Supper Club #6

Very, very late in getting this one up, it is almost time for the next one.  Supper Club # 6 and the venue Ms Teresa's new pad, and lovely it all was too.

To get things started a vibrant Pea Pesto, such a beautiful colour and the sweetness of the peas against the crunch of the bread and the tartness of the cherry tomatoes a great combination.

Pea Pesto

Ingredients

½ pack of frozen baby peas (thawed)          

1 cup Parmesan, grated

1 garlic clove, roughly chopped                     

Salt and pepper

1/3 cup olive oil (extra to brush bread)          

Cherry tomatoes (halved)

French bread stick (sliced 2cm thickness)

In a food processor, blend the peas, Parmesan, garlic, salt and pepper. Drizzle in the oil while the food processor is running.  Check seasoning, adjust as required.

Slice the  bread into 2cm thick slices and brush each side with olive oil and toast under the grill for a moment or 2 until golden and crispy. For extra zing you could rub each slice with a halved garlic clove.  Spread pesto on the toasted bread and top with cherry tomatoes. Season with a little salt and pepper.

For our entree pork dumplings.  These were so good, just so tasty and terribly moreish.  If you do make them ahead make sure to keep them all separate from each other, as otherwise they can quite quickly stick together.  Still just as delicious though.

Pork Dumplings

Ingredients

Makes 60, so you could easily half the quantities for  smaller batch, but what a great way to feed a crowd.

60 square wonton or round dumpling wrappers
900g pork mince                        

1 egg beaten
2 tbsp minced fresh ginger                    

4 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp chilli flakes                    

4 tbsp dark soy sauce
4 garlic cloves, minced                    

½ Chinese cabbage, shredded

Bunch chives, finely chopped                    

1 tsp ground star anise

In large bowl, combine all ingredients together.  Place a heaped teaspoon of pork filling onto each wonton wrapper. Moisten edges, fold over and pinch the sides together.
Steam dumplings in a covered bamboo or metal steamer for 15-20 minutes, until the pork is cooked through.  For a variation with cooked dumplings, once cooled, fry them in some peanut oil for some pot stickers. This works best with the denser round dumpling wrappers than the delicate wonton wrappers.

Serve the little dimplings with some dipping sauces, these really bring the dish together whether the tart chilli lime that has the whole sweet and sour going on or the peanut and sesame for sweet nutty flavour.  These are super easy to whip together.

Chilli and Lime Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

Juice of 4 Limes                        

1 tbsp palm or brown sugar
1 tsp fish sauce                        

1 tbsp sherry or rice wine
2 fresh chillies sliced (keep seeds)                

1 tbsp lemongrass, bashed and finely chopped   

Mix all the ingredients together.

Peanut and Sesame Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

½ cup peanut butter                       

¼ cup light soy sauce
¼ cup rice wine vinegar                    

¼ cup sesame oil
1 tbsp palm or brown sugar

Blend all the ingredients together or shake vigorously in a jar.

Serve in little dipping bowls with the pork dumplings.

On to the main event and we continued with the Asian theme.  A beautiful beef with oyster sauce and a light, full of flavour Asian salad with a fresh lemongrass dressing.

Beef with Oyster Sauce

Ingredients

400g beef fillet

5 tbsp peanut oil                       
30g ginger, peeled and finely chopped           
1 garlic clove, finely chopped              
2 spring onion, sliced in to 5cm lengths          
1 tbsp spring onion, finely chopped to garnish               
1 cup mixed mushrooms, sliced                   
227g can sliced water chestnuts (sliced again)        

For the marinade

2 tsp ginger sauce*

1 tbsp rice wine or dry sherry

2 tsp light soy sauce

½ tsp sugar

½ egg white, lightly beaten

2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp cornflour   

For The Sauce:
2 tbsp oyster sauce       
1 tsp light soy sauce       
2 tsp cornflour
150mls chicken stock or water, and little more as required to thin

Directions

Cut the beef across the grain into very thin slices, about 5cm long and 2mm thick.
Place beef in a bowl and mix together with the marinade ingredients.  Leave to marinate for 20 minutes. While marinating, mix all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.

Heat a wok or frying pan over high heat and add 3 tablespoons of peanut oil. When almost smoking, add the beef and fry in 2 batches – 30 seconds per batch or till well seared. Remove with a perforated spoon and drain well.

Rinse the wok or fry pan and dry. Add remaining 2 tablespoons of peanut oil and when just smoking, add ginger, garlic, mushrooms and spring onion stalks. Fry for 10 seconds then pour the well-stirred sauce to the centre of the wok. As soon as it bubbles, return beef and stir fry for 20 seconds, add water chestnuts last.

Garnish with spring onion and serve with some steamed rice and the Asian Salad...recipe below.

Asian Salad

Ingredients

½ bowl mixed spring salad greens                

1 cup bean sprouts
2 tbsp mint chopped                       

2 tbsp coriander chopped
1 cup sliced snow peas
In large bowl, mix all the ingredients together.

Lemongrass Dressing

Juice of 2 Limes                        

1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp palm or dark brown Sugar                

1 tbsp pickled ginger shredded
1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce       
5cm stalk lemongrass, very finely shredded
       
Place the lime juice into a jug, mix in the fish sauce and palm sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Then add in the pickled ginger, sweet chilli and lemongrass.  Just before serving the salad, toss the dressing through the salad.

And for dessert the most delicious moist, fragrant orange and almond cake drizzled with a Grand Marnier syrup. A sublime dessert.

Orange and Almond Cake

Ingredients

2 large oranges                        

1 ¼ cups sugar
2 ½ cups ground almonds                    

1 ½ tsp baking powder   
6 large eggs beaten                       

1 tsp vanilla essence
Crème fraiche to serve    

Directions

Wash the whole unpeeled oranges. Place in saucepan, cover with water and boil for 1 hour (or 30 minutes minimum). Drain and cool.
Preheat oven to 190C. Lightly grease and flour a 20cm round cake tin. Cut the oranges into quarters, remove seeds and whizz in a food processor until just smooth.  Add vanilla essence and set aside.

Mix the sugar, ground almonds and baking powder in a bowl.  Add the orange and mix in gently.
Fold in well beaten eggs and place in prepared cake tin. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Cool in tin.

For the Grand Marnier Syrup

Ingredients

1 cup castor sugar                        

zest and juice of 2 oranges

6 cardamom pods, lightly crushed                

zest and juice of 2 lemons
150ml water                            

¼ cup Grand Marnier (or more!)

Place all the ingredients except the Grand Marnier in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil, making sure the sugar is dissolved, then simmer for 5 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve and add the Grand Marnier.

To serve the cake, drizzle with the Grand Marnier syrup and serve with some crème fraiche on the side, or just simply dust with icing sugar. I highly recommend the syrup, would be a very good cake without it but a great cake with it.

Tip: Keep the water you boiled the oranges in, as this is a rich with nutrients and makes a nice drink just add a little honey and ginger.

Another fantastic Supper Club.

The gorgeous Peaches