Indian Fish Curry

I'm not sure who this recipe is by, Mum gave me a photocopy of it a while ago and I've loved making it - the flavours are so good!  Let me know if you know who's recipe it is, I think it might be from an old Good Weekend...?

It's a great mid-week or anytime meal as it is fairly quick to prepare, I made it on Friday night when a girlfriend came down to visit for the weekend and I knew I wouldn't have time to cook something that needed a lot of preparation or cooking time.

In terms of fish, I usually use blue-eye but another thick white fish fillet that won't fall apart would work well too.  I served it with green beans and some baked chapati bread (cooked in the Jamie Oliver style - see Rogan Josh recipe).  The curry didn't disappoint!

750g white fish fillets, skinned
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, finely sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 thumb of ginger, grated
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 ground tumeric
1/2 tsp ground fenugreek
1/2tsp dried chilli flakes
300ml coconut milk
300ml fish stock or water
1 tbsp tamarind puree
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soft brown sugar
few sprigs fresh coriander

Cut the fish into bite-sized chunks and toss with the turmeric and salt.
Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and fry the sliced onion until soft but not coloured.
Add the garlic and ginger, and fry for 1 minute, stirring.
Add the ground coriander, cumin, turmeric, fenugreek and dried chilli, stirring well until dark and fragrant.
Add the coconut milk, fish stock, tamarind, tomato paste, salt and sugar and heat gently, stirring.
Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
Add the fish and simmer for 5 minutes or until cooked.
Remove from heat, scatter with coriander and serve with steamed basmati rice or saffron rice palao.
Serves 4.

Steamed Ginger Puddings with Ginger Caramel Sauce

I made these puddings for the first time on Saturday night when we had some family staying from Sydney. Was a little worried they would be too-gingery, but they weren't at all.  They were delicious and I would definitely make them again.  The recipe is by Terry Durack, from Good Living on June 26, 2010.

My only suggested change to the recipe would be to make double quantity of the sauce - it's so good, you'll definitely want more.  I served mine with vanilla ice-cream and strawberries.

2 tsp butter, for pots
4 tsp golden syrup
125g butter, diced
125g light soft brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
125g self-raising flour, sifted
60ml milk
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp preserved ginger, very finely diced

Sauce
2 tbsp golden syrup
2 tbsp butter
2tbsp cream
2 tbsp preserved ginger, finely sliced

Heat the oven to 180 degrees.
Lightly butter 4 x 150ml ovenproof pots or ramekins, and place 1 tsp golden syrup in each.
Beat the butter and sugar until creamy.
Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract.
Fold in the sifted flour and milk alternatively to make a smooth batter.
If it is very stiff, add a dash more milk.
Fold in ground ginger, cinnamon and preserved ginger.
Spoon mixture into the pots, and cover tightly with a sheet of buttered foil.
Place pots in a baking tray and pour in enough boiling water to reach halfway up the sides.
Bake for 40 minutes, or until the puddings spring back to the touch.

To make the sauce:
Heat the golden syrup, butter, cream and preserved ginger in a small pan and simmer for 3 minutes, stirring.

Turn out the puddings onto warm plates and spoon the sauce and ginger over the top.
Serve with cream or ice-cream.
Serves 4.

Recipe by Terry Durack.

My steamed ginger pudding!

Snow Pony and Pizza Religion to finish off the weekend...

We didn't stop treating ourselves to amazing food when we arrived home from Daylesford.  First stop was Snow Pony as I was starving (again), and Dave was in need of a coffee.

Thought we'd try Snow Pony as I love Porgie & Mr Jones - we weren't disappointed.  A great cafe with an excellent menu (lots of the same items as Porgie & Mr Jones) and a fun vibe.

Here's what we ate!!

Dave's was the toasted banana bread with all things good and sweet loaded on top.  I had the organic lamb meatball flatbread toastie - delicious.

Coffee great and my chai hit the spot.

To continue on our "holiday" theme, we thought it only appropriate to order pizza from our favourite Pizza Religion for dinner.  Such fantastic pizzas, the crust is the best!  Definitely up there with Rosso Pomodoro in Sydney.

YUM!

A weekend in Daylesford

We have just spent the weekend exploring beautiful Daylesford, or more accurately we have just spent the weekend eating our way around the delights of Daylesford!  It was freezing - when we left today it had reached a high of 4 degrees - but Saturday was gorgeous and sunny once the fog cleared and we meandered along the streets visiting craft shops and galleries, stopping frequently to warm up in the cafes.  Some of the highlights are below...

Dinner at A Perfect Drop on Friday night was excellent.  We shared this amazing dessert, which included a chocolate brownie, halva ice-cream, Persian fairy floss, pistachios, Turkish delight, rose water (I think?)...not sure what else but it was good.

The brownie is hiding on the bottom under the ice-cream

Stopped for coffee, chai and cake at Frangos & Frangos.  My flourless orange cake with double cream was divine.

Our dinner venue on Saturday night was Mercato, which I highly recommend if you are after a special meal.  The staff were fantastic and the food was delicious.  We both were thrilled with our dishes (I had braised duck, Dave had the beef) and finished off the meal by sharing their dark chocolate fondant with prune and Armagnac ice-cream and hazelnut praline.  

That's my duck in the background

Breakfast this morning was at the Gourmet Larder - I had the rice pudding with rhubarb, apple and ginger, Dave had a fantastic looking huevos egg bake dish with chorizo.

We left Daylesford soon after breakfast as it was too wet to walk off some of the food we'd eaten around the lake as we'd planned, so headed home to relax some more.  A great weekend!

Anna's Chocolate Chip and Apricot Cake

A great friend of mine spoilt me with this fantastic cake after I spent a few hours looking after her gorgeous son.  I don't have the recipe...yet!  Will post it when I have it but I had to share the photo as it is a seriously delicious treat for afternoon tea (or anytime really)!

Classic Shepherd's Pie

Mum gave me the idea today to make a shepherd's pie for dinner tonight.  I don't think I've ever made one before but I've always loved eating them...  This one is from taste.com.au and it was delicious - perfect for a freezing Melbourne evening.  I served ours with blanched spinach, I meant to add peas as well but didn't have any in the freezer.  It's a pretty large serve for 4 pax, we didn't get through half of it.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 brown onion, halved, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled, finely chopped
2 celery sticks, trimmed, finely chopped
500g lamb mince
2 tbsp plain flour
500 ml (2 cups) beef stock
1 dried bay leaf
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp tomato paste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 (about 200g each) desiree potatoes, peeled, chopped
40g butter
125ml (1/2 cup) milk
Melted butter, to brush

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.
Heat oil in a large saucepan over med-high heat.
Add onion, carrot and celery and cook stirring for 5 minutes or until soft.
Add lamb mince and cook, stirring to break up any lumps, for 5 minutes or until lamb changes colour.
Add the flour and cook, stirring for 2 minutes or until combined.
Add stock, bay leaf, Worcestershire sauce and tomato paste.
Bring to the boil.
Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes or until sauce thickens.
Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, cook potato in a saucepan of salted boiling water for 15 minutes or until tender.
Drain well.
Return to the pan with the butter.
Use a potato masher or fork to mash until smooth.
Add milk and use a wooden spoon to stir until combined.
Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Spoon lamb mixture into a 2L (8 cup) capacity ovenproof baking dish.
Top with mashed potato and use a fork to spread over lamb mixture.
Brush with butter.
Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until mashed potato is golden brown.
Serve immediately.
Serves 4.
Recipe by Sarah Hobbs, from taste.com.au / http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/2335/classic+shepherds+pie