Category Archives: Main Courses

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

Teriyaki salmon

July 7, 2017 4:35 pm / 8 Comments /

After our server was recently migrated I lost this last post, so here it is again in case you missed it.

Want perfectly crispy skin salmon without overcooking the salmon in the process?

Then try this method of marinading the salmon for a few minutes, steaming it and finishing it off in a pan if you don’t have a combi oven.  A great way to utilise the steam oven away from the traditional thinking that ‘steaming’ is always wet, pale food.  It is an excellent appliance for pre-cooking food that will save time plus retain the nutrients and flavours.

The results were excellent, quicker than cooking in the pan alone and with more accurate results the flesh was slightly pink in the centre which is the way we like to eat our salmon but with crispy skin which was slightly caramalised from the sugar in the sauce.  Exactly what you want with a decent teriyaki sauce.

I have utilised the pan for cooking some eggplant as well.  Apart from having an extra pan to wash up with this recipe it was all delicious!

Ingredients:  Serves 2

Teriyaki Sauce:  (This makes enough to put in a jar for other meals)

1/3 cup Mirin
½ cup soy
2 tsp rice vinegar
½ tsp sesame oil
¼ cup castor sugar
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp grated ginger
2 small pieces salmon, skin on
½ eggplant
dash of peanut oil

Steam oven rice here to serve and steamed green vegetables here.

Method:

  1. For the Teriyaki sauce, mix all ingredients into a screw top jar. Shake then open and stir until sugar dissolves.  Set aside.
  2. Check the salmon for any bones, wipe over with kitchen paper and place into the solid, perforated tray which has been lined with baking paper. Spoon over a little of the Teriyaki sauce to marinade the fish while you are waiting for the rice to cook.
  3. Now, wash your rice and follow the instructions on cooking
  4. Place into steam oven and set timer for 100°C for 17 minutes. Set another timer somewhere else to alert you in the last couple of minutes of this cooking time.
  5. Slice eggplant and salt to remove any bitter juices. Rinse off and pat dry.  Cut slices into quarters.
  6. Heat a non-stick frypan with a dash of peanut oil. Add eggplant and stir fry until golden and almost cooked through.
  7. When you have 1½ minutes remaining on the rice, open the steam oven and add the salmon and green vegetables. They can either be in a separate tray or just placed on top of the rice.  Close the door, depending on your steam oven the appliance hopefully will reheat again to 100°C.
  8. Remove the salmon, add skin side down to medium-hot pan with the eggplant pushed away to the sides. Now add 2 tablespoons of the Teriyaki sauce, let the skin fry a little then turn it over.  Don’t have the pan too hot or it will burn.  Cook for exactly 2 minutes in total.  Cooking times will depend on the size of your fish.

Remove and serve with the rice, steamed vegetables and drizzle over the sauce that has collected in the baking paper from the salmon.  You will have extra Teriyaki sauce if you wish to use that too.

 

Posted in: Fish, Gluten free, Japanese, Main Courses, Steam Oven

Korean bulgogi salmon

May 5, 2017 3:24 pm / 5 Comments /

Korean food is a cuisine that I love. However, I have to admit to not cooking it a lot myself, until now!  The best Korean food we have ever had was in New York City when the two of us sat at a four person table, completely covered with ‘side dishes’ that automatically came with the meal 🙂

This year I am going to try to cook a lot more Korean and Japanese food in both the combi and steam ovens and as I’m always on the lookout for salmon dishes this fits the bill perfectly.

This recipe has been prepared for all of you who have the newer models of combi steam ovens that have a top grill element or more precisely a Fan grill combination mode.  If you don’t have a top element in your combi like me then you can still cook this dish except you won’t get that deep caramelised browning you would expect.  You can see this from the photo.

Make sure you take your salmon out of the refrigerator to bring it to room temperature about 30 minutes before cooking otherwise you will need to cook it for longer.

Ingredients:  Serves 2

2 salmon fillets with skin on, cut in 2cm strips lengthwise (a great way to divide up those fillets that are way too big for one person)

Marinade:
1½ tablespoons light soy sauce
2 teaspoons of Mirin
juice half a lime or lemon
1 tablespoon honey
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons grated ginger

Method:

  1. Mix all marinade ingredients together, stirring to dissolve honey.
  2. Slice salmon leaving skin on.  The skin will hold the salmon together.
  3. Marinate in a flat dish in one layer for at least one hour.  Turn half way.
  4. While the salmon is marinating cook some steam oven rice here adding vegetables of your choice in with the rice towards the end of the cooking time.
  5. Remove the rice and vegetables and set aside.  Wipe out the steam oven and preheat the oven to 200°C.  I have found that you do need to preheat when cooking very quick-cooking items.
  6. Cover the flat baking tray with baking paper.  Lay the salmon slices out in a single layer on top.
  7. Switch the combi to Fan grill 200°C + 85% steam, add the salmon fillets in the upper part of the combi and cook for 3-5 minutes.  This will depend on how you like your salmon cooked, its size and temperature.
  8. Serve with steamed rice, green vegetables and purchased Korean kimchi.
Posted in: Combi Steamer, Fish, Korean, Main Courses

Sous vide wagyu with wasabi dipping sauce

January 19, 2017 9:09 am / 6 Comments /

Sous vide wagyu with wasabi dipping sauce

I had a great In-home cooking class with a lovely lady in Milsons Point who gave me a gift of two beautiful wagyu steaks.  I put them in my freezer before Christmas but had in mind what I wanted to do with them.  They weighed 320g and were already vac packed.  Perfect for sous vide as no need to even bag them up again.  They were quite thin so I reduced the cooking time from my previous sous vide attempt here.

Perfectly cooked to medium rare the sous vide method is definitely the way to go with good quality cuts of meat.  Apart from a very quick searing of one minute on each side in a smoking hot pan or BBQ you don’t have to worry that you are overcooking it; something that can easily happen, especially on the BBQ or with thinner cuts of meat.  Cooking at such a low temperature will allow the fat marbelling to melt away.

Try this, the sauce is amazing.  You can adjust the amount of wasabi to suit your tastes but start with these quantities unless you have a real issue with spicy food.  Remember to taste as you go.  Great with a green salad (also even better dipped in the sauce!) and a bowl of steamed rice here.

Ingredients:  Serves 2

2 x Wagyu beef steaks as above
2 bowls of pre-cooked steam oven rice
Cucumber and mixed salad to serve

Dipping sauce:
1-2 tsp wasabi (from the tube)
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp Canola oil
Spring onions

Method:

  1. For dipping sauce mix all ingredients together in a small bowl except oil & spring onions.
  2. Whisk in oil to emulsify.  Set aside.
  3. Bring steaks to room temperature in bag, about 15 minutes from the refrigerator should be enough.
  4. Place steaks, in unopened plastic bag in perforated steam oven tray and cook @ 56ºC for 30 minutes for thin steaks of 320g.  If your steak is thicker you will need to adjust the time.
  5. Preheat a non-stick frypan or BBQ until smoking hot.  Add a dash of olive oil just before you are ready to sear them.
  6. Cook for ONLY 1 minute on each side, sprinkle with a little sea salt and remove to a plate to rest while you reheat your rice in the steam oven for 4 minutes @ 100ºC.

Serve with warm steamed rice, dipping sauce and a fresh green salad.  Yum!

 

 

Posted in: Cooking classes, Japanese, Main Courses, Rice, Sauces & custards, Steam Oven

Pearl barley risotto

November 24, 2015 4:22 pm / 2 Comments /

Barley risotto

I have been wanting to try cooking pearl barley in the steam oven for sometime.  Such an under-rated grain and sometimes passed off as only being for soups, pearl barley has had a revamp as one of the new, healthy grains suitable for all sorts of dishes.  Although it does contain gluten in its current form I believe that the CSIRO have developed a gluten free barley grain that is currently being grown and marketed for commercial sale.  Keep an eye out for this 🙂

Cooking pearl barley in the steam oven is similar to that of brown rice.  It needs washing and picking over and the same amount of liquid as brown rice for cooking (1 to 1.25).  So much easier to cook this all in one pan.  I chose the base of my Le Creuset flat casserole but any cooktop to oven dish that will fit into your steam oven will do.  Great for serving in and less washing up.

I have added fennel and roasted pumpkin to this risotto but play around and change the flavours to suit what you have on hand.  Cooking in the steam oven retained the shape and texture of the grain which is perfect for risotto or salads.  I served it with crumbled fetta which gave it that little extra flavour and another texture.  Would be excellent served under any fish for a more substantial main course.

Fantastic the next day as a salad served at room temperature with rocket, quartered freshly cooked beetroot, goats cheese and a drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil.

Ingredients:  Serves 6

1½ cups pearl barley, washed
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 small or ½ large fennel, thinly sliced
splash white wine (optional)
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
pinch sea salt & ground black pepper
½ small butternut pumpkin, roasted prior
handful of fresh parsley or dill chopped
fetta cheese to serve

Method:

  1. Roast pumpkin, cubed with a splash of olive oil @ 200°C Fan forced for 15-20 minutes until browned.  Set aside.
  2. If your using your combi oven open it to cool down while you prepare the rest of the dish.
  3. In a deep, flat pan that will fit into the steam oven saute the onion & garlic in a splash of olive oil.
  4. Add drained pearl barley and very thinly sliced fennel and stir until coated with the oil and onion mixture.
  5. Add a splash of white wine and let it bubble away the alcohol for a couple of minutes.
  6. Add the stock.  It should just cover the vegetables and barley and cook @ 100°C steam for 40 minutes, stirring after 30 minutes.
  7. Remove from steam oven, taste for seasoning (I needed a pinch of salt even though I used commercial stock for this).
  8. Add the roast pumpkin, herbs and seasoning and stir well.
  9. Cover pan with lid and let it rest for 5 minutes.  This will warm the pumpkin through.
  10. Serve with crumbled fetta cheese if desired.
Posted in: Combi Steamer, Healthy eating, Main Courses, Steam Oven, Vegetarian

Combi oven roast chicken

August 4, 2015 11:53 am / 2 Comments /

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

As I have mentioned in the other posts and the Combi roasting table here there are two ways you can get a delicious, moist and tender roast chicken in a combi steam oven.

If you have a Miele there is an Auto Roast Chicken program but be aware it is only for a small, approximately 1-1.2kg chicken which isn’t very big at all.  By all means try the automatic program if you have a small bird as it really is the quickest and easiest way to use the combi.  Basically, season the bird, put it directly onto the oven rack with the solid tray underneath to catch the fat and set Auto: Roast chicken: Start.  The program should take about an hour.  Make a note if you were happy with the browning as next time you can set this to be more or less before you start.

We are having a casual Sunday, family dinner tonight with a roast chicken and I thought I would season with a little sumac, oil and salt and roast on the combination setting.  Serve with my pearl cous cous with dried figs and coriander here for a delicious and simple dinner.  The results were amazing.  The breast meat was so moist and tender and although the oven was dirty afterwards it was worth the effort of cleaning it the following day!

You can also try cutting out the backbone and cooking my Spiced Chicken if you want a little more flavour and a reduced cooking time.  Cooking the chicken flat in the solid tray also reduced the ‘spitting’ factor in the oven so not as much cleaning needed afterwards.

Ingredients:  Serves 4

1 x 1.5kg chicken
splash of olive oil
1 tsp Sumac
½ tsp salt & ground black pepper
few slices lemon & fresh herbs (optional)

Method:

  1. Prepare chicken by rinsing out cavity, removing any giblets and excess fat and pat dry.
  2. Drizzle the chicken on both sides with a little olive oil.
  3. Mix together the seasoning ingredients and rub all over the chicken.
  4. Put the lemon slices & some fresh herbs if you wish into the chicken cavity and tie the legs together with a little piece of string.
  5. Place breast side up directly on the wire rack with the solid tray underneath and cook on Combination Mode Stage 1: 200°C + 95% moisture for 40 minutes then Stage 2: 200°C + 30% moisture for 20 minutes.  If your chicken is larger than 1.5kg then you will need to alter the time or temperatures you are cooking at.  Check the roasting table and also look at the temperatures I used when cooking the Tarragon roast chicken here.
  6. Rest the chicken before carving.  This will be the most delicious and moist roast chicken ever with a crispy skin!

Afterwards remember to do a soak program to help with the cleaning.  You can find this in the ‘Maintenance’ programs in your appliance.

Posted in: Chicken, Combi Steamer, Main Courses

Mexican beef short-ribs

July 6, 2015 1:54 pm / 3 Comments /

Mexican beef short-ribs

This is Neil Perry’s recipe which hit the top 2013 list here. The difference is that I have converted it to cook in the steam or combi oven.  Neil firstly boiled the short ribs for over an hour in a pot on the stove, changing the water twice then baked them in the oven for about an hour and a half so that the meat was falling off the bone. No need for all that messing around with a steam oven.  You can steam them instead of simmering (no need to bring to boil, replace water and wash up another pot) and then either cook them in the combi with extra moisture if you want a thinner sauce or if you only have a steam oven, bake them covered in a conventional oven.  Only one dish to wash up and preparation time is less.

Ingredients:  Serves 4

1 kg beef short ribs (ask the butcher for the thick, meaty end)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 long green chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
large pinch sea salt
freshly ground white pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground chilli powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground all-spice
400g tinned tomatoes, chopped
1-2 tbsp pickled jalapeño chillies, chopped
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
350ml chicken stock (I have reduced it, use more for a thinner sauce)
juice of 1 fresh lime
1 bunch coriander, leaves picked

Method

  1. Start this preparation a day ahead if possible.
  2. Place the ribs in the solid steamer tray.  Steam @ 95°C for one hour.
  3. Drain and set aside to cool.
  4. While they are cooking make the sauce:
  5. Heat the olive oil in a deep frypan that will fit into your oven or combi.
  6. Add the green chilli, garlic and spices and saute for 1 minute until fragrant.
  7. Now add all the other ingredients except the lime and coriander.
  8. Return the cooled ribs to the sauce and marinade overnight if possible.  Neil didn’t do this but it’s bound to give the ribs more flavour 🙂
  9. Next day cook in the combi oven on Combination mode 160°C + 30% steam, uncovered for 2 hours.  Stir and turn occasionally.  If you don’t have a combi then cook, covered in a conventional oven at 150°C.   I wanted a thick sauce that stuck to the ribs so I cooked mine, covered in a conventional oven for 3 hours.  They were delicious and the meat was falling off the bone.
  10. To serve stir in the lime juice and sprinkle with fresh coriander.
Posted in: Combi Steamer, Main Courses, Mexican, Party Food, Steam Oven

Chinese steamed bao

May 6, 2015 12:22 pm / 3 Comments /

Chinese steamed bao

I have been dying to try these in the steam oven after reading Dan Lepard’s excellent article in Good Food here.  Actually I have been crazy about these new ‘fashionable’ type of steamed bao after eating them in a few restaurants recently.  There are a few recipes around but I thought I would convert Dan’s recipe as it sounds the most authentic and also cook a version of his pork filling in the combi oven here :).

I have taken the bao recipe straight from the article but changed the cooking method.  SO much easier than a bamboo basket over a wok.  To be honest it would be a nightmare to cook these at home without a steam oven.  Remember, cooking in a steam oven gives you accurate temperature control. The recipe made 16, slightly larger than usual bao.  You could seriously only fit 6 into a large bamboo steamer basket so that’s a lot of stacking, checking water levels and three woks; too hard!

The texture was so light and fluffy, better than the ones I have eaten in restaurants.  I used one large solid steamer tray and one small but probably two large would be ideal as they were touching slightly after the final rise.  If you have a narrow depth steam oven then use three trays.

A little bit of effort with the three resting times but worth it, they were absolutely delicious 🙂

Ingredients:

300ml warm water, about 25°C
20g castor sugar
50g rice or potato starch (available in Asian supermarkets)
one 7g sachet dry yeast
450g white bread flour
flour and oil to finish

Method:

  1. Put the warm water in a mixing bowl, whisk in the sugar, rice starch and yeast until dissolved then add the flour and mix to a dough. Cover and leave for 10 minutes then lightly knead the dough until smooth.
  2. Grease the bowl with a little oil so it will be easier to remove the dough each time.
  3. Repeat this cover-leave-and-knead routine twice more, then divide the dough into 16 small pieces. Roll these firmly into neat balls, cover and leave for 10 minutes.
  4. Roll each ball into a disc about 1cm thick with a little flour, brush the top of each disc with oil then fold in half. Cover two large solid trays with non-stick parchment and place them over the tray, spaced without touching.  Dust with flour, cover loosely and leave until doubled.  This took the longest time, about 30 minutes.  They need to be as thick as you want to serve them as they don’t puff up anymore in the cooking process.
  5. Place the risen bao in the steam oven and Steam @ 100°C for 12 minutes.  It is no problem if you have multiple trays, that is the beauty of a steam oven!  Either serve immediately, or cool, bag and freeze for later. To reheat, steam @ 100°C again for 1 minutes.  They were perfect, no problem to reheat which is what I will be doing when cooking them again for a party.

Serve with my version of the Chinese pulled pork here, hoi sin sauce, cucumber strips and spring onion.  Yum, yum & yum!

Steam oven Chinese bao

 

Posted in: Bread, Dumplings, Entrees, Main Courses, Party Food, Steam Oven

Combi steamer pulled pork

March 2, 2015 9:37 am / 4 Comments /

Combi steamer pulled pork

There are a few pulled pork recipes around but not for a combi!  I wanted those smokey, mustard flavours that go so well with pork but I also wanted that caramelised crust and juicy meat.

The combi is fantastic at giving you all the cooking techniques; you just need to add a little of the flavours yourself and marinade it overnight.

I have removed the rind for this dish but if you wish to serve some crackling on the side then place the skin which has been scored onto a plate, without covering and let it dry out in the refrigerator overnight.  Next day, before serving rub with a little salt and bake alone in a hot oven @ 200°C until crisp and bubbling.  If you are cooking roast potatoes then add the crackling at the same time but in a separate dish.

Ingredients:

Piece of rolled pork shoulder 1.7-2kg
1 tbsp. smoked ground paprika
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. Olive oil
large pinch salt

Method:

  1. Remove the string from the pork and trim off the rind leaving a thin layer of fat.  See above if you wish to cook crackling.
  2. Mix all the other ingredients together to form a thick paste.
  3. Spread all over the pork, cover and marinade overnight.
  4. Cook on Combination Mode 110°C + 80% steam for 3-3½ hours.  Turn over half way through the cooking time.
  5. Shred with a fork to tear into pieces to serve.
  6. Strain the cooking liquid into a separate bowl and add a little to taste to the pork.
  7. Delicious served in fresh bread rolls with more mustard and coleslaw.  I served this as a plated main course with Roasted pumpkin and curry leaf salad here.
Posted in: Combi Steamer, Gluten free, Main Courses, Pork

Pomegranate & haloumi salad

November 3, 2014 1:39 pm / 3 Comments /

Pomegranate & haloumi salad

Time for some more healthy salads and this one has glorious flavours, lots of texture and is one of those salads that you really feel satisfied after eating.

As the weather heats up in Sydney the steam oven is the only appliance I am using at the moment.  Too hot for a conventional oven, this is the perfect appliance to use on a hot day as you can prepare all your base ingredients for a salad like this in just 20 minutes, anytime during the day.  If you want to serve it with a hot piece of salmon instead of the haloumi as we did on Saturday night then the steam oven was only on for 2 minutes for the fish.  With only that initial gush of steam at the end of cooking time, even on the hot 37°C day we had it didn’t heat up our kitchen at all.  To be honest, I use my combi as a steam oven more in the Summer than I do in the Winter.

I actually used a combination of cooked brown rice and red quinoa this time.  It is so easy to prepare a salad like this if you already have the main ingredient pre-cooked.  Remember, cooked rice can harbor bugs so only keep it for a maximum of three days.

Ingredients:  Serves 4

1 cup red quinoa, washed
2 cups vegetable stock
rind 1 lemon
½ cup mint leaves, chopped
½ cup parsley leaves, chopped
2 cups broccoli florets
½ cup chickpeas, washed and drained
1 x 250g block of Haloumi cheese, sliced
¼ cup mixed seeds & pine nuts
Olive oil to lightly fry

Dressing:
1 clove garlic, crushed
½ pomegranate, seeded and juice retained
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
pinch sea salt
ground black pepper

Method:

  1. Cook quinoa in stock for 20 minutes @ 100°C.
  2. While this is cooking, pop in your broccoli for 2 minutes then refresh in icy cold water.  Drain.
  3. Remove the quinoa from the steam oven, add the lemon rind, stir and set aside to cool and absorb any remaining stock.
  4. Mix all the ingredients, except the Haloumi together and set aside.
  5. For the dressing:  Remove the seeds from the pomegranate and catch all the juice into a container.  Pick out any pith that may have fallen into the juice.  Mix in the other ingredients, stir well and pour over salad.
  6. Mix well together, ensuring that the seeds and nuts are well amalgamated.
  7. Heat a shallow non-stick frypan over medium heat.  Add a splash of olive oil and when hot fry the Haloumi slices until golden brown.

Serve over salad as a complete meal.  Delicious also with a piece of salmon here.

Just a REMINDER, have you cooked your Christmas Pudding yet?  See my steam oven Best ever Christmas pudding here or a Gluten-free option here.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in: Gluten free, Healthy eating, Main Courses, Salads, Side dishes, Steam Oven, Vegetarian