Place all into ramekins mixing to suit personal flavor.
Part fill wok with water making sure when ramekins are in the water does go into them(i have the level to about 1/2 way up a ramekin), bring to boil then turn to simmer (if have steamer you can use that)
When water is simmering place ramekins in and put lid on
Let the steam cook the fish usually around 5 min you see the fish will be whitey colour and if use a fork will flake apart
Take out (at this point I put veg into a bowl and place in wok to steam for a side dish)
Add white sauce to the ramekins making sure leave room for mash potato I move fish around so the white sauce flows through fish.
Add mash potato flatten out then top with grated cheese
Place ramekins under a grill so the cheese creates a crust on top
Take out and place in the center of plate with veg around outside here I placed steamed broccoli and cauliflower with cheese sauce on 1 side and steam carrots on the other.
We like this recipe as it is very basic, you can make each pie to suit the person and it is also really healthy, the flavor is also kept in the fish, I haven't seen this cooked this way before was just something i tried and worked well.
2 tblsn olive oil
4 Hapuka steaks, approx 2cm thick (or substitute any firm white fish)
2 Finely sliced onions
2 Finely sliced lemons
2 tblspn Curry powder
Tomato paste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Milk
The ingredients for this one is oulined for two people - people who don't even like the taste of fish have enjoyed this one many a time and is really good with albacore and the like too as the fillets remain moist- anyhows, give it ago and see what ya think...
Step 1
Rub all of the above over fillets and let sit about 15 mins on each side (Note: half a red onion, half red capsicum and fresh cream required for Step 3)
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
End Result –
Wild Pork and Venison Casserole on Quinoa and green beans.
A
Ingredients.
600 grams of Wild Pork cut into pieces
250 grams of gypsy bacon (or similar) cut into lardons or 1cm cubes
12 or so pickling onions peeled (whole)
3 shallots sliced
5 or 6 (or more) cloves garlic. (Ground in mortar and pestle).
1 pottle Tomato Paste.
1 Packet Swiss brown mushrooms halved or quartered depending on size.
4ish tablespoons of flour. I use white rice flour as wife is wheat intolerant.
Liberal amount of rock salt and pepper corns (ground in mortar and pestle)
400 mls Good quality stock-. I used home made Duck and vege stock we make from the leftovers / bones of roast duck and keep frozen. Chicken or vege stock would also do. If I was making this with beef or domestic pork I would use beef stock, but I want the game flavor of the meat to come through in the finished dish.
½ Bottle of good New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Don’t use anything you wouldn’t sit down and enjoy drinking. If I was making this with beef or domestic pork I would use pinot noir, but I want the game flavor of the meat to come through in the finished dish.
Puha from the garden (or water cress if your garden is too tidy for puha)
Bouquet Garni consisting of the following. Flat leaf parsley, Fresh Rosemary, Fresh Thyme, a few new growth leaves of Horopito and Kawakawa.
Olive oil
Unsalted butter (if for health reasons you can’t eat butter you can exclude it – but it adds a lot to the flavor of the dish)
Beans
Quinoa.
Method
Preheat oven to approx 150-160 degrees.
Liberally season the diced pork and venison and dust with flour (don’t use too much).
On the stove top in a heavy casserole dish heat olive oil and a knob of butter and add bacon lardons. Fry until crisp and brown (the fat released at this stage adds flavor to the dish). Remove and set aside.
Brown the pork and venison in batches. The meat should be brown on the outside but not cooked through. Remove and keep aside.
Fry shallots and garlic for a couple of minutes, keeping them moving and trying to scrape up the brown bits on the bottom of the casserole with your wooden spoon. Add tomato paste and continue cooking and scraping for a further minute or so.
Return the browned meat to the dish and stir through, add the wine the stock and the bouquet garni. Bruise the horopito and kawakawa slightly to release their flavor.
Cover the casserole and bring to a simmer before putting the casserole in the heated oven. Set the timer for 2 hours. You will notice that the mixture is quite liquid, but there are more ingredients to add at a later stage.
Have a glass of wine.
Meanwhile in a separate pan brown the onions and then mushrooms in a bit more butter and oil and set aside with the bacon. Wash the Puha removing all caterpillars and remove the bigger stalks.
When the two hours is up remove the casserole from the oven and add the onions, bacon, mushrooms and puha. Return to the oven for a further hour. If the mixture is still to wet remove the lid to reduce.
Serve on Quinoa with steamed beans and garnish with flat leaf parsley.
Quinoa is perfect for stews and casseroles as a light alternative to mash.
Gently toast the quinoa in a dry frying pan stirring constantly until most of the seeds have popped. Add water to the frying pan keeping in mind that the quinoa will absorb a bit more than twice their volume of water. Cover the pan bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for approx 15 mins until the quinoa has absorbed most of the water, uncover and continue cooking whilst stirring until all excess water has evaporated or been absorbed. Serve.
My last game entry was quite time consuming to prepare so here’s a quick and simple one. I cooked this in a holiday park at
Seared venison in manuka honey and lemon juice with fresh asparagus.
Ingredients
Method.
Wash the venison and pat dry place in a mixing bowl.
Season with salt and pepper, and crushed garlic.
Rub with olive oil, pour over a little of the excess oil (keep some aside for cooking)
Melt honey and pour over the venison evenly.
Leave to sit for 20 or so mins.
Stir through the venison and marinade and Squeeze over the lemon juice. The amount will vary to how juicy the lemons are – but the liquid should cover most of the venison.
Leave to sit for a further 10 mins.
Remove the venison from the marinade and drain- retain the liquid aside.
Sear all sides of the venison in a hot frying pan with a little butter and olive oil until dark brown. Pour in the remaining liquid and broil until the venison is cooked to your liking. I prefer it rare but not blue.
Remove the venison and let sit for at least 5 or so minutes before carving.
Continue stirring and reducing the liquid until the honey begins to caramelize and thicken. By this stage the jus should be a rich brown colour and most of the acid from the lemon would have evaporated. Remove the jus from the pan to be poured over the finished dish- (at home I strain out the garlic, but just removing the bigger bits works fine).
Trim and wash the asparagus whole.
In a clean frying pan heat a knob of butter until the solids start to brown.
In with the asparagus and fry for a min or two.
Pour in a little Sauvignon Blanc, cover and let steam for a few further mins.
Uncover to let the liquid evaporate and brown the asparagus slightly.
Slice the Venison and serve over asparagus and drizzle with the remaining jus.
Hot Smoked salmon and duck egg laksa.
You could make this recipe a lot easier for yourself by buying pre made Laksa… but I decided to make it from scratch. The excess saves well in the fridge.
Ingredients.
For the Laksa paste.
5 stalks of Lemon grass (white bit only)
4-5 hot chilies (adjust amount to taste)
Ginger (about a palm sized piece)
1 tsp of shrimp paste (or a bit more if you are using shrimp sauce)
4-5 Shallots, peeled.
6 cloves of garlic
5-6 tablespoons of Peanut oil.
½ cup of coriander
1 tsp Turmeric ground.
2 tsp sugar
¼ Cup of Tamarind paste
3 Kaffir lime leaves
For the Laksa broth.
Approximately 1 generous Cup of Laksa Paste
4 Tablespoons of Peanut oil
2 Cups Chicken Stock
2 Cups home made Vegetable Stock*
1 can of Coconut Cream.
¼ cup of Fish sauce.
½ cup of basil
½ cup of coriander
For the Salmon
1 or 2 salmon tails – dependant on size
Salt
Pepper
Brown sugar
Grappa (or other white spirit).
1 x Duck egg per serving. My duck eggs are from the Oratia farmers market.
* For the Vegetable stock…. My wife’s Maori side means that I am not allowed to waste anything… so where you freezer may be full of food…mines full of food scraps. Chicken and duck bones, bags of onion and garlic skins, vege off cuts you name it. Anyway for the stock you empty all of the bags out of the freezer into a stockpot, fill with water and simmer for a few hours…you can then freeze the stock in plastic pet food containers that I’m also not allowed to throw out.
Method.
Make the Laksa paste (or just open a packet)
Place lemongrass, chilies, garlic, shallots, shrimp paste and oil in a blender and blend well. Add the remaining paste ingredients and continue to blend until smooth. It doesn’t matter if there are stringy bits from the ginger and lemon grass as the can be strained out later.
Make the Laksa broth
In a pot fry about a cup of the above paste mixture in peanut oil until browned but not burnt. Add the stock, fish sauce, basil and coriander and bring to a simmer. Simmer for minimum of 15 mins then add the coconut cream. Strain before serving.
Meanwhile smoke the salmon.
I used salmon tails as they are cheap from the fishmarket. Split the salmon off the backbone removing as many bones as possible. Season well with salt and pepper and cover the flesh with brown sugar and Grappa. I don’t want the smoke to bee too dominant so I smoke the salmon on tinfoil, and also put the smoking tray in my portable smoker on rocks to raise the tray up in the smoker, lowering the cooking temperature.
Boil the duck eggs leaving the yolks runny (approx 5 mins), peal the eggs.
To assemble.
Flake the salmon off the skin removing any remaining bones.
In a warmed bowl make little doughnut shaped piles of salmon, place the peeled eggs in The middle of the salmon cutting off the top to expose the yolk.
Carefully poor in the strained Laksa broth, until it nearly reaches the top of the Salmon.
Garnish with spring onion and coriander.
For a larger meal add fresh noodles.
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