A BIT OF ELBOW GREASE

Mustard Chicken Curry & Cucumber Salad

I am in love with this recipe and have since cooked it several times. Once you have purchased the spices, it seriously costs under $10 to cook food for 4 people.

Prep time - 20 Mins
Cooking - 45 Mins
Serves 4 People

1KG of Chicken Thighs
2 Tablespoons of brown mustard seeds
4 Star Anise
5 Cloves
7 Dried Red Chillies (or to taste)
2 Cloves of garlic
4 x Cinnamon Sticks
2 Heaped Tablespoons of Curry Powder
2 Tablespoons of Ground Coriander
1 Tablespoon of Tumeric
10 Bruised Curry leaves
2 Brown Onions.
1 bag of small button mushrooms
Coriander
Mint
Natural Yohgurt
Jasmine Rice
2 x Lebanese Cucumber
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
250 ml of water
Grape Tomatoes

Slice an onion, and put in a large pan over a low heat with some oil.

Get out your mortar and pestle, and pound the cloves, & star anise. Once slightly ground, add the brown mustard seeds & garlic  and grind into a rough paste.

Add the paste to the onions and stir fry for 1 minute. Add the curry powder, coriander powder, and tumeric and cook over a lower heat for around 3 minutes. Add a touch of water or oil to prevent from burning or sticking.

Then add some more oil and your chicken thighs to the and brown well over a high heat for five minutes. Pour in water, add the button mushrooms whole, along with the red chillies, two cinnamon sticks, bruised curry leaves, and 2 star anise. Bring to a boil, then cover slightly. Cook for 25 Minutes stirring occasionally. Remove the cover and make sure the sauce is thickening. Once it has formed a good consistency, take off the heat and add two heaped teaspoons of natural yohgurt and stir through. Garnish with some yohgurt mixed with mint, and some coriander leaves.This is now ready to serve with your jasmine rice.

For the Cucumber salad, skin and cube the cucumbers, and half some grape tomatoes. Place in bowl, and mix through some salt pepper, olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.

BEC'S B'DAY BBQ!

BBQ Whole NZ Snapper with a Tahini and Pine Nut Sauce

In honour of my good friend Bec's b'day, I thought I would cook her something nice at her rooftop bbq in Surry Hills. I wanted to cook her a whole fish... something lebanese inspired.

This restaurant Al Mustafa in Glebe has an amazing whole Barramundi dish with Tahini and pine nuts. With that in mind, and an adaptation of a Martha Stewart recipe, I came up with this dish and it was really effin good.

Sea Salt
Pepper
1 Bunch of Rocket
1 Teaspoon of Paprika
3 Tablespons of Coriander Seeds
3 Tablespoons of Cumin Seeds
15 Dried Chilies
1 Bunch of Flat Leaf Parsley
A heap of roasted Pine Nuts
3 cups of Tahini Paste
1 x Cup of Natural Yoghurt
1 x Finely chopped Garlic Clove
4 Lemons
1 x 2.5KG Cleaned and gutted NZ Snapper

Use a mortar and pestle to make the Cumin and Coriander seeds into a fine powder. Dry roast with the paprika in a pan on a low heat until fragrant. After washing the fish in the sink and drying, coat the fish  lightly in olive oil, cover in the spices and season well with salt and pepper . Score the fish deeply on both sides with 5 vertical cuts.

Time to get hands on. Stuff a dried chilli in each score on the side of the fish, then some parsley, then a lemon wedge. Should fit in tightly. Then put the rest of the chillis, flat leaf parsley, and a few slices of lemon into the cavity of the fish.

Now your ready to put into your fish casket, and place on a bbq. I cooked it on a low heat for 15 minutes on each side. Whilst this is going on, make the sauce. Pour the tahini paste into a bowl, add the garlic, the cup of yohgurt, half a cup of olive oil, some salt and pepper, a few squeezes of lemon and then mix well. (This is my attempt to give you measurements and be specific, but I had beers when making this, so I can't really remember it all properly)

Once the fish has been on, test it and see how it is tasting. Should be soft and delicious. Then place the fish on top a bed of rocket, and parsley. Pour the tahini sauce on top of the fish, put the pine nuts on top of it all then squeeze lemon and olive oil over it.