Jasmyne Tea

The Winds of Change...

Lately I've found myself spending less time in front of the computer. I've been ignoring the Twittersphere in favour of socialising with actual, real-life humans, putting off blogging for reading 50 Shades of Grey (lol yeah right), and skipping the Facebook news feed for days at a time to avoid seeing the same memes all the time.

Alas, it seems I'm losing inspiration when it comes to my blog. After much careful consideration (for which I had a lot of time as my hard-drive crashed), I decided a change was needed. You see, I am interested in much more than the restaurants I eat at and the meals I make, and although I immensely enjoy reading about these subjects on other people's blogs, it's just not cutting it for me anymore. I feel like I need something more to hold my interest, and that I'm limiting myself by only writing about food.

So I'll be taking a short hiatus while I figure out what the hell I want to include and what I want to cut out. There will still definitely be many posts about food - it is a passion, after all. Watch this space!

Gary Mehigan's Apple Strudel

Hi Everyone, Stephen here.

It has been a few months since I've posted anything here. Balancing two jobs and a full time PhD only leaves me spare time to spend with Jas. Now that the uni semester has ended I've got a bit of time on my hands and started catching up on the latest Masterchef season.

About two weeks ago in their masterclass Gary Mehigan had cooked an apple strudel with a vanilla custard and I knew I had to give this recipe a shot. It reminds me of a few great memories: apple strudel in Poland and Germany whenever I went with my dad; when he would make it himself at home when I was young; and more recently the friends I was staying with in California would make strudel in the mornings. And its a perfect dish for the weather we are facing over the next couple of months.

Apple Strudel with Ice-Cream and Vanilla Bean Custard

The recipe can be found on the Masterchef website here

INGREDIENTS

Strudel pastry

• 225g plain flour, plus extra for kneading
• 1 whole egg
• 125ml warm milk
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 30g butter, melted

Apple Filling

• 5 pink lady apples
• 60ml brandy
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup raisins
• ¼ cup flaked almonds
• Zest of 1 lemon
• ¾ cup (165g) brown sugar
• 125g fresh sourdough breadcrumbs
• 60g butter, melted for brushing
• Icing sugar, for dusting
• Double cream, to serve

Vanilla Custard

• 300ml pouring cream
• 200ml milk
• 1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped
• 5egg yolks
• ¼ cup caster sugar
• 25g corn flour

Method

Strudel Pastry and Apple Filling

1. Preheat oven to 180°C fan forced.

2. For pastry, place flour, egg, milk and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough paddle and beat at a low speed to combine. Add butter, increase speed and beat to a smooth dough. Turn onto a lightly floured bench and knead until smooth, elastic and doesn’t stick. Place in an oiled bowl, cover and allow to rest for 35-40 minutes.

4. For filling, peel, core and quarter apples. Roughly cut into medium chunks. Place in a bowl with brandy, cinnamon, raisins, almonds and lemon zest and toss to combine.

5. Reserve 1/3 of each brown sugar and breadcrumbs and set to one side. Add the remaining brown sugar and breadcrumbs to the apple mixture, toss to combine and allow to sit, covered, for flavours to infuse.

6. Sprinkle bench with flour, roll out dough to a rectangle approximately 40x60cm and very thin. Take a 60cmx80cm piece of cloth or clean tea towel and sprinkle with plain flour. Use a rolling pin to help you transfer the pastry onto the cloth and gently pull pastry by the edges until it is transparent. Ensure thick areas are worked to a similar transparency and dough isn’t sticking to the cloth. Trim edges.

7. Sprinkle pastry with reserved breadcrumbs and sugar, then spoon apple mix down the length of the pastry in a rectangular shape 3-4inches wide and piled up high. Sprinkle apple and pastry with reserved breadcrumbs and brown sugar.

8. To roll, use the cloth to fold the ends of the pastry over apples to encase, fold the sides of the pastry over to seal and roll up loosely into a thick, plump and elongated strudel shape.

9. Transfer to a baking paper-lined oven tray and brush with melted butter. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden and pastry is crisp.

10. Allow to cool slightly before dusting heavily with icing sugar.

 
Vanilla Custard

11. Place cream, milk, vanilla pod and seeds in a saucepan over a medium heat and just bring to the boil.

12. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until thick and pale. Whisk in corn flour, pour half of the hot cream into egg mixture, whisking continuously. Pour into remaining cream mixture and return to a medium low heat. Stir continuously with a wooden spoon until mixture is thick and coats the back of a spoon. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl placed over a bowl of iced water and stir custard until cooled to room temperature. Pour into a serving jug.

13. To serve, cut strudel into thick pieces and serve with a drizzle of custard and a dollop of thick cream.

Spice Of Life, Harris Park

Indian food was not something I was interested in as a child. I think my Mum may have killed that particular cuisine for me - she used to make this dish that consisted of el cheapo sausages, chunks of overcooked potato and carrot, and curry powder all combined as one in a stew-like creation. We didn't want to hurt her feelings, so we ate some of it while hiding pieces of sausage under our napkins (and if you're reading this Mum - sorry. Truth hurts. I think you're old enough to handle it now).

Luckily Stephen and I took the leap and tried Indian food again - our first butter chicken was a revelation! An explosion of flavour, a riot of spices; this was what we encountered with our first mouthful. After that it was only natural that we try more dishes from this exotic cuisine.

So when we had to organise a Bon Voyage dinner with my work-mates, Indian first sprang to mind. My friend James described Spice of Life as a little less traditional than most Indian restaurants, but good for beginners.

Mango Lassi - $4.00

This concoction of mango puree and yoghurt was actually my very first lassi, and, surprised by the sweet taste, I drank half of it before we got our food. Man did I regret that when the chilli caught up with me...

Papri Chaat - $10.00

We got our friends who'd grown up with Indian food to order for us, because really, apart from naan and butter chicken, we had no idea. Papri Chaat is a North Indian snack, comprised of crispy fried dough wafers, potatoes and chickpeas all covered in a combination of yoghurt, chilli, masala spices and tamarind chutney. This is then topped with crushed sev, a type of dried noodle made from chickpea flour. The dish contains a variety of interesting textures and flavours, and was an excellent start to our meal.

Paneer Tandoori - $14.00

The cottage cheese here is apparently home made, and in this dish it's seasoned with garam masala and skewered along with capsicum, onion, and tomato. The cheese comes out with a texture that is a cross between feta cheese and haloumi.


Coconut Chicken - $17.00

The coconut chicken was probably the spiciest chicken I've tried so far in my life - I honestly could not register any other flavours. I do know that the tender chicken was cooked in a gravy flavoured with curry leaves, chilli, and mustard seeds.

Butter Chicken - $17.00

Oh. My. Gosh. Think of the best butter chicken you ever had; now imagine if it was 10 times better and you've got the gist of this dish. The chicken is marinated in the tomato and yoghurt mixture until it takes on an orange hue, then is cooked in the tandoori. What comes to the table is falling apart before you even get your fork into it, and the flavour is oh-so moreish.


Goat Saag Wala - $18.00

I really only ordered the goat for the novelty, but it was actually pretty good. The goat did have big chunks of bone attached to the meat, but the meat I did get to try was a little gamey, and a bit tougher than beef or chicken. The spinach sauce it was served with was very mild, and didn't really taste like much.

Vegetable Biryani - $14.00

Our friend Ahlam ordered the Vegetable Biryani, as she can only eat halal meat. It had a nice dry consistency, the grains of rice separated, and the vegetables and rice were mildly spiced with a medly of herbs and spices including ginger, cumin, and coriander.

Masala Dosa - $12.00

The Dosa was ordered by our friend Gita - a large, crispy rice crepe stuffed with sauteed potatoes and onion, and served with sambhar (a type of lentil stew) and chutney.

Garlic Naan - $3.50 each serve

Heaven is a garlic naan; I never thought that flat bread with a bit of garlic and butter on it could be so comforting and tasty, but it is - I could definitely eat this by itself.

Cheese Naan - $4.50 each serve

The cheese naan came an extremely close second, but this plain naan stuffed with cheese just couldn't beat the garlic in my opinion.

As we went to pay for our meal, we saw bowls of sugar and fennel seeds laid out on the counter. Our friend Manan told us that you're meant to take a spoonful of each and chew to freshen your breathe. It takes some getting used to, but I love fennel so it was no hardship.

Spice Of Life

116 Wigram St
Harris Park
NSW
2150

9762 1033

http://spiceoflife.net.au/restaurant/index.htm

Cornish Pasties

"Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, ate a pasty five feet long,
Bit it once, Bit it twice, Oh my Lord, it's full of mice!"
- West Country schoolyard rhyme

This recipe is a winter favourite for us, a traditional Cornish Pasty - although, it's not traditional AT ALL according to the Cornish Pasty Association (seriously, don't these people have anything better to do?). The Cornish Pasty was awarded Protected Geographical Indication last year, meaning that a pasty has to comply with a whole list of rules to be considered Cornish. Rules include:

• A Cornish Pasty should be shaped like a ‘D’ and crimped on one side, not on the top.
• The ingredients should include uncooked beef and roughly chopped swedes, potatoes, and onion - carrots are frowned upon.
• Cornish Pasties must be prepared in Cornwall.

Anyways, rules are meant to be broken, right? This pasty was made right here in Oz, has garlic, carrot, and corn in the filling, and is crimped on the top. Because that's how we roll. And also how Curtis Stone rolls, who we stole borrowed this recipe from.

Cornish Pasty
*Adapted from here

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp + 1 tsp  olive oil
400g beef mince
1 small brown onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
1 baby potato, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
1/2 cup fresh corn kernels
1 medium tomato, finely diced
4 cups baby spinach
1/4 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
4 sheets short crust pastry, cut into 20cm rounds, leaving plastic on base
1 egg, lightly beaten
Grated parmesan cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large fry pan over high heat and brown the beef for 5 minutes, breaking up any clumps with a wooden spoon. Strain the beef and discard liquid from pan.

2. Place the pan back on heat and add 1 teaspoon of oil. Add the onion, garlic, and cook for 3 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the carrot and potato to the pan and cook for an additional 3 minutes.

3. Return beef to the pan, add the corn, tomato and spinach and cook until the spinach has wilted. Remove from heat and stir through the parsley, season to taste with salt and pepper and let cool for 15 minutes.

4. Lay the 4 rounds of pastry onto a clean work surface and divide the filling evenly between each round of pastry. Brush the edges of the pastry with the egg wash and carefully fold and crimp the edges together to seal the pasties. Remove the plastic and poke several small holes with a knife in the pastry to allow steam to escape whilst cooking.

5. Place pasties onto a baking tray lined with baking paper, brush with a little of the remaining egg

wash, and sprinkle the cheese over the pasties. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the pastry is glossy and golden brown, and the filling is cooked through. Leave to cool for 5 minutes before serving - with tomato sauce. :)