Mister Delicious

Gulyás is a traditional name for the cattle-herdsmen of Hungary and has come to represent a widely known and equally varied soup or stew more commonly referred to as Goulash. I can’t remember where I first encountered this rich beef stew but the most memorable experience was in Prague – capital of the Czech Republic – where a variation of Bohemian Gulyás reigns proudly as the national dish.

As parts of the current Czech Republic were once known as Austro-Hungarian Empire as far as I know this represents the most authentic version of Gulyás and is certainly one of the most basic in practise while the polar opposite in flavour. I’ve always liked hearty beef dishes but this one struck a cord. Immediately I was taking notes and upon return to Australia I set about reverse-engineering this to share with my mates. After collaborating many resources and through many experiments I have come to a recipe that is a fair representation of the Gulyás as I knew it in the beautiful golden city of Prague.

Rules as they told me:

• No tomatoes! No exceptions!

• Hungarian Paprika.

• Large chunks of meat.

• No thickeners; flour, potato or otherwise.

Of course, rules were meant to be broken. If you can’t find Hungarian Paprika use what you’ve got (careful with the hot stuff), supermarket steaks are already cut thin, and if you want potatoes or tomatoes in your stew then who’s stopping you? I have attempted to maintain authenticity as long as it does not impede practicality. I’ve used the methods and ingredients available and practical to achieve a taste and presentation as faithful as the original as I could manage, and if I don’t say so myself it’s pretty damn good!

I prefer not to use capsicums as they can quickly disperse the thick texture created by our Gulyás-style soffritto as it lacks a thickener. A wonderful synergy is created using beer originating from the same region as the dish and any substitution with local Pilsners should not be tolerated! If you can’t get a good Pilsener then try something dark and flavoursome.

Ingredients

• 1 European Pilsener beer (preferrably Czech)

• 2 onions

• 1 head of garlic

• 1 medium sized non-hot-pepper or equivalent (capsicum)

• 600g-800g side of a suitable stewing beef diced into 2cm cube

• Lots of hungarian paprika

Direction

Preheat oven to 200.

Coat the meat generously & thickly in paprika and put in the oven for 15-20 minutes to brown.

In the meantime mince the onions, peppers and garlic either by hand or with a food processor. Heat a large pot and on a low heat gently fry these in oil for 10 minutes or until the meat is done. Remove the beef from the oven and along with any drippings tip these and the beer into the pot. Top up with water, beer or stock as necessary til the beef is just covered and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer for at least an hour or until the meat is so soft it’s unbearable not to eat, the sauce should be the consistency of a runny tomato paste and about the same colour.

This is usually accompanied with potato rosti but you could just as easily use some other potato cake, mashed potato or a good sturdy bread.

A lot has happened since my last posting on this site in late 2008.

I’ve travelled, lived through great experiences both high and low & through these changed the way I approach life and cooking.

It says a lot to me that despite a change in direction the purpose of this collection remains the same as always; to provide a forum for me to connect with others through my passions.

Please come back to share in my thoughts and knowledge on food, cycling and life.

Do you have a crisper drawer full of good intentions? Don’t let all those vegetables go to waste! You can make them into a delicious Winter soup so easily, and then you can just heat it up for a warm snack, or freeze it for later.

Ingredients:
Vegetables! You can use whatever you want or grab one of those pre-packed soup mix packets from your supermarket or greengrocer. Or just try the following recipe:
1 onion, diced
1 leek, sliced
1 parsnip, peeled and diced
1 swede, peeled and diced
3 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 sticks celery, sliced
2 small carrots (or 1 large carrot), sliced
Dried spices (try mustard seeds, oregano, basil, marjoram…whatever takes your fancy)
1L chicken stock
500ML milk (optional – this will result in a creamy soup)

Heat a small amount of oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Fry the mustard seeds until they start to pop. Add the onion and leek and fry until soft. Add all the vegetables, then pour over the milk, if using. Add enough chicken stock to cover the vegetables (add more than the litre of stock if required. A cheat’s way is to just pour water in with some stock cubes and the cubes will dissolve while cooking). Add half a teaspoon of each of the dried herbs. Bring to the boil. Simmer for 20 minutes or until all vegetables are soft.

You can transfer the mixture to a food processor (wait for it to cool a bit first), or for a chunkier soup, just mash it a bit with a potato masher. Stir a little grated parmesan cheese into the soup before serving, if desired.

Laksa quite simply put is an amazing dish.  It has a multitude of flavours and textures, lends aroma and a visual feast.  It can be prepared quickly or laboriously but either way never fails to satisfy or impress.  The more effort or love you put into your laksa, the better it gets.  This kind of relationship is hard to find in anything be it food or otherwise.  I have tried to present laksa to you with this in mind, my words are intended to allow you the choice of greatness or goodness.  If you know a quicker or better way, by all means, do it.

Laksa

As main meal, serves 3

Ingredients
2 tbsp Peanut or vegetable Oil
4-5 tbsp Laksa Paste*
1 Tin coconut milk approx 300ml (unshaken, Ayam brand is good)
Chicken Stock approx 300ml (i use continental chicken consomme)
300g Chicken, fat trimmed (thigh for frying, breast for steaming)
Approx. 180g noodles (katong style is for 1 1/2 inch long pieces of thick rice noodles, i substitute with dried variety of udon cut into thirds)

Bean sprouts (for special occasions, top and tail the sprouts)
2 Eggs
3 Cooked prawns, shelled and cut in half lengthwise

Crispy fried shallot**
Sambal Chilli Paste (or any plain chilli paste)***
Laksa Leaf (you can use coriander, but if you can get laksa leaf its amazing)

Prepare

• Prepare noodles as directed on packet, or, for the dried variety it is best to soak in room temperature water for a few hours if possible.
• Put eggs into pot of warm water (not hot or it will crack the eggs) and boil. When eggs are done, remove and submerge in cold water to cool quickly.

While eggs are coming to boil, heat oil over a medium-high heat in medium size saucepan or wok (if oil starts smoking, its too hot). Add Laksa Paste and Chicken and stir fry until oil has separated from laksa paste (approx. 2 mins). Add coconut milk and stock to pot and bring your laksa gravy to a simmer for 10 mins (do not boil).

Assemble
Drain your noodles and eggs and rinse under cold water. Shell and halve, quarter or slice eggs. Divide noodles into 2 bowls and top with bean sprouts to taste (I love the suckers, and the more sprouts, the more crunch!). Pour laksa gravy and chicken into bowls until bean sprouts and noodles are just submerged. Arrange the, prawns, tofu and fish cake on top. Spoon chilli paste to the side as desired and garnish with crispy fried shallot and finely chopped laksa leaf or a few coriander leaves.

P.S.

• For a richer laksa gravy, adjust the proportions of coconut milk to stock to favor the coconut milk. Also, for a creamier laksa save 2 tbsp of thick coconut cream from the top of the can and add it to the gravy just before pouring into the bowls.
• You can steam the chicken on top of the eggs if you have the equipment to save time/washing. Otherwise just steam anyway you like.
• Noodles is personal, for traditional Katong Laksa, use a thick noodle (I find dried udon really good) and chop it into bite size pieces (approx 3 segments). Or, have a mix of types, e.g. Vermicelli and thick egg. Everyone has their favourite way, find yours.
• Once again to save time, if your prawns are raw, you can cook them with the eggs and noodles if you don’t mind the flavours mixing.
• You can put really whatever you like on laksa; I think the beauty of laksa is the multitude of different ingredients. You can add 1cm cubes of fried tofu, sliced bean curd puffs or sliced fish cake, fish balls, fish, crab. It’s limited only by your preference and imagination.
• Some people like to serve with halves of kalamansi limes to cut the richness.

* Asia at Home is a great brand in Australia, try find a good one locally or alternatively see next page for a few recipes requiring elbow grease. However, if you want to make the best laksa you’ve ever eaten, use this Mrs Lee’s Laksa Paste.

** Crispy fried shallot is basically French onions (which are like small onions) sliced and fried until golden and crispy. You can buy it in places where you get Asian groceries.

*** Sambal Chilli is a chilli paste, sometimes called Sambal Oelek. You can substitute with any plain-like chilli paste (not sweet chilli sauce).

1 tin of butter beans

100g goats cheese  cut into small cubes

1 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 garlic clove.

Blend ingredients well adding water as necessary

Thanks for this one mum, was just what i needed after recently having my wisdom teeth removed.

1 to 2 packets green dried split peas

2 meaty bacon hocks ( the deli section of the supermarket)

2 to 4 meaty bacon bones ( the deli section of the supermarket)
1 to 2 litres water ( do not overwater! or underwater!)
Put together into a large saucepan with enough water to cover all the peas and bacon bones and bring to the boil and then lower heat to a simmer until all the peas are mushy. This can take 1 to 2 hours. Stir every now and then to make sure it is not sticking to the bottom of your saucepan.

When peas are cooked, remove from heat and bring to nearly room temp. Remove the meat from the bacon bones etc and put in a separate dish before placing these and the pea soup in the frige overnight.

The Next day!!

Finely Chop up 1/2 bunch celery ( including the centre leaves and heart of the celery) and 1 large brown onion
SKIM OFF ANY FAT that has settled and hardened on the top of the soup overnight in the fridge.
Add the celery and onion to the pea soup and bring to the boil and cook on a low simmer until the celery is soft. Keep making sure the soup does not stick to the pan!
Add the meat to the soup and serve when warmed through.

Eat with sourdough bread! Yum. Freeze the leftovers and you will have a nice treat when you want one!

Winter is upon us, and with it we’re all looking for a little warmth.  Probably something that adds a little rustic feel to any winter is soup, warming your hands on a small bowl of tasty puree so effortless to consume.  It’s a winter for inspiration and blending, thats right folks, will it blend is on its way!

I can think of only two things truly Australian that most people i know refuse to eat, artichokes and kangaroo.  It makes perfect sense then to transform them into a cheeky meal and serve it to everyone i know.  Now its hard to impose the same circumstances over the internet but i implore you to give this a try if only to say you did instead of lying when you didn’t.

Ingredients

2 kangaroo steaks
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp grapeseed oil
salt and pepper

Artichoke Salsa
2 artichokes
2 cloves garlic
1 ½ tsp chilli flakes
1 tbsp butter
1 glass dry white wine

Marinade the steaks in the garlic, grapeseed oil, salt and pepper for 30 minutes.

Remove the skin from the artichokes and boil them in a pot of salty water until soft. Drain and allow the artichokes to cool breifly before mashing to a pulp. On a medium heat, fry the garlic and chilli flakes for 3 minutes then introduce the artichoke mash and butter frying for a further 3 minutes. Pour a glass of wine for yourself and, as you should never drink alone, pour another for the artichoke sauce. Allow the artichoke sauce to simmer for 10 minutes or until things start to get heavy.

Meanwhile, fry the kangaroo steaks on a barbeque of grittle, turning once and shifting each side to give that sexy fishnet char pattern. When medium or medium rare, remove and set aside for 5 minutes* before slicing into 1 cm thick sections. Transfer each whole steak to a plate and spoon some artichoke salsa ontop.

* Rest the steak in an elevated position so it doesn’t wallow in its own juices. Use an upside down bowl or a few forks. Juicy is enticing, but soggy just isn’t sexy.

(In other words the story about the affair between Mr Cabonara and Mrs. Carrettiera)

This is originally a recipe from Za Za’s Trattoria of Florence that i slightly altered on the fly for a mate one night after soccer. If you’re ever there make sure you visit and I promise you wont be disappointed. Za Za’s is located in the Piazza Mercato Centrale 26/R (Zona San Lorenzo) 2 minutes from the Duomo and the Santa Maria Novella train station. This dish can be as easily prepared for one person as six, and the ingredients leftover can easily be used in other fashions.

Ingredients for two:

Spaghetti
Good quality extra virgin olive oil

Carrettiera
2 cloves garlic
1 chilli
1 tomato, grated
Bottled Pasta sauce

Cabonara
2 eggs, beaten and seasoned with pepeper to taste
2 handfuls (1/2 cup) freshly grated parmesan
3 rashers bacon or 2 thick slices of pancetta, diced