Vicki's Bit-o-earth

Cook-up with Dzintra
from Donna Hay Magazine

Over the past months Dzintra and I have been doing
cook-ups from this wonderful Australian food magazine!

I found Donna Hay's magazine tucked in between
the many other food magazines at our local
Border's Bookstore and fell in love.
Donna Hay's mantra is "special made simple,"
and she lives up to it... with finesse!


Last evening I did my cook-up from Issue #45 - Jun/Jul 2009


I chose 2 recipes:

Lemongrass and Coconut Braised Beef Ribs

1.2kg/2.65 lbs rack of beef ribs
plain all-purpose flour, for dusting
1 Tbls Vegetable oil
2 stalks lemongrass, white part only, chopped
5cm/1.97in piece of fresh ginger, sliced
5cm/1.97 in of fresh galangal, sliced
1 whole star anise
4 small dried chilies
2 x 270ml cans of coconut milk
(the can I had were 400mls, so I used the whole thing)
1 Tbls brown sugar
2 Tbls fish sauce
1/4 cup (6ml) lime juice
1/2 cup beef stock
Preheat oven to 180C/ 355F. Dust the ribs with flour and shake off any excess. Heat the oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over high heat. Add the ribs and cook for 2-3 minutes each side or until browned. Remove from the pan. Add the lemongrass, ginger, galangal, star anise and chili to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Add the coconut milk, sugar, fish sauce, line juice, beef stock and ribs to the pan. Cover with a lid and roast for 1 hour 30 minutes. Remove lid and cook for a further 30 minutes or until the meat is tender and falling off the bone. Serves 4-6.


The ingredients:

The lemon grass, limes, and chilies all came from my garden


Braising the beef:
I used beef rib steaks, the bone cut away
(I know... a bit of a cheat)

Normally we don't eat alot of beef,
but hubby loves it, and now and then we splurge,
and this recipe was worth the spluge! (:


Spices and flavors

Simmering together

FINI!!!

Beets, Carrots and Zucchini from the garden
Lemon Cream Pots

2 cups (500ml) double (thick) cream
1/4 cup (110g) caster (superfine) sugar
1 Tbls finely grated lemon rind
double (thick) cream to serve

(I didn't make the lemon wafers the Donna Hay serves with the Lemon Pots)

Place cream and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and stir to dissolve sugar. Bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes. Removed from heat, add lemon rind and juice and stir to combine. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Pour into 4 x 3/4 cup capacity (185ml) dishes and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or until set. (And here I can attest to the fact that putting them into the freezer for half the time works just as well... (:


First, Donna Hay's photos
This is one of the best things about her magazine...
The styling alone makes me want to make the recipes! (:



My Finished Lemon Cream Pots

These were such a hit with the family
that I will make them again in the future!

(I don't think there's much fat in these, right? LOL!!!)

Warning:
Delicious, but may add inches to the mid-section (:

Voila Dzintra~
Thank you for being so patient with my slowness at doing this cook-up.
Summer has proven to be a rat-race! LOL

Anyone else who might be interested in joining on cook-ups...
Please do!
I was thinking that cook-ups could be from any good food magazine.
Dzintra and I have this common interest magazine and share it on our blogs,
but there are many good food magazines out there,
so an open invitation to you all. (:

On to the newest issue, #46
As spring approaches Dzintra's beloved coastal area of Australia...
Fall approaches my beloved Central Coast of California.
I've heard that this is an El Nino year...
which means more rain for us... (we need it badly, so I won't complain)

Donna Hay will move along with Dzintra's weather,
and as winter moves in here, I will enjoy her posts of spring...
knowing that it will come back to us in a few months too.

~Bon appetit~