Sunday salon

[Jovial Monk]

An idea pinched from Larvatus Prodeo (http://larvatusprodeo.net, a real political website!)

Can't live for politics alone I hope!

So, did anything interesting and non-political today?

Phew, went to Wayville Farmers Market, then Uraidla Market (in Adelaide Hills) that was shut so onto Stirling Market (also in Adelaide Hills) and some major but MAJOR buying of plants including sedums and a couple natives plus lots other stuff.

Waiting for it to cool down a bit to get a mutton roast going plus stewing some nice cherries (red wine, cinnamon, cloves) both to enjoy cool later.

Will make Thai fishcakes for dinner tonight! No restaurant makes these properly so I will do the usual lefty thing and share the recipe.

FISH CAKES WITH CUCUMBER RELISH
Great served cold!

300g of some sturdy fish: snapper or flathead etc
8 kaffir lime leaves
2tbsp red curry paste
1 egg
2tbsp thai fish sauce
1tsp sugar
2tbsp tapioca or cornflour
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)
60g finely sliced french or snake beans

For the cucumber relish (make this first to chill)
4 tbsp rice wine vinegar (or other white vinegar if you don't want to be authentic, slob!)
4 tbsp water to dissolve 1/4 cup granulated vinegar: thai is all sweet/sour)
1 head pickled garlick (from Chinese s/mart)
chunk fresh ginger root
1 cucumber cut into thin batons (sticks, moron!)
4 shallots (the little onion-y things. not scallions which you call spring onions)

Mix mix the vinegar (you just couldn't get the rice wine vinegar could you, loser?) water and sugar in a small pan on medium heat, stir until sugar dissolved THEN cool it, dummy! Not yourself, sheesh, the water-sugar-vinegar whatsit!
Get the head of garlick, separate the cloves and slice them finely. Add sliced shallots and cucumber batons, then add the vinegar-water-sugar thingy.
Put all that in the fridge.

Thinly slice (gotta be thin or these leaves will slice your oesophagus wide open!) 3 kaffir lime leaves
Put chunks of the fish, curry paste and egg into blender then blend! To a smooth paste
Put in a bowl and whack in the fish sauce, tapioca flour, sliced kaffir lime leaves and beans.
Mix well and shape mix into cakes 5cm across and not too thick, unlike your spotty selves!
Deep fry in batches (unless you have the world's biggest fucking deepfryer) in 190C oil. Takes about 4-5 minutes if you have oil temp right! Nice and brown. Drain on paper towels and keep hot!
Serve with the relish: you forgot about the cucumber relish, didn't you? Putz! And decorate with the other 5 kaffir lime leaves.

Too lazy to get kaffir lime leaves? (knew you were) Add a squeeze of lime or lemon juice to the fish etc.

[mantra.]

They sound delicious Monk - like most of your recipes do. I'm going to make the cucumber relish - it sounds as though it could be used as a side dish for most warm meals. You've been a busy bee racing around to all those places - I'm surprised you've got room left in your garden for any more plants.

[Jovial Monk]

Oh yeah, still have some room

Trying to ensure the fucking WEEDS don't have room

Go on, make the fishcakes too! they are delicious! And all the omega 3's etc, gooood!

[mantra.]

OK - I'll give the fish cakes a go. You said you couldn't be bothered getting the kaffir lime leaves - so does that mean they're hard to get or is it fine just to use lime juice instead?

[Jovial Monk]

hehehe I was being a smart aleck

I can get them easy from the chinese stores in and around the central market. But don't let it stop you if you can't get them easily: a small squeeze lemon or lime juice is fine.

Fish is healthy, as is red meat once or twice a week.

[Auzgurl]

I love recipes with humorous repartee included.

I'm going to give them a go too.

[Jovial Monk]

To be honest, these are quite a bit of work. But restaurant ones suck!

Ordered galub jamuns (sp?) once in an Indian restaurant: one bite and I knew the sad truth, no cardamom!

[Jovial Monk]

Just put the leg of mutton in the oven: low oven, 160C for 3-4 hours. Cut some slits in top of the leg, shoved in garlic & rosemary--no vampires around my place tonight --and next to the bone pushed in a very deep slit, stuffed with undried tomatoes, then garlic then rosemary them sundried tomato again, etc.

Under the mutton, couple leeks cut into logs and potatoes fresh from garden. Also grabbed good piece of one of my bay trees. Made hasselback potatoes. to make these proceed as follows:

Wash & peel etc the spuds as required. Shove a shaslick skewer along the potato, a few mm from its flattest side. With a knife (of course!) cuts slits closely spaced at a mm or two spacing. Put in oven, dry out for coupel minutes, pour over melted butter or EVOO then salt & pepper. Having taken shaslick skewer out, hopefully, bung into hot oven. Since I am using a slow oven will leave spuds in 20 minutes beforew doing the EVOO/salt/pepper thing.

i have gone one better, pushing bay leaves into some of the slits in the potato. Super flavor! Swedish style potato just for Aussie Day!

[Jovial Monk]

Fuck! 41C day and oven and two slowcookers all going. If you can't stand the heat, get out of my kitchen!

About to go and boil water, wine, sugar & spice until sugar dissolved. Heat off, cover, then prepare cherries, get water boiling and a few clean jars int he water, simmer cherries in wine, water etc 20 mins, fill into jars, seal, waterbath process. then do the fucking fish cakes. should lose 5Kg just in sweat

[Jovial Monk]

Four biggish jars of cherries stewed in wine etc, canned! Just 20 mins of waterbath processing!

Storage of summer bounty

7 jars apricot butter
5 jars sundried tomatoes
8 jars peach butter (estimated, to be canned tomorrow morning)
4 jars stewed cherries, the only thing canned not from my garden

WWPA? You better believe it!