Category: accompaniment

Urban Urab: Balinese style coconut and vegetables

Urab Sayur is a green vegetable and coconut salad that we often enjoy in Bali.

Whilst we can’t get the ingredients for our favourite fern tip “Urab” in Sydney, my so-called Urban Urab comes close to replicating the fresh and delicious flavours using local ingredients.

Bubu’s famous Fern Urab in Ubud

It goes well alongside Zuchinni in Coconut Milk Curry Sauce and Balinese Pork or any grilled or roast seafood or meat.

Ingredients:

  • 250g green beans, finely sliced
  • 2 cups of baby spinach sliced finely into shreds
  • 1/2 cup dessicated coconut
  • 2 small red chillis
  • 4 eschallots or a small red onion
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic
  • 1/4 teaspoon shrimp paste (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • juice of one lime
  • 1/4 cup Asian fried shallots
  • 2 tablespoons oil

Method:

  1. Pound garlic and chillies together in a mortar and pestle to create a paste
  2. Finely slice eschallots or red onion and the green beans….as finely as you can. Keep them in seperate bowls.
  3. Heat oil, add onion and cook slowly until caramelised and brown, then add garlic chilli paste and shrimp paste (if using) and cook for 1-2 minutes. (The shrimp paste will be smelly but adds depth and authenticity)
  4. Add green beans, fish sauce and water and cook until beans are tender but still have some crunch …about 2-3 minutes (I don’t use extra salt as the shrimp paste and fish sauce are salty but you can add salt to your taste)
  5. Remove from heat, add shredded spinach, dessicated coconut, drizzle with lime juice and scatter over the Asian fried shallots

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Prawn and Coconut Rice Biryani #keralaflavours

Inspired by the mint, curry leaves and green chillies growing in our little courtyard garden, the flavours of Kerala recipes came to mind.

This light, bright biryani is quick to make and is delicious with a zesty salad and Spicy mint and coriander pesto

It has flavours of Prawn Caldine imbued into a delicious coconut rice topping finished off cooked “dum” style in the oven.

Recipe to come….but here are some photos to whet your appetite!

Prawn and Coconut Rice Briyani
Fresh curry leaves
Fresh mint
Green chillies

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Roman inspired lucky #lentils with #spinach and #pine nuts #newyearseve

I was inspired to serve my lighter version of the traditional Roman lentil stew along with roast pork and cheesy grilled broccoli for dinner last night.

It is believed the tradition of eating lentils at the stroke of midnight or serving them as a side dish began with the Roman custom of giving a leather bag of lentils with the wish they will turn into gold coins for the receiver.

My recipe is not really a stew, more like a light braise with the addition of baby spinach to add a bit of colour and extra crunch.

It was the perfect accompaniment in lieu of potatoes or other carbs and the leftovers went well with grilled sausages for lunch today too.

Ingredients:

  • 1 can brown lentils
  • 1 small brown onion finely diced
  • 1/2 carrot finely diced
  • 1-2 small sticks of celery finely diced
  • 2 cloves of garlic minced to paste
  • 1-2 leaves from stalks of rosemary or thyme
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 2 cups baby spinach roughly chopped
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Handful toasted pine nuts (optional)
  • Handful of chopped parsley(optional)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

Method:

1. Heat oil over medium heat

2. Add onions, carrots and celery and herbs then sauté over low heat until softened

3. Add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes until cooked through and melded with onion mixture.

4. Drain lentils and add to onion mixture, along with the white wine and bring the mixture to a gentle simmer. Season with generous sprinkling of black pepper and salt to taste.

5. Simmer for 5 minutes until wine is reduced, add spinach and mix through, sprinkle with toasted pine nuts. Garnish with chopped parsley (optional).

Lentils with spinach and pine nuts

6 Serve as a side alongside roast pork or with and grilled meat or fish.

Lentils with pork roast and cheesy grilled broccoli

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Easter Feasting and Grazing. #easter #feasting #pearlbeach

A lovely Easter holiday at Pearl Beach, one of our favourite Sydney getaways. Lazy beach days as summer turns to autumn here, walks, swims and a book fair to keep us all stocked up for reading. Blissful family time and healthy grazing and feasting as well.

Here are some photos of our some of our lunches so far. Promise to post recipes in weeks to come.

Welcome grazing Board!
Caramelised Fig, Avocado and Toasted Walnut Salad
BBQ Swordfish with Pepperonata, olives and capers.
Tortilla, fresh prawns, pesto mayonnaise and toasted Turkish bread

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Indian #spicy #crunchy Mint and Coriander Chutney with #Yakhni #Pulao

This crunchy mint and coriander chutney is like an Indian version of Italian pesto and is one of my favourite accompaniments with biryanis like Durban Chicken Briyani or Fish Briyani ..so I think it will be delicious with Yakhni Pulao too.

Spicy Indian Mint and Coriander Chutney with crunchy peanut butter

The addition of crunchy peanut butter to the fresh mint and coriander creates great texture, like pine nuts do in Italian pesto. The spicy, crunchy chutney will go well with the silkiness of the Yakhni Pulao.

Mint and coriander for Indian Spicy Chutney/Pesto

I’m making a Yakhni Pulao tonight which is a traditional Kashmiri and Pakistani rice dish in which the spiced meat stock used to flavour the rice is the star of the show. (Yakhni means soup or broth)

Here are some recipes I found from Tea for Turmeric and Archana’ s Kitchen which I am using as the basis for my version, the recipe for which I will share through the week.

Yakhni Pulao is known for unique flavours created by simmering the chicken or meat in a stock of whole spices such as green and black cardamom, cumin seeds, black peppercorns, cloves and star anise. The finished dish is enhanced by spicy sides, pickles and salads.

As well as the Indian Spicy Mint and Coriander Chutney, I will be making an Indian Carrot Salad and a Cucumber Kachumber salad. Recipes to come too!

In the meantime, here’s my original recipe for Indian Spicy mint and coriander chutney:

Indian Spicy Mint and Coriander Chutney

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Burrata with fennel jam, spinach and tomato #burrata #fennel

This Burrata with fennel jam and spinach, with a hint of chilli, was delicious as an accompaniment for dinner tonight.

I was inspired by the Burrata with fennel jam at lunch at Nomad restaurant in Surry Hills in Sydney this week. There it is swimming in fennel flavoured olive oil and served with their delicious crusty sour dough to mop it up.

Burrata with Fennel Jam at Nomad Restaurant in Surry Hills, Sydney, Australia

My version of the fennel jam doesn’t involve quite as much oil, and I added one chilli to the fennel mixture during the cooking to add a kick of spice.

Burrata with fennel jam, spinach and tomatoes

I also teamed up the Burrata and fennel jam with baby spinach leaves and cherry tomatoes to make it much more of a salad.

The resulting combination was really good, and perfect as an accompaniment to our steak tonight. It would also make for a great addition to a buffet or a festive meal. Great to share amongst a few people.

Mind you, you could add more oil and skip the healthy ingredients and serve it just as Nomad restaurant do! Or you could just use the fennel jam as a great accompaniment to cheese or a charcuterie platter.

Burrata with fennel jam, spinach and tomatoes.

  • Ingredients
  • 1 small onion finely sliced
  • 1 bulb fennel finely sliced
  • 4 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons white sugar
  • 4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1 or 2 fresh red chillies chopped in large pieces
  • 1/2 bag of baby spinach leaves
  • 10-12 Cherry tomatoes sliced in half
  • 1 large single Burrata ( take out of fridge 10,minutes before serving)
  • Pepper to taste
  • Fennel fronds for garnish

Method

1. Slice fennel and onion as thinly as possible, reserve some of the fennel fronds for garnish.

Thinly sliced fennel bulb

2. Heat oil in large flat, non-stick frying pan, add fennel and onion, lower heat to medium heat and cook slowly until fennel and onion start to soften for about 5 minutes.

3. Add chilli and cook for another 5 minutes.

4. Add sugar and vinegar, stirring until sugar dissolves.

5. Continue cooking until vinegar evaporates and the sugar creates almost a glaze on the fennel and onions.

6. Place baby spinach leaves and tomatoes on a platter, sprinkle cracked black pepper over the leaves and tomatoes, spread fennel jam over the centre.

Burrata with fennel jam, spinach and tomatoes

7. Place Burrata on the top, garnish with a few fennel fronds and serve.

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