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.

You’ll need these ingredients…
310-400 gm can of beans  (Either mixed or kidney, I use ‘Ceres’ organic mixed beans)
1/4 Red onion, Chopped
3 tablespoons olive olive
2 Tablespoons either Wine Vinegar or I use Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tablespoon of Sugar
1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of water or brine from beans
about 1 cup of chopped capsicum (I like red)
1/4 cup of chopped celery (optional)
parsley

This is what you do…

• Rinse Beans under cold water
• Mix onion, oil, vinegar, sugar, cumin,salt and /brine and mix with the beans.
• Stir in the Capsicum, Celery and finely chopped parsley and Chill.

The salad keeps really well in the fridge for a few days.  Everybody I know loves it when I make this Salad, hope you enjoy it too.

What you’ll need:
A bottle of Red Wine (750mls)
A zesty fruit like an Orange or a Lemon
A bit of water
2 Cinnamon quills/sticks
3-4 Cloves
3 heaped tbsp Sugar

Gently does it:

1. Set a pot on the stove on it’s gentlest temperature and add your wine (you can also gently heat it on the top of your fire/log burner).
2. Add about a glass of water (of course, if you’re hardcore you may prefer not to add water, but it makes  a lighter drink and goes a little further too) – you can add more to taste, depending on the wine.
3. Peel the Orange or Lemon (with a vegetable peeler) and add the zest only to the pot with the cloves, cinnamon quills and sugar. As a general rule, I use about 3 small palms full of sugar, which I guess is about 3 heaped tablespoons – I’ve used white sugar and organic raw sugar. Both work equally nice.
4. Stir often to dissolve the sugar and infuse the wine with the spices. Don’t let it simmer or boil. The idea is to gently heat and infuse.
5. Taste and adjust the sugar or water to taste.
6. Drink straight away, or you can let it sit to keep warm on a very gentle fire, but its best drunk hot.
7. Serving is easiest with a soup ladle and into short wine glasses, and see who gets the random clove at the end – there’s always one the get’s through.

Wine choice:

I prefer a Shiraz, Shiraz Cabernet or Cabernet Sauvignon for mulled wine and while it may hurt to spend $20 on a nicer bottle, of course it’s much nicer. Some people argue its a waste too, so each to their own. I prefer a Peter Lehmanns (mmm, Barossa Valley), but a Jacobs Creek is quite good too, and can be regularly found on special at the super market. Our last attempt used a Wyndym Estate which turned out great.

That said, this is also a bloody good way to get rid of that cheap bottle someone left at a dinner party. Not only does it remove the label from eyesight (and you can deftly avoid questions about it when people ask, or simply vague out), it makes even banrock station and ruben hall almost drinkable – yey water!

There you have it. An enjoyable drink to celebrate winter. Good on its own, or with dinner (or should I say, supper) with some nice homemade soup and bread in front of a warm fire. Try it a few times, play with the amount of ingredients to suit your tastes – the recipe is very basic so don’t be shy.

Enjoy.

For the salad…
2 cups of cooked Brown Rice
½ cup of Soya Sauce

Pour Soya Sauce over the rice and soak overnight.

1 Red Capsicum
3 Spring Onions
½ Red Onion

Chop up quite small and add to the rice.

1 cup of skinned and chopped Peanuts
1 cup of Sunflower Seeds
½ cup of sultanas or Raisins

Add all these to the salad and toss.

Dressing…
½ cup of Olive Oil
Grated rind and juice of a Lemon
1 clove of crushed Garlic
Pepper

Mix together and pour over salad

Keeps well for a few days.  Hope you enjoy this one as much as I do.

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