Chicken Curry with Cashew nuts

I never even used to eat pepper. Maybe because my first memory of 'hot stuff' was of it being smeared all over my face in an EPIC food battle at a Youth Camp when I was 8 years old. No doubt, it left me washing out my puffy eyes with milk for the rest of the camp!

However, since I've moved to Korea I've really taken to hot/spicy food! Probably because you can't really avoid it in Asia..  (:  I made this dish the other day, and it was DELICIOUS!! Tasty, spicy, hot...... just enough to warm me up on a -21' day of snow.

Ingredients

500 g chicken pieces
1 onion
1 Red Pepper
a handful of cashew nuts
2 tablespoons of peanut butter
2 tablespoons of curry powder
Salt and pepper
1 cup of coconut milk
half a cup of water
1 tablespoon flour

To garnish
half a cup of peas, some herbs, slices of banana. 

How to..

Saute sliced onions, and diced Red Pepper

Add chicken pieces, and season with salt. .

When chicken is browned sprinkle over the curry powder, and half a cup of water. 

Allow to simmer for 15 minutes.

When liquid has reduced check that the chicken is cooked. 
Add the cashew nuts

Mix 1 tablespoon of flour with some coconut milk to form a paste. 

Pour the rest of the coconut milk over the chicken, and add the paste.  Allow the sauce to thicken... and DONE! 

 There you go!! AUTHENTIC Oriental Chicken curry. i made some for my friends, and they LOVED IT! (: 

Serve with some noodles, and garnish with fresh garden peas, some herbs and a few slices of banana. 

See you ladle

Sanja

Semolina, Date and Cashew nut rusks

Whilst on holiday in Zimbabwe, I came up with this delicious recipe! I was  leaving to go back to South Korea, and baking a HUGE batch of rusks to take back with me was definitely on my bucket list!! Our domestic worker at home looked at me puzzled and asked “You baking again?” lol.. I laughed and said   “Rusks are our stable diet…..it is almost like Sadza to you”(Sadza is the staple diet in Zim)  She just grinned, and gave an approving nod when I handed her one to ‘test’..

My mom always seems to have EVERYTHING in her pantry, so I could pick and choose what I wanted to use – any cooks dream! I picked a few otherwise ‘odd’ ingredients, and decided to combine them into crunchy, fruity, filled with home goodness rusks!...and it worked. (:  It was a team effort and I even got our lovely domestic worker and my dear old (93 years old) Gran to pitch in and help.

Ingredients

400g margarine / butter
1 ½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins
1 cup pitted dates, roughly chopped
1 cup cashew nuts, roughly chopped
5 cups whole wheat flour
5 cups Semolina flour  / or if you cannot find it use white flour
15 ml baking powder
10 ml Bicarbonate of Soda
1 ½ cups milk
3 eggs

Method

Step 1 –Pre heat oven to 180’C

Step 2- Sift together all the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Step 3- Add the raisins, dates and cashews.

Step 3- Melt margarine/ butter until soft (not completely melted). Allow to cool down a bit. Add eggs and milk to margarine. Whisk


Step 4 – Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix well.  Keep a bit of flour and milk at hand if you find the dough to be too dry / wet.

 Step 5- Grease a baking tray. Spread the dough onto tray and 
                                       

Step 6- bake at 180 ‘C for 45 min- 1 hour, or until rusks are golden brown.

Step 7- Remove from oven and allow rusks to cool down. Once cooled remove from pan and cut into desired bit size rusks.

Step 8- Place the rusks onto the oven rack and dry out for about 5 hours , at 50 ‘C

After 5 hours test if the rusks are completely dried out by breaking one or 2 in half and checking the middle.

VOILA!! Delicious, crunchy, wholesome rusks (: I am still enjoying my home made batch in Korea- savoring every bite 

Hope you enjoy making this one, Let me know if you have any questions?

See you ladle
Sanja

Ricotta Salata    

“Ricotta” refers to a soft Italian cheese made from the whey of milk. So in true Italian style, you can use whey ( left over from making cheese) to make Ricotta. BUT.. if this is your first attempt rather use milk , and attempt using the left over whey for your next Ricotta making endeavour (:  Ricotta Salata however is ricotta cheese that has been dried and salted. It us a hard cheese that is delicious with salads and pastas.

I hope you had a read through my previous post “ A crash course in cheese making”. Now you are ready to attempt your first yummy cheese!!  This is the recipe I started with and on  difficulty levels it ranks ‘easy’ and you’ll be surprised how easy it really is.Italians typically use Ricotta in Lasagne and Cheesecakes.

You will need

-    A pot

-    A wooden spoon

-    A strainer.

-    A cooking thermometer is best, but I actually just use  a room thermometer (: just make sure it can go up to 100’C

-    A cheese cloth

-    A cheese press mould

Ingredients

-        2 cups full cream milk / low fat milk. 

       (remember not ULTRA   PASTEURIZED)

-        2 Tablespoons distilled white vinegar/lemon juice

-        ¼ teaspoon salt

Method

Step 1- Pour milk into saucepan, and whisk frequently. Heat to 75 ˚ C, and take the pot off the stove.

Step 2- Add vinegar / lemon juice. Do not whisk, but rather slowly stir with a wooden spoon. The milk will start to form a curd. 
( If you stir too much you will break up the curd)

Step 3- Leave the pot off the stove and allow the curds to rest for 25 min. This allows the curd to set.

Step 4- Pour curds into a strainer, lined with  cheese cloth .

Step 5-  Salt the ricotta, and then let it drain for 30 min – 4 hours. You will know the curd is ready when most of the whey 
( or yellowish substance) has drained out, and the ricotta is clumps together. 

At this stage you have made yummy ricotta – use it in lasagne, on a salad or in cheesecake.

Step 6- To make Ricotta Salata - 

Place the cheese cloth in a cheese mould. You can use any plastic container and make small holes in it to allow the whey to drain out.  I just improvised and bought a (clean and new) kitchen sink drainer . It works perfectly and already has holes in it. (:

Step 7 – Place a small plate / or an extra clean sink drainer on the cheese mould . ( so that the weight does not press directly into the cheese) Place a weight on the cheese overnight. This helps to further drain the whey form the cheese and make a delicious hard cheese. Place a 2-3 kg weight on the cheese , and leave it overnight.

Again I improvised and used my couch as a weight (:

Step 8- The cheese should not be noticeably firmer. Remove it from the mould and wrap it in cling wrap. Leave it in the fridge.

Step 9- From now on the cheese must stay in the fridge. For the next week you need to unwrap your cheese once a day and sprinkle 1 tsp of salt over the outside of the cheese. This is to absorb any more whey that leaks out.

Step 10 – After 1 week of treating your baby- leave it in the fridge to rest and mature. After another 2-3 weeks you will have a beautifully nutty, and creamy Ricotta Salata!

There you go!! Your very own cheese! Enjoy it with on a lovely fresh salad , with A  creamy Rosa tomato pasta or combined with Rosemary and Olives for a delicious chicken stuffing.

Hope you enjoy making this cheese as much as I do!

See you ladle

Sanja

A crash course in cheese making

For some reason, cheese making has long been seen as one of the ultimate home cooking feats. And rightly so, because it is!! For any cheese making novice, ­­successfully making your first cheese is a memorable moment.  Although I haven’t “arrived”in the Cheese making world, I have definitely left off (:

Sticky Onion Marmalade

It's simple, delicious, and only has 5 ingredients! 

 

 

So this is my first blog- thanks to my older sister who talked me into sharing my love of cooking and experimenting with the cyber populous! As a blogging rookie I opted to share one of my fail proof recipes, that's really easy to make and is guaranteed to be finger licking good!

 Ingredients

3 big onions ( red or white )

3/4 cup white/brown vinegar

3/4 cup  sticky brown sugar

15 ml white wine

10 ml soya sauce

 Method

Roughly chop up onions. 

Fry in a little olive oil until transparent. 

Combine rest of ingredients and add to onions. 

Stir a few times, and let it simmer on low heat until most of the liquid has evaporated.

( about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Consistency should be sticky and jam like.

Voila! Savor this tangy treat with homemade Ricotta cheese and Parmesan ham on a slice of crusty bread. Perfect to bottle for gifts, or to enjoy as a side relish with roast chicken or steak.

I hope you enjoy trying out the first recipe on my blog. Please let me know how it turns out. Visit again soon, because for my next post I working on a step by step tutorial on making your own Ricotta Salata (a hard pressed Ricotta cheese)

See you ladle! 

Sanja