Pasta Puttanesca - Commonly Known as 'Whore's Pasta'!

Photograph Source:
http://www.mediterrasian.com/delicious_recipes_pasta_puta.htm

Not the most lady-like topic I know, but this week,
TM (my partner) had a major craving for seafood
pasta - not a regular in our home cuisine repertoir.
I thus had the pleasure of informing TM that in Italy,
this kind of pasta sauce/dish is referred to as
Pasta Puttanesca. The 'Puttanesca' part should be
pronounced in almost spitting like manner, for the
meaning of the dish is 'Whore's pasta'. The dish

originated in Naples and was named after the local

women of 'easy virtue'. Let's just say that a

lot of eye-winking and leering went on

during this meal - just kidding!

A delectable mix of garlic, mussels, squid etc

all thrown into a slowly cooked tomato sauce.

I have to say the leftovers tasted even better

the next day. The key to this dish is loads of olive

oil and garlic. mmmmm

Ginger Soy Pork with White Rice (Buta no Shoga-Yaki)

Last night I made one of my family favourites for
dinner. This is a typical Japanese recipe (although
probably originally a Chinese dish).

Ingredients:
400-500g pork neck scotch (in a block is fine)

1 brown cooking onion (medium)

Cooking sake, Mirin, Ginger (bottled is fine), Soy Sauce,
Sugar, Oil. Optional (red capsicum for colour - my own variation)

Side Dishes: White rice to serve & a Garden Salad

1. Slice pork into thin strips (as thin as possible).
Slice onion and capsicum.

2. Prepare a marinade consisting of 3 teaspoons Sake,
1 teaspoon mirin, 3 teaspoons soy, 2 teaspoons ginger.

Stir into sliced pork and marinate for 10 minutes.

This part is important to ensure the pork remains
tender when cooked.

3. While waiting for pork to marinate, make a garden salad.

I used a lettuce mixture, with some blanched broccoli and
sliced tomato. The Japanese dressing was a present
from Ocha Eatery (which can be purchased for about $13)

(an amazing Japanese restaurant in Kew and well worth a visit -

tell the Japanese owner (Yasu) that I sent you!).

http://www.ocha.com.au/

4. Add some oil to a pan and stir fry the onion (& capsicum).

Be careful not to burn the onion, just cook until tender.

5. Now is the time to add the marinated sliced pork.

Stir fry until cooked through on a medium heat.

Next add the final flavorings:

2 Tblspoons sake, 1.5 Tbls sugar (white or raw), 2 Tbls mirin,

2 Tbls soy sauce, 3 teaspoons ginger.

Allow the pork to absorb all of the final marinade.

This may take 5-10 minutes.

Once most of the marinade has been absorbed
by the pork, the dish is finished and ready to
serve with some white rice.




ITADAKIMASU!



Next Day Chicken Curry Grattan Recipe

Using the leftover curry and rice from the night before, I often dish up a curry grattan ready to be thrown into the oven the next day for lunch. If you have run out of rice, you can slice up some potatoes and par-boil them gently. Spray the base of your souffle or oven-ok dish with some cooking oil and make a couple of layers of potato slices. Then follow the instructions as below.

Cooking Instructions:

1) Spray some souffle or similar dishes with cooking oil (I tend to use olive oil cooking spray). Then fill the dishes with some rice (the amount depends on how much curry you have left). I opted for under a half a bowl for each dish.

2) Top the rice with the leftover curry to near full. (I left one of my dishes as a normal curry as my daughter does not yet like the crunchy texture of a grattan).

3) Top each dish with some Japanese Panko (Bread crumbs). Panko is available in the asian section of supermarkets or from Asian supermarkets. (Do not use regular breadcrumbs as the texture does not compare. If at a loss, make your own breadcrumbs by putting some bread in a food processor and cutting with a blade (keep the crumbs largish).

4) I usually add some grated cheese to the top of mine (hubbie does not like cheese so none on his).
This time I also added a few drops of hot sesame oil to the top of each dish to spice them up. Hot sesame oil is a spicy red-coloured sesame oil available for puchase in small bottles (usually from Asian supermarkets). In Japanese it is known as Ra-Yu. You can also buy Korean versions.

5) Put the grattan dishes into a moderate overn (180 degrees C) for approx 15 mins or until curry is warm through and breadcrumb topping looks crunchy (& cheese has melted). Delicious and easy.

I feel like Chicken tonight! - Japanese Chicken Curry.

For those of you who have never tried Japanese curry, this is a most simple and may I add, very addictive & flavoursome dish. Japanese curry cannot be likened to Indian or Thai curries. It is a curry all in itself with a mild flavour and a thick texture not so unsimiliar to a spicy casserole or hot pot. This is a commonly made dish at home by Japanese mums, but it is also popular enough to also find at restaurants in Japan. Japan even has specialized curry restaurants, offering a variety of 'extra toppings' such as a crumbed and fried chicken or pork fillet on top. Curry restaurants offer a unique pickle that can also be placed on top of the curry for extra texture - highly recommended.

Now, to create your own curry experience at home, you will need one of the following:

S & B Golden Curry Sauce Mix (200g)

or

S & B Torokeru Curry (Tasty curry sauce mix) (200g)

The key to Japanese curry is using a unique curry sauce mix, that although is probably not the most healthy, is certainly the maker of the dish. I opt for the largest packet available in asian supermarkets (200g) and make a big batch, one that will feed 3 people for dinner and again for lunch the next day (watch out for my curry gratan recipe to follow).

Ingredients (my version):

3-4 chicken thigh fillets diced

5-6 potatoes, peeled and cubed

2-3 carrots peeled and cubed

2 brown onions sliced

extra vegetables as desired (I used some leftover enoki mushrooms for added texture)

Cooking Instructions:

1) Peel and cube the potatoes and carrots. Cut the skin off the chicken thigh fillets and cut into cube sized pieces. Cut any other vegetables you would like to add (I cut the ends of some leftover enoki mushrooms).

2) Add a lug of olive oil to a large heated saucepan and brown chicken and onion.

3) Once the chicken and onion are nicely browned, I then add 6 cups of hot water to the pan and boil the chicken for about 15 minutes. This ensures the chicken is stewed for a short time creating a much more tender result.

4) Make sure you scoop out any chicken/vegetable scum that appears on the surface of the boiling water. The Japanese are very attentative to this process and believe it can make or break a dish. I must agree.

5) Add all of the diced veggies to the boiling water and boil for a further 30 mins. At the end of about 20 minutes you will need to add another 2-3 cups water (to maintain the original 6 cups). Be careful when adding water, as if you add too much the result will be a very runny flavoursome curry. Try and keep a consistent 6 cups in the pan. (During the 30 mins wait time, you could put on your rice to cook at the same time).

6) At the end of the 30 mins or so, turn the heat off, break up the curry sauce mix and add it all to the pot. Stir well to dissolve the sauce and then turn the heat back on (medium heat) and simmer slowly for 5 mins.

7) DEKIAGARI -DESU! (It's ready!)

All you need to do now is serve your curry with some rice. This is a really popular dish with my 3 year old and family and friends alike. Not overly gourmet, but hearty and warming, and unusally Japanese. I highly recommend it.

that's all for today!