Pulled Pork

 

Ice cream

 Whip together one can of sweetened condensed milk and one 600ml tub of cream. Add flavour of choice and put in freezer. The end. 

OK I'm not going to win prizes for food photography, but the point is that the flavour the kids have hoed into (on the left) is NOT the ultra-sweet homemade lemon jam version (pictured right), but CURRY BERRY flavour. That's right, as in, from the curry plant. It's a most peculiar, smoky, lingering and moreish taste. Recommended. 

Flavours I'd like to try include: 

• Chili
• Tamarind 
• Nasturtium 
• Pepper
• Matcha 

Will update as and when. Suggestions? 

Update: 

chili, with a single red chili blitzed and strained of seeds for a half-measure: WHOA. Feels like it should be used as a condiment or something. Definitely interesting. 

Tamarind  - actually not challenging at all. Tasty, creamy, tangy, something that would go down well in a standard shop. 

Moussaka

 How can a moose have a blog without Moussaka? What was I thinking? 

Shock revelation: some types of moussaka don't have aubergine in them. WHAT. In fact, some types don't have potato. Don't ask me why. That's what I hear. Well, you won't get any of that nonsense round here. My moussaka has 1) mince 2) aubergine 3) potatoes 4) egg sauce, and sneakily 5) a bit of cheese. Obviously, it's the best. 

Your layers will be as follows: 

The mince. Lamb is great. With rosemary and garlic, and tomato. Last one I made, I did the cook-the-mince-with-milk trick (add about half a cup of milk to 1kg ish mince) and it really made it super-soft. Once the milk is reduced (and the onions all softy softy, the herbs all melded) add tomato (passata or a can of diced) and reduce that. Make sure it's heavily seasoned. 

The potatoes. Cook whole (peeled) in very salty water, don't overcook. Slice when cool. Not too thick, not too thin. Comfortable.

The aubergine. I spent years frying these but 1) it makes the kitchen smoky and 2) they get really oily. Now I lay them out on spray-oiled foil in the oven and bake them. Sliced and left heavily salted first for at least an hour, then patted dry with paper towels. Hint: I have never, ever, had too many aubergine slices. 

The sauce. You only need it for the top, so not as much as you would for a similar sized lasagne. Plus, make it runnier, because you'll add a couple of eggs. Season within an inch of its life, nutmeg and pepper it. 

Layering order. Mince, potatoes, aubergine, mince, aubergine, sneaky sprinkling of grated cheese, white sauce. Oven. 45 mins. 

Let the feasting begin. 

Chickpea and feta salad with babaganoush and croutons

 

OK could definitely do better with the pic, but it was tasty. Arizona's dish of the week .

The salad: plenty of chickpeas, cubed feta, cucumber, red onion, mint, parsley, lemon or lime, seasoning. 

The babaganoush: baked aubergine (cut in half first), mashed with cooked garlic (actually microwaved in the lemon juice), tahini, lemon juice, seasoning. 

The croutons: Yeah you need more croutons that that but all good. The chickpeas are carby too. 

Tasty schmasty. 

Bunny's Picnic Sandwiches

 

Although no-one has any hope of making picnic sandwiches like Bunny, one can try to emulate. Some rules of thumb to head in the right direction: 

• Select a firmish type of bread, which you can hollow out nicely to cram in the fillings. 
• Allow at least a few hours for it to sit before you eat it. 

Some good fillings are: 

camembert, chicken, spinach or other leaf, PICKLED JALAPENOS omg don't forget those, ham and other charcouterie, dips and spreads like homous or babaganoush, tomatoes, grilled veg, slices of sweet potato or pumpkin, roast meats or any sort.

• Be mindful of achieving a good mix of squish and crunch. Something dry must be offset with a nice squelch. 
• Colour is important. You want those layers to stand out. 

Don't forget the wine. THE WINE I TELL YOU. 

Flash's Burgers

 

Flash's burgers are like any other burgers but more extreme. To achieve a Flash burger, you must: 

• include an egg and panko in the mix 
• grill your buns 
• ensure you have endless supplies of fresh-baked chips 
• ensure an even larger supply of tomato sauce 
• get someone else to do the coleslaw 
• finish up with sliced cheese melted on top 

Success.

Pumpkin soup with fish stock

Yes you heard me. That's right. In fact it wasn't even fish stock but prawn stock, from the shells of some very large shrimp we had in a curry. Which was bizarrely made with butter... weird combo, but it seemed to work. So, fry your onions and soften your pumpkin, whizz it with the stock and season up. Served here with dark rye sourdough and it was delicious. For a highly comforting, if proteinless, meal, it was great. 

Seafood curry

 

OK definitely not the best pic but this was delicious. Only the very gourmet prawns (frankly they were more like mini-lobsters) were lost in it, so next time would do purely with cheap white fish. Tamarind, coconut, lime, lots of ginger, and sweet potato for the carb, within the curry. Plus yellow curry paste. Another stellar dish from the Bunster. 

Cajun chicken with pearl couscous

 

This doesn't need a recipe, it's a reminder about another nice, quick and bloody tasty dinner from the Bunster. Cajun spices for the chicken thighs, grilled. Fry your small-chopped veg, mix with your pearl couscous and add plenty of herbs and lemon. The nasturtiums added a nice little pepper kick. And yoghurt is always good. Enjoy. 

Chimichanga

 

I am a complete convert, having been horrified at the thought of a deep-fried Burrito. These things are ****ing delicious. 

Ingredients: 

• Chicken thigh
• onions
• wheat wraps 
• oil for deep frying 
• spices (chili, coriander, cumin, paprika, chipotle paste) 
• pickled jalapenos 
• tomato puree or passata 
• sour cream? 
• Stuff for salsa 
• stuff for guacamole 
• yoghurt 

For the filling: 

fry chopped onions, add chili powder, ground coriander, cumin, and paprika (or chuck in a Burrito spice mix if super-lazy), and tomato paste or passata, and some chipotle paste. Ah the chipotle. And the pickled jalapeno. Some recipes have you putting sour cream in this mix, haven't tried what that's like.  Grill chicken separately and chop up small. Combine. 

Meant to be layered with re-fried beans but  worked well enough without (for those concerned about negative outcomes with legumes). 

Then:

Wrap up your flour tortillas TIGHT with this filling and shredded cheese. Some recipes now have you frying these without any kind of binding at all but I definitely haven't figured that one out. I tied them all up with string like little pork roasts. Second time round they weren't wrapped as tightly and seemed to let the oil in. Apparently you can also bake these, but what would be the point of that? Fry, baby, fry! 

Meanwhile make: 

Serve with guacamole and salsa, with some yoghurt being all artistic over the top. Serve HOT. 

Who cares about waistlines. 

Salmon with sweet potato

 

No recipe needed, just a reminder about a nice, light, quick dinner. The skin was particularly crispy and lovely on this one, which is an extra bonus. Sweet potato microwaved, the sauce is a yoghurt/mayo/caper/lemon mix. Mmm. 

Chocolate Berry Goo Puds

Did this for Lara's 16th as she requested 'something REALLY chocolaty and with berries'. It did the trick. Do not attempt to eat this more than once in 16 years as you will die from chocolate overdose. 

Butter up 6 ramekins. It'll fill about 4 small and two large, so you can cater to various chocolate needs. Put a bunch of mixed berries in the bottom. 

Melt together: 

• 105g butter
• 345g dark chocolate 

Beat till thick and zabaglioned up: 

• 5 large eggs 
• 0.75 cups sugar 
• vanilla essence 

Add the two, plus 2tbsp cocoa powder (did we really need that?), in two doses to minimize deflation.  pour mix over berries. Can leave in fridge for 24 hours if necessary at this point. 

Bake at 180 for 15 mins. A few more if from chilled. 

Tip out onto plates, serve topped with fresh berries and some cream on the side. 

NOT for the faint-hearted. 

Pad Thai with chicken, tofu, eggs, and LOTS of peanuts

 Arizona made this so I don't know which recipe it was but it looks a bit like this one: 

https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/chicken-tofu-pad-thai-2/8175e040-dfc1-4b4c-8778-77ed0d1b0b5d 

So, for the sauce: 

• about 1/2 cup brown sugar
• plenty of tamarind paste
• fish sauce 
• soy sauce 
• lime juice 
• a shit load of chopped peanuts
• ginger

bulk ingredients:

• red onion
• spring onion
• capsicum
• chicken
• tofu
• beaten egg
• whatever the hell else you feel like 
• thick rice noodles 
• probably some garlic
• heaps of beansprouts
• mange tout

Garnish: 

1. more peanuts
2. chopped coriander 

Was pretty good. A Do Again from all.