Showing posts with label main meal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label main meal. Show all posts

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Plantain Love - Garlic and Kale Mofongo

Plantain Love - Garlic and Kale Mofongo

I don’t know a great deal about the various South American cuisines, other than I enjoy eating most of the flavours. So, with an ignorance of the provenance of mofongo and therefore what is and isn’t actually “mofongo” I am calling this a Kale Mofongo. From what I have read, mofongo is fried plantains roughly mashed together with broth, chicharrones (or bacon), with various pepper and onions as the flavouring ingredients. This has the peppers in the form of chile flakes, and instead of salty bacon, it uses salty anchovies. The kale just makes it much more vege based.


This recipe is barely adapted from a recipe for pasta from the New York Times website. The only two real main differences are the substitution of noodles for plantain and the substitution of rum and broth for water. I figure, why wilt with water when you can wilt with more flavour?? Plus, I seem to have a fairly strong habit of cooking with booze. My love affair with plantains is well and truly continuing. Definitely hunt some down if you can find them!
Plantain Love - Garlic and Kale Mofongo
Plantain Love - Garlic and Kale Mofongo
Plantain Love - Garlic and Kale Mofongo
Plantain Love - Garlic and Kale Mofongo
Plantain Love - Garlic and Kale Mofongo

Garlic and Kale Mofongo

2 green plantains, cut into 5cm discs, peeled.
3 tbsp olive oil
4 anchovy filets
½ teaspoon crushed red chili flakes
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons capers, drained and stored on paper towel until ready to use
1 bunch kale, ribs removed, chopped
1 shots (30mL) dark rum, such as Angostura
¼ cup chicken or vegetable stock
Half a lime


Heat the olive oil in a large frypan (preferably one with deepish sides for when you’re tossing everything together) to medium heat. In batches if necessary, fry the plantain pieces until golden on each side, and soft – around 3-5 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper-towel lined plate and set aside.


To the same pan, add a little more oil if the plantains soaked up a lot. You want the bottom of the frypan to be well-coated. Add the anchovies, chili flakes and a fat pinch of salt. Fry, stirring, until the anchovies have dissolved and the chili flakes are toasted, around 3 minutes.

Add the garlic and the capers, cook for 5 minutes. Add kale and rum and cook until kale goes bright green and wilts and about half of the liquid has evaporated. Add the plantains and stir through, mashing as you go with your wooden spoon into the oily, garlicky kale. Everything should be coated with the flavoured oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then squeeze some lime juice over the top just before serving.

Plantain Love - Garlic and Kale Mofongo
Plantain Love - Garlic and Kale Mofongo
Plantain Love - Garlic and Kale Mofongo
Plantain Love - Garlic and Kale Mofongo
Plantain Love - Garlic and Kale Mofongo

Monday, September 28, 2015

Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)

Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)
Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)

Last time I travelled to New York, I fell in love with plantains. Head over heels. In every guise that I ate them. I have spent the two years since mourning their absence in my life. Hopefully checking out tales of plantain sightings in Perth from the definite to the more vague. None were fruitful (ha!) Then one day a few weeks ago, I walked into The Nanna Shop, and there they were in all their (at the time) green glory. I bought some without thinking. Without concern that I’d never pay $7.99 a kilo for bananas or potatoes – but here I was paying that for plantains. I finally could relive some of the dishes I had loved whilst travelling. I started with simple tostones – twice fried plantain chips. Just as crispy and salty and delicious as I remembered! Then I did a bit of a search for more plantain recipes both online and in my Cuban and Peruvian cookbooks. I came across a Dominican recipe for plantain gnocchi with a beef short rib ragu on the Saveur website. Not much one for the price of beef ribs, I decided to use that recipe as a flavour guideline and mix it up a little to make my life much easier by switching to a slow cooked blade roast. So no removal of bones, no straining the vegetables out of the sauce, everything just cooked and eaten together. It also meant changing the plantain gnocchi with yuca flour to mashed plantains with white rice – skewing things a bit further to the Cuban style of serving. I’d love to experiment with a plantain gnocchi one day (although yuca flour is probably well out of the equation!)

The flavours here an big and punchy. The meat has a decent heat kick – feel free to add more or less cayenne depending on how hot you like things. There’s a subtle acidity from the vinegar and tomato paste, but it’s well tempered by the big beefy flavour and the creamy crème fraiche added just at the end. The plantains should be yellow, this means a slightly sweeter mash that has an almost limey brightness to it. The rice and tomato salsa are fairly standard additions, adding bulk, texture and freshness. I loved this meal. So much. The beef here then lasted for a subsequent 4 meals, including a hungover quesadilla morning for four.

And I was delighted to learn that they still had plantains on offer this weekend just gone, so I am restocked again. This time I bought enough that I might even be able to hold off until a few go black and try them that way!
Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)
Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)
Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)
Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)
Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)
Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)
Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)

Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains

(barely adapted from Saveur)
2kg beef blade roast, fat layer removed and discarded
2 tbsp. rice bran oil
2 brown onions, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 carrots, diced
3 sweet paprika, diced (sub 1 red capsicum)
2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp. cayenne
3 tbsp. tomato paste
½ cup balsamic vinegar
2 cups beef stock
200mL crème fraiche
2 yellow plantains
White rice for serving
Tomato salsa (2 fresh tomatoes, 2 spring onions, handful of coriander and flat leaf parsley finely diced and tossed together)

Heat the base of your slow cooker to medium high and add a slick of oil. When the oil is hot, brown the blade roast on all sides, around 3 minutes per side. Remove to a plate. Turn the heat down to medium and add the onions, stirring here and there until translucent, around 5 minutes. Add the garlic, carrots, paprika and salt, and cook a further 10 minutes, or until the vegetables soften. Stir through the smoked paprika, pepper, basil, thyme, cayenne and tomato paste. Add the vinegar and beef stock, stirring to pick up any bits stuck to the bottom.

Bring the liquid to a boil, then place the beef back in gently. Place inside the slow-cooker, cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or until the meat is falling apart.

When the meat is ready, prepare the plantains. Without peeling, cut the plantains into cylinders around 4cm long. Place in a shallow glass bowl, add ¼ cup water cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 5 minutes, or until the plantains are soft. Remove the peel, then mash the plantains with the water remaining in the bowl. Season with a little salt.

Shred the beef with two forks, then gently stir through the crème fraiche. Serve with plain white rice, tomato salsa and mashed plantains

Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)
Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)
Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)
Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)

Saturday, September 5, 2015

Slow Cooker Love - Mulled Wine Kangaroo

Slow Cooker Love - Mulled Wine Kangaroo

When I was sitting and eating a bowl of my Beef, Pear and Red Wine Casserole, my mind wandered into how the cinnamon and red wine were like a mini-mulled wine with the beef. So naturally, my next thought was why not make a full-on mulled wine casserole? Cinnamon, cardamom, cloves all lend themselves to a hearty meat dish – as well as the wintery beverage. A lot of casseroles already use red wine as a flavouring component, why not go all the way and use a whole bottle? I know that you should  use decent quality wine to cook with, but when I’m using a whole bottle and adding a lot of other flavours to a dish, I’m not reaching for my best bottle. It just won’t be appreciated. My general rule is if you can’t drink it, don’t cook with it. There are a lot of good quality lower cost spectrum wines available, try a few out until you find one you like. Just make sure you drink a good quality wine with the dish! 


Kangaroo is a good meat to use for this dish as the wine and spices cut through the gameyness that can put people off. Adding the lentils makes it a one-pot meal. Meat and vege in one. Although I also served it with steamed sweet potato and sautéed kale with gorgonzola. That way I had leftovers to take to work! Whilst I am so ready for Spring, meals like this still make me appreciate the benefits of colder nights. It won’t be long til it’ll be nothing but BBQs and salads.


Slow Cooker Love - Mulled Wine Kangaroo
Slow Cooker Love - Mulled Wine Kangaroo


Mulled Wine Kangaroo


500g diced kangaroo
1 red onion, diced
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp rosemary leaves, minced
Juice and peel of one lemon
2 sticks cinnamon
5 cloves
5 cardamom pods
¼ cup brown sugar
1 cup beef stock
750mL bottle of red wine (something with oomph like a Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon)
2 carrots, cut into 2cm dice
1 cup de Puy lentils


Heat some olive oil in the base of your slow cooker up to a medium high heat and brown the kangaroo pieces, around 3 minutes on each side. Remove to a plate, cover and keep warm.


Turn the heat down to low and cook the red onion until translucent, around 5 minutes, then add the garlic cloves and rosemary. Stir and continue cooking 10 minutes until the onions start caramelising. Stir through the carrot and cook until it softens, 5 minutes. 

Add the lemon juice and scrape up any bits that have stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add the stock, wine, sugar, spices and peel. Bring to the boil and add the kangaroo and lentils. Place into your slow cooker and cook on high for 2 hours, alternatively, just reduce the heat back to low, place the lid on and simmer for 45minutes to an hour, or the lentils are soft and the meat is tender and pulling apart.


Slow Cooker Love - Mulled Wine Kangaroo
 Slow Cooker Love - Mulled Wine Kangaroo
Slow Cooker Love - Mulled Wine Kangaroo

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Still Cold at Night - Beef, Pear and Red Wine Casserole

Still Cold at Night - Beef, Pear and Red Wine Casserole
Still Cold at Night - Beef, Pear and Red Wine Casserole


There are blossoms on my mango tree. And a few on the blueberry shrub. Spring is definitely in the air. Intermittently. It’s supposed to be thunderstormy and rainy again any day now. Despite being around 24C yesterday. And nights are still cold. So slow-cooked foods and casseroles are still well and truly on the cards. Rich flavours that warm you up are still part of my cravings.

This beef and pear stew combines sweet and savoury in a fairly subtle way.The cinnamon and ginger waving a friendly hello to the sweetness of the pear and the red wine in a way that made me then go on to cook a full mulled-wine flavoured stew. More on that soon. Everything is cooked in the one pot, veges and all so it's the complete package.

Whip me up a bowl, I'll be sitting under a blanket on the couch. At least for a few more weeks.
 Still Cold at Night - Beef, Pear and Red Wine Casserole
Still Cold at Night - Beef, Pear and Red Wine Casserole

Still Cold at Night - Beef, Pear and Red Wine Casserole

Beef, Pear and Red Wine Casserole

800g beef chuck, diced
1/3 cup plain flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp paprika
Oil to fry
3 baby carrots, diced
1 red onion, finely diced
1 large red capsicum, diced
2 buerre bosc pears
1 bay leaf
3 anchovies
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 cup red wine
1 cup beef stock
¼ cup capers
1 small zucchini, large diced
Cooked brown rice to serve

Preheat your oven to 175C

Combine the flour with the salt, pepper and paprika. Whisk to mix it well.

Heat a coverable dish that can go on the stovetop and in the oven (such as a tagine) over medium-high heat and add a thin layer of oil. Dust the beef chuck pieces in the flour mix and brown on all sides. Do it in batches so you don’t crowd the pan. Remove the beef and set aside.

If the pan is dry, add a tablespoon of oil. Add the onion and cook until translucent, around 5 minutes. Then add the capsicum and carrot and cook until softened, a further 5-10 minutes. Stir through the anchovies, cinnamon and ginger until the anchovies have ‘melted’.
Pour in the stock and red wine, bring to the boil then add the bay leaf, pear, capers and the beef.

Cover, and place in the oven for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven, then add the zucchini. Return to the oven for 15 minutes.


Serve with brown rice.

Still Cold at Night - Beef, Pear and Red Wine CasseroleStill Cold at Night - Beef, Pear and Red Wine Casserole

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Low and Slow - Cherry Pork Ribs

Low and Slow - Cherry Pork Ribs
Low and Slow - Cherry Pork Ribs


One of the best things about when I was a Stay at Home Wife (albeit temporarily!!), is that I had time for slow cooking. One of the worst things about staying home whilst things are slow cooking, is that you are tortured by the smells all day! By the time Lance got home and these ribs were sticky and done, I was FAMISHED.

I found a bottle of cherry juice at the Nanna Shop and decided I needed to make cherry pork ribs. Pork and cherries are a great combination! The basic idea is from Alejandra’s Pomegranate Ribs – still my number 1 rib recipe. Make a rub, braise the ribs in fruit juice, reduce until sticky, enjoy. The rub spices and fruit juice have just changed! There’s very little hands-on time and the end result is definitely worth the wait (and torture!). So chuck some of these on if you are going to be home doing the housework and enjoy a fabulous dinner to reward your efforts!

If it's just Lance and I, I almost always just cook pork rib tips instead  of full racks because my butcher sells them so much cheaper. It just doesn't look quite as impressive. If you are making them for more than the family, maybe go for full racks.

Low and Slow - Cherry Pork Ribs
Low and Slow - Cherry Pork Ribs
Low and Slow - Cherry Pork Ribs
Low and Slow - Cherry Pork Ribs
Low and Slow - Cherry Pork Ribs

Cherry Pork Ribs

serves 4
2 tsp Chinese 5 Spice
1 tsp cayenne powder
1 ½ tsp ginger
½ tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sumac
3 tsp salt
8 pork rib tips (or around 4 racks)
3 cups cherry juice (750mL)
½ cup whisky
1 tbsp oyster sauce

Combine all the rub ingredients, then rub generously over the ribs, place in a large oven-proof container with a lid (such as a tagine or crockpot), cover and set aside for an hour to marinade. They can overlap a little.

Preheat the oven to 125C

Remove the ribs from the tagine or oven dish and add the cherry juice, whisky and oyster sauce. Bring to a boil. Stir until the oyster sauce has dissolved, then add the ribs. Spoon the sauce over the ribs to coat before placing the lid on and sliding into the oven for 3 hours or until the ribs are tender.


When they’re done, turn the oven off, remove the ribs from the tagine and pop on a plate in the oven to keep warm. Bring the sauce to a simmer with the lid off and reduce until sticky, around 15 minutes. Place the ribs back into the sauce, serve with greens and plenty of extra sauce.

Low and Slow - Cherry Pork Ribs
Low and Slow - Cherry Pork Ribs
Low and Slow - Cherry Pork Ribs

Monday, July 27, 2015

Idea Obsessions - Peanut Butter and Jelly Duck Bao

Idea Obsessions - Peanut Butter and Jelly Duck Bao
Idea Obsessions - Peanut Butter and Jelly Duck Bao

Sometimes I get hit by a random food idea that I simply can’t shake. Peanut Butter and Jelly Duck Bao was one of those. In my head, I could taste the combination. Beautiful fatty duck slices, sticky sweet jam, a spicy peanut sauce rounding it out. I wanted it so bad! Cooking complicated meals during the week is a bonus of being made redundant. Ordinarily, it’d be months before I had a spare weekend to cook something like this, but now I can (almost) any time! So on a Friday without plans, I decided to make dinner and the couch Date Night, by making something a little fancier than the norm. Right from the get-go you should know that this is a very involved meal, if you want to do things right and get the full richness of flavours in your jelly and the best fluffiness in homemade steam buns. Good things sometimes really do take time. It is worth it, I promise you that. BUT…if you are time poor, but still love the idea of these PB&J Duck Bao, I won’t complain too much if you simplify things..

So, onto my complicated, enhanced version. I always use the Momofuku Steam Buns recipe for making bao, but I find I always need at least ½ cup more flour than their recipe. But use their amount first, and add more if the dough is too sticky. In this instance, instead of rendered pork fat, I used rendered duck fat.

Given we aren’t in stone fruit season, I decided to make my plum jam with prunes, instead of fresh plums. Given how classic a combination duck and plums are, I didn’t want to deviate for my jam. I always have prunes in the house because I’m a bit of a nanna and love them on my porridge. Finish it off with a simple spicy peanut butter sauce and you have gold! I was going to make my own pickles to go with these, but time got away from me.

Serve with buns, pickle and parsley and coriander leaves and you have a perfectly balanced but rich PB&J Duck Bao.

Idea Obsessions - Peanut Butter and Jelly Duck Bao
Idea Obsessions - Peanut Butter and Jelly Duck Bao
Idea Obsessions - Peanut Butter and Jelly Duck Bao
Idea Obsessions - Peanut Butter and Jelly Duck Bao
Idea Obsessions - Peanut Butter and Jelly Duck Bao
Idea Obsessions - Peanut Butter and Jelly Duck Bao

Peanut Butter and Jelly Duck Bao

½ duck (if you are making a simpler version, 1 large duck breast, skin on)
1 red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp salt
2 litres water
1/2tsp freshly cracked black pepper

Prune and Onion Jelly

1 red onion, thinly sliced
½ tsp salt
2 cups red wine (such as Shiraz or Cab Sauv)
200g prunes, roughly chopped
1L duck stock (included in recipe)
½ cup brown sugar

Spicy Peanut Sauce

½ cup peanut butter
½ tbsp. freshly grated ginger
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp kecap manis
2 tbsp sriracha (or to taste)

Fillet the breast and thigh piece of the duck, keeping the skin intact. Cover and place in the fridge until later. Remove the fat and skin from the rest of the duck. In a frypan over medium heat, fry the excess skin and fat until the fat renders out. Drain from pan and allow to cool to room temperature. Start making the steam buns, if you are. Read the instructions fully, to understand how much rising time you’ll need all up.

Using a big sharp knife, carefully cut the duck bones up at the joints and fry them off in a stock pot until brown. Add 2 litres of water, the onion, bay leaf, garlic cloves, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer for an hour, skimming the foam off the top from time to time. Leave to cool half an hour, then pass through a sieve. You can remove and shred any meat from the duck pieces and reserve for another use – or just discard along with the vegetables and bones.

In a saucepan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over a medium-low heat and cook the onion slices until translucent, around 5 minutes. Add the salt to allow them to sweat, and cook for a further 10 minutes. They should soften even more, but not colour. Add the prunes, duck stock and brown sugar. Bring to the boil, stirring well, then cover and reduce to a simmer, and leave to cook for around an hour and a half, or until reduced by half. Alternatively, skip the stock making step and use good chicken stock - or just use a good store-bought plum jam or plum sauce.

While this cooks, remove the duck from the fridge to take the chill off, and preheat the oven to 150C. Should take about half an hour.

When the oven is ready, heat a frypan to high. Season the duck on both sides with salt and pepper and place skin side down on the heat. Leave to cook for 5-6 minutes, until the skin is crispy and the fat has rendered. Flip over and cook a further 5 minutes. Spoon some prune jelly over the top of the duck breast and place in the oven to finish cooking for 15 minutes. Take the lid off the prune jelly and keep cooking to reduce to a sticky, jamlike consistency.

Meanwhile, start steaming your buns and make the peanut butter sauce. Add all of the spicy peanut butter sauce ingredients to a small saucepan and place over low heat, stir here and there until smooth and all of the ingredients are fully incorporated. Should be about 5 minutes. Take off the heat and set aside.

Remove the duck breast, cover with a piece of foil and rest for 5 minutes. Slice into thin strips and serve with the prune and onion jelly, peanut butter sauce, pickles, herbs and steam buns.



Idea Obsessions - Peanut Butter and Jelly Duck Bao
Idea Obsessions - Peanut Butter and Jelly Duck Bao
Idea Obsessions - Peanut Butter and Jelly Duck Bao