Haleem "King of Curries"

I finally attempted Haleem "King of Curries" - my absolute favourite at Faheem's. While it wasn't quite as good as the original I thought it turned out pretty well and my husband was delighted to come home to it as he's working the weekend. Its basically a heavily spiced dhal with beef or lamb which is cooked for at least 4 hours so that the meat begins to almost dissolve into the dhal. The garnishes add extra heat and freshness to the dish.




I simplified the recipe from Food Safari http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipe/118/Haleem as I didn't fancy trying to find all those types of lentils! Also I had rump steak rather than meat on the bone which would certainly be better if you can be bothered to remove the bones halfway through.

Ingredients - Serves 4 as a main curry with rice

500g beef (stewing steak or similar)
3 cups channa dhal or yellow split peas
2 tbsp garlic, crushed
2 tbsp ginger, crushed
10 cups of water - approx - I replaced 2 cups with beef stock to bolster the flavour as I didn't include bones
Salt to taste
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp dried red chilli
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp garam masala
2 onions, peeled, sliced and fried in ½ cup of vegetable oil
Fresh coriander leaves
1 Green chilli, finely sliced
1 lemon

1. In a large heavy based pan or a slow cooker (much easier as its so hard to get the heat low enough for dhal on the stovetop unless you have electric), add dhal/split peas, garlic, ginger, and 8 cups of boiling water/stock. Bring to the boil and cook for about 3 hours - until the meat starts to fall apart. Check on it every half hour or so to see if the lentils have sucked up all the water as you may need.
2. Add the salt and spices (except the Garam Masala) and cook for another hour.
3. Add fried onions (keep some for garnish) and garam masala. Cook for a further 15 minutes.
4. Serve with green chilli, coriander, fried onions and lemon.

Breakfast at Caffe Quattro Passi

On Saturday morning the Monkey and I joined my dad and the step-family for an early breakfast at Caffe Quattro Passi on Elizabeth Street in Paddington. A special mention to my step-sis for getting up extra early to see the Monkey!

Despite moving away from Paddington, this remains one of my most regular cafes due to the friendly owners, Vikki and Robbie (pictured), the lovely italian coffee (Caffè Diemme if you're interested) and the great and reasonably priced homemade food. Its also great for kids with high chairs and plenty of toys.

My stepsis went for my usual order - the S.T.A.R (Sourdough, tomato, avo and ricotta - pictured). Dad and I had eggs and stepmum just had toast. The Monkey had already breakfasted but she tucked into some toast and made a mess of a babycino.

Some Details as there is no website:

Caffe Quattro Passi

8 Elizabeth St, Paddington, NSW 2021

Open Mon-Sat 8am-4pm

The Scotsman's Birthday Dinner - Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing Recipe

Following a very greedy weekend in Melbourne, yet more food was on the horizon as we'd missed the Scotsman's birthday so I'd promised a birthday dinner with birthday cake of his choice.

I was in a wintery mood despite the gorgeous weather so I served up slow cooked lamb shanks with mashed potato, roasted pumpkin and steamed broccoli. I cooked the lamb in the slow cooker for 6 hours with a "bourguignon" style sauce - bacon, onions, mushrooms, red wine, stock etc. The lamb turned out great and I was delighted to see everyone sucking the marrow out of their bones at the end! My dad pointed out that he'd seen something called a marrow spoon on the Antiques Roadshow which despite my overflowing cupboards and drawer, I do not own. My husband came up with the idea or using skewers to get the last bits of marrow out instead which did the job perfectly.

The Scotsman (very vaguely) asked for cupcakes for his cake so I went for plain cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese icing. I use the Nigella Domestic Goddess recipe for the cakes although what she says stretches to 12 cakes, I think is more like 9 if you're using larger cases as she prescribes. The chocolate cream cheese icing is my own invention. I created it when I had hardly any butter in the house and couldn't be bothered to go to the shops. It was an instant hit - all the lovely texture and slight savouriness of cream cheese icing with the decadence of chocolate! The following recipe would generously cover 12 cupcakes:

Easy Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients:

150g Full Fat Cream Cheese (eg Philadelphia)

50g Unsalted Butter at room temperature

250g icing sugar

50g Dark Chocolate (min 70% cocoa) - melted

1: Add all the ingredients at once. Whisk together either using a hand held electric whisk or in a mixer for 3-5 mins stopping as soon as its light and fluffy. If you're making by hand mix the butter and sugar together first before the adding the rest of the ingredients

If you want a darker chocolate icing - add another 25-50g of melted chocolate - but you'll need to ice immediately as this will harden up more than the quantities above. The look and taste is better for dark chocolate lovers such as myself but as I'm constantly distracted by the monkey, the softer recipe works for me in case I end up taking a play break halfway through.

Faheem's Fast Food

Just noticed how ugly my fish stew photo looks. I promise its delicious!!

Last night we had our monthly curry club and this time it was my choice so naturally I went for my favourite - Faheem's Fast Food on Enmore Road. Before the birth of the Monkey, I used to go and see as many bands as possible at the Enmore theatre just so I'd have another excuse to visit Faheem's. No website I'm afraid but check out the old SMH review - http://www.smh.com.au/news/restaurant-reviews/faheem-fast-food/2006/03/10/1141701679333.html

As there were 10 of us, we got to try a few new dishes but my favourite remains the Haleem "King of Curries" which is beef cooked with lentils and green chillis. Its cooked for something like 24 hours so the beef is almost dissolved into the lentil sauce. I must make an attempt to recreate it at home. Does anyone have a good recipe? The best of the new dishes I tried was the Dal Makhani - a black lentil dish. As Faheem's are masters of the tandoor we also went for a variety of nan and the chicken and fish tikkas which I would also highly recommend.

Don't expect great service, you'll probably have to get your own water and cutlery (although we had great service last night) but do expect fantastic curries - perfect for a winter's evening.

Ligurian Fish Stew

After being inspired by a delicious stew at Bondi Tratt (http://www.bonditrattoria.com.au/), I decided to create my own version during the husband's detox and it has earned a permanent spot in my cooking repertoire. I omitted the prawns, squid and potatoes commonly found in this dish but they could easily be reinstated. Some tail-on prawns would certainly make it look a little prettier! As I serve it with rice, I think the potatoes are a bit superfluous although my husband would disagree as he believes that potatoes are a worthy addition to any dish and that the "double carb meal" is always a winner.

Ingredients (serves 4)

500g Firm white fish - cut into 5cm chunks - I've used monkfish and ling before

2 onions - roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic - thinly sliced

1 head fennel - thinly sliced (sometimes I slice a bit thicker depending on how rustic I'm feeling)

1 heaped tsp fennel seeds

1/2 a glass of white wine (I use dry vermouth if I don't have a bottle open)

700ml passata (i.e one jar)

Small bunch of flat leaf parsley - chopped

Lemon juice and salt/pepper to taste

Olive oil

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan, add the onions and cook on a lowish heat until translucent. Add the garlic and fennel seeds. Cook for about a minute and then add the fennel. Cook for another few minutes then add the white wine/vermouth and cook for another minute or so. Add the passata and I tend to use a little water to wash out the leftover passata in the jar and add that too - about 50ml? You can always add more water if the stew ends up too thick so don't add too much at this stage. Bring the stew up to the boil and then add the fish. Bring up to a simmer and cook for another 10-15 mins or until the fish is cooked. If you decide to include prawns, add them just before the fish is cooked through - i.e a couple of mins before the end.

Add flat leaf parsley, a squeeze of lemon juice and sea salt and pepper to taste. I find it takes a good bit of salt.

I usually serve with brown basmati rice and a green salad. In Bondi Tratt they serve it with a big slice of crusty white bread that seems to have been lightly fried in olive oil which was great but slightly less calorie conscious!

A weekend of excess......Part 2 - Sunday

I was up early as usual with the Monkey (our 14mth old) on Sunday so decided to make a dawn supermarket visit so my husband could lie in. On the way home I stopped at the fabulous Gerbe D'or in Paddington for takeaway hot chocolate and croissants. As you can imagine, I scored serious points when I returned home with my loot. La Gerbe D'Or continue to make the very best croissants in Sydney - they are golden yellow from all the butter and if you dip them in the super rich hot chocolate, you end up with a buttery film on the top of your drink. For once, I refrained from dipping and instead opened some Rose's Spring Rhubarb jam which was the perfect accompainment - nice and tart against the croissant and the sweet hot choc.

No, we still hadn't eaten enough.

After the Monkey refused to nap for more than half an hour at lunchtime, we headed to Balmain to the Welcome Inn (http://www.thewelcomehotel.com) for a winter favourite - their Murphy's Irish Stout Meat Pie. The courtyard is baby friendly so the Monkey enjoyed the side dish of peas with ricotta (not sure why they add ricotta?) while we tucked into our giant pies. The pies are served in large bowls with a pastry top and less greedy people would be better to share one between two with a side of the delicious creamy mash. I was reminded yet again what a small town Sydney is as we bumped into no less than three groups of people we knew in the Welcome, a place that we only ever visit maybe once or twice a year.

By the evening I was fortunately able to find a little space left for some lovely salads made by my sis served with take out chicken from Waverley Chicks - one of the only chicken shops where I don't get a strange smell off the chicken - does anyone else find that?

I'm sorry that there are no photographs of the weekend's exploits, unfortunately most items were already consumed before I remembered to get the camera out. Looks like I'll have to do it all again......

A weekend of excess......Part 1 - Saturday

As the detox is over we decided to have a blow-out weekend to make up for lost time before resorting back to healthy(ish) eating to shift the stubborn last three kilos that have taken a long-term residency on each of our bellies.

We began our culinary expedition at 11am sharp at the amazing Din Tai Fung in World Square (check out their website http://www.dintaifung.com.tw/en/index.asp and the more useful SMH review http://www.smh.com.au/news/restaurant-reviews/din-tai-fung-sydney/2008/06/27/1214472754072.html). Din Tai Fung is a Taiwanese chain with branches around Asia, in LA and in Sydney. For people like me who love Asian food before midday, this is a great alternative to Yum Cha. The wait staff are friendly and efficient and took particularly good care of the Monkey (our 14 month old daughter). We ordered some fried rice and green beans cooked with minced pork before the main event - the dumplings.... We ordered the crab, the pork and the pork and prawn soup dumplings - all sublime. No matter how many times I visit, I still marvel at how they get the soup inside them....(no I don't know how - can anyone enlighten me?). We also went for the pork and prawn dumplings in "tangy" sauce from the appetizer menu - the sauce is amazing poured over some rice. I already can't wait for my next visit.

Fortunately, we were hungry again by the evening as we were invited to a Christmas in July party at Sahnia's on Campbell Parade in Bondi. The food was ok - vegetable soup which was passable followed by a full turkey and ham christmas dinner which would have been fine if we could see it. The lighting was so low that it was like a lucky dip as to what I was going to taste in each mouthful. For that reason alone, I won't be returning for food.

The end of Detox Dinner - Steak feast at Prime

To celebrate the end of the long six weeks of my husband's detox we booked into Prime - the fancy steakhouse in the basement of the GPO Building in Martin Place(http://www.gposydney.com). My husband hadn't been before so was suitably impressed by the surroundings - fantastic sandstone walls and very masculine furniture - I assume they get a good deal on leather... Unsurprisingly, the whole restaurant was full of business men - I only spotted one other female in the place. It is certainly a businessman's dinner type venue - I'm pretty sure we were the only ones not putting it on expenses.

I ordered the 400g Grass Fed Black Angus Scotch Fillet with Béarnaise and Potato Puree, my husband went for the sirloin with the potato gratin and mustard selection (I thought at $46 a main they could supply mustard without wasting a sauce choice on it). We shared sides of green salad, snow peas/sugar snaps and french fries (yes - potato overload but my Irish husband hadn't had a potato in 6 weeks - is that a world record for an Irishman?). This was all accompanied by a delicious Pinot from Ten Minutes by Tractor (not to badly priced at $58).

Overall I was slightly disappointed. Service was great and my steak was tasty enough but probably not enough for $46 and there was more fat and gristle that I would've liked. The biggest disappointment were the french fries, I had ordered the Béarnaise especially for dipping purposes but when the fries turned up they were thick cut (weird when they had another thick cut option that was only slightly thicker so I'd assumed these would be skinny and crisp) - plus they just weren't very crispy and were ever so slightly undercooked on the inside - not enough to send back to the kitchen but certainly not worth the calories.

I just went for sorbet for dessert which was fine. My husband opted for the creme caramel with banana foam and vanilla ice cream which was delicious. I'm generally not taken with the "foam" craze but this one was perfect.

Overall a bill of $235 including 1 bottle of wine, mains and dessert could have been worse but I don't think I'll be hurrying back. I'd prefer to get my steak fix at the fantastic Vamps in Paddington - you don't get the choice of 15 different steaks but its BYO and the fries are fantastic!

Detox-Friendly Zucchini Lasagne

The Zucchini Lasagne was a big success! My detox weary husband and I both enjoyed it and really felt like we'd had a lasagne. It turns out that the pasta and the cheese on top don't count for as much as I thought - its the mingling of the creamy bechamel with the bolognaise that makes the lasagne.

Here is the recipe in brief. I've been deliberately vague on quantities as it depends how many of you there are and the size of your dish. Obviously the zucchini will not suck up liquid like pasta would so you need to have quite a dry bolognaise to start off with. Also try to use smaller zucchini as they tend to have lower water content. If you can only find large ones, just take your strips from either side avoiding the watery core.

Ingredients

Bolognaise (I had leftover detox-friendly lamb and red lentil bolognaise)

Zucchini (I used 2 small ones for 2 people)

Bechamel Sauce (due to detox restrictions I made mine with goats milk, spelt flour, cold pressed rice bran oil, sea salt and pepper which worked surprisingly well)

1. Heat the oven to 190 degrees.
2. Chop the top and bottom off your zucchinis. Then use your peeler to create long strips.
3. Layer the bolognaise, zucchini strips and bechamel as you would an ordinary lasagne, ending with bechamel sauce on the top. If your diet permits - a sprinkling of freshly grated parmesan on top would be perfect.
4. If your ingredients are hot going into the over it will probably only need 15mins but if, like me, you cook in advance and bake it at the last minute, you'll need 30-40mins depending on the size. You want to see bubbling hot sauce at the side and check the centre is hot. As I had no cheese I popped it under the grill at the end to get more colour on the top.
5. Serve with a green salad.

Nearing the end of the big detox

We're finally approaching the end of my husband's six week detox (no alcohol, no dairy (except yoghurt), no caffeine, no potatoes, no bananas, no wheat/oats/rye, no red meat except occasional lamb). While it has been a pain in the backside in many ways, it has also forced me to come up many new recipes and ideas to keep it interesting along the way.

I've found many new uses for yoghurt - salad dressing base, in mashed sweet potato, quick pasta sauce with loads of garlic and herbs to name a few. I have also expanded my curry repertoire and found some interesting wheat alternatives - kamut pasta anyone?

Baby is now sleeping so I'm off to attempt my latest creation - "lasagne" with pasta sheets replaced with zucchini strips. I will report back on how it turns out.