Garlic Prawns

Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 5 mins
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 cup vegetable oil
60g butter, chopped
8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 small red chillies, seeded and finely chopped
20 raw medium king prawns, peeled and deveined, with tails intact
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

Here's how:1. Heat the oil and butter in a large, deep, frying pan. When very hot, but not smoking, carefully add the garlic, chillies and prawns all at once. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes, or until the prawns turn pink. Take care not to overcook the prawns.

2. Using a large spoon, quickly transfer the prawns into 4 hot individual serving dishes and drizzle with some of the garlic butter. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve with crusty bread to soak up the juices.
Tip: This recipe is traditionally cooked in small cast-iron pots (available from kitchenware shops). Preheat the oven to very hot (250C). Place the oil and butter in the pots and heat in the oven for 5-10 minutes, or until hot. Add the prawns, return to the oven and bake for 5 minutes, or until cooked. Stir through the garlic and serve immediately.

Source: The Complete Quick Short Recipe Collection (Murdoch Books)

Velvety Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse

Preparation time:10 minutesCooking time:1 hourServes:6

All you'll need is:For 3 serves: Use one sachet170mL (2/3 cup) cold milkFor 6 serves: Use two sachets330mL (1 1/3 cups) cold milkServingVanilla ice-creamChocolate toppingWafer biscuits

Instructions:

Mix: Empty one mousse mix sachet into a mixing bowl. Add 170mL cold milk. Using electric mixer beat on low speed for 30 seconds to combine. Increase speed to high and mix for 3-4 minutes, scraping down side of bowl occasionally, until mousse is pale and thick.

Assemble and Chill: Spoon mousse into individual serving dishes. Spoon mousse into individual serving dishes. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Top with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream, a drizzle of chocolate topping and sprinkle with choc flakes or decorate with a wafer biscuit on the side.

Wicked Chocolate Mud Cake

Preparation time:

15 minutesCooking time:1hour 15 - 1 hour 25 minutesServes:12

All you'll need is:

Cake2 eggs310mL (1 1/4 cups) water170mL (2/3 cup) oil Icing40mL (2 Tbsp) milk30g (1 1/2 Tbsp) margarine spread or butterDecoration4 after dinner mints8 chocolate balls

Instructions:

Preheat: Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F) or 140°C for fan-forced. Grease a 6cm deep x 20cm round cake pan. Line the base with baking paper. Place unopened clear sachet of chocolate chips into a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Stand for 3 minutes, turning the sachet each minute to melt evenly.

Mix: Empty the cake mix sachet into a mixing bowl. Add eggs, oil and water. Beat with a wooden spoon until mixture is combined (mixture is runny and may appear lumpy).Add chocolate: Remove chocolate chip sachet from water and pat dry. Knead chocolate with fingertips until smooth. Cut corner of sachet and squeeze melted chocolate into the cake mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon for 30 seconds (mixture may still appear lumpy).Bake: Spread mixture into prepared pan.

Bake for 1hr 15 minutes - 1hr 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. To ensure a moist cake, do not over-bake. Stand 10 minutes in pan before turning onto a wire rack to cool. The cake will settle upon cooling.

Ice: Place milk and margarine spread or butter into a small saucepan and heat gently until just melted. Remove from heat and stir in contents of paper sachet of chocolate buttons until melted and smooth. If required, return to low heat and stir to melt any remaining chocolate. Be careful not to overheat or burn the mixture. Pour icing over cake allowing icing to drizzle down the sides.

For a muddier cake texture, refrigerate overnight before serving. Decorate: Cut 4 after-dinner mints diagonally into halves. To decorate, alternate with 8 chocolate balls and press into the icing around top edges of cake

hot chocolate pudding

Ingredients:
1 Egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
250 g NESTLE* Choc Bits, Dark Chocolate
3/4 cup WHITE WINGS* Self Raising Flour
JARRAH* Cappuccino, to serve
1 Tablespoon NESTLE* Baking Cocoa, sifted
425 g Stoneless Black Cherries in Syrup
3 Tablespoons Margarine
300 ml Thickened Cream

Cooking Method:
1. Blend margarine with sugar in bowl. Stir in egg, flour, cocoa, ¾ choc bits and ¼ cup reserved syrup
2. Grease 6 half cup moulds. Place 4 cherries in base of each and top with chocolate mixture.
3. Cover moulds with oiled alfoil, pressing firmly at sides.
4. Steam puddings in a perforated steamer for 20 minutes over gently boiling water. Stand for 5 mins.
5. Loosen edges with knife and turn puddings onto serving plates.

Serve with cream, chocolate shards and hot creamy cappuccino.

BBQ Prawns

Serving size: Serves 4 Cooking time: Less than 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 dozen ocean king prawns, green½ cup olive oil150g unsalted butter; softened1 teaspoon sugar ¼ teaspoon sea salt¼ teaspoon white pepper1 lime, juiced1 teaspoon lime zest 1 long red chilli, seeded and sliced thinly¾ cup coriander, picked and choppedsalt, to season

METHOD

Remove the heads of the prawns, place in small saucepan with olive oil. Warm through on a gentle heat; to allow flavours to infuse. This will be a prawn oil to use in your dressing.Meanwhile with scissors remove the legs of the prawns.

Slice straight through the back bone and tail, devein; set aside.In a medium bowl soften butter by beating with a wooden spoon. Mix in sugar, salt and pepper.

Spread butter mixture on the open side of the prawns.Heat large frying pan, place prawns in pan, cook for about 4 minutes, turn over once, and remove from heat when cooked. In a small bowl mix lime juice, zest, chilli, coriander and 2 tablespoons strained prawn oil; season with salt.Place cooked prawns on serving dish, drizzle with butter from the pan and dressing.

Note: Left over prawn oil to be stored in an air tight jam jar or glass bottle in the refrigerator.

Chop Suey (Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry in Soy Sauce served with Rice)

Preparation Time: 30 minutes Cooking Time: 15 Minutes

Ingredients (For a serving of up to 5 people)

3 scoops of rice (600 grams) (1 scoop = 200 grams)
2 tablespoon of salt
2 tablespoons of cooking oil (vegetable oil)

(For marinating the meat)
500 grams of chicken fillet (skinned)
5 cloves of garlic (peeled)
2 fresh green chilies
35 ml of soy sauce

(Vegetables - Make sure all are washed beforehand)
1 to 2 carrots (peeled)
30 French Beans
1 batch of Chinese cabbage
Half a bulb of charlotte onion (already peeled)
4 stalks of spring onion
Half a capsicum (already having its seeds taken out)
Half to One stalk of celery

(For the ginger/cornflower extract juice mix)
1 piece of regular ginger (peeled)
1 tablespoon of cornflower
300 ml of water in a jug.

Ingredient Availability
All ingredients can be found at your local supermarkets.
Equipment & Utensils
1 x Cutting Board for the meat.
1 x Cutting Board for the vegetables (can be the same board but wash it after initial use)
1 x Knife appropriate for cutting chicken.
1 x Knife appropriate for cutting the vegetable labeled in the ingredient section.
1 x Bowl for cleaning the rice.
1 x Bowl for cleaning the chicken meat.
1 x Rice Cooker for cooking the rice.
1 x Stove to cook the chop suey.
1 x Strainer for staring the ginger juice.
1 x Jug for putting the ginger juice, cornflower and water into.
1 x pesler and mortar for crushing the ginger and for the marinating ingredients.
1 x tray for putting all the diced vegetables into.
1 x large frying pan with lid to cook the meat.
1 x medium to large cooking pot for initially cooking the vegetable and then with the meat.
A couple of tablespoons and teaspoons for handling soy sauce, cornflower and salt.
2 x Cooking Wooden Spoons one for cooking the meat and the other for the vegetables.
1 to 5 serving plates for serving the chop suey with rice
1 x large spoon for serving the rice
1 x large spoon for serving the chop suey

Preparation Instructions

1).Wash your hands thoroughly using washing soap and wear an apron if available.

2). Put 3 scoops of rice into a bowl and then fill it with water.

3).Now we are going to clean the rice. Make sure the water level in the bowl is in excess of the rice and then use your hands and swirl the rice in the water filled bowl until the water is whitish and then rinse the water. Make sure as you are rinsing that you use a strainer or your hands to catch the rice that may tip with the water. Repeat this process twice.

4) Now take the clean rice and the add three scoops of water (600 ml total) into the bowl and then transfer the rice with the water into the rice cooker bowl and then turn the rice cooker on. (The rice in the instructional video is Basmati rice and required 4 scoops of water).

5) While the rice is cooking we can move to marinating the meat. Now take the 500 grams of chicken meat and put in into a bowl. Put the bowl under a tap and turn it on to half way. As the water is flowing into the bowl start to wash the meat with your hands by rubbing the meat and making sure you have cleaned it of any dirt and small pieces of loose fat. Turn the tap off when you feel you have sufficiently cleaned the meat and drain the bowl of all the water blocking the meat as you are draining the bowl.

6) Now take one large chunk meat at a time and put in onto a cutting board, use a meat cutting knife and finely chop the meat. One cutting tip here is that it is easier to cut if you flip the meat on its underbelly and then cut the meat vertically on the board using the hands to help steady the meat and to guide your width of cutting. As you are cutting the meat you can also slice away at any extra slab of fat on the meat to cook a healthier meal. As you are cutting the meat you can add it to the same bowl in which you washed the meat so that it doesn’t build up on the cutting board and hinder the process of you cutting the meat. Once the meat is cut put it all into the bowl and leave it aside as we now prepare for the marinating process.

7) Now take 5 gloves (pieces) of garlic (peeled) and also two pieces of fresh green chili with their tails chopped of and put in into a pelser and use a mortar (crusher) to crush all the garlic and chili together until they are grinded to a pulp. Now take a tablespoon and scoop the pulp and put in into the meat bowl. Then add two tablespoons of soy sauce (35 – 40 ml) into the bowl as well and then use a spoon (or hands if they are clean) to mix the garlic & chili pulp with the soy sauce with the meat until you are satisfied that it has been marinated properly. Now leave the marinating aside for the meat to soak up the flavor while we prepare the vegetables.

8) Before preparing the vegetables make sure you have washed all the vegetables and peeled and seeded the appropriate vegetables as indicated in the recipe above. Get a cutting board for the veggies or use the one for which you had cut the meat (wash it first) and get a sharp knife that is used for cutting vegetables. You can cut the different vegetable in many shapes and sizes however what is written below has been done so to minimize the time it take to properly cook the vegetables. Basically the bigger the chunks of vegetables the longer it will take to cook the chop suey. The following is the order in which I usually cut the vegetables.

a) Firstly put the half capsicum flat face down onto the board and cut it vertically (straight down). Cut approximately 1 cm in width and once it has been cut straight down take the cut capsicum and turn it at sideways and then cut straight down again making sure it is cut finely. After it has been cut put it on a tray.

b) Then cut the celery top and bottom parts and throw them away. Put the celery horizontally on the cutting board on its flat face and cut vertically (straight down). Keep the width of each slice approximately between 0.8 cm to 1.4 cm and put it all on the same tray.

c) Now cut the charlotte onion. Put it on its flat face horizontally and cut away the sides and throw them away. Now cut the onion vertically with the knife (straight down) and after it has all been cut put it onto the tray.

d) Now cut the spring onion. Holding the stalks together cut away at the base and throw that away. Now hold the stalks together and place them horizontally onto the cutting board and finely chop the spring onion vertically (straight down) with the knife and put it all onto the tray.

e) Now cut the Chinese cabbage. Firstly before washing the cabbage cut the base of the cabbage while it is still in a batch and then you will find that after cutting the base they are individual leaves. Take one leaf at a time and wash the back and front of it to ensure all the dirt has been washed off. Now take a few leaves at a time, line them together and cut finely with each slice varying between 2 to 3 cm and put them onto the tray.

f) Now cut the carrots. Cut the top and bottom of the carrot and throw them away. Now place the carrots horizontally, take the knife and cut the carrot at an acute 45 degree angle and place it all into the tray.

g) Now take the French beans and hold a couple of stalks together, place them horizontally onto the cutting board and cut the top and bottom of the stalks and throw them way. Now just as with the carrot cut the beans at an acute 45 degree angle in a bunch so to save time and put them into the tray.

9) Keep the first five chopped vegetables to one side and the carrot and the French bean on another. This is because when we cook the vegetables we firstly put in the carrots and the beans together and we let that cook for 2 minutes before adding all the other vegetables into the pot and cooking it all for another 2 to 3 minutes. This is due to the fact that onions, capsicum, celery and the cabbage can lose their nutritional value much more quickly then the carrots and the beans and therefore there is a need to cook them in certain order for a person to get the most out of the meal. The average time to firstly cook the vegetables by themselves is between 3 to 4 minutes and then with the meat is another 2 minutes taking the total time to cook the vegetable’s to 6 minutes. But before we cook the vegetables we will cook the meat as it takes a while longer and then we will simultaneously cook the vegetables to minimize the time it takes to cook.

10) Before we cook anything we will have to prepare the ginger juice extract with cornflower and water so that we can place this in the chop suey pot which is when the meat and the vegetables are brought together to cook in one pot (they are initially cooked separately and then cook together for a few minutes so to save time and to get the flavor right). In order to prepare the ginger juice extract take a regular piece of ginger and cut it into smaller pieces and put it into the peslar (crushing pot) and then crush it with a mortar until the ginger is a pulp. Now scoop the ginger pulp with a spoon and place it in a strainer, then fill a jug with 300 ml of water and place the strainer over the jug and use your hands to squeeze all the ginger juice into the jug with the water. Now discard the squeezed pulp and then place one tablespoon of cornflower into the water with the ginger juice and stir it and leave it aside while we start the cooking part of the whole process.

Cooking Chop Suey

1) Place a large frying pan on a stove and put one tablespoon of vegetable oil in it and turn the heat on to low medium. Swirl the oil in the pan around and let it all heat up for one minute and then take the meat bowl and put all the meat into the heated frying pan. Now add half a teaspoon of salt and stir with a wooden spoon for about 10 to 15 seconds. Then put a lid over the frying pan and check on the meat every 2 to 3 minutes. During this process use the wooden spoon during halfway of cooking the meat to taste the meat gravy in order to ensure there is enough salt in the meat, if not then adjust to what you think is appropriate. After 10 minutes the meat should be cooked enough for it to be moved into the pot on which you have been cooking the vegetables. If not give it another 2 to 3 minutes and then move in into the vegetable pot for which the cooking is discussed below.

11) Now while the meat is cooking we can cook the vegetables. Firstly get a pot for cooking vegetables and put a tablespoon of vegetable oil into it. Place it on a stove and the turn the gas on to low medium and then stir the pot moving the oil around the pot’s surface. Then after 30 to 40 seconds place the diced carrots and French beans into the pot, stir for a couple of seconds and then add then half a teaspoon of salt and stir for a couple of seconds and then put the lid on the pot for 2 minutes.

12) After 2 minutes put the rest of the vegetables into the pot and stir for 10 seconds making sure you are mixing the vegetables and then close the pot. After another 2 minutes stir the pot again and check on the vegetables. If they don’t look cooked enough you can cook for another minute but no longer as we know need to put all the vegetables, meat and the ginger extract in cornflower and water together so the chop suey is complete.

13) Now in order to bring meat, vegetables and the ginger juice together take the frying pan with the meat off the stove and turn it off (this is after the meat had cooked for between 10 to 15 minutes according to the decision you have made). In the meantime the vegetable pot should have been cooking for a total of 4 to 5 minutes and now we can place the meat into the vegetable pot.

14) Take the wooden spoon we used to cook the meat and hold the frying pan slightly leaning towards the pot and then use the spoon to slowing put the meat into the vegetable pot ensuring that you are avoiding the transfer of the fat at the bottom of the frying pan. Once you have put all the meat into the vegetable pot you can now add the jug with ginger juice, water and cornflower into the pot as well but make sure you stir the jug well as the cornflower would have settled on the bottom by now. Once you poured that into the pot, stir all pot well making sure you are mixing the meat and the vegetables together well and then put the lid on it for another 90 seconds. During stirring you can add another 10 ml of soy sauce to add extra flavor to the chop suey however this is optional but recommended. After the 90 seconds are done (add another 30 seconds if you feel you need it) and then turn the stove off and the chop suey is done. Remember during this final step the heat is still on low medium. Note that the rice is cooked by now and is on “warm” mode in the rice cooker.

Serving Suggestions
1) Get a serving plate
2) Get a large spoon and use it to place rice on one side of the plate
3) Get another spoon and use it to place the chop suey beside and along the rice.
4) You can create a serving as shown in the pictures taken for the final presentation of the chop suey with rise.

Dish Information:

Taste
Overall the dish should taste greasy, meaty and of soft vegetables coated in soy sauce with a gingerly aftertaste. The hint of soy sauce should dominate the dish and a person’s taste buds with the ginger and soy sauce gravy being picked up in the back of the throat/mouth. The rice should taste fresh on its own but when combined with the chop suey it should extenuate the taste of soy sauce, ginger, the meat and vegetables. The celery in the chop suey should still taste crunchy while the carrots, beans and capsicum should taste soft and nutritious. The spring and charlotte onion should taste slightly spicy depending on how much was added to the dish or how much the diner is eating in relation to the other ingredients. The cabbage should taste mildly bitter with coating of soy sauce and ginger. After the dish has been eaten there should be an overall spicy and greasy after taste left in the diner’s mouth.

Texture
The texture of the rice should be soft and fluffy and a person should be able to smudge it regardless of quantity taken at a time. The texture of the chop suey will depend on which ingredient we are referring to. Once cooked the meat should be spongy but soft enough to slice or split with a dining fork or spoon. The carrots, bean and capsicum should all be soft however the celery should remain strong or hard enough to make it crunchy when it is eaten. The spring and charlotte onions should also be soft and have a greasy/oily feel to them. The cabbage should be soft and easily greasy and runny. Overall the chop suey should be greasy, soft and runny due to the soy sauce and ginger gravy’s presence in the meal.

Smell
The chop suey should have a gingerly and soy sauce aroma with hints of stir fried meat and vegetables. The smell of either ginger or the soy sauce should dominate depending which one was used more in the cooking. The rice should give off a pleasant steamy rice smell creating a sense of freshness of the rice. A person can also pick up the smell of cabbage and the gravy which is strong on closer inspection as it will smell greasy, oily and mildly spicy.


Appearance
The rice should look whitish, steamy and fluffy and create an impression of lightness alongside the chop suey. The chop suey should appear greasy and oily and it should create the impression that the soy sauce and ginger gravy are running off the meat and vegetable mix. In terms of color the rice should be whitish while the chop suey should be dominated by the brownish meat and gravy with compliments of greenish vegetables and with subtle hints of reddish and orange vegetables. This should create an impression of a light and hearty stir fry meal with greasy coating. If the lighting is good the grease/gravy should also be reflected by the light making the meat and vegetables look shiny in certain areas.

Entrée - Prawns with Chilli, Coriander and Lime Butter

Preparation Time: 10 min Cooking Time: 5 min

Utensils Used: Sharp knifeCooking panCooking potStirring spoonPreparation boardServing plateIngredient bowls

Ingredients
12-16 large uncooked king prawns
100g butter, melted
1 to 2 (depending on how hot you like) fresh red chillies, seeded, chopped finely
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh coriander
50g spinach leaves

Instructions
1.) Shell prawns, leaving tails intact. To butterfly prawns cut halfway through the back of each prawn. Remove veins, press flat.
2.) Cook prawns on heated oil grill pan until it changes in colour (brownish), and just cooked through
3.) While the prawns are cooking, melt butter in a pot with medium heat. Once the butter is melted completely combine the chilli, lime juice and coriander to it and stir regularly.
4.) The prawns take 3-5 minutes to cook and the butter, chilli, coriander and lime juice mixture takes 3- 5 minutes as well.

Serving Suggestion
1.) Get a serving plate
2.) Spread spinach leaves on the serving plate
3.) Spread the prawns on top of the spinach
4.) Drizzle the butter, chilli, coriander and lime sauce on the prawns evenly.
5.) Serve hot

Other Special Instructions
Seeding Chilli
1.) Cut Chilli lengthwise in half
2.) Using the tip of a knife scrape the seeds of the chilli and dispose

Extracting Lime juice
1.) Cut one lime in half
2.) Squeeze lime into a small bowl using a tablespoon to measure quantity
3.) Make sure there are no seeds in the lime juice in the bowl

Chopping Coriander
1.) Wash a bunch of coriander
2.) Bunch the coriander together and chop the coriander finely

Melting Butter
1.) Heat a pot and then put butter in the pot. Butter should start melting immediately.
2.) Make sure to stir so that butter does not stick to the bottom of pot

Dish Information

Taste
The dish should taste like prawns with a hint of lime, chilli and coriander. The butter should make the prawns taste a little salty as well.

Texture
The prawns should be cooked through which means that when poked, it should feel springy. The spinach leaves are raw and so should be crunchy. The coriander and chillies are cooked in butter so they should be soft and salty as well with an after taste of lime juice to break the saltiness of the butter.

Smell
The dish should have a slight aroma of butter and lime. It can also have a chilli smell depending on how much chilli you use.

Appearance
When the serving suggestion is followed, the dish should have two levels. The first level should be of the spinach which acts as a bed for the prawns, and the next where the prawns are scattered on top of the spinach. The prawns should be brownish in colour with the greens from the coriander and the reds from the diced chillies on it. The sauce when drizzled should cover all the prawns. Therefore the whole dish should have brownish, green, red and yellow colour.