot water and drained. Mean while, saute garlic and chili and add pork mince and cook till it is done. Pour all sauces, water and sugar over the mixture. Simmer. Add veges. Cook for 1 min. Pour mixture to noodles and toss. Do a taste test and adjust "dressing". Pour dressing over it. Serve with some fried shallots.

Red Curry with Roasted Duck and Lychees

I received this awesome cookbook for Christmas one year. It's HUGE and feature best food of the world. I'm talking about "The food of the world-a journey for food lovers" I put so many tabs over it that I wasn't sure where to start. Strangely though, my excitement wore off because most of these recipes are not "quick to the table" meals and require some patience to assemble.

I flipped through the book one more time recently and the recipe "Red Curry with Roasted Duck and Lychees' caught my attention. Perhaps it was the word duck, or maybe I was just curious to see if lychees would go well in curry. The book says that it is a Thai specialty dish. Any Thai people that could verify that? ;)

I was intrigued though-as the end result was a spicy and sweet dish. AR says that the lychee reduces the heat of the curry and is actually quite refreshing.  My guess is that Thailand is humid and hot so perhaps the lychee "cools" the curry?

I added heaps of veges in it to make it a one pot dish.

Red Curry with Roasted Duck and Lychees (serves 4-6)
60ml of coconut cream (I omitted this)
around 3-4 tablespoon of red curry paste
1/2 a roasted duck chopped
400ml of coconut milk (I used light)
2 tablespoons of fish sauce
1 tablespoon of palm sugar (I used brown sugar) 
1 tin of diced tomatoes
around 7 kaffir lime leaves torned
1 red chili sliced
1 red capsicum chopped
1 broccoli chopped 
1-2 cups of chopped mushrooms

Saute curry paste till fragrant. Add coconut milk and simmer. Add roasted duck and simmer for 3-5 mins. Add the  fish sauce, sugar and all veges. Simmer for another 5 mins. Add tomatoes and lychess and cook for another 2 mins. Add kaffir leaves. Taste and season. Serve with rice.

Twice Cooked Red Wine and Rosemary Lamb Racks

We are very blessed to have a friend who is a chef. On a gathering one evening, he brought gorgeous sexy looking meat for a bbq. Alas, they (and the rest of the crew) wanted steamboat and the meat was kept aside. As we were leaving, C started splitting the meat (I still have 2 pieces of steak in the freezer) and handed us the dorper lamb racks. They are the lamb to have in terms of best quality. The 1. something kg of lamb would have at least costs us AU$40ish if we buy it at retail.

You can just imagine my excitement.

 I decided to marinate these gems with some red wine, rosemary and garlic. Then, I was at abit of a loss. Should I roast it or pan fry them? Luck has it that I under cooked them by around 5-10 mins (hey, my first lamb racks, i wasn't sure how long to cook them for, at least i under cooked it! ;p), and I finished them but quickly searing them on high heat.

Then, I pour the sauces into the pan, stir in some flour and some magic beautiful red wine gravy was born.

Twice Cooked Red Wine and Rosemary Lamb Racks
around 1 kg of lamb racks
1 red onion chopped
2-3 springs of rosemary from the garden
2-3 tablepoon of garlic
2 cups of red wine
sea salt
pepper

Wash and clean racks. Score the meat and marinate with onion, rosemary, garlic, salt, pepper and red wine for around 20 mins or so. Pre heat oven at 200C. Roast meat for around 20 minutes. Rest. Slice cutlets up and sear in high heat for around 1 min on each side.

Gravy-after roasting, keep gravy aside. Pour gravy into pan and add around 1 tablespoon of flour. Stir and stir. When it is thicken, lower heat. Simmer. Serve lamb with gravy and roasted veges.

Tender Lamb Chickpea Casserole

The good thing about winter weather is that we get to consume hearty comfort food. I guess back in the days when I was residing in Singapore, the thought of having casseroles and hearty stews often in the hot weather will be uncommon. A positive in staying in Australia (or anywhere with 4 seasons), food choices increase.

Come to think of it, I wouldn't have classify casseroles as "my kind of food" say 10 years ago. Certainly one thing I realized is that the palate change. And what I didn't like before may be what I enjoy having now.

I like this dish because it represents a different side of my cooking. It's not Asian, neither is it truly western. In fact, it's probably a mixture of what I read in various cookbooks! I dare say this is a combination of Jamie Oliver and The Australian Women Weekly! ;)

Tender Lamb Chickpea Casserole 
600 grams of lamb stir fry or lean cuts of meat-sliced (Season lightly with pepper and salt)
1 can of tomato diced
2 tsp of tomato paste
2-3 tsp of chili flakes
1 tsp of garlic 
2 stalks of celery diced
1 carrot diced  
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
3/4 zucchini diced
1 can of chickpea
1 cup of stock or water
optional -1/2 cup of red wine (Omitted) 


Saute garlic. Quickly fry up the lamb.  Add all veges and tomatoes. Simmer for 30 minutes or so, adding water when needed. Add tomato paste and chickpeas. Season. Cook for another 20 minutes or so. Serve with couscous. 

Star Anise Stewed Pork with Soya Egg

Memories can be in the form of images, smells, emotions, thoughts... the list is endless. For me though, a favourite childhood memory is when Grandma stewed a good stab of pork shoulder, cooled it down and chopped it into small pieces. If I'm lucky, I will catch her in the right moment-just when she puts the chopper into the meat, cutting them into the right bite size pieces before pouring the lovely juices over it. Being a little kid, I can't reach the plate, but she would save me the best pieces. Then we would giggle as I asked for more and she said "enough!" It's like a little secret between us.

I hesitated making this dish. Perhaps because I know how much it means to me. How perhaps if I screw it up, I will be distorting the memory. And of course, to conquer my fear of tackling a huge chunk of meat.

Grandma will probably not put star anise in her sauce. She would have preferred it slightly saltier.  But I'm not there to re-create what she does best. That's her star dish and it will always be. For us, it is just sufficient to savour the taste of home. Cutting the pieces of meat into the right bite sizes. Then it hit me-I smiled. She taught me how to cook this without teaching me. That's my grandmother for you.

Star Anise Stewed Pork with Soya Egg

1 kg of pork shoulder-trimmed with fats removed
1/4 cup of oyster sauce
1 generous tsp of castor sugar
1/4 cup of soya sauce 
1/2 cup of hua tiao jiu
1/4 cup of water
1 tablespoon of garlic
3-4 star anise 
2 boiled eggs-well done 

Heat a deep pot with some oil. Seal the pork shoulder. Rub it with garlic. Rest pork while all the sauces with star anise are placed in the pork and simmered. Place pork into the pot. Braise it for around 1.5 to 2 hours. Turning it over every 30 minutes or so. Cut each egg into half, place it in the pot for it to absorb the sauces. Serve with rice.