PHO Soup from Vietnam!

We have just arrived back from Vietnam, where we had some amazing food. One of the most famous dishes in Vietnam is there PHO soup that you can eat at any time of the day!

We have just arrived back from Vietnam, where we had some amazing food. One of the most famous dishes in Vietnam is there PHO soup that you can eat at any time of the day!

Usually it is made with beef broth, but Varn made it for us with chicken broth.

She arrived from the market with, fresh pork, chicken and lots of herbs, Vietnamese mint and corainder.

PHO (Simply pronounced Fuh)

1 Litre chicken stock
4cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and halved
2 star anise
3 teaspoons of light soy sauce
1 tablespoon of fish sauce
2 cups of rice noodles (pad thai) your choice of noodle
2 tablespoons of lime juice
2 cups of sliced cooked pork
1/2 cup of fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup of fresh coriander leaves
2 green onions, thinly sliced
Red Birdseye chili and lime wedges, and fresh diced garlic to serve.

Method

Place the stock in a saucepan with ginger, star anise, soy sauce and the fish sauce. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the noodles according to the instructions on the packet, and then drain well.
Divide the noodles among warmed soup bowls, then top with sliced pork fillet, mint, onions and coriander.
Pour over the hot soup mixture (the heat will gently cook the meat) and top with chili, lime juices and fresh garlic.

Our sweet Moscato would go well with this lovely soup.

Pork Meatballs over Laksa Soup

We have been very busy the last couple of weeks with entertaining overseas guest, from China, Germany and USA.

We have been very busy the last couple of weeks with entertaining overseas guest, from China, Germany and USA. We have mainly been providing them with our pork and our goat, and fresh fruits and vegies from our garden/orchard.

One quick dish I did was steaming Asian pork meatballs over a Laksa soup. I have a steamer with a reasonable size base that I cook the soup in the bottom (where you usually only boil water) and have the meatballs steaming above, getting all of the lovely flavours infusing through.

For the Meatballs
• 500g pork mince
• 4 shallots, ends trimmed, thinly sliced
• 5 water chestnuts, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander leaves
• 3 teaspoons soy sauce
• 3 teaspoons oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 egg, lightly whisked
• 40g (1/4 cup) plain flour
• Steamed rice and Asian greens to serve with, or you can place in the Laksa to make it an all in one main dish.

First of all combine the mince, shallots, water chestnuts, garlic, coriander, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil and egg in a bowl. Roll 1 tablespoonful of the mixture into a ball and roll in seasoned flour, with salt and pepper and place in the steamer. Place baking paper between the layers.

Laksa Soup
Fry 1 diced onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 teaspoon of fresh ginger in a tablespoon of olive oil in the pan of your steamer. Then add 1 full jar of Laksa paste(400mls) with 3 cups of Chicken or vegetable stock, 400ml of coconut milk and 125ml of coconut cream. Place the steamer on top, bring to the boil and let it simmer for half an hour or until the pork meatballs are all cooked through.
Whilst that is cooking, get your soup bowls ready with the following items divided between them. You can have it as an entrée, if you have lots of people or if you only have 4-6 you can have it as a main dish.

• 100g mung bean vermicelli noodles (cellophane or glass noodles)
• A kaffir lime leaf in each
• 2 cups of (110g) bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup coriander leaves
• 1/2 cup Vietnamese mint leaves
• Cooked prawns, diced chicken
• Sambal oelek and lime wedges, to serve

This dish goes nicely with a glass of our Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc

Leftover Sausage Curry

It's been really busy at our house recently with lots of dinner parties with friends, relatives and business partners.

It's been really busy at our house recently with lots of dinner parties with friends, relatives and business partners.

Please see below a recipe I did on Sunday night, after a BBQ we had for 20 people on Saturday night.

Leftover Sausage Curry
Fry in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, the following ingredients;
1 diced onion
1 tsp. grated ginger
2 tsp. crushed garlic
1 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. Garam Masala
1 tsp. coriander powder
1 tsp. Cumin
1 tsp. dried chilli or more if you like it hot.

Fry this all together, until golden brown. It's important to cook your spices first, as it brings out the flavour in them. Even better if you mortar and pestle the seeds of the above spices, before frying.

Then add a dozen leftover sausages diced, as these are already cooked, you just need to cover them in the spices, then add a can(400gm) of chopped tomatoes and a can(400gm) of coconut milk. Let this simmer until heated all the way through and the flavours have soaked into the sausages. This should take approximately 20-30mins.

Serve with Pilau rice
1 cup Basmati rice
2 cups chicken stock
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. Garam Masala
1 bay leaf.
1 tsp. crushed garlic

Place the chicken stock and spices in a saucepan and cook the rice for 12 minutes until light and fluffy.
Whilst the rice is cooking, fry up 1 thinly sliced onion, in 2 tsp of olive oil, until golden and caramelised. Spread out on a baking tray and place in a preheated 180°c oven for about 10 minutes until it is crunchy, then toast 1/4 of a cup of Salted Cashews.
Combine the onion and cashews and sprinkle on the top of the rice for serving.
Serve with a green salad, Cucumber and Yoghurt and red chillies for those who like it hot.

Enjoy with a glass of Rose.

Festive Christmas Turkey Lunch!

For Christmas, a must have is Turkey, but you don't necessarily have to cook a whole one.  This is a simple recipe, that is easy to do.
 

Turkey in a Pot

One turkey breast, size dependent on how many people you are having for lunch. Ask the butcher to make sure it is secured with string, so it holds better for carving.

Use a heavy based pot, such as Le Creuset. Melt 50gms butter and 2 tablespoons of Olive oil in the pot.  Place the turkey breast down skin side first and brown for a couple of minutes, then turn sealing all of the meat.

Add the zest of 2 lemons, a couple of sprigs of thyme and sage, salt and pepper and 3 cups of chicken stock to the pot and place the lid on top to seal.

Turn the heat down low and let it simmer for 40minutes, check on the progress and cook for longer if necessary, this will depend on the size of the Turkey breast. 

Once cooked, drain off the juices through a sieve to make the gravy.  Keep the turkey in the pot to keep warm until ready to serve.

Pancetta and Cranberry individual stuffing's

Whilst the turkey is cooking, you can make the stuffing.

Using a muffin tin, oil them first and then place thin slices of Pancetta to make a cup.

To make the stuffing to go inside melt 50gms of butter and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and fry 1 onion and 1 garlic clove diced. Then add a cup full of chopped parsley, thyme and sage, salt and pepper, and 1 cup of cranberries and combine until soft. 

 

Then add 3 cups of fresh sourdough bread crumbs, 2 eggs and pour over 100gms of melted butter, combine and add to the pancetta cups, firming down to take the mould of the tins. Cook them in the oven at 180c for 20-30 mins until golden brown.

Gravy
Make a roux with 50gms of butter and with 3 tablespoons of flour, melt the butter and add flour whisking quickly to combine with no lumps. Then gradually add the juices from the turkey until the desired thickness you like your gravy.

Hope you enjoy with a glass of delicious Shiraz

Have a wonderful Christmas from the PEACE Family.

Wishing you all the best for 2014. 

 

Marinated Pork with side dishes

Andrew and I (with our daughter Sylvia) spent the winter up in the Snow area of Victoria. It was a great 14 weeks of enjoying skiing in the cold and snow.

Andrew and I  (with our daughter Sylvia) spent the winter up in the Snow area of Victoria.  It was a great 14 weeks of enjoying skiing in the cold and snow.  We slaughtered 2 pigs a few weeks ago, so we have been eating quite a lot of Pork, so why not try out my pork marinade and side dishes.

Pork  Marinade

This marinade can be used on pork fillets or pork chops.

2 tablespoons Brown Sugar

2 tablespoons Soya Sauce

1 tsp garlic

1 tsp Cumin

1 tsp Garam Masala

Add chilli to your liking

Combine all these ingredients together in a dish and place the pork chops/fillets in and rub the marinade all over them until they are covered, leave them in the dish marinating for a minimum of one hour.

You can then bake, fry or BBQ the chops/fillets.  Cook them until they go a nice golden colour.

This is great served with a Cabbage dish or Fennel salad with Coriander.

Cabbage Saute

For the cabbage sauté, fry 1 diced onion and a tsp of fennel seeds, in 1 dessertspoon of olive oil.

Add the sliced cabbage, and keep stirring until combined.  Add 1/2 a cup of white wine and 1/4 of a cup of apple cider, seasoning with salt and pepper.

Put a lid on the frying pan and turn the heat down low, cooking to the firmness you prefer.  I like mine still with abit of crunch.  Before serving add 1/2 a cup of chopped fresh Parsley.

 Fennel and red onion salad.

Slice fennel and red onion and present in dish alternatively.

Then mix the following ingredients in a bowl and pour over the salad;

1 tsp seeded mustard

2 tbsp of white balsamic

4 tbsp of olive oil

juice of 1 lemon.

Salt and pepper

Finish the salad with 1/2 a cup of chopped Coriander.

 

 

Sorrel Dip with Smoked Trout

I made this Dip the other night and had it with some smoked Trout from the Great Alpine Region of victoria. We were holidaying up in the snow fields of dinner Plain.

I made this Dip the other night and had it with some smoked Trout from the Great Alpine Region of victoria. We were holidaying up in the snow fields of dinner Plain.

So for the Sorrel Dip, it's really simple but tastes Divine!!

1 clove of garlic

bunch of sorrel

4 spring onions

250gm Cream Cheese.

Start off by crushing the garlic, and chopping the washed sorrel and spring onion(you could put it in a blender if you like. Then add the cream cheese until completely combined.

Then simply serve the smoked trout on fine crackers topped with a dollop of the Dip and hey presto!

Summer Russian Salad

Since you are having such brilliant weather, you should all be having BBQ's and eating lots of salads. Please see one of my family's favorites.

Since you are having such brilliant weather, you should all be having BBQ's and eating lots of salads.

Please see below one of my family's favorites.

Start by boiling 6 washed potatoes with the skin on,(once cooked, drain the water off and let them rest for 20 minutes to cool.)dice into medium sized pieces and place straight into the bowl.

Followed by boiling 4 eggs and dicing.

whilst they are boiling, cut up and place in a large salad bowl the following ingredients;

6 medium gherkins(dill pickles)diced
1 cucumber diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 cup of diced ham.

Once the potatoes have cooled add to the other ingredients and also the diced boiled eggs.

Add a bunch of fresh, finely cut dill, salt and pepper, and a good quality mayonnaise and combine gently.

This can be served as a starter/entree or served with BBQ chicken.

I like this with our Riesling or Semillon Sauvignon Blanc.