Fried Fish with Lemon Grass & Chilli

 

Simple, quick dish I knocked together and smashed down before I hit the gym. It's packed full of protein and it quite healthy when cooked with olive oil. The presentation sucks, I know!

 

Ingredients:

• 1x Barramundi Fish Fillet (Other Fish will also do)
• 4x Table Spoons of Minced Lemon Grass
• 4x Chopped Chili
• 1x Teaspoon of Salt
• 1x Tablespoon of Fish Sauce (Make Sure It's an Asian Brand)
• 1x Tablespoon of Olive Oil

 

Method:
Cut the fish in pieces (if you like) or leave it whole, rest it aside. Combine Lemon Grass, Chili, Salt, Fish Sauce, and Olive Oil into a Pestle & Mortar or Blender, then mix and bash the ingredients till it's combined well. Try NOT to turn it into a paste or some sludgy green shiet. Apply to all of the mixture to Fish Fillet and let it sit in the fridge for around 15 minutes. Using a Wok, add liberal amounts of Olive Oil, roughly 1 cm in height, the ideally covering the fish.

 

Fry the fish until golden brown on each side, then rest on paper towels. Drain oil using a strainer to collect fried bits of lemon grass and chili, this will be used as the garnish and also packs heaps of flavour.

 

Serve on a bed of rice and some chopped up veggies such as tomatoes, cucumber, etc.

 

Time to Prepare: 15 Minutes
Time to Cook: 10 Minutes
Cost: ~$10 (Fish, Lemon Grass, Chili)

My Version of Vietnamese Lemon Grass & Red Chili Chicken with Beans

Simple and quick meal that would put a smile on many faces. This meal is best cooked using an Asian iron wok, the ones you see in Asian restaurants, if not available a thin saucepan would do the trick too!

Meal is great served with plain rice or even some nice crusty bread, but to keep it more authentic, I suggest rice :)

Ingredients:
- 1x Chicken Breast
- 3x Lemon Grass Stalks
- 5x Red Chili
- 2x Onions
- 5x Gloves of Garlic
- 1x Tablespoon of ABC Dark Soy
- 2x Tablespoons of Fish Sauce
- 1x Cup of Chicken or Pork Stock
- 1x Teaspoon of Pepper

Time to Prepare: 25 Minutes
Time to Cook: 20 Minutes
Cost: ~$12 (Chicken, Lemon Grass, Chili)

Crumbed Chicken with Creme Cheese Garlic Coriander Stuffing

This idea was inspired by my last attempts of making it but I think this time it turned out better.

Ingredients:

• Chicken Breasts
• 200g of Creme Cheese
• 50g of Butter
• 2~3 cloves of finely chopped garlic
• a bunch of chopped coriander leaves & steams
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Bread crumbs
• Olive Oil
• Cooking Twine
• Veggies to steam
• Cream
• Milk
• Chicken Stock
• Dry white wine

Preparation Time: 30 mins
Cooking Time: 25 mins in the oven or until cooked (Chicken) 15 mins (sauce)
Cost: $10 (had most of the ingredients in the pantry)

Apple Basket Thingos

Brooke made this, I take no credit :/
But it was yummy :)

Rustic Chicken with Herbs

Great for a cold night ontop of rice or some bread for dunking, serves easily 4+

Ingredients:

• 4x Chicken Marylands from local butcher, don't go to a supermarket! it's rip and it's not fresh
• Small button mushrooms
• Onions
• Potatoes
• Leek
• Cream
• 2x cups of chicken stock
• Garlic
• Tarragon
• Oregano
• Thyme
• Pepper

Preparation Time: 30 mins (Wash/Chop/Chop Chicken/Peel)
Cooking Time: 1.5 hours (Fry chicken/Simmer)
Cost: $15.00

Simple Tomato Soup with Mint

Tomato soup, simple and great as a starter on a cold autumn day, serves 4~6 depending on portion size.

Ingredients:

• 2 kgs of Tomatoes (roast them till soften in the oven)
• Handful of mint leaves
• Chicken stock
• Raw sugar
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Cracked pepper
• Cream to serve (optional)

Prep Time: 15 mins (Depends how fast you can chop)
Cooking Time: ~1 Hour (Roast/Simmer/Blender Sexy Time)
Cost: < $8.00 (Includes stuff lying around the house)

My Take on Chocolate Fondant

I usually don't like to bake nor do I like to make desserts, but I gave it a go when Brooke asked me to make her dessert. Didn't turn out so bad!

Used a recipe from Donna Hay but added extra egg whites to make it more fluffy (well I think it does right?)

Here goes:

• 2 eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 500 grams of dark cooking chocolate
• 100 grams of unsalted butter
• 50 grams of plain flour
• 50 grams of caster sugar (normal is fine too)

Melt the shet together on top of a saucepan with water and stir it in well, then baked for around 9 mins each and left to cool. I did trial is a few times before I got it right.

Bolognese made from SCRATCH! with Whole Meal Spaghetti

Bolognese made from scratch, started around 4:00 pm, didn't eat till Underbelly started, how good was it? Anyways, fresh, bolognese sauce made from scratch is so much nicer than the stuff in jars. Made using around 2kgs of tomatoes, 3x diced spanish onions, 4x carrots, 1x garlic, 1/4cup of olive oil, fresh basil, oregano, 1x chilli, 2 cups of red wine, pepper, sea salt, parmesan cheese, 2x cups of beef stock & beef mince.

Served with wholemeal spaghetti, damn that stuff takes long to cook!

Time to Cook: 4.5 hours

Cost: $22

My Version of a Shepherd's Pie :)

Tried to do something different with the pastry, turns out I didn't use enough.. but hey I know for next time :)

Pie made from scratch, with cauliflour mash, peas, carrots, beef mince, red wine, spanish onions, garlic, grated parmesan cheese, beef stock, black pepper, sea salt, butter & cauliflour.

Time to cook: 1.5 hours
Cost: ~ $15.00

Steamed Fish with Soy, Ginger & Shallots (You Yankies call it Scallions)

Quick simple, yet healthy meal.. steamed Snapper with Soy, Ginger & Shallots. Great when served with pipping hot rice!

 

Ingredients Used:

• Soy Sauce
• Sesame Oil
• Ginger
• Shallots (you Americans call them scallions)
• Pepper
• Coriander as garnish

Method:
Slap everything with the exception of the coriander and steam it for around 15 minutes or until fish is just cooked. Turn off heat and sprinkle with coriander and close lid. Serve as is for sharing, or portion if you're a pansy.

Cost: $20

Bacon & Egg Stuffed Rolls with Hollandaise Sauce

Bacon & Egg with Hollandaise Sauce Stuffed into a dinner roll, neat idea aye? Saw it once on a cooking show when I was home sick *cough cough*

Time to Cook/Prepare: 1 hour
Time to Eat: 10 mins

Scotch Fillet with Mushroom & Cauliflour Mash with Red Wine Jus!

Healthy and simple.... tried making cauliflour mash for the first time ever! Turned out pretty good, but I over did the milk a tad, could have been fluffier though :/
Time to cook = 1.5 hours
Time to eat = 10 mins

Johnny's Version of a Fish Pie!

 

Ummmmmmmm Fish Pie......... Had some left over pastry from Brooke's baking adventures so I gave making a pie ago!

Ingredients:

• 1x Barramundi Fillet (cut up in bit size chunks)
• 2x Cups of Fish Stock
• 3x Potatoes (peeled/washed/cubed)
• 1x Leek (chopped up)
• 4x Gloves of Garlic (chopped up roughly)
• 2x Carrots (peeled/washed/cubed)
• 1x Onion (chopped)
• 2x Cups of Frozen Peas
• Salt & Pepper
• 2x Tablespoons of Corn Starch
• 1x Egg Yolk (for egg wash)
• Pastry

Method:
Add some olive oil to a pot and fry up the garlic and fish then remove the fish. Add in all other ingredients and simmer till it thickens up. Add fish back and combine. Mix 2x tablespoons of corn starch with some cold water, then add to mixture. It will make it all nice and gooey!

Using a nice pie dish, add in filling and arrange pastry to cover the bowl and filling, you may add as many layers depending how much you love pastry. Complete with an egg wash using a brush.

Pre heat oven to 180 degrees, and cook for around 20 minutes. Remove and stand for a further 10~15 minutes prior to eating (it's damn hot!)

Time to Prepare: 30 minutes
Time to Cook: 40 minutes
Cost: ~$20

Zucchini Flower Tempura Stuffed with Camerbert Cheese & Basil

Some quick and easy to bang together, works great as an entree

Ingredients:

• Zucchini Flowers
• Camerbert Cheese
• Basil
• Tablespoon of Olive Oil
• Cold Soda Water
• 1x Egg
• 1/2 Cup Plain Flour
• 1/2 Cup Corn Flour
• Salt & Pepper

 Method:

Carefully wash the Zucchini Flowers and leave it to dry, whilst it is left to dry, finely cut up the basil and combine with the camerbert cheese, olive oil + salt & pepper to taste. Peel back the flowers, and delicately stuff each one, closing the petals to seal it.

To make the batter, beat up one egg and mix in the flour, add Soda water really slowly and mix until it is a nice light paste.

To cook, fill up a pot with approximately 3 cm of oil. Carefully coat each flower in the batter and cook until golden.

Time to Prepare: 15 minutes
Time to Cook: 10 minutes
Cost: $10