Month: July 2016
Asian inspired Paella with miso & wasabi (low FODMAP, gluten free)
One of my friends and her 2 gorgeous children came over for lunch today. She has really good taste with food and wine, previously ran an restaurant in Italy while she was married to an Italian young fellow who cooked beautifully. Now a single mum, things are not as easy, and she is also having a difficult time at work. So I decided to cook her a heart warming meal to cheer her up – a dish with chicken, salmon, prawns, mussels, baby octopus sounded just like the perfect dish. To make it a bit more special, I gave the paella an Asian twist with miso, wasabi and Korean pepper.
Recipe is as follow:
Lightly smoked rainbow trout fillets (gluten free)
The local fish shop had some beautifully fresh rainbow trout fillets. I cooked them on the BBQ with a a-maze-n smoke tube filled with apple wood pellets.
I first lighted the a-maze-n tube of pellets and let it burn for 10 minutes before I placed it inside the BBQ.
While the pellets was burning, I rubbed the fish fillets with some sesame oil and a little sea salt. I don’t brine my fish – it is just too salty for my taste. I put the fish fillets on a rack, over a tray, on the BBQ with the lowest setting. I then closed the lid and let the smoke and the BBQ do their jobs. The fish was ready in about 25 minutes.
I served the smoked fish fillets at room temperature, with a sauce of sour cream, dill and lemon juice.
Simple Korean chili chicken
My first restaurant meal in Australia was a Korean BBQ at a quaint little restaurateur at the back of Potts Point, an fringe suburb of Sydney filled with eateries, bar and clubs. It was an amazing experience for me – BBQ meat with rich flavors and endless little side dishes.
Here is my simple and quick Korean chili chicken, which is marinated with Korean pepper, cooked on a griddle over a gas BBQ stove. It is really nice to eat with warm rice, or in a lettuce wrap.
Recipe is as follow:
Chinese north-west style lamb kebabs ‘羊肉串’ (low FODMAP, gluten free)
When I was in Beijing many years ago I visited a night market with hundreds of food stalls. About half of them sell lamb kebabs with a Xinjiang origin. Xinjiang is region located in North West China where Chinese Muslims and Uyghur people live, bordering many countries including Mongolia, Russia, Pakstan and India. I tried the kebab and was fascinated by the spices – it was the first time I tasted cumin. The meat, although, was dry and chewy – we have much better quality meat back in Australia.
Here is my version of lamb kebabs with cumin, Sichuan pepper, chili flake, coriander seeds, sesame seeds and sesame oil. I first marinated the lamb in cumin, salt and sesame oil. Then I made the kebabs and cooked them on the BBQ. Finally I added additional spices and sea salt to the kebabs. The kebabs were juicy and spicy.
Recipe is as follow:
Smoky BBQ legs of lamb (FODMAP friendly)
Last weekend I threw a couple lamb legs on the BBQ. I added to the BBQ a tube of wood pellets in an a-maze-n pellet tube which was lighted with a blow torch. I rubbed the lamb legs with my favorite spices and a dash of BBQ sauce.
I slow cooked the lamb legs for 4 hours in the BBQ with the smoky tube underneath. The BBQ was placed under my recently installed white shade sails. There was so much smoke I was worried that my shade sails may turn brown.
The lamb was beautifully juicy, smoky and tasty.
Election day bake – cup cakes
At my little boy’s school, teachers and kids sell cakes together on election days. I love the looks in the kids’ eyes when I bring up my cup cakes – the oohhs and aahhhs make me & my little boy super proud.
Here are my contribution to the cake stall this year – 6 dozens of cup cakes.
