Sesame Salmon with Cold Soba Noodles and Pickled Ginger

two4six8

I know this is nearly the same as my miso mackerel. But honestly, this can be ready in thirty minutes or less, is ultra nutritious and comforting. You don’t have to make your own ginger… Just pop in to your nearest Asian grocer or use fresh grated ginger.

For one serve, you’ll need…
1 fillet or steak of salmon
2 tbsp mirin
4 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
1 tbsp water
A few shakes of sesame oil
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Soba noodles – 1 bundle
a sliced spring onion

1. Boil soba noodles until tender – about 2 mins. Strain and rinse with cold water. Strain and place in a dish. Toss with spring onions and dress with 1 tbsp of soy, mirin mix.
2. Marinate salmon in soy, mirin mix for a few minutes. Heat a pan over medium heat. Add a little oil and pan fry salmon on both sides until cooked to your liking. I like mine quite soft so only cook it for about 5 minutes.
3. Sprinkle sesame seeds on a plate and roll the salmon in the seeds until coated on all sides with sesame seeds.
4. Serve salmon on the bed of noodles with a side of steamed greens and some sliced pickled ginger. A wedge of lime is nice, or a sprinkle of Japanese red chilli powder!

Enjoy!

You need to make the pickled ginger at least a day ahead but it is truly worthwhile. You will have to find some very young ginger. In Australia, the first harvest is usually January-March, I think. But if you see ginger with very thin skin which is shiny and waxy looking it should be juicy and tender without the stringy, woody fibres that more mature ginger has. Bring 1 cup of rice vinegar to the boil with a quarter cup of sugar. Slice one large piece peeled ginger with a vegetable peeler and pack loosely into a sterilised jar. Pour hot vinegar over ginger, cover and seal you jar. Watch the magic as your ginger turns a beautiful pale pink! I haven’t been specific about quantities. You may need more or less vinegar depending on how much ginger you have. Leave in the cupboard for a few days.

Chocolate, Coconut and Rum Cake

Tiki says “yum yum two4six8!”

I’m not a very good baker. I just don’t have the feel for it and never really got the basics firmly under my belt. I do however, have baking under my belt in the literal sense. In fact, I always tell people I don’t really have  a sweet-tooth. Well, that’s just a big whopping ol’ lie isn’t it. I have the waist-line to prove it I especially like chocolate cake. Who doesn’t? Apart from my Nanna’s hand-written chocolate fudge cake recipe which lives tucked inside the front cover of Mum’s tattered and beloved Joy of Cooking, I really don’t know a chocolate cake recipe. Nanna’s is a good everyday chocolate cake, but I wanted to make something a bit spesh, you know? I also like rum. Rum and chocolate cake… Now you’re talking. Oh, merde! No butter. Hmmm. And merde encore, only two eggs. Lousy backyard chickens. Oh, there’s a spare egg white leftover. And what about that jar of coconut oil sitting in the pantry? Surely that stuff’s delicious. Mum makes the world’s best muffins with that stuff. And I hear it’s really GOOD for you. Something about good fats with a really hard to pronounce name… Medium chain triglycerides? Say that 10 times really quickly! After you’ve tested the rum for the cake.  Healthy chocolate cake… Woohoo!

Eggs, chocolate, coconut oil, rum, flour. Let’s give it a bash. So, I got brave and made it up as I went along. And guess what? Success. It’s been out of the oven 30 minutes and I’ve already got two slices under my belt! Yay! I can bake!

Here’s what you’ll need…

2 eggs, separated

1 extra egg white

1/4 cup caster sugar

150 grams dark cooking chocolate

1/4 cup coconut oil

splash of rum/rum essence

3/4 cup SR flour

1/3 cup milk

Here’s what you do…

1. Grease a standard 8″ round tin and pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Melt the chocolate (in the microwave or over a bain-marie) and set aside to cool.

3. In a medium sized mixing bowl or stand mixer bowl, beat the two egg yolks and caster sugar until light, fluffy and very pale (about 5 minutes). In another bowl, beat the egg-whites until stiff peaks form.

4. Mix oil and rum into melted chocolate. Stir thoroughly until well combined. While beating the egg yolk mixture on low speed, slowly pour in the chocolate and rum mixture. Mix until just combined. Don’t over-beat, or you will lose the air you need in the mixture.

5. Slowly add sifted flour and milk, alternately, mixing gently on very low speed (or you can do this by hand). I like to start and end with flour. Again, do not over-mix, just until the flour and milk is incorporated.

6. Add about 1/3 of the egg whites to the batter and slowly, gently fold through with a whisk or spatula. Once incorporated, add the remaining egg whites to the bowl and fold through the mixture.

7. Pour batter into prepared tin and sit this in another baking tray with an inch or so of tepid water in the bottom. Bake for around 20-30 minutes or until the top bounces back when lightly pressed with your finger.

8. Allow to cool in the tin for ten minutes, then turn onto a wire rack to cool. Ice and refrigerate to eat later or serve warm as a dessert. I just did a paper cut and sprinkled with icing sugar – maybe it doesn’t need icing at all?

Enjoy! If you think of any good serving ideas or garnishes – share them in the comments section.

I served this piece with rum chocolate cream. It’s whipped cream with rum and melted chocolate. You could ice it with this?

Vegemite Chicken

two4six8 grew up on it.

On hot buttered toast. With cheddar and cucumber on toast (my sister in law’s brilliant invention), a spoonful in my bolognese. And my all time favourite… Honey and Vegemite on toast. Strange, but yum.

I know what you’re thinking. How cliché can you get this close to Australia Day? But honestly, this has nothing to do with kitsch patriotism. My friends will tell you I’m the last person to get excited about celebrating on January 26th. Don’t get me wrong, I love football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars as much as the next bloke. Or should I say, sheila? I usually just hide inside and then head down the beach to clean up after yobs so the turtles don’t have to choke on their rubbish. “Love ‘Straya – just not enough to give a shit about picking up after meself down the beach. That’s some other bloke’s job eh”. You beauty mate. Sorry for the neurotic whinge, I won’t get into politics. You’re not here for politics, you’re here for tasty chicken. Here’s how I got to the Vegemite chicken idea. In fact, it wasn’t me at all, it was a friend, but anyhow…

Last Sunday night after a boozy afternoon, I was at a Chinese restaurant in Brisbane’s China Town, greedily ploughing into a hot plate of Shantung chicken. Although I’ve eaten it a lot I’ve never known how it’s done. And I can never decide if I like the hot, crispy skinned chicken and sweet, sour sauce or the fried spinach garnish better. This blog does a fine job of explaining the dish. Now I know what to do with the bottle of black vinegar I bought randomly over a year ago. And now I know what that sweet, sour, slightly ferment-ish DELICIOUS flavour is that my mate Andy was puzzling over after eating it at the restaurant. He thought it tasted like Vegemite. Maybe. Can’t remember if he said it, or if I thought it, but I’ve been thinking about Vegemite chicken since Sunday. To my mind there had never been such a thing, but I was wrong. Of course it exists. There’s apparently a recipe for Vegemite chicken wings right on the back of the jar! There is nothing new under the sun, as the phrase goes (and so, often, does Andy). A simple google search has consistently annihilated any original culinary idea I’ve ever had, pretty much. Tempting as it was to bastardise the Shantung chicken recipe with the addition/substitution of Vegemite and claim it as my own, although reflecting the true colonial spirit of Australia Day (oops that was political, wasn’t it?) I decided to stick with my Aussie instincts in the use of this most cherished and familiar ingredient.

Here’s what I came up with… It was beautiful – sweet, salty, a little malty. I’m not convinced I’d choose it over Shantung chicken but hey, it was fun to invent something new! Well, new for me anyway.

You’ll need…

1 whole chicken, butterflied (I partially de-boned mine)

1 tablespoon Vegemite

2 teaspoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon dry white wine

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon boiling water

2 large sprigs rosemary

a knob of butter (unsalted or low salt preferably)

What you do…

Simply mix all the marinade ingredients in a jug/bowl and stir well to combine, ensuring the sugar and Vegemite have melted/dissolved thoroughly. Hide the rosemary under the bird or under the skin of the bird and then smother with marinade, rub with your hands to ensure even coverage. Cover with glad and refrigerate. As usual, at least an hour is ok or overnight if possible.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius. Melt around 50 grams of butter. Baste the chicken lightly with butter. Cook for 20 minutes then reduce heat to 180 for about 40 minutes-1 hour depending on the size of your bird. Cover loosely with foil if the skin is burning.

Drain the juices from the pan. If you want to, strain off the chicken fat. Let the cooked chicken rest, covered with foil, for at least 10 minutes. Cut the chicken into pieces and serve with the pan juices.

It puts a rose in every cheek

Our Girls

Best thing I did in the last 12 months or so was invest in these 4 beauties… Bok Bok Bok… If you’ve got room, I encourage you to do the same. Their coop cost about $100, built from a second hand plastic kids’ cubby house, some star pickets and chicken wire. They’ve laid on average 2-4 eggs per day all together.

From front left – clockwise… Little Miss Fuzz Buzz, Ophelia, Pamela Jill and Dot

Quinoa Protein Power Breakfast

I know, I know… Quinoa’s so fashionable. But honestly this breakfast keeps you powering through the morning like no other. I mean, I am usually famished by 10 or 11, but not on the days I eat this combo. And you don’t have to chow down on greasy bacon or sausages to get the protein hit you need to get you through the morning. Cinnamon is also said to boost metabolism. Whatever, it tastes awesome. I usually add a high fibre mix consisting of psyllium husks and seeds and linseed – but that’s up to you. The quinoa mix keeps well in the fridge if you want to make a big batch for hectic week-day mornings. If you’re like me and leave nowhere near enough time to get dressed and fed in the morning and usually have to opt for one of the two before you hot foot it out the door – you get dressed, and not fed. 

Here’s what you’ll need…

1/3 cup tri-coloured quinoa (or any type, no diff)

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon sugar or honey or agave sweetener (optional)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons natural yoghurt

Fruit of choice

It’s easy…

Cook the quinoa in the liquid according to packet instructions. I use the absorption method. Allow to cool. Mix the cinnamon and sweetener (if using) with either the quinoa or yoghurt, whatever you prefer, top with fresh fruit and eat! You can Add a splash of cold milk if you want it wetter. 

Dairy Free Alternative…

Instead of milk, use 1/2 orange juice to cook the quinoa. Sounds strange, tastes fantastic. Top with soy yoghurt, or just lots of fruit and some nuts! 

 

Breakfast Fajitas with Leftover Enchilada Sauce

This is how we used the leftover enchilada sauce this morning