Dahl and rice for a Bluebird

When I began this blog seven odd months ago I had no intention of posting recipes, partly because there are so many truly amazing, dedicated blogs out there about food. Nonetheless the recipes began creeping in because, well because I love good, home-cooked food. It’s a part of who I am and this blog is me, in all my eccentricities.

So today dear friends I’m posting a recipe for da Bluebird!

My version of Dahl and Rice was inspired by an Anglo-Indian dish that my late mother-in-law used to make. I’ve fiddled with the original recipe so it’s not quite authentic but the family love it and so do family friends who cannot eat wheat products. But what is dahl?

The tiny red lentils pictured on the left are the heroes of this lentil stew with a mild, Indian flavour. Here in Australia you can find them in the dry bean section of  most supermarkets.

One of the things I love about red lentils [as distinct from their bigger, green and brown cousins] is that they do not need to be soaked before cooking. That makes dahl a fairly quick and easy meal to prepare when you don’t feel like eating a heavy meat meal. Or on those days when guests arrive out of the blue and the fridge is bare! [I keep red lentils in the pantry at all times!]

Ingredients [serves 4]

1 cup of dried red lentils

1 large brown onion chopped fine.

3 cloves of fresh garlic, mashed or chopped

2 tablespoons of tomato paste

1 generous teaspoon of ground cummin*

1/2 a teaspoon of ground tumeric*

pinch of salt

3 cups of water [or a mix of water and any left over chicken soup you may have in the freezer]

2-3 tablespoons of peanut oil [it goes better with asian style dishes than olive oil but use whatever you have].

Method

1. Sometimes the quality of the red lentils varies so I always give them a quick check and remove any dark bits of grit that may have snuck in.

2. Gently sweat the onions and the garlic in the peanut oil until they are translucent and golden brown.

3. Add the cummin and tumeric and allow to cook gently for a minute so the onion mix becomes aromatic.

4. Mix the red lentils into the onion mix and allow them to braise for about 5 minutes to soak in the flavours. Stir frequently so they don’t burn!

5. Add the tomato paste, stir and allow to braise for another minute or two. Again don’t let it all burn!

6. Add the salt and the water/soup stock. Stir, bring to the boil and then lower heat and cook covered for about 10 minutes.

7. After 10 minutes check the lentils. They should have begun to swell and absorb the liquid. Add more water if the stew is starting to look thick. Keep cooking for another 10 minutes.

8. Total cooking time will vary but allow for about 1/2 an hour. You will know the stew is done when the lentils have almost disintegrated and the stew has a rich, orange colour and is about as thick as a bolognese sauce.  Remove from the heat.

Rice and accompaniments.

Cook about 1 1/2 cups of long grain rice. [I use the absorption method because I have a heavy, cast iron pot with a good lid but you should use whatever method you are comfortable with].

While the rice is cooking heat a frypan with some more peanut oil and crack 2 eggs – freerange of course – into a bowl. Beat the eggs lightly and then pour a small quantity into the hot pan, turning the pan quickly to spread the egg into a thin pancake. [Like making crepes].

When the first side is golden brown, flip and fry the other side for a few seconds. Remove from the pan and place on a chopping board. Repeat with the rest of the beaten egg until you have a number of flat, golden brown egg pancakes piled on the chopping board.

Cut the egg pancakes into thin strips and place in a small serving bowl.

To Serve

Place a serving of rice in a bowl, top with a generous ladle full of  the dahl and then sprinkle the strips of egg pancake on top. Add more salt to taste.

Bon appetit!

* If you are new to Indian spices add less to begin and then increase the quantities once your taste buds have adjusted.

 

Cold nights and chicken soup

I spent quite some time thinking about this post – all of five minutes – before deciding to indulge the foodie within. If you must blame anyone then please blame Maggie O and SweetMother. Those  dear lady bloggers are talking diets and food at the moment and I’m just too weak to resist such a potent trend so what else could I write about except my Mother’s chicken soup?

My Mum swore that chicken soup could cure anything. Sadly no double-blind experiments were ever done to prove or disprove that assertion so I can’t promise you a cure for cancer or bunions or sagging boobs but it does taste wonderful and is one of the easiest recipes I know. Plus! You don’t have to go out and buy a ton of fancy ingredients. All you’ll need are a few common vegetables, a chicken and some soup noodles. So let’s begin!

Hungarian Chicken Soup Recipe

Ingredients :

1 whole chicken or chicken portions with bones - think wings, drumsticks etc. The flavour comes from the bones people.

1 brown onion

3 cloves of garlic

2 good sized carrots

4-5 sticks of celery

1 parsnip [optional]

1 capsicum [sweet bell pepper]

fresh parsley

salt & pepper [white or black according to taste]

soup noodles

Method :

Put the chicken into a pot at least twice as large as the chicken. Fill with cold water and bring to the boil.

Peel the onions and garlic and throw into the pot whole.

Wash the celery sticks, cut in half and throw in the pot.

Peel the carrots [and parsnip if using], cut in half and throw in the pot.

Wash the capsicum [bell pepper], cut in half and throw in the pot.

Wash the parsley [about 2 small handfuls] and – you guessed it – throw in the pot.

By now the water should be close to boiling and you should see a pale foam starting to come to the top. Skim the foam off a couple of times with a ladle so you end up with a nice, clear broth at the end. Once the foam stops, lower the heat to a gentle simmer, add a little bit of salt and a fair bit of pepper, put the lid on and go away for about 2 hours.

The biggest secret to flavour is time. You’ve put all the good stuff in now let it cook long enough for all those flavours to combine.

When the soup is cooked you will have a number of options :

I’m hungry now option

In a separate pot cook some fine soup noodles [I use angel hair noodles that take about 3 minutes to cook].

While the noodles are cooking grab your trusty ladle and skim off as much of the fat floating on top of the soup as you can.

Drain the noodles, serve up into bowls and top with the cooked carrots and lots of chicken broth. Add extra salt because my recipes are never salty enough and eat!

I’m on a diet option

Nothing terribly tricky for this one, just patience and a bit of organization.

Pour the soup through a strainer into another pot. Reserve the carrots [and chicken if you like boiled chicken] and throw the rest into the compost.

Let the soup broth cool a little then cover and put in the fridge overnight.

When you’re ready for dinner the next night, skim off all the congealed bits of fat floating on top of the broth and discard. What you’re left with is a rich broth with no fat. Reheat and serve as for the ‘I’m hungry now‘ option.

I’ve had enough soup now option

The broth will last for about 3 days in the fridge. After that you can freeze it in smaller portions. I use these portions to add extra flavour to everything from rice to sauces to stews. And of course you can always just reheat them as soup! Nothing goes to waste

I probably shouldn’t write this next bit as it completely ruins the healthy, low fat tone of the soup recipe but… I sometimes whip up some crepes to round off a soup meal and fill those last few holes. They are delicious  served with cinnamon and sugar or jam or even just lemon juice and sugar. If you’re good and ask nicely I may post my recipe for quick, easy crepes on another day when I’m feeling self indulgent…

Enjoy!

And now for something completely different…Chocolate Mousse Cake!

I  apologize for not having a picture to show you but the birthday girl attacked the cake before I remembered to grab the camera 

Anyway, just imagine a brown cake with lots of shaved chocolate on top and you’ll get the idea. What you won’t get is how sinfully, decadently, waist-expandingly rich this cake is. Oh and it tastes divine too Have I titillated your taste buds yet? If I have then read the following recipe, make a shopping list and get cracking. But before you thank me be warned – THIS CAKE SHOULD ONLY BE EATEN ONCE OR TWICE A YEAR! I take no responsibility for any strokes, cardiac arrests, type II diabetes or other assorted woes that may result from cake abuse.

Ok, to work! The cake part. This was my Mum’s recipe and one of the first things she ever taught me to make because it was so easy.

Ingredients :

4 medium sized eggs [organic and free-range if the budget allows]

4 tablespoons of self raising flour

1 tablespoon of good quality cocoa – I use Van Houten but use whatever you can get.

4 tablespoons of caster sugar /or/ brown sugar [the brown has a richer flavour]

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract [that's the strong stuff]

a 20cm [8"] ringform cake tin [the kind where the side comes off]

Method :

1) Preheat oven to 180C [or 375F]. Reduce temp. slightly if using fan forced setting.

2) Lightly grease the ringform cake tin and dust with flour. Shake off excess and set aside.

3) VERY IMPORTANT – wash all grease from your hands before you go on to step 4 because otherwise the egg whites will not whip!

4) Separate the four eggs into 2 mixing bowls [no! not 2 eggs in each bowl -rolls eyes- ...yolks in one bowl and whites in the other].

5) Add a TINY pinch of salt to the egg whites and beat with an electric beater until nice hard peaks form. Set aside in a cool place.

6) Add sugar and vanilla extract to egg yolks and beat [can use the same beaters] until it looks nice and creamy.

7) Sift flour and cocoa over egg yolk mixture and mix together gently.

8) Spoon about 1/3 of the egg whites into the mixture and fold in to moisten the mix. Then add the rest of the egg whites and fold in gently. Do NOT mess around too much as it’s better to have a few white bits floating around than to have everything go flat.

9) As soon as all the ingredients are folded in, pour the cake batter into the ringform tin and place in the oven.

10) Do NOT  open the oven door for the first 10 minutes. This is not a souffle but you still don’t want to mess with it. The cake should be done in 20-25 minutes. Test by poking a bamboo skewer or a toothpick into the centre of the cake. If the skewer comes out dry the cake is done.

11) Remove cake from oven and let it stand in the tin for 5 minutes. Then open the ringform tin, place the cake on a cooling rack and start making the chocolate mousse.

The Mousse

Ingredients :

250 gm [~10 oz] of dark chocolate [I use Plaistowe cooking chocolate coz it's good enough to eat on its own. Please don't use milk chocolate though - by the time everything is in the mousse you won't be able to taste any chocolate at all ]

extra chocolate for decoration

200gm [~1/2 lb] unsalted butter [if you cheat and use salted butter you'll regret it]

3/4 cup caster sugar or brown sugar

4 eggs preferably organic and/or freerange

1/4 cup aromatic rum [this is the secret ingredient and I use a hungarian rum that smells and tastes like something you'd find in the caribbean being swigged by pirates]

Method :

1)  Break the chocolate in bits and gently melt in a small pan over a very low flame [or use a double boiler if you get easily distracted]

2) Cut the butter into chunks and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar and beat on high, scrapping the mix down from the sides until the butter mix is very creamy [for me this usually takes about 10 minutes]

3) Keep beating as you pour the melted chocolate into the butter mix. More scrapping etc until chocolate completely mixed in.

4) Start adding the rum a teaspoon at a time. Keep mixing on high between each addition.

5) Crack an egg into a small bowl.Check for bits of shell [and remove if you find any!] then add to chocolate mix and keep beating. You can’t hurry this bit or you won’t get the velvety smooth texture.

6) Repeat step 5 with all remaining eggs.

7) Put the chocolate mousse in the fridge and lick the beaters

Putting the whole lot together.

What you want is layers of chocolate mousse sandwiched between thin layers of cake with more mousse over the top and sides. You can do this any way you want but I’ve discovered the following is the easiest for me.

1) Slice cake into as many layers as you can manage. Usually about 3.

2) Wash and dry the ringform tin. Cover the bottom with cling wrap and reassemble.

3) Spoon a 1/2 inch layer of chocolate mousse into the bottom of the cake tin. This will end up being the ‘top’ of the cake.

4) Place a layer of cake onto the mousse layer and cover that in chocolate mousse. Repeat until you have used up all the cake but don’t put mousse on the very last piece.

5) Place chocolate mousse cake in the fridge for about 1/2 an hour or until the mousse firms up a bit. Remove from fridge and gently unmold.

6) Slather the sides with extra chocolate mousse. Smooth the top and then grate the extra chocolate over the top.

That’s it – you’re done! Pop the cake back into the fridge until ready to serve. I think it tastes best after 24 hours but ours rarely last that long

If you have lots of willpower the cake will last in the fridge for 3 days. The left over chocolate mousse can be frozen.

Naturally I love to hear from anyone who comes to my blog but… if you try my recipe please, please, PLEASE come back and tell me know how it turned out!