mountain masala

Tomato, Fig and Pomegranate Salad

My brain is melting from working on my final report on 2 years of investigation about Christian Education for the Uniting Church National Assembly. For me, cooking is the space to unwind and regenerate (although it can be totally the opposite too...)

This salad has rocket and spinach leaves, sliced roma tomatoes, sliced semi-dried figs, pomegranate seeds, sumac and cumin sprinkled on top, then drizzled with pomegranate syrup and lime-infused olive oil. Thankfully we have the syrup and oil and you can bring them out for things like this!

Mexican Swordfish with Tortillas

This meal started with dropping in at Cappos seafood wholesalers on the way home from the city. I bought some swordfish at a good price. I used Eat Your Books to find out that my cookbooks contain 30 swordfish recipes.

Tacos by Mark Miller has a recipe for swordfish tortillas. He cuts the fish into cubes but I didn't want to . The swordfish was marinated in the following:

1/2 cup fresh orange juice
2 tsp dried oregano, toasted and ground (he said Mexican oregano but I had run out... which is a funny story that I'll tell you sometime...)
1 1/2 tbsp chopped garlic
1/2 long red chilli (the milder type) diced - Miller uses 1 Habanero chilli (VERY hot) and 1 Fresno chilli (?). My people don't like heat so I improvised. It could have been hotter.
2 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1 tbsp lemon-infused oil (we happened to have a bottle of lime infused oil which was crying to be used)
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp sugar
3 tsp achiote paste

Now that last one will stump you. I didn't have a block of achiote but I remembered that I had annato seeds, which achiote paste is made from. So I made a quick paste based on this recipe. If I didn't have achiote paste, I reckon I'd just add 3 tsp medium taco sauce (OK its a completely different flavour, but I'm trying to make it easier.)

You'r'e supposed to marinate the fish for 3 hours but it was more like 1.5 hours.

For the rest of it:

Baked corn cobs
Cherry tomatoes, red onion and mushroom sauteed briefly
Wheat flour (not corn) tortillas - I wish they looked browner)
A salsa-type sauce made from charred onion, garlic, tomatoes, chilli and red capsicum with toasted cumin and oregano, salt.
Avocado slice with a lime slice on top, and some random rocket and coriander leaves.

Oh yeah, and I made the tortillas - 2 cups flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking powder, 2 tbsp marg/butter rubbed through. 1/4 - 1/2 cup warm water. Makes 8 - i didn't roll these out thinly as we normally do. Maize flour is different but I sometimes mix the flours. (Rest the dough for 15 mins). Fry in a dry pan over high heat for a short time on each side until they start to brown.

The last thing to add is that I cooked a second batch of fish in the pan, and with the spices and juices already in there, the second lot came out much more charred and looking (and tasting) fantastic

Beef and Mushroom Pie

I've been trying to make shortcurst pastry and found it something of a challenge to get it right. Then someone put me onto Maggie Beer's easy sour cream pastry recipe. It's simple and excellent. [NOTE: Maggie didn't say to 'blind bake' the bottom layer of dough so I didn't but I will next time.]

The filling recipe comes from the Bourke Street Bakery":The Collection Cookbook. It's a fantastic book. I've varied the recipe slightly.

40 ml olive oil
150g onions, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
Leaves from 4 sprigs of thyme

Saute the above for 5 mins.

Add 150g carrots and 150g celery, peeled and diced, and cook for another 5 mins.

Add the following and cook for another 5 mins.

400g can diced tomato
55g malt vinegar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper

Add 900g cubed beef (They use beef cheeks. I used gravy beef, trimmed of fat.)

Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours, skimming and stirring every 20 mins or so. The meat needs to be tender but still have texture.

Remove beef pieces from mixture. Strain mixture and return liquid to pan. Simmer and reduce beef liquid by about one-third.

[OPTION: This is what I added. Put 1 cup red wine in a small saucepan with a few porcini mushrooms. Boil and reduce liquid by half. Remove mushrooms and add wine to beef liquid.]

Add 1 tsp potato flour mixed with a bit of water (If you add the wine you may need 2 tsp.) Stir until it thickens. Then return beef to liquid and season with salt and pepper. [OPTION: Add several chopped, sauted mushrooms and 1 tbsp green peppercorns.]

Pour meat mixture into another container to cool, stirring occasionally as it does.

Line pie dish or dishes with pastry. Add meat mixture and top with pastry. [Bourke St uses shortcrust on the bottom and puff pastry on the top, but I used Maggie Beeer's recipe for both.) Pinch the top and bottom edges of the pastry together.

Cut an X in the middle of the pastry. Brush with whisked egg..

Bake at 220C for 20 mins and then 180C for another 5-10 mins.