Beef Teriyaki with grilled Bananas

Continuing on the experiment in cooking with fruits, I bought some bananas today. Never been a fan of bananas, esp when it comes to anything with banana essence. Blech! However, I thought of how people bake bananas (eg banana bread, toffee banana) and an idea struck. The outcome - the pleasant taste of roasted bananas, caramelised and brown on the outside, warm and soft on the inside!

Ingredients
2 beef steaks
2 tsbp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp light soya sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp sherry/Japanese mirin (cooking wine) if you have it. I use Chinese rice wine, works just as well
freshly milled pepper
1 banana, sliced into thick chunks
Vegetables that can be roasted or grilled e.g. capsicums

Method
1) To make the teriyaki sauce, pour together the soya sauces, wine and brown sugar into a bowl. Microwave for 15 seconds until sugar dissolves.
2) Steep the beef in the mixture and leave to marinate. Add pepper.
3) Grease a baking dish and lay the beef and vegetables on top. Grill on high heat.
4) Put the vegetables and banana into the leftover marinate.
5) Halfway thru the grilling time, add the vegetables and banana and turn the meat over.
6) Serve.

Baked Chicken with Grapes

Recipe courtesy of Mags. Cooking with fruits isn't a new idea, but the trick is in finding fruits that cook well (don't end up in a mess) and also which blend well with the food in question. For instance, tried and tested combinations would include pineapples and pork, apples and pork, cranberry and turkey.

Ingredients
1 chicken, chopped into 8 pieces
small bunch of grapes
1 tbsp tarragon, chopped
1 tbsp sage, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
butter
cooking oil

Method
1) Marinate chicken with salt, pepper, tarragon and sage.
2) Brown the chopped chicken in a pan with the cooking oil.
3) Transfer the chicken and left over oil into a baking dish.
4) Squeeze the juice of a few grapes all over the chicken and stir in.
5) Add a few grapes (still on the vine) to the pan.
6) Dot butter all over the chicken and grapes.
7) Bake at 160 degrees for 40 mins, turning over halfway and basting.

No oil arrabiata

Traditional arrabiata in my mind always comes about too oily and too fiery. I'm really not a fan of oily stuff, and it's always hard to get the proportions of oil right.

However, last week, I came across a particularly tomoto-ey version by CBTL, with a nice tomato-based sauce and served with nice chorizo sausages for that smokey taste - hey why not!

Here's my recreation, made slightly sweeter cos B doesn't like sour stuff (ie he hates tomatoes) and also less spicy for me. I added barley because I usually find my sauces too thin - the barley gave the sauce a good 'saucy' consistency, and the barley texture gave it a nice mealy texture. The bonus was that in the tomato base, the texture and feel made it taste like baked beans! Keep it overnight and see how the sausages and barley bloats up!
Ingredients (Serves 3)
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 can water
1 packet (about 10) chicken franks sausages (or chorizos if you have them), cut into chunks
3 tbls chopped garlic
3 tbls chilli flakes (more if you dare!)
1 tbls chopped onions
2 tbls barley
3 tbls ketchup
1 tsp granulated chicken stock (I use the squeezy packets so it's simplier)
4 tsp sugar
Grated black pepper
Oregano or Basil
2 tbls Olive oil
Pasta for 3
Grated parmesan

Method
1. Saute onions and olive oil. Add garlic but do not brown the garlic.
2. Saute the chicken franks.
3. Add the chilli flakes and stir fry briefly.
4. Pour in the canned tomatoes. Stir. Using the same can, fill up with water and pour into the pot.
5. Add the barley.
6. Season with oregano or basil, black pepper, tomato sauce and chicken stock.
7. Leave to simmer for 20 minutes. Taste and add salt if necessary. Usually the chicken franks add enough salt to the sauce for me.
8. Cook pasta as per instructions on the packet.
9. Serve with grated parmesan.