recipes

Ingredients
500g of good Beef cut into required size

for marinating beef
2 tablespoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/2 tablespoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 tablespoon of tamarind(soaked in 1/2 cup warm water)
Salt 1/2-1 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
2 large onions finely sliced
2 large green chilli
1 medium-sized tomato chopped(optional)

For tempering the beef
5-6 tablespoons of oil
Handful of curry leaves
a large piece of pandan leaf
1/4 teaspoon of mustard seeds
1 teaspoon of fenugreek seeds
1-2 inch piece of cinnamon
4 slightly bruised Cardamom
1 tablespoon of minced ginger
1 tablespoon of minced garlic

To make the beef gravy
3 cups of thin coconut milk(how-to make, written above)
1/2 to 1 cup of thick milk(1/2 cup of coconut milk if you want less gravy, 1 cup if you want more gravy)

Instructions
Before you begin making the beef curry, chop, slice and have all the ingredients ready.
How to marinate the beef.
Place the beef in a large bowl, add chilli powder(2 tbs), turmeric(1tsp), coriander(1 and 1/2tbs), curry powder(1tsp), tamarind juice(1 tbsp), salt, sugar(1tsp), a few slices of onions, green chillies and tomato(optional)to the beef.
Mix all the ingredients well with the beef until the spices are completely coating them.
Using your hands is preferable but if you are sensitive to red chilli, I would suggest using disposable gloves(you have been warned).
Let the beef marinate for 12-15 minutes.
How to cook the beef curry.

Place a large pan(a clay pot if you can find one)over a low-medium fire.
Let the pan heat for a few minutes. 1-2 minutes.
Pour in the oil and leave it to heat for a few seconds, then add the curry leaves and pandan leaf.
let them cook until they sizzle while releasing their aroma. 2 minutes.
Reduce heat to low and add mustard(1/4tsp), fenugreek(1tsp), onions, green chillies, cinnamon(1-2inch), cardamom(4), ginger and garlic paste(1tbs each).
Follow the given order of adding ingredients, it’s important to maintain low heat so the mustard seeds don’t burn too quickly and turn bitter.
Make sure you are constantly mixing the ingredients and temper until onions turn slightly brown.
Once the tempering is done, add the marinated beef(500g) to it.
Stir and combine all the ingredients in the pan with the beef, increase heat to medium and cook till the liquid from the beef and tamarind turn to a thick sauce.
constantly stir.
five minutes later, reduce heat to low and pour in the thin milk(3cups) to the pan.
Cover the pan with a lid(not completely though) and let the beef simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour until the thin milk is reduced completely. check if the meat is tender before following the next step.
(sometimes it’s just the cut of the meat or the way you cut the meat that will cause the meat to toughen if this happens just add another cup of water and let it simmer longer until the meat is soft).

Pour in the thick coconut milk, remove the lid and let the curry simmer over low heat for a further 20-30 minutes or until the gravy thickens and you will notice dots of oil appear on the surface of the gravy.

Taste and season the gravy if necessary.

Serve warm with your favourite dishes.

1 Kg small potatoes, red, yellow or white
1 Tbsp apple cider, wine or rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 a cup)
3 celery stalks, finely chopped (about 1/2 a cup)
1 medium dill pickle, finely chopped (about 1/3 cup)
2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped. Optional
1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs (parsley, dill, chives or cilantro)
Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Half a cup of olive oil
5 drops of lemon grass essential oil
5 drops of lavender essential oil
5 drops of Eucalyptus essential oi

Mix all together.  Dip a paint brush into mix and give inside hive a few wild swipes.

Melt bee’s wax and propolis and add this for an even better chance.

Ingredients

1 cup about 8 ounces discarded sourdough starter
¼ cup unsalted butter room temperature
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup dark rye flour plus more for rolling
flaky sea salt such as Maldon for sprinkling on top

Instructions

Combine sourdough starter, butter, fine sea salt and rye flour in a medium bowl. Mix and knead together with your hands until a cohesive dough forms. Wrap dough tightly in plastic wrap and place in the fridge until well chilled, 2 hours or up to 1 day.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Remove dough from the refrigerator and tear off a piece that is about 2 inches in diameter. Using your hands, roll the piece of dough into a ball and place on a piece of parchment paper. Flaten slightly into a disk shape with your palm.

Sprinkle dough round with flour and roll with a traditional rolling pin until it is VERY thin circle, about 8 inches in diameter. Sprinkle with additional flour as necessary to prevent sticking.

Switch to the kruskavel. Roll back and forth creating dimples in the surface of the crispbread. Alternatively, you can use a fork to prick holes in the dough, but it won’t have the same appearance as crispbread that has been rolled with a kruskavel.

Using a 1 ½ inch biscuit cutter, cut a hole in the center of the dough round, leaving the circle in place while the crispbread bakes.

Sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Transfer parchment paper to a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 10-16 minutes or until crispbread is golden brown and crisp. Do not remove it from the oven too early! No one likes soggy crispbread.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks.

Makes 7 crispbread.

1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 ½ cup butter, salted
⅔ cup white sugar
2 ¾ cup all-purpose flour

Remove leaves from rosemary and finely chop (approximately 1 Tbsp or to taste).

Soften butter, blend well with sugar. Add rosemary and flour; mix well until dough comes together. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Form dough into 3cm balls; press gently into pans until 1cm thick. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven 190° C. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until bottom edges are golden. Do not overbake. Cool at least 10 minutes. Makes 45 cookies.

INGREDIENTS

500g chicken breasts

Marinade

Half a bunch coriander, stems and leaves chopped
2 tbsp parsley leaves
15g deseeded green chilli
3 garlic cloves, chopped
6g ginger, peeled
20ml extra-virgin olive oil
20ml lime juice
Cous cous

1 cup instant cous cous
1 cup chicken stock
½ stick cinnamon
1 star anise
1 tsp coriander seeds
pinch saffron
30g butter
40g flaked almonds
Pickled red onion

½ red onion
50ml lime juice
2 tbsp mint leaves, chopped
To serve

labne
lime wedges

METHOD

1. Firstly, make your marinade. Combine all the ingredients in a blender or small food processor and blend until smooth. Dice chicken into bite size cubes and sprinkle with salt. Place the chicken and marinade in a bowl and toss together to combine. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours.

2. Before cooking, skewer the chicken onto bamboo or metal skewers and heat a grill pan on the stove or an outdoor charcoal grill. Allow the chicken to sit at room temperature while this happens so they temper and cook more evenly.

3. While the grill is heating up, thinly slice the red onion and rinse it under cold running water in a sieve. Then, place the onion in a small bowl with a pinch of salt and the lime juice. Set aside.

4. To make the cous cous, combine the chicken stock, a good pinch of salt, saffron, coriander seeds, star anise and cinnamon stick in a small pot and bring to the boil. Place the cous cous in another pot or bowl with a tight-fitting lid (a bowl with cling film works too). When the stock has come to the boil, strain it through a sieve directly onto the cous cous. Stir, then immediately cover for at least 5 minutes. In a small sautee pan, combine the butter and flaked almonds and set over medium heat. Cook until the butter has melted, caramelised and the almonds have caramelised as well (it should only take 2-3 minutes). Once this has happened, lift the lid and fluff it with a fork and pour the brown butter directly onto the cous cous, give it a stir and replace the lid.

5. To cook the chicken, make sure your grill pan is really hot. Add the chicken skewers and cook for 4-5 minutes per side. Try not to touch them or move them around too much so they get good grill marks. Remove from the grill and serve immediately. Serve with a scoop of the cous cous, a pinch of the pickled onions, a dollop of labne and a sprinkling of fresh mint leaves.

1 Kg potatoes, peeled
1 tbsp fresh thyme, plus extra
1 tsp oregano
3 garlic cloves, halved
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp chicken stock powder
1/3 cup hot water
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan

Heat oven to 200 C and grease a 15 cm deep roasting dish.

Slice the potatoes thinly,2mm with a mandoline.  Place them in a bowl with water.  In a blender, combine the thyme, oregano, garlic and olive oil.  Blend until well combined and then set aside.

Dry the potatoes on a kitchen towel and place them back in a mixing bowl without any water.  Pour over the olive oil mixture and mix well to combine.    Start to place each potato upright in the roasting dish, making two or three rows.  Mix the stock powder and water together and pour along the centre of the potatoes.  Season with salt.

Bake for 30 minutes , remove from the oven and cover with foil.  Bake for another 40 – 45 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the top is golden and crispy.

Serve with grated Parmesan and fresh thyme.

Ingredients

• 200g (2 cups) spelt, whole wheat, eitlkorn, all purpose flour, or a mix
• 3g (1/2 teaspoon) baking soda
• 3g (1/2 teaspoon) sea salt
• 125g (1 cup) chopped walnuts (and/or pecans)
• 126g(1/2 cup or 1 stick) butter, at room temperature
• 100g (1/2 cup lightly packed) brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 85g (2 tablespoons) raw honey
• 3 super ripe medium mashed bananas (black and mushy)
• 28g (2 tablespoons) extra virgin olive oil
• 4g (1 teaspoon) vanilla
• zest of 1 lemon (optional’

Bake in a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan.

Method

Preheat your oven to 35o°F.

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a small bowl mix together a handful of chopped walnuts and a few pinches of sugar. Set aside to be used as the topping later.

In another bowl (or a stand mixer) cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. While mixing, scrap down the sides of the bowl. Add in sourdough starter, honey. mashed bananas, and olive oil. Add in the vanilla. Then, add in the flour mixture slowly, pausing to scrape down the sides if necessary. By hand, fold in the remaining walnuts and lemon zest. Pour the batter into the 9″ x 5″ baking pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Sprinkle on the reserved chopped walnuts and sugar.

Bake for 55-65 minutes. It’s better to undercook this than overcook: you want it moist. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes and then gently remove onto a wire rack to fully cool.

Ingredients

2 large eggs
245g (1 cup) whole milk
61g (1/4 cup) Greek yogurt (optional)
250g (1 ½ cups, stirred down) sourdough starter
4g (1 teaspoon) vanilla (optional)
180g (1 ½ cups) all purpose flour, or a mix of all purpose and whole wheat flour
6g (1 teaspoon) baking soda
4g (1 teaspoon) baking powder
50g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
63g ¼ cup or ½ stick) melted butter

Method

Beat eggs in a medium bowl. Acid milk, optional yogurt, sourdough starter and optional vanilla.  Stir to incorporate.

Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Add dry mix to the egg mixture, mixing well. Stir in melted butter. Wait about 30 minutes to let your sourdough starter get going just a bit.

Lightly grease a hot pan. Drop the batter onto the griddle and cook until light brown and bubbles start to appear on top, then flip to cook the other side. Refrain from flipping multiple times.

You might need to adjust the amount of milk depending on the stiffness of your sourdough starter and your preferred batter consistency. The above Ingredients work well for ray liquid starter, if yoU’re using a stiff starter you .night want to add around 1/2 cup more milk.

Overnight fermentation option:

Another option for these pancakes is to let the batter ferment overnight in the same way the waffles are done, above. Combine the milk, sugar, and flour with the sourdough starter the night before. In the morning add the baking soda, baking powder, salt and vanilla. Then separate the egg yolks from the whites, whisk the whites to stiff peaks and slightly scramble the yolks in another bowl. Fold both in right before making the pancakes.

MAKES TWO LOAVES

[450g]                 900g  Unbleached stoneground white bread flour
[50g]                    100g  Whole wheat flour
[375g]                 750g  Warm water (keep 50g aside to add with the salt)
[100g]                 200g  Sourdough levain (100% hydration)
[10g]                   20g        Fine sea salt

1. Prepare the Levain

The levain is just a larger version of your sourdough starter that will be incorporated into your dough instead of commercial yeast. Add mature starter, flour & water in a ratio of 1:2:2 (100% hydration means equal quantities of flour & water). Depending on the temperature, it should be ready to use after 6-10 hours when it is bubbly and doubled in size. Should float when dropped in water — “float test”.

2. Measure out ingredients

The only ingredients in the bread are flour (preferably unbleached stone ground), water & salt (fine sea salt). Measure everything by weight.

3. Autolyse

When the levain is ready measure the desired amount and gently mix into 700g of water (keep 50g of water aside to add later with the salt). Add the water and levain mixture to the flour and mix with your hands until just incorporated (no kneading). Leave for about 30 minutes. The autolyse process helps to hydrate the flour, develop gluten and add flavor as the enzymes in the flour are activated.

4. Add final ingredients and mix

Properly mix in the salt and remaining 50g of water. Use the pincer method to distribute gently and evenly through the dough. If not using an electric mixer work the dough for about 5 minutes in the bowl to start developing the gluten.

5. Bulk fermentation and folds

This is the first part of the rise. Fold 4-5 times every 30 minutes starting about

30 minutes after the final mix. Use wet hands to prevent dough from sticking and a plastic dough scraper to clean the sides of the bowl and your hands. Handle the dough very carefully in the last folds so as not to deflate the dough. The dough should double in size and become nice and bubbly with a domed top. If you don’t have time to do folds every 30 minutes then do a longer mix at the start to develop gluten and a few folds towards the end of bulk ferment time to build structure in the dough.

6. Divide and pre-shape

Gently slide dough onto an unfloured surface using wet hands. Sift flour over the top of the dough and cut into two equal portions with dough scraper. Dust dough scraper and hands with flour. Flip over onto floured side and fold sides over into the middle to form a round shape with flour on the outside. Flip over again so that the joined side is at the bottom and gently shape into round
using bench to create some tension in the skin, which will help to create a nice crust.

7. Bench rest

Leave the pre-shaped rounds to rest for 20-30 minutes. The edges of the dough should remain nice and rounded. If the edges flattens out too much the dough probably didn’t bulk ferment long enough. At this point you can put it back in the bowl to ferment longer before shaping.

8. Final shaping

Flip rounds over using minimal flour. See shaping demonstration. Aim is to make a nice tight round with lots of tension in the skin without breaking the skin and deflating the dough. If some dough sticks to your hands scrape it off and make sure your hands are clean before handling the dough further – wet dough attracts more dough!

9,    Final proof

Gently place the shaped rounds seem side up into proofing baskets or bowls lined with dishcloths and sifted with flour (rice flour or maizena work well). Leave to proof at room temperature for 2-4 hours depending on temperature. You can also proof overnight in the fridge so that the loaves are ready to bake first thing in the morning (ideal fridge temperature is 8-10 degrees so that fermentation doesn’t stop completely). Cold loaves are easier to score and tend to have better rise in the oven – “oven spring”. Fully proofed loaves will have risen quite a bit in the basket (depending on the flour used) and when you press the dough with your finger it should rise back slowly. To do the “finger test” dip index finger in flour and gently press the dough. If it rises
back slowly it is ready. If it springs back very quickly and leaves no indent it can go a bit longer. If it stays indented and doesn’t spring back it’s over proofed. An overproofed loaf will also look quite bubbly and rise a lot in the proofing basket. You can still bake an overproofed loaf, but it won’t have much oven spring and it might even deflate in the oven.

10. Bake

Put your cast iron pot or Pyrex dish with lid (Dutch oven) into the oven and preheat to maximum temperature for about an hour. When the oven is at max temperature take the cast iron pot out of the oven and remove the lid. Take the proving basket out of the fridge. Line a board with baking paper (be careful of wax paper!) and gently flip the dough over onto the boards. Score each loaf with a nice confident slash using a sharp knife or lame, With support from the baking paper gently lower the dough into cast iron pot (if not using paper scatter some semolina at the bottom of the pot). Put lid on and straight back into the oven. Use heavy oven gloves at all times!!

Turn the heat down to 245 degrees C. Bake for 20-30 minutes at high heat and then remove lid, turn down the heat to 200 degrees and carry on baking for 30-40 minutes. The crust must be nice and caramelized, but not burnt.

11. Cool

Turn out onto cooling racks and leave for at least 30 minutes to complete the cooking process.