Chicken and / or Pork Satay

Today's recipe comes from a Daring Kitchen challenge to make your own Satay. Daring Kitchen is a spin off from the Daring Bakers, and each month a challenge appears for cooks around the world to tackle. Some challenges have really appealed to me, and some have been extremely challenging - all part of taking my cooking further.

As it turns out, this was a pretty easy challenge. I was happy to be making satay on a hot summer's day. It is also quite a good thing to do with your kids - as my younger daughter observes: everything is more fun when you eat it from sticks. We made the satay below with both pork and chicken thigh for a nice summer dinner. While we enjoyed this, I can honestly say that the taste is no better than the commercial marinade I use sometimes - so if you are feeling lazy, go to your local Asian supermarket and pick up a box of Prima Satay. If you don't have an Asian supermarket nearby, the recipe below makes a good satay. Incidentally, we all preferred the chicken as it is more tender than the pork.

Chicken and/or Pork Satay with Peanut Sauce
Satay Marinade
1/2 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbl ginger, chopped
2 tbl lemon juice
1 tbl soy sauce
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
2 tbl vegetable oil (or peanut or olive oil)
500g chicken thigh or pork (loin or shoulder cuts)

If you have a food processor or blender, dump in everything except the meat and blend until smooth. Otherwise, chop onions, garlic and ginger really fine then mix it all together in a medium to large bowl. Cut meat into 1 inch strips then mix with marinade, cover and chill in the fridge for 4 hours.

If using wooden or bamboo skewers, soak in cold water for at least 20 minutes before preparing skewers. Gently and slowly slide meat strips onto skewers. Discard leftover marinade.
Grill until cooked through and the edges just start to char.


Peanut Sauce
3/4 cup coconut milk
4 Tbsp peanut butter
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1-2 dried red chilies, chopped

Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add soy sauce and lemon, mix well. Over low heat, combine coconut milk, peanut butter and your soy-lemon-seasoning mix. Mix well, stir often. All you’re doing is melting the peanut butter, so make your peanut sauce after you’ve made everything else in your meal, or make ahead of time and reheat.

Double Happiness Chinese Steamed Dumplings

I recently joined a blogging group on the web called The Daring Kitchen. The Daring Kitchen is the new sibling of the Daring Bakers, and they hold a monthly challenge to make something a little harder and more testing than the meals I usually find myself cooking. I was excited to join - I have watched the Daring Bakers making the most amazing cakes and pastries, but did not consider joining because there is a definite limit to the amount of sweets we would ever manage to make or consume in this house. The Daring Kitchen, however, looked exciting to me with its move into the savoury side of cooking.

So I was bracing myself for my first challenge, wondering whether I was about to be completely overwhelmed by what they would ask me to attempt. Instead, I was completely blessed by my first challenge: Chinese Dumplings. While I have never made them before, some of my family is Chinese, we eat Chinese food all the time, and dumplings are a particular favourite with the kids. In other words, I knew that what I made would get eaten, and I knew how it should look and taste. And as for the making itself, I had more fun doing this than you would imagine, but it is definitely something to do as a communal activity - next time I will line up the partner , friends or kids for an hour or two of this. The fillings are relatively simple to pull together, and they can sit in the fridge while the dough is being made. While I used the two suggested fillings, you could really let your imagination go and create anything here, or else just copy one or two of your favourite yum cha dumplings.


The dough was the revelation for me. It consists of only flour and water. No salt, no eggs, nor anything else. I used the food processor method described below, and wound up with a fairly hard lump of dough, which I kneaded then left to rest for 15 minutes. I then sliced it into strips, rolled the strips into sausages, and chopped the sausages into pieces (see pics below). Because it felt hard, I couldn't imagine that it would become pliable enough to fill, but it does. The whole process of rolling, filling and pleating is very satisfying. It made me feel incredibly satisfied - definite double happiness dumplings!

Chinese Dumplings
pork filling:
1 lb (450g) ground pork
4 wombok cabbage leaves, minced
3 stalks green onions, minced
7 shitake mushrooms, minced (if dried - rehydrated and rinsed carefully)
1/2 cup (75g) bamboo shoots, minced
1/4 (55g) cup ginger, minced
3 tbsp (40g) soy sauce
2 tbsp (28g) sesame oil
2 tbsp (16g) corn starch

OR

prawn filling:
225g raw prawns, peeled, deveined, and coarsely chopped
225g ground pork
3 stalks green onions, minced
1/4 cup ginger, minced
1 cup water chestnuts, minced
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp corn starch

dough: (double this for the amount of filling, but easier to make it in 2 batches - or just halve the filling recipe)
2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (113g) warm water
flour for worksurface

dipping sauce:
2 parts soy sauce
1 part vinegar (red wine or black)
a few drops of sesame oil
chili garlic paste (optional) - I used chopped fresh chilli
minced ginger (optional)
minced garlic (optional)
minced green onion (optional)
sugar (optional)

Combine all filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly (I mix by clean hand). Cover and refrigerate until ready to use (up to a day, but preferably within an hour or two).

Make the dough, Method 1: Place the flour in the work bowl of a food processor with the dough blade. Run the processor and pour the warm water in until incorporated. Pour the contents into a sturdy bowl or onto a work surface and knead until uniform and smooth. The dough should be firm and smooth to the touch and not sticky.[Note: it’s better to have a moist dough and have to incorporate more flour than to have a dry and pilling dough and have to incorporate more water).

Make the dough, Method 2 (my mom’s instructions): In a large bowl mix flour with 1/4 cup of water and stir until water is absorbed. Continue adding water one teaspoon at a time and mixing thoroughly until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. We want a firm dough that is barely sticky to the touch.

Recipe note from the Daring Kitchen: Your 2 cups of flour should weigh 250g - some flour sits denser than others, so a cup measurement is not definitive. When you knead the dough, if it feels hard and dry, then you can add more water. [Warning: it will NOT be a soft bread dough, so don't expect it to be, but it shouldn't be a brick either.] It is perfectly fine to use more than the 1/2 cup listed in the recipe as everyone's climate and flours vary.

Both dough methods: Knead the dough about twenty strokes then cover with a damp towel for 15 minutes. Take the dough and form a flattened dome. Cut into strips about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide. Shape the strips into rounded long cylinders. On a floured surface, cut the strips into 3/4 inch pieces. Press palm down on each piece to form a flat circle (you can shape the corners in with your fingers). With a rolling pin, roll out a circular wrapper from each flat disc. Take care not to roll out too thin or the dumplings will break during cooking - about 1/16th inch. Leave the centers slightly thicker than the edges. Place a tablespoon of filling in the center of each wrapper and fold the dough in half, pleating the edges along one side (see images in post for how to fold pleats). Keep all unused dough under damp cloth.

To boil: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add dumplings to pot. Boil the dumplings until they float.

To steam: Place dumplings on a single layer of cabbage leaves on a well-greased surface in a steamer basket with lid. Steam covered for about 6 minutes. (I used my steam oven and cooked for about 7 minutes).

Marinated Pork Ribs - A New Family Favourite

While we were eating these ribs, my husband told me at least half a dozen times "these are really good ribs". A good sign, I thought. Because, although we have eaten ribs fairly regularly, I usually buy them pre-marinated. In fact it is usually a meal I make when I can't be bothered thinking about what to cook and / or arguing with the children about their table manners. (Has anyone else noticed how when you are eating with your hands, the arguments about table manners evaporate?) The downside of pre-marinated ribs, is that when the butcher puts them in a bag, you are left with only the remnants of marinade clinging to the ribs, which I don't think is enough for a moist tasty rib.

Honey soy is usually a winning combination for a marinade because of the simultaneous sweet and salty hits. When I found this recipe at Cookbook Recipes, I knew it would be a winner because the garlic and ginger add a bit of strength to the flavours, and star anise always adds an amazing background note. If you have never cooked with star anise, get some to throw into a marinade, or an asian hotpot - it is definitely worth trying. And cooking ribs is definitely a two step process - bake them first then whack them under the grill to caramelize / char them a little. It makes them so much yummier! Then simply slice them up and serve. I did a side of corn on the cob (when you are already eating with your fingers why not continue?) and rice to soak up the marinade. And apologies about the photo - it was all eaten before I thought to take another picture....

Marinated Pork Spare Ribs

1.5kg pork spare ribs

1\4 cup (90g) honey

1\2 cup (125g) Kecap Manis (a thick sweet soy sauce)

2 tsp sesame oil

2 star anise

3 cm fresh ginger grated finely

1 clove garlic crushed

Combine the marinade ingredients. Tip marinade either into a very secure tupperware that can be shaken around a bit, or into a plastic bag that you can seal. Add the ribs and make sure they are well covered with some marinade. Allow to marinade for three hours or preferably overnight. I usually turn them or give them a shake every few hours to make sure everything is really soaking in the marinade.

Heat oven to 180C. Put the ribs into a large baking tin so they can lie flat. Tip the marinade over them, cover with foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the ribs from the baking tin and put on a grill tray, and grill each side under high heat until caramelized and starting to char. Slice ribs between each bone and serve with cooking juices and remaining marinade from the baking tin tipped over the top.

Snazzy Sausage Rolls

So that the catering burden does not fall solely on one pair of shoulders, a lot of our school functions tend to be "bring a plate". There is good and bad in this (good: chicken sandwiches are usually excellent; bad: way too much sushi has been served up over the last few years to the point where I can no longer look at a maki roll). This week we had the first function for Year 7 parents, and I was under instruction to bring a plate of hot savouries eg sausage rolls or pies. Both sausage rolls and pies can be either delicious or dodgy depending on the quality of the meat and pastry. If I could have mustered more energy, I might have attempted some baby pies, but February is hot, humid and exhausting enough without making pies as well. NZ's Cuisine magazine came to my rescue with a brilliant take on sausage rolls: this recipe featured in the November edition.

Simple: buy the best chipolatas you can (any flavour you like). Roll in honey and mustard. Twirl a strip of pastry around it. Drizzle with honey and mustard. Serve with BBQ sauce or chutney. Perfectly easy. Easily perfect. (And I am still shocked as I reread this post to think of myself as a Year 7 parent. High school - how on earth did I get here so fast?)

Chipolata Twists With Honey and Mustard

1 kg small chipolatas

3 tbls honey

3 tbls wholegrain mustard

1 egg beaten

2 sheets puff pastry, defrosted and sliced into 2cm strips

Preheat ove to 180c. Toss mustard and honey together in a large bowl. Add the sausages and make sure they are well covered all over with the honey mustard (it will help the pastry to stick). Wind a strip of pastry around each sausage and place on a baking try, ends underneath the sausage. Brush the pastry with beaten egg and bake until the pastry is puffed and golden (around 30-40 mins). Meanwhile warm the leftover honey and mustard in a small saucepan, and drizzle it over the sausages once they are cooked.

Judy's Glazed Ham For A Party

Glazed hams conjur up many memories for me: Christmas, 21st birthday parties and especially my Aunty Judy, who was the official keeper of the family recipe. Every year, Judy would present the most beautiful glazed ham at Christmas, enormous and golden and that perfect balance between the sweet glaze and the slightly salty flavour of the ham. And at the end of Christmas lunch, we would all line up to get a care package of leftover ham to take home. Unfortunately, Judy's eyesight failed her and, eventually, she had to stop cooking. And so, the recipe was passed to me, and I am now the official keeper of the ham. (My mother remains the official keeper of the turkey).

I try not to leave ham only to the festive season. In my opinion, it is the perfect thing to serve at the end of a drinks party, when people are still a bit hungry but don't want a meal. Just slice up some baguette, pull out a couple of different mustards and chutneys, and let everyone tuck in. You will be amazed at how much people enjoy it, and the leftovers are great. Stored properly, still on the bone, ham will last a couple of weeks in the fridge, or you can freeze it in small bundles to be pulled out for sandwiches, quiches or whatever takes your fancy. I love it all the more at other times of year because it is unexpected.

Judy's Ham

1 leg of ham (Your butcher will be able to advise on what size you will need depending on how many people you are feeding).

3/4 cup apricot jam

1 1/2 tbl white vinegar

1 tbl honey

1/2 tsp ground ginger

whole cloves to garnish

If your ham still has a skin on it, very carefully peel up a small corner, without pulling off the fat, and work the skin off, by slowly sliding your hands underneath, edging further and further. Try to keep the skin in one piece as it is useful to cover the ham during storage, to stop it drying out.

With a sharp knife, carefully and lightly score the fat of the ham in a diamond pattern. Don not cut all the way through the fat to the meat. You can then insert a clove into each corner, if you are that way inclined.

Combine apricot jam, vinegar, ginger and honey in a small pot. Heat gently for five minutes, until the jam has melted. If the jam has pieces of apricot in it, sieve them out - you want a nice smooth glaze. Brush over ham. Bake ham in a 200C oven for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 180C and bake for a further 1 1/2 hours. Baste with the glaze every 20 minutes. If the pot of glaze gets too thick, heat gently. Serve with bread, or a crunchy green salad.