CurryGate

 
My friend Nicc and I made curry from scratch a couple of weeks ago. And when I say "Nicc and I", what I really mean is she cooked and I assisted. She's a very very good cook, and I did very well taking direction and using a food processor, thank you very much. We made butter chicken (which was questionably un-orange, and lacking in butter and absolutely delicious) and lamb and tofu saag (full of spinach and also amazing). Gosh they were good, and surprisingly easy. If I had ever intended to buy curry sauce from a jar before (which I hadn't) I most certainly never would now after seeing how easy it is to make these extremely satisfying sauces from scratch.

Nicc wrote up the recipes, which are available here on her tasty little blog Small Bites of Delicious.

We served the curries with rice and garlic naan from the supermarket. My technique for cooking rice I'm fast discovering is foolproof. Anne, one of my kitchen idols, learned to make curry in India when she lived there about 25 years ago. She also learned how to drink gin and how to cook rice. Rice - you rinse three times in a pot, with cold water. You then cover the rice in water to about a centimetre (or fingertip) over where the rice settles. Put the lid on, bring to the boil, and once boiling leave the lid on and leave on a low heat for no more than about 15 minutes. Done!

The accompaniment really worth bringing to your attention though is Nicc's incredible raita. I've professed my die-hard love of condiments before, and this refreshing yoghurt based side is no exception.

Raita (recipe also available here)

400mLs natural yoghurt

About 150g cucumber, cut into very fine matchsticks

Lots of fresh mint, shredded (if you're lucky, it will be raining and your mint will be down the bottom of your garden. You'll be using your cellphone as a torch and you'll nearly slip down the muddy bank in your ugg boots. You'll have to kick away rotten apples that had been thrown out the kitchen window, and then you'll finally find, amongst the weeds, the crop of mint your flatmate once planted. You'll precariously haul yourself back up the hill without falling over. IT WILL BE WORTH IT.)

A little fresh coriander

1/4 of a red onion - cut into slivers and marinated in lemon juice for about 10 minutes to take out the bite (such a good tip)

Mix well and leave to marinate while you make your curries!

No curry evening would be complete without beer, and Pilsner of both Tuatara and Emerson's variety were drinks of the day. Tuesday night curry and beer, and five very happy people (well, four of us were very happy; the other one had already had dinner but didn't want to miss out or appear rude. He showed up just as we were serving, and promptly sat through this epic feast as his second dinner. He didn't confess until writhing in agony well after...very cute, but not recommended!)

On envy and banana cake

A couple of weeks ago, not in the brightest of moods, I was walking to work when my sister in London called. She was at the Arcade Fire concert and I was walking to work - probably running late, definitely pre-coffee, and not wearing appropriate clothing for the recent drop in temperature. She sounded so happy. I nearly cried.

When she'd sobered up the next day, we had an actual conversation and got talking about the benefits of baking with natural yoghurt. I'm a huge fan - my plum and yoghurt cake is solid testimony to that. I'd never tried it in a banana cake before - until recently when I made two (which my hazy memory I think informs me was actually the last time I baked). It was with those free ripe bananas from the (dreamboat who works at the) mini-supermarket on Lambton Quay.

I ended up icing one with lemon icing and one with chocolate. They were large, dense cakes (I doubled the recipe and made two) and their moistness bordered on slightly undercooked in the middle. They were however really delicious. Whether it's a slither for a morning tea treat, an chunk for an afternoon sugar-lift, a luscious dessert (especially served with more yoghurt on the side) or just a woe-is-me-I-wish-I-was-in-Hyde-Park-right-now-I-want-cake kind of moment, you cannot go wrong with a good banana cake. Thanks to said-sister for the photo. Bananas and yoghurt for the win!

Banana Cake (with natural yoghurt)
My friend Paul's sister wrote this guest post about it for the ladies who write the blog Lovely Wee Days. It's originally a Jo Seagar recipe.

1 cup sugar
100g butter, melted
3 eggs
3 bananas, mashed
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp baking soda
150ml natural or fruit yoghurt
2 cups standard flour
3 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 160*C. Line and grease a 20-22cm springform tin. Beat the sugar, melted butter and eggs until thick and creamy (I used an electric mixer for this). Add the mashed bananas and beat well (I just used a wooden spoon). 


Heat the milk in a small bowl or a glass jug in the microwave until almost boiling (approx 1 minute - mine took closer to two, but I was of course, doubling it, so duh..). Stir the baking soda into the milk then stir into the banana mixture. Add the yoghurt, flour and baking powder. Mix well and pour into the prepared tin. Bake for 45-50 mins, until the cake is cooked in the middle and just pulling away from the edges of the tin. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the lemon icing, I usually just place a knob of butter, the juice of a lemon and some zest in a bowl. Then add icing sugar and a tablespoon of boiling water and stir well. Apparently this cake won't keep for long, but can be stored in an airtight container for 2-3 days. You can also freeze it un-iced. 


Enjoy! 

since friday...

delayed flight
an old mate from uni
solo airport beers
coffee with the family
zinefest!
coffee with friends
vegetarian nachos
old photos
belly laughter
k rd
sunshine!
beers
nail painting
bubbles!
snacks for dinner
yarns (boyfriends, blogging, world domination, etc)
celebrity spotting
gins until early
toasted sandwiches
scrambled eggs
beers and fries
coffee
sunshine!
sunset
full moon
white rum
ping pong
this song
beers
shenanigans!
carrot juice
panadol
coffee
bon voyage over lunch
food envy
rakino's breakfast salad
life planning and travel ideas
coffee
hoody-duvet-couch-movie
life changing taco salad
hilarious phone calls

whiskey cakes and winter warmers

My baking plans and best intentions of dominating the kitchen this afternoon were swiftly interrupted before they could even get off the ground. Interrupted, they were, with the triple shot bloody marys my flatmate bought me and my friend at brunch this morning. They were the perfect pick me up to accompany bacon and eggs and beautiful fresh bread lightly toasted and covered in butter, and once they were finished, we further convinced him that a bottle of bubbly was in order.

After brunch, he went home for a nap, and my friend and I continued down Cuba Street, where we got a little silly embracing retail therapy. After a post-shopping mulled wine stop at the GP (the mulled wine is amazingly spiced and warm and delicious and a steal at $6 a glass or $20 a carafe), all I could manage kitchen-wise was spaghetti from a can, on toasted english muffins and a little grated cheese.

A couple of weeks ago though, when it finally got multiple-layers-gloves-giant-scarf-numb-nose cold, I'd had a rather large weekend and the Sunday afternoon was grey and empty. In town, and unable to handle the chaos of yum cha, I cheered myself up at Moore Wilson's with a berry danish and $9 worth of osso bucco.

At home and still in possession of my friend's Le Creuset pot, I put the meat on to cook with some red wine, some beef stock, some fresh herbs and some portobello mushrooms. I then got on the couch under a duvet with the MTV classic tunes on in the background, and had a hilarious weekend debrief with my flatmate. The house was warmed with the smell of slow cooking and by the time the other flatties returned from their weekend away, I'd managed to bake some potatoes too. For some seasonal greenery, I sauteed some thinly sliced brussel sprouts in garlic and butter with some salt and pepper, and it epitomised everything I love about winter eating.

I may or may not have slopped the meat all over the bench and the plates...

My flatmate's Mum, who is cooking her way through the Floridita's cookbook, had given us some Whiskey Cakes, which we had afterwards with a little lightly whipped cream and some whiskey syrup. They tasted like Christmas, but were lighter with the addition of ground almonds. The whiskey syrup was just delicious, and the soft cream gave the dish the requisite moisture and texture and contrast to the density of the cakes.

To conclude: brussel sprouts cooked in garlic and butter, whiskey syrup, a great bloody mary, bubbles with brunch, some decent duvet and couch time, and some cheap meat cooked long and slow, are all highly recommended to brighten up any winter weekend.  

saturdays lately...

...have involved one or all or any of the following...

scrambled eggs on vogels, with relish of some sort, and parmesan, and maybe italian parsley, or some rocket, and cracked pepper. can't. get. enough.

coffees from maybe aro cafe. or alongside an oaty slice at deluxe. or at Milk Crate, where it's attached to a secondhand bookshop, where my friend Hannah works, where you can sit for ages and read the paper, or laugh at books of arty photos of cool people's houses. A couple of Saturdays ago I went to Lamason for the first time. It felt like we were in Melbourne, what with the cute little industrial lane and the adorable outside tables. We tried the siphon filter thingee though, and at the risk of sounding uncool and uncultured, it kinda just tasted like plunger. They do normal espresso, and next time I'd totally just go with that.

crumpets sometimes, with golden syrup. 

snacks for dinner and a little too much double brown for my liking.

exercise of some sort, and sometimes a walk on the beach

mancala, (it's an ancient african strategy game) beer pong, or maybe funnels. All things I thought I'd kissed goodbye upon graduation, but was briefly and temporarily pleasantly surprised to reintroduce into my life.    

My friend Nicc's beautiful supper club book, goss swaps, plunger coffee and exciting food planning in the sunny kitchen. Nail painting optional. 

life is good...

Pastamania!

1. Take yourself and 3 friends. Make it one very new friend, one who you usually only see when there's either scrulse, karaoke or bowling involved, and one who has just returned from overseas. Ensure none of them have met before, except via planning emails about Pastamania (although of course, because this is NZ, two of them were at university together and have multitudes of mutual friends). Also make sure everyone shares a borderline obsession with all things culinary and a huge amount of technical skill in the kitchen. Ensure the three females are hungover. Allow the event to be commandeered by the sole-male and give him a nickname which reflects that.

2. Hold the event in the house of the Girl who has No Fancy Kitchen Equipment, and who has somehow managed to have a food blog, all without a microplane, kitchen scales, a mortar and pestle or a decent knife. Try and manage the obvious rage of the Sole Male as he attempts to locate non-existent kitchen basics.

3. Aim to begin at 10am, but don't start cooking until about 2pm. Load up on carbohydrates from the cute little bakery down the road, washed down with plenty of coffee.

4. Take on Moore Wilson's on a rainy Sunday morning. *shudder. Load up on '00' flour and free range eggs. Get your dough recipe sort of sorted. We went especially yolky, and luckily a large amount of the free range eggs we used had double yolks. It was really weird. But sort of helpful.

Fresh Pasta Dough
750g '00' flour
8 egg yolks
2 eggs
A sprinkle of salt
A drizzle of olive oil

Mix up in a bowl with a wooden spoon, and mix into a dough. Roll out onto your bench and knead well. Wrap in glad wrap and keep in the fridge until you need it.

6. Get your meat slow cooking (see below).

7. Get going on the dough and get going on some sauce.

8. Add wine.

9. Aim to make enough fresh pasta to feed 30. After some last minute text messages to some non-RSVPers, be relieved that your numbers are now 16.

10. Assemble the lasagne and get it in the oven.

11. Add more wine.

12. Crank some sweet tunes and get a production line going!

13. In a  flurry of wine fuelled and friend filled fun, serve up 5 courses of fresh pasta.

Farfalle with arabiatta

Farfalle is made by rolling out the sheets of pasta and cutting with one of those roller thingees. Once they're in rectangles you just pinch 'em into bows! The aribiatta is a tomato based chilli and garlic sauce. Serve with parmesan. 

Beetroot Parpadelle with beef shin ragout and gremolata

The pasta dough with the beetroot was made by reducing 1 egg and 1 yolk and instead adding some cooked and pureed beetroot. Parpadelle is thick strips. The ragout was slow cooked - brown the meat and remove from the pan, toast some fennel seeds, add onions, the beef, a bouquet garni, some tinned tomatoes and some stock. Slow cook for a few hours, serve with gremolata sprinkled on top (lemon zest, finely chopped garlic and finely chopped parsley). Divine!  

3 cheese Agnolotti with alfredo sauce

I was not paying attention to either the sauce or the agnolotti. Sorry. (Hey Roddy, how bout a guest post about how to make agnolotti? Please?!)

Roasted chestnut, poached chicken and duck prosciutto tortellini, with white wine and leek reduction

Tortellini is pretty easy. The pasta dough was rolled out and cut into rounds. For the filling we roasted the chestnuts. A chicken breast was poached. Roddy had cured a duck breast, which was thinly sliced and added. That all went in the food processor. The sauce was made with sweating and slow cooking leeks, and adding white wine and cream. It was luscious.

Mushroom and spinach lasagne, with beetroot pasta sheets and blue cheese sauce 

This was quite simply incredible. Nicola advises she made as follows:

I first soaked a jar of cep’s (dried porcini mushrooms)

Sliced thinly some Portobello mushrooms and roasted them with some garlic, thyme and butter till they had leached their liquid....

Sliced the cep’s thinly and sautéed them with some onion and butter – and added some cream, Worcestershire sauce and a little of the liquid from the roasted Portobello’s ... reduced

Made a blue cheese sauce also added a little mushroom liquid...

Put a layer of pasta down I think normal a layer of the cream cep sauce, a layer of Portobello’s, a layer of spinach a layer of blue cheese sauce... a layer of beetroot pasta everything repeated and topped  with parmesan cheese

I'd given up on photography, and had had far too much mulled wine by the time Harriet made chocolate sauce and served it over vanilla ice cream. After all the carbohydrates, cheese and cream, it was a surprisingly refreshing dessert. Which doesn't make sense...but you're just going to have to take my word for it. Thanks to everyone for getting involved!