Coming Up in October

Apologies for neglecting the blog for a while. We went away for a week's holiday at Hervey Bay. See the whale watching photos below. I've also not been feeling the best, hence the slackness in cooking and blogging. I hope I'll be up to cooking a bit more in the next month or so. The DH and the boys have been doing some of the cooking lately, but not many of them presentable enough for food blogging.

Assam Prawns (Tamarind Prawns)

This is another nostalgic Mum’s dish, although she never gave me the recipe, me thinks she’s reluctant to spill the secret. My version is close but not the same. Alas, until she spills, I'll just have to keep trying.

Ingredients

1 dozen large green prawns, unshelled

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

½ onion, finely sliced

2 tbsp tamarind paste

½ cup hot water

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp thick dark soy sauce (substitute GF as required)

1 tbsp sugar

Salt and pepper

2 tbsp cooking oil

Method

1.          Soak the tamarind paste in the hot water, pass through a sieve to get rid of the seeds and pulp. Add all the other seasonings. Marinate the prawns for an hour.

2.          Heat wok and oil. Make sure it is very hot.

3.          Add in the prawns (without the marinade but reserve it for later), cook until the shells are crisp.

4.          Add the onion and garlic to sauté.

5.          Then add the reserved marinate.

6.          Cook for another 5 minutes until the sauce is slightly reduced.

Healthy Apple Loaf

This is a healthy version, good for your conscience. Unlike a lot of health food, this doesn’t taste like bird food, it is actually nice.

Ingredients

1 cup wholemeal self raising flour

¾ cup self raising flour

¼ vegetable oil

2 eggs, lightly beaten

½ cup buttermilk

2 large apples, grated

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp allspice

¾ cup brown sugar

Optional ½ cup frozen raspberry (I forgot to put them in today)

Method

1.          Preheat oven to 170°C.

2.          Mix all dry ingredients together.

3.          Add eggs, oil, grated apples and buttermilk.

4.          Mix till even.

5.          Spread into a loaf pan and bake for 35 minutes.