The art of a good sandwich

If you're anything like me you get very bored with standard sandwich fillings and end up buying lunch everyday, which is expensive and probably unhealthy. But I've recently been inspired to try making interesting and delicious cafe-style sandwiches - cheap, healthy, and surprisingly easy. The trick is preparation. Prepare your fillings ahead of time, and keep a well-stocked fridge.

Example 1: A few Sundays ago we had tandoori chicken for dinner, and I made enough for leftovers to go in sandwiches. Then, while making the other stuff for dinner, I popped some red capsicum/pepper in the oven to roast, enough to last for the week. Then on Monday morning I grabbed a couple of slices of whole-grain bread from the freezer and started piling on slices of the tandoori chicken thigh, roasted red capsicum, rocket, a smidge of minced coriander/cilantro, and a drizzle of natural yogurt for the finishing touch. It took no more than 5 minutes to make. Then I toasted my sandwich just before eating, and boy were my lunch-mates jealous! Footnote: Tandoori chicken is very easy to make by the way- it's just tandoori paste, natural yogurt and a squeeze of lemon for the marinade; thrown on the BBQ to cook.

Example 2: The following week, again while preparing dinner on Sunday night, I roasted some pumpkin/squash and some more red capsicum. Then on my sandwich the next morning, I used whole grain bread, slices of the roasted pumpkin and capsicum, a few pieces of fetta cheese, toasted pine nuts, sundried tomatoes, and a drizzle of natural yogurt. Again I toasted the sandwich before eating, and it was delicious. Footnote: I toasted the pinenuts fresh each morning, simply by swirling around in a frying pan (no oil) on moderate heat for about 2 mins until they turn golden brown. Not sure if you can toast a larger batch ahead of time. I'll experiment and let you know.

I really love my...

Le Creuset French Oven in Cherry Red. Its a work of art. And nice to cook with.

Mundial 9 piece knife block. I never want to see an IKEA knife again. Ever.

Great Hummus, if I do say so myself

2 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 19 oz tin chick peas, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup tahini
Juice of 1 lemon or lime (2 tbsp)
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 - 1/2 tsp chilli powder (to taste)
Water

With a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic and sea salt to a paste. In a blender or food processor, puree the chick peas, garlic paste, tahini, lemon/lime juice, olive oil and spices. Add water to achieve desired consistency.

Serve with Turkish bread or pita.
Stores well in fridge for several days.

Bread sauce

If you are eating turkey this Thanksgiving or Christmas, you should try serving it with bread sauce. English people simply can't eat chicken or turkey without bread sauce. Also, in our family we have noticed that it doesn't matter how much bread sauce you make, you always run out, so make plenty. This recipe should be enough for 4-6 people who love their bread sauce. Thanks to Dad for his tips on the recipe.

550 mL milk (skim or whole is fine)
half an onion (cut through the' equator', not through the poles)
8 cloves
1 bay leaf
4 oz fresh bread crumbs (white or brown crumbs doesn't matter, just a matter of visual appeal)
1 oz butter
salt and pepper to taste

Tip: Start preparing the sauce well ahead of serving time, the longer you leave the milk to infuse, the better it will taste.

Push the cloves into the half onion - no need to be a perfectionist about this. Place the onion with cloves, bayleaf, salt and pepper into a sauce pan with the milk. Bring the milk to the boil and turn off the heat. Leave the milk to infuse with the clove and bayleaf flavours for several hours - I suggest 6 hours, although if you're rushed 30 minutes will do.

About 10 minutes before serving dinner, remove the onion, cloves and bayleaf from the milk. Add bread crumbs and butter. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Allow the sauce to thicken and serve.

Stewed gingery peaches

Serves 4-6

Ingredients
4 peaches, peeled and sliced
5 tbsp light corn syrup
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
0.5 -1 tsp ground ginger (depending on how gingery you like it)

Method
Combine the syrup, lemon juice, cinnamon and ginger in a medium sized saucepan. Bring to a simmer over low heat and add the peaches. Stir everything together to ensure the peaches are coated in the sauce. Cook for 10 minutes, uncovered, with occasional stirring.

Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla icecream.

Thai creme brulee

When you have your own blowtorch, you find yourself making creme brulee often. And to relieve the monotony of the traditional vanilla creme brulee, I've started messing around with flavours. This is a good one!

Serves 6
1 stick of lemongrass, use just the bottom half, and cut it down the middle.
6 kaffir lime leaves
2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thin slices (e.g. 3 mm)
570 mL heavy/double/whipping cream
6 egg yolks
2 tbsp sugar
4 tsp corn flour/corn starch
about 6 tsp sugar for the brulee

Important: plan ahead. The creme has to set overnight, or at least for most of the day.

Place the lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, ginger and cream into a saucepan. Heat the cream over low-medium heat until it reaches boiling point, then gently simmer for 15 min, allowing the flavours to infuse the cream. Stir it occasionally with a wooden spoon.
Meanwhile whisk together the egg yolks, corn flour, and sugar in a bowl. (Make sure the bowl is large enough to add the cream)
Strain the hot cream through 2 pieces of cheesecloth or a sieve into the bowl with the egg mixture, making sure all lemongrass etc is removed. Using a wooden spoon, mix the cream and egg mixture together. Then return the mixture to the saucepan.
Heat the creme mixture over gentle heat for 1-2 min, until it thickens, stirring all the time with the wooden spoon.
Divide the mixture equally into ramekins or small bowls. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight, or for as long as possible before serving (at least 10 hours).

Later:
When you're ready to serve, sprinkle sugar over the top of the creme. Get out your blowtorch and flame the sugar quickly until it darkens and caramelises. If you don't have a blow torch you could put it under your grill/broiler but the trick is to act quickly. If it takes too long to caramelise the sugar, your creme will heat up and melt.
Allow the creme brulee to cool off slightly (about 30 seconds) and serve. The fun part is tapping through the caramelised sugar with your spoon. Delicious!

My first Yorkshire pudding

The problem with Yorkshire pudding is that it can be darned finnicky. I remember when I was growing up, making Yorkshire pudding for Sunday lunch would be one of the most stressful times of the week for my mother. Sometimes it would rise, and other times it could be used as a WMD. It used to work out pretty well when we lived in the UK, but once we went to Australia it was a pain in the arse to get it right. It turned out to be a flour thing, and some adjustments to the recipe were required. But, in the last year or so, Mum has discovered Jamie Oliver's Yorkshire pud recipe, and it has changed her life.
Today Rhonda called us and invited us over for dinner to eat some roast beef she'd bought. I decided I had to make Yorkshire pudding. I was scared, but it turned out really well.

Here's the recipe, which serves 4 people:

3 eggs
115 g plain flour (slightly less than 1 cup)
285 ml milk
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp olive oil

Mix the eggs, flour and salt and pepper together. Gradually add the milk while stirring constantly - you can use an electric mixer. Allow the mixture to stand in the fridge for a while (up to 12 hours before is fine), but bring back to room temp before putting in the oven.
Preheat the oven to 220 C/ 425 F . Put the olive oil in the baking dish. Place the baking dish in the oven for 10 min, then remove and pour in the batter.
Put the dish back in the oven and do not open the oven door again until cooked. The Yorkshire pud will take 20-30 min to cook, depending on the oven. It should be puffy and golden brown. Opening the oven door before it is cooked, will cause the Yorkshire pudding not to rise.

Serve immediately.