Asian beef salad

If like me, you have lapsed into an episode of self-loathing when finding your favourite pair of jeans are just too snug, and when convincing yourself being "buxom" and "voluptuous" equate to Nigella-esque domestic goddessness just isn't cutting it anymore (I mean, how many of us are blessed enough to pull off a waist to hip ratio like that?!), then it's time to put those holiday treats away, exercise 30 minutes a day and eat a more balanced and low-caloric diet because it is time to come to terms that the season of gluttonous eating is well and truly over.

Admittedly, this colourful Asian beef salad consists of more components and takes a little longer to prepare than say, a grilled smoked cheese sandwich but I assure you it has health benefits surpassing the latter.

You will need the following ingredients. I have included suggested quantities as a guideline but these may be adjusted to your taste.

• 200g beef rump, tenderloin or sirloin cooked rare; seasoned with salt and cracked pepper and sealed on a very hot pan for approximately a minute on each side, allow to rest in salad dressing (see below) before slicing finely
• 50g dry mung bean thread or rice vermicelli (both available at Asian supermarkets), blanched in boiling water, drain well and set aside
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 large chilli (NOT the bird's eye variety unless you like the extra heat), finely chopped
• small knob of ginger, finely grated
• 3 generous sprigs of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
• 3 sprigs of fresh mint, roughly chopped
• juice from 2 medium limes
• juice from 1 lemon
• 2-3 tablespoons nuoc mam (fish sauce)
• about a tablespoon brown or palm sugar
• 1 medium carrot, julienne/grated
• 1 lebanese cucumber, julienne
• half a head of red coral lettuce, torn into small manageable pieces
• 1 medium granny smith apple (or any tart and crisp variety like pink lady and sundowner), julienne
• handful of crushed dry roasted peanuts

To make the salad dressing, I sauteed the garlic, chilli and ginger in the pan previously used to seal the steak. This step is quite crucial as it releases the aromatics from the spices and takes away the raw flavour of the garlic. Following this, the pan is deglazed with the citrus juices and the fish sauce before the sugar is added to taste. Remove from heat and place the seared meat in this dressing, allowing the aromatic flavours to permeate it as it rests.

To assemble the salad, toss the julienne of vegetable and apple along with the roughly torn salad leaves, chopped hearbs and cooked vermicelli in a large bowl. Dress lightly with the salad dressing and decant unto a serving dish. Finely slice the meat and carelessly toss on top of prepared salad bed. Garnish with crushed peanuts and extra coriander and there you have it - a refreshingly crisp, flavoursome and healthful salad.

Eat it and I promise you will begin to feel more positive about everything - including yourself!

A last minute X'mas menu

As I write this post, our 4.6 kilogram turkey is submerged in an ice-cold briney bath in the kitchen sink. It is quite a sight because this bird is as big as a baby!

OK, so it wasn't really my idea to get the turkey (but I am getting quite excited about cooking it come x'mas day!), I was thinking more along the lines of a big generous rib roast (which we ended up getting because we don't like to compromise) or a whopping snapper or ocean trout but (did I already mention) I am getting quite excited about cooking this big bird come X'mas day(??)

Here is the menu I threw together this morning before I joined the mad last minute X'mas shopping crowd at our local shopping centre.

to graze on

baked camembert with grissini

smoked salmon, sour cream, chives and buckwheat blinis

to follow with

traditional roast turkey

standing rib roast of beef with herb and seeded mustard crust

to be accompanied by

wild rice, pumpkin "stuffing"

tri-coloured potatoes sauteed in duck fat with garlic and thyme

contemporary waldorf salad (which depends on how lucky i am finding celeriac)

sweet and sour braised red cabbage (or)

mizuna and orange salad

to finish with

ouefs a la niege, mango-champagne soup and berries

Now let's see if things go smoothly between the planning and executing...

By the way, MERRY X'MAS EVERYBODY!!!

Rose cupcakes with white chocolate frosting

I am beaming with pride as I write this post because I am quite pleased with my efforts today. Although I didn't get around to my list of things to do before Christmas arrives, I manufactured what I consider perfect little cupcakes.

The inspiration for my almond-rose cupcakes with white chocolate frosting came a couple of weeks ago when I sampled a very good rose syrup by Mymouné which unlike most commercially available has a natural flavour and light cloudy pink hue. Although I love the heady perfume of roses and find the idea of using it in cooking very romantic, I have often considered it a very difficult flavouring to incorporate in recipes because it isn't a very versatile or culture-neutral ingredient. Also determining the right amount to use can be rather tricky.

For my cupcakes I used dried rosebuds which are not unlike those you find in little pouches of potpourri for your drawer but these are organic and not treated with nasty chemicals (I purchased mine from Simon Johnson in Subiaco) and may too be used in a tisane, spice blend (such as ras-el-hanout) or a syrup infusion if you so choose. I find dried rosebuds and petals are a better alternative to rose syrup because you get the essence of the flowers without the added sweetness so you can simply add them finely crumbled or ground to your favourite cake recipe without having to adjust the quantity of sugar accordingly.

The essence of rose, sweet and floral like vanilla, has an affinity for ingredients with a high percentage of fat like cream, butter, milk and nuts like almonds and pistachios so it is not uncommon to find it combined with one or more such ingredients in desserts. Here, I have paired it with ground almonds in a cake with a toothsome and moist crumb. The recipe is as follows.

Rose cupcakes

250g soft unsalted butter

185g ground almonds

300g sugar

4 eggs, separated

80g flour

20g dried rose buds

1 teaspoon vanilla paste

(makes 16 cupcakes)

preheat oven to 180C and line a cupcake tin with paper liners

pulse rose buds and ground almond in a food processor until a fine.

whip egg whites and gradually add 50g sugar until a shiny and stiff meringue is achieved. Set aside

beat butter, sugar and vanilla paste until pale and creamy

add an egg yolk at a time, beating well between yolks (about 20 seconds between each)

mix in almond and rose powder (mixture will be very stiff at this point but don't worry!)

fold a third of the meringue through the mixture above to "loosen" it a tad then continue to fold in the rest of the meringue.

scoop into paper liner 2/3 full (Note: I used an spring release ice-cream scoop to make the job of portion control easier)

bake for 25 minutes or until no crumbs are attached to a toothpick when inserted into the middle of a cupcake.

cool completely before frosting

White chocolate frosting

200g white chocolate (I used Callebaut drops)

100ml whipping cream

250g Philly cheese

heat cream in a small pan (do not boil!)

beat cream cheese until smooth and fluffy

add hot cream to white chocolate and allow to sit for a couple of minutes before stirring to achieve a smooth and homogenous consistency

mix chocolate and cream cheese and continue to beat. If mixture is too soft at this stage, refrigerate for an hour and beat to achieve a fluffy consistency.

top completely each cooled cupcake with an elegant swirl of white chocolate frosting and a little rosebud (sprinkle with roughly chopped toasted pistachios if you so desire).

Birthday Cup(less)cakes

I feel relaxed today - almost happy but definately content, unlike last Sunday, my birthday which was really Crapday because I spent 12 hours at work, found out the lock on my car door is screwed because some punk tried to pick it, had dinner cancelled on me and most tragic of all, had not a crumb of cake to eat.

There must be something about getting older. I get overwhelmed by a lot of things, mainly by kindness and concern which seem to surround me quite a lot lately so much so, I don't know what to do except thank and apologise profusely in a high-pitched voice to the point of it becoming quite annoying. Also, I get weepy easily; it is embarassing. Like the other day, I got teary while perusing the dairy section at my local supermarket playing "Hear me out" by Frou Frou in my head which I no longer wish to identify with but did for a while. I guess my brain should have put on a cheerier track but it has been through a lot lately so I let it slide.

Today, I woke up on the right side of bed and realised I should really love where I am at at the moment because I am healthy and alive, albeit a little poor. I love my family and friends and I love the twenty-eight years I have lived through (despite numerous regrets - like what was I thinking when I got the "bed head" crop and thought I looked so wicked cool?). I laid in bed drifting off into my favourite daydream - the one where I am with my perfect man and we own a little terrace house with a nice enough kitchen, Benson the beagle is sleeping on his rug in the corner gently snoring, the Tosca string quartet is playing softly in the background and I am making pretty cupcakes. Sexy. Perfect.

So here is the thing about daydreams, you are the director, you have 100% control, unlike your waking life which is often the complete opposite where the dainty cupcakes you dream about turn out a little short of perfect. Like my dark chocolate cupcakes with orange-wattleseed cream and cocoa nibs.

The flavour and texture of these cupcakes were sensational (you couldn't possibly go wrong with good quality couverture, pure orange oil and fresh cream), but they lacked the aesthetics of a perfect cupcake. It didn't stop me from scarfing down a couple at the belated birthday celebratory dinner I had with my close friend J-M, who was elegantly sufficient after main course but somehow found room to enjoy a cupcake anyway.

NB I didn't have a cry over how my cupcakes turned out so maybe there is still hope for me after all.

Breakfast biscuit? Yes, please.

It's true, breakfast is good for you. For some, the idea of having anything more than a cup of coffee or tea is just too much to stomach in the morning. I say bring it on - croissants with butter and jam, eggs, tomato and mushroom on toast, bagels filled with cream cheese and smoked salmon, a good bircher muesli, freshly brewed stove-top coffee... the works! The thing is, I enjoy a good sit-down breakfast more than anything but it is one of life's little luxuries only reserved for those days when work and boring domestic errands are not on the agenda.

Being an "all-or-nothing" person can have some rather detrimental consequences to oneself and those in the company of. Allow me to elaborate.

I don't have trouble getting up and going in the morning but having said that, I can't deny the desire to remain in bed if the opportunity presents itself in the manner of a 10-minute-snooze-interval. Often this means running late and having no time for a leisurely breakfast, so a coffee on the go will (have to) suffice. An hour into work, my blood sugar level takes a dive, I would subsequently become a creature so cranky that truth be told, even I wouldn't want to have anything to do with me! Thankfully, my co-workers are a caring and tolerant bunch (thanks guys!), often offering me a coffee or little titbits to help me along. Mornings when I nibble on a bagel I somehow managed to toast and smother with cream cheese and jam before scuttling out my front door, a difference in my workplace demeanour is noted. Apparently, I am all smiles and full of pleasantries... like the cat that got the cream. Hmm.


So here is my solution to never having to go without breakfast (and no, I am not suggesting anyone dart to the shops and get boxes of muesli bars or cartons of breakfast smoothie which are incidentally loaded with lots of processed sugar thus causing an insulin spike which is an absolute no-no!): Breakfast biscuits!


My version of breakfast biscuits is an adaptation of the recipe found in Alain Ducasse's Desserts and Pastries: Grand livre de Cuisine for peanut butter cookies. The peanut butter in his recipe is replaced with freshly ground salted peanuts and I added a cup of chopped dark chocolate and my favourite muesli to the final mixture. Although I don't often justify the use of ingredients in my recipes, I feel I must here because I do take the matter of nutrition very seriously. So here goes: peanuts are a great source of protein, vitamin B3 which is necessary for healthy brain function (and a common supplement found in expensive energy drinks) and anti-oxidants. Dark chocolate as everyone ought to know is now widely regarded as a health food, again, packed with anti-oxidants and a compound known as phenethylamine (PEA) which is linked to the feel-good neurotransmitter serotonin. The addition of natural muesli is to enhance the texture and to incorporate some natural fibre in the biscuit... also, call it sweet redemption but a little more fibre make these biscuits a little less snacky and a little more breakfast-y in my books.


The biscuit dough is utterly delicious and tastes just like peanut butter. Of course, if there wasn't such a naughty notion attached to the consumption of raw biscuit dough, you coud eat the mix for breakfast but the baked product with its crisp exterior and chewy-mealy interior, is far more portable and practical to consume on the run. Eaten in moderation, these biscuit could keep you going until lunch with random outbursts of temper in the workplace evaded!