Thursday 1 November 2007

Simple Fried Rice

This one is based on a Ken Hom recipe. It works quite well with the previous recipe for garlic and lemon prawns or with some simple cooked fish such as a honey/lemon coated salmon, or pan-fried mackarel.

Ingredients
2 cups of rice
1 egg
1 large onion
2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped).
1/2 chicken stock cube
Soy Sauce
Can of Sweetcorn (Green giant sweetcorn with peppers is good for this!)

Optional
Lots of coriander and 2 finely sliced chillis.
Chopped Spring Onions.

Preparation
Cook the rice about an hour or two in advance. Drain the rice, stir it through with a fork and let it cool down.

Break an egg into a bowl and beat it with a fork, like you would when making an omlette.

Chop 2 cloves of garlic and one onion.

Cooking
Pour a tablespoon of oil (I use olive or groundnut) into a wok, heat and then cook the onions and garlic for around 5 min by which time the onion should start to brown slightly.

Throw the stock cube into the pan and melt it quickly. Pour in about a 1/2 tablespoon of water to thin it and quickly throw in the rice, stirring well to mix it up. Throw a little sugar into the rice and mix it in. Spread the rice out so that there's a space in the middle of the wok. Pour in the egg. Mix it around thoroughly for a couple of minutes to ensure that it cooks well. Finally throw about a teaspoon of soy sauce (or fish sauce if you don't hate the smell) into the rice and stir again. Stir well. Throw in the sweetcorn (drained), mix it up, and then take it off the heat.

Optionally, add some chopped prawns if you can't be bothered to make something to go with this. If you like a bit of heat, add some chopped chillis.

Garnish with finely chopped corriander...

Enjoy!

Wednesday 17 October 2007

Garlic and Lemon Prawns

Here's one of my own recipes, based on two ingredients which I adore; garlic, and lemon.

INGREDIENTS
Prawns (fantail are best, but any cooked prawns will do).
3 cloves of garlic
Lemon Juice
Honey
Sugar
Garlic Powder
Groundnut oil (I like that, but you can use whichever you prefer)
Salt and Pepper

PREPARATION
Start by chopping up 3 cloves of garlic, you can use a press, but, I personally, hate garlic presses. When you're done, chuck this into a bowl and add the juice of 1/2 a lime.

Add a teaspoon of honey and a tablespoon of oil.

Add a 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder and a 3/4 of a teaspoon of sugar (helps to balance out the lemon and honey).

Grind a good bit of salt and pepper and then stir well.

Next, add a sprinkling of chives (fresh or dried is fine) and some breadcrumbs (These help to thicken the sauce and add a nice light crunch).

Taste the mixture and add more honey/salt or pepper as you see fit.

FINALLY, add the prawns and mix these well. Put this into the fridge for about an hour.

COOK
When it's time to cook, heat a wok and add a tablespoon of butter. Use a slotted spoon to take out the prawns and place on a plate. Pat these down with a kitchen towl to dry slightly. Next, throw these into the wok. Pre-cooked prawns don't need to be cooked for more than a minute or two, but, I personally cook these for about four minutes to give them a nicer texture and no, they don't turn rubbery :o)

Cook these till they char slightly and then place in a large bowl.

Finally, take the mix that the prawns were in, and place into a small saucepan. Cook for about a minute and then pour into dipping bowls.

ENJOY WITH
Fried Rice and some broccoli.

Bill's Ricotta Hotcakes

I've been looking through Bill Granger's book, "Sydney Food" and, with the exception of maybe two recipes, I liked all of his breakfast ideas. I'm not especially fond of his lunch or dinner ideas but his breakfasts are great, and, due to the fact that he always serves them with fruit... they're balanced, if not, healthy... : ) I can see me cooking a lot of his recipes overy the coming weekends.

I highly recommend his ricotta hotcakes. I didn't bother with the honeycomb butter instead opting to eat them with some apricot jam. Next time I'll try serving them with a split banana that I shall gently fry in a little butter and sugar.

Dang... I wish I'd looked through his book before I went shopping!

Recipe for Bill Granger's Ricotta Hotcakes