Bruschetta With Sauteed Saffron Milk Cap Mushrooms And Goat Cheese

Autumn is coming to an end and my dear friend A was rather determine to go forage for mushrooms before the end of the mushrooming season here in Victoria. She made the trip down to the Mornington Peninsular with N and came back with a huge bounty of saffron milk caps and a few slippery jacks.

I was given the best job of turning them into something delicious. Not wanting to mess around with something so fresh, I sauteed the mushrooms with a few simple ingredients and used it as topping for bruschetta. A also brought back some beautiful goat cheese from the Mornington and it went beautifully with the wild mushrooms. Feta or goat curd will be good substitutes.

I think it will be hard to go back to the cultivated mushrooms after this and we are already looking forward to the next mushroom season.

P.S Our blogger friends from Where's The Beef have also gone mushrooming recently, click here to read about their adventure.

A and N talked about their first mushrooming experience while busy cleaning the mushrooms.

Just an idea of the size of their bounty... well done girls!

makes 6 serves
you'll need;
2 tbs of olive oil
25 g of butter
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
3 sprigs of thyme, removed stalks and chopped
2 sprigs of rosemary, removed stalks and chopped
20 to 25 saffron milk caps or a selection of wild mushrooms, sliced or torn into pieces
salt and pepper to taste
chopped parsley
6 slices of sourdough bread, rubbed with garlic and drizzled with a little olive oil
goat cheese, goat curd or feta cheese
olive oil or truffle oil (optional)

Get the chopping, cutting and slicing out of the way and we are ready to start cooking.

Heat up a frying pan until it is smoking (this is crucial or the mushrooms will start to stew instead) then add in the olive oil and butter follow by the chopped garlic and herbs. Saute the chopped ingredients for 30 seconds before adding the mushrooms.

Cook the mushrooms on high heat for 3 to 4 minutes, season well with salt and pepper and add in some chopped parsley.

Place the bread slices under the grill for 5 minutes or until they are slightly golden. You may also char the bread on a hot griddle.

Spoon some sauteed mushrooms over the bread slices, crumb some goat cheese on top, sprinkle with some extra chopped parsley and drizzle with a little olive oil or truffle oil if you have some waiting to be used.

Serve as a first course with a nice bottle of red wine. Come back on Friday to find out what we had as our main.

North African Chicken, Vegetables And Chick Pea Tagine WIth Coucous

It was an extremely wet and cold weekend here in Melbourne... coldest day in 4 years and wettest May day in 17 years (both on the same day) should give you an idea of the dreary weather we are having at the moment.

Well instead of complaining about the weather which is a favourite Melbournian past time, I decided to cook something very comforting instead. A quick stop at the supermarket and this is what we had for dinner, better still there are enough leftover for quite a few more meals.

P.S This is equally delicious with some steamed rice or some toasted turkish bread.

serves 8
you'll need;
2 kg of chicken drumsticks or cuts of your choice
1 tbs paprika
1/2 tbs of cumin powder
1/2 tbs of coriander powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 large eggplant, cut into large cubes
2 medium size zucchini, cut into 3 mm discs
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 3 mm discs
1 can of chick peas, drained
olive oil for cooking
fresh coriander or parsley leaves to serve
couscous to serve
good yoghurt to serve

for the sauce;
3 tbs of olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tbs of smoked paprika
1 tbs of allspice
1 tbs of sumac
2 x 400 ml can of chopped tomatoes
1 cup of stock
2 bay leaves
lemon rind or  1 tbs of chopped preserved
salt and pepper to taste

Rub chicken with spices, salt and pepper and leave aside until needed.

Prepare the vegetables and aromatics for the sauce.

Fry eggplant with a little olive oil until brown all over and is about 1/3 cooked. Remove from the pan and do the same with the sweet potato and zucchini. You may omit this stage but it does give the finished dish an extra smoky flavour.

Brown chicken with a little oil until is golden all over, remove and set aside.

Saute onion and garlic with a little olive oil, add in the spices when onion is soften and lightly brown. Add chopped tomatoes, stock, bay leaves, preserved lemon or lemon rind and season well.

Place chicken and chick peas to the pot and simmer for 25 minutes.

Next add the sweet potato, after 10 minutes add the eggplant and zucchini and continue to cook for a further 15 minutes. Check for seasonings.

Serve with couscous and a big dollop of yoghurt.

Steamed Stuffed Chinese Cabbage Rolls 蒸大白菜卷 - "Everyday Pork And Prawns Mince" Recipe 8

The remaining everyday pork and prawns mince was turned into these healthy steamed Chinese cabbage rolls... just incase I failed to entice you with my slightly sinful stuffed chicken wings or the comforting egg tofu dish.

If you want to impress friends and family without going over your budget; this elegant looking dish is the answer, it takes no time to prepare and will only set you back around $4.

I hope I have done enough to finally convince you to prepare some of the wonderful everyday pork and prawns mince real soon!

recipe from the tummies' kitchen
serves 2 as part of a Chinese meal
you'll need;
4 Chinese cabbage leaves
everyday pork and prawns mince

for the sauce;
1 cup of chicken stock
1 tbs of oyster sauce
1 tbs of light soy
a few drops sesame oil
dash of Chinese cooking wine (optional)
dash of white pepper
corn flour solution 

Bring a pot of water to the boil, blanch Chinese cabbage for a minute or until soften. Remove and refresh under running water for 30 seconds.

Dry cabbage leaves with a kitchen towel and place 3 tbs of pork and prawns mince as shown.

Roll up the cabbage tightly and repeat the rest of the cabbage leaves.

Steam cabbage rolls with gentle heat for 10 to 15 minutes.

Place all sauce ingredients in a wok and when it comes to a boil, thicken with a little corn flour solution.

Pour the sauce over the cabbage rolls and serve as part of a Chinese meal

Egg Tofu With Pork And Prawn Mince Sauce 家常玉子豆腐 - "Everyday Pork And Prawns Mince" Recipe 7

Apart from the stuffed chicken wings and boxing chicken, I also made a simple tofu dish using the versatile everyday pork and prawns mince when my dear friend A was over.

As a huge tofu fan I don't get to cook a lot of tofu since the other tummy is not too keen on the soft wobbly delicacy. Fortunately A is huge tofu fan just like me, however it was her first time having silken egg tofu and she was rather impressed with the dish.

You may use any type of soft tofu for this simple homey dish but if you haven't had silken egg tofu before, perhaps it is time?

P.S tofu discs can be first fried in hot oil before being added to the sauce. 

recipe from the tummies' kitchen
serves 4 as part of a Chinese meal
you'll need;
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3/4 cup of everyday pork and prawns mince
3 tubes of silken egg tofu, cut into 1.5 cm discs
1.5 cups of stock
2 tbs of oyster sauce
2 tbs of light soy
1 tsp of sesame oil
dash of white pepper
1/2 cup of peas
corn flour solution
1 spring onion, chopped

Remove tofu from the casing and cut into 1.5 cm discs.

Add a little cooking oil to a hot wok and saute the chopped garlic for 30 seconds, add everyday pork and prawns mince to the wok and breaking up large lumps while stirring.

Add stock and seasonings and bring it to a boil.

Add tofu and cook for a minute, then add in the peas and thicken the sauce with a little corn flour solution.

Scatter some chopped spring onions over and serve with plenty of steamed rice.

Chicken And Vegetable Bajji - "Malaysian Monday 75"

Bajji or otherwise known as pakora is an Indian snack introduced and made popular by Indian migrants  (mostly from the south of India) a century ago. Like the Chinese, most of them ended up making Malaysia home and their culinary traditions have also became an important element of the wonderful cuisine of ours.

Although this delicious snack can be bought freshly fried at most hours but nothing beats a big batch of homemade ones. I managed to avoid the deep frying process with my oven baked technique and they are just as delicious!

recipe from the tummies' kitchen

oven preheated at 200 C (conventional)

makes 16 to 18

you'll need;

6 skinless and boneless chicken thighs, roughly chopped

1 carrot, peeled and grated

1 small red onion, chopped
2 green chilies, chopped

100 g of green beans, chopped

100 g of snow peas, sliced

2 spring onions, chopped

3 stalks of coriander, roughly chopped

3/4 cup of sweet corn

1/3 cup of besan flour* mixed with 1/4 cup of water

1 tbs of chili powder

1 tbs of cumin powder

1/2  tbs of coriander powder

1 tsp of garam masala

salt and pepper to taste
* besan flour or chickpea flour can be bought from south Asian grocers

Place chicken pieces in a food processor and blend to a rough paste. 

Prepare the vegetables.

Place chicken, vegetables and the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl.

Mix well. To test the seasonings, simply fry a tablespoon of the mixture with a little oil.

Divide and form chicken mixture into 16 equal size patties, heat up an nonstick oven tray and pan fry the bajji with a little vegetable oil.

Turn the patties over and continue to cook for a further 3 minutes then transfer the oven tray to the preheated oven for about 12 to 15 minutes.

Serve bajji with some raita, tamarind chutney or Lingham chili sauce.

My friend Sharon from Test With Skewer is hosting this month's event, please send all you entries to its.sharon@gmail.com

For more information about the event and on how to enter, please click HERE

Chicken Wings 2 Way (Stuffed Chicken Wings And Boxing Chicken) - "Everyday Pork And Prawns Mince" Recipe 6

My dear friend A was sweet enough to come over and have another "tv dinner" with me when the other tummy was away. For our special dinner I made two dishes using the freshly made batch of everyday pork and prawns mince I prepared earlier.

You might have read my post on Thai stuffed chicken wings back in 2009 but I can promise you this is a lot easier especially if you already have a bowl of the everyday pork and prawns mince on hand. As with the other part of the wings, they were turned into some equally tasty boxing chicken.

Don't be put off by the boning process; it is pretty straight forward and you'll get the hang of it almost immediately, better still you are going to be rewarded handsomely with the end result!

P.S do come back and find out what is the second dish we had after my next MMM post.

recipe from the tummies' kitchen
serves 2 to 3 as part of a Chinese meal
you'll need;
a cup of everyday pork and prawns mince
8 chicken wings, cut at the joints
1 tbs of oyster sauce
1 tbs of light soy
1 tbs of Chinese cooking wine (optional)
1 tsp of sesame oil
a dash of white pepper
sweet potato or corn flour for coating
oil for frying 

Remove the bones from the winglets - for how to remove the bones, click here.
Turn the drumlets into boxing chicken - click here to find out how.

Marinate the boned wings and boxing chicken with oyster sauce, soy, pepper, Chinese cooking wine and sesame oil for at least an hour.

Stuff the winglets with the everyday pork and prawns mince using a teaspoon.

Steam stuffed chicken wings for 15 to 20 minutes on very gentle heat to avoid the stuffing from bursting out. Remove and allow to cool.

Coat with sweet potato or corn flour and remove excess flour.

Fry in plenty of hot oil until golden and crispy. remove and drain well.

Serve as a snack with drinks or as part of a meal with rice and other diahes.

A boneless wing stuffed with goodies... blessed!