Mexican Rice

I LOVE this rice. I love it fresh, I love it even more as leftovers. I love it. The first time I can really remember having it was when we lived in Randwick, sometime in the 90's. At this time, there was a SERIOUS lack of Mexican food in Sydney, really, in all of Australia I'm guessing. I'm guessing this by the awful Mexican food that I did have outside of my own home, and by the Old-El-Paso-Tex-Mex-smothered-in-sour-cream stuff that was what everyone else thought of as Mexican food at the time. Things have come along quite nicely since then, with the places like Guzman Y Gomez and Mad Mex opening in Sydney.
But anyway, it seems as thought I should get off my Mexican high horse, because I discovered, during my last trip to my parents house, that the recipe for this dish, one of my all-time-favourite Mexican dishes that I thought was an authentic dish from my families time spent living in New Mexico - IS ACTUALLY FROM AN AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLY COOKBOOK. The ones that you buy in the supermarket. That everyone's mum has. I'm still recovering from the shock.
Of course, this has morphed over time, especially because every time I want to make it I have to call my mum for the recipe, but eventually gave up, so just what you have here is my own version.

Mexican-Australian Rice
1 onion, peeled and quartered
1 clove of garlic
1 red capsicum, halved and seeded
1 jalapeño (optional)
1 x 400g tin of peeled tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup of jasmine rice
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 large carrot, chopped
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen peas
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp chilli powder

Put the onion, garlic, jalapeño, and capsicum (cut side down) under a hot grill. Leave until the skin of the capsicum is charred. Remove and place in an airtight container to sweat and cool, about 20 minutes.
Peel the skin off the jalapeño and the capsicum, and place in a food processor or blender with the garlic and onion, and the tin of tomatoes. Process so its still a bit chunky but there are no big pieces of anything.
Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan and add the rice. Stir for about a minute, or until the rice begins to turn opaque. Add the tomato mixture and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to the boil, and then simmer over a very low heat, covered, for about 20 minutes, or until the rice is cooked.

You can have this as a side dish with enchiladas or burritos, or just with beans. The other night I had it with Black Beans, Pico de Gallo (recipes coming soon), Verduras en Escabeche and a dollop of yogurt (because I think its nicer than sour cream).

Blackened Fish

Its been a while... But I'm back!!
This post I am adding as an afterthought, almost, as you will notice by the fact that the food that I photographed is half eaten. If you don't notice that, well, that just means I am a good photographer. But I was eating this for dinner with my mum tonight, and remembered HOW GOOD it is and just had to put it up.
Anyway, I first remember having this dish when I was about 8 years old, and we had moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts while my dad was going to Uni. We used to go to this restaurant called Legal Seafood, which in my mind was very fancy. We would go there and my mum, dad, sister and I would split 2 mains between us. I think we would always start off with New England Clam Chowder which was SO GOOD, and then move onto the main, which was usually Blackened Bluefish. It took me quite a while to realise that this dish was NOT called Black and Blue Fish, as though the fish had been bruised. I couldn't understand why anyone would want this as it sounded so unappetising, and I also couldn't understand this name because the fish wasn't blue. But I would always eat it, with a baked potato and side salad (or half of it anyway).
Anyhoo, a few years later I somehow realised what the actual name of the dish was, and that it is a pretty basic Cajun style dish. I still don't really know what bluefish is. I also came to realise that Legal Seafood expanded and went from being a Boston institution to being just another chain restaurant. How disappointing.
I will share one more memory and then I will tell you the recipe. I remember going to eat at Legal Seafood on New Years Eve*, probably in 1984. My sister and I were wearing our new dresses that our mother had just made and given us for Christmas, which were a cream satin top with a gold lamé bubble skirt. They were pretty awesome. I wish I had a photo, because if I did, I would soooo post it right here.

Spice Rub
2 tbs sweet paprika
2 tbs salt
2 tbs garlic powder
1 tbs black pepper
1 tbs onion powder
1 tbs cayenne
1 tbs dried thyme
1 tbs dried oregano

Mix all ingredients together. This will make quite a lot, but store it in a jar and it will keep for ages.

Rub a bit of oil on your fish and coat them with the spice rub. I would suggest a firm fish - I think it goes especially well with tuna steaks. I suggest about a teaspoon of spice per side.
This is best cooked on a barbeque, as it can smoke a bit. Heat your BBQ to a medium high heat, and cook you fish for a few minutes each side until they are done to your liking.
Serve with lemon wedges, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, and salad.

*I have been informed by my parents that it was not New Years Eve but Christmas Eve, and more importantly that MY MOTHER HAS THE BUBBLE DRESS IN HER POSSESSION. I will post a photo at the nearest opportunity.

Blueberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

Cupcake Base
125g butter, softened
125g caster sugar
2 medium eggs
finely grated rind and zest of 1 lemon
125g self-raising flour
Preheat the oven to 190∘C.

Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, lemon rind and juice and beat well. Add the flour and continue beating until smooth. Spoon the mixture into cupcake papers in a cupcake tin. I would suggest making them small, as these cupcakes are made up of 3 layers, and if they are too big, the blueberry sauce will just pour right off the top (like mine did).
Bake in the centre of the oven for 12-15 minutes, or until they are golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool. While they are cooling, make the icing.

Cream Cheese Icing
250g softened cream cheese
finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
3-4 tbsp icing sugar

Beat the cream cheese with the lemon rind and juice. Add the icing sugar to taste.
When the cupcakes are cooled, spread on top.

Blueberry sauce
½ cup caster sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 cups frozen blueberries
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp butter

Mix together the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan. Add the frozen blueberries, and stir to coat. Continue stirring over medium heat until the blueberries have defrosted and a thick sauce starts to form. Allow to boil for 1 minute, and then remove from the heat. Stir in the lemon juice and butter. Allow to cool a bit before pouring over the cupcakes.

My original plan was to make smallish cupcakes, so that there would be some wrapper left to contain the sauce and stop it from just pouring off. This plan did not come to fruition. So these cupcakes have been iced and left separate from the sauce, which is poured over at the moment of eating. It doesn't matter though, they are still delicious!

Pizza!!!

Before

After

This was always on my I-have-to-add-that-recipe-ASAP list. Everyone who I went to high school with, I'm sure has had this pizza at least once as it is my mum's recipe. And the story of its creation goes something like this. My parents and baby sister (well, she's my older sister, but she happened to be a baby at the time) arrived in Australia on the 7th of May, 1975. The soon moved to the thriving metropolis of Coonabarabran (just kidding about the metropolis bit - there weren't even any traffic lights there) where they discovered that things that they had taken for granted in the USA, like Ketchup, fresh vegetables in the winter, and Pizza simply did not exist there. Necessity is the mother of invention, and so the pizza journey began. It evolved over many years to become the masterpiece that it is today. So the only other thing that I will say, is that you will REALLY benefit from making this using a pizza stone. And if you do that, you will need a pizza peel as well. The stone cooks the pizza from the bottom, making it more like a pizza that has been cooked in a pizza oven and makes the crust really nice. This is a weekend meal, mainly because it takes so long to make. It's not difficult at all, just time consuming.

CRUST
1 cup warm (not hot) water
2 1/4 tsp of dry yeast
OR
1 packet of yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups wholemeal flour
1 1/2 cups white flour
A pinch of salt

Dissolve the yeast in the water.
Mix together the flours and salt in a bowl. Add the yeast mixture and olive oil. I use a mixer with dough hooks - its a lot faster, but you can also do the whole thing by hand. Combine the mixture until it all comes together and continue kneading with the dough hooks for about 5 minutes. You want the dough to be smooth and elastic, not sticky. Be prepared though, even using a mixer (unless you have a Kitchenaid or heavy-duty mixer like that) this will give your arm and shoulder a pretty good workout. Once you have achieved smooth elasticity, form the dough into a ball, coat in a bit of olive oil, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Make sure its a fairly big bowl though, because at this point you are going to leave it to rise until it has doubled in size. The amount of time this takes will vary depending on the temperature, but ideally it needs to be warm and moist. If its not warm, you can put a cup of water into your microwave and zap it on high for a minute. Then put the dough into the microwave and shut the door. DON"T TURN THE MICROWAVE ON THOUGH!!!
Once it has doubled in size, use your fist to punch it down. At this point you can make the pizza if you are pressed for time, but the crust will be nicer if you leave it to rise once more until it has again doubled in size.
Meanwhile, you can make the sauce.

SAUCE
2 x 400g tins of tomatoes
1 x 170g tin of tomato paste
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tsp dried basil
pinch of black pepper

Put all the ingredients into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer, and remove the lid a bit, so that some of the steam can escape. Let it simmer, stirring occasionally, for about an hour, or until it has thickened. Remove from the heat and allow to cool a bit.

ASSEMBLING THE PIZZAS
Preheat your oven to hot, and put your pizza stones in so that they can get nice and hot. Punch the twice risen dough down to get rid of all the air. Divide it into three equal sections (you can really make as many as you want, but 3 seems to work pretty well). On a floured surface, roll out each of the sections into circles until they are about 30cm in diameter. I find it easier to put the base onto a piece of foil that has been dusted with flour. This makes it easier to get in and out of the oven, at least for me, because I am sot so skilled with a pizza peel. Brush the base with about a tablespoon of olive oil, and spread with a few good handfuls of grated mozarella. Then put about a third of the sauce on top of the cheese and spread it evenly. I know, it seems weird to put the sauce on top of the cheese, but its really nice that way. If you think it is too weird, you can do it the other way around. I am no pizza nazi.
Load it up with whatever toppings you want - bocconcini, sundried tomatoes, roasted eggplant, pepperoni, whatever! I still think the best is a plain pizza, just mozarella and sauce with some fresh basil and oregano and some finely grated parmesan.
Put the pizza on the pizza stone in the oven for about 6 or 7 minutes, then check it, and rotate it if it seems to be cooking unevenly. Leave it in there for another 5 minutes or until the crust if golden and the bottom is cooked (you can lift up a corner and have a peek. Cooking times really depend on your oven, so its probably just best to keep an eye on it and approach it with a trial-and-error attitude the first few times, until you can figure out what works best.
Remove from the oven, cut into wedges and enjoy!

I'm back!

After a little hiatus, I'm back, and I'm blogging from my parents house where I am recovering from my surgery. This is good for a number of reasons.
1. Recovering is good
2. My mother has EVERY COOKING APPLIANCE KNOWN TO MAN and HUNDREDS of cookbooks so you can expect at least a few entries!!! Especially since I have been appointed Rothman family cook...

Coming very soon - Pizza!

Chocolate Sundae Cupcakes

This recipe is from a cookbook called Cupcakes Galore by Gail Wagman. I changed the recipe a bit, though.

Cupcakes
200ml milk (I actually used about 100ml milk and 100 ml cream)
2 tsp vanilla essence
300g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
125g butter, softened
200g sugar
1 egg

Icing
75g butter, softened
2 c icing sugar
1/4 c cocoa powder
2-3 tbs milk (I used cream just to make it extra bad)

Crushed peanuts and glace cherries for decoration

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Add the egg and beat well.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour and baking powder together and add the salt. In a measuring cup, mix together the milk and vanilla. Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk mixture to the butter mixture, mixing well after each addition.

Spoon the batter into cupcake papers, filling about 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before icing.

To make the icing, beat the butter in a large bowl. Sift over the icing sugar and cocoa. Add the milk, a tablespoon at a time and continue beating, until the icing becomes a nice, spreadable consistency. Spread the icing on, and sprinkle with peanuts and a glace cherry!

Bubby's BBQ Sauce

Bubby

My grandmother on my dad's side was a Jewish lady from New York. In my memory, she was kind of like a milder version of 'The Nanny'. This may have something to do with the life-sized frog necklace that my sister inherited from her when she passed away. So I always find it funny that this recipe for barbecue sauce, something that I always kinda associate with rednecks, beer, and the South, actually comes from her. IT IS AMAZING. And I have to add, Mel, this one is for you.

2 onions, finely diced (in a food processor is the easiest)
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp dry mustard
3 tbs vinegar
1 cup ketchup
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 cup water
1/2 tsp hot paprika or cayenne*
1 tsp Mexican chili powder
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Sauté the onions in the olive oil until soft. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 30-35 minutes.

Ideally, serve with barbecued chicken, or traditionally with pork ribs. For a real American BBQ, have it with potato salad, corn-on-the-cob, and cornbread. It actually goes really well with tofu - but if you choose the tofu option, it is best use firm tofu and to freeze and then defrost the tofu before using it. This way it looses the mushy texture and becomes more meat-like. This sauce will keep forever in the fridge!

*This is VERY IMPORTANT - if you are trying at all to recreate the sauce from my BBQ circa January 2009, I only used about 1/8 tsp of cayenne. Adjust it to your tolerance. I realise that my tolerance to chili is unusually high, and I do remember being younger and really struggling to eat this even though it TASTES SO GOOD so I just kind of kept going. And eventually I ended up where I am today, they chili maniac that I am. So adjust the amount of cayenne according to your own taste!!!

Zeidy, Bubby, Tandarra, Sheldon and Kim

Bay Tinh

Last night, Ruth, Stan and I went for dinner in Marrickville at Bay Tinh. OH MY GOD was it good.
I have been wanting to go here for about a year. A friend visiting from overseas went to meet some other friends for dinner one night at a Vietnamese place 'where the chef used to cook for the king or something'. I was intrigued and only half-heartedly tried to find out where this place was as she didn't know the name. But earlier this week, I asked Becci, an ex-Marrickvillian (or Marrickanuian as they say in Thailand) if she knew of any good Vietnamese places in Marrickville. Lo and behold, the words passed her lips 'There is this place, the chef used to cook for the king or something' and a year and a half of half-hearted searching was satisfied! Okay, the truth is that the search was WAY less than half-hearted - if I had bothered to read my Sydney Cheap Eats Guide, I would have found it very quickly.

Anyway, about the food. Ruth insisted that we order proper spring rolls - 'none of that rice paper rubbish' - and boy do I thank her for that. They were seriously the best spring rolls I have ever had. Beautiful, tender meat, with a lovely dipping sauce. We also had the Crispy Pancake which is apparently a specialty of Bay Tinh. I have to say it is quite unlike anything I have ever had before but was very very good.
We then followed that with the Prawn and Pork Salad, which I think was my favourite, Crispy Noodles, and the Bonfire Beef. The Bonfire Beef was fun, but a bit difficult. They cook the meat in a clay pot at your table, and then you roll your own rice paper rolls with the meat and other ingredients. I have attempted to roll enough rice paper rolls in my time to know that I am not so good at it and I would prefer someone else to do it for me. But all the ingredients were awesome. Overall, the meal was pretty good.

One of the things that I like the most about the restaurant, is that even though the original owner cooked for the King and all that stuff, he arrived in Australia as a boat person. And then when he retired he sold it so another Vietnamese man who had arrived in Australia as a boat person. I think Malcolm Turnbull should go there for dinner, he might change his tune about boat people...

Verduras en Escabeche

In English: Pickled Vegetables
Everywhere you go in Mexico there is a bowl of these on the table. If you love jalapeños and vinegar like me, then this is amazing!! Everytime I eat at Guzman y Gomez I will eat a small container of jalapeños just while I am waiting for my food. I also bought a jalapeno plant a few weeks ago and there were LOADS of ripe jalapeños on it, and I suddenly realised that I needed to use them. I found this recipe in a book that my sister has but I have no idea what that book is called. I have changed the recipe a bit anyway, mainly by leaving out the caraway seeds that the recipe called for because I think caraway seeds are one of the only flavours that I truly cannot stand.


2 cups apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup water
1 tsp dried marjoram leaves
2 bay leaves
1/2 tbs salt
1 tsp cracked black pepper
4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2cm thick slices
12 jalapeño chiles, cut into 1/2cm thick slices
1 medium onion cut into wedges, layers separated
5 garlic cloves peeled and chopped in half

Place the vinegar, lime juice, water, marjoram, bay leaves, salt and pepper in a pot, and bring to the boil. Add the carrots, jalapeños, onion and garlic. Return to boiling, then reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes, or until the veggies start to go soft. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
Put the cooled mixture into glass jars and refrigerate. Serve them with Mexican foods as an accompaniment. According to the recipe they will keep for several weeks in the fridge but I have my doubts that they will be around that long in my house...
Ruth's serving suggestion: eat them with tortillas and chicken.

Semi-Dried Tomatoes

Before

After

I love semi-dried tomatoes, but they can be kinda expensive, so whenever I see tomatoes for cheap I make my own. The veg shop up the road often has trays of them on the clearance table, I think these are the best ones to use anyway because they are really ripe and juicy.

Tomatoes - as many as you want
Salt
Olive oil
5-6 fresh basil leaves
1-2 garlic cloves

Chop the tomatoes into wedges. I usually chop them into 12 wedges, the smaller they are the less time they take to cook.
Lay out the tomatoes on a wire rack, on top of a baking sheet. This way the bottom of the tomatoes won't go all mushy. Sprinkle them with salt. Put in an oven at about 150C and leave for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, rotate the trays, and if you feel like it, turn over the tomatoes. Put back in the oven for another 15-20 minutes or until they are looking a bit dried out and the colour has turned to a deep red.
Once they are cool, put them into a container with the garlic and basil leaves. Pour on some olive oil - I never cover them completely, but put in a fair amount. Storre them in the fridge. Yum!