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.

Roti Canai - Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Or A Snack In Between

Malaysians would eat this at anytime of the day; as a meal, as a snack, with curries, dip in sugar or condensed milk. It has gained popularity in Australia in recent years, not from Malaysian restaurants but ironically from Thai restaurants since it is on every Thai restaurant's menu (it is possible to get this in Thailand especially the Muslim south but it is served more as a sweet treat). Most supermarkets have roti canai on their shelves these days but are often overpriced and rather doughy for my liking. Since we have just launched our "Muhibbah Malaysian Monday blog event", it is only fitting to share with you the Mamak stall quality roti canai and claim this back as ours! This will hardly cost you anything and it is dead easy. Also I urge you to throw out all the roti canai recipes that asked for condensed milk, egg or sugar right now.

P.S This is known as roti prata in Singapore. For the origin of the name; it is possible that the word canai derived from Chennai since most Indians migrated to Malaysia via the port city of Chennai (Mumbai). What do you think?

makes 6
you'll need;
500 g of plain flour
pinch of salt
1/2 cup of ghee (clarified butter) or cooking oil*
1/2 cup of water
* Please do not use ghee if you are making this in the middle of winter.

If you are making the clarified butter - place butter in a microwave safe jug and nuke it in the microwave oven for a minute. Pour the clear liquid out leaving the white cloudy bits behind.

Sieve flour and salt into a large bowl.

Pour cool clarified butter into the bowl with the flour and slowly mix in the water.

Knead dough til it is of smooth, medium consistency. Leave aside at a warm place for 2 to 3 hours to soften.

Divide dough into 6 equal parts and form portion into a ball. You can leave them covered til they are needed.

Roll out the dough and stretch it as thin as you can, drizzle with some cooking oil. Slowly pick up the disc and twist to make a rope then wrap it into a spiral.

You should end up with something like this. Leave it somewhere warm to soften.

Place the soften dough on the work surface and flatten it with your palm.

Place disc on a hot tava (flat griddle) and fry on both side til golden. When it is done place it on a plate and loosen it slightly with your palms.

Serve with curry as part of a Malaysian meal or have it with sugar or condensed milk.

Come join us! Click HERE to find out more!

Roti Jala, Malaysian 'Net Bread'

Roti jala, literally meaning 'net bread' in Malay, is a popular street snack found all over Malaysia. These lace-like pancakes are normally served with curries, which is a substantial meal on its own. If you don't have one of the pancake makers, an empty can with holes pierced works just as well. They can be made hours in advance, just heat them up in the microwave before serving. I served this with my favourite Malaysian chicken curry - click HERE for the recipe.

makes 15

you'll need;

1.5 cups of flour, sifted

1 cup of milk

1/2 cup of coconut milk

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 tsp of turmeric powder

salt to taste

roti jala maker 

Place everything in a large bowl and whisk til well combine.

Pass batter through a sift to remove any lumps.

Place batter into the pancake maker and drizzle the batter onto a heated pan.

Leave batter to cook for a minute on medium heat.

Fold into half then quarters.

Serve with a rich curry of your choice.

Kind Of A Wrap Dinner

I was making the kebabs thinking they might be quite nice to go with a pilaf, as I was too lazy to go to the shop again to get the basmati rice needed for pilaf i settled for the idea of some kind of wrap.

you'll need;

1 batch of  meat kebabs

1 batch of chapati 

mango chutney

tomatoes, cut into wedges

red onion, sliced into thin rings

lettuce

cucumber and mint raita

Everything was on the table waiting to be consumed

Place a bit of everything and wrap it all up, you know what to do next!

P.S the tummies finished everything on the table, absolutely everything! :)

Chapati

Chapati is one of the easiest unleavened bread to make. It takes less than an hour from start to finish, and the best thing is that it costs next to almost nothing. Do try to invest in a flat griddle called a tava from an Indian shop. It's handy when you decide to make any kind of roti, even pancakes.

you'll need;

400g of atta flour (available from the Indian grocer) shifted

300ml of tepid water

pinch of salt

melted butter

method;

Make a well in the shifted flour, slowly add water to it and mix until you get a soft dough.

Knead the dough for about 5 minutes and leave it in an oiled bowl, rest for 30 minutes.

Let dough rest for 30 minutes.

Roll out each portion until you get a thin disc.

Place it on a heated tava or a non-stick pan, cook it for 15 seconds.

Turn it over and cook for another 10 seconds, meanwhile use a towel to press the bread down, it will puff up. brush it lightly with melted butter.

You are ready to have your chapati eaten with curries, part of an indian meal or as a wrap with roast meat. Happy trying!!!