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Category: Kitchen Antics

We Unattached and unencumbered, solo, uno people have to be able to look after ourselves, and the first tier of manslows heirachy of needs is food.
Food can be damn good, if you do it right, and with a bit of creativity, courage and flair. You can also steal ideas from restaurants, and execute them at home. it’s not that hard, surprisingly enough.

Home Made Beer Barrel DIY from supermarket materials

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So, you want to have a go at brewing beer at home, or ginger beer, home_brewing_logoelderflower wine, apple cider, scumpy or suchlike?

Problem. Most people don’t just have a huge barrel for brewing laying about the house, or the shed.. well. maybe in the shed, but that had weed killer or petrol in it beforehand, so it’s a bad idea.

DON’T! just use a random old barrel that you found in the shed. It’ll end in tears.

What you need is a food grade container, of at least 10 litres capacity to make a small batch of beer or cider with. Ideally, it’ll be easy to clean, and have a bung and tap at the bottom.

Specialised home brewing barrels can be expensive- expect to pay in excess of $100 for one.

You used to be able to get brew kits from the local corner store, or supermarket, but they are harder to find nowadays. not enough profit in it I suppose. I had to do a lot of running around to figure out where to get home brewing supplies from, that was not an expensive specialty store.

Of all places I discovered that Dan Murphys, (a bottle shop??, where they sell pre brewed alcohol??)  you can buy a kit with all you need for $120.

A mass produced commercial home brew kit for $120

https://www.danmurphys.com.au/product/DM_730573/coopers-diy-home-brewing-kit

Big W has a lot of the gear you may need too, including bench cappers and other accessories, though for some products, they aren’t quite as cheap. It pays to shop around.

https://www.bigw.com.au/search/?pageSize=72&q=home+brewing%3Arelevance#

Dan’s also has a set of 15 bottles that are suitable for brewing. When brewing, its important to have suitable bottles to put your beverages in- Thin glass bottles- they have a tendency to explode. That can really spoil your DIY experience, as your brew could make a huge mess, blow holes in plaster walls, and possibly injure somebody, leading to a potential lawsuit.

Luckily, at the local coles or woolies supermarket, there’s something that almost fits the criteria- a 12 litre plastic water goon cask or brick, which will set you back a princely $4

http://shop.coles.com.au/online/national/coles-water-spring-natural

It’s big enough, it has a tap at the bottom, and with a little work, you can make a nice laHome_made_beer_brewing_barrelrge opening with a sharp knife or scissors

Empty it out, and cut a hole in the top of the water brick with a decent knife.

Use a stabbing and cutting motion, working from the corners to make a hole large enough to enable you to put your hand in to clean the barrel after use.

how_to_make_Home_made_beer_brewing_barrel

You may want to set up the lid with a closable flap so you can keep the dust out of the barrel during storage, but this was a Mark one version, so i just cut a hole. It works. water and ingredients go in, get mixed, and you can set it up off the edge of your bench to fill the bottles with ease.

For your first brew, you may like to take advantage of the sterile, pure and contaminant free water the spring water brick contains, especially if you live in a country area where the tap water doesn’t taste the best.

When you are ready to get serious about your brewing, it;ll be time to buy the proper equipment and get the right advice- if you live in ballarat, try http://ballarathomebrew.com.au

“Cracker” Pie- Aussie Style.

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“Cracker” pie is a home made classic that is found regularly on many an Australian home dinnertable.160520161940

The secret to the great aussie pie is an excellent cut of good old fashioned Aussie beef, fused with some typical european favourites thrown in for good measure.

This pie, like most pies, is quite simple with two essential steps- make a casserole type mix in a pot, and put in a pastry shell to bake.

Ingredients:

  • 2 Large potatoes (1-2cm cubes)
  • 2 Large carrots (1-2cm cubes)
  • 2 Large Onions (coarsely diced)
  • 100 grams shelled peas
  • 300gms Mushrooms
  • 250 grams rump steak (finely chopped, or chunky, your choice)
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • Cooking Sake
  • Sesame Oil
  • Sesame Seeds
  • 1 dried chilli
  • Soy Sauce
  • 2-3 Tablespoons flour
  • Italian Passata sauce (pureed tomatoes)
  • 4 Sheets Puff Pastry
  • 1 Egg
  • 2 Tablespoons Rice Bran Oil
  • 600ml water (2 cups)
  • 2 Tablespoons flour if necessary.
  • Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius.

Method:

PART ONE: Marinade the meat!

Pre-marinade the chopped rump steak with Sake, sesame oil, pepper, soy and wousershire sauce.

Be particularly liberal with the Worcestershire sauce, and cooking sake, as they are the main flavours- sesame oil is quite strong and Asian in flavour, so a teaspoon or two is all that is necessary, and the chilli can be too overpowering. use judgement, and be aware you may need to adjust the flavours with extra spices, once the cooking is underway.

Don’t go too crazy with the sesame seeds also.

Put the meat, sauces and spices into a sealed box, shake, and place in refrigerator for at least half an hour, or at a minimum, the time it takes to prepare up the other ingredients like the onions and potatoes.

PART TWO: The Filling

This part of the recipe is fairly identical to the japanese curry pies posed up earlier, which are essentially a variation of this recipe, which s the traditional, original.- the real McCoy.

Heat oil in a medium sized saucepan, and add onions, stir till translucent.

Introduce meat, and stir till mostly cooked, then tip in mushrooms carrots and potatoes.

  • Meat can be cut fine, or nice and chunky- depends on what you want.

Stir till vegetables are steaming and sweating, with liquid beginning to visibly form in the bottom of the pot.

  • +Add 300ml water.
  • +Add ~ 300ml Passata sauce.

Turn down heat to medium/low, and put on lid, but stir regularly.

Once Passata is fully stirred though, and incorporated, take lid off, and simmer gently and stir regularly to prevent burning.

Add flour, tablesppon by tablespoon, till consistency of sauce is reasonably thick, and no longer watery- it must stick significantly to the wooden stirring spoon, but not be stiff.

Aim for a gravy like texture in the free sauce within the pot.

Importantly, taste the mixture regularly during the simmering process once you are sure the meat is at least cooked properly, to get the flavour balance right- Add additional Passata, salt pepper to taste, and ensure to simmer till the meat is very soft and tender- this normally takes at least 20-30 minutes from the point of the sauce becoming appropriately thick and after you have got the flavour right.

As a final step, add the peas- we do this at the end so they don’t get too mushy and ruined from overcooking.

PART TWO: Making the PIES and pastries.

This part is the fun bit, and is pretty easy to do.

The Cracker meat pie filling described above is fairly firm and non-liquidy- thicker then gravy, but thinner than a 150520161932cake batter, so is fairly easy to work with when making a pie.

The mechanics of it it get a dish, cover it with pasty, fill the dish with pie filling and close it up with more pastry.

Excess pastry can be sliced and rolled in grated cheese, then twisted, and laid on a baking tray, or on top of the pies to make a nice addition or tasty snack for the hard working cook.

See the article written earlier on Japanese Curry pies for more inspiration, and more detailed instructions about making the pies, and getting them to look attractive and present well on the plate & table.

Japanese Curry Pies & Cocktail pastries- homestyle fusion cooking

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Japanese curry pies are the perfect fusion of east and west, which will appeal to both pie lovers, and die hard 150520161928Japanese homestyle food purists alike.

These can be designed as either pot pies designed to be served in their ramekin or mini casserole dish, traditional closed pie, or as mini finger food pastries suitable for cocktail functions and business meetings.

Each permutation of the recipe’s presentation sports uniquely different pastry to filling ratio, and the mix matches all styles.

Tender meat, and sweet, colourful vegetables spilling out of a golden and crisp pastry shell make this dish not just delicious, but also immensely aesthetically pleasing.

Ingredients:

  • 2 Large potatoes (1-2cm cubes)
  • 2 Large carrots (1-2cme cubes)
  • 2 Large Onions (coarsely diced)
  • 100 grams shelled peas
  • 250 grams rump steak (finely chopped, or chunky, your choice)
  • 1 “Golden Curry” Japanese Curry mix sauce block. (you can get it at Coles or Woolies)
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • 4 Sheets Puff Pastry
  • 1 Egg
  • 2 Tablespoons Rice Bran Oil
  • 600ml water (2 cups)
  • 2 Tablespoons flour if necessary.
  • Preheat the oven to 190 degrees celcius.

Method:

PART ONE: The Filling

Heat oil in a medium sized saucepan, and add onions, stir till translucent.

Introduce meat, and stir till mostly cooked, then tip on carrots and potatoes.

  • Meat can be cut fine, or nice and chunky- depends on what you want.

Stir till vegetables are steaming and sweating, with liquid beginning to visibly form in the bottom of the pot.

Coarsely break entire brick of golden curry mix into pieces, and stir into mix.

Add 600ml water.

Turn down heat to medium/low, and put on lid, but stir regularly.

Once curry blocks have fully dissolved, take lid off, and simmer gently and stir regularly to prevent burning till consistency of sauce is reasonably thick, and no longer watery- it must stick significantly to the wooden stirring spoon, but not be stiff.

Aim for a gravy like texture in the free sauce within the pot.

Add salt and pepper to taste, and ensure to simmer till the meat is very soft and tender- this normally takes at least 20-30 minutes from the point of the sauce becoming appropriately thick.

PART II – Making the pies or fingerfood pastries.

For “Pot Pies”

Obtain small ramekins or mini cassarole dishes, of approx 8cm diameter.160520161940

Take 30x30cm puff pastry sheets, and slice into four even squares with a butter knife.

Place pastry squares into ramekins, and fill with the curry mix from the pot. Fold corners over the top.

Dont worry about exposed filling at the top- often there wont be enough pastry.

You can either shut the pie entirely with another square, or circle of pastry, or just leave it.

For Finger pastries:

160520161941The Curry mix needs to be thicker and stiffer for this to work easily- its recommended to stir extra flour into the mix- any runnyness will cause you grief.

Take 30x30cm puff pastry sheets, and slice into four even squares with a butter knife.

Take these squares, and slice diagonally, to make triangles.

Place a heaped tablespoon of  Japanese curry mix in the middle.

Fold pastry over and seal with fingers. Use egg, water and milk to help with the seal.

Experiment a bit with the designs by using different pastry shapes and folding techniques, for example:

  • Rolls
    • Long, rectangular 1/3 or 1/4 size pastry sheets.
  • Square stars
    • Use 1/4 sheet size, square  pastry like for the pot pies for this
  • Cornish Pastie shape
    • Use 1/8th pastry sheet triangles
  • Triangles
    • 1/8th pastry sheet triangles
  • Mini triangles
    • 1/16th pastry sheet triangles
  • Folded over triangles
    • Use Large triangles of pastry (half a sheet), and a small amount of filling.
      • Fold over the excess “empty” tails of the triangles onto the main filled body for a decorative effect.

150520161927Baste, or glaze the top of the pastry with egg and milk once finished.

Bake on a well greased, or non stick, flat oven tray until golden brown- at 190 degrees Celsius

You’ll smell it when they are ready right across the house.

Remove from the trays immediately, and serve, or cool on racks and store/freeze (assuming they last that long)

These curry pies are delicious both hot, or cold, and don’t really need a dipping sauce  as they are flavoursome enough on their own. (Comment if you find one that works well though!)

A leafy green garden salad, with pickles and cashews, and a honey mustard dressing is an excellent complement.

Alternatively, while you are making the pies, oven baking roasted pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot and crispy, garlic spiced potatoes work well for a winter warmer.

Hope you enjoy!

 

 

 

 

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