Indonesian peanut chips. (Rempeyek Kacang)

I was In Bali recently attending the wedding of a dear friend.
I was the trip of a lifetime, we had such a great time, and I hope to take my children there sometime in the future.
One of the foods I really want to have a go at are these peanut wafers.
I tried them at the hotel bar and immediately asked the waiters for the recipe.
Delicious with drinks.....

Ingredients:

• 150 gram flour
  
• 1 beaten egg
• 475 cc thin coconut milk or single cream
  
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  
• 1 Tbs. dry roasted coriander seeds
  
• 1level tsp. salt
  
• 2 lime leaves
  
• 300 gram peanuts, chooped lightly
  
• 600 cc sunflower oil for frying

Instructions:

• Grind garlic, coriander, salt and lime leaves together.
• Mix flour, coconut milk, egg and ground ingredients. Stir well.
• Prepare a small pan, add a soup ladle half full of oil and heat it over a medium flame.
• Take one soup ladle full of dough and one tbsp of peanuts and put it into the pan.
• Press to make a flat round form.
• Fry until brownish.
• Remove and drain.
• Repeat until all dough is used.

Stuffed Turkey drum Sticks

I thought this recipe up while walking down the aisles of the supermarket.
The Turkey Drum sticks are stuffed with a sausage meat farce that is really easy to make at home.
You can make it with  chicken also.

Ingredients for 4:

• 2 turkey or 4 chicken drumsticks
• 200 gr minced pork
• 100 gr stale bread
• handful of herbs (parsley, sage or oregano)
• salt and pepper
• 1 small onion
• 1 clove of garlic

Remove the turkey bones and tendons with a sharp knife. Turkey legs have very hard tendons that will not cook, it is important to remove them. If using chicken you will not find any.

Place the meat, skin side down, over the kitchen worktop and cover with cling film.
Using a rolling pin, bash and flatten the meat until it is even and about 2cm thick.
Place all of the drumsticks one next to another on top of a sheet of aluminium foil, forming a square shape. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Make the stuffing:
Whizz the onion, with the bread, garlic, herbs, salt and pepper. Add a little nutmeg if you like it.
Mix this with the mince meat.
Spread the stuffing over centre of the meat and roll up with the help of the aluminium foil. Shape it into a tight cylinder.
Now you can refrigerate the meat cylinder for up to 24 hours.

Bake in the aluminium foil for 70 minutes at 180ºCelsius.

Ideas: bake over some bakers potatoes. Or serve with rice or mash.

Crepes Suzette

For the Batter; whisk with a balloon whisk the following:

• 1 large egg
• 100 gr plain flour
• 400 ml milk
• pinch of salt
• 1tbsp oil

You need to have a thin batter, the consistency of single cream, add a little water if too thick, or flout if too thin.

Make 8 pancakes in a clean pan (I have one pan just for pancakes). Pour enough batter to coat the bottom of the pan, cook until sent on one side, turn with a spatula; cook for a few seconds and turn into a pan. Continue with the rest of the batter until it is all used up, you need to end up with at least 8 thin pancakes.

For the filling:

• juice of one orange
• juice of half a lemon
• 20 gr sugar
• 2 tbsp orange liquor or rum
  

Melt the butter in a pan and add the rest of the ingredients, heat until the sugar is dissolved.
Place one pancake on the liquid, and fold twice to get a triangle shape. Place the folded pancake in a warm serving dish, or leave it in the pan while you do the rest.
Continue with the other pancakes, coating them with the syrup and folding.
Serve the pancakes warm with a little of the syrup.

Chicken with Baker's Potatoes

A great 'one pot roast' with everything in one large baking tray.
The full meal takes care of itself and once it is in the oven you can forget about it for 2 hours.

Ingredients for 4-5 people

• 1 whole chicken
• 3 large potatoes
• 1 onion, sliced
  
• 1 red pepper, sliced
• salt, pepper, paprika
• 1 lemon
• 4 tomatoes, cut in half
  

Cut the lemon in half, put one half inside the chicken cavity and juice the other half. Put half a teaspoon of salt inside the cavity, and a clove of garlic if you have one.
Sprinkle salt, pepper and paprika liberally over the chicken skin, rubbing it in with your hands.
Put the chicken aside while you prepare the vegetables.

Peel and slice the potatoes into 5mm slices. Slice the onion and the pepper.
Place the vegetables in a large baking tray. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the juice of half a lemon, salt and pepper.
Mix the vegetables with two spoons or your hands, until the marinade is mixed through.

Arrange the vegetables in a layer, place the chicken on top.
Put the cut tomatoes around the chicken, and sprinkle each half with a little salt and pepper.

Bake for 2 hours at 170ºC.
Serve from the baking tray.

Beef Curry

This is another easy stew to make. You can assemble the stew and leave it to cook for 2-3 hours.
As all stews, it is best made one day earlier.

Ingredients for 6-8 people:

• 1.5 kg. stewing beef, cut into large chunks
• 1 large onion, sliced
  
• 1 carrot, sliced
  
• 1 stick of celery, chopped
  
• 2 tbsp curry powder, hot or mild.
  
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 x 2cm piece of fresh ginger
  
• 1 red pepper, chopped
  
• 400 ml. tin of coconut cream
• salt and pepper, to taste
  

Fry the onion with 1 full teaspoon of salt and 2tbsp oil, for 5 or 10 minutes. The colour of the curry will depend on how long you fry the onion. If you want a rich dark colour, fry it for longer until it begins to caramelize. If you want a light colour, fry it for 2-3 minutes until it softens.

Meanwhile, take the garlic, ginger and pepper, place them in a blender with half a glass of water.
liquidise this until you have a smooth, bright red liquid. Put this mix to one side.

Add the curry powder, carrot and celery to the onion. Stir for a minute and incorporate all of the meat, the liquidised pepper mix, and the coconut cream.
Stir the meat, cover the pan and bring the stew to the boil.
Turn the heat down to the minimum and simmer gently for 2 hours.
Check the seasoning and add more salt if needed.

Serve hot, with Indian bread and a pilau, or just plain boiled Basmati rice.

Cabbage and Pork Dumplings

Cabbage leaves are perfect to prepare with a delicious stuffing. This recipe is inspired in a eastern European recipe.

Ingredients for 4 people

• 8-12 cabbage leaves
• 500 gm. minced pork
• 100 gm. rice, uncooked
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
  
• salt, pepper, paprika, nutmeg, to taste

• 1 small onion
• 2 tomatoes, peeled and diced
• small glass of white wine

Wash and drain the cabbage leaves. Blanch them in a little water for 4 minutes until just tender. Remove the central stem with a knife. Put the leaves aside.

Mix the mince with the onion, salt, pepper, paprika and nutmeg to taste. Add the uncooked rice and mix it in well. The rice will cook with the meat and will absorb all of the flavour.
Take a ball of meat about the size of a golf ball of a little larger. Wrap the dumpling in a cabbage leave. Continue the same process until you finish the meat and cabbage. Put aside.

Fry the onion in a little oil for 5 minutes, add the tomatoes, salt, pepper and the wine. When it comes up to the boil pack the cabbage parcels over the sauce. Cover the pan and cook for 35-40 minutes.

Serve hot, with mashed potatoes.

Home Made Bread

Making home made bread is not difficult, it requires only a little time and patience.
The results are very satisfying and you can play around with ingredients to make your own personalised loaf.

You do not need to measure any of the ingredients, just make sure you have the following.
Ingredients for a basic white loaf of 700 gr. approximately.

• packet of good strong flour, with a protein content of 11% or more
• sachet of granulated yeast, or fresh bakers yeast
• water
• salt
• sugar
  

Put a walnut size piece of yeast, or a sachet of granulated yeast, a tablespoon of sugar, and a 200 ml glass of tepid water in a large bowl. Add 3-4 tbsp flour and mix it in with a fork. Leave this mix to stand for at least 15 minutes.
Add another glass of tepid water and a heaped teaspoon of salt. Sugar is important to help the bread rise, salt is important for the flavour.
Incorporate enough flour to make quite a wet dough.

Now knead the dough for 5-6 minutes. It will 'tell' you it is ready when it becomes slightly springy in consistency.
Put is back in the bowl and leave it to rise for 2-3 hours in a warm place, until it doubles in size. If you leave it in a cold place it will rise, but it will take longer.

Take the dough out of the bowl and knead it again, this time only for one minute or so. Shape the dough and place it in a non stick bread mold or on a non stick oven tray.
If you are making a round loaf, pull the dough and tuck it in under itself 4-5 times, shaping it into a ball. This will ensure it rises upward.

To get a good crust, I put the bread in a cold oven and spray some water over it. I then leave it to rise for a second time, until it doubles in size. Spray more water over the crust if you want to get a good thick crust.

Once the bread has risen, turn the oven on to 180ºC and bake for 45 minutes.
The bread is ready when it sounds hollow when you tap it.

Variations:

• use wholemeal flour instead of white, or half and half
• add some cereals and or nuts to the flour, about one cup will suffice
• instead of water you can use milk (sour milk makes very good bread) or beer.
  

Sour dough:
Sour dough bread is heavier in consistency and has a great, slightly sour flavour. It is made by leaving the yeast mixture to stand for a few days. After a few days you can add a small piece of yeast to the yeast and flour mix, and continue as above.