Spicy Spare Ribs with Cheesy Polenta

I went out shopping yesterday hoping to find some nice beef spare ribs to cook for our Saturday dinner and I came across this interesting cut which was thinly sliced instead of the normal rack of spare ribs. It was still a meaty cut so it got me thinking about what and how I could cook this.... a bit chinese style with soy sauce, shaoxing wine (rice wine) and coriander but I also wanted to make it more like a comfort food with lots of gravy and meat so tender you could just tear it apart.

So I combined a bit of both and came up with a tangy, sweet spicy spare ribs in a thick gravy over a bed of cheesy polenta. The slices of spare rib are slow cooked and the mixture of the wine, soy sauce, coriander, cayenne pepper, and tomatoes gives it a full flavour and you can never go wrong with cheesy polenta!

Oats, Coconut and Golden Syrup........Anzac Biscuits

Rolled oats, desiccated coconut, golden syrup, flour, sugar and butter ..... it's the simplicity of the ingredients that make this biscuit such an all time favourite in our family. There isn't much fuss about making this biscuit, no eggs required or milk needed, just mix the ingredients and bake ..... and you can keep them for a long time.

Although Anzac Biscuits are simple in the making they have a long history having been around since World War I and have more significance to Australians as a sort of "national" biscuit. It was a popular biscuit for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs), they were made by the wives and mothers of soldiers sent off to war as a source of food for the troops.

Even though ANZAC Day is coming up on April 25th I occasionally make these biscuits all year round as well as another fav, gingerbread and keep them in the house because they're just a healthier alternative to having quick snacks like chips, or other commercially bought biscuits or cookies. 

Smile for the camera

I was in the middle of taking pictures of my Tuna Casserole and my faithful old camera took it's last breathe...or last shutter. 


I had turned it on the take a photo of the steamy tuna pouring onto the pasta and just as the image showed up on the viewer it suddenly turned itself off and never went back on. I thought ok maybe the battery needs recharging so I took out the batteries and out came a tiny piece of metal... part of the connection point came off right at the very back of the battery case.


.....I just couldn't believe it. In the middle of my little photo shoot and no camera. How was I going to document my Tuna Casserole. 


So seeing that I committed myself to my foodie challenge "Cook/bake something new each day or every other day" I'll have to take the "every other day" and post this recipe later.... but not to worry because I've now got my new camera as of this afternoon so I'll be back tomorrow :)

My new Nikon camera......I actually wanted a pink one but chose the neutral champagne colour instead

Five Spice Chicken with Curried Pumpkin

I think any dish cooked in Five Spice powder gives it a truly unique Chinese taste all in one. You have a blend of all the elements of Chinese cooking with the five spices; sweet, sour, salty, bitter and pungent. The powder usually consists of a mixture of equal parts of cinnamon, cloves, fennel seed, start anise and Szechwan peppercorns, and sometimes dry orange peel is added. It can be bought ground up and pre-packaged or you can make your own by toasting and grinding all the ingredients. 

My dad use to make his Five Spice Chicken from a special blend of spices brought all the way from China during his many trips overseas and he would use the powder with some salt and marinate a whole chicken, bake it and it was always so tasty. He would use just the right amount of powder for marination because a little goes a long way. Too much and the flavour is just too strong. The powder is suppose to have just the right balance of yin and yang so I guess that you can have too much of a good thing!

For dinner tonight I've made a simple version of Five Spice Chicken and accompanied the dish with one of my fav side dish of Curried Pumpkin. You have a spicy chicken topped off with some sweet hot pumpkin...delish and of course another of veg the kids like.

Buttery Butter Chicken

This has to be the final coriander infused recipe for the month....using up my last few stalks of my coriander. I've tried my hand for tonight's Indian inspired dinner a Buttery Butter Chicken and I'm went all out with the spices, even bringing out the mortal and pestle to grind them!!


The first time I had Butter Chicken was actually at a friend's Indian restaurant and it made a lasting impression...creamy rich tomato, spicy and oh so buttery. I just had to try and make this myself...

Spicy Chicken Wings

The most kid friendly dish in our house has to be anything that has "chicken wings". It's versatile, quick to cook and fits into any all little hands. I like to change my cooking style whenever I cook chicken wings; deep fry, stir fry, grill, bake and yum yum BBQ. 

A little marination to boost the flavours and cook away. Key ingredients....garlic, crushed and minced. How can you go wrong with chicken wings?? Lunch kids!!!!!

Spicy Chicken Wings

1 kg chicken wings, cut at the joint with the tip intact

3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced

1 small onion, cut into thin wedges

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1/4 cup worcester sauce

1/2 tsp black pepper corns

1/2 tsp coriander seeds, freshly ground 

1/2 tsp sweet paprika

1/2 tsp sea salt


1. Using a mortal and pestle, grind the black pepper corns, coriander seeds, rosemary and sea salt. The sea salt will make it easier to combine the ingredients but don't grind it too, leave it textured.
2. In a large bowl, add the cut up chicken wings and pour the tomato sauce, garlic and worcester sauce over it. Sprinkle the coriander mixture and the sweet paprika, use a metal spoon to combine the marination. Leave for 30 mins
3. Heat some oil in a wok and add the marinated chicken. Stir fry the wings until browned. Only add the onions last and cook until the sauce has reduced. Serve hot.

o

"Cook/bake something new each day or every other day"

...33 post so far, I'm enjoying this....

I actually started my food challenge in February 2010 

"Cook/bake something new each day or every other day".

it just started out with a few photos that I took to put on my Facebook and to send back home. Just snaps of all the food that I was cooking for the family never thinking about blogging at the time until I read an article somewhere about people showing the world what they eat by taking pictures of every they eat. 

It's kind of like whipping out the camera just before you eat, capturing the moment in time....a food diary of some sort. I thought that was a little obsessive huh....umm hold on let me take a shot first before u bite into that!!!

But it got me thinking so I did a bit of research and checked out a few blogs and thought ... yeah I could do this. Just keep taking the pictures and write a bit about the food and the recipe.

Well, to let you know all the food is basically something that I've cooked for the day, either lunch, dinner or a snack of some sort. My "Studio" is my tiny kitchen counter, my daughter's desk near the window, the coffee table near the front balcony or lately the dining table (a glass table but too much reflection with the camera). And I'll usually prep my   photo shot on a presentable dish/corning ware, etc and take a snap with the camera. My lighting prop is a desk light and my grip is either one of the kids holding the light!!

I guess the best thing about this blog and challenge so far is that everyday I'm always thinking of what to cook, even though most of these dishes I've cooked many times before. Sometimes I'll write them out in my recipe book or I'll be typing away scrambling my head recounting all the cooking steps and all the ingredients I used. 

I'll usually post a blog after all the kids are asleep and that is probably close to midnight but it's nice and quiet and I can "think" without any interruptions. Besides this Foodie blog, I'm also blogging about other things that pop into my head, day to day stuff, something that has inspired me or just something interesting and that's on my This side of the island blog... Have a read and leave a comment if you like.

Anyway, it's been fun to read the comments from this blog and see all my visitors from all over the place. It's also been nice to see a couple comments from Foodbuzz, Foodista and Petitchef and invitations to join their sites. Not bad but now I get to post some of my blog posts on their site too... bit more work but I get to meet more people.

So I hoping to see my Foodie Challenge through to the end of the year...or more. Have a read, try it out and how about joining the challenge too and ....

"Cook/bake something new each day or every other day".

My kids love it and hubby always comes home to say "What are we eating today??"