Murgh Makhni

Butter Chicken Curry

I'm always on the lookout for new combinations of flavour, or different ways of mixing them, cooking them and presenting them.

This buttery chicken dish can be mild or hot, just increase or decrease the chilli.  This is a mild one.

Marinade Ingredients
2tsp mild chilli powder
1tsp Garam Masala
1 tbls garlic (minced)
Half tbls Ginger (Minced)
50 ml buttermilk
2 tbls Lemon Juice

Sauce Ingredients
50g Unsalted Butter
1 tbls rapeseed oil
Half tsp ground fenugreek
1tsp Garam Masala
1 tbls garlic (minced)
150g tomato puree
Half tsp Garam Masala
2 tbsp honey
100 ml single cream
1 fresh green chilli

dice about 3 - 4 chicken breasts, mix all the marinade Ingredients then coat the chicken.  Leave for a min of an hour.  However, leaving overnight would be much better.

Put the marinated chicken into an ovenproof dish and bake in a hot oven for 15 minutes,  200c.  Then start making the sauce. 

A hot pan to start with is key, the butter needs to brown before adding the oil.  Turn the heat down a bit then add the other ingredients,  starting with the garlic and ginger.  Stir for about 2 minutes then stir in the tomato puree.   Stir for another  two minutes then add the cream, warm through for a minute.  If it's a little thick, add some hot water. 

Mix in the cooked chicken, and serve with a tasty coconut rice.

Rendang (updated)

I first blogged about the beef rendang recipe about 3 years ago.  After more visits to Penang and going on some very good cooking courses, food tours and talking to different expats about rendang, I've made a few tweaks based on the Nyonya recipes.  This seems to be the most popular version around Penang and Kuala Lumpur.  But special thanks goes to Nazilna of http://www.pickles-and-spices.com/. And Kieran https://www.expatriatelifestyle.com/people/Take-It-From-Me-Kieran-McCarry

Ingredients

1.5kg beef shin or chuck steak or chicken on the bone

Wet ingredients 

2 large white onions

1 inch ginger

1 inch galangal

2 lemongrass stalks

1 garlic bulb

2 green chillies 

Dry ingredients

50g palm sugar/ dark muscovado sugar

400 ml coconut milk

400ml water

2 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp salt

Coconut oil for frying

Dried spices

2tsp cumin

2 tbs coriander

2 tsp turmeric

1 cinnamon stick

3 tbs tamarind (reconstituted from pulp)

3 kaffir lime leaves

2 dried red chillies, deseeded

Secret Nyonia Ingredient is the toasted coconut flesh that is ground to a brown, butter consistency.  This can be done with dried coconut by adding a little coconut milk.  Then fry off on a low heat in a dry pan until all the coconut is toasty brown.  If you burn any of it, do not use any of it.  Once toasted, use a good solid mortal and pestle and pound ( not grind) the coconut until it turns into a butter.  Some cooks prefer grinding, but in my experience, most Nyonya people prefer pounding as they say it preserves the sweetness.

Directions

Blend the wet ingredients to a paste then fry off in a hot pan, do not have the heat to high as our not trying to caramelise the ingredients just bring them together for flavour, this should take about 5 minutes

Add the dry ingredients, including the milk and water, allow this to come together again for ten minutes before adding the diced beef.

Leave to simmer for two hours on a very low heat. You are looking for the oil in the coconut milk to separate and act almost as a frying agent.  Once it reaches this thick almost dry consistency, then stir in the coconut butter.  But try a taste before and after, then you will see why this step is essential.

Serve with fragrant boiled or steamed rice.

Simple Smothered Chicken

Ingredients
8 Tablespoons plain flour
2 tablespoons of Season All
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon crushed black pepper

1 brown onion, diced
2 green capsicums ( bell pepper) diced
4 chicken quarter (thigh and leg)
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons light cooking oil (rapeseed or sunflower)

Directions
Put the flour, Season all, salt and pepper into a plastic bag and mix.  Add the chicken quarters so they are coated with the flour mix.

Heat a heavy based pan that has a lid add half the oil to a smoking point.  Take out the chicken and place skin side down into the hot oil.  Turn down to a medium heat and do not move the chicken for three minutes.

After waiting, turn over the chicken for a further three minutes on a medium heat.  Then take the chicken out and set aside.

Add the other half of the oil to the pan and allow it to heat up, do not let it heat up too much.  Add the onion and capsicums and cook on medium heat until softened.

Add the rest of the flour mix from the plastic bag into the pan and still together.  Once mixed to a thick goo, slowly add the milk then the stock.

Add back the chicken to the pot, cover and cook on a Low heat for an hour.  If the sauce is too thick ( like a paste) add a little more milk.

Serve with a mashed sweet potato

Simple Lardy Cake

11 fl oz whole milk
2 oz unsalted butter
6 oz lard
1 lb strong bread four
1 tbsp dried easy bake yeast
1 tsp vitamin c powder 
1 tsp mixed spice
7 oz golden caster sugar
5 oz dried fruit
1 egg

Make the enriched dough
Add a third of the milk, butter and 2 tbsp of sugar into a saucepan and heat until the butter melts and the sugar is dissolved.

Add this to the rest of the cold milk. This will ensure the liquid part is the right temp.

Add the flour, yeast, vitamin c and egg in a bowl (this is a wet version and a bowl is advisable) pour in the liquid and mix until all incorporated. Then kneed and it will depend on how you kneed how long it takes. I use a kitchen aid and with a dough hook it takes about 10 minutes usually. When I did this today it took 15 minutes. I was looking for a good stretch of the dough gluten.

Put the dough into a bowl, cover an leave for 2 hours.

Knock back the dough and then put in the fridge for 4 hours, better overnight.

Roll out the dough direct from the fridge into a rectangle. On two thirds dab the a third if the lard then sprinkle a third of the sugar, fruit and nixed spice. Fold the uncover third of the dough over a third of the covered dough. The fold the remaining third. Roll out to a rectangle and repeat another 2 times.

Place in the fridge for twos hours then place into a pre-warmed over, gas 5/190c/375f, and check after 40 minutes. If not quite cooked check every 10 minutes after. You are looking for a good brown crust but there should be no doughy mixture.

Once cooked the lard, sugar mix will have settled to the bottom of a tin. Cover the tin with baking paper and tin foil, turn over and leave to cool.

Iced Cinnamon buns

I have only just recently discovered these delicious buns and I'm not sure why it's taken me so long.  There does seem to be many variations, but the basic recipe is the same sweet enriched dough as a base.

Ingredients
500g strong white flour
7g salt
14g quick dried yeast
2tbs caster sugar
1 large egg
40g unsalted butter
300 ml full fat milk
150g soft brown sugar
10g melted butter
2 tbs cinnamon

METHOD
Melt the 40g butter and 100 ml of the milk together, add the caster sugar and stir until dissolved.  Add this back to the rest of the milk off the heat.

In a mixer with a dough hook add the flour, make a well in the centre to add the egg.  Add salt on side then yeast on other side.

On slow setting slowly a the butter/milk liquid.  When all incorporated turn to medium speed for 10 minutes. Set the dough aside until it doubles in size.

Turn out onto lightly floured surface and roll out to a larger rectangle about 3 to  5 mm thick.

Cover the surface with melted butter, sprinkle on the soft brown sugar then sprinkle the cinnamon on evenly.

Roll the dough and then cut into 12 equal size pieces.  Place in a high sided pan, I use a lasagne tray, leaving a little space between each piece.  Leave to rise for 20 minutes then bake for 30-40 minutes gas 5 in the middle of the oven.

Make out and cool on a rack but leave in the tray.  Cover with icing sugar paste allow to cools bit as they are best served warm.

Jaffa Orange Jelly and Milk Chocolate Ganache Sponge Cake

With so many recipes on here for savour things it would be easy to think that's all I cook. However, I do enjoy baking and experimenting with baking. This is one of my most recent and inspired by Jaffa cakes, I know they're biscuits!

There are three stages, the sponge, the jelly and the ganache. The jelly is the bit that really gives it that kick with all the sweatness. Although I used gelatine, I occasionally use and Agar Agar is my favourite as it stays jelly up while it warms up (great cheat for a nice thick gravy for pies).

Sponge

Ingredients

• 4 eggs (weighed after cracking)
• Caster sugar same weight as eggs
• Self raising flour, same weight as eggs less 50g
• Chocolate drink powder, not the one with milk in, 50g
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Unsealed butter at room temperature, same weight as eggs

Directions

1. Heat oven to gas 4 or 180c
2. Whisk the butter and sugar together until the sugar is dissolved and the colour is a very pale white/yellow. This takes about 4 minutes.
3. On a slow whisk speed, add 1 whole egg at a time, speed up the whisk to max only once the egg is fully incorporated into the butter/ sugar mix. Repeat with all the eggs.
4. Put the whisk away! Get a good flat spatula or a wide wooden spoon.
5. In a sieve add the four, chocolate powder an baking powder, and gently tap the sieve until all the ingredients sit on top of the batter mix.
6. Gently fold in all the flour until its completely mixed, be gentle forget you we're ever a marine and think navy!
7. Pour into two lined and greased 8 inch round cake tins, and place into the oven for twenty minutes.
8. Check with a skewer to make sure that its cooked, leave in four a couple of minutes linger, but no longer than 25 minutes.
9. Set aside to cool for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack and leaving to fully cool.

Orang jelly, this can be made the night before.

Ingredients

• 300ml good quality jaffa orange juice
• Four mandarins, segmented.
• 3tbs castor sugar
• Four sheets of gelatine.

Directions

1. Place the gelatine sheets in a small container and cover with cold water
2. Line the cake tins with cling film.
3. Place the orange juice an sugar in the pan and slowly bring to a hot temperature, do not boil. Just enough to resolve the sugar
4. Peal the mandarins and divide all the segments, if you can use a very sharpe knife and remove the segment skins. Set aside the peal for the ganache.
5. Once the orange juice is hot enough and the gelatine is soft and gooey, take the juice off the heat and add the gelatine. Stir until they are fully dissolved.
6. Add in the mandarin segments and pour into the lined cake tines, allow to cool and put in the fridge to turn into a jelly.

Milk Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients

• 200g of a good quality milk chocolate
• 120 ml of fresh double cream
• Mandarin or orange peel.

Direction

1. Warm the cream and orang peel in a sauce pan to just under boiling temp.
2. Put the broken down or grated chocolate into a metal bowl, make sure it's clean and not greasy
3. Once the cream is hot enough, pour it through a sieve over the chocolate.
4. Use a metal spoon to mix the chocolate an cream together until they are fully mixed.
5. Set aside to cool (not in the fridge as you need it slightly runny to spread)

Brining it together

1. Place one side of the chocolate sponge on a flat, clean chopping board
2. Carefully remove the jelly and place on the cake
3. Put the ganache into a piping bag and cover the orange jelly
4. Place the other cake sponge on top
5. Carefully move it to a serving platter and cover the top with a sprinkle of chocolate powder.
6. Cut and serve with some fresh cream and strawberries.

Enjoy

 

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Slow Braised Beef Short Rib

I came across the short rib a few years back and it is probably one of the best slow braised beef out there. The short rib is the lower part of the beef rib cage and sits just above the belly. Lost of meat but also a lot of fat. The slow braising process helps to remove a lot of the fat and make the beef fall apart. What more, there are loads of recipes you can make from this.

Getting hold of short rib on the bone isn't easy, and especially when you need it cut into 2 inch pieces. But the hunt is worth it. Also get your butcher to cut the ribs, they use big band saws and normally cut it when frozen.

I picked up the latest on a trip to Weymouth and stopped off at Axminster Complete Meats. However, I'm just about to make an order from the Well Hung Meat company which is just up the road from where I live in Devon.

The trick with this, and similar to many slow braised meats, is the preparation of the meat. This one has a nice BBQ rub which is done 24 hours before cooking. But depending on the type of flavour you could try a bit of Asian velveting or even south amerian fajita marinade.

For the rub (all dried)

• 1 tbs cayenne pepper
• 1 tbs onion salt
• 1 tbs garlic granuals
• 2 tsp ground cumin seeds
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3tbs dark muscovado sugar
• 1 tbs dried tyme, sage, tarragon

Directions

1. Get the ribs cut into 2 inch cubes
2. Mix all the rub ingredients in a bowl and thoroughly mix together
3. Add the meat and make sure each pieces has a good coating of the rub
4. Place in a sealed container and leave in the fridge for a minimum of two hours, but best overnight.

For the braise

• 1 tin tomatoes
• 2 tbs oyster sauce
• 3 tbs red wine vinegar
• 1 glass of decent red wine
• 1 star anise
• 450 mls beef stock of a good stock cube
• 1 diced onion
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• Oil for cooking
• 50 g unseated butter
• 2 tsp cornfour
• 100 g unsealed butter
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Fresh tyme, sage and tarragon.

Directions

1. Take the ribs out of the fridge a food hour before starting, this allows it to reach room temperature.
2. In a large ovenproof stock pan, I used a 5.2 Ltr cast iron pot, add enough oil to cover the bottom and bring to a hot temperature.
3. In the pot brown of the meat, just a few at a time and don't crown the pan. The idea is to caramelise the ribs first and not to stew them. Putting to many in at a time will drop the temp of the pan too much.
4. Set the ribs aside, add a little more oil to the pan and add the onions, celery carrots an the butter and cook on a medium temperature until the veg goes soft.
5. Add the herbs and cook on a medium temp for a further two minutes.
6. Turn the heat up to high and add the wine and cook off the alcohol, this takes a couple of minutes. The amount of liquid should be reduce by half.
7. Keeping the temp high add the oyster sauce and the red wine vinegar. Cook this for amfurthe minute before adding the tomatoes.
8. Return the ribs to the pot and reduce the heat to medium. Cover with the beef stock, don't worry if there isn't enough as there is a lot of fluid in the meat and veg that will come out during the cooking.
9. Place in the oven uncovered on a low heat, 120/gas 3 and cook for 3 hours. Or for even better results 100/ gas 2 for five hours.
10. When finished in the oven and remove the ribs, using a sieve separate the liquid and place in a heavy based pan.
11. Put the pan on a high heat, as it boils to reduce remove the impurities using a ladle.
12. When the liquid is about a third of what you started with, add the butter and whisk into the liquid. Keep whisking on high heat for about 5 minutes.
13. Add salt and pepper to taste, not much needed usually.
14. If the sauce is still a little thin add some water to the cornfour then add this into the sauce. Cook forms further 5 minutes on a low heat allowing the flour to cook out.
15. Pour this over the ribs and serve. I like mine with some nice flavoured cous cous, but it's also very good with a nice cheddar, potatoe mash.

Thanks to my brother in law Shane for the photos and for eating them, and my wife for taking then to Weymouth instead of the Blackberry and apple crumble! Need to remember to label properly next time!

 

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