Kitchen Wench — Page 2

Chicken, Shiitake & Portabello Mushroom Dumplings

September 27, 2011 | 661 views

This is a sponsored post on behalf of the Australian Mushroom Growers Association! Please vote for my dumplings at the official Tastespotting competition page here!

Dear sweet and loyal readers.

It’s that time of year again.

Last year, you helped me win an absolute landslide victory in the Mushroom Masters – a competition run by the mushroom industry in Australia, Canada and the US. Pitching bloggers from each country against each other in four rounds of recipe competitions, it was the ultimate test of talent, loyalty and love.

Which blogger would be able to create the recipe which tantalized the most tastebuds?

Which readers would vote for or against their own nation to support their favourite blogger?

And who would reign supreme overall?

Last year, I won in an absolute landslide with 53% of the total votes for my humble roasted mushroom and goat’s cheese lasagne.

Not having ever won anything before in my life at that stage (I don’t count the runner’s up trophies that my netball team won in primary school) this was absolutely incredible to me and I was both ecstatic and humbled that readers from all over the globe had voted for my little recipe as the winner in that round of the competition!

For the 2011 Mushroom Masters competition, my challenge was to create a recipe for the appetizer category and so I’ve created these stunning Chicken, Shiitake and Portabello Mushroom dumplings. Incredibly simple to make, dumplings are one of the most versatile foods – you can serve them individually as an amuse-bouche, or heaped on a plate for everyone to share!

With this being the final stage of the competition, the stakes are high and the pressure is on! I’m definitely not used to winning things so the question is whether I’ll be able to pull off another fantastic victory this year!

Or rather, whether you still love me enough to help me win, by voting on the official Tastespotting competition page

To find the recipe, you’ll have to go to the Australian Mushroom Growers Association website, but before you depart for their site, I beg beg beg of you to please vote for your one, your only, your Kitchen Wench in this recipe competition!

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Spiced sweet pumpkin loaf

September 27, 2011 | 2,279 views

in Cakes & Brownies,Nuts & Seeds,Quickbreads & Scones

Change is a-comin’.

It’s no longer pitch black when I leave the house for work in the mornings. I’m no longer sleeping with three blankets, and I’ve actually lost track of how long it’s been since I’ve had to throw water on the windshield of my car to defrost the ice in a hurry.

Everything is luxuriously green – even the algae and moss growing in our sad excuse for a pool is looking verdant and full of growth. The hayfever sufferers are sneezing all around me and I’m sure that antihistamine sales at pharmacies all around the country are skyrocketing.

Spring has arrived with much fanfare, and those of us who thought that winter would never end are rejoicing.

Somewhat.

I say “somewhat” because unfortunately, the weather is still f*cking with us here in my home town of Melbourne. Notoriously famous in Australia for being the city with schizophrenic weather patterns, I’m fairly sure that the erratic weather exists purely to torment those unfortunate souls who happen to call this city home.

You see, I may no longer be sleeping with three blankets, but I’m still sleeping with the electric blanket cranked all the way up.

I’m no longer needing to defrost the windshield, but I’m still shivering like a dog sh*tting razorblades in the car each morning as I furiously finish my morning cigarette so I can wind the car windows back up.

I’m no longer making long, slow braises or roasts…because I’m so busy sneezing out half my brain during the day.

Don’t get me wrong – I adore Spring as it’s by far my favourite season of the four, but this transitional period when winter still has us by the hairy nads does nobody any favours since the worst parts of both spring and winter come together in a haphazard collision of seasons.

And while I eagerly look forward to the luscious bounty that spring and summer will bring, I sorrowfully wave farewell to those fruits and vegetables that I’ve so enjoyed during the colder months. I’m currently eating as many apples as I can stomach as I refuse to buy the mealy, leftover, cold-stored and out of season supermarket fruit during the latter half of the year. I’m ravishing broccoli left right and centre since the warmer seasons will see prices skyrocket for this cold-loving green.

And I’m dolefully clinging onto the cheap, end of season pumpkins and their sweet, succulent softness as they begin to disappear from the markets.

One thing that I’m planning on doing is to stock up on this spiced sweet pumpkin loaf. Moist and sweet from the pumpkin and fragrant with spices, it is a perfect sweet loaf for the colder months when pumpkins are plentiful and comfort foods are called for.

This is, in fact, the perfect winter loaf. Though sweet, it pairs beautifully with a thick layer of salted butter or even soft goat’s cheese, and thus makes the perfect afternoon pick me up when the skies are overcast and you are clinging desperately to a fresh mug of tea for warmth.

So well does this suit the season, that I’m hoping that indulging in a slice of this during our sweltering summer will help me imagine that it’s back to winter and I’m curled up in a blanket with a slice of this while listening to the rain fall outside…

Spiced Sweet Pumpkin Loaf

Ingredients
400g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
250 caster sugar
100g brown sugar
3 eggs, beaten
200ml sunflower oil
500g grated raw pumpkin
100g toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
100g dried cranberries

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C, then whisk together the flour and sugar with the spices (cinnamon, mixed spice, ginger, nutmeg) and the baking powder and bicarb soda. Add the walnuts and cranberries and toss to coat.

Tossing the walnuts and cranberries in the flour helps stop it all from sinking to the bottom during baking, and is a good general rule to follow whenever including large “bits” (chocolate chips, nuts, dried fruit etc) in cakes.

2. Whisk together the oil with the eggs till emulsified.

3. Add your grated pumpkin to the flour and fold to combine – make sure you’re thorough to avoid any ‘clumps’ of pumpkin forming.

4. Add your liquid and mix well. This makes a very stiff batter so once again, please be thorough so you don’t have any flour pockets in the batter. Spoon the mixture into a large, lined loaf tin and bake for 90 – 120 minutes, or till a skewer inserted into the middle comes out completely clean and dry.

Note that this loaf freezes ridiculously well. You can freeze the whole thing as is by wrapping it tightly in a double-layer of plastic wrap, or you can wrap individual slices. While this is best defrosted overnight in the fridge, you can bring it back to life quickly via microwave, toaster oven or even with a sandwich press

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Fast Food At Home – Homemade burgers in a flash

September 14, 2011 | 2,563 views

in Beef

Guess what, guys! I’ve been nominated as a semi-finalist in this year’s 2011 Blogster Awards – if you’ve been enjoying reading this blog then please consider taking the time to click this link and vote for Kitchen Wench Just two clicks of the mouse is all it takes!

I have to admit that I’m somewhat saddened when I hear people complaining about how they just have no time to cook and therefore rely on frozen and fast food.

I can understand having to resort to this once or twice a week when your schedule gets particularly hectic. Hell, even I’m partial to some decent takeaway fish and chips or wood-fired pizza. But I just can’t imagine existing on nothing but food that others have prepared for me.

One of the reasons for this might be the fact that in our family, the matriarchs have always prided themselves on cooking from scratch. Stemming from a combination of growing up in post-war Korea and coming from agricultural backgrounds, the only “fast food” that existed were those dishes that they had carefully prepared beforehand with this in mind.

In fact, my paternal grandmother continued making her own “songpyon” (a type of sweet Korean rice cakes served in cultural ceremonies) into her 80s, her knobbled and arthritic fingers deftly working their way around the rice dough.

When it comes to homemade, there really is no such thing as “fast”. Even the simplest sandwich takes a few minutes to prepare – and that’s just if you happen to have all your ingredients ready to go in the kitchen! But a little thought and planning means that you can have a fast, fresh and tasty meal available in the same time that it takes for you to actually go and get a takeaway meal.

Let’s take the humble burger, for example.

Sure, you can go all gourmet and get marble score 5 Wagyu beef and hand-grind it with your Kitchenaid attachment, making your own brioche rolls and even condiments…

but let’s be honest for a minute and admit that the average full-time worker or student just hasn’t got the time or energy to go to that effort on a regular basis.

No, I’m taking about a simple, tasty, no-frills burger. Good quality lean beef mince from the local butcher, fresh, crusty wholewheat buns from the bakery, a couple of veggies and a pickle to boot.

This sort of burger won’t win any Michelin stars, but it’ll feed a family of 5 quickly and with very little fuss.

You see, homemade burgers are one of the “trashy” food items that our entire family will enjoy, but in order to make sure that I can actually sit down to the meal with everyone and don’t stay stuck in the kitchen, I need to make sure that I have everything ready to go.

This usually means a checklist the night before to make sure that I have everything that’s needed, as well as spending about 30 minutes to an hour in the kitchen preparing the burger patties. The instructions are below, but basically you can make them whenever you have a quiet moment (I like to do it on a quiet weeknight as I sit down to zone out with a TV show on the idiot box), they can stay in your freezer for up to a month once they’re tightly wrapped in cling film.

Just transfer them from the freezer to the fridge the night before you want to serve them, then the next day you’ll be able to cook up and assemble your burgers in a veritable flash!

At the very least, enough preparation will mean that these don’t take any longer than having to go get it from your local burger chain

Homemade Burgers

Ingredients
600g good quality lean beef, minced (ask your butcher to mince it for you)
1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves
1 large egg
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
Salt and pepper, to taste

Serving suggestions (just to get you started!)
Cucumber pickles
Pickled jalapenos
Tomato
Lettuce
Cheese
Red onion
Capsicum (fresh or roasted)
Avocado

1.Mix together the mince with the onion, egg, breadcrumbs and spices and bring it all together till well combined.

2. Using your hands or one of these AWESOME burger shaping tools, shape out your patties and set them aside on some non-stick baking paper.

3. Once they’re laid out, you can store them in an airtight container if they’re all going to be used the next day…but if not, then it’s very easy to freeze them into single portions. Cut a length of plastic wrap, and wrap the patties either individually or in pairs, making sure they do not touch so they can be removed easily later.

HINT: Poke them in the middle with your knuckle before freezing or cooking them. This will stop them from “bunching up” in the middle as they cook and keep them nice and flat.

4. Once the burger patties are tightly wrapped, they can be frozen and stored for up to a month! Whenever you need them, either defrost overnight or in the microwave, then cook in a frying pan with a splash of oil.

TIP: The best way to cook burgers is on a grill, but failing that they can be done to perfection on a cast iron frying pan over low heat. Only flip them once, and place the cheese on them about 3-4 minutes before they’re ready to come off the pan!

So what short cuts do you like to use in your own kitchen to cut down on cooking time? Do you have any tried and tested methods which make weekday meal preparation a breeze?

On a final note, in case you missed the link at the top of the post – my blog has been nominated for a 2011 Blogster Award from Pedestrian TV If you’ve enjoyed my haphazard writing or the recipes that I’ve published then please take the time to click the link and vote for your one and only Kitchen Wench

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Taste of Melbourne 2011

September 13, 2011 | 205 views

in Sponsored Posts

The following is a sponsored post on behalf of HotHouse Media and Taste of Melbourne

This Thursday marks the beginning of the Taste of Melbourne event for 2011. If you haven’t heard about it, it’s a sensational event where some of the wonderful restaurants about town all converge on the Royal Exhibition Building over four days to tempt the public to step through their doors.

When I attended the event last year, I found that it was a great way to create a sort of DIY degustation – with about 17 different restaurants showcasing about 2 to 3 dishes each, it means that you can work through pre-dinner cocktails, a 5-7 course degustation (depending on how hungry you are) and go right through to after-dinner aperitifs.

But if you plan on drinking, then I would suggest that you take public transport

Tickets are $25 per person to enter and you’ll need to purchase “Crowns” to exchange for food, but if you’re looking for something to do later this week then this is something for you to consider. More detail about the exhibitors and events are available at the Taste of Melbourne website.

Oh, and I’ll be there during the midday session on Saturday, so ping me on Twitter @Kitchenwench if you want to say hello

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MK Review @ PJ Malaysian Cuisine

August 29, 2011 | 316 views

in Events

For my fourth and final Malaysia Kitchen review, I decided that I wanted to try another little local joint called PJ Malaysian Cuisine. A small shop front out of the main shopping strip in Glen Waverley, I had actually never noticed it before as the shop is rather dwarfed by the other stores around it and the small unassuming signage makes it easy to miss.

However, the whole Malaysia Kitchen exercise for me has been one of discovery and education, so I thought that I certainly couldn’t go wrong by expanding my boundaries here.

Despite the small, dark front, the restaurant itself is actually quite cozy and welcoming. With jazz tunes bleating out of the stereo system, the decorations include a statue of a young Louis Armstrong as well as many photos of many classic jazz musicians – rather obviously belying the fact that the owner has a soft spot for this sort of music. The rule with the interior design here was clearly “clean and cute” and that comes through quite clearly.

During this journey, one of the things that I’ve found intruiging is tasting the same dish across different restaurants to discover the many different ways that it can be made according to the cooking style of the chef, so it was easy or me to pick the mixed beef and chicken satay skewers to begin with. The other times that we’ve ordered this dish, the satay skewers always arrived at the table pre-coated with the peanut sauce, but this restaurant decided to do this differently. Instead, the skewers arrived at the table naked and the spicy and fragrant peanut satay sauce came on the side.

The benefit here was that we could use as much or as little satay sauce as we liked, but this approach also allowed us to taste the marinades that had been used on the meats themselves. While the chicken was very bland and had no real discernable flavour, the beef skewers were sweet and salty and the marinade worked in cohesive unity with the satay sauce.

Unfortunately the problem with the skewers was that they had all been overcooked to the point that both the chicken and beef were incredibly tough, and it mnade eating them a bit of a chore.

The crispy pork lobak thankfully didn’t disappoint. Salty minced pork had been stuffed into these incredibly thin tofu skins and perfectly fried so that the pork was moist and tender while the tofu skin was light and crunchy. The sauce that it arrived with was a bit of a mystery, but with it’s balance between sweetness and saltiness with a touch of something fruity, it did well to cut through the fattiness of the pork.

As my brother was feeling quite carnivorous, we decided that as one of the mains, we’d order the king spare ribs. Lean pork cut from the rib had been tenderised and marinated before being lightly pan-fried and coated with a sweet and salty sauce. The execution of this dish was marvellous – from the tenderness of the pork (which was indeed very lean) to the light yet flavourful marinade which, though it was a tad salty, worked well with the rest of our meal.

I have a bit of a deep-seated love for noodles so I had a bit of difficulty deciding between the hokkien mee and the char kway teow as I didn’t know what would suit my mood. The waitress then recommended the Singapore noodles as being a great choice to go alongside the pork spare ribs that we ordered, and this ended up being a perfect combination.

Tender fried vermicelli noodles were served mixed with chicken, bean shoots, onions and scrambled egg in a wonderous heap, topped with finely shredded carrot and iceberg lettuce. Despite the range of ingredients in this dish, it did come across as slightly bland when had on it’s own, but really was the perfect dish to have with the other mains that we ordered for this fact.

Last but not least were the intruiging sambal prawns. Fat, juicy, tender prawns had been cooked in an incredible sambl sauce (containing lemongrass, ginger, garlic, onions, tamarind and other spices) and it was wonderfully seasoned and full-flavoured without being overwhelming for the senses. Again, this proved perfect when paired with the Singapore noodles, so this trio of dishes made for a very happy pair of diners.

We both agreed that other than the let down with the satay skewers in our entree, that this was by far the best Malaysian meal that we had this month and it has in fact made it to my list of worthwhile restaurants in the Glen Waverley area. I know that I’ll definitely be back – at least for the ribs and hands down the best Singapore noodles that I’ve ever had!