Chorizo Burgers with Grilled Capsicum

Let's think outside the box and transform spicy chorizo and pork sausages into flavoursome burgers. You can also use the same recipe to make these Chorizo Meatballs.

Chorizo Burgers with Grilled Capsicum

Chorizo Burgers with Grilled Capsicum Recipe (Serves 6-8)

(Adapted from Delicious Magazine August 2008)

Ingredients

• 2 chorizo sausages, finely chopped
• 6 fresh spicy pork sausages (about 500 g)
• 1 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp good-quality whole egg mayonnaise
• 2 red capsicums, quartered
• Olive Oil, to brush
• 6-8 burger buns, warmed
• Rocket leaves, to serve

Method

1. Place the chorizo and sausage meat in a bowl and mix with your hands until well combined. Shape mixture into 6 large or 8 smaller patties and chill for 15 minutes to firm up.
2. Meanwhile , place the garlic, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and mayonnaise in a small bowl and mix until combined. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, then set aside.
3. Heat the grill or a chargrill pan on medium heat. Grill the capsicum for 3-4 minutes until the skin blisters and the flesh softens. Set aside.
4. Brush the burgers with oil, then cook under the grill or on the chargrill for 3-4 minutes each side until cooked through. (The chorizo has a tendency to burn, so keep an eye on the burgers, reducing the heat if necessary.)
5. To serve, top warmed burger buns with grills capsicum, a chorizo burger and rocket leaves, then drizzle over aioli and serve.

Beer Bread with Cheese and Sunflower Seed Crust

I have never thought of making my own bread when one can buy all sorts of fresh bread from the bakery. Not until I saw this recipe.

Beer + 4 other simple ingredients. No electric mixer is needed. Simply mix the ingredients together & into the oven for 45 minutes. I couldn't resist to give it a go. The results are fantabolous!

Beer Bread with Cheese and Sunflower Seed Crust Recipe (Serves 6-8)

(Recipe adapted from Delicious Magazine by Valli Little and Amanda Biffin)

Ingredients

• 3 cups (450g) self-raising flour
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 450 ml chilled lager (beer)
• 1/2 cup (80g) sunflower seeds
• 1 cup (120g) grated tasty (cheddar) cheese

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Grease and line a 7cm-deep, 10cm x 26cm loaf pan.
2. Combined flour, sugar and 1 tsp salt in a bowl. Add beer and stir until combined.
3. Spoon mixture into pan and sprinkle with seeds and cheese.
4. Bake for 45 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when base is tapped.

Stir-Fried Noodles with Chinese Roast Duck

I promised my friend Miss D that I would post a recipe with instant noodles (we call it Maggie Mee in Malaysia and Singapore). I decided to make this dish using the left-over roast duck from the Peking Duck Cocktail Wantons yesterday. It's an easy and great recipe for making a quick lunch.

Stir-Fried Noodles with Chinese Roast Duck Recipe (Serve 1)

Ingredients

• 1 packet instant noodles (Maggie Mee)
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup shredded store-bought roast duck
• 1 tbsp Hoisin sauce (???)
• 1/2 cup bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup spring onions, cut into 3cm

Method

1. Add instant noodles and 1 cup of water in a wok or a pan.
2. Cook until noodle is soft and has absorbed all water.
3. Add shredded duck meat and hoisin sauce. Stir and mix well.
4. Add bean sprouts and spring onions and stir fry until just wilted.
5. Serve immediately.

Salmon and Brie Quiche

Yesterday was my bestie Miss M's birthday. I baked this Salmon and Brie Quiche, one of her favourite dishes, to wish her a very happy birthday.

Quiche is a very common lunch item in Australian cafes and bakeries. One of the interesting facts about quiche is that Bruce Feirstein's 1982 bestseller 'Real Men Don't Eat Quiche' typecasts quiche as a stereotypically feminine food.

Errr... I beg to differ though... Miss M's husband loves quiche... I bet he finished 3/4 of the quiche if not all by now.

Salmon and Brie Quiche Recipe (Serves 6)

Ingredients

• 2 sheets frozen shortcrust pastry, thawed
• 1 x 415 g canned Salmon
• 3 eggs
• 300 ml thickened cream
• 2 tbsp chopped dill
• 1 tbsp baby capers, drained
• Salt and pepper
• 150 g Brie

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C (400F). Place a 23 x 3.5cm fluted quiche tin onto a baking tray.
2. Line quiche tin with pastry, cutting and joining pastry where necessary* (See note at bottom of post)
3. Trim excess pastry. Prick base with a fork, line with a sheet of bake paper and fill with dried beans or rice. Bake for 15 minutes. remove paper and beans and return to oven for 5 minutes. Reduce oven to 180C (350C).
4. Meanwhile, drain salmon well and remove and discard skin and bones. Fake salmon with a fork. In a medium bowl, whisk egg, cream, dill, capers, salt and pepper together.
5. Scatter salmon into pastry shell and pour over cream mixture.
6. Cut cheese into wedges and arrange on top of filling.
7. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until golden, puffed and set in the centre. Serve warm or cold with salad.

Note: To join pastry pieces, wet edges with a little water. Overlap edges and press together to join.

Kroketten (Dutch Croquettes) Recipe

Kroket is my favourite Dutch snack food. Whenever we land in Holland, the first thing Mr J will do is to put a Euro into the famous "Hole in the Wall" (Febo) to get his frikandel fix and I will usually pick a kroket.

Kroket is a deep fried meat ragout coated with breadcrumbs. It's an unanswered question as to what the filling is made from. Take a guess - Offal? Butchering waste? Kroket is an extremely popular fast food in Holland and it is sold in all snack bars. It's so popular that McDonald's in Holland has a Kroket burger on their menu. Although meat ragout is the most common filling, you can also find noodles, potato, rice and goulash fillings.

Besides from snack bars, kroketten are also available from the frozen section of all supermarkets in Holland. It's very uncommon to make them from scratch nowadays. A good kroket recipe is extremely hard to come by.

I found this recipe in an Australian cookbook (Meat - Delicious dinner for every night of the week) where the author Adrian Richardson, chef and owner of Melbourne restaurant La Luna Bistro, compiled this kroket recipe based on information gathered from his Dutch mother-in-law and sisters-in-law. Hence, he named the recipe: Oma's Dutch Croquettes ('Oma' means 'Grandma' in Dutch).

Adrian Richardson - "These croquettes are one of my mother-in-law's specialties and a closely guarded family secret that she hasn't even really shared with her daughters! I have spent years trying to wheedle out the recipe from all these women, and the version that follows is based on what my sisters-in-law were prepared to reveal of what they know."

Kroketten (Dutch Croquettes) Recipe
(Adapted from Adrian Richardson's Meat - Delicious Dinner For Every night Of The Week Cookbook)
Makes 24

50 g butter
50 g plain flour
1 cup hot milk
salt
300 g leftover cold roast beef, finely chopped, minced or whizzed in a food processor
1/2 onion, finely diced
1 tbsp ketjap manis (A lot of Dutch food has strong Indonesian influence. Hence the use of ketjap manis in flavouring. Conimex is one of the favourite Dutch brands)

1 tbsp chopped thyme leaves
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Crumb Coating:
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup milk
1 cup plain flour
2 cups breadcrumbs
Pinch of salt
Vegetable oil for deep-frying

Method

1. Melt the butter in a small, heavy-based saucepan. Stir in the flour to make a paste (roux), and cook, stirring all the time, for about 3 minutes. Gradually mix in the hot milk to make a bechamel sauce. Bring to the boil, them lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes to get rid of the floury taste. Add a pinch of salt to season then tip the bechamel into a large mixing bowl and leave to cool.
   

   

2. Place the remaining ingredients into a food processor and whiz until smooth.
   

   

3. Tip into the mixing bowl with the cool bechamel sauce and stir in well to form a thick paste. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hour until chilled.
   

   

4. Form the croquette mixture into chunky little logs (3 x 10 cm) - you should get about 24 in total.
   

   

5. Whisk the egg and milk together and set up a little production line of 3 dishes containing the flour, the egg mixture and the breadcrumbs.
   

   

6. Roll the croquettes in the flour first, then dip them into the egg mixture and then the breadcrumbs so they are evenly coated. For an extra-crunchy coating dip the croquettes into the egg and breadcrumbs for a second time then refrigerate for 30 minutes.
   

   

7. Heat the oil in a deep-fryer or a heavy-based frying pan to 180C. Preheat the oven to 100C. Fry the croquettes in batches until golden brown all over, about 5 minutes. Drain briefly on a wire rack and transfer to the oven to keep warm while you fry the remaining croquettes. Serve with Dutch mustard for dipping.
   

   

Note: You can eat kroket on its own or you can eat it with a slice of white sandwich bread or a soft white bread roll (Traditionally, Dutch eat kroket with white bread). If it's eaten on a slice of sandwich bread, you should cut the kroket lengthwise and spread the mustard as shown in below picture:

A telling tale for a good kroket is that the filing is separated from the crumb coating after being fried.