Thai beef salad

June 19, 2015 12:43 pm / Leave a Comment /

 

Thai beef salad

Traditionally, the meat for a Thai beef salad is seared on the bar-b-que and cooked rare so the meat is tender and juicy.

Now, with a steam oven you have another great way to cook beef so that is will be the best, most tender steak you have ever eaten!  This recipe calls for the more expensive eye fillet steak but would also be fantastic with Sous vide steak here.

I have given you two options for the dressing.  One quick and one that I have been using for years from Charmaine Solomon’s Thai cookbook.  The lemongrass needs to be sliced paper-thin.  I think that the extra effort involved in using a traditional recipe such as this is worth it if you have the time.

Ingredients:  Serves 4-6

650g beef eye fillet
oil
200g baby green beans
2 spring onions, sliced finely
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 Lebanese cucumbers, thinly sliced
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
2 cups baby spinach leaves or spinach & rocket mix
½ cup coriander leaves
½ cup Thai basil leaves
½ cup mint leaves

Dressing 2, Quick option

1 birds eye chilli, finely chopped (leave the seeds in for a little heat)
1 clove garlic, crushed
2-4 kaffir lime leaves, very finely shredded into super thin strips
2 tbsp. lime juice
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. sweet chilli sauce
1 tbsp. fish sauce
1 tbsp. palm sugar, finely grated

Dressing 2, Traditional version

1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp. chopped coriander roots and stems
black pepper, ground
1 tbsp. palm sugar
2 tsp Golden Mountain Sauce (or Maggi ‘Seasoning’ sauce)
2 tbsp. lime juice
2 tsp fish sauce
2 small purple shallots
1-2 red chillies seeds removed or to taste
1 stem lemongrass, sliced paper-thin

Method:

  1. For Traditional dressing:  Pound or crush the garlic, coriander roots, pepper and palm sugar.
  2. Stir in the sauces and juice.
  3. Slice the white part of the lemongrass, chillies and shallots very, very thinly.  Start with one chilli, you can always add more.
  4. For the Quick dressing:  Just mix all ingredients together in a jar.  Shake.
  5. For meat: Brush beef lightly with oil.  Sear in a hot pan until browned on all sides.
  6. Place beef in solid stainless steel tray.  Steam @ 100°C for 15 minutes.  If you have a smaller fillet, about 340g then 7 minutes was perfect.  Don’t overcook it, better to be under done than over.
  7. Place beans & snowpeas in perforated tray.  Steam @ 100°C for 2 minutes.  Refresh in cold, iced water.  Don’t steam with the beef on this occasion as your timing will be extended and the beef may overcook.
  8. Remove beef from steam oven and rest for 10 minutes.
  9. Just before serving, slice the beef.  Toss salad ingredients and dressing, leave a little to pour over the meat.

Serve with a small bowl of steamed rice here.

 

 

Posted in: Gluten free, Healthy eating, Salads, Steam Oven, Thai

Bread & butter pudding

May 29, 2015 2:44 pm / 2 Comments /

Bread & butter pudding

This is the ultimate pudding if you have a combi oven as it really is quicker without the need for a water bath, just pop it into the oven on Combination mode and in just under an hour you have the perfect bread and butter pudding.  This is almost half  the cooking time than a conventional oven.  Amazing!

This version is also little quicker to whip together by using buttered raisin bread.  There are other versions you can do with this standard custard base.  Brioche is delicious, as is Panettoni or an artisan fruit loaf.  Another option includes spreading with marmalade after the butter but I prefer just a dusting of sugar.  If you use marmalade just spread some on the middle layer of bread and cover with more buttered slices.  This will stop it burning on the top.  If your using plain bread then sprinkle with a few sultanas over each layer.  Also delicious with dark chocolate chips!

This is a smaller recipe to serve four.  For six serves and a bigger pudding increase the eggs to 5, sugar to ½ cup and milk to 3½ cups.  Cooking time would be approximately a further 10 minutes.

Ingredients:  Serves 4

6-8 slices raisin bread or fruit loaf, buttered
3 eggs depending on their size
¼ cup sugar
2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
Sugar to sprinkle over

Method:

  1. Grease a shallow, ovenproof dish with butter.  The pic shows my small Le Creuset 8cm x 26cm.
  2. Cut the bread if necessary and place tightly in the base of the dish with the buttered side down.
  3. Add another layer with the buttered side up.  It should be tight – no gaps so cut your bread the way you need to make it fit.  You should have at least three layers.
  4. Beat the eggs, sugar, milk and vanilla together.
  5. Pour over bread, pushing down so that it sinks in the custard.
  6. Sprinkle with sugar.
  7. Bake on Combination mode 160°C + 80% steam for 50 minutes.  It will come out of the oven puffed but will drop.  This is normal.

Serve warm with fresh cream 🙂

 

 

 

Posted in: Baking, Combi Steamer, Desserts

Chinese combi pulled pork

May 6, 2015 12:41 pm / 4 Comments /

Chinese combi pulled pork

This is my revised Chinese combi pulled pork recipe adaped from Dan Lepard’s article here.  As the combi cooks with a large percentage of moisture for this recipe I wanted the flavours to be similar but I didn’t want to cover it as that will stop the moisture getting into the meat.  I don’t need the sauce from Dan’s recipe (even though it sounds wonderful) as I will have the added moisture from the cooking process that will make my sauce.  As different cuts of pork have different fat content I now recommend adding half a cup of water to the pan before slow cooking and, if available, covering the meat with the rind of pork to retain extra moisture.  Quite different to a lamb shoulder, pork seems to need a little more help…

The paste is very strong but you end up with a delicious, spicy diluted sauce which can be mixed through the pork before serving.

Ingredients:

1.4-1.7kg pork shoulder or boneless ‘eye roast’, rind removed and a little fat left (see comment above)
50g red miso paste (dark coloured)
knob of fresh ginger, grated
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1-2tsp smoked paprika
½tsp chilli powder
2 tsp five spice powder
pinch of salt
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp peanut oil

Method:

  1. Mix all the ingredients into a thick, almost dry paste.
  2. Smear thickly all over the pork, using it all.
  3. Place into the solid steamer tray, cover with the pork rind & half a cup of water and cook on Combination mode 110°C + 80% moisture for 4½ hours.
  4. Turn half way through cooking.  You can remove the rind at this stage if you like.
  5. Remove, shred and place into a large bowl.  Add some of the liquid, it does need this.  Set aside until you are ready to fill the steamed bao here.  Delicious served with sliced spring onion, cucumber and Hoi Sin sauce 🙂

Absolutely delicious!

Posted in: Combi Steamer, Dumplings, Party Food, Pork

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

Spicy Sri Lankan fish

April 6, 2015 3:42 pm / Leave a Comment /

Spicy Sri Lankan fish

One of the great things about the steam oven is that you can very easily make delicious, spicy fish dishes like this with very little effort.  Have a look at some other fish recipes I have done in the ‘Fish category’. Some, like this and the Thai fish skewers here only take 5 minutes to cook plus the time to mix the marinade together.  Such impressive, easy dishes to cook and prepare.

This recipe is cooked in banana leaves or baking paper.  This way the spices will remain as a paste on the fish fillet without being diluted by the steam from the cooking process.  Plus you also get a delicious sauce!  You can also cook this in a conventional oven if you wish.  But, it is easier to steam it whilst you are cooking your rice and beans so the whole meal is cooked together.

Ingredients:  Serves 4

4 firm, white fish fillets of your choice eg Blue eye
pinch salt
juice half a lime or lemon
1 tsp ground turmeric
¼ tsp ground black pepper
1 small onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp ginger, sliced
¼ tsp each ground cinnamon & cloves
4 branches of fresh curry leaves
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground chilli powder
1 tbsp. oil
Banana leaves or baking paper to wrap

Method:

  1. Place all the ingredients except the fish, curry leaves and banana leaves into a food processor or mortar & pestle and grind to a smooth paste.
  2. Lay the fish onto individual banana leaves large enough to wrap each individually.  Season with a little salt and pepper.
  3. Spread the paste all over the fish with a little under as well, place a branch of curry leaves over the top and wrap securely into a little parcel.  Repeat for each fillet.
  4. Set aside in the fridge for at least 30 minutes for the flavours to infuse.  Don’t leave it longer, the fish will start to cook.
  5. Steam @ 100°C for 5-7 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish fillet.  It should be just cooked, moist and juicy.

Serve on the plate in the leaves for people to open themselves or remove, leaving the curry leaves on for a garnish.  Try to have the ‘parcels’ opening at the top if you wish to serve them like this.

Serve with plain steamed rice here and vegetables of your choice.

Posted in: Fish, Gluten free, Healthy eating, Steam Oven

Taste of Sydney 2015

March 13, 2015 6:08 pm / Leave a Comment /

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When I received an invitation to Taste of Sydney 2015 from Laura at Hausmann I was excited.  So excited that I cancelled my previous engagement, emailed her back immediately telling her I would love to attend!

There is always something special about getting a supplier invitation and this one wouldn’t be shabby; the major sponsor of Taste of Sydney this year is Electrolux.  In the past, whilst working in the major appliance industry I attended some lovely Electrolux functions.  (See my disclaimer in the T&C’s here.  I have not been paid to attend this event, or write this post.)

Electrolux had chef, Massimo Mele from La Scala on Jersey restaurant as one of the chefs cooking in the Taste Theatre today.  Electrolux made the first pyro combi steam oven on the Australian market which was inspired by them working with professional chefs.  Makes sense when you read my article on cleaning your combi steam oven here as yes, they do get super dirty, especially if you are roasting meat which is one of the treats of cooking in a combi steamer.  The added moisture makes meat and chicken a lot more tender than ordinary roasting.  Electrolux installed the pyro combi steam oven model EVEP618BB into the Taste Theatre.  This model has three steam functions plus steam on demand;  Steam cooking (Maxi steam), bread baking, steam reheat which combined with a radiant element reheats at 130°C and steam on demand.  This function allows you to inject a shot of steam into the oven cavity while you are cooking.  The specs tell me that it does allow for 100% steam which I assume is Maxi steam. This oven allows you to cook almost anything that you wish but it is not a full on steam oven so you cannot adjust the percentage of steam yourself nor can you see or adjust the percentage of steam that is used in the pre set functions.  I spoke to Daniel from Electrolux and learnt that this is a new and different type of steam oven.  Not an evaporative steam oven or a steam injected steam oven.  They call it a ‘Steam assisted oven’.  Hopefully one day I can get to do some cooking in their ovens and get to know and fully understand their range.

Aviary Photo_130707117575454427

Unfortunately Massimo didn’t cook in the combi steam oven today, instead he cooked a delicious octopus on the induction cooktop.  Perfectly cooked as on the induction you have the ability to simmer at really low temperatures so the octopus just fell apart when he ‘cut’ it with a spoon!  I did speak with him after the event and he told me that it would also be possible to cook it at 80°C in the liquid in a steam oven.  I haven’t cooked octopus in the steam oven yet but am now inspired by his recipe today so I am going to try it!  Hopefully I can do this after I return from my next OS trip and I will link it to this post for you all to try at home too.

There is always something special about a Taste of Sydney food event.  Every year it gets bigger and better and the standard of suppliers, food & wine producers, restaurants, demonstrations, and activities are constantly improved on the previous year which makes for a top-class-foodie day out!

Go this weekend and check it out, I am sure you will enjoy yourself, see lots of new products and have some wonderful things to eat and drink 🙂

Posted in: Appliances, Food events

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

Roasted pumpkin & curry leaf salad

February 25, 2015 5:47 pm / Leave a Comment /

Roasted pumpkin & curry leaf salad

Adam Liaw cooked a dish like this on his show on SBS TV so I thought I would use the same combination of flavours and turn it into a salad.  I guess we can call it an Indian salad with the addition of the curry leaves.  It would certainly be delicious served as part of a shared table with Indian inspired curries or roasted meats.

Roast the pumpkin in a hot oven and let it come to room temperature before adjusting the dressing and adding the leaves.  You can also add some other green vegetables if you wish.  Remember to steam those quickly to retain the nutrients.  You can find the steaming timing here for vegetables.

You could steam the pumpkin too but the flavour is better roasted.  I have done other salads with steamed pumpkin which you can find in the salad category.

Ingredients:

Large chunk of pumpkin, diced into medium size pieces
Handful shallots, peeled
2 tsp fennel seeds
1 bulb of garlic, broken into cloves and left whole
2 tbsp. Olive oil
4 branches of fresh curry leaves, removed from the stalk
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp sherry vinegar
Handful of baby spinach to serve
½ tin chickpeas, rinsed
¼ cup pumpkin seeds

Extra sherry vinegar and oil to taste

Method:

  1. Toss everything together except leaves, chickpeas, pumpkin seeds and extra vinegar & oil in a large bowl.
  2. Place a large piece of baking paper on a flat oven tray and pile on the vegetables.
  3. Roast @ 200°C Fan forced for 45 minutes.
  4. Remove to cool to room temperature.
  5. Mix in leaves, chickpeas, seeds and other steamed vegetables if you are using them.
  6. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more sherry vinegar and oil to dress the salad if necessary.

 

Posted in: Indian, Salads, Traditional Ovens, Vegetarian

Barramundi with Syrian red pepper crust

January 25, 2015 11:37 am / Leave a Comment /

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

The great thing about a combi is that it will bake as well as steam.  One thing I love to do is use something that I have made in one form and transform it into something else.  That’s always a good way to do menu planning so there is no waste.  Don’t forget about that delicious dip you made last week which you can find the recipe for here, turn it into a mouth watering main course.

The baking effect with the steam actually ‘bakes and infuses’ this flavour into the fish.  It doesn’t have a lot of texture but if you like you can sprinkle some extra toasted walnuts over the top before you serve.  I haven’t done this in the picture but it would be delicious.  A perfect Summer meal that only needs a side salad.

Ingredients:

Thick barramundi or other white fish fillets, cut into serving size portions
½ cup Syrian red pepper, walnut and pomegranate dip
¼ cup extra toasted walnuts
Fresh parsley or coriander to garnish

Method:

  1. Cut fillets into thick, serving size pieces
  2. Preheat oven on Fan Plus 170°C
  3. Place fillets on a stainless steel tray lined with baking paper.
  4. Sprinkle with a little sea salt.
  5. Spread with a generous layer of dip.
  6. Let sit to come to room temperature for about 5 minutes.
  7. Place in combi steam oven.
  8. Select Combination Bake and cook 170°C + 90% moisture for 5-8 minutes or until cooked.  The timing will depend on the size and thickness of your fillets.  Mine were only 5 minutes.  Try to have all the fillets the same thickness, turn under tail sections if necessary.
  9. Serve with roughly chopped toasted walnuts and a parsley or coriander garnish.
Posted in: Combi Steamer, Fish, Gluten free

Syrian red pepper, walnut & pomegranate dip

January 23, 2015 10:09 am / Leave a Comment /

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I found this interesting dip recipe somewhere before Christmas, which is originally from Cyril Miletto for Gastronomy.  I have changed the method slightly.

Loving everything with pomegranates at the moment – this was delicious served as part of our Boxing Day party with fresh vegetables, and warm Turkish bread.

It makes quite a lot and will last for a week (if you’re lucky), covered in the fridge.

Ingredients:

3 red capsicums
100ml extra virgin olive oil (I used a little less)
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
200g walnuts, toasted
1 lemon, zested
1 tbsp. lemon juice
80ml pomegranate molasses
1½ tsp ground cumin
salt & pepper

Method:

  1. Halve capsicums removing the centre core, flatten with your hands so the skin is all exposed.  Place, skin-side up, on a grill which is covered with baking paper and grill @ 200°C until blackened.
  2. Remove and place into a plastic bag, twist and set aside to cool.
  3. Toast the walnuts and set aside.
  4. Place the oil into a heavy pan and add the onion & garlic.  Lower the heat to medium and cook until golden.
  5. Add the ground cumin, cook stirring for 2 minutes.
  6. Peel capsicums, removing all blackened skin.  Do not rinse.
  7. Process all ingredients in a food processor until almost smooth.
  8. Taste and season adding a few grinds of pepper.
  9. Place into a covered container until ready to serve.

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Posted in: Party Food