Maudie's Meanders

  Hi, I'm Maudie, a 5yo German Shepherd dog. It gets a bit (bit? That was just a love nip) warm up here in the Dry Tropics, so my housemates keep the aircon on quite a bit (bit? I was nibbling) to keep me cool. I'm not very well, by the way. I contracted a fungal infection, common up here, especially for young female large breed dogs (that would be me), which has triggered discospondylitis. When I was first diagnosed,  the vet  thought that I wasn't long for this world, but a combination of those veterinary skills and my housemates' loving care, have brought me to a pretty OK and fun life and even to my fifth birthday celebrations. Ah, those housemates. There are two humans and a couple of cockatiels. My great grandmother, Yannie, used to live with them, but she crossed the Rainbow Bridge a few years ago. They were very sad. They hope to meet her again, because Psalm 36 says that God saves both people and animals. That will be lovely for me, too, because I never...

  Vietnamese Tomato Fish with Dill (Cá Sốt Cà Chua) Serves 2/3. Prep time 10 mins, Cook time 25 mins, Total 35 mins 1 tablespoon vegetable oil small tin tomato pulp ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt ⅛ teaspoon cracked pepper ½ tsp minced garlic 450gr flathead fillets 1 cup frozen chopped onions ½ cup water 2 sprigs dill   In a pan on medium heat add the vegetable oil. Fry fish fillets in oil 3 minutes on each side, then remove and set aside on a paper towel. Some liquid will remain in the pan.  Add the diced/pulped tomatoes and garlic to the same pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until they begin to soften. Add ½ cup water to keep the tomatoes from burning. Cover the tomatoes with a vented lid and allow to cook for 4 minutes. Stir in the onions. Cook for about 3 minutes them add the fish fillets back to the pan.  Allow the fish to simmer in the liquid for 7-10 minutes until it reaches 63°C When the fish are almost fully cooked stir in the dill and allow it to si...

  Goat Cheese This will produce 225 ish gr of goat  cheese. Perfect for experimentation (which this was for me). Scale up for more. EQUIPMENT Cooking pot, 3-4L Use a nonreactive pot like stainless steel or enamel. Colander or sieve. I used a large sieve. Cheese cloth or kitchen towel. Use a smooth fabric towel, butter muslin, not terry cloth. I used 3 25cm squares of muslin to drape over the sieve. A colander, being bigger, would need larger squares to be able to drape over the sides. Digital thermometer. Really important, because temperature is key at the milk heating stage.  INGREDIENTS 1L goat milk. North Queensland is blessed with goat farms, but any suburban supermarket in Australia will carry goat milk in the dairy section. Has to be full fat. ⅓ cup lemon juice 2 tablespoon white vinegar ½ teaspoon salt Dried herbs of your choice. I plumped for tarragon, but trying to mix it into the cheese before fridge-setting just misshaped the cheese lump. So perhaps...

Don’t fancy the floury mess of making your own ravioli? Easy - just use wonton wrappers instead! 40 wonton wrappers 500gr salmon ½ cup white wine 2 tablespoon lemon juice fresh squeezed 1 tablespoon fresh chives 1 tablespoon fresh dill ½ teaspoon Kosher salt 1 tablespoon shallots chopped 125gr ricotta softened ¼ teaspoon pepper fresh 2 tablespoon parsley finely chopped 4 tablespoon butter unsalted 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 shallot diced ½ cup white wine 4 tablespoon fresh dill 1 tablespoon lemon zest Parmesan cheese for topping In a skillet steam the salmon in wine and lemon juice. Add chives, dill, salt and shallots. Cook for about 5 minutes on each side. Transfer to a bowl. Discard all but 2 tablespoons of the liquid. Allow the salmon to cool, then shred. Add the 2 tablespoon of the liquid to the salmon. Add the ricotta, pepper, and parsley, then using your hands or a wooden spoon mix thoroughly. Place water in a large pot and bring to a boil. While the wat...

Vietnamese Beef Stew (Bo Sot Vang)   Ingredients 2 tsp salt ½ tsp. black pepper cracked 1 tsp. coriander ground ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon ground 1kg chuck beef 1 Tbs olive oil 2 carrots sliced 400gr can diced/crushed/whatever tomatoes 6 cloves garlic minced 2 pods star anise 2 bay leaves 1 cup red wine 1 cup water 2 tablespoon tomato paste Instructions In  small bowl, mix together salt, pepper, coriander, and cinnamon. Cut beef into bite-size pieces and season with spice mixture. In a large saucepan on medium heat add the olive oil, and quickly stir fry the beef cubes. Add the garlic, and continue to cook until the garlic begins to soften.  Decant into a slow cooker Add the carrots, tomatoes, anise pods, and the bay leaves.  Pour in the wine, water, and tomato paste. Stir. High for 3 ½ to 4 hours.     Serve with plenty of crusty bread. Or that's what the recipe specifies. But Leisa says that I've drunk too much of the cooking red (a very fine...

  Creamy Halloumi Stroganoff Prep Time: 10 mins Cooking Time:  40 mins 1 tbsp olive or avocado oil 250gr halloumi cheese 1/4 cup butter 1 chopped onion 500gr sliced mushrooms 2 minced garlic cloves 1/4 cup fino sherry or dry white wine 2 tbsp flour 1½ cups vegetable broth 1 tbsp soy sauce 1 tsp paprika 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1/2 cup full-fat sour cream Salt and pepper Chopped parsley for garnish Directions: 1 Fry halloumi in oil until golden, remove and set aside. 2 Sauté onion in butter, then mushrooms until browned. 3 Add garlic, cook 1 minute, season with salt and pepper. 4 Deglaze pan with wine or sherry. 5 Stir in flour, then slowly add broth while mixing. 6 Add soy sauce, paprika, nutmeg; simmer. 7 Reduce heat, stir in sour cream. 8 Return halloumi, heat through, garnish.