Four Sisters Food

This salad is great for barbeques, and every time I make it I am asked for copies of the recipe. The secret ingretient is the brand of mayonaise- I only use Best Foods Real Mayonaise. This brand can be tricky to get in Australia because it is not available in supermarkets, continental deils usually have it. In New Zealand Kato makes a great mayonaisse, this would be my second preference. Whenever I have tried store-bought potato salads, I always find the ‘tatos are undercooked and al-dente, I like them to be very well cooked and soft. My mum is an expert of the different varieties of potatoes, I generally just go for the ones that have purple skin and creamy yellow flesh, and use them unpeeled in this recipe.

Ingredients
8 large potatoes, washed and cubed
½ jar best foods real mayonaise
¼ cup shelled pistacho nuts
1 red onion, chopped
2-3 finely sliced spring onions
1 lime

Method
Boil the potatoes unti they are very soft, drain. Gently mix in the nuts, red and spring onions, and mayonaise. Squeeze lime juice over the salad and garnish with extra nuts or onion. This can be served warm, or made ahead and chilled.

This is adapted from a recipe of Rory’s Gran. She used farm butter instead of cream – I find that the thickened cream works really well. It is really yummy for afternoon tea. 

Ingredients

Dough

500g flour

2t dry yeast

¼ c sugar

75g butter

250ml lukewarm milk

2 small eggs

Topping

300ml thickened cream

Soft brown sugar

Ground cinnamon

Method

• Mix together ½ the milk with a teaspoon of the sugar and the yeast
• Leave in a warm place to froth
• Rub the butter into the flour and add the sugar – mix. I do this all in the food processor
• Add the yeast mixture, balance of milk & the eggs to flour.
• Mix well until the dough is of a sticky/stretchy consistency
• Place in a bowl and leave, in a warm place, to rise until double in size
• Knead and then roll dough out to fit a roasting pan
• Leave to rise again
• When risen, sprinkle liberally with cinnamon and then with brown sugar
• Using the back of a wooden spoon make holes all over the dough
• Using two teaspoons place little blobs of cream on the holes.
• Bake in 190ºC oven for about 10 mins or until cooked

Friands [wiki] are very popular in NZ Cafés, but they have not really taken off in Australia, and are seldom available, however in Perth the David Jones Foodhall sells them. There is a strange tradition in Perth where on your birthday you have to take in cake, which is odd because on your special day you have to wake up an hour earlier and spend the morning baking, in NZ and the East coast the usual tradition was a pub lunch or with your workmates. Anyway this is what I took into work yesterday, they went down a treat. Be careful not to overfill the cups with mixture- nobody likes a muffin-top.

Ingredients
180g (6oz) unsalted butter
6 eggwhites
200g (7oz) icing sugar, plus extra to dust
60g (2oz) plain flour, sifted
120g (4¼ oz) almond meal
200g (7oz) fresh or frozen blueberries (or any raspberries, bilberries etc)

Method
Preheat oven to 200°C (390°F). Use a little butter to grease a 12 hole friand pan.
Lightly beat eggwhites in a large bowl until frothy. Sift in icing sugar and flour, then stir in almond meal. Add melted butter, and blueberries, stir in until just combined, then spoon into pan. Bake for 18-20 minutes, turning tray halfway, until tops are golden and springy to touch.
Stand for 5 minutes, then turn onto a rack to cool slightly. Dust with icing sugar.

Ingredients

Cake

2 1/4 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup butter at room temperature

3/4 cup milk

3 large eggs at room temperature

2 1/2 teaspoons of double acting baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting

1lb or 500g confectioners/icing sugar

1/2 cup/1 stick or 125g butter at room temperature

1 teaspoon high quality vanilla extract

3-5 tablespoons milk

Method

Cake

Preaheat the oven to 375 F or 190 C.  Grease and flour 2 8 inch or 20 centimeter cake pans.  Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and beat with an electic mixer for 5 minutes until well blended.  Pour the mixture into pans, dividing evenly.  Spread it in each pan with a slight indentation in the middle and raised slightly at the sides.  Bake for 25 minutes or until the cake springs back when pressed lightly with your finger and shrinks slightly from the sides of the pan.  Cool the pans on wire racks for 5 minutes and then turn out the cakes onto the racks and cool completely.

Frosting

Mix the sugar, butter and vanilla with an eletric mixer or in a food processor.  Gradually add the milk until the mixture is a spreadable consistency.  Be careful not to add too much milk.  Sandwich the two cake layers together with the frosting and then frost the sides and top.

Serves 10

Ingredients

24 fingerling or new potatoes (six servings)

24 sugarsnap peas

4 cloves garlic

3 tablespoons olive oil

Method

Clean the potatoes.  Place them in a pan and cover with cold water.  Bring the water to a boil over high heat and then reduce to low heat.   Cook the potatoes until just tender.  While the potatoes are cooking wash and prepare the peas by cutting off the tops and bottoms and removing the strings.  Peel the garlic and chop finely.  When the potatoes are cooked, drain in a colander and set aside.  In the pan heat the olive oil over medium heat and cook garlic for about 1 minute, stirring frequently.  Add the peas and stir fry for 1 minute.  Add the potatoes and fry for 1 minute.  Add freshly ground pepper and salt to taste.

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 pork fillets

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup soy sauce

Method

Butterfly the pork fillets.  Mix together the ingredients in a shallow glass dish and marinate the fillets for 30 minutes.  Remove the pork from the marinate and broil/grill in the oven or on a grill for about 20-30 minutes until just cooked.  Meanwhile pour the marinade into a small pan and boil for 1 minute.  Slice the pork and pour the marinade over.

Serves 6

Ingredients

Asian Chicken stock: 4 cups organic chicken stock, 2 garlic cloves smashed, small piece of  fresh ginger sliced, 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro/coriander stems, 1 teaspoon tamarind paste or juice of 1/2 lemon, pinch of salt

Soup:

4 cups Asian chicken stock

1/2 to 1 teaspoon chile powder

4 small shallots sliced

2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

3oz/100g Bunashimeji (Beech mushrooms) or other mushrooms

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

2 scallions/green onions sliced

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro/coriander leaves

Method

Bring the stock ingredients to boil in a large pan and simmer for 30 minutes.  Strain through a cheesecloth and return to pan.  Bring the stock to a simmer and then stir in chile powder (to taste), mushrooms and shallots.  Simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.  Stir in fish sauce and soy sauce and simmer for 1 minute.  Remove from the heat and stir in the mint.  Serve topped with scallions/green onions and cilantro/coriander.

Serves 4

Ingredients

3 cups baby spinach leaves or mixed lettuce washed and dried

1 cup blackberries

1/2 cup blue cheese cut into small pieces

1/2 cup walnut pieces

2 chicken breasts (poached, grilled or rotisserie) cut in small strips

1 pear washed and cut in pieces

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

Method

To make the dressing whisk together the vinegar, oil and pepper in a small bowl.  Place all the other ingredients in a salad bowl and toss with the dressing.

Serves 4

Ingredients

450 g (3½ cups) plain flour

300 ml (1¼ cups) boiling water

1 teaspoon oil

roasted sesame oil

Method

Sift the flour into a bowl (I use my Kenwood mixer), pour the boiling water in, mixing slowly.  Add the oil and knead to a firm dough.  Cover with a damp tea towel and set aside for 30 minutes.

Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, or until smooth.  Divide the dough into three equal portions, roll each portion into a long cylinder, then cut each cylinder into 8 pieces.  While cooking the pancakes, keep the pieces covered with a damp tea towel.

Working with 2 pieces at a time, roll each piece into a ball and press into a flat disc with the palm of your hand.  Brush one disc with sesame oil and put another disc on top.  Use a rolling pin to flatten each pair of discs into a 15 cm (6 in) pancake.

Heat an ungreased frying pan over high heat, then reduce heat to low.  Place the pairs of pancakes, one at a time in the pan.  Turn over when brown spots appear on the underside.  When the second side is cooked, lift pancakes out and carefully peel them apart.  Fold each pancake in half, cooked side in and set aside under another damp cloth.

Reheat pancakes in a steamer over simmering water for about 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 24 pancakes

Ingredients

250 g (9 oz) pork fillet or loin, trimmed of fat

¼ cup light soy sauce

¼ cup Shaoxing rice wine

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons cornflour (cornstarch)

5 dried Chinese mushrooms

20 g (1 oz) dried black wood ear fungus

4 tablespoons oil

2 eggs, lightly beaten

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 tablespoons ginger, finely chopped

1 leek, white part only, finely shredded

¼ small Cinese cabbage, stem and leafy sections separated and shredded

½ teaspoon sugar

Freshly ground black pepper

½ cup hoisin sauce

12 Mandarin pancakes

Method

Cut the pork across the grain into slices about 5mm (¼ in) thick, then cut into thin matchstick size shreds.  Place shreds into a bowl and add 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of the rice wine, the sesame oil and 1 teaspoon of the cornflour and toss to coat.  Cover with plastic wrap and marinade in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Soak the dried mushrooms in boiling water for 30 minutes, then drain and squeeze out any excess water.  Remove and discard stems and shred the caps.  Soak the fungus in cold water for 20 minutes, then drain and squeeze out any excess water.  Shred the fungus.

Heat a wok over high heat, add 2 tablespoons of the oil and heat until very hot.  Sirf-fry the port mixture for a couple of minutes until the meat is brown and cooked.  It may be necessary to do this in batches. Remove and set aside.  Rinse and dry the wok.

Reheat the wok over high heat, add 1 tablespoon of the oil and heat until hot.  Add the eggs and stir fry to scramble, then move to one side of the wok.  Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and heat until very hot.  Stir fry the garlic, ginger, mushrooms and fungus for 30 seconds until fragrant.  Add the leek and stir fry for 2 minutes, then add the cabbage stems and cook for 30 seconds.  Add the leafy cabbage sections, and cook for a minute or until the vegetables are just tender.

Combine 1½ tablespoons of the soy sauce, the remaining rice wine and cornflour, the sugar, black pepper and the meat and add to the sauce and simmer until thickened.

Combine the hoisin sauce, the remaining soy sauce and 1½  tablespoons water in a small bowl.  Serve the pork with the pancakes and sauce.

Serves 4