FoodieChat

It’s really annoying, because my cravings for food are not just triggered by smells or by sight. They are also triggered by SOUND!  The pfffssttt of a can of diet coke opening makes me run for the vending machine. The crackle of a chip packet… and today – my friend talking about eggplant made me change my dinner plans from fajitas to eggplant.  Here’s the way I make a healthy version of spicy sichuan eggplant.  It’s usually sitting in a pool of tasty yummy oil from the eggplant being deepfried.  But instead, what I do is steam the eggplant!  A medium sized eggplant – chopped.  While you steam it (it takes 15minutes-ish), you can prepare the aromatics:  2 cloves of finely chopped garlic, a knob of ginger, a sprig of spring onion sliced and a handful of chopped coriander.

You can use pork mince or chicken mince.  Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a hot wok. I say a couple of tablespoons because you do want to make it a bit more yummy since you saved on the deep frying , then saute the ginger and garlic.  Add the mince and cook the mince.  When the mince is almost cooked, add the spring onions and stir fry until cooked.  Add the now ready eggplant plus 1 tablespoon EACH of spicy bean paste sauce,  hoisin sauce, soy sauce.  In a small bowl, mix a teaspoon of cornflour in some chicken stock and pour into the wok and simmer until thickened.  Now you can put a dash of sesame oil and then stir in the coriander at the last minute.  Serve with steamed rice.  YUM!

It is WELL and TRULY winter in Sydney!  The temperature can be in the single digits even during the day – and I am soon going to be dragging out my heater – I’ve done so well so far, as most of my friends have succumbed!!  Winter food means slow cooked, warming your home and your heart.  And red wine of course  I just made a huge batch of slow cooked beef ragout, it’s so easy, as you just prepare it and leave it on the stove or in the oven and forget about it!  First, I took 500g of chuck steak and cut it into little pieces.  I browned off the beef in some olive oil, then added diced carrot and celery and onion, and three cloves of garlic.  When the veges were almost soft, I poured in a cup of red wine and let the water evaporate.  Chuck in a few bayleaves, basil and oregano, and a 700mL bottle of passata.  I also added a beef stock cube.  Cover, boil on low for an hour.  Snuggle up with a magazine and hot chocolate in the meantime

When it’s done, I should have made my own pasta, but I was too hungry and lazy, so I just used spaghetti.  I drizzled it with truffle oil for a special luxurious touch, and served with parsley    There’s so much left for my freezer for a few more dinners

This post serves two purposes. Firstly, to share with you an AMAZING chocolate cake recipe that my friend Bec found on the net. It’s a sour cream chocolate cake. Eww I hate sour cream. You too? Well doesn’t matter, because you can’t actually taste it! It makes the cake sooo moist. And for some reason, it generates a huge chocolatey hit even though the cake is only made with cocoa! I’ll say no more, here is the recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/sour-cream-chocolate-cake-2/Detail.aspx

It makes a huge batch. I got 16 full sized cupcakes and 24 mini cupcakes out of it!

And the second purpose of my blog post, is to say – now I know why you have to use castor sugar if it says castor sugar! I made the cupcakes two days ago, and today reaching for one of them, I can see little white speckles all over them! On closer inspection, it is undissolved sugar! The recipe doesn’t say castor sugar, and since castor costs more than normal sugar I used normal….. learnt my lesson! No impact on taste or the inside though.

I find this case’s texture excellent for shaping, and making children’s cakes, it is very sturdy but still soft and crumby. Hope you find it useful!

Winter – perfect for long slow stews. This recipe comes from Australian Gourmet Traveller. The sauce is very rich. It is pretty much just white wine and tomatoes! The saffron adds a luxurious touch to the melt in your mouth braised meat. It’s fantastic as you prepare it, whack it in the oven and then forget about it for a couple hours whilst you enjoy your guests’ company rather than slaving away in the kitchen and letting them have all the fun!

Apparently it’s a recipe from a Melbourne restaurant called Massani. It’s in the section of Gourmet Traveller where readers write in asking for recipes from their favourite restaurants.   Here’s the link:

http://gourmet.ninemsn.com.au/gourmettraveller/recipes/db/gourmettraveller/71/7166.asp