Happy Chinese New Year!

We are now in the year of the Dragon according to the Chinese calendar. This is the most powerful of the Chinese signs, and symbolises strength and good fortune. Chinese New Year is a time of celebration and feasting. Our family is very fortunate to be hosting a Chinese student by the name of Jing Yuan Chun.  Chun has prepared a special celebration dish for us which her family usually eat on special occasions.

Chun says that she has never prepared this dish before but she has seen it being made. Like most Chinese families they will usually eat this meal in a restaurant, as Chinese households do not usually have an oven.

For dinner tonight we have our family, my mum and Jiang chao (kaka), Chun’s boyfriend all joining us for dinner so we have be prepared two ducks for the meal. Chun has been demonstrating the technique on the first duck; I have been diligently taking notes and preparing the second duck as per her instructions.

Ingredients:

1 Duck

1 T/s salt

1 tsp Szechuan pepper (sweet)

3 star anise

½ t/s ground cinnamon

¾ ts ground ginger

1 green shallot sliced length ways

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup light soy sauce

1/3 cup Chinese rice wine

Basting Sauce:

¼ cup white vinegar

½ cup honey

Serving Suggestions:

5 potatoes sliced

Cucumber

Kechup Manis

Soft Burrito

Method:

Dry the duck with a paper towel. Rub salt all over the duck.

In a mortar a pestle, pound the star anise and szechuan pepper roughly, set aside.

Mix the soy sauce and rice wine in a bowl and add all the spices include the star anise mixture. Add the sliced shallot.

Place the duck in a bowl and pour the marinade over.

Ensure all the duck is covered with the marinade.  Cover the duck with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, turn the duck periodically.

Next day prior to cooking, remove the duck from the marinade. Dispose of the marinade and allow the duck to air dry.

To make the basting liquid combine the honey and vinegar and allow to stand.

Once the duck is completely dry baste the bird in the sauce.

Ensure that all areas are completely covered in the sauce. Continue to sit the duck on the bench so that the basting liquid will dry.

Once the basting liquid has dried on the duck wrap the drumstick and wings in foil to prevent burning.

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.

Slice the potato into ¾ cm thick rounds and place in a layer on a covered baking tray. Add the duck to the potato layer.

Cook the duck for 1 hour. Half way through the cooking time remove the duck from the oven and repeat the basting process.  The duck must again be completely dry prior to entering the oven.

Once the second 30 minutes cooking period has elapsed remove the duck and baste again using the same drying process. Increase the oven temperature to 220 degrees and cook for a further 15minutes to crisp the skin.

I can't tell you how amazing the kitchen smelled whilst the duck was cooking. The aroma was of a rich star anise and sweet honey sauce. 

The duck was served with sliced crunchy cucumber from my garden a sweet soy sauce and potato which had been roasted with the duck.  These fillings combined with the duck in a warmed flat bread as a delicious rich sweet parcel.

The duck itself had a sweet and salty crisp skin with the delicious after taste on Star Anise and Ginger.  The duck flesh was very moist, sweet and succulent. Chun explained that because duck is a sweet meat the accompaniments should always be sweet to compliment the flavour.

It was such an amazing meal, I am so grateful to Chun for sharing this feast with us and giving us the opportunity to learn more about the food she enjoys in China and how she celebrate the important days in  her culture.

I was surprised to learn that because Chun and her boyfriend were both born in the year of the Dragon that the coming year was supposed to be fraught with danger and obstacles which would need to be overcome. Chuns father is very concerned that she is out of the country for this inauspicious year. KaKa explained that the repeated year can be very difficult.

I am looking forward to sharing our Australia day with Chun and Kaka. Although China having a history which span over 5000 years old, kind of makes Australia look like an infant by comparison :)

So tell me readers do you join in celebrations from other cultures such as Bastille Day for the French, thanksgiving for the Americans or perhaps St Patrick's Day?

I love to experiencing food from different countries to get a sense of their culture and way of living. I wish I could travel the world, but that will have to wait. We can however experience their food by following their methods of preparing food, cooking, presentation etc. I decided to take my family along to France (just at our dinner table).  I cooked this roulade which is thin, light and cheesy filled and filled it with a delicious combination of homemade smoky bacon, spinach out of the garden and local mushrooms from the market. It was easier than I thought, which was a relief.

Ingredients:

olive oil spray

60g butter

2 cloves of crushed garlic

50g (1/3 cup) plain flour

125ml (1 cup) milk

4 eggs, separated

70g (2/3 cup) coarsely grated cheddar.

1/4 cup chopped fresh continental parsley

25g (1/3 cup) finely grated Parmesan

4 cups picked watercress leaves

2 tbs currents

olive oil, to drizzle 

Filling:

250 baby spinach leaves (chopped)

1 tbs oil

1 brown onion, finely chopped

100g pancetta, coarsely chopped

250g button mushrooms, thinly sliced

Filling Method:

Place spinach in a large heat proof bowl and cover with boiling water, set aside for 30 seconds or until wilted. Drain. Refresh under cold running water. Squeeze to remove excess liquid.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Cook the onion and meat until the meat is crisp.Add the mushroom and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5-6 minutes or until the mushroom is soft and the liquid has evaporated.

Add the spinach and stir to combine.

Roulade Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Lightly spray a 25 x 30cm Swiss roll pan with oil and line with non stick baking paper. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until foaming.

Cook the garlic in the butter, stirring, for 30 seconds or until aromatic. Add the flour and cook, stirring for 1 minute or until the mixture bubbles. Remove from heat.

Gradually add milk, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until smooth and combined. Return the saucepan to the heat and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat.

Stir in the egg yolks, 1 at a time, until well combined.

Use an electric beater to beat the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl until firm peaks form. Add one - quarter of the egg mixture and use a large metal spoon fold until just combined. Add remaining egg white and fold until just combined. Fold in the cheddar and parsley until just combined.

Spoon mixture into prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until puffed and golden.

Place a clean tea towel on a work surface. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Turn the roulade onto the tea towel and remove the baking paper. Set aside for 1-2 minutes to cool slightly.

Spread the filling evenly over the roulade. Starting with the long side closest to you, and using the tea towel as a guide, gently roll up the roulade. Set aside for 5 minutes to  rest.

To serve, divide the water cress and currents among serving plates. Cut the roulade into 16 slices. Top the watercress mixture with roulade and drizzle with a little olive oil.

Enjoy.

Thank you so much Ellie for sharing this recipe, and your mini break to France!  We can't always get away on a Gourmet holiday when we need one but you have created a little piece of France in your kitchen.

Ellie will be contributing two stories this month as I am off on a Gourmet Getaway. I have a brief trip to Bali planned for next week. I will be sampling some of the cooking schools and perhaps doing a little yoga “Eat Pray Love” style. I hope to come back with a big belly, a rested soul and plenty of gorgeous pictures.

Whilst I am away there will be plenty of exciting stories to come on Gourmet Getaways. If I manage to get decent internet I may even post a tidbit on Bali whilst I am away.

J

Good Morning Readers!

It is time for another guest post from Ellie.  The inspiration for this recipe came about while we were shooting her profile picture in my garden. I hope you enjoy her story!

J.

These easy Lamb kebabs are delicious I served them up to my family on Friday night with home made Tabbouleh and Hummus. Yes, you may be thinking ''that's a summer meal" but really I think it's also a great winter dish.  Parsley is full of vitamin C, great for those wanting to boost their immune system and avoid the common cold. This Lebanese dish is a great family meal and excellent crowd pleaser.  Tabbouleh and  Hummus can both be made in advance and the kebabs can be threaded and kept in the fridge until needed. All that's is then required is to cook the kebabs and served with some warm Lebanese bread.

Tabbouleh Ingredients:

1 cup cooked royal Quinoa 

4 shallots, finely chopped

2 tomatoes, finely chopped

1 cup mint, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups parsley, finely chopped

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp lemon juice

salt (to taste)

Method:

Combine shallots, tomatoes, mint and parsley. Add mixture of oil and juice. Season to taste.

This can be made up to a day in advance.

Hummus Ingredients:

2 cups drained cooked chickpeas, reserve cooking water

1/4 cup tahini

1/2 cup lemon juice

2 small cloves of garlic

1 Tbsp olive oil

Paprika or Sumac to serve

Method:

Place all ingredients into a food processor, adding enough of the cooking water to form a smooth paste. Sprinkle with paprika to serve.

Lamb kebabs Ingredients:

 500g lamb meat, cut into 1.5cm cubes

1 kiwi fruit, skin removed and mashed.

1 Tbsp olive oil.

9 rosemary stalks.

salt (to taste).

Method:

Combine lamb with kiwi fruit and mix to coat, Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours 

Line the grill with foil and preheat on high.

Remove leaves from stalks, keeping 2cm of the top in tack and trim stalk at an angle so it can pierce though the meat.

Chop remaining loose leaves and combine with oil, salt & pepper.

Thread meat onto skewers. If you have difficulty threading the meat you can make a guide how with a metal skewer first.

Baste the kebabs with the oil mixture Cook under high grill until brown, turning once or twice. 

*Note: Kiwi fruit acts as a tenderiser. ** Kebabs can also be cooked on the BBQ

I love opening my house and kitchen up to friends and family. It makes me happy that everyone knows where everything is kept and feels comfortable to “help themselves,” whether that means making a tea or coffee or finishing off a dish for the main meal, I hope everyone who comes into my house ends up feeling very at home in my kitchen.

A favourite movie of mine is Under the Tuscan Sun because it touches on the warmth that people bring to a house, and the love that it shared around a dining room table, even if all the people at that meal are a mish mash of people who have been rounded up from different corners of your life.

I feel very privileged to have this type of home and I would like to extend this feeling into the Gourmet Getaways website via a guest post. I am sure you will all remember our Chinese student Kristy’s guest post a month or so ago showing how to make Congee.  Her post started me thinking that I would like to do this more regularly.

Ellie is a regular at our house. She has a love of healthy wholesome food, I asked her if she would be interested in contributing to the website, and I would now like to share with you her first blogging experience.

Hello to all Julie’s followers my names Ellie and I'm currently in year 11. I've always loved food and going out to restaurants to try new and exciting healthy dishes. I guess I have my parents to thank for my love of healthy food. For the past 2 years I've started cooking and found out that I don't only love to eat healthy food I also enjoy cooking it!

About 3 years ago I stopped eating junk food altogether, and started questioning what harmful chemicals I was putting into my mouth and my body. It may sound like a dreadfully strict diet, but it has changed my life and the way I eat.  Since then I haven’t looked back, I never crave anything I used to eat because I love the foods I eat and cook now.

My new way of eating has meant I have learned to cook delicious savoury dishes from all different cultures. Now I can't stand eating the same thing all the time, I love experiencing new spices, textures, and smelling the aroma's that great food produces.

For my first spot on Gourmet Getaways I made Curried Vegetable Pies with Parsnip Mash. I made them for dinner last night and they were delicious.  I enjoyed the parsnip mash as it was slightly sweet and creamy YUM! I wanted to cook these because they were not the same ordinary style of pie, they had a delicious curry twist. They looked gorgeous dished up and most importantly they taste amazing.

Whether you’re a vegetarian or not give these pies a go. I made the short crust pastry from scratch using organic ingredients but frozen short crust is fine.

Curried vegetable pies with parsnip mash  

makes:6  prep: 15 mins ( + 30 mins resting time)

cooking: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

Pastry:

Organic Flour

Butter

Iced water

 Method:

Place flour and butter in a food processor and pulse until fine bread crumbs are formed. Allow the food processor to continue and add just enough iced water to allow the pastry to come together. Cover the pastry in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 mins.

Filling:

400g desiree potatoes, peeled, cut into 2cm pieces

400g parsnip, peeled, cut into 2cm pieces

1/4 cup milk

40g butter, chopped

pinch of salt

1 tbs peanut oil

2 medium brown onions, halved, cut into thin wedges

2 garlic gloves, crushed

400g butternut pumpkin, peeled, cut into 2cm pieces

1 swede, peeled, cut into 2cm pieces

1/3 cup rogan josh curry paste (patak's brand)

1/3 cup chicken stock or vegetable stock

1/3 cup coconut cream

250g pkt frozen spinach, thawed, excess spinach removed, or fresh

1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh coriander 

Method:

I used a 12 whole muffin tin but you can use a 12.5cm-diameter round pastry cutter to cut 6 disks from the pastry. Line 6 round 9cm pie tins with pastry. Place on a baking tray in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Place potato and parsnip into a steaming basket in a saucepan of simmering water for 10-12 minutes until tender. Transfer to a bowl. Add milk and butter and mash until smooth using a potato masher. Cover with foil and keep warm.

Bake pastry in oven, bake blind for 10-12 minutes or until golden.  Remove from oven Meanwhile heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring until onion softens( 2 minutes). Add pumpkin and Swede, stir to combine. Stir in curry paste and cook, stirring for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add stock and bring to the boil. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 12 minutes. Uncover and add coconut cream and spinach. simmer, stirring occasionally for 3 minutes or until hot. Remove from heat.

Remove pastry cases from tins. Place on a serving platter. Spoon vegie mixture among cases and top with parsnip mash. Sprinkle with coriander to serve and Enjoy!

Thanks for listening, I hope you enjoy the recipe.

I know Australia Day has past for another year, but I wanted share a recipe with you for a very Aussie dish.  To capture the “taste” of Australia I made Kangaroo Rissoles with Riberry and Macadamia.  For those who haven’t tried Riberry, they are a native Australian fruit and they have a distinct Eucalyptus/berry flavour.

I had a number of reasons for choosing Kangaroo, firstly, its Australia Day, and you are not entirely Australian unless you consider putting a chunk of native wildlife on the barbie (for all the aussie vego’s and animal lovers please accept my apologises for the attempt at humour in advance- naturally you really are still Australian).  Also Kangaroo has a stronger meaty flavour than other meats so I knew it would stand up to the equally strong flavour of the Riberry. The macadamia was just to add a bit or crunch using our great native nut.

So there you go, the thought process behind the good old rissole. How did I go with the recipe?? The macadamia in the rissole was perfect but the Riberry could have been a little stronger. I made the Riberry mixture up by taste, and I loved the flavours when I tried it on its own, but for the rissoles there needed to be a little more Riberry. I have now adjusted the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 green apple diced finely

¼ cup water

¾ cup Riberry

¼ cup brown sugar

90gm Macadamia

1 star anise

1 kg Kangaroo mince

3 cloves garlic

2 eggs

1 cup breadcrumbs

Method:

Add apple, star anise and water to a saucepan. Boil with the lid on until the apple is soft. Reduce the heat and add the Riberry and brown sugar stirring to dissolve the sugar.

If you need a tablespoon more water you can add it. Once the brown sugar is dissolved continue to stir the mixture until the water has just evaporated. Turn the heat off.

Place the macadamia nuts into a bag and hit a few times with a rolling pin to break the pieces up a little bit. Remove the star anise from the Riberry mixture and add the nuts.  Leave to cool.

In a bowl add the mince, garlic, eggs, breadcrumbs and the Riberry.

Combine all the ingredients well. Form the mixture into 14 rissoles and place in the fridge until needed.

When cooking the rissoles only turn them when the base is completely cooked.

When cooking the rissoles try and only turned them once.

It is perfect spring weather in Coffs Harbour at the moment so I intended to make the sunshine and enjoy a sunset picnic at the beach with a bottle of wine and some nice food.

My mum had also given me a recipe which showed a lovely Antipasto Cob. So for once in my life I was organized with the recipe for my website which would suit my picnicing intentions.

Then, as I was perusing my favourite food bloggers sites, what do I see staring out at me?  The perfect Muff!  My cob was really called a muff, and the lovely Connor from “Hold the Beef” had already done the muff to perfection.  Seems the layered cob goes by two names, and probably the truest to its origins is the Muffuletta or “muff” for short. Read here for the muff story.

So my dilemma, do I do the muff regardless, or do I change my dish… my problem was, I actually loved the look of Connors muff. That was the dish I wanted to bring to the picnic… 

The epiphany which led to the creation of the “Muff Burger” was my three year old daughter’s meltdown when I told her that she couldn’t have hamburgers for breakfast. The only way to stop the tears and get her to pre-school was to promise hamburgers for dinner, and that’s when the light bulb went off in my head. I would make a Muff Burger and Mini Muffs for the kids so they could have the fillings they liked, (meat, cheese and coleslaw).

So here is my Aussi Muff Burger, and yes, I have had no end of fun with the innuendo surrounding the muff.  Feel free to continue in the comments section below.

Ingredients:

1 Lg Cob

3 large lettuce leaves

1 bunch rocket or endive leaves

8 slices beetroot

1 tomato

1 cup caramalised onion (see recipe)

10 slices Jarlsberg cheese

1 cup coleslaw

Meat Patty Ingredients: 

750gm beef mince

250gm lamb mince

1 lg onion (finely chopped)

3 cloves garlic (chopped finely)

1 cup bread crumbs (use the inside of the cob)

2 eggs

1 t/s cumin

1 t/s salt

pepper

½ cup tomato paste

1 T/s Parmesan cheese

The meat patty recipe is taken from my “Townsville Greek Festival” cookbook.  It is a Greek meatball dish which is just delicious.  You will find you will have enough meat leftover to make meatballs to freeze for another meal.

Method:

Make the Caramalised Onion per recipe, leave to cool.

Pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees.  If your cob isn’t crusty and hard, bake the cob for about ten minutes until it is crisp. Remove from the oven and cut the top of the bread.

Scoop out the insides on the cob, leaving about 1cm of bread to support the filling.

To make the breadcrumbs for the meat patty, place the bread which was removed from inside the cob onto a baking tray.  Cook until golden brown and dried out.

Place the bread pieces into a food processor and process until the bread resembles commercial bread crumbs.

In a bowl add all the meat patty ingredients and mix by hand until well combined.

Grease a small round dish which is a similar size to the cob. The meat patty needs to be cooked as one patty and you want it to make one complete layer across the cob.

Push the meat firmly into the dish and bake for about 15-20 mins on 180 degrees. Allow to cool a little.

Assembly:

Because the fillings for my muff are quite moist I started with a layer of lettuces leaves (from my garden) to protect against a soggy bottom.

Next I added a thick layer of coleslaw and spread it evenly over the lettuce.

The following layer was the meat patty which took a little maneuvering to get it in the smallish opening. Once the layer was in place I pushed the fillings down to ensure there were no spaces.

Spread a layer of caramalised onion over the meat. My aim was to alternate between a solid layer and a softer layer for texture and to allow the fillings to compress more easily.  I finished with a layer of cheese to protect the top layer of bread from any soggy fillings.

The muff layers were bulging about 2cm beyond the cob.  Next I covered the muff in plastic wrap and put a book on top to compress the filling. When I placed the bread lid on the muff I realized that because I had taken the soft bread from the lid as well, I could have added another layer to the muff.  You can see in my photos there is a gap between the lid and the last layer.

I served the muff about 2 hours after making it at room temperature.  It was moist and delicious and a great picnic food.  Much more special than plain burgers!  I used tiny dinner rolls for the kids which was an ideal size. Plus the design of the muff means the filling won’t fall out! Win!

There something pretty great about watching your kids running around on the beach as the sun goes down.