Cooking Tips
Richo’s Deli Curry
Thank you for purchasing from Richo’s deli
We make our curry without any preservatives and is frozen in vacuum sealed bags to retain quality
To cook simply place the pouch unopened into a pot and add cold water until the bag is well covered
Turn on the heat to a medium high setting and bring to the boil, once the water has boiled, turn the heat down until the water is at a gentle simmer and allow to simmer for 8 to ten minutes
Then carefully remove the pouch with some tongs, cut open the bag with scissor and pour the hot continents into a bowl to serve
Feel free to add any herbs, vegetables or cheese as you desire
Richo’s Deli Meatballs
Thank you for purchasing from Richo’s deli
The meatballs we make are made without any preservatives and is frozen in vacuum sealed bags to retain quality
To cook simply place the pouch unopened into a pot and add cold water until the bag is well covered
Turn on the heat to a medium high setting and bring to the boil, once the water has boiled, turn the heat down until the water is at a gentle simmer and allow to simmer for 8 to ten minutes
Then carefully remove the pouch with some tongs, cut open the bag with scissor and pour the hot continents into a bowl to serve
Feel free to add any herbs, vegetables or cheese as you desire
Here are a few tips to cooking your sausages
As you will notice the sausages have been vacuum sealed in a bag and frozen, as we do not use any preservatives we find it best to store the sausages frozen so that they maintain their quality they do not become damaged in any way from the freezing process
The best way to thaw the sausages is to take them out of the freezer the night before you wish to use them and place them on a plate to defrost in the refrigerator
However, if you wish to defrost quickly you can place the bag of sausages, unopened into a bowl of water for approximately and hour, while changing the water a few times
When the sausages are defrosted remove them from the bag and cook them in a frypan, grill or BBQ, I find that a little oil and a medium heat will cook the sausages perfectly through and give them a lovely crisp golden-brown skin
Some people like to blanch (cook the sausages in water first) this can speed up the cooking time and ensure that the sausages are cooked through. Usually this is done when large volumes of sausages are needed
Place the sausages defrosted or frozen into a pot of lightly seasons cold water, and bring the water to just under the boil, turn the water off the heat and let them stand in the water for 5 to 6 mins, then either cool the sausages for later use or cook them immediately
How to cook the perfect steak
You’re already off to a great start by choosing the best meat possible.
Start by letting your meat come to room temperature about 30 minutes before you plan to eat.
Prepare for cooking by rubbing the steak all over with a little olive oil. Use your hands to smear it on evenly, then season the meat with salt and pepper just before you put it on the grill. Both the oil and seasoning will help stop the meat from sticking to the grill. The oil will help seal the surface and ensure that it “caramelises” to a lovely deep brown, and the seasoning will make it taste delicious.
You can cook steaks on the barbecue, on a ridged griddle pan, or in a frying pan. Each has its own merit, and the results will be slightly different. At the restaurant we cook our steaks on a massive flame-grill, so the steaks get a wonderful lightly charred flavour. You'll achieve a similar result at home using a barbecue. I also like cooking steaks in griddle pans because they can be heated to a high temperature and you get attractive stripe markings from the ridges. If you prefer to fry your steaks in a frying pan, then make sure you use only the barest minimum of oil or they run the risk of being a bit too greasy. A great tip is to not overload the pan, this will lower the temperature and cause the steaks to boil, Yuck!
Ideally you want to be able to create a range of temperatures from very hot to medium-hot, which is dead easy on the barbecue, and less easy with a griddle or frying pan. Why is it important? Well, it's particularly important with a big thick piece of meat that is going to take longer to heat to the centre. With a thin piece of meat you can cook it over a fierce heat very quickly. With a big thick piece it is likely to burn on the outside before the heat penetrates to the centre. With big thick steaks you want to move the steak to a medium heat after the initial searing over a high heat. Alternatively, transfer it to the oven to finish cooking after the initial searing.
Which brings us to turning. Some people insist that you should only turn your steak once during the cooking process. I like to turn my steaks every few minutes, depending on the thickness. I find that this way the meat cooks evenly and ends up tender and juicy inside. I actually turn the meat at right-angles, which means you get an attractive cross-hatching of griddle marks.
Here's what actually happens when the steak is cooking: immediately the meat hits the heat, the moisture inside rushes away from the heat source up to the surface of the meat where it eventually cooks away. When you turn the steak over, the moisture rushes back in the other direction. If you turn the meat several times as it cooks, less moisture will escape and your steak will stay lovely and juicy in the centre.
Testing for doneness is another bugbear for people. This is something that you learn through practice and you will become more confident over time. A far better way to test for doneness is to press the steak with your finger. Essentially, the more yielding the steak is under pressure, the rarer the steak. Some people use the little trick of feeling the fleshy base of your thumb as you touch it to the fingers on your hand: thumb to index finger = rare; thumb to middle finger = medium-rare; thumb to ring finger = medium to medium well; thumb to little finger = well done.
To be honest, one sure-fire way of knowing how well cooked your steak is, is to use a meat thermometer and I strongly recommend using one of these until you gain confidence in your own judgement. At La Luna I have a big notice stuck above the grill to remind the chefs about internal core temperatures. 35°C = rare; 45°C = medium-rare; 55°C = medium; 65°C = medium-well; 75°C = well-done. The beauty of this method is that it removes all the guess-work.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly of all, once the steak is cooked, you must rest it. As I've outlined above, while the meat is cooking, the moisture inside heats up and moves away from the heat source. There's a lot of activity going on inside that piece of meat! Letting it rest away from the heat source allows the juices to settle back to the centre of the meat and the fibres will all relax, becoming nice and tender. As a simple rule of thumb, allow an equal amount of resting time as the meat took to cook. So in other words, if the steak took 4 minutes to cook, allow it to rest in a warm spot for 4 minutes before serving. You can always put it back on the heat for a final warm through. 30 seconds on each side should be enough.