What to cook for dinner? That's the perennial problem facing every home cook,and Nagi Maehashi of RecipeTin Eats sets out to solve it with her debut cookbook,Dinner.
From 10-minute weeknight winners to special occasion feasts,the collection includes more than 150 of Maehashi's best recipes,all with her signature simplicity,no-fail technique and big,bold flavours.
Here are four to try at home.
There's a good reason miso is a staple of Japanese food. It's packed with umami (read:savoury flavour!),which means it's a brilliant shortcut to add a ton of taste with very few other ingredients. Here,I'm using miso to slather on eggplant before baking. It sets into a beautiful golden glaze,which fills the slits that open up as the eggplant cooks. As for eating it? Smoosh it all up so the sweet glaze mixes with the creamy flesh. Eat with chopsticks,to be vaguely authentic,but there's no shame in using a spoon!
INGREDIENTS
Miso glaze
Eggplant
To serve
METHOD
Serves 4
NOTES
1. This recipe will work with most types of miso,including dashi miso or shiro miso. But do not use saikyo miso or sweet miso (too sweet).
2. Asian/Japanese eggplants (the thinner,smaller ones) can also be used. Do not score,and reduce baking time to around 30 minutes in total,brushing with glaze and finishing under the grill as per the recipe.
LeftoversFridge 2 days,though best served fresh as cooked eggplant does get a bit saggy and soft!
If I could bottle the sauce in this country-style French stew,I would.This is a dish taught to me by the super-talented chef Jean-Baptiste Alexandre. He was born,raised and trained in France,and now resides right here in my hometown of Sydney. So it goes without saying this recipe is par excellence! Creamy,silky and rich with the flavours of chicken,herbs and wine,you'll be mopping your plate clean with bread. While this is terrific made with store-bought stock,if you can manage homemade,I highly recommend it as it will catapult this dish into wow territory!
Creamy mushroom sauce
1. The chicken needs to be skin-on,bone-in thigh and leg pieces so they don't overcook and dry out. If you are dead set on making this with boneless breast,brown it as per the recipe,then simmer the sauce with the lid off for 15 minutes (to reduce),then add the breast and simmer with the lid on for 6 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 67C. For boneless thigh,do the same except the internal temperature should be 72C.
2. Any dry white wine will work here,though chardonnay is my preference because it adds good flavour. For a non-alcoholic substitute,replace with more chicken stock.
3. A large pot also works. The shallow casserole pot I use is 29cm wide and 6cm deep (3.4 litres). No lid? Just use foil.
LeftoversFridge 4 days,freezer 3 months.
No,this isn't authentic but everything in these salmon tacos just works so well that it still rates as one of the best tacos I've invented in recent years! The salmon marinade is a little bit spicy,a little bit smoky and so good with the oily salmon. Having both lime slaw and mango avocado salsa for the toppings requires a bit of added effort,but the refreshing effect they bring is unbeatable. I promise they're worth the work! However if you're pressed for time,suggestions for simpler alternatives are in the notes.
Chipotle marinade
Serves 4 (makes 12 tacos)
1. The idea here is to cut thinner strips of salmon to increase the surface-area-to-flesh ratio for extra flavour and speedy marinating. No need to get too hung up about perfect slices – it gets flaked anyway! If you can only get skin-on salmon,it's not a big deal – just flake the salmon flesh off the skin once cooked.
2. The used press-seal bag can be washed in warm soapy water for reuse. Otherwise use a bowl,but increase the marinade by 50 per cent.
3. Only marinate up to 2 hours at most. Don't marinate overnight as the fish is too delicate and may become overly soft.
4. For a faster option,skip the slaw and mango salsa. Instead,use finely sliced iceberg lettuce,avocado,sliced tomato,finely chopped red onion,coriander leaves,a dollop of sour cream and squeeze of lime juice. YUM.
Leftovers Fridge 3 days (cooked salmon). Not suitable for freezing.
This fresh and summery salsa is so juicy you won't need a separate sauce with your tacos.
Makes 3 cups,enough for 12 tacos
Leftovers Best made fresh. To prepare ahead,don't add the lime,oil and salt until just before serving.
This slaw goes with everything. It's great stuffed into burritos and tacos,but a heap on a plate also makes a great side salad to cut through rich,spicy meats. Six cups of shredded cabbage sounds like a lot for 12 tacos,but it collapses to almost half the volume once it wilts.
Dressing
Makes5½ cups,enough for 12 tacos
NOTE
1. No limes? Use lemon instead,but skip the zest. Otherwise,apple cider vinegar makes a good substitute.
Leftovers Fridge 3 days. Toss before use.
Warming tortillas makes them pliable as well as bringing out the flavour. The same methods can be used for both flour and corn tortillas. My default method is the oven,for convenience,because you can heat a lot of tortillas in one go. My ideal method is toasting the tortillas over an open flame. Charred bits= extra flavour!
What you need
1. Most flour tortillas are pliable enough straight out of the packet,so I only warm them up for tacos because they taste better.
2. Corn tortillas are much more brittle than flour tortillas. They MUST be warmed thoroughly to make them soft and pliable before use or they will break!
3. Once corn tortillas become even a bit stale,they are much more prone to breaking. Resuscitate them by dunking briefly in water,then reheat using the stove or naked flame method. Or spritz lightly with water and reheat using the oven method.
Also known as"An Easy Way to Make Cauliflower Irresistible".
Here's a cauliflower steak recipe that won't have you running for the hills. Not when there's cheese,garlic,spices and a crunchy parmesan crumb involved! It's as good as simple meatless mains get. I like to use red Leicester cheese for the eye-catching orange shade it gives the cauliflower. But you can use your favourite melting cheese or whatever you have on hand.
Seasoning
Parmesan crumb
Serves 2
1. To cut the cauliflower steaks,remove the outer leaves and trim the excess stalk off the cauliflower. Cut right down through the middle,then cut a 2.25-2.5cm thick slice from one half,keeping the core intact (the base keeps the steak together). Repeat with the other half so you have two steaks. (The recipe video is helpful here!) Reserve the leftover cauliflower for another purpose.
2. Red Leicester cheese has that beautiful orange colour you see in the photo. But it can be substituted with your favourite melting cheese,such as cheddar,tasty cheese,colby or gruyere. If you use mozzarella,mix through 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan for flavour. For this recipe,store-bought pre-grated parmesan can be used (the sandy type,not the shredded type).
3. Ordinary breadcrumbs also work well. The crumb clumps even more so you get crunchy balls!
LeftoversFridge 3 days,though best made fresh as cauliflower goes a bit soggy. Not suitable for freezing.
This is an edited extract fromRecipeTin Eats:Dinnerby Nagi Maehashi,published by Macmillan Australia,RRP $44.99,photography by Nagi Maehashi.Buy now
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