Category Archives: Dinner Parties

Orange & coriander duck breasts

August 23, 2017 10:06 am / Leave a Comment /

I love cooking duck, especially duck breasts which are now easy to buy from the supermarket and not super expensive like the old days.

I particularly like to finish cooking them in the combi steam oven so you get that hit of moisture which perfectly cooks them to medium rare.  Plus, while you are rendering down the fat and crisping up the skin you can cook the cous cous and vegetables in the steam oven and throw together this delicious little sauce!

It honestly is the most used appliance in my kitchen.

Ingredients:  Serves 2

2 duck breasts, trimmed of any excess skin and removed from the fridge to come to room temperature 20 minutes before cooking
Rub with ground coriander & sprinkle with salt
Sauce:
Juice & rind of half a large orange.
¼ cup Verjuice
¼ cup chicken stock
Segments from other half of the orange
½ tsp of ground coriander (extra)
Knob of butter
Fresh coriander, chopped finely

Cous cous to serve flavoured with other half of the orange rind, a few currents and chopped, fresh coriander.  See Tips & Tricks page here

Steamed fresh vegetables here

  1. Method:
    Score the duck skin being careful not to cut into the flesh. Place the seasoned duck breasts into a cold non-stick pan over a medium heat skin side down.  Render the fat from under the skin for at least 10 minutes or until the skin is crispy.  You will need to tip off the fat from time to time.  Keep this for using again 🙂
  2. Preheat the combi to 190°C with the empty solid tray inside the oven to heat up as well.
  3. Remove the duck breasts and place them into the heated solid steam oven tray, skin up.
  4. Turn the combi from oven to Combination mode 190°C + 30% steam for 6 minutes for medium size duck breasts.
  5. Remove from oven to rest well.
  6. While the duck is cooking make the sauce:  Remove almost all of the duck fat, add the ground coriander and cook for a minute.
  7. Add all the other ingredients except the fresh coriander and boil to reduce.  Stir well to remove all the bits on the base of the pan.
  8. Add a knob of butter, fresh coriander and swirl to mix.
  9. Slice rested duck breasts.
  10. Plate up with cous cous on the base, top with steamed vegetables, rested duck and cover with orange & coriander sauce.

Duck skin should be crisp but if you have a combi with a grill and like it a little more crispy then flash it under the grill for a couple of minutes before slicing.

Posted in: Combi Steamer, Dinner parties, Main Courses

Little chocolate puddings

August 28, 2016 9:45 am / 9 Comments /

Little chocolate puddings

These little puddings are perfect in the steam oven as the mixture ends up making a delicious chocolate custard under the pudding.  We all know that the steam oven is great for delicate things like custard and everyone loves a little surprise in their pudding!

Quick and easy to make if you have all the separate elements ready to go at the last moment.  I would suggest only cooking this in individual dishes that can be filled almost to the top as the mixture will drop a little when removed from the oven.  *If you want to stretch it to 5 puddings then use one cup of milk for the custard.

This is a really old recipe that I cooked when I was a teenager, altered of course for today’s tastes and converted to cook in the steam oven for you all to enjoy 🙂

Ingredients:  Serves 4*

1 heaped tbsp soft butter
½ cup castor sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 very heaped tbsp good quality cocoa.  I used ‘Josephine’s’ but any good brand is OK.
1 heaped tbsp self-raising flour
Pinch salt
2 level tbsp desiccated coconut
¾ cup milk
Grated dark 70% dark chocolate to serve

Method:

  1. Grease 4 x ¾ cup ramekins or small pudding basins well and set aside.
  2. Mix the softened butter into the sugar, set aside.
  3. Separate eggs, place whites into a separate bowl.
  4. Sift cocoa, flour and salt together into a medium size bowl with a pouring lip or jug.  Add coconut and set aside.
  5. Just before you are ready to cook, whip egg whites until soft peaks form.
  6. Fold egg yolks into sugar mixture, mix well.
  7. Slowly fold in milk mixing well.
  8. Stir in flour mixture, gently fold in beaten egg whites and pour into greased dishes.
  9. Place into the solid steamer tray, group together and cover with one piece of baking paper that should be wide enough to be tucked down the sides of the containers.
  10. Steam @ 100°C for 15 minutes.
  11. Uncover, top with grated dark chocolate and serve with pouring cream. Yum!
Posted in: Desserts, Dinner parties, Steam Oven

Caramalised onion & goats cheese quiche

March 29, 2016 11:21 am / Leave a Comment /

Caramalised onion and goats cheese quiche

As my daughter said “it’s been ages since we had a decent quiche!”.

Not something I cook a lot, I guess it is not on the low fat radar and still considered a bit of a treat in our house.  There is nothing like a decent quiche with delicious, short pastry and a melt in the mouth filling.

This one was particularly delicious for Easter with a side salad.

Ingredients:

Pastry:
250g plain flour
125g butter
60ml iced water

Filling:
5 large onions, sliced thinly
Olive oil
6 eggs
½ cup cream
pinch salt
115g soft goats cheese or goats curd
fresh thyme leaves

Ingredients:

  1. For the caramalised onion, heat olive oil in a large, heavy based, non-stick frypan and saute onions.  Start on a medium heat until they start to break down and then drop to a lower temperature.  Cook until they turn a light, golden brown and all the sugars are released from the onions.  This can take up to an hour and a half.  Stir frequently so they don’t catch on the base of the pan.  This can be done up to two days before and stored in a covered container in the fridge.
  2. For the pastry, blend the flour with the cold, cubed butter in a food processor until the flour looks like breadcrumbs.  With the motor running add the cold water through the feed tube until the dough just starts to come together.  You may need a couple of teaspoons more water.  Remove from the processor and knead lightly together.   The dough should be soft but not sticky and just come together.  Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.
  3. To assemble the quiche:  Roll out the pastry thinly.  This quantity made 2 x 35x10mm rectangle tins or one large round quiche.
  4. Line the pastry with baking paper and rice or baking weights.  Bake on Fan forced @ 160°C for 15 minutes.  Remove paper and weights and return to the oven for about another 10 minutes until the pastry is cooked, lightly browned and shrinking from the edges of the tin.
  5. In a large jug whisk the eggs, cream and seasonings together.  Spread the cold, caramalised onion onto the pastry base.  Add a reasonable amount, you don’t have to use it all but make sure there is enough for a generous layer.  Pour over the egg mixture, break the goats cheese evenly over the top, sprinkle with thyme leaves and bake Fan forced @ 160°C until the filling is set, about 15-20 minutes.  If you have one deeper quiche use Conventional oven without the fan as it is a more gentle heat.

Slice into generous pieces and serve warm with a side salad.

Posted in: Baking, Dinner parties, Easter, Eggs, Party Food, Pastry, Traditional Ovens, Vegetarian

Steam oven cheesecake

December 11, 2014 12:58 pm / 6 Comments /

Steam oven cheesecake

This is a cheesecake, totally cooked in the steam oven with Christmas flavours. Decorated with some fresh cherries this is a lovely festive dessert you can serve as part of a buffet or instead of a traditional steamed Christmas pudding here.

I have had lots of interest in the pudding over the last few weeks.  Everyone with a steam oven realises now just how much easier it is to cook a pudding without the hassle of boiling it on the stove top.  No excuse not to make your own!

I love a traditional, baked Italian ricotta cheesecake but in this recipe I have combined the different cheeses to make a smoother, creamy texture.  The steam oven works a treat for something like this which needs a moist oven environment and won’t dry out the biscuit base.  This can be a problem when baking a cheesecake in a traditional oven.  It also gives it a gorgeous texture.

Make sure you cover it really well with foil so it doesn’t get wet.  Of course, you can alter the fruit and nut selection or leave them out completely.  We do however love the texture of the nuts in this 🙂

Ingredients:  Serves 10-12

1½ cups sweet biscuit crumbs
100g butter, melted
½ tsp cinnamon

Filling:
250g cream cheese, at room temperature (a must)
250g smooth ricotta (in a tub)
¾ cup castor sugar
2 tbsp. cornflour
1/3 cup cream
3 eggs
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp baking powder
¾ cup sultanas soaked in ¼ cup brandy for 30 minutes
¼ cup slivered almonds, toasted

Method:

  1. Combine biscuit crumbs, cinnamon and butter and press into base of a lined 23cm springform tin.  See my tip here.  Don’t be tempted to use the whole packet of biscuits. Chill.
  2. Beat softened cream cheese, ricotta and cream together until smooth.  Do not over beat.
  3. Add sugar, lemon juice, eggs, cornflour and baking powder.  Mix well.
  4. Fold in sultanas and nuts and pour into prepared base.
  5. Cover tightly with foil.
  6. Steam @ 100°C for 55 minutes.  It should be just set around the edges and soft in the centre.
  7. Uncover and cool.  It will firm up on cooling.
  8. Chill until required.   Overnight is probably best.
  9. Remove from fridge 30 minutes prior to serving.  Top with fresh, pitted cherries and serve berry coulis to drizzle.  You can make this by heating half a cup of raspberries, ¼ cup water with 1-2 tablespoon of caster sugar and a dash of liquor or squeeze of lemon until dissolved.  Push through a fine sieve to remove the pips.

 

 

Posted in: Christmas cookery, Desserts, Dinner parties, Party Food, Steam Oven

Creme caramel

October 30, 2014 11:49 am / 12 Comments /

Creme caramel

The steam oven is perfect for cooking custards because you have low, accurate temperature control.  I mentioned this in the post on the Crème brulee here.  The worst thing that can happen when your cooking a custard is to cook it at too high a temperature so that the custard overcooks.  You may have had this before, the texture is not smooth and can be ‘grainy’ or ‘rubbery’.  Without the worry of this, the only thing you need to ensure is that you cover your dishes so that you don’t get any water forming on the top.  One large piece of foil is fine.

With no need for a bain-marie or water bath in the steam oven, how did we ever bother cooking custards before in a conventional oven!

This is a lighter Crème caramel than usual, using only milk and less sugar.  A good option for this time of the year when we are all trying to lose those Winter kilograms!  You can alter the recipe to half milk, half cream if you wish but only heat and infuse the vanilla into the milk.

Cooking times will vary on the size and type of the dish.  A large custard will take approximately 35-50 minutes.  It should be set around the edges and be ‘wobbly’ in the centre.  They should firm up on cooling.

Ingredients:  Serves 8:

700ml milk
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds removed or 1 tsp vanilla paste (not essence)
1/4 cup castor sugar
4 large, 800g eggs, beaten

Caramel: 1 cup sugar + 1/2 cup water

Method:

  1. For the caramel combine sugar and water in a small saucepan.  Stir on moderate heat until sugar has completely dissolved.
  2. Increase heat and boil steadily, without stirring until a deep golden colour.  Watch it, it will continue to darken so don’t take it too far.
  3. Pour into base of 8 small, half cup size ramekin dishes, swirl around so that caramel covers each base.
  4. In a medium saucepan combine milk, vanilla bean or paste and sugar.
  5. Bring slowly to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar and set aside to infuse for 10 minutes.  This will give you better flavour.
  6. Remove and scrape out vanilla seeds.
  7. Lightly whisk eggs in a bowl and then whisk again into hot milk mixture.
  8. Pour over caramel in each individual ramekin and cover with foil.
  9. Steam @ 90°C for 30 minutes or until set when tested.
  10. Uncover so that condensation doesn’t form on the top.
  11. Chill at least 4 hours or overnight and revert onto dessert plates to serve.

Note:  Adapted from Miele, you can omit the caramel to make this into a plain baked custard. Use the same recipe and add freshly grated nutmeg to the top prior to cooking.

 

 

Posted in: Desserts, Dinner parties, Eggs, Gluten free, Steam Oven

Thai seafood soup

October 24, 2014 8:28 am / Leave a Comment /

Thai seafood soup

This is the first soup I have cooked in the steam oven and is a great example of how you can cook multi levels, with different ingredients all at different times.

I did do the Steamed salmon in ginger broth here where the other ingredients were cooked in the steam oven but the stock was boiled to reduce on the stove top.

This is a quicker version of the classic Tom yum goong without making a paste or your own stock, however fish or prawn stock is very easy to make and only takes 20 minutes to cook.  If you would like to make it, make sure you fry the prawn heads and shells until they turn red before you add the water and other flavourings.  You then need to pound out the shells in a sieve to extract as much flavour as possible.

If you have the smaller, narrow depth steam oven then you will need to cook your soup in a larger, deeper dish of your choice as your solid steamer tray is too small for this quantity.  Increase your time to 8 minutes as cooking time is increased compared to cooking in stainless steel.

Ingredients:  Serves 4

4 cups fish or prawn stock
2-3 bird’s eye chillies, seeds removed or to your taste
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
2 slices of ginger
4 spring onions, finely sliced
3 tbsp lime juice
1-2 tbsp. palm sugar or to taste
1-2 tbsp fish sauce or to taste (start with 1)
1 stick lemongrass, white part only smashed a little to ‘bruise it’
4 kaffir lime leaves, broken
500g fresh seafood of your choice (eg white fish, green prawns, salmon fillet etc)
Medium size packet (200g) thin bean thread or rice noodles (quantity is approx. a large handful each person)
Bunch of spinach, Asian bok choy or other greens
handful chopped coriander leaves
handful bean shoots (optional)
extra chilli to garnish (optional)

Method:

  1. Combine stock, chillies, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, white part of spring onions only and palm sugar and steam @ 100°C 6 minutes on the bottom shelf.
  2. If using rice noodles, soak them in boiling water.
  3. In the soup, add the fish sauce & lime juice, taste the stock and adjust flavour.  It should have that Thai salty, sweet & sour hit.  Add the bean thread noodles if using and stir to soften in the stock.
  4. Peel and devein the prawns, cut the fish into bite size pieces and place on perforated tray above the stock.  No need to add baking paper.  Cook @ 85°C for 2 minutes.
  5. Slice your bok choy or spinach into bit size pieces and add in another tray for a further 2 minutes @ 85°C.  If using baby spinach there is no need to pre-cook.  Just place into the bottom of the bowl.  If your prawns are already cooked, add them now to warm through.
  6. Ladle the soup into four bowls, removing the lemongrass, ginger and kaffir lime leaves and add the seafood and vegetables.

Garnish with the bean shoots, fresh herbs, spring onion tops, extra chilli and a wedge of lime.

 

 

 

 

Posted in: Dinner parties, Fish, Gluten free, Soups, Steam Oven, Thai

Steamed prawns with lime mayonnaise

October 20, 2014 10:46 am / 3 Comments /

Steamed prawns with lime mayonnaise

Everyone loves fresh prawns and now it’s even easier to serve them warm, steamed in the steam oven in just 4 minutes for medium size or 5 minutes for the larger ones.  Impossible to overcook they would be a great finger food to cook at the same time as perhaps fresh mussels in the shell or some beautiful fresh scallops.  All these different shellfish would be cooked at the same temperature so it can open up a whole lot of different recipe ideas!

Dipped into this lime mayonnaise they are absolutely delicious,  you can add some crushed garlic to the mayonnaise to taste to turn it into a garlic aioli if you wish.  The combined oils in the mayonnaise works well, it isn’t as strong as using all olive oil.  You can use whatever other oil you have on hand, although I wouldn’t use peanut oil.

Ingredients:

24 green prawns, peeled with tails left in tact
Lime wedges

Lime mayonnaise:
2 large egg yolks
pinch sea salt to taste
rind 2 limes plus juice of 1 lime
½ cup olive oil
½ cup rice bran oil

Method:

  1. Curl prawns and arrange in a single layer in the perforated tray.
  2. Steam @ 85°C for 4-5 minutes until cooked depending on the size of the prawns.
  3. For mayonnaise beat egg yolks, salt and juice from half a lime in a medium size bowl with a whisk until combined.
  4. Slowly add the oil starting with single drops and gradually increasing, whisking continuously until thick and all the oil has been incorporated.
  5. Thin a little with the juice from the rest of the lime, now add the rind, mix well and taste for extra salt.
  6. It should be thick enough to dip and stay on the prawn.

Serve with extra fresh lime on the side – enjoy 🙂

 

Posted in: Dinner parties, Gluten free, Party Food, Steam Oven

Smoked salmon on zucchini fritters

July 31, 2014 10:45 pm / Leave a Comment /

Smoked Salmon on Zucchini Fritters

We were invited to a Christmas in July in the mountains last weekend so I decided I would make these and serve them as one larger portion per person, plated up as entrée.

A great recipe to also make as smaller fritters for finger food, it is moist and a nice change from the standard blini.  It would also be delicious, warm for a posh brunch with some eggs from the steam oven!

For the entrée size make your fritters approximately 9cm in diameter.  I used a large cutter or ring, greased in the pan to make each one the perfect size and left the mix to set for a couple of minutes before removing.  Don’t overheat the pan as they will burn and not cook through.  Cook slowly and remove to cool on a wire rack.

To transport, stack each pancake between plastic wrap.  The options for the filling are up to you; cream cheese, ricotta or crème fraiche would all be excellent.  I did goats curd mixed with a little chopped dill.  Serve with some lemon, tiny capers, thinly sliced red onion and a few leaves tossed in a little dressing.

Ingredients:  Serves 12 as entrée or 40 as finger food

2½ cups coarsely grated zucchini
2 eggs, beaten
60g butter
2 spring onions finely sliced
1-2 tbsp. milk
¼ cup grated parmesan
½ tsp salt
black pepper
½ cup plain flour
¼ cup self raising flour

Method:

  1. Preheat flat char-grill plate or tepanyaki plate.  If you don’t have one then use a non stick frypan
  2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well until combined.
  3. Grease your cooking plate or frypan with a little olive oil spray.
  4. Spoon mixture into the ring onto char grill plate or frypan and cook on medium heat until you see small bubbles appear on the surface.  If you are making 12 as I did for entrée size be careful not to put too much mixture into the first batch as I ran a bit short by the last few.  Use about one and a half dessertspoons and spread into the ring with the back of the spoon.
  5. Turn, they should be well browned but not burnt.  They do take a while to cook, don’t turn too early.
  6. Cook on the other side until cooked through.

Serve with topping of your choice.

 

 

 

Posted in: Breakfast/Brunch, Christmas cookery, Dinner parties, Entrees, Fish, Party Food

French lentils

July 22, 2014 9:08 am / Leave a Comment /

French Lentils for Bastille Day

I haven’t done a steam oven recipe for a while so I have adapted this Lyndey Milan recipe for the tiny, French green lentils.  I thought that the flavouring would be perfect to serve with my Roast Tarragon Chicken for Bastille Day as a hot side dish.  I also thought it would be a lot easier to cook in the steam oven, especially while something else is cooking at the same time and would certainly be a lot less washing up as I can cook it in the serving dish!  The best part about cooking this is the steam oven was the fact that you don’t need to stir it, worry about it catching on the bottom of the pot and it took less time.  The lentils were also perfectly cooked, with just a little bite to them.

Remember, there is no transfer of flavours when cooking in the steam oven so even cooking fish with the lentils underneath won’t result in a ‘fishy flavour’ imparting into the lentils.

These lentils have a big flavour so would also be excellent with roast meat.

Ingredients: Serves 4

1 cup French Puy green lentils
1 tablespoon of oil
1 medium carrot, finely diced
1 small leek, washed well and finely sliced
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1½ cups water
pinch salt

Fresh chopped parsley
1 tablespoon of baby capers, rinsed
1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Handful of baby spinach

Method:

  1. Heat the oil in a shallow casserole that will fit into the steam oven.
  2. Add the leek, carrot and garlic and sauté, covered on a low heat until soft.
  3. Add the lentils and water and cook @ 100°C for 17 minutes until soft but not broken down.  They should still hold their shape but have a bite to them.  Season with a pinch of salt to taste.

Stir through all the other ingredients and serve immediately.

 

Posted in: Dinner parties, Gluten free, Side dishes, Steam Oven, Vegetarian

Steamed prawns with soy dressing

June 15, 2014 3:18 pm / Leave a Comment /

Steamed Asian prawns

Think cocktail party food and everyone loves Asian flavours.  They just seem to work and there are so many delicious varieties from tiny soups and satays to duck pancakes and noodle dishes.  I am going to start building my cocktail recipes as most of my favourites are Asian inspired and are well known show stoppers.

Now I have a steam oven it is so easy to do wonderful finger food for a party or even just for a few friends.  Dumplings would have to be the easiest way to feed a crowd!

Quick and easy this is a great appetiser to pop into the steam oven just before you pour the champagne.  By the time its come to temperature and you’ve poured the drinks it will be ready to serve!

Ingredients:  Makes 24

24 medium green prawns
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 tbsp. lime juice
1½ tbsp. kecup manis (sweet soy sauce)
1/4 tsp sesame oil
1/2 birdseye chilli, finely chopped
chopped coriander to serve

Method:

  1. Peel and de-vein prawns.  Remove tails too.
  2. Place 24 Chinese soup spoons into the perforated tray
  3. Place a prawn on each spoon
  4. Combine remaining ingredients and drizzle over each prawn.  Don’t overdo it as you will also get some liquid from the steam oven into the spoon.
  5. Steam @ 85°C for 4-5 minutes depending on the size of the prawn
  6. Top with a tiny coriander leaf on each and serve on spoons.

Adapted from Miele

 

 

 

Posted in: Dinner parties, Party Food, Steam Oven