The best Vietnamese Crispy Pancakes

It’s been a few weeks of rushing around and little time to write anything in my blog.  Nick and I enjoyed a road trip to Brisbane where we both had a few days work and had a chance to see Joe and Megs new Australian home and celebrate his promotion with a glass of champagne.  We had a great night out with them and Maggie then travelled to Byron where the five of us spent the weekend celebrating Meg’s birthday.

We enjoyed a meal at ‘The Petit Snail’ www.thepetitsnail.com.au traditional French food made with love before a rather long journey home.  The following weekend was another trip for yet another birthday in Sydney celebrating Jo's with a suprise party.  After all these celebrations it was nice to have a weekend at home to recharge before taking off again this weekend to Sydney and on to Port Douglas for a few days holiday over Easter.

With all the comings and goings we have still had time to make Apple Chutney from the apples we collected just over our fence and some Strawberry Jam and Spiced Fig Jam from local fruit.   The pantry is looking healthy.

While with Maggie and Meg we talked (amongst many other things) Vietnamese Pancakes so here is the promised recipe.  I'd recommend it to anyone looking for fresh, healthy and really tasty food.  You need to eat them as they are made so they are great kitchen bench / bar eating for a casual evening.

Pancake batter

Mix all the following ingredients together

250g rice flour

1 T potato starch

1 t turmeric (ground)

2 t salt

1 T white sugar

2 cups warm water

1 250g can coconut cream

The pancake is cooked on just one side until crisp and golden, spread a thin layer in a medium heat pan  - reduce the heat and pop a lid on and cook about three minutes.  Fill and served immediately with lettuce cups and a dipping sauce.

The filling

Pork – I use a small amount of minced pork simply cooked plain in a pan

Prawns – cooked, I poached quickly in a little water

Bean sprouts

Garlic chives or chives

Green onions

Serve with -   iceberg lettuce cups, mint leaves, sliced cucumber, coriander

Dipping sauce – mix ¼ cup caster sugar with 100ml boiling water, when dissolved add 50ml fish sauce and 100ml white vinegar 

Enjoy, Love Mary

Season fresh APPLES from Orange

We have just finished a really enjoyable weekend with the highlight being our first flight with my husband as pilot.  Nick took me for a local flight from Orange Airport taking in surrounding towns of Millthorpe, Carcoar and Springhill before a look at the huge Cadia Mine then around Mt Canobolas over some spectacular vineyards and magnificent properties and home.  It was a smooth flight with a perfect landing and I can’t wait to get up there with him again.

Harvesting is starting out this way with Apples, Pears, Apricots and Grapes all ready or near for picking. 

These apples are from the trees just over our fence so couldn’t be fresher.  The possums have been sitting in the tree having a feast, if it s good enough for them…

You will know this one it’s an all time favourite but what better idea can you think of to do with a fine apple (except to eat fresh of course).

APPLE CRUMBLE feeds 4-6 people

You will need about 750g of prepared fruit – Apples, rhubarb (needs to be cooked with a little sugar first, berries, peaches anything you like really or a mix – I like rhubarb and strawberry or apple and raspberry.  You can also get clever with spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, nice if it’s a straight apple crumble or even a vanilla pod with stone fruit would be great.  You could even try the zest of an orange or lemon.

THE TOPPING

120g self raising flour

90g butter, cold and diced

6 tablespoons of brown sugar

In a mixing bowl put the flour and a pinch of salt, add the cubes of butter and using the tips of your fingers rub the butter into the flour.  Stir in the sugar.  Pop the mix in the fridge or freezer for 10 minutes or so or until ready to cook.

Add the fruit to an over proof dish - sprinkle with the topping and put in a pre heated oven 180C for about 40 minutes

I think my favourite has to be a plain apple crumble with a little home made custard or good vanilla ice cream ....are you allowed to eat crumble and ice cream for lunch? Enjoy the Apples that are arriving in the shops right now – just check they are March 2011 NOT 2010!!

Love

Mary

Tea and Cake on the River

I’m considering blocking this blog from all except those that are following the site so if you are keen to keep in touch with us through reading this blog you will need to click on the ‘follow’ tab.  I’m getting a few hundred readers of the site and prefer to keep this more personal so would like to restrict access to people we know….if you are having problems with the link or set-up let me know.

Those of you that know us also know we love a good cake.  Mum has been encouraging of Nick taking up the careful art of baking and in turn this leads to a growing collection of baking books. 

While thumbing through one of Nicks books (that my Mum had gifted to him at some point) I found and baked the following cake.  It was served last weekend while boating on the Hawkesbury River with friends and calls for big cups of tea!  I’d recommend it as a dense and most cake, really tasty and does look better than the photo I promise. 

One of the ingredients is milk powder which I don’t think I have bought for years if ever, I’m intrigued as to what people do with milk powder as there seemed to be a lot of it in the supermarket when I went looking   - any ideas? Make home made yogurt possibly….what else? And no it wasn’t baby formula – but I guess you could use it if you have access….why not.

From the book – A treasury of New Zealand Baking

Weekend Cake

Makes a 20cm round cake, preheat oven 180 C, lightly grease / line with baking paper your tin

1 whole orange

1 cup pitted dates

½ cup walnuts

125g butter softened

1 egg

6 tbsp milk powder

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup water

Chop the orange, including the skin, then whiz quickly in the food processor.  Add the dates and walnuts, processing until coarsely chopped.

Place the butter, sugar and egg in the food mixer and mix until smooth.  Sift the milk powder, flour and baking soda together. Combine the fruit mixture, water and dry ingredients.  Pour into the tin.

Bake for 40-45 minutes. 

Quick and simple, tastes great and keeps really well.

As a side we have a spectacular show of flowers on the Yucca plants at Castlecrag, if they weren't 12 foot tall and spiky I might have cut the flowers they are so beautiful.

Love

Mary

Brick Chicken

It’s been a busy few weeks with trips to Sydney and a weekend on the Hawkesbury.  We have farewelled friends from Orange and work for both of us has been a busy.  This week we are both in Sydney for work  then hope to see a quiet weekend.  Maybe time to book a couple of short holidays we have planned.  Later this month we will also be in Brisbane, great timimg to catch up with Joe and Meg who have arrived for their three year stint there.  It will be nice to have a few more family members close by.

The garden continues to provide us with fresh produce.  What looks to be the last of the tomatoes where enjoyed after slowly cooking them in a pan with a little olive oil, lots of finely sliced garlic and some thyme.  Just as they where ready I splashed some verjuice in the pan and they where perfect with a simply grilled piece of Atlantic Trout.  Delicious and couldn’t have been more simple.

On a fun note we decided to try a recipe I had found in an American cook book ‘Brick Chicken’. 

I took a chicken, cut in half through the breast and back bone then removed the back bone , rib cage and thigh bones.  After seasoning really well with salt and pepper I placed the chicken, skin down in a very hot pan with a little oil.  On top of the chicken I placed another pan and in this I stacked all the tins I could find in my pantry.  The recipe had called for a couple of bricks but they weren’t available at the time.  Made for an amusing sight as you can see below. 

After about 10 minutes of cooking at a moderate heat we removed most of the tins and decided instead to use a couple of weights from the gym  (not getting much use in there anyway) and continued cooking for another 8 minutes.  I then removed the weights and the  top pan and turned the very flat, gold brown chicken over.  At this point remove any excess fat from the pan and add a ½ cup of stock and a good squeeze of half a lemon and cook for a further 3 minutes or until cooked.  The end result was a crispy skinned, really moist and tasty chicken, served with some simply cooked spinach, tossed in a pan with a drizzle of olive oil and a taste of white wine vinegar – it was a great, fun method to quickly cook a very tasty chicken.  

Enjoy

Love Mary

PS The full recipe for Brick Chicken can be found in 'The New Brooklyn Cookbook' by Melissa Vaughan & Brendan Vaughan or visit Marlow and Sons in Brooklyn New York apparently its been on the menu there for years.

First Aid and Chilli

Last week I attended a 2 day First Aid course, not the standard first aid which most people do or at least should do, this one is the Mental First Aid course.  With 1 in 5 Australians suffering with some form of mental illness in their lifetime it’s become essential to know how to deal with a situation if it happens.  I have certainly had my share of staff that needed help over the years and wish I had learned these skills some years ago.  If anyone has an inkling of interest its well worth your time and yes I will be watching you all…….I have the certificate.

I also had my regular trip to the Gold Coast which I do each month and luckily this coincided with Maggies birthday so also had a night in Brisbane.  We had a great evening in a Restaurant called Ortiga  www.ortiga.com.au.  It’s a Spanish restaurant that has been open just a year serving shared plates, magnificent food, the three of us shared numbers of dishes like Croquetas ,Mar y montana of oysters with pig trotters and stinging nettle picada and Codorniz rellena – stuffed quail with fennel and black olive picada.  And these Pimientos De Pardron with baby calamari.

Sorry not a good photo, taken descretly in a restautrant but all the food definitely had the wow factor.  I had purchased a night off especially for this birthday from Feb Fast so was able to share a bottle of 2006 Neudorf Chardonay from Nelson NZ which if you can find I’d highly recommend.

Its still febfast we are 17 days into it and both being strong.  Looking forward to this being over, it’s a bit dull eating good food without a decent glass of wine to complement.  Thanks to all those who have sponsored us to date we are almost at our target of $500.  If you would like to support us the address is -http://www.febfastfundraising.com.au/team_debere  

The weather turned from oh so hot to cold this week so we cooked a very un seasonal pot of chilli.  We served it with sour cream, avocado, chopped corriander and grated cheese and loved this for its comfort.  It makes a really large pot so you could freeze or just keep eating….Or turn it into a base for Taco’s or Boritos or Nachos…..for crowd.

Chilli For the Slow-Cooker

     1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1KG minced beef

2 large onions chopped

2 green pepper chopped

2 red pepper chopped

Fresh green halapenos (straight from our garden) depending how hot you like it, I added 6

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 large can diced tomatoes

1 small can tomato paste

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1 tablespoon sea salt - might need a bit more

½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1 tablespoon chili powder (or less if your feeding children)

1 tablespoon oregano

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon cocoa powder

2 tablespoons brown sugar

As needed: water

Brown the meat, in a separate pot cook the onion, when soft add peppers, garlic and fresh chilli, combine all other ingredients and cook for at least an hour or in the slow cooker at least 3 hours.

Love

Mary

Feb Fast and Flix

What an amazing week, so hot it was really hard to work over 30 degrees for a week!

But who are we to complain, a bit of heat and a few bad nights sleep is all we got, while hundreds of people are homeless in Queensland and today the front page is 40 homes in WA lost to fire.  Frightening times for so many people in Australia.

So have just enjoyed another great weekend.  We attended ‘Flix in the Stix’, as it sounds an outdoor movie / music experience held in the local botanic gardens.  A number of award winning short films, interesting and thought provoking, humorous and beautiful.  There where also a couple of slots where Mark Seymore (x hunters and collectors) was on stage – could have done with less of that but he was a big hit with a number of chair dancers close by that made it all allot more entertaining.  All in all a really nice way to spend a Saturday evening with a picnic dinner and a couple of camping chairs, especially for those participating in Februarys – 'Feb Fast' 

For those of you that don’t know….

FebFast Ltd challenges people to press the pause button on their alcohol consumption during the shortest month of the year, and at the same time raise funds to help reduce alcohol and other drug related harms amongst young Australians. 

Proceeds raised through registration and fundraising go towards the Australian Drug Foundation, YSAS (the Youth Substance Abuse Service in Victoria), Mater Health Services Adolescent Drug and Alcohol Withdrawal Service (Queensland), The Ted Noffs Foundation (NSW and ACT), BushMob (Northern Territory) and Mission Australia youth alcohol and other drug services in WA, SA and Tasmania. 

Further funds will also be distributed through a grants program for smaller grass-roots organisations. 

For more information about FebFast and its beneficiaries visit www.febfast.org.au

If you would like to sponsor us just follow this link….

http://www.febfastfundraising.com.au/team_debere

Back to food.........while in Spain last year Nick and fell head over heels for salt cod, prepared in a number of different ways but at the moment I’m trying to perfect a recipe for salt cod croquettes…so Friday was our second version, it takes a bit of thought as the cod must be soaked in several changes of water over at least 48 hours prior to making the croquettes.  You can only just see these ones that we served with prawns, on mayo and with Rocket and Roasted home grown little Tomatoes.

I’m definitely not there yet.  The ones here tasted okay – they looked great but not anywhere near as light as the ones we where eating in Madrid, just means we have to eat more I guess….I’ll share the recipe once I’m happy with it but if anyone has the perfect recipe I'd love you to share.

Love Mary