Apricot Glazed Pork Chops

I made this the other night from a recipezaar member it was nothing to do with the swap I have been in but it sounded so good I thought I would try it. I am so glad I did, it was excellent. I did not make this with pork chops as they did not look the best when I went to buy them, so I bought pork fillet steaks instead. I also cooked mine under the grill as I did not get home in time to fire up the BBQ as I had hoped. I would recommend this one, we all thought it was very good and the glaze complimented the pork so well. I served mine over celeriac mash and it was really good.

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Method

1 Cup apricot jam
3 Tablespoons cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Teaspoon soy sauce
2 Teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1/4 Teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 (2 lb) Pork chops, 1-inch thick
Salt and pepper, to taste

Ingredients

1. Preheat grill to med-hot fire.

2. In a small pan, combine the jam and vinegar. Over a low heat, cook until jam melts. Stir the mixture constantly.

3. Add the soy sauce, ginger, garlic, cayenne pepper. Remove from heat, and set the glaze aside.

4. Trim pork chops. Lightly brush chops with oil.

5. Add pepper.

6. Place chops on a well-oiled grill.

7. Brush glaze on one side of chops, flip over chops, and cook 2-3 minutes.

8. Brush glaze on the other side, flip the chops over, and cook 2-3 more minutes on that side.

9. Cut center to check for doneness. You want a light pink blush near the bone.

10. Use remaining glaze on chops at the table.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Pork Fillet and Pancetta Kebabs

This is a wonderfully easy recipe to do and it is full of flavour and tastes great. I served the kebabs over salad but they can be served as part of a BBQ as one of several dishes being cooked and this dish also goes very well accompanied by a greek salad. They can also be cooked under the grill instead of on the BBQ so these make a perfect after work meal. I used 450g Piece of pork loin and I placed three pieces of meat on each skewer and got 3 skewers per person for the three of us, I think if you upped the weight by 100g it should work out for 4 people with 3 skewers each. This is perfect when served with an accompaniment such as salad or rice, if seving as is you would definitely want to up the weight of the pork fillet and bacon slices to make more skewers.

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Ingredients

9 Skewers (Medium sized)
450g Pork Loin, cut into 2cm pieces (should have 27 pieces)
10 Slices pancetta, some will need to be halved and some will have to be cut into three, depending on how big the piece of pork is that the pancetta will be wrapped around.)
1 Red Capsicum (250g), cut into 18 Pieces
1/3 Cup olive oil
3 Cloves garlic
1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

Method

1. Place oil, garlic, and rosemary in a bowl mix, add pork pieces toss to coat, marinade 15 Minutes.(I usauly leave pork while I chop capsicum and pancetta.)

2. Wrap pancetta around each pork piece thread onto skewer, then thread a slice of capsicum, then wrapped pork, capsicum, and finally last wrapped pork piece. Repeat with remaining skewers.

3. Cook on a heated grill plate or BBQ or cook under the grill, brushing with the little remaining oil garlic mix, until cooked through.

Serves 3 See note above for 4 servings.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Rabbit in a White Wine, Bacon, Onion and Mushroom Sauce

This is a recipe I made for the swap I am in this month it was not from a member of my group, but a member from another group. I only tried rabbit for the first time last year and I really enjoyed it and have been experimenting with new ways to make it ever since. I came across this one and thought it sounded really good, I made a few changes to the ingredients listed below, just to suit our personal taste but if you want to view the original recipe click Here. I also bought rabbit fillet pieces as they were on special for half price instead of a whole rabbit, I served ours over wild rice and we all thought it was really good.

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Ingredients

1 Rabbit, cut into 6
60g Flour
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
30g Butter
2 Tablespoons olive oil
10 Small onions, peeled but a little root still attached (I just thinly sliced a brown onion)
2 Slices bacon, diced (I had 5 sliced of pancetta to use up so I did that instead.)
1 Cup dry white wine
1/2 Cup water
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
1 Sprig thyme
1 Bay leaf
1 Garlic clove, crushed (I added 2)
500g Button mushrooms
Extra butter
Extra oil
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
3/4 Teaspoon chicken stock granules
2 Tablespoons Cream

Method

1. Lightly coat the rabbit pieces in seasoned flour.

2. Heat the butter and oil and fry the rabbit pieces until golden brown.

3. Remove from the pan and add the tiny onions and bacon to the pan and fry until the onions are coloured.

4. Add the wine, water and tomato paste, stirring to combine and lift any brown bits off the bottom of the pan; add the thyme, bay leaf, garlic and season with extra black pepper.

5. Return the rabbit to the pan.

6. Cover the pan and simmer about 1 hour or until the rabbit is tender.

7. Meanwhile, toss the mushrooms in a little extra butter and oil for a few minutes.

8. Add to the rabbit for the last few minutes of cooking.

9. Remove the thyme and bay leaf and serve the rabbit, mushrooms, onions and sauce with chopped parsley sprinkled over.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Balsamic Rosemary Veal Medallions with Mushrooms and Goats Cheese

If you like veal, mushrooms and goats cheese, you will love this recipe all the flavours that come through are wonderful and the goats cheese on top really finishes this off in my opinion. It was sort of an experiment the other night and I think it turned out gorgeous. I served mine with celeriac mash and spinach with bacon, onion and red pepper, so just serve with your favourite side.

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Ingredients

8 Small veal scallops (about 400g)
6 Large flat brown mushrooms
150g Goats cheese, sliced into 6 slices
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, chopped finely
2 Cloves garlic, crushed
4 Teaspoons Balsamic vinegar, Extra
1/2 Teaspoon beef stock granules
3 Teaspoons sugar

Method

1. Combine oil, 2 tablespoons vinegar, rosemary, garlic and veal in a bowl, mix well, stand 15 minutes.

2. Remove stems from mushrooms and cook in a little butter until tender, set to one side.

3. Cook veal in a pan or under the grill, brushing occasionally with vinegar mixture, until cooked as desired. I leave them a little under cooked as they are going under the grill to melt cheese at the end, this prevents overcooking. Remove veal to an oven proof dish

4. In a small saucepan add any left over marinade and juices from the pan, add the extra vinegar, beef stock and sugar, stir over heat until sugar dissolves, leave on low heat to keep warm.

5. Place mushrooms on top of veal and place a slice of cheese in each mushroom, place under the grill for a couple of minutes to melt cheese.

To Serve: Serve atop your favourite mash and drizzle sauce over.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Salmon with Ginger and Orange Sauce

This recipe is super simple, tastes wonderful is a low carb meal and only takes 30 minutes to make. I love fish and salmon is no exception, it has been on special at the moment which makes it an even better buy when you want a fish dinner. I have included the ingredients below of the vegetables I served this with for two so either serve it this way or it is also good with rice or noodles if you want to add some more carbs. The sauce would be enough to drizzle over 4 average size salmon fillets, mine were large. If you wanted to have enough liquid for 4 to go with rice or noodles and wanted the extra liquid. I think the sauce ingredients would would work fine doubled, I would not add too much more ginger though and the chili amount is fine as is.

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Ingredients

2 Salmon fillets
2 Tablespoon peanut oil, divided use
1 Clove garlic, crushed (up this to 2 if you do not accompany with the veg.)
3 Tablespoons orange marmalade (not thick cut)
3 Tablespoons kejap manis (please use this and not soy it is sweeter)
2 Red chilies, finely chopped (add as many or few seeds according to personal taste)
2 Teaspoons grated fresh ginger
3 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 Teaspoons sugar

Vegetables

1 Clove garlic, crushed
1 Red pepper, sliced thinly
250g Asian mixed vegetables, fresh (My pack came with carrot, cabbage, snow peas and broccoli.)
60g Baby asparagus spears
120g Bean Sprouts

Method

1. Add a little peanut oil to a pan, about 1/2 Tablespoon, add chili, ginger and garlic, cook for a minute, add marmalade, manis, vinegar and sugar, stir to heat through.

2. Add another half tablespoon oil to another pan, cook fish skin side down first, to crisp skin, turn and cook salmon until pink, and flakes easily and is cooked as desired.

3. Heat remaining tablespoon of peanut oil in a wok add pepper and garlic, stir fry 1 minute, turn heat down, add Asian veg pack, asparagus and bean sprouts, stir fry until veg are tender.

Note: If wok is too hot veg will burn, make sure it has cooled down a bit add a little soy and water if you need some liquid, but keep it very minimal.

To Serve: Place vegetables on a plate top with salmon and drizzle with sauce.

All photos taken buy me unless otherwise stated.

Crusty Chicken Casserole

This is a wonderful recipe that can be prepared in not too much time, most of the time is the long cooking time to get the yummy crusty top on this casserole. I make this with whole BBQ chicken that you can get from your supermarket, but the other night when I had planned to do this, they had sold out, so I had to buy chicken breasts instead. It was a real pain as I was late coming home from work anyway and then I had to cook the chicken. I also could not get a can of cream of chicken soup so I had to buy a knorr sachet and make the chicken soup as well so you can imagine the time this added to an already late dinner. Oh well it was really good and tasty in the end and we all enjoyed it even if it was late. I usually have left overs when I make this as there are only 3 of us. I just store the leftover in the fridge and then I reheat in the oven so you still have the crusty top.

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Ingredients

1 BBQ Chicken
2 Tablespoons butter
1 Onion, diced
1 Stick celery, diced
3 Cloves garlic, crushed
1 Large shallot, diced
4 Bacon rashers, chopped
100g Mushrooms, sliced thinly
1 Can cream chicken soup (500ml) (I used a 570ml knorr sachet as this is all I could get.)
180ml Sour cream
2 Fresh ears corn cob (550g) (divided use)
1 Cup firmly packed gruyere cheese

Cheese Batter

1 Cup self raising flour
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup milk
1 Cup firmly packed gruyere cheese
1 Ear corn (from the 2 listed above.)
2 Tablespoons parsley
3 Tablespoons panko flakes

Method

1. Remove chicken from bones, chop meat roughly. Cut the cor kernels from one ear of corn.

2. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a pan add onion, celery, garlic and shallot, cook, until onion is almost soft, add extra tablespoon butter, add sliced mushrooms and cook until mushrooms soften.

3. In a small pan cook bacon until crisp, drain on absorbent paper.

4. In a large pan combine, soup, sour cream, onion and mushroom mixture, bacon, corn and chicken, stir until heated through, add cheese and stir until cheese is melted.

5. Transfer ingredients to a casserole dish, spread cheese batter over the top of the casserole, sprinkle with panko flakes, bake in a moderate oven 40-45 Min's until you have a nice brown crunchy top.

Cheese Batter

1. In a bowl combine flour, eggs, milk and combine (I use a bar mix for this)

2. Remove corn kernels from the second ear of corn

3.. Stir in cheese, corn and parsley until well combined.

4. Spread this over the top of casserole and sprinkle panko flakes over the top.

To Serve: Spoon casserole into a bowl and garnish with extra chopped parsley if desired.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Crispy Coated Sour Cream Lemon Chicken

This recipe tastes wonderful and can be made as a main meal and served with a side salad or you could make small chicken bites for a buffet style meal or for parties. It can be made using whole breasts beaten with a meat mallet or like I did chopped into tender size pieces. I serve these with a homemade garlic mayonnaise as a dip on the side, I use about 1/2 a cup of mayo with a teaspoon of garlic powder a couple of teaspoons of lemon juice and some grated lemon rind and it goes quite well with the chicken. Apart from the marinating time you can have these ready in about 35 Min's. I served this for three people but just do an extra breast for four the marinade will still be enough for the extra breast.

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Ingredients

3 Chicken breasts, chopped into pieces
1/2 Cup sour cream
2 Teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 Teaspoons Lemon juice
1 Teaspoon lemon rind
1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon fresh chives, chopped
3 Cloves garlic, crushed
3 Tablespoons oil
1 Tablespoon butter
11/2 Cups panko flakes (depending on how big your beasts are it will be 1-11/2 Cups required.)

Method

1. Combine sour cream, sauce, juice, rind, parsley, chives, garlic in a bowl or storage container, add chicken and toss to coat chicken completely, cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

2. Remove chicken pieces from marinade and dip each coated piece of chicken in panko flakes, press flake into chicken to coat thoroughly.

3. Melt butter in a pan, add oil and heat until hot but not smoking, add pieces of chicken and cook in a single layer, until browned, crisp and cooked through.

To Serve: Serve chicken with garlic mayonnaise and a side salad.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Quick and Easy Chicken Satay

This is so simple and quick to put together, it is a great recipe to make after work as it can be on the table in 30 Min's. The spiciness of the dish will depend on the brand of satay sauce you buy, mine is a medium spice and I add extra chili flakes as well, so you can make this as mild or as spicy as you like to suit personal preference. I serve this dish over basmati rice but serve with whatever you want if you do not make the rice it would be on the table even quicker.

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Ingredients

1 Tablespoon peanut oil
800g Chicken breasts or tenders, chopped into pieces (If you serve this as is without the rice I would up the chicken to 1kg-1.1kg for 4.)
2 Brown onions, sliced thinly
3 Cloves garlic, crushed
50ml Water
1 Teaspoon chicken stock
150ml Satay Sauce
1 Teaspoon chili flakes
250ml Coconut milk
200ml coconut cream
2 Green onions, sliced

Method

1. Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan, stir fry chicken in batches, until browned all over and cooked. Remove and set to one side.

2. Cook onion and garlic in same wok, stir-until onion softens.

3. Return chicken to pan, add remaining ingredients except green onion, stir-fry until everything is hot and sauce has thickened slightly.

To serve: Spoon chicken over rice and sprinkle with green onions.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Filet Mignon With Cognac Sauce

We have not enjoyed a good fillet steak in ages, it is just so expensive now days. Well I thought I would treat us all the other night to a super thick juicy cut of fillet. Normally with a nice cut like this I would just season it and grill it to enjoy the natural yummy flavour of the beef. I found this sauce recipe and it sounded good, so I thought I would try it and it was wonderful. I made some changes which I have listed below but if you want view the original recipe or see more reviews of this please click here.

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Ingredients

4 beef tenderloin steaks, cut 1 inch thick (about 1 lb total)
3 tablespoons cognac or brandy (I added more cognac to steak and pour in the pan with steak and ignited.)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 Cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup sliced fresh mushroom
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup beef broth
1/4 cup fat-free half-and-half (I used low fat cream)
2 tablespoons dijon-style mustard
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (I used cornflour)

Method

1. Trim fat from steaks. Place steaks in shallow dish. Pour 2 tablespoons of the cognac over steaks. Cover and marinate in refrigerator for 15 minutes, turning once. Drain steaks, discarding cognac in dish. Sprinkle steaks with pepper.

2. Place steaks on rack of uncovered grill directly over medium coals. Grill for 11-15 minutes for medium-rare or 14-18 minutes for medium, turning once.

3. I cooked mine in a pan as I added extra cognac and ignited the steaks. Then finished under the grill.

For Sauce

1. In small saucepan, cook mushrooms, garlic and shallot in hot butter for 3 - 4 minutes or until tender.

2. Stir in beef broth and remaining cognac. Bring to the boil, reduce heat, simmer gently, uncovered, for 5 minutes.

3. In small bowl, stir together half-and-half, mustard, and flour. Stir into broth mixture. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more.

To Serve: I served mine over mash, drizzled sauce over steak and then topped the steak with bacon wrapped asparagus.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Oriental Salmon

This is another recipe I made as part of seafood night were I made several dishes to choose from. We had Thai fish cakes and sushi and this wonderful salmon. This was a zaar members recipe I was looking for something simple to make as sushi takes some time to prepare as do my Thai fish cakes so I wanted the last recipe to be simple yet yummy. This was just that a tasty recipe with wonderful flavours that compliments the salmon really well. I did add hoisin sauce along with plum sauce with a hint of ginger as I found it a bit to tomato sauced flavoured for my liking. I am sure this is just to do with some plum sauces being quite dense and strong and some being mild as mine is. I also did my salmon as whole fillets and served it over the vegetables as we are watching our carb intake as well as this made it easier to dish up as this was served as one of 3 dishes. If you want to view the original recipe please click here.

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Ingredients

1lb Salmon
2 Cups cold water
2 Tablespoons ketchup
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
4 Tablespoons sugar
3 Tablespoons plum sauce (I also added a couple tablespoons of hoisin as well.)
2 Carrots, julienned
1 Cucumber, julienned (I did zucchini)
1 Onion, chopped

Method

1. Skin salmon and cut in small pieces. Poach in water. (I left mine as whole fillets
and cooked in a pan.)

2. Meanwhile mix the water, ketchup, rice vinegar, sugar and plum sauce.

3. Put all the items into a pan, mix with the carrots, cucumber and onion and turn on medium high. Cook until boiling, turn heat down and cook until carrots are soft.

4.Add salmon and serve over rice. (As I left them as whole fillets rather than cutting into pieces I served ours over the vegetables it also makes it lower carbs.)

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Lamb Chops with Mint Bernaise

You can make this with racks of lamb as I usually do, but they had already cut them into chops and they were on special this way so I bought them chopped. I prefer to make as a whole rack but that is just personal preference. They were just as good done this way and quicker too as I just grilled them either side real quick, rather than bake in an oven for 25-30 Min's as I do with a rack. Also as I was pressed for time I just made this with a sachet of bearnaise sauce, but I do usually make a real bearnaise with egg yolk and butter it just takes longer so take your pick. If like me your in a hurry the store bought sachet works fine and still tastes great accompanied with the lamb.

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Ingredients

2 Racks lamb (8 chops each) or 16 Individual lamb chops
olive oil
salt and pepper to season

Mint Bearnaise Sauce

100ml White wine vinegar
1 Shallot, chopped roughly
8 Black peppercorns
1 Sachet store bought bearnaise
1/2 Cup firmly packed fresh mint leaves

If you want to make your own bearnaise you will need 4 large egg yolks and 250g butter and you will have to do that in a double saucepan over water, adding the strained vinegar mix, beat in egg yolks and then add cooled melted butter, stirring until mixture thickens.

Method

1. Season chops or racks with salt and pepper, cook chops, either on a lightly oiled grill plate, under the grill, on the BBQ or Pan fry until browned and cooked as desired.

2. For lamb racks season with salt and pepper, place on a lightly oiled oven proof dish and bake in pre-heated oven 180 degrees Celsius for 25-30 Min's or until cooked as desired.

For the Sauce

1. Place vinegar, shallot, peppercorns in a saucepan and bring to the boil, boil rapidly until reduced by half, strain, set to one side.

2. Prepare bearnaise according to packet directions remembering that you will still have the extra 50ml of liquid to add.

3. Once sauce is thick add vinegar and mint, blend or process mint until well combined. (I use a bar mix for this.) Serve sauce over lamb chops

I served mine with spinach in garlic and butter with bacon and mushrooms. I served the lamb atop cauliflower mash and drizzled sauce over.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Asian Aromatic Chicken

I made this one about a week ago it was very good and the flavour was wonderful. I do not have a bamboo steamer so I just did mine in the pan and then boiled the marinade and thickened it with a little cornflour and drizzled over the chicken. I made an extra breast to have on hand for my son's dinner the next night and even reheated he said it was gorgeous. I served mine and my hubbies over stir-fried vegetables as we are watching our carb intake but I served my son's with egg fried rice to fill up his appetite, both ways were great. If you want to see the original recipe click here.

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Ingredients

2 tablespoons minced green onions
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1 1/2 teaspoons hoisin sauce (I used a little more than this but it does depend on brands as some a so much stronger than others.)
1 teaspoon minced garlic (I did 3 Garlic cloves)
1/2 teaspoon sambal oelek (I also added more, just personal preference.)
1 cinnamon stick, broken
1 star anise
4 bone in skinless chicken breast halves
1 cup chicken broth

Method

1. Combine first 9 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add chicken to bag; seal and marinate in refrigerator at least 6 hours or up to 24 hours, turning bag occasionally.

2. Remove chicken from bag, reserving marinade. Pour marinade into a large skillet; stir in broth. Arrange chicken in a bamboo steamer coated with cooking spray; cover with steamer lid.

3. Place bamboo steamer in pan; bring marinade mixture to a boil. Steam the chicken 18 minutes or until a thermometer inserted in center of breasts registers 165°F Transfer chicken to a platter.

4. Remove steamer from pan. Strain marinade mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl; discard solids. Return marinade mixture to pan; bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until reduced to 1/2 cup; about 2 minutes. Serve sauce with chicken.

If you do not have a bamboo steamer like me read how I dd mine above in my introduction. When I mention boiling marinade, I still strained solids first.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Stuffed Lemon Chicken with Basil Sauce

This is a simple recipe to make that your guests will think you have spent way more time on than you did. This recipe can be made a day ahead of time and cooked just before serving although the sauce needs to be made while the chicken is cooking but it does not take long. The ingredients listed below are for 2 chicken breasts mine were quite large so you may have to adjust stuffing ingredients if making with small breasts or make the same amount and do 4 breasts. The photo I have posted is of the smaller, of my 2 breasts, so I think you can get a rough idea from that.

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Ingredients

2 Chicken breasts (Large ones)
4 Bacon rashers, roughly chopped
1 Small onion, finely chopped
2 Cloves garlic, crushed
1 Cup bread crumbs
30g Butter
1/2 Teaspoon chicken stock granules
50ml boiling water
1 Teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
2 Teaspoons lemon juice
4 Extra slices bacon, to wrap round chicken

Sauce

1 Cup water
1 Teaspoon chicken stock granules
2 Teaspoons cornflour
1/2 Cup firmly packed basil leaves
1/2 Cup cream
20g Butter
2 Egg yolks

Method

1. Cook bacon until crisp, drain on absorbent paper, in the same pan add garlic and onion and cook until onion softens.

2. Pound chicken with a meat mallet until roughly equal thickness.

3. Place breadcrumbs in a bowl, combine water, butter and stock in another bowl stirring until butter has melted and stock has dissolved, add to breadcrumbs stir to combine. Add onion mix, bacon, juice and rind, mix thoroughly.

4. Place stuffing on one side of chicken breast, fold the other half over the top and secure by wrapping 2 slices of bacon around each breast.

5. Heat a small amount of olive oil in a pan, add chicken and brown on both sides, transfer chicken to an oven proof dish, and cook in a pre heated oven of 180 degrees Celsius for about 30 Min's or until chicken is cooked through.

While chicken is cooking make the sauce:

1. Add water and stock to a saucepan bring to the boil mix a little water with the cornflour, add to stock and stir until mixture thickens slightly, add butter and stir to melt.

2. Add basil leaves and blend or process until smooth (I use a bar mix for this), add the cream, stir.

3. In a bowl lightly beat egg yolks, add some of the sauce to the yolks a little at a time and stir after each addition (stops yolks from scrambling, as they are mixed already with some sauce instead of pouring them straight into hot liquid.) pour this mixture into the saucepan and stir over a medium heat until mixture thickens, do not boil or egg yolk will scramble.

To Serve: Slice chicken thickly and drizzle sauce over garnish with basil leaves, serve remaining sauce on the side. I like to serve mine with a nice side salad.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Authentic Pork Lo Mein

This is a wonderful recipe I made from a zaar member the other night, the flavours were awesome and the whole recipe came together really well. It smelled delicious while cooking and there were clean plates all round. The only changes I made was to make with carrot and red pepper as I had to use up these vegetables from the fridge and this recipe provided the opportunity. I also subbed bean sprouts for bamboo shoots as I am not a huge fan of them, apart from that I made everything else the same, although I did not measure exact amounts of sauces etc.. I just eye balled it and adjusted at the end for our personal taste. If you would like to see more reviews of this recipe please clicke here.

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Ingredients

1/2lb Fresh pork tenderloin

Meat Marinade

2 Teaspoons cornstarch
1 Teaspoon sugar
1 Teaspoon soy sauce
1 Teaspoon rice wine

Vegetables

1 Tablespoon fresh ginger (cut very fine)
5-6 Large mushrooms
1/2 Cup bamboo shoot
1 Red bell pepper or carrot
1 Small onion, cut in wedges
2 Green onions, shredded
1 Medium zucchini or celery, cut in 1-inch strips

Sauce Mixture

4 Teaspoons cornstarch
1 Cup chicken broth
2 Tablespoons oyster sauce
2 Garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 Teaspoon ginger
4 Tablespoons peanut oil

Seasoning in Noodles

1lb Fresh Chinese egg noodles
2 Tablespoons peanut oil
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
2 Tablespoons oyster sauce or soy sauce
11/2 Tablespoons soy sauce
11/2 Teaspoons rice vinegar

Method

1. Cut pork into thin strips, and then into pieces. Mix with meat marinade for 30 minutes.

2. Slice mushrooms, bamboo shoots, red pepper and zucchini into thin strips. Mix sauce.

3. Parboil noodles for 3 minutes. Rinse and drain.

4. Bring another pot of water to boil, and keep hot.

5. Heat 2 T. oil in wok. Stir fry all vegetables together for 2-3 minutes.

6. Sprinkle on a little salt and 1 teaspoons of sugar. Set aside.

7. Add 2 T. oil, and stir fry pork until done.

8. Add sauce mixture. Stir until thickened.

9. Add the vegetables. Stir until well mixed.

10. Put noodles into hot pot of water for 10-15 seconds, just to heat. Drain.

11. Put back in pot, and add noodles.

12. Serve meat and vegetables over noodles.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Beer Battered Fish with Dipping Sauce

This is another recipe I made for a seafood platter night it was really good and again the ingredients listed below are just a guess for 4 people I think it will be about right. As I said in previous posts because I was making this as part of a large platter I cut back on everything because of all the dishes I made. I am also listing 2 of the sauces I made below; The lemon mayonnaise I served with the fish and the twist on the more traditional cocktail sauce I served with the prawns and crab meat.

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Ingredients

3/4 Cup self raising flour
3/4 Cup plain flour
1 Teaspoon five spice powder
1 Egg
11/2 Cups beer
Vegetable oil, for deep frying
800g white fish fillets


Lemon Mayonnaise

2/3 Cup mayonnaise
1 Teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
2 Teaspoons lemon juice
Cracked black pepper to taste

Cocktail Sauce

3/4 Cup mayonnaise
4 Tablespoons tomato ketchup
1 dash of Cognac
2-3 drops Tabasco sauce
2-3 drops Worcestershire sauce
Pinch of paprika

Method

1. Whisk flours, five spice, egg and beer in a bowl until smooth (I use a bar mix)

2. Heat oil in deep fry pan or wok. Dip fish in batter, deep-fry fish, in batches, until crisp and cooked through. Serve with lemon mayonnaise, and lemon wedges if desired.

Lemon Mayonnaise

1. Combine mayonnaise, rind, juice and pepper in a bowl, cover and refrigerate until needed.

Cocktail Sauce

1. Combine mayonnaise, ketchup, cognac, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce and paprika in a bowl again cover and refrigerate until needed.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.