Ingredients.

Rice:

• 1.5 cups of brown rice
• 2.5 cups of water
• 1 dried kashmiri chilli
• ½ cup of sultanas
• 2 teaspoons of turmeric 
• 1 teaspoon of dried powdered ginger

Main:

• 400g pork fillet or lean steak – cubed
• 1 tablespoon of ghee
• 1 capsicum – roughly diced
• 1 onion – roughly diced
• 2 rashers of bacon, diced
• 3-5 drops fish sauce
• 2 teaspoons Ceylon Curry Powder 
• 1 teaspoon of dried coriander leaves
• 2 teaspoons of brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon or so of apple cider vinegar 
• ½ to ¾ cup of shredded coconut
• 1 – 2 dried kashmiri chillies sliced thinly
• Splash of sesame oil
• Optionally, some fresh coriander leaves for garnish

Method.

Rice:

In a large cast iron frying pan dry roast the rice until a good amount of it pops and the rest toasts well (do not burn).

Place the rest of the ingredients in your rice cooker, then add the toasted rice and set it to cook. (You can do this on the stove, just cook as you usually would for rice)

Main:

In the same fry pan, add the ghee, heat until melted, then add the onion, bacon and capsicum. Cook until just softened. Remove and place in a bowl for later. 

Now in the frypan, splash in the sesame oil, add the pork (high heat), and brown on all sides. Add the curry powder, chillies, and vinegar. Stir well and cook for a minute or two. Add back the veg, fish sauce, coriander, and brown sugar. Stir through well. If the rice is almost done, add the coconut and stir well cooking for a couple of minutes.

Serve the rice as a bed, topped with the meat dish, and garnish with fresh coriander. 

Ingredients.

1 – 1.5kg of Skirt steak
1 Onion
2-3 cloves garlic
1-2 sticks of celery
1 large carrot
6 large button mushrooms (or Swiss Brown)
1 can of tomotoes
salt and pepper to taste
1 tspn dried basil
1 tspn dried rosemary
2 teaspoons paprika
olive oil
1 tspn of fennel seeds

Method

Cube the skirt steak into cubes the size you want in your stew (about 1 inch sqaure worked well).
Brown all sides of the meat in a very hot pan (I used a cast iron frypan, and some oil). Browning the meat seals in the juices and improves the flavour.
Dice all the vegetables.


Now put some oil in your slow cooker, and add all the ingredients, stir, place the lid on, and set on High for 5 hours, or low for 8-10 hours.


Just before serving you can thicken the stew slightly with 1 Tablespoon of cornflour (corn starch), dissolved in a little water.


Serve with buttered toast (a good dark rye bread works fantastically, but any toasted bread would do).

Gnocchi con funghi e pomodoro

serving suggestion

Ingredients

• 1/2 of a Spanish Onion, finely diced
• 1 large or 2 small cloves of garlic, finely chopped or minced
• 4 rashers of short cut bacon, finely diced
• 1/3 of a salami, finely diced
• 6 large button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 can of tomatoes
• 1 tspn dried basil (or equiv fresh)
• 1/2 tspn of dried oregano (or equiv fresh)
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil
• 500g gnocchi

Method

Boil a pot of water of sufficient size to cook your gnocchi, with a couple of heaped teaspoons of salt.
While that is coming to temperature, in a sauté pan, put the olive oil and all the ingredients except the tomatoes and herbs. Sauté for a few minutes until the onion is transparent.
Add the tomatoes and herbs, simmer for approx 15-20 mins.
When the sauce is reduced to your liking, and the water boiled, add the gnocchi to the water and continue to boil. The gnocchi is done when it rises to the surface (about 3-4 minutes).
Serve with pecorino romano cheese.