Koh’s Kitchen

Welcome to our online Cooking with a Chaplain series.

What I am trying to do is teach students how to survive on basic staples made interesting and palatable with some tiny luxuries - and keeping the costs to a bare minimum. This is a passing on of knowledge from my two grandmothers who were children in the Depression - one in Australia and the other in Malaysia and China. They passed their knowledge on. BTW - Koh was my ‘maiden name’.

Once upon a time, I was a student supporting myself in a foreign country and struggling to survive. I was studying in France where food is important but also pretty expensive. I am trying to help people see they really can make nutritious meals for $2-$3 and enjoy them.

My best advice to you is to learn 5-6 basic recipes that can be modified according to what ingredients you can get hold of. A few spices can make things more enjoyable and make you feel as if you are still exploring adventures.

If you are struggling to find ingredients, I will make suggestions about what you can substitute. AND - I can send you some mini ziplock bags with samples of spices and herbs so you can try them out. Note: I pack these myself out of my own stock, so these will be in limited supply and depend on my capacity to do this myself.

Some weeks I am hoping to get guest cooks in... Cooks and Youth workers from all over the place.

Hoping you can join in!

_________________

Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/472329307?pwd=RGpaeHlhQnBpN3VIdlQ4YkFJL0FKQT09 
Meeting ID: 472 329 307 Password: 055802 

Week 6:  7 May 2020 - Thai Noodles

I’m half-Chinese (from Malaysia), so I’ve got lots of family in Thailand and my husband and I used to go to Thailand every couple of years. We cooked Thai noodles as a staple in our household. They are great fresh out of the wok, but leftovers are good too!

Ingredients

• Rice Noodles (you can use the soft ones Changs provide or use dried ones and just soak them in water)
• 1-2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 onion or French eschallot (diced)
• 1-2 baby bok choy OR 1 bok choy or choy sum or leafy green veggie (spinach is ok)
• Any other stirfry veggies you like - carrot, broccoli, etc
• 1 to 2 eggs (vegans can substitute 1/2 cup soft tofu - see instructions below*) (Meat eaters can use some mince or small pieces of meat. Prawns work well too. If you like, you can even use a bit of ham or sausage).
• 1 cups bean sprouts
• 1 green shallot onion (chopped)
• 2 teaspoons Toasted chopped nuts - usually peanuts or cashews, chopped
• A sprig of fresh coriander (also called cilantro)
• 1-2 tbsp. oil (something with a high smoke point - canola or peanut)
• 1-2 tbsp. Water or stock (or water with a stock cube)
• A squeeze of lime (or lemon)
• 1-2 small chili’s
• For the Pad Thai Sauce (mix it all up)
• You can buy jars of Pad Thai sauce, but here is how to adapt an oyster sauce for pad thai
• Oyster sauce packet (we got donated some from Changs - thanks!)
• 1 teaspoon tamarind or lemon
• 1 teaspoon Brown sugar (or honey)

Method

Soak the noodles if using the dry kind. Drain the noodles if using the wet kind.

Clean and chop/prep all the ingredients before the cook.

The Cook:
- prep a hot wok or frypan
- if using meat - cook it and then set aside
- fry onion, after a minute, add stir fry veggies and garlic for 1 minute
- add noodles and stock/water and sauce
- add remaining ingredients - 1-2 more minutes (if using an egg - cook until just cooked!)

YUM

_____________________

Week 5: 30 April 2020 - Crispy Noodle Salad

For years this has been a family favorite. My take on the recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 packet Chang’s Crunchy Noodles
• 1/4 piece of Cabbage - purple, green or Chinese wombok, shredded finely... Alternative, use a crunchy lettuce, like iceberg or cos
• 3 green onions/shallots, chopped finely
• Tablespoon of toasted nuts (chopped) - our family favorites are almonds, walnuts, pecans, pinenuts 
• 
  
• Dressing:

• Changs are providing some, but this is what we make at home...
• Sour - vinegar or lime juice
• Sweet - honey or sugar or marmelade
• Salty - soy sauce or fish sauce 
• Spicey - a little chilli OR a spoon of seedy mustard
• A drizzle of sesame oil and olive oil (or coconut oil)

Method:

1. Shred the cabbage and place in a large bowl along with the Chang’s Original Fried Noodles, spring onions and almonds. Toss until combined.
2. [An alternative is to shred Kale, but it needs to be massaged with the oil and some Salk until bright green and soft... it’s a great contrast and works really well at a BBQ]
3. Just before serving pour Chang’s Crispy Noodle Salad Dressing over salad and toss until salad is fully coated.
4. To make a delicious meal add 300g shredded BBQ chicken or BBQ pork. For my Vegetarian friends, I usually serve with either Grilled Haloumi OR Falafel.
5. 
   

The original Chang’s version of the recipe is found below:

https://www.changs.com/recipes/Crispy-Noodle-Salad/

__________________________

Week 4: 23 April 2020 - Risotto

One of the best recipes I have used is this one:

https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/rice-recipes/a-basic-risotto-recipe/

My simple version is as follows:

Ingredients

• 1 cup Short grain (Arborio) rice

• 4 cups stock (or water and stock cubes (Remember, if you run out of stock, you can use your vegemite as an emergency substitute - a teaspoon in a cup of boiling water is a cup of stock - if it gets too salty, add some vinegar or lemon and some extra oil) 

• 1 tablespoon butter (or ghee)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• Salt and pepper (rice takes a fair bit - maybe a 1/4 teaspoon of each, but adjust to taste

• Cheese (Italians use Parmisan or Romano hard cheese, but you can use what you have - cheddar works ok and, in a pinch, I have been known to use soft cheeses too - just makes it creamier!)

Possible staple vegetables are often used, but you dont have to!

• 1 or 2 cloves Garlic
• 1/2-1 Onion (or leek or chives)
• 1 stalk celery 

Optional extras for a treat:

• I like mushrooms in my risotto - dried ones crumbled in early work fine.
• If you have any herbs or green leafy veggies, these can be chopped and added before serving. (E.g. spinach or silver beet or kale) Many Italians use chicken stock and serve the risotto with some chicken.

Method

1. Bring stock to a simmer in a saucepan over medium. Reduce heat and keep warm.
2. Melt the butter and heat the oil in a large pan or wide pot. 
3. Optional: Soften Celery, Onion in the bottom of the pot, but no need for them to brown. Add garlic. If using mushrooms, add them now.
4. Add the rice; stir to coat all the grains, 1 minute. Add 1 ladle of broth (½ cup to ¾ cup), stir, and leave it alone until broth is nearly absorbed, 2 to 3 minutes. (Run a wooden spoon through it; rice should slowly fill in the channel.) 
5. Stir, add another ladle/scoop of broth, and stir again. Cook undisturbed until the broth is absorbed, 3 minutes. Repeat until about 1 ladle of broth remains, 15 to 18 minutes of total cook time for the rice. Turn off heat. 
6. Add salt, remaining broth, and cheese. Stir gently for 2 minutes. Serve immediately in warmed bowls, with more grated cheese over top, if desired.

Note From my son, the chef: Many Italians and chefs use some white wine or sherry in place of one of the cups of stock. When you do this, you are cooking off any alcohol, so you are not consuming alcohol, just getting the flavour. It makes the dish feel a bit more special and is a nice variation if you want to impress a date down the track!

_____________________________

Week 3 Thursday 16th April

Tuna Pasta - 2 variations

Version 1 (tuna, peas, lemon verbena and garlic)

Version 2 (tuna, tomato, Italian herb pack or fresh oregano and garlic)

Any kind of cheese can be grated on top.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1-2 large cloves garlic minced
• 1 (5 ounce) can tuna or sachet
• Version 1 - lemon verbena, a squeeze of lemon if available
• Version 2 - tomato pasta sauce, Italian Herbs, fresh oregano if available
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 4 ounces uncooked pasta (I used spaghetti)

Instructions

1. Boil a salted pot of water for your pasta and cook it al dente according to package directions. Prep your other ingredients while it cooks.
2. When the pasta is close to being ready, add the oil to a small pan over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and cook it for 30 seconds.
3. Version 1 - Stir in the tuna, lemon juice, and lemon verbena. Let it heat through. 

   Version 2 - Stir in the tuna, tomato, Italian herbs or oregano and garlic. Heat through.
   Note - Thanks to Craig Mitchell in Melbourne who heard about our project and sent us Fresh Herbs From his garden!!! What a legend!
4. Once the pasta is done, add some of the pasta water (a couple tablespoons) to the sauce and then drain the pasta and toss with the sauce. Season with salt & pepper as needed. Optional: serve pasta with freshly grated parmesan (or other) cheese and lemon zest.

Tuna pasta with peas and Lemon verbena 

Tuna pasta in tomato and oregano sauce

YUM

______________________________

Week 2 Thursday 9th April with a TENEBRAE Service(Easter Week)

CHANGE OF RECIPE - because some students didn’t get soup mix!

DAAL (or Dahl) and Rice

Note: I use a commercially available Garam Masala mix in a box packet. The most common spices in the mix are:

• Cumin
• Coriander
• Cardamom
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Cloves
• Bay Leaf
• Peppercorn
• Fennel
• Mace
• Dried Chilli

(Some mixes have other things)

All this tends to be toasted and then ground up into a powder... it is time consuming to make, which is why I buy it in a pack pre-done.

• Red Lentils (or other lentils)
• Dried Fried Onions (or fry some up)
• Garlic (can also be fried up)

Variations

• A small spoon of yoghurt
• potato or sweet potato or carrot
• Mushrooms or peas
• Whatever other veggies you can get
• Meat or Fish or Tofu or nuts can be added as you like

Tonight we are using 1/2 the lentils, 1/2 the little pack of spice and 1/2 the herb and coconut packet. Some of these packets already have stock powder in them, otherwise you will also have a stock cube to add.
We will use one clove of garlic.
I will add some broccoli and a carrot.

Some onion (fresh to fry) or dried also adds flavour.
Some tomato or tomato paste is also really yummy. (Or add a little tomato’s sauce)


METHOD

Boil water (1 part lentils to 4 parts water) - add lentils and stock/coconut milk powder/spices packet
Simmer for 15-20 mins

Prep any other veggies to add

Put on rice (1 part rice to 4 parts water) to boil
Simmer for 10-12 mins

(If you are cooking any meat or fish or nuts, now is the time to do it, but these are not needed to make this dish nutritious and yummy.)

Cook Veggies - these can be added to the Lentils OR fried for more flavour.
I will show both methods

Add Onions and Garlic and Methi (Fenugreek leaves) and cook through for the last couple of minutes...

Serve

Here is a good link for decorating Easter eggs with tea

https://blog.numitea.com/tea-dyed-easter-eggs/

________

PREVIOUSLY

WEEK 1 - Thursday 2nd April

STIR-FRY with Noodles	½ packet Rice Noodles (substitute rice)
	Nuts (cashews or peanuts)
	Onion, Garlic, Other Vegetables
	SE Asian Spices Packet
	You provide :  Salt and pepper 1-2 tablespoons oil (preferably with a high smoking point/e.g. canola or sunflower)
	Optional : you can add meat or tofu – I will show you what to do with them	An egg or