Prawn and Pineapple Red Curry

by Keith Mirgis

This is the most delicious Red Curry I have every made. The key is using a fresh, plump, juicy pineapple. Stay away from tinned.

Ingredients
20 large green (raw) prawns, shelled and deveined
Two-thirds of a small pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
100g snow peas, trimmed and halved on the diagonal
1-2 large red chillies, finely sliced
2-3 kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded (not essential)
Boiled rice, to serve
1 cup coconut cream
3 tbsp red curry paste
2 tsp palm sugar (or raw)
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp tamarind puree (not essential)
2 cups coconut milk

Instructions
1. Heat coconut cream in a wok over medium heat and stir for 1-2 minutes
2. Add red curry paste and stir over low heat for 2-3 minutes until fragrant
3. Add sugar, fish sauce and tamarind and stir well
4. Gradually add coconut milk and stir; then add prawns and simmer until prawns just change colour
5. Add pineapple and snow peas and simmer for 1-2 minutes until heated through
6. Remove from heat and serve topped with red chilli and kaffir lime leaves. Accompany with rice

Lemonade Spider @ Home

Have you tried making your own homemade lemonade?

I’ve just left my lemonade stall to go and make myself a tasty homemade lemonade spider, back in 5…

Ingredients
Homemade Lemonade
Vanilla Ice Cream (For spiders I prefer Blue Ribbon because it’s so creamy)

Preparation
Easy, Pour a glass of homemade lemonade and add a scoop or two of ice cream.

Mulligatawny Soup

by Karen Fowler

More like a mild sweet curry, this recipe is a Fowler family favourite.

Ingredients:
30 g butter
375 g chicken thigh cutlets
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 green apple, finely chopped
1 tabs curry paste
2 tabs plain flour
3 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup basmati rice
1 tabs chutney
1 tabs lemon juice
1/4 cup cream (optional)
salt & pepper

Instructions:
1. Heat butter in large heavy based pan & brown chicken for 5 min and then remove
2. Add onion, apple & curry paste and cook for 5 min until onion is soft
3. Stir in flour, then cook for 2 min
4. Add half the stock and stir until mixture boils and thickens
5. Add chicken and remaining stock to pan and stir until boiling
6. Reduce heat, cover and cook for 1 hour
7. Add rice for the last 15 min
8. Remove chicken, bone and dice meat finely and return to pan
9. Add chutney, lemon juice, cream and seasoning

Enjoy. I usually multiple ingredients by 3 - without the cream will keep in fridge for 3 days or can be frozen

Mad Mex

Earlier this week I dined at Mad Mex on Crown St just off Oxford.

It’s a mexican eat-in/takeaway similar to Guzmen Y Gomez, but so much better.

You choose a wrap, a meat and a salsa as well as an authentic Mexican beer and your own your way.

A little bit more expensive than a regular takeaway joint but less expensive than a restaurant and just as tasty.

Watch this franchise, it comes highly recommended.

Do you like Bacon?

Why not keep in the know on all bacon news - bacon.alltop.com

The Pizza Party

A while ago some friends (Tim, George & Ryan) and I ventured out of town for some tom-foolery down in not so sunny Kiama.

We did the usual and headed to the shops on the way to buy some dinner. Initially it was going to be a bbq affair but the weather was overcast and we all quickly agreed to go with pizzas instead. We parted ways and joined again at the checkout with an assortment of ingredients and some supermarket banter.

We used the new self checkout but had a little trouble wrestling the technology. I have to admit I think we got the rocket for free, oops! The whole deal cost about $50 which ended up over-feeding 5 of us.

And then we were on our way. When we arrived at George’s we poured ourselves an ale, pre-heated the oven to 180C and chopped, diced and sliced all of our ingredients and placed them in bowls.

Then the fun began with each of us styling our own pizza to share. It wasn’t long until it turned into a competition to see who could make the tastiest slice, and we all became instant food critics.

About 6 pizzas in the alcohol had taken it’s toll and we were all finding it hard to remember what the 1st pizza tasted like.

About 10 pizzas in we were all already full but decided to make dessert pizzas in between poker rounds.

I went about making the worst pizza imaginable and ended up adding sherry, cornflour and soya sauce. It didn’t taste to bad but still, don’t try this at home!

The winner was Ryan, and he got my vote not just for the taste of his dessert pizza but also for the way he made it sound so unbelievably tasty even before it had hit the oven!

Below are some photos (Thanks Timmy)…

Tim's Banana & Top Deck Chocolate Dessert Pizza

Ryan Eldridge - Reigning Pizza Champion 2008

We’re going to make pizza parties a more regular event. They’re a great way to enjoy good company and experiment with good (and not so good) food!

How To Grow A Herb Garden

A few months back I decided to start a herb garden for my new home. The taste difference is there with fresh herbs, and there’s something about the process that makes you enjoy the food even more. Plus I was tired of paying up to $5 for a bunch of less than fresh herbs from woolies.

I went to the local greenery and picked up a selection of already growing potted herbs:

• Mint
• Sage
• Rosemary
• Oregano
• Rocket (although this is not a herb)
• Parsley
• Coriander
• Chives
• Thyme

All of these cost $40 in total (an average of $4.44 per herb and equal to the prices you can pay at woolies). I also bought 2 27cm pots ($20 each) and 2 bags of suitable potting mix ($20 dollars each). All up it cost me $120, which means that you would only have to use each herb 3 times to be cheaper than buying herbs from woolies.

I went home and planted them a few days later after work. I watered them 2 times a day for the first few weeks and then once a day since, although I have forgotten to water them a few days here and there! Two months later and I have a very healthy herb garden.

Eating the Environment

ted.com is a great site with lots of interesting speaches from leaders in all sorts of industries.

The sites slogan is “ideas worth spreading”, so I thought I would share this video on the environmental effects of our eating habits.

“In this fiery and funny talk, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman weighs in on what’s wrong with the way we eat now (too much meat, too few plants; too much fast food, too little home cooking), and why it’s putting the entire planet at risk.”-ted.com

Two Second Pancakes

by Jen Casey

Ingredients
1 cup self-raising flour
1 cup milk
1 egg

Preparation
1. Mix them all up, wait for bubbles to appear on the surface and you know the rest!

There are a thousand variations on this recipe, but my favourite is just a touch of cinnamon or vanilla.

Lemonade Homemade

It’s nearly the festive season and things are heating up of late. It’s that time of a year when a refreshing drink is most refreshing.

So I thought I might try to make some homemade lemonade…

Ingredients
Lemons (300mL squeezed)
Caster Sugar (270mG)
Lime (Half)
Sparkling Mineral Water (900mL)
Mint

Preparation
1. Squeeze the lemons and lime and pour into pot
2. Heat the pot and stir in the caster sugar
3. Let the mixture boil and turn off heat once the sugar has dissolved
4. Pour this mixture into a container and place in the freezer to cool
5. Once cool pour in a jug with the mineral water
6. Pour into glasses and add some mint and ice

I was really impressed with how easy and quick it was to make, I’m going to make a big batch and never need to buy cordial again!

Laksa

Ingredients:
laksa paste
1lt chicken stock
1lt coconut milk
1 TBs fish sauce
100gm fresh galangal finley sliced
750gms prawns, chicken or whatever

Instructions:
1. Fry laksa paste until fragrant
2. Add prawns or whatever and galangal
3. Add liquids
4. Top with bean shoots and fresh coriander leaves

Laksa Paste

This one is really simple; once you’ve found all your ingredients throw them all in a food processor and blend. It’s a good idea to make more than you need for 1 meal, and you can always freeze what you don’t use.

This recipe makes a really nice Laksa!

Ingredients:
5 stalks lemon grass
1 TBs ground tumeric
12 dried chillies soaked in walm H2o OR 3tsp Sambal oelec
20 eshalots pealed and sliced
apiece of walnut sized palm sugar
1TBs shrimp paste (Balkan) roasted in foil at 200 for 15 mins
2 cloves garlic pealed and sliced
1 TBs dried shrimp
roots from 2 bunched coriander chopped
2 TBs peanut oil