Asian Chicken Broth
Roast Tomato and Chilli soup with Crème Fraiche

Asian Chicken Broth

Ingredients

Broth
1 cooked BBQ Chicken (meat removed for soup)
1 large onion, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 knob ginger, roughly chopped
1 chilli, roughly chopped
8 cups water

Asian Chicken Broth
4 cups chicken stock (made day before)
400g cooked chicken meat, pulled apart (fom BBQ chicken)
1 punnet oyster mushrooms, ripped in half
250g flat rice noodles
4 bunches bok choy, halved and trimmed
200g bean sprouts
¼ cup fresh mint leaves
¼ cup fresh coriander, roughly chopped
2 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal
Fresh chopped chilli to garnish
Fish sauce to taste
Soy sauce to taste
 
Method (Serves 4)

Preparation/cooking time:
Broth: 4 hours *to be made the day before
Asian Chicken Broth: 20 min

Broth

1. Remove chicken meat from the bones and put aside for serving later.
2. Place chicken carcass (including stuffing), onion, garlic, ginger and chilli in a large pot and cover with 8 cups of water.  Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for four hours.  Allow to cool and strain the soup leaving only broth.
3. Refrigerate over night. Next day remove solidified fat from surface.

Asian Chicken Broth

1. Wash bean sprouts and place a handful in each of the 4 bowls.
2. Place chicken and mushrooms in a large pot.  Add 4 cups of chicken stock, bring to the boil then simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Add rice noodles, continue to simmer for 5 minutes or until noodles have separated.  Add bok choy simmering for a further 1 minute only.
4. Pour soup into bowls covering the bean sprouts evenly distributing the noodles, chicken, mushrooms and bok choy.  Garnish with coriander, mint, spring onions and chilli.

Ingredients
20 Medium tomatoes (second/over ripe are the best)
8 whole garlic cloves
4 Medium brown onions
4 Small hot chilies
1 Bunch of Basil
¼ cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and cracked pepper
100ml Crème fraiche (sour cream will suffice)
300 ml Vegetable stock.

Method 
Preparation time – 10 min
Cooking time – 30 - 40 min

1. Pre heat oven to 220`c
2. Peel and roughly chop the onions and place these into the base of a deep baking tray. These should lightly cover the entire base.
3. Place ¾ bunch of basil (storks as well – removing any woody stems) on top of the bed of onions.
4. Place your washed whole tomatoes side by side on top of the bed of onions and basil so there are no gaps.
5. Add the whole chilies and garlic cloves in and around the tomatoes.   
6. Pour a splash of olive oil over each tomato and season with the salt and Cracked pepper
7. Place into the oven and roast until the tomatoes start to break down and the skins turn dark. 40 min’s
8. Remove from the oven and rest for 10 min.
9. Scoop out the contents and blend until all ingredients are smooth. Add the stock as required to thin out the consistency.
10. Season to your taste.

Ingredients
2 head Cos lettuce
4 rashes bacon
½ cup freshly shaved parmesan cheese
Dressing*
2 eggs
Dash white vinegar
50g tin anchovies in olive oil, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely diced
1 fresh lime, juiced
1 tsp dijon mustard
100ml light Olive Oil (or vegetable oil)
Croutons
6 slices stale bread with crusts removed
50g butter

Method (Serves 8)
Preparation time – 30 min

1. Cut bread into 1cm squares.  In a fry pan add butter and 1 finely diced garlic clove and bread. Slowly cook over a medium heat until croutons become toasted. Set aside.
2. Slice bacon rashes lengthways across the rash (creating lardons).  Cook in a frypan until crispy. Drain fat and set aside.
3. Wash lettuce. Rip the lettuce across the spine (do not cut) into bit-size pieces. Put aside to drain.
4. On the stove, bring two cups of water to the boil with a good dash of white vinegar. Poach eggs for 1 minute. Drain and place in the bottom of a large stainless steel mixing bowl.  Add two finely diced garlic cloves, lime juice, anchovies, and Dijon mustard. Mix with a fork until everything is combined.  Gently trickle the olive oil in whilst mixing with the fork (we are looking for a mayonnaise/emulsion style sauce).
5. Add lettuce, cheese, croutons, and bacon.  Mix all ingredients gently with a wooden spoon so that all lettuce leaves are coated with some of the sauce.
6. Place in a serving bowl, and garnish with left-over anchovy fillets and extra parmesan cheese – Enjoy!

* Dressing to be made ‘a la minute’

Wild Mushroom Bruschetta

Ingredients
1 loaf Italian Vienna/chiabatta
¼ cup olive oil
1kg mixed selection of wild mushrooms (eg., swiss brown, oyster, shitake)
4 cloves garlic
100g clarified butter (ghee)
2 sprigs rosemary, remove stem
1 tsp cracked pepper

Method  (Serves 8)
Preparation time – 10 min
Cooking time – 10 min

1. Slice bread into 2cm wide slices.  Add 1 clove of crushed garlic to olive oil and brush each slice generously on one side only.
2. In a heavy base fry pan, heat clarified butter, 3 cloves roughly chopped garlic, rosemary, pepper and mushrooms.  Cook on a medium heat until mushrooms have cooked and liquid absorbed.
3. While mushrooms are cooking, char-grill (BBQ) both sides of the bread until nicely toasted.

Ingredients
1 loaf Italian Vienna/chiabatta
¼ cup olive oil
8 Medium tomatoes (second/over ripe are the best)
1 spanish onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic
1 cup basil leaves, finely sliced (chiffonade)
1 tsp cracked pepper
1 tsp sea salt
Olive oil

Method  (Serves 8)
Preparation time – 10 min
Cooking time – 10 min

1. Slice bread into 2cm wide slices.  Add 1 clove of crushed garlic to olive oil and brush each slice generously on one side only.
2. In a heavy base fry pan, sweat the onions and 3 cloves roughly chopped garlic in olive oil until translucent in colour.  Set aside
3. Quarter the tomatoes and remove the seeds leaving the flesh.  Slice the flesh into 5mm squares.  Place in a bowl, add the basil, onions and garlic, cracked pepper, sea-salt.
4. Char-grill (BBQ) both sides of the bread until nicely toasted.

Ingredients
100g raw (green) prawns
50g water chestnuts
1 small onion
1 clove garlic
1 small knob ginger
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
1 teaspoon soy sauce
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon cornflour
Salt and cracked pepper
2 teaspoons oil
1 pack wonton pastry (pack size approx 30)
1 egg

Method 
Makes approx 30
Preparation time – 20 min
Cooking time – 15 min

1. Finely chop prawn meat, water chestnuts, onion, garlic, ginger, mint and coriander.
2. Heat oil in a fry pan.  Gently sweat the onion and garlic until transparent (approx 2 minutes or until soft - do not brown).
3. Once cooled, mix onion and garlic with the finely chopped prawns, water chestnuts, ginger, mint, and coriander and season with soy sauce, salt and pepper, then mix through the egg whites and corn flour.
4. Spread up to 10 pastry sheets out at a time, brush with beaten egg, and place a teaspoon of mix into the middle of each sheet.  Gather each corner together pinching the pastry together at the top of the mix and give a gentle twist to close (it should look like a money pouch)
5. Cover the base of a bamboo steamer with greaseproof paper. Stab a few holes through the paper to allow steam through.  Steam over rapidly boiling water for 15 minutes.

Mussels Provencal

Ingredients
1200g’s of fresh black Mussels
2 medium brown onions
6 cloves of garlic
1 small knob of Ginger
1 stick of lemon grass
8 over ripe (second) tomatoes

Method
Serve in deep bowls with fresh crunchy oven warmed bread.
Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time - 15 minutes
Cook Time - 10 minutes

Wash and remove the beard from the mussels (place in fridge).
Splash the olive oil in a saucepan on low heat. Add the sliced onions (1 onion), garlic (4 cloves), chillies and tomatoes and cook without colour till the tomatoes break down (15 min). Season with salt and pepper.

Splash some Olive Oil in a heavy based pot on high heat, when the pan starts to smoke lightly add the remaining chopped onions, garlic, ginger and lemon grass and cook for 15 seconds on high. Then quickly add the mussels and wine, stir and then cover with a lid to steam (5 min).  

Removing the lid should reveal most of the mussels opened (if the mussels are still closed continue to cook until they are open). Add the tomato sauce and picked basil, continue to cook on high with out the lid so as to concentrate the flavours (5 min).

Braised Lamb Shanks with Duo of Sauces

Ingredients
8 Lamb shanks, French trimmed
3 Medium onions
1 Leek
8 garlic cloves
2 tsp cracked pepper
2 bay leaves
¼ cup olive oil
8 Medium tomatoes (second/over ripe are the best)
1 cup fresh basil leaves.

Method  (Serves 8)
Preparation time – 15 min
Cooking time – 3 hours

1. Peal, halve and slice 2 medium onions. Slice leak in half lengthways and cut each half across the leak in 5mm strips and wash thoroughly.
2. In a deep oven dish lay a bed of onions and leak, 1 teaspoon of cracked pepper, and bay leaves and lay the shanks on top head to toe.
3. Fill the baking dish ¾ full with boiling water and bake in a preheated 180’c oven for 2 to 2 ½ hours until the meat is tender but still on the bone.
4. Peal, halve and slice the last onion, peel garlic and quarter the cloves, cut each tomatoes into eight pieces.
5. In a cold saucepan, and olive oil, tomatoes, onions, garlic and one teaspoon cracked pepper, and cook on low heat until everything breaks down and becomes a sauce.  Add basil leaves with two minutes to go, and season to taste. Set aside
6. Remove shanks from baking dish and let sit.  Strain the remaining lamb shank liquid into a second saucepan separating the onion and leaks which are set aside.  Reduce the liquid on a low heat by about 2/3 concentrating the flavour and thickening the consistency.
7. Serve shank on a bed of the onion and leak, top with a generous spoonful of the fresh tomato sauce.  Drizzle the lamb reduction over the tomato allowing the flavours to mix.

Lamb Shank Pasta

Ingredients
4 Lamb Shanks
1 medium Brown Onions
3 Cloves of Garlic
8 over ripe (second) tomatoes
2 red chillies
700g Pasta Sauce (La Gina)
2 Tins of Whole Tomatoes

It’s all good!

Steamed Banana Puddings

Ingredients

Pudding Mix
250g self-raising flour
1 tsp cinnamon
4 very ripe bananas
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
100g sugar
150g butter
4 eggs
2/3 cup milk

Syrup
1 cup strong coffee
¾ cup sugar
1 dash liquor (optional) e.g., Frangelico, Kahlua, Tia Maria

Method 
Makes approx 10
Preparation time – 15 min
Cooking time – 35 min

Puddings

1. Sift flour and cinnamon and stand aside.
2. Mash bananas and bicarbonate soda together and stand aside.
3. Cream butter and sugar until a nice light texture.
4. Fold in banana mix, and add eggs one at a time whilst mixing.
5. Fold through the sift flour mix; add milk slowly mixing all the time.
6. Grease 10 pudding cups with butter and lightly dust with sugar
7. ¾ fill pudding cups with mix and place in a pre-warmed oven at 180ºC
8. Cook for approximately 35 minutes or until cooked.

Syrup

1. Simmer sugar and coffee in a saucepan over low heat for 3 minutes or until sugar is dissolved and desired consistency is reached.  Remove from heat and add a dash of liquor.

Turn pudding cup upside down and pudding should fall effortlessly onto plate.  Pour syrup over the top.

funny as it might seem, at mint, we just happen to be as passionate about our cuisine as we are about funding - so here is a collection of our favourite recipes - both with and without mint, with a new recipe added each week.

Mint Mojito
3 shots of white rum (90ml)
12 fresh mint leaves
1/2 lime
1 cup soda water
2 tablespoons syrup (or 4 tablespoons sugar)

Put the mint leaves into the bottom of a tall glass, squeeze in the lime and gently crush them. Pour sweet syrup on top to cover and fill glass with ice. Add white Rum, soda, and stir your emerging mojito well.
Garnish with a lime wedge, a few sprigs of mint.

Serve on any lazy afternoon with a few friends.