When cooking like this I also tend to taste the sauce as I’m making it and only using small approximate amounts for the mustard and tomato paste, then tasting and adding more if needed. I think the cut of meat is important too – I usually choose to use scotch fillet which always seems to give a very tender result.

What you’ll need (although these values are approximations):

• 500 – 700gms of thinly sliced beef (I used a thick cut Scotch Fillet and sliced it very thinly, but you could use Eye Fillet or Rump too)
• 1 small Onion (sliced)
• 1 clove of Garlic
• a bunch of Mushrooms (sliced, about the same mass as the beef)
• 1 tbsp Paprika (Smoked if you have it, but normal will do nicely – Use more to taste)
• 2 tsp Dijon Mustard
• 1 tbsp of Tomato Paste
• a knob of Butter
• Oil for frying
  
• about 2 shots of Brandy (no, not one for you, one for the recipe – they both go in)
• a cup of beef stock (real stock if you can)
• 2-3 tbsp of Sour Cream
• Flour (for dusting)
• Salt and Pepper

How to do it:

1. Heat a large frying pan, and fry onion in butter until softened a little, add mushrooms and garlic, and brown. Remove from pan.
2. Season flour with salt, pepper (I prefer white pepper here) and a dash of paprika. Dust the thin beef strips in flour, and fry in batches over a medium high heat, adding a little oil as needed. The thin meat cooks quick, so be attentive and if you don’t crowd the pan, it’ll brown much easier. Remove to a warmed plate as the pieces of beef are browned.
3. Deglaze the pan with brandy, add mustard, tomato paste, paprika and beef stock, stir until combined and simmering, then add the browned beef, onions and mushrooms back to the pan. Coat the meat with the sauce, and simmer gently for a few minutes. You may need to add more stock or hot water, if it doesn’t look saucy enough.
4. Taste and adjust seasoning. You want just a hint of paprika to come through, so you might want add a little more to taste.
5. Before serving, stir in the sour cream to make the colour a pale brown.
6. Traditionally pasta was served with this yummy dish. I’d recommend cutting some nice thick ribbons from a fresh lasagna sheet of pasta (Parpadelle). We serve ours with boiled rice which I think is more commonly accepted

Enjoy!

Method

Boil the butter, golden syrup and raw sugar together in a saucepan.

Add all the other ingredients to the melted mixture.

Press into a flat tin and and bake for 15-20 minutes at 150*C.

Cut while still warm.

Really yummy.

Ingredients
2 cups of sugar
2 eggs
1 cup of soured milk (add 1 teaspoon of vinegar to the milk and leave to curdle)
1/2 cup of cocoa
200 grams of softened butter
2 teaspoons of baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla essence
1/4 teaspoon of salt
3 cups of self-raising flour
1 cup of boiling hot coffee

Method

Place all the ingredients in a bowl or food processor in the order given.

Process or beat with an electric beater for one minute or until smooth.

Pour into a greased and lined 23cm cake tin.

Bake at 160*C until the cake bounces back when pressed or knife comes out clean (45min-1 hr).

Ice as desired.  I always use butter icing and if chocolate I sprinkle a flake on the top, which is everyones favourite.

Alternatively yoghurt can be used in place of the milk or 1/2 and 1/2.  The cake will be denser – more like a mud cake.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups Rolled Oats
1 cup Whole Oats
½ cup Oat Bran
½ cup Wheatgerm
2 tbsp Brown Sugar
2 tbsp Honey
½ cup Coconut
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Mixed Spice
½ cup warm Water
½ cup Olive Oil (or Grape Seed)
¼ tsp Salt (pinch)

Add the following, whatever you like, and amounts you like:

Seeds: Pumpkin and Sunflower Seeds. And/or add a bit of L.S.A (Crushed Linseed, Sunflower Seed and Almond)

Nuts: Hazelnuts, Walnuts, Almonds, Pecans, Cashews etc

Fruits: Sultanas, Apricots, Cranberries, Dates, etc. I do not put this in as I rather add fresh fruit when I eat it. Best to add dried fruit only half way else it gets to hard..

METHOD: Mix water, oil, sugar and honey. Put rest of stuff into a large roasting pan, add liquid and combine.  Bake at 160 degrees for about 30-40 minutes, until golden brown.  Stir every 15 minutes or so.  Stir as mixture cools, store in an airtight container when cold.

Olive Oil (for frying)
1.5 Kg Lamb (Neck chops, or other stewing cut)
1 Onion
2 Cloves of Garlic (or more)
Large chunk of Ginger
400g Tomatoes (Tinned)
Stock (preferably Real Stock – Lamb or Beef)
½ glass Red Wine
1 tbsp ground Cumin (or more to taste)
1 tbsp ground Coriander (or more to taste)
2 Cinnamon Sticks
2-3 Bay Leaves
Fresh Chili (or ½ tsp chili powder to suit your taste)
Fresh Coriander
Handful of dried Prunes
Handful of dried Apricots
Salt and pepper

Making it:

• Brown the lamb in batches in a cast iron casserole dish. Remove lamb and set aside.
• In the remaining fat, cook the onions for a bit. Then add the ground cumin, coriander and chili stir and cook briefly. Deglaze the pan with the red wine.
• Arrange the lamb back in dish so it sits nicely on the bottom with the onions on top. Season with salt and pepper and add cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, chopped garlic, tomatoes and stock (or water) so that the lamb is ‘almost’ covered (i.e. not drowning in liquid).
• Cook in the oven on a low heat (140°C) for 2-3 hours. Alternatively, you can simmer it on the stove top for the same amount of time.
• About half way through the cooking time, add the grated ginger.
• Add the dried prunes and apricots about 15 minutes before serving.
• Serve with the fresh coriander ripped on top, with cous cous or rice.

Enjoy.

For the pudding you’ll need:
1½ cups Dates, pitted and chopped
1 tsp Baking Soda
150 mls Boiling Water
125 grams Butter
¾ cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 heaped cup Self Raising Flour

And for the sauce:
3 cups Soft Brown Sugar
75 grams Butter
300 mls Cream
1tsp Vanilla Essence

Making the pudding:

1. In a bowl, sprinkle dates with baking soda, pour water over, stir and then stand for 10 – 15 minutes
2. Cream butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Stir in flour, then date date mixture.
4. Pour into a deep, well greased tin and bake at 190°C for 30 – 35 minutes or until knife comes out clean.
5. Allow pudding to stand in the tin while you prepare the sauce.

Preparing the sauce:

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and stir over a medium heat until sugar is dissolved.
2. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Pour a bit of the sauce (approx. 4 tablespoons) over the cooked pudding and return it to the oven to soak in and bubble.

Serve a slice of the pudding with enough sauce to create the sea of caramel, and maybe a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped (or fresh) cream. Oh Yeaaah.

Enjoy. Try not to have seconds though

Ever since seeing the snippet, I’ve wanted to cook this dish and recently at my 30th birthday I finally did, and with great result. Everyone seemed to love it, and it disappeared pretty bloody quick.

We didn’t get a photo of the end result because it disappeared waaaaaaay to quick. So here’s me, the banana leaves from down the back of the yard, and my marinaded pork that I had ’set aside’ earlier.

In New Zealand, getting hold of the key ingredient (besides the pork) was a bit of a mission. I found the Annato seeds from Mexi Foods in Dunedun and orders a descent size bag for $10 (although I didn’t use the credit card form, because they don’t t say what company takes the payments – they possibly just email your credit card info to themselves, which isn’t too good, but that’s just my assumption).

Then, once you’ve got those (and some banana leaves from my back yard) you’re good to go. Here is the 10 minute cooking school clip from youtube. Although, whoever uploaded this cut out the scene when Robert tells us to marinade the pork overnight.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Snips
Sticky Tape
Oh wait, that was the idea I wanted to send in to play school.

Here’s what you’ll really need:

For the Achiote Paste:

5 tbsp annatto seeds
2 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp black peppercorns
8 pieces allspice
½ tsp cloves

In a spice grinder/mill grind all the ingredients for the Achiote Paste into a fine powder.

The the dish itself:

2.6kg of pork shoulder or scotch cut into 5cm cubes (Americans say 5lbs pork butt, cut into 2 inch cubes – those crazy yanks)
banana leaves
½ cup fresh orange juice
½ cup white vinegar
2 tbsp salt
Juice of 5 lemons
8 cloves garlic
2 habanero peppers, chopped (habanero’s are pretty hard to find in New Zealand, just use 2-4 available chillies according to taste – although how you taste a chilli I’m unsure)
1 shot (or so) of the finest quality tequila you can manage

The method:

1. In a blender, blend annatto paste (spices), garlic, orange juice, vinegar, lemon juice, chillies, tequilia and salt until smooth and well mixed.
2. In a large zip lock bag, add pork and the blended mixture and jiggle until evenly coated.
3. Leave in the fridge overnight to marinade.
4. Preheat oven to 175°C (325°F).
5. Line a deep roasting dish with the banana leaves, dump the pork mixture into the disk and cover with another layer of banana leaves.
6. Cover tightly with tin foil so the steam can’t escape and bake for 4 hours.
7. When it finally comes out, it should all fall apart when you dig a fork into it.

Serve on a bed of white rice, and some nice crunchy mild peppers, or try shredding the meat and eat it like a fajita in a flour tortilla with lettuce, tomato and sour cream.

Enjoy.

PS: I have loads of annato seeds left if someone close want to try the recipe out

Place all ingredients except the water into the food processor. Whizz until smooth. Add the water to thin. Serve chilled or at room temperature. Keep covered in the fridge for a few days or freeze.

• 1 cup of dried chickpeas equals a 3 cups of cooked.
• Soak dried chickpeas in plenty of water overnight. Rinse, add fresh water and then boil for 40 minutes. Alternately use 2 tins of chickpeas.
• Recipe can be doubled and frozen for later use
• If you have some love handles or a fat ass to lose then this is great. 1/2 cup of this hummus is equal to 1 point on the Weight Watchers program

What you’ll need for serving 2 (or even three for a light meal):

2 Scotch Fillet Steaks
2-3 heads of Bok Choy (The smaller Shanghai variety is the best)
A handful of pinenuts, or a mix of sunflower and pumpkin seeds, or crushed peanuts, or some chili cashews
Seasalt, Pepper and preferably garlic flakes (or fresh garlic)
A glug of oil (for cooking, I use grapeseed or olive oil)
A drizzle of good quality olive oil

Method:

• Preheat your frying pan (hopefully you have a nice thick bottom cast-iron frying pan or skillet, there is no guarantee your steak will be very nice if you use one of those horrible non-stick aluminum ones, yuk!) and prepare a large pot of salted water to boil the Bok Choy.
• Season the steaks evenly on both sides with the salt, pepper and garlic flakes. Then thinly coat with oil and let sit until the pan is hot hot.
• When the pan is hot hot, add the oiled steaks. You won’t need more oil. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan or you’ll suck the life out of your heat and end up with something tough.
• Cook quickly for a few minutes on each side according to your preference (but turn it only once!). We like ours medium-rare, so it stays nice and tender.
• Pull the Bok Choy leaves apart and wash. Slice down the middle, so they become long bite-size-esque slivers, and add to the boiling water. Cook for about 2 minutes, then drain in a colander.
• Remove the steaks and let rest on a warm plate until you’re ready to carve.
• Thow the pinenuts or mixed pumpkin and sunflower seeds into the still hot pan and wiggle around in the juices and oils left from the steak. Careful not to burn them. If you’re using crushed peanuts or chili cashews, they’re okay not heated.
• Place a lump (there is no better word!) of Bok Choy, heaped, in the middle of each plate.
• Slice the steaks into thin strips (hopefully the outside is nice and brown and the inside has a nice strip of red) and arrange over the top of the Bok Choy.
• Sprinkle with the seeds or nuts, a smidge of freshly ground pepper and a little dribble of good quality olive oil and serve.

The juices from the steak will mix into the Bok Choy as you eat it, and the seeds add a little bit of texture to the dish. It’s soooo good.

1. Rinse lentils under cold running water and drain.
2. Put the lentils into a saucepan and cover with 4-5 cups of boiling water.
3. Add the turmeric and chilli powder and bring to the boil.
4. Peel and cut the ginger into thin slices and crush garlic. Add both to the pan.
5. Cover the saucepan and simmer gently for 10 minutes until the lentils are soft and nearly all of the liquid has been absorbed.
6. Stir in the garam masala and salt to taste.
7. Cook uncovered for a further 5 minutes or so.
8. Meanwhile heat the butter and cumin in a small frying pan. Add diced onion and fry gently until soft.
9. Stir the onion into the dhal and serve with curry and rice.