Recipes of the month February 2008

HINTS AND TIPS FOR WOK COOKING ON THE AGA:

People say you cannot stir-fry on an Aga, but anything is possible! The most important thing is the type of wok you use. Most of the pressed steel woks you can buy in specialty supermarkets are designed for gas burners only. They do not conduct heat well from solid heat sources and tend to buckle and warp very quickly. This renders them next to useless on the Aga where you need good contact between the base of the pan and the top plate. Woks made of hard-anodized aluminum are by far the best - they conduct heat very well and are amazingly easy to clean (they don’t rust). Aga do produce a hard-anodized wok and I have to say they are the best woks I have ever used - on Agas or any other cooker.

The trick is to make sure the wok is very, very hot BEFORE you begin cooking. This can be achieved by heating the pan inside the roasting oven, or on the top plate, for 5-10 minutes. Don’t put any oil in the wok until it is hot. Now you’re ready to cook!

Try to marinade any finely chopped herbs/spices in with your main ingredient (chicken/vegetables etc.), finely chopped garlic will burn immediately if you try to cook it first.

CHICKEN SATAY WITH PEANUT SAUCE:

4 Boneless skinned chicken breasts

Marinade:

1 small onion chopped

1 garlic clove cru1 garlic clove crushed

1" ginger peeled & grated

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

2 tsp dark brown sugar

1 tbsp of lime juice

1 tbsp vegetable oil Sauce:

300 ml/ ½ pt coconut milk

4 tbsp peanut butter

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp lime juice

salt & pepper Cut chicken into strips. Place all the marinade ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Add chicken strips, make sure they are all covered in the marinade and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Remove the meat and thread onto thin wooden skewers. Make sure the skewers have been well soaked in water (stops them burning). Place satay onto a trivet inside a grill rack and slide onto the top set of runners in the roasting oven. Grill for 8-10 min. turning once. Meanwhile to make the sauce, place all the ingredients in to a pan, bring to the boil on the simmering plate. Cook for a few minutes and season to taste.

STEAMED RICE:

The Aga cooks perfect rice using the absorption method. Basmati rice gives great results, I tend to measure it in a cup – 2 cups rice to 3 cups water. Rinse, add water, cover and bring to the boil on the boiling plate. Once the water begins to roll transfer to the simmering oven for approximately 20 minutes. Once the rice has cooked you can leave it the oven for a good 30 – 40 minutes before it will spoil, this is because once the water has been absorbed that rice cannot cook any more.

THAI RED PEPPER AND AUBERGINE CURRY:

3 red peppers cut into large pieces

2 aubergines – cubed

1 can of coconut milk

1 tsp. Red or green curry paste per person

salt and pepper to taste

Groundnut oil Roast vegetables with a little oil in a large roasting tin in the roasting oven for 20-25 mins. Heat 3-4 tbsp. Groundnut oil in a large casserole, add curry paste and fry for a minute to release the spices. Curry paste is readily available in supermarkets but tastes great if you make your own. I usually make up a batch and freeze in small portions. Add coconut milk or cream (Thai curries are normally quite thin, almost a soup, if you prefer a thicker result use the coconut cream). Bring to the boil and add roasted vegetables, transfer uncovered to the simmering oven – cook for 30minutes or until all ingredients are cooked.

CARAMELISED LIME AND PASSION FRUIT TART

1 Packet short crust pastry

200g (7oz) caster sugar

zest and juice of two limes

juice of 6 passion fruit

8 medium eggs

1 pt double cream Roll out the pastry and line a 9” flat bottomed tart tin. Place the tin in the fridge (or even the freezer) to thoroughly chill the pastry. This will ensure minimum ‘shrinkage’ during baking.

Gently whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add in the sugar, whisk again, and then mix in the cream. Add your zest and juices and watch the mixture thicken as the acidic nature of the fruit reacts with the cream.

Take the cold pastry shell and sit it onto the flat side of the AGA cold shelf. Take this assembly over to your AGA and then add the lime and passion fruit mixture. The trick to getting this tart into the oven with out the contents slopping every where is to; open the Roasting Oven door, rest the edge of the cold shelf onto the floor of the oven and gently slide the tart into place. Now slide the cold shelf onto the runners directly above the tart.

By cooking the pastry on the floor of the Roasting Oven there is no need to blind bake. This surface gives off a direct heat, similar to the Simmering Plate, so will bake the pastry from the underside, giving a crisp finish to every tart or quiche. If your brave enough try cooking your pizzas directly onto the Roasting Oven floor – mine is never quite clean enough!