Black Pudding Potato Cakes with Tomato Chili Chutney Recipe

Black Pudding Potato Cakes with Tomato Chili Chutney

British food usually does not get people excited. I love British food, but it seems many people find it bland and boring. This black pudding potato cake is perhaps one of the attempts to modernize British food. You probably think this is just black pudding and potatoes, shaped and fried. You are right, but at least its progress. 

It goes without saying that this dish is great. Black pudding and mashed potatoes are great on their own, combining and shallow frying it is a different way of having the same thing. Plus by making cakes you can add other ingredients to the mixture such as cheese, onions or bacon.

Sweet, acidic and spicy sauce is a great accompaniment to black pudding. If you can't be bothered making the chutney, use thai sweet chilli sauce.

One issue is getting the right amounts of black pudding and mashed potatoes. I modified the recipe by increasing the amount of black pudding. Black pudding is mild tasting, too much potatoes is probably not a good thing. If in doubt use more black pudding. 

Black Pudding Potato Cakes with Tomato Chili Chutney

Adopted from BBC Good Food

Ingredients

200g black pudding, diced

400g cold mashed potato

½ bunch spring onions, finely diced 

½ small onion, finely chopped

125g cherry tomatoes, quartered

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

Powdered chili, to taste

1 tablespoon plain flour

2 tablespoons oil

Directions

1.      To make the chutney: heat vinegar, sugar and 1 tablespoon water, mixing to ensure that the sugar dissolves 

2.      Add the onion and chili powder and cook until onion softens slightly, about 1-2 minute

3.      Add the tomatoes and cook until it starts to soften, about 3-4 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool 

4.      To make the potato cakes: Mix the mashed potato and spring onion and add salt and pepper to taste

5.      Add black pudding and mix gently

6.      Shape into 4 - 6 patties and dust it in the flour 

7.      Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan and cook the potato cakes until browned, about 3-4 minutes on each side. Add more oil if necessary, especially when turning over the potato cakes

Black Pudding Potato Cakes with Tomato Chili Chutney

ANZAC Biscotti Recipe

ANZAC Biscotti

Well this does not quite have the characteristics associated with ANZAC cookies even though similar ingredients are used. ANZAC cookies are crispy and chewy, these ANZAC biscotti’s are just crispy. But still very very delicious. And if you are calorie or fat conscious, you will notice that there is no butter used in the recipe.

Just like ANZAC cookies, these biscotti’s don’t keep for long. Its difficult to stop eating until they are all gone. 

ANZAC Biscotti

Ingredients

1 cup plain flour

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup desiccated coconut

2 eggs

¾ - 1 cup sugar (original recipe suggests 1 cup, I prefer less)

1 tablespoon golden syrup

Directions

1.      Heat the oven to 160°C/325°F

2.      In a bowl, mix flour, rolled oats and coconut.

3.      In another bowl, beat the sugar, golden syrup and eggs until pale yellow.

4.      Add the flour mixture and mix until just blended. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.

5.      Divide the dough evenly into 2 equal mounds and place on the prepared baking sheet. With moist hands, space the dough evenly apart and form into logs.

6.      Bake until lightly browned, about 25-30 minutes.

7.      Cool for 5 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut the logs crosswise into ¼ - ½ inch thick diagonal slices. Arrange the biscotti cut side down on the same baking sheet. Bake until the cookies are pale golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely.

ANZAC Biscotti

Orange Crumb Cake With Almond Cinnamon Crumb Topping Recipe

Orange Crumb Cake With Almond Cinnamon Crumb Topping   

This is an interesting recipe. The liquid in the cake is orange juice instead of the usual milk. It worked, but without the crumb topping this would be an ordinary cake, not that there is anything wrong with an ordinary cake. 

The cake is really moist, and the chopped almonds in the crumb gave it a nice crunch. This is probably not the right place to have a discussion on healthy cakes, but crumbs instead of frosting is lower fat, and healthy, for those of you who think fat is unhealthy. Most importantly, it is delicious and making the crumb topping requires hardly any additional effort. 

Orange Crumb Cake With Almond Cinnamon Crumb Topping  

Adopted from Southern Food

Ingredients

1 cup flour

½ cup sugar

¼ cup butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

½ cup orange juice

2 tablespoons almond, either flakes, chopped or meal

1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest (optional)

Directions

1.      Heat oven to 175°C/350°F

2.      Combine flour, sugar, and butter with pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles bread crumbs 

3.      Measure ½ cup of the crumb mixture and move to a separate bowl. Add almond meal and cinnamon to this mixture and mix well

4.      To the other crumb mixture add baking powder and blend well.

5.      In a bowl beat egg, orange juice and orange zest until well combined. Add the crumb mixture containing baking powder and mix to combine. Do not overmix

6.      Pour batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square baking pan.

7.      Sprinkle the almond cinnamon-crumb mixture over the batter. Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.

Orange Crumb Cake With Almond Cinnamon Crumb Topping

Orange and Soy Glazed Baby Back Pork Ribs Recipe

Orange and Soy Glazed Ribs

This is a simple recipe that takes time, but your patience is rewarded with sweet salty glazed fall of the bone ribs. 

I simplified the original recipe that came from The Bon Appétit Test Kitchen. I am certainly not claiming to improve the recipe in my own test kitchen, just taking short cuts and simplifying it. The original recipe suggests cooking the ribs in part of the glazing liquid and draining the liquid. The remaining glazing liquid is reduced and used for glazing. I used all the glazing liquid to cook the ribs and reduced it. The result was still marvelous. 

By cooking ribs in the glazing liquid and reducing the same liquid, you keep all the meat juices. On the other hand if you throw away the liquid in which you cook the ribs and reduce just the glazing liquid you get a cleaner flavor, free from the meat juices. I don't know which is better or worse but I was quite happy to reduce the effort required. I hope I haven't confused you.

Recipe adopted from The Bon Appétit Test Kitchen

Ingredients

3½ pounds pork ribs

1½ cups fresh orange juice plus zest from 1 orange

1 cup soy sauce

3 tablespoons honey

9 garlic cloves, minced

5 teaspoons cumin seeds

3 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

1.      Place all the ingredients in a large pot and add enough water to completely cover the ribs. 

2.      Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until ribs are tender, about 1½-2 hours. Leave the lid slightly open

3.      Remove the ribs. Boil the glazing liquid until it is thick

4.      Heat a broiler. Place ribs on a baking sheet, brush with thickened glaze and place under the broiler until the glaze starts to dry out. Brush more sauce and keep repeating until the sauce is used up

Orange and Soy Glazed Ribs

Salted Peanut and Raisin Cookies Recipe

Salted Peanut and Raisin Cookies

I love eating salted peanuts and raisins together. The sweet and salty combination is a delight, just like peanut butter and jam sandwiches. On Wikipedia I came across the term Gorp, short for "good old raisins and peanuts", a trail mix made with peanuts, raisins and M&M's. I decided to make Gorp cookies, minus M&M’s.

These cookies are different from Fah Sang Pen, the traditional Chinese New Year cookies. Fah Sang Pen is made with ground peanuts, does not have raisins, but sounds absolutely delicious too. Perhaps a future project! For now I am sticking with M&M-less Gorps. Trying saying this quickly three times. However you won't have any difficulties in eating these.

A useless thought. Since peanut is not a nut but a legume does it mean you can eat peanuts if you allergic to nuts?

Ingredients

1 cup flour

½ cup sugar (use 1 cup if you prefer ‘normal’ level of sweetness)

1 egg

½ cup oil or butter

½ cup salted roasted peanuts (optional: coarsely chopped)

½ cup raisins (optional: coarsely chopped)

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

 Directions

1.      Heat oven to 180°C/360°F

2.      Mix flour, baking powder and baking soda 

3.      In a separate bowl beat oil, sugar, egg and vanilla until sugar dissolves and the mixture turns pale

4.      Add flour mixture and mix well

5.      Stir in peanuts and raisins

6.      Place balls of dough about an inch thick onto a baking tray, flatten and bake until golden brown and delicious, about 12 - 15 minutes

Salted Peanut and Raisin Cookies

Kung Pao Pork Recipe

Kung Pao Pork 

Traditionally chicken is used to make Kung Pao but there is nothing wrong in using pork. Pork is closer to chicken compared with other meats such as lamb, beef or dog. 

Little bit of history. According to Wikipedia Kung Pao chicken, also known as Gong Bao chicken, is believed to be named after Ding Baozhen, a late Qing Dynasty official, a one-time governor of Sichuan. His title was Gong Bao, hence Gong Bao chicken. 

Kung Pao pork may sound complex but it is quite easy to prepare. The list of ingredients includes ‘exotic’ items such as chinkiang vinegar. Don’t be alarmed, you can easily substitute with everyday ingredients to get the desired sweet, sour, salty and spicy combination. The most important ingredient is Sichuan peppercorns. There is no substitute that I am aware of. Of course you can make the dish without it but it will not be the same. The American version does not use Sichuan peppercorns since it was illegal to import it from 1968 until 2005. 

Don’t let the long list of ingredients discourage you. When I see recipes with many ingredients I usually try to avoid it. I try to stick with recipes that have single digit number of ingredients but this one has about 20 items, though some of them are repeated. When you take a closer look, it is not complex. You first mix all the marinade ingredients and that takes care of 5 items. You mix and set aside the sauce ingredients and that takes care of a further 7 items. You are then left with just a few items. Once you make the sauce and marinade mix, the rest of the dish is like preparing a simple stirfry. If you want you can exclude all the marinade ingredients and cook the pork without marinating it. I think the difference will not be much. It is probably best to deep fry the pork in this case.

Recipe adopted from With a Glass. The serving size is two.

Ingredients

About 160-200 grams pork, diced into 1½ cm cubes (or enough pork for two persons, any cut of pork will do)

5 spring onions (white parts) cut into 1½ cm pieces

3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced

1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh ginger

2 tablespoons oil

Minimum 10 dried Sichuan chilies or any chili will do

1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns

2-3 tablespoons peanuts or cashew nuts, roasted (or preferably raw nuts deep fried in oil)

Marinade

2 teaspoons light soy sauce

1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine (or white wine)

1½ teaspoon corn starch

1 tablespoon water

Sauce

3 teaspoons sugar

¾ teaspoon corn starch

1 teaspoon dark soy sauce

1 teaspoon light soy sauce

3 teaspoons Chinkiang vinegar (substitute with other vinegars such as red wine/red rice/balsamic/apple cider)

1 teaspoon sesame oil

3 tablespoons chicken stock or water

Directions

1.      Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl, add pork and let it marinade for at least 30 minutes

2.      In a separate bowl mix all the sauce ingredients 

3.      Heat oil in a wok over high heat, add chilies and Sichuan peppercorns and cook until crispy and aromatic, but not burnt

4.      Add pork and cook until almost done, then add ginger, garlic and spring onions and cook until pork is done

5.      Add the sauce to the wok, stirring continuously.

6.      When sauce becomes thick, add the peanuts or cashew nuts and remove from heat. Kung Pao Pork is now ready to wok and roll

Kung Pao Pork