Fried Tamarind Chicken with Sambal and Turmeric Rice

From Spice by Christine Manfield page 150

Some of the best fried chicken I've had. The marinade is very dark in colour due to the tamarind so probably a colour you don't usually see on chicken but great flavour.

Once I fried the chicken it went quite dark compared to how it looked when I boiled it. Not sure if I didn't get enough of the marinade off or if I cooked it too hot or too long but it still tasted good.

I did cheat a little bit with this one - the sambal is not home made but rather from a jar...

Happy cooking!

Turmeric Rice

From Spice by Christine Manfield page 213

I didn't quite have a banana leaf to wrap this in so it had to go in a bowl. Mind you now that Mrs Underground Cook has aquired and planted a couple of banana trees I might do that next time.

I've never infused that much turmeric into anything at one time. It gave off an amazing musky smell while it was simmering in the stock. Later I realised why they call it a spice. The turmeric in the rice gave me a slight chilli-like tingle on the tongue.

It seems important to stir the rice as it's cooking as the recipe mentioned. Here you're really 'cooking' the rice, not just getting it to absorb the water. I think those little grains find it harder to absorb the liquid when it contains all that coconut milk.

Could possibly have had more rice to liquid ratio as it did seem a little over cooked or wet but it was still great.

Happy cooking!

Lamb with Roasted Cumin Crust, Smoked Eggplant Puree and Spicy Masala Sauce

From Spice by Christine Manfield, page 186, 187

What a moment! The dish actually looked like the picture from the book. Must be a first for me for any recipe I've ever cooked.

This dish was really about the masala sauce. Not one of the main recipes but a complex one never-the-less. Somewhat like a demi-glace but south-east-asian style.

The sauce was very rich and tasty. I've never made anything like it before, as well as never having made a beef stock before (thought I've made chicken stock a few times now...)

The beef stock is made and then other spices and ingredients are added before boiling down further until it becomes thick and rich.

Being the big fan of sauces that I am I made a full quantity of sauce for 6, and then cooked dishes for 2, giving myself a generous serving of sauce (3 or 4 times what I was meant to serve for myself). Much to my surprise I couldn't finish it! It was very rich and tasty and so packed with flavour without being heavy of any type of seasoning or distinct flavour like salt or sweet or sour.

Definitely one technique to add to the repertoire.

Smoked Eggplant Puree

From Spice by Christine Manfield, page 198

This dish is also known as baba ghannouj - which we often refer to as 'eggplant dip'. This is used in the recipe book as a component of other more complex dishes.

Yep, very tasty.

Unfortunately our garden was all out of eggplants so we had to buy some from the shops. They did however seem to be unnaturally shiny.

And it's always great to know you've got willing spice grinders on hand.

But here's the trick with the recipe - the eggplant needs to be grilled over a flame. Not roasted in the oven as I mistakenly assumed at the beginning.

So how does one roast eggplant over a flame for 20 minutes without getting sore muscles or burnt skin? Easy! Turns out there's more that one use for a wooden spoon. The other end comes in quite handy as well...

...there's also more than one use for a spice grinder...

...and after 20 minutes of flame exposure and turning the eggplant was roasted, smoked (as the skin had started to burn, which incidentally gave off a cigar smell?!?!) and soft all the way through. Perfect for peeling.

Happy cooking!

Beef and Potato Rendang

From Spice by Christine Manfield page 178, 179

This is one dish where I decided to keep the heat up to the prescribed level.

The kids had steak and rice for dinner so the curry was the sole domain of the more mature palette.

...however the more mature guests I did have over that night weren't that hot on having a lot of chilli. "Oh well, too late now" I thought as I ground 6 large dried chillies into the spice mix. I think we used to call that 'accidently on purpose' when I was a kid.

Interesting about the result though... Plenty of "can't talk - eating" time and not much left at the end of the night.

Interesting comment from one - that the spice was certainly there but because of the complexity of the flavours it didn't seem to matter, or at least didn't get in the way. Such is the way with a proper made-from-scratch curry it would seem.

Certainly very tasty I thought. (but then again I keep saying all of these dishes are tasty...)

One thing I will try next time - the slow-cooking time for the meat wasn't enough for me. A lot of the liquid was left (which was meant to evaporate during the slow cooking) and the meat was tender but could have been more so. Maybe a difference in the heat of the stove or the type of the pot but mine still had plenty of liquid left at serving time.

Not that I'm complaining really - it was very tasty mixed in with the rice.

Happy cooking!

Spiced Coconut Chicken Curry

From Spice by Christine Manfield page 165

Wow what an unusual dish! Maybe because of the modifications that I made or that's just maybe the way it is...

The dish is a coconut curry but calls for fresh grated coconut rather than coconut cream or milk.

I didn't have fresh grated coconut handy so I've used dry grated coconut and tried to re-hydrate it to make the equivalent.

The result was that the texture was quite unusual - very grainy as the coconut seemed to take in the moisture but retained its shape through much processing and cooking. At the very same time the flavours were great though, in the style of a really well balanced curry.

This is the first time I cooked with coconut oil. The smell is very different, or perhaps just very unfamiliar, so initially I thought maybe I'd broken something. Thankfully we had a friend over who just happened to grow up in India and is thus very familiar with the smell of coconut oil, and reassured me that everything was still on track.

The curry is slow cooked which seemed to soften the chicken nicely and develop the flavours well.

Happy cooking!

Lamb Masala

From Spice by Christine Manfield page 173

I've never been one for marinades (or is that never been good at marinades...) but this one has got me thinking.

The marinade itself was quite thick and chock full of onion.

But in 2 hours all of the flavours really penetrated the meat.

The name of the recipe made me think it was a lamb curry. A lot of the flavours were the same, but the dish was different. Using the lamb backstrap was an eye opener as well. Not sure I've used that cut of meat before. Very melt in the mouth.

I'm still getting used to the whole pan-frying and then putting in the oven thing. Since I wasn't so sure I cooked the meat for the prescribed amount of time (I used a stopwatch just to be sure...). The meat was medium to medium rare which is the way I like it cooked.

My 7-year old's comment was that it was 'really yummy' and it 'jumped out of the box and ran away with the taste'.

If there's any other 7-year olds out there could you please post your translation for me. Overall it sounds good though.

Quite the complement considering the tough crowd that night.

Served this as suggested with the Onion Nigella Bread and the Cucumber Yogurt Salad with Nigella. Quite the treat.

Happy cooking!

Onion Nigella Bread

From Spice by Christine Manfield page 269

I've made bread plenty of times but who's ever heard of putting caramelised onion into it???

But what a fantastic result!

The glazing of egg yolk on the outside gives it an unusual look and seemed to add to the flavour through the aroma it gave off. Halfway through cooking the bread seemed to be giving off the sweet scent of doughnuts. Gotta try that one again.

When I put the mix together it seemed quite dry.

With a little bit of kneading though the moisture from the yogurt and the onion combined with the flour and the ratio was spot on. Didn't really need any further liquid or flour.

And with a little more skillfull kneading...

The bread was ready to rest...

Fantastic with lamb and probably plenty of other things too.

Happy cooking!

Cucumber Yoghurt Salad with Nigella

From Spice by Christine Manfield page 80

Very much like a raita but better than the versions I've put together before.

Previously when I've made something similar I've gone pretty heavy on the garlic and lemon. Still a good result I think but with this recipe there was no strong seasonings and the balance of flavour was fantastic.

I tried to make the point of chopping the cucumber as finely as possible (without turning it into mash) and the results worked really well.

Still had texture but fine enough not to get in the way.

Perfect for anything with lamb...

Seared Tuna with Spinach and Roasted Capsicum Caper Salad

From Spice by Christine Manfield page 73

Not much to say on this one other than yummo!

Don't expect sashimi as the flavour of the chilli and pepper crust on the tuna give it a bit more of a kick that tends to leave behind the raw tuna flavour.

The salad of roasted capsicum with olives and capers is great and gives the dish an italian bent to it. I reckon this is the way fusion cooking should have been done from the start (which is why we don't hear about it much anymore I guess...). A combination of different flavours that complement, rather than different flavours that compete and confuse.

(Don't get me started on the miso laksa I had once at a fusion restaurant...)

Easy dish to put together because a lot can be prepared beforehand. Great dish for sharing around too.

Barbecued Chicken with Sumac, Spinach, Tomatoes and Pine Nuts

From Spice by Christine Manfield page 155

Despite the apparent complexity, at least from the first look, this is actually quite simple and easy to prepare. Think of it as three things – chicken with salad and dressing, though not like anything you’ve tasted in that vein before.

If you’ve seen my recipe for pizza sauce you’ll know I’m a fan of sumac and that’s what made me pick this recipe early on.

Modifications

Because I don’t (yet) own a BBQ I used our grill plate on the stove to cook the chicken. I’m sure it missed out on some of that distinctive BBQ flavour because of it but none-the-less it was still great.

The sumac really did give the dish a bit of a tang which was well welcomed.

Also as this was essentially a carb free dish and I’m a bit of a carb fan we added roast pumpkin as a side dish. The sweetness of the pumpkin went very well against the dish and seemed to match with the tahini dressing.

Other Thoughts

The dominant flavour in the dish is definitely the tahini in the dressing. We originally thought that the addition of some fetta cheese would go well but afterwards it seemed that the mix of the spice on the chicken and the flavour of the dressing was more than enough. Any cheese would get lost in the mix of flavour.

When I made the tahini dressing by the time I had finished adding the rest of the oil the dressing had split. Not sure if I had done it wrong or not so rather than starting again I hit it with a stick blender and everything came together again. In fact the dressing stayed that way over-night as well (or at least until I had finished mopping it up later that night with a piece of bread over a glass of wine!)

Next time I make it I will turn down the level of tahini to tone down some of the nutty flavour and see how everything works together. We loved the strength of the tahini but it might be a bit too much if you're cooking for friends who are newcomers to that middle-eastern style of flavour.

Happy cooking!

Saffron Prawn Risotto

From Spice by Christine Manfield – pages 218 and 219

What a tasty dish! I’ve cooked a risotto here and there so there was some familiarity with the process, though I’ve never had a lot of success with seafood style risottos but this one really worked well.

Modifications

Rather than use a fish stock I reserved the heads and the shells from the prawns and put together a prawn stock.

Prawn Stock - Ingredients

• Heads and shells from 700g of raw prawns
• 1 stick of celery - sliced
• 1 brown onion - sliced
• 1 litre of water
• Olive oil

Prawn Stock - Process

• Heat a little oil in a saucepan / stockpot and sauté the celery and onion for 2 minutes
• Add the prawn heads and tails and cook through stirring for a couple of minutes
• Once prawn heads and tails are well roasted add a litre of water
• Bring to the boil then turn right down and simmer as gently as possible for 20 minutes, skimming off any scum that has risen to the surface.
• After the 20 minutes strain stock through a sieve.

Making your own stock for something like this gives such a better flavour to the final dish. Beef or chicken stocks can take a few hours to make but a prawn or fish stock is much quicker as it requires less simmering time (simmering too long will make the stock become bitter). I put the stock on first and then during the 20 minutes of simmering time I complete the rest of the prep.

Learnings

This is the first time I’ve come across rinsing the Arborio rice before using. Now that I’ve tried it I think I’ll be doing that every time I make a risotto.

When I’ve made risottos in the past I’ve always felt that the end result is too thick or gluggy, whereas whenever I’ve had it in a restaurant it’s been much smoother which I have preferred.

The consistency of this risotto was pretty much spot on. I’m guessing the initial rinsing at the start knocks out some of the starch giving a smoother result.

Also the amount of oil and wine used in the dish is more that I have used in the past, but this also seems to contribute to the creaminess. I noticed just after the wine was added the risotto immediately became creamy, almost as though the combination of the oil and wine made a dressing for want of a better word.

Also there’s no cheese in this risotto – but the end result was already creamy enough.

Of Note

When I make risotto I like to make sure the rice is really well cooked in the oil at the start. My experience is that the rice seems to hold together better in the final dish. You can get the pan really hot at this first stage and as long as you keep stirring it won’t burn.

Just before you finish cooking the risotto it needs to rest. Turn the heat off and pop the lid on the pan and give it 5 to 10 minutes to settle. This seems to even out all of the moisture in the dish allowing the rice to cook and soften all the way through. After settling this is when I added the final ladle of stock along with the butter and prawns to cook.

Happy cooking (and eating...).

The Index

SALADS

• Seared tuna with spinach and roasted capsicum caper salad
• Sichuan-spiced duck and seared scallops with smoked eggplant, asparagus and rocket salad
• Smoked eggplant and coriander salad
• Coconut chicken with chilli and spinach salad
• Fragrant beef tartare with pomelo, chilli, lemongrass, roasted rice and pickled green mango
• Cucumber yoghurt salad with nigella
• Seared beef fillet with lemongrass, ginger and pickled green papaya salad
• Grilled Tasmanian ocean trout with roasted chilli, shallot and mint salad, ocean trout roe and fish crackling
• Chargrilled octopus with saffron rouille and roasted onion and pimiento salad
• Crab and coconut salad with chilli and pickled green mango
• Spiced scallops with shaved coconut, basil and shallots
• Prawn fritters with pickled eggplant yoghurt salad
• Chilli and garlic eggplant salad
• Grilled Moreton Bay bug tails with tamarind, chilli, cape gooseberries and trout roe
• Tasmanian salmon escabéche with radish, basil and cucumber salad and salmon roe
• Vegetable salad with lime chilli dressing

SOUPS

• Crab and lemongrass broth with crab cakes
• Tumeric lemongrass broth with noodles and vegetables
• Hot-and-sour prawn soup
• Tofu in miso broth with green onions, mushrooms, and ginger
• Chicken, sweetcorn and noodle soup
• Pumpkin, fenugreek and coconut soup
• Spiced chicken, lemongrass and coconut soup with chilli jam
• Chicken laksa
• Spiced rock lobster and saffron soup with egg noodles, lobster savoury custard and saffron rouille
• Chicken and scallop consommé with scallop won tons and garlic chives
• Oxtail consommé with dumplings, bean sprouts, mint and chilli
• Peppered duck consommé with roast duck and watercress
• Snapper and crab with udon noodles and ginger

FISH AND SHELLFISH

• Stuffed squid with black ink noodles and ponzu dressing
• Fremantle sardine fillets stuffed with pancetta, capers and burghul with salsa verde
• Chilli mudcrab
• Masala lobster
• Satay prawn sugarcane sticks
• Wok-seared tuna with beancurd, asparagus and fragrant curry sauce
• Blue eye with chermoula, preserved lemon and spinach
• Hot-and-sour seafood hotpot with rice pilaf and chilli jam
• Snapper baked with green chilli and coconut
• Deep-fried spanner crab cakes with sweet chilli and cucumber
• Stir-fried prawns and bok choy with sweet pork, basil and shallots
• Rare-roasted tuna with saffron noodles, roasted shallots and turmeric tamarind sauce
• Tea-smoked Tasmanian salmon with pancetta, soba noodles, pickled cucumber and star anise broth
• Baked blue eye with a prawn crust, sticky black rice and chilli tamarind sauce
• Reef fish and bug tails in spiced coconut milk with fried shallots and coriander pesto
• Tuna pepper steak with spinach and anchovy sauce
• Saffron braised scallops with spiced tomato chilli pickle
• Chilli salt squid with sweet grilled eel, black ink noodles and pimiento
• Wild barramundi with saffron potato crust, black mussels, and green masala sauce
• Wild barramundi baked in banana leaf with red chilli paste, fried garlic and rice pilaf
• Coral trout and green mango curry
• Salt-and-pepper oyster fritters with shaved fennel and blackbean dressing
• Spice-crusted salmon with mint chutney
• Garlic clams and mussels with somen noodles

POULTRY

• Chicken livers with pickled lamb’s tongue, mustart spaghetti and garlic sauce
• Duck livers with roasted Jerusalem artichokes and harissa
• Grilled quail with chermoula and tomato mint salad
• Crispy-skinned squab with Chinese spice salt
• Fried tamarind chicken with sambal and turmeric rice
• Chicken, tamarind and coconut curry
• Duck livers with garam masala potato, peas and spinach
• Twice-cooked chicken with chilli and garlic eggplant salad and chilli jam
• Barbecued chicken with sumac, spinach, tomatoes and pine nuts
• Spiced duck-neck sausages with celeriac, mustard and horseradish
• Spiced chicken sausages
• Chicken hotpot with spiced chicken sausage, preserved lemon and creamed parsnip
• Spicy roast chicken with fried onion
• Sichuan-smoked duck with duck livers and smoked eggplant
• Steamed chicken with snowpea leaves and green garlic ginger relish
• Roasted corn-fed chicken with saffron and cashew rice pilaf and tomato cardamom sauce
• Spiced coconut chicken curry
• Red-cooked quail breasts with quail larp, chilli and eggplant salad and fried garlic
• Braised duck with saffron, preserved lemon and harissa
• Red masala chicken

MEAT

• Spiced lamb with cardamom rice pilaf and hot-and-sour coconut sauce
• Lamb masala
• Peppered kangaroo fillet with nori omelette, wasabi potato pikelet and horseradish cream
• Slow braised beef brisket with spiced potato, preserved lemon and saffron cous cous
• Roasted rib of beef with chilli cumin dal
• Beef and potato rendang
• Milk-fed veal with pancetta, sweetbreads, foie gras and pepper glaze
• Veal brain fritters with tomato ginger chutney
• Lamb’s brains-and-spinach dumplings with crispy pork sausage, green onions and green garlic ginger relish
• Glazed pork neck with sweet potato pastries and mandarin sauce
• Steamed pork belly with star anise consommé
• Lamb with roasted cumin crust, smoked eggplant purée and spicy masala sauce
• Kangaroo fillet with pepper crust, pickled beetroot and horseradish
• Seared venison with celeriac gratin and mushroom mustard sauce

VEGETABLES

• Chilli cumin dal
• Spiced eggs in coconut milk
• Vegetable korma
• Eggplant masala
• Stir-fried chilli vegetables with peanut lime sauce
• Smoked eggplant purée
• Vegetable sambar
• Chilli salt beancurd with steamed vegetables and blackbean sauce
• Vegetable pakoras with eggplant pickle
• Garam masala potato
• Potato, pumpkin and turnip gratin with chat masala
• Pumpkin, sweet potato and cauliflower with chana dal, fenugreek and coconut
• Pickled spiced beetroot

NOODLES AND RICE

• Saffron and cashew rice pilaf
• Cardamom rice pilaf
• Aromatic sticky black rice
• Turmeric rice
• Coconut rice
• Yoghurt rice
• Spiced chicken biryani
• Saffron prawn risotto
• Chicken and prawn congee
• Squid ink paella with shellfish and pimiento
• Curried coconut scallops and yabbies with rice noodles
• Black truffle and porcini risotto
• Braised five-spice duck with shiitake mushrooms, garlic chives and rice noodles
• Soba noodles with mushrooms and asparagus
• Spicy chicken noodles with beancurd
• Chilli and basil chicken with rice noodles
• Cassia beef noodles with spinach and garlic chives
• Fried rice noodles with pork, prawns and clams
• Hot-and-sour prawns with flat egg noodles
• Chilli prawns with somen noodles and bean sprouts
• Seaweed noodles with Pacific oysters and coriander pesto
• Roast duck with star anise noodles and green garlic ginger relish
• Soy-braised chicken with sesame noodles, eggplant, mint and watercress
• Cuttlefish, green peppercorns and asparagus with pepper noodles
• Stir-fried octopus, sesame noodles and green chilli with coriander, cucumber and watercress salad

PASTRIES

• B’stilla – spiced pigeon pastries
• Chicken and potato curry puffs
• Spiced potato and pumpkin samosas with coriander yoghurt sauce
• Popiah
• Chickpea and potato samosas with cucumber yoghurt salad
• Deep-fried sweet potato pastries stuffed with prawn, crab and water chestnuts with sweet chilli sauce
• Spiced ricotta and spinach pastries
• Quail breasts stuffed with shiitake mushrooms and water chestnuts deep-fried in beancurd skins with coriander yoghurt sauce
• Spiced eggplant and spinach beancurd-skin pastries with coriander yoghurt sauce
• Scallop and coriander won tons with sweet chilli sauce
• Crab and pork rice-paper rolls with chilli
• Garlic and pepper tiger prawn spring rolls
• Lamb böreks
• Barbecued duck and cucumber pancakes
• Five-spice duck and shiitake mushroom pies
• Chicken breasts stuffed with spinach, water chestnuts and ginger deep-fried in beancurd skins
• Spiced nut pastries

BREADS

• Parathas
• Parathas – another version
• Chappatis with garam masala
• Onion nigella bread
• Curry crackers
• Pepper sourdough
• Pepper crackers
• Chilli cornbread
• Flatbread with za’atar
• Spiced sticky buns
• Spiced fruit bread
• Saffron bread
• Spiced almond brioche
• Cardamom brioche with cumquat marmalade

DESSERTS

• Vanilla ice-cream
• Candied ginger ice-cream
• Tangello cardamom ice-cream
• Star anise ice-cream
• Cassia ice-cream
• Mace and sambuca ice-creams with liquorice
• Kulfi ice-cream
• Cinnamon baked apples with cassia ice-cream
• Saffron pears
• Spiced blood plum sauce
• Brandied cherries
• Peaches, nectarines, plums and cherries with tokay pepper syrup
• Sauternes peaches
• Spiced ginger pears
• Spiced quinces
• Pears poached in spiced red wine
• Strawberries and pomegranate seeds with rosewater syrup
• Apple cardamom butter
• Baked plum and pistachio pastries with spiced plum sauce
• Spiced plum crumble with cinnamon clotted cream
• Gingerbread with pears and caramel sauce
• Apricot meringue with cardamom cream
• Orange, date and cardamom tart
• Baked quince and cinnamon galettes
• Spiced pineapple
• Glazed pineapple and star anise tarts
• Ginger crème brulées with lychees
• Fig and raspberry compote
• Cinnamon chocolate mousse cake
• Steamed date and candied ginger sponge puddings with ginger custard
• Pina colada mousse with spiced pineapple and coconut wafers

Man-cook vs Manfield

The Challenge

To cook all 187 of the main recipes from Christine Manfield's book 'Spice'.

The Reason

To learn as much as I can about her style of cooking and gain a better understanding of the use of spice.

The Timeframe

I'm keen to get it done but with a family and a job there's not point in adding extra pressure. There's especially no point if I end up with no family to cook for and no income to buy ingredients...

With 187 recipes if I do 1 a week and an extra one here and there it will take me about 3 years, so let's say June 30th 2014. Nothing quite like having a long term goal...

The Rules

• I must cook all recipes and write about each in this blog.
• I reserve the right to substitute ingredients to deal with seasonal issues, availability and expense.
• I reserve the right to reduce the amount of chilli to make the dishes friendlier to those with a more sensitive palate.

The Recipes

I'll be creating an index of all 187 recipes on this blog to keep track of what I've cooked.

Are You Crazy?!?!?

Yes, yes I am.

187 Recipes

So I was watching Masterchef the other night and Christine Manfield came on as one of the guest judges. Which reminded me of something I've been planning to do for a little while...

Christine has a companion book to Stir (one of my favourites which contained a real laksa recipe) which is called Spice. Whereas Stir presents a set of spice pastes with accompanying recipes Spice is rather encyclopaedic. The book presents a great range of dry as well as wet spice pastes and then runs through a an even greater range of recipes that all feature spice is some way, in some case using the pastes and in other cases using other unique and subtle combinations of spice.

It would have to be my favourite cook book. It's a couple of books behind in her range of books as she has now published Fire and is currently working on her sixth book. But for some reason I continue to find it captivating. Maybe it's the use of spice, maybe it's the complexity of some of the recipes. Maybe it's the pretty pictures of food, who knows???

...so I was watching this movie the other day called Julie & Julia and I came up with this idea...

Why not cook all of the main recipes in her book???

Yes I counted them - all 187.

An original idea? Certainly not. But an interesting challenge? Absolutely. Can I get you over for dinner? Why not!

Will I get a publishing deal or have a movie made??? Probably not. But that's not the aim.

By going through all of the recipes I'm aiming to learn as much as I can from her style of cooking. Also by attempting to cook the entire range of recipes it will help me stop slipping back to the same-old-same-old, and maybe get me back into my blogging.

(yes I know it's been a while...)

Stay tuned.