Baked beans are one of my comfort foods, always have been, always will be. I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to try out Maggie Beer’s version that appeared i one of the first episodes of The Cook and the Chef. Probably because I don’t tend to cook dried beans or pulses and I keep forgetting to pick up some speck. Luckily, one day visiting The Deli in Erskineville to get some ricotta to stuff some zucchini flowers and make some cannelloni I saw they had speck and I picked up some of that too.

Boston Baked Beans - Serves 2-4
250 grams of cannellini beans
1 teaspoon of mustard powder
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 tin of tomatoes
150 grams of pork speck
1 onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves
1 bay leaf, torn
Salt and pepper

Heat oven to 180ºC. Soak the beans overnight. In a large saucepan, fry the onion, speck, cloves and bay leaf until the onions are transparent. Add everything else except the beans and simmer for 10 minutes to reduce the liquid a little.

Drain the beans and add. Put a lid on the saucepan and bake for three hours, stirring occasionally. Serve.

Tags:Beans, Tomato, Recipe, Bacon, Baked, Maggie Beer

I’ve had plans to have a friend over for dinner tonight for a little while and I was racking my mind to find something to make and just couldn’t put my finger on it until fate stepped in and delivered the latest edition of Delicious magazine just as I was heading out the door. Step in Spiced Lamb with mint yoghurt and pistachio. I decided against the salad in the magazine, the cucumber and tomato salad with lemon and dijon dressing and decided to use the beetroot I had left in the fridge. Here’s my version.

Spiced Lamb with Pistachio and Beetroot Salad with Orange Dressing

The lamb itself was tender and cooked to just pink with a brilliant sumac based spice rub and the orange and honey in the dressing balanced out the beetroot. A bit of cumin in the dressing tied it in with the lamb and a bit of honey did the same for the yoghurt.

Spiced Lamb Pistachio - Serves 2
2 lamb back-straps
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons of olive oil
½ tablespoon of coriander seeds
1½ tabelspoon of cumin seeds
1½ tabelspoon of allspice
2 tabelspoon of sumac
¼ cup of shelled pistachios, crushed

Mint Yoghurt
½ cup of yoghurt
1 tabelspoon of finely sliced mint leaves
½ tabelspoon of honey

Beetroot Salad with Orange Dressing
1 beetroot, diced
1 potato, diced
½ cup of grated carrot
½ tabelspoon of fresh ground cumin seeds
1 teaspoon of orange zest
juice of 1 orange
½ tabelspoon of honey
2 handfuls of salad leaves

Starting with the beetroot salad; steam the beetroot for about an 30-45 minutes or until it’s fairly tender but still has a bit of resistance. Add the potato and carrot and continue to steam until all is tender and the tip of a knife has no resistance left to it. Toss through the salad leaves and put aside until serving. Mix the remaining salad ingredients into a bowl for the dressing.

For the mint yoghurt, mix it all together. Put aside until serving.

Lamb. Toss the lamb, garlic and oil together and stand to marinade for two hours. Grind and mix the spices together. Once the lamb has marinaded for the set time, rub the spice mix all over the meat and fry or bbq on medium-high for 5 minutes each side. Take the lamb off the heat and wrap in foil for 8-10 minutes to rest.

Dress and plate the salad. Slice the lamb back-strap on the diagonal and plate. Sprinkle with the pistachios and drizzle around the mint yoghurt.

Tags:Middle Eastern, Lamb, Pistachio, Sumac, Delicious, Herbs, Recipe, Spices, Salad, Beetroot, Oranges

With last nights left over risotto I didn’t want to make the usual risotto cakes or arancini so I decided to mix it in to some soup made with the half dozen over-ripe tomatoes I had sitting in the fruit bowl. Usually, fairly light flavours are used here with a chicken soup base but with the saffron in the risotto I figured it could stand up against a stronger soup so I made my roast tomato recipe and went from there.

Roast Tomato and Saffron Risotto Soup

Roast Tomato and Risotto Soup - Serves 2
6 ripe tomatoes
1 onion
1 capsicum
2 bay leaves
6 sprigs of thyme
6 cloves of garlic
1 Tablespoon of olive oil
1 Liter of stock (I used rabbit)
2 cups of leftover risotto

Pre-heat your oven to 170ºC. Into a roasting pan, slice the tomatoes and capsicum in half and the onion in quarters. Add the herbs and spices and a dash of olive oil and toss them all together to coat. Roast in the oven for about an hour or until the tomatoes have dried and started to caramelize.

In a saucepan, heat the stock to boiling and add in the roasted vegetables (remove the bay leaves). Heat the roasting tin over the stove and when it’s started to simmer, splash in some of the stock and deglaze the pan. Scrape up all of the juicy bits and add them into the pot with the stock. Simmer for 10 minutes then whizz up with a stick mixer or a blender until it’s a little your preferred texture (I like mine thick, thin out with more stock if you want.

EIther, re-heat the risotto in a frying pan and spoon into your soup bowl and pour around the risotto, or add the risotto to the soup and mix through to re-heat before serving.

Tags:Risotto, Soup, Tomato, Leftover, Recipe

I had a craving for rice over the past few days for some reason so with a quick(ish) stop at David Jones Food Hall I picked up some saffron, fish stock and some scallops. I had to make a second stop on the way home to find the fresh peas.

I’ve made saffron risotto a couple of times before but I’ve never been satisfied with the yellowness of the end result. In magazines and on TV it’s always almost fluorescent yellow but today it seemed to come out just about right. I guess I used twice as much saffron as usual and let it steep into the stock before I cooked it into the rice.

Fresh Pea and Saffron Risotto with Scallops cooked with Pancetta

Saffron and Pea Risotto with Pancetta Scallops - Serves 2
2 liters of fish stock (or vegetable)
1 teaspoon of saffron threads
½ white onion, diced
1 Tablespoon of butter
1 cup of arborio rice
½ cup of fresh peas
2 rashers of pancetta (or bacon)
10 scallops (or prawns, lobster etc)

Bring the stock and saffron threads to simmering point. Fry the onion in the butter until it’s translucent and add the rice. Fry until the rice has turned white and one ladle at a time add the stock and stir until the stock has been absorbed. Continue until ¾ of the stock has been used and the rice has begun to soften.

In a separate pan, fry the pancetta until crisp and the fat has rendered, do not discard the fat from the pan. Dice the pancetta and add that along with the peas into the risotto. Continue adding the stock until the risotto is cooked through.

In the same pan as the pancetta was fried, add the scallops and fry for one minute each side or until the surface is caramelized and the flesh has turned opaque.

Pile the risotto on a plate and scatter with the scallops, or if you’re feeling a little wanky, shape the risotto in a ring then arrange the scallops around the edge.

Tags:Vegetables, Scallops, Risotto, Rice, Arborio, Fish Stock, Recipe, Stock, Peas, Pancetta, Saffron

Have you ever had one of those moments when you’ve heard a new word two or three times in a week then find yourself using it? Somehow, the arse that hosts Ready Steady Cook taught me the word ‘paupiette’ which is a piece of meat with a pocket sliced into it and then stuffed prior to cooking. I’ve made similar things many times before but I never realised that was a word for it.

So when I had some bacon, camembert and a chicken breast handy a chicken paupiette was called forth.

Chicken Paupiette of Bacon and Camembert

Chicken stuffed with Bacon and Camembert - Serves 2
2 Chicken breasts
4 Rashers of bacon
250g of Camembert, sliced
Salad leaves to serve

Slice a pocket into the thickest parts of the chicken breasts trying to make each pocket as big as possible but not to cutting through to the other side. Lightly hammer out the chicken to as thin as possible without breaking apart the chicken.

Stuff the pocket with half of the cheese and a rasher of bacon then slowly pan fry until the chicken is cooked through and browned on the outside along side the two spare rashers of bacon.

Slice the chicken in half and lay over salad leaves with the extra pieces of bacon.

Tags:Cheese, Chicken, Recipe, Bacon, Frying, Camembert

Someone who knows exactly who he is recently formally introduced me to Korean food. Given the [positive and negative] association of Korea with China and Japan there are some obvious similarities with each regions cuisine. The fundamentals of Korean cooking seem to be relative simplicity and common ingredients, being garlic, ginger, pepper, various onions, soy and sesame seeds and oil with relatively few spices and herbs being to be used. For tonight’s exploration into Korean cooking I picked what seemed to me to be two basic Korean dishes, Dak Busut Jim, or Braised Chicken and Mushrooms, and as a side Oyi Namul, or Cucumber Salad.

Dak Busut Jim (Braised Chicken and Mushrooms) and Oyi Namul (Cucumber Salad)

Every meal is served with rice and one or more small side dishes that can be used to add variety to the taste and texture of the main course, especially the ubiquitous kimchi which is style of pickling vegetables that includes a fermentation process and usually starts with a base of cabbage. As you’d expect for a national dish, every region and every grandmother has their own recipe. If you can’t wait the several weeks it takes to make, good asian supermarkets sell fresh kimchi in the chilled foods section. If you can only find the commercial version in a jar, you might want to skip it unless someone can recommend one to me?

Unlike Japanese food that tends to take 1 teaspoon of a dozen ingredients that you’ll never use again and are only sold by the kilo, the only thing I was missing from my cupboard for tonight’s meal were bamboo shoots that you can pick fresh at good asian supermarkets or either canned and vacuum packed, all for around $1.

The braised chicken and mushroom was great with the black pepper being the surprise front runner and the chinese mushrooms giving a good mix in texture. The cucumber salad had a nice refreshing but not overpowering sourness that was needed against the strong flavours of the chicken, but with some cayenne pepper, keeping a spicy note.

Dak Busut Jim - Serves 4-6
(Braised chicken and mushrooms)

10 dried mushrooms
1 x 1kg chicken
3 Tablespoon light soy
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper of chili powder
½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 white onion, in 8th and layers separated
125g bamboo shoots, sliced thinly
4 spring onions, sliced, including greens
2 Tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Cooked white rice to serve

Soak mushrooms in boiling water for 30 minutes then remove stalks, slice and return to soaking water.
Cut chicken into joints then into small bite sized pieces, including the bones, place in a bowl. Add in the soy, sesame oil, garlic, cayenne and black pepper. Mix together and marinade for 30 minutes.

In a wok, add the drained chicken (keep the marinade) and fry until brown. Add the mushrooms, the soaking liquid and the reserved chicken marinade. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds.


Oyi Namul - Serves 6
(Cucumber Salad)

2 large green cucumbers
3 teaspoons coarse salt
1 Cup of water
2 Tablespoons mild vinegar (eg: rice)
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 spring onion, sliced
3 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds

Peel (if desired) and as thinly as possible, slice the cucumber and put into a bowl with the salt and water. Let stand for 15 minutes. Drain off all of the water then add all of the remaining ingredients, combine well and serve chilled.

Tags:Chicken, Rice, Cucumber, Vegetables, Asian, Korean

The point of the trip to New Zealand this year was to celebrate my mother's 50th birthday, so while my Aunts little monkeys were at school we took a trip out to one of NZ's top rated wineries, Mills Reef, in the Bay of Plenty region not far from Tauranga in the town of Bethlehem.

Mills Reef is hardly a stable but if the attitude of the staff on the restaurant is anything to go by then jebus himself was born here and it was our privilege to be on sacred ground but more on that in a minute. Going along Moffat Road and seeing the grounds appear before you is impressive with manicured lawns and rows of trees all leading up to the main building and it's own formal gardens but this is a working site. All of the processing, bottling and distribution happen here even though all of the grapes are bought and shipped from the not so far away Hawks Bay.

As you walk up from the car park the first door on the left is the tasting room so we went there first. As a tip for those visiting a winery with it's own restaurant, here's a good place to try a sip of a few things before you try and match them to your lunch and give you a chance to mull over which bottles you pick up.

Mills Reef Winery, 143 Moffat Road, Bethlahem New Zealand

In the tasting room we met Ken, the cellar manager who ever so patiently walked my family through not only their range but the tasting process (lightest and brightest to heaviest and darkest). From what I could tell all of the prices for the wine were quite reasonable where as the souvenirs had souvenir prices.

After a few uhms and ahs we took a price list and headed for the empty restaurant. There was a choice of the outdoor terrace or inside a dining/function room. The enormous main dining room was having the air-conditioning replaced before summer. Not to worry because ir was spring after all and we chose a table on the terrace in the shade. Just like everyone else did but being outside the noise wasn't an issue and the tables were well spaced anyway. After the stop-off in the tasting room I picked my entrée and main based on their recommended wines and everyone else chose the recommended glass. I wanted to see how they stood up to good quality food and thankfully what came out of the kitchen was great. Luckily I was really only interest in their red wine because the restaurants fish order hadn't arrived to meet the demand of their predominantly fish based menu.

Going around the table my mother had their seafood trio and the Pinot Gris, a slight alteration due to the lack of fish she had a king prawn, scallops and a piece of salmon; my brother had the oysters and my aunt had the bread and dukka which surprised me. For such a simple sounding entrée the chef added a bit of flair throwing in a couple of different types of cibatta and more than just a simple dukka, there was some great avocado oil, tapenade and homemade pesto too. I had the chicken liver paté with truffles crostini and the Cab Melot, or at least that's what I ordered. Instead I got garlic crostini that worked very well and I wouldn't have had any complaints if only I hadn't ordered truffles. That and if I didn't have to wait 10 minutes and actually need to get up from by seat, walk through a construction site and find the wait staff and ask them for our wine. Even though there were a few people in the restaurant by that stage I find it hard to believe a winery restaurant forgot to bring the wine.


Seafood Trio - Prawn, Salmon and Scallop


Cibatta with Dukka, Avocado Oil, Tapenade and Pesto


Chicken Liver and Cognac Paté and Fig Jam with Garlic Crostini

Main course ran smoother, Mum had the strawberry and asparagus salad with Kaimai Brie and a glass of the Sav Blanc which was tasty and exploration in vegetarian texture more than flavour, my brother had two giant lamb shanks that were cut above the knee and were so tender the meat would have literally fallen off the bone if he'd picked it up washed down with the Cab Sav. The meat was good quality lamb but seemed a little bland on it's own and relied in the jus to carry it. Mind you I only picked at his leftovers, so the most of the meat could have been fine. My Aunts Cajun chicken Caesar salad was generous, well seasoned. I had the lamb fillet that was cooked to a perfect pink with a blue cheese and pear salad with a walderberry jus, much like my favourite duck salad. The lamb itself seemed under seasoned but balanced out with some cracked pepper and the jus. The Merlot Malbec was a perfect match.


Asparagus, Strawberry, Avocado and Kaimai Brie


Warm Lamb Fillet, Watercress and Baby Spinach Salad with Pear, Cashew, Kikorangi Blue and Walderberry Syrup


Lamb Shanks Braised with Wholegrain Mustard on Green Pea and Potato Mash

Dessert. Only mother and I had dessert, her with the mandarin and cinnamon spring rolls which looked delicious and I had the 'ode to the lemon' which was a set of three lemon desserts starting with a lemon curd in a bitter chocolate case the size of a patty-pan, a lemon cremé brûlée in an espresso cup and a scoop of lemon ice cream in a parfait glass. All of which matched brilliantly in their own way to the riesling ice wine. If only it was delivered with the course. As the waitress walked off I called out "um, and our wine?" She flicked her nose up and walked off in acknowledgement. I waited. I waited. Again I got up and asked for my wine yet again. The excuse was they were waiting for the others coffee to be made before they bought out all of the drinks. Pity my ice cream had melted and my crem brule was cold by the time it arrived.

The location, food and wine at Mills Reef are nothing to complain about but the attitude and service of the restaurant wait staff really left more a lot to be desired.


Nectarine and Honey Spring Rolls rolled in Cinnamon Sugar served with Blueberry Syrup and Vanilla Ice Cream


Burnt Lemon Curd, Lemon Crem Brule and Lemon Ice Cream

Tags:Salad, Chicken, Lamb, Lamb Shanks, Paté, Prawns, Scallops, Lemon, Ice Cream, New Zealand, Wine, Review, Restaurant, Travel

The lunchtimes of the IT Consultant tends to run along the lines of starting off at a new client, asking where the best place to have lunch is and going there every single day for the six weeks you’re on the job. Sometimes it’s hit and miss but sometimes you get lucky.

Peppermill Café, Milsons Point

At a recent contract I went out myself and failed miserably picking the Kirribilli Village Café and Restaurant. I tried their steak sandwich and it was just awful, chewy, tasteless and very overpriced. $25 off for the sandwich and a coffee. That’s when I asked. The team I was working with and I went around the corner to The Peppermill Café in Milsons Point, their coffee is a little to be desired considering it’s Campos Coffee, but it almost always seemed burnt but the service and food was always pretty good.

The first day I went I was recommended their regular special, a chicken and leek pie. Not what I expected in the presentation department but it was tasty. An individual baking dish with mashed potato on the bottom, a regular chicken and leek filling and a square of golden puff pastry balanced across the top. Almost every day since then I went to Peppermill for either lunch or breakfast, often for both. When I had breakfast, brunch, or afternoon tea, I’d pick up a smoked salmon, ricotta and avocado croissant, the combination of the soft buttery pastry and the oily smokiness of the salmon was a winner.

Smoked Salmon Croissant @ Peppermill Café, Milsons Point

They serve an all day breakfast here, and the majority of the menu was based around breakfast but almost as often as I’d see someone have a burger I saw someone else have either the pancakes or french toast, both served with either bacon and maple syrup or a mixed berry compote. Delicious stuff and well worth a try if you want a bit of extra energy before hitting either the Kirribilli or North Sydney Markets one weekend (I worked weekends too). The beef burger is nice, standard fare, but the chicken burger was the winner, chicken, bacon, avocado. Damn tasty.

It’s also licensed and they won’t pass judgement if you have a Bloody Mary on a Monday!

Chicken & Bacon Burger @ Peppermill Café, Milsons Point

The Peppermill Café
30 Glenn Street, Milsons Point (map)

Monday to Friday 7am to 6pm
Saturday and Sunday 8am - 4pm

T: (02) 9954 1444
F: (02) 9954 1444
www.thepeppermillcafe.com.au

Tags:Coffee, Restaurant, Review, Chicken, Burgers, North Sydney, Milsons Point, Croissant, Smoked Salmon, Avocado, Bacon

Saturday in Sydney was a beautifully sunny day and I got to spend it all locked in a room with out windows doing my day job. So as the sun was setting I wandered across the harbour bridge and off to David Jones. After wandering around a while I settled on a snapper and a bottle of champagne (or two).

Once I got home though, I couldn’t really be bothered doing anything except drink the champagne. Sunday night I still wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do with the snapper so I decided to tea smoke it and make a large single serve vol au vent. It was surprisingly easy and tasted pretty damn good. Much better than those vol au vents your mum used to make at dinner parties in the 80’s and early 90’s!

Smoked snapper vol au vent

Smoked Snapper Vol Au Vents - Serves 2
1 whole fresh snapper
1 tablespoon of black peppercorns
1 tablespoon of cardamom pods (crushed)
1 fresh bay leaf
1 cup sugar
1 cup of salt
1 cup of white rice
1 cup of black tea
1 sheet of short crust pastry
1 cup of stock (I used rabbit, but vegetable, chicken or fish would be ok)
1 tablespoon of corn flour
1 tablespoon of fresh cut parsley

Place the snapper, pepper, cardamom, bay leaf and half of the salt and sugar in a plastic container and cover with water. Leave for two hours (6 in the fridge). Take the fish out and let it air dry for a while or pat it dry with some paper towel.

Line a roasting tin that you have a rack and a lid with foil. Mix the rest of the salt and sugar with the rice and tea and pour evenly into the foil. Place the tin over a low heat (preferably with a simmer mat) and heat until it starts to smoke. Place the fish on the rack, the rack on the rice and the lid on the tin (get all that? Good). Leave for an hour and turn the heat off but do not remove the lid.

Once the whole lot has cooled, take the lid off and start to flake the flesh off the snapper trying to keep the bones out of the mix.

Heat your oven to 180ºC and cut two circles out of the short crust pastry and rings out of the puff pastry, the same diameter as the short crust circles. Place the two pastry stacks on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry rings have risen.

Boil the stock and add the corn flour, whisking constantly until it has thickened. Add the fish and re-heat gently so to not break the fish up further. Stir through the parsley then taste for seasoning and then spoon into the vol au vent cases.

Tags:Smoked Salmon, Smoked, Snapper, Vol Au Vent, Fish, Review, David Jones

I don't think anyone ever really, or vary rarely, plans to go to a specific restaurant in Newtown (save the one or two places where you actually have to book). Everyone else just wanders up and down King Street soaking up the atmosphere until they see something that catches their eye like a heaving plate of prawns or a luscious piece of beef being served to someone else through the window.
So after meeting some wonderful company at the station we began walking up the eastern side of King Street until we started to realise that we were almost of restaurants. Just at that point we were standing next to The Dumpling King (194 King Street, Newtown). Declaring my love for dumplings we headed in, sat down and went over the menu looking for some rare and tasty dumplings I'd never heard of before. Bitterly disappointed given the name of the place there were only four dumplings! Northern Meat Style, steamed or pan fried, and Vegetable Dumpling, steamed or pan fried. How can you call yourself the Dumpling King if you only have two types of dumplings?! We decided to order the shallot pancake and the meat bun and of course, both types of dumplings - steamed.
 

You won’t find many dumplings at The Dumpling King (194 King Street, Newtown)

Twenty minutes later the pancake (that I don't think had even met a shallot) arrived along with the pan fried flavourless northern meat buns. Chewing through those and washing them down with some weak green tea (from a bag) we sat and chatted. Pleasant and engaging conversation, thankfully, which made the next forty-five minutes waiting for our dumplings bearable.
Eventually, after physically getting up and asking the wait-staff that had ignored us since we ordered where the rest of our meal was, two steamer baskets turned up with an excuse that the Dumpling King had run out of dumplings and he had to make them fresh! Two things are wrong with that, one - the DUMPLING KING ran out of dumplings; and two - if he did have some on hand they wouldn't have been fresh! I know I'm probably arguing for two different sides here, do I want fresh dumplings or do I want quick service but that's not the point. We weren't the only table that didn't get their meals, I noticed two or three other tables having to stop the wait-staff and ask where their food was.
At the end of the night, I have to admit the dumplings were actually quite nice, but the experience was terrible with poor service and a promise of a plethora of dumplings that just don't exist. The rest of the menu looked quite uninspired and with the variety available on King Street I'm not going to be in any hurry to visit the illegitimate Dumpling King again. I'd rather go to Happy Chef.

Tags:Dumpling, Newtown, Review, Restaurant

Not that my Grandma (bless her) smells like pee or lavender but that soft lavender scent does spring to mind when you’re making these delicious tartlets. If you’ve never used lavender, you can use it anywhere in place of rosemary using half of the quantity of rosemary specified in the original recipe; it tastes like a softer more floral and sweet rosemary. You can take this recipe and either make little mini-muffin sized tartlets like these, larger individual pot pies, a large pie or just a sandwich spread (in which case don’t make the pastry).

Bunny and Lavender Tarts Smell Like Grandma

Bunny and Lavender Tartlet - Makes 40
Filling:
1 Bunny, quartered
2 Liters of Chicken Stock
2 Carrots, sliced
1 Onion, sliced
1 Parsnip, sliced
1 Celery stick, sliced
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of flour
2 teaspoons of dried lavender

Pastry:
250 grams, plain flour
200 grams, butter
120 mL, Sour Cream

Place the bunny, vegetables, stock and herbs in a large saucepan and bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1½ hours.
In a food processor blend the flour and butter until they form a loose breadcrumb mixture and add the sour cream, just enough to combine in to a smooth dough. Remove the dough, wrap in plastic and put in the fridge to chill for at least a half hour.
When the bunny is tender, remove the meat from the bones and some of the vegetables and allow to cool. Keep the stock.
Melt the 2 tablespoons of butter for the filling in a clean saucepan, add the flour and lavender and whisk to prevent it from burning. After a few minutes, ladle in the stock slowly to form a thick creamy sauce (you will need about 2 cups of the stock). Add enough of the sauce to the bunny meat and vegetables to make a moist but not too wet or sloppy pie filling.
To make the pastry cases, pre-heat your oven to 200ºC and lightly grease a mini-muffin tin. Roll out the pastry to a very thin round and with a small glass or pastry cutter, cut rounds and slip them into the muffin cups ensuring that there is no air beneath the pastry, lightly prick it all over. Fill the tray and bake for 15 minutes until the pastry has puffed and the edges are golden. When you take them out of the oven, if the bases have risen too much press them back down with a tea-towel covered thumb or any other suitable kitchen instrument. Allow the cases to cool and remove from the muffin tray. These can be made 2 days in advance and kept in an air-tight container.
Clean out the food processor and add the rabbit and vegetables and process until a relatively smooth paste is formed. Reheat and spoon into the pastry cases just before serving. Sprinkle with extra lavender.

Tags:Bunny, Rabbit, Tart, Pie, Picnic, Housewarming, Herbs, Sandwich

Isn’t it always the way, you’ve got a day off work but all you do is more work than you’d do at work?

0900 Breakfast with Puppet
1100 Orthopantograph (full mouth dental x-ray)
1200 Optometrists Appointment
1400 Meeting with new employer
1530 Pick up remaining belongings from existing employer
1600 Pick up washing from laundromat
1700 Hardware store - new light bulbs
1730 Clean kitchen
1900 Cook dinner
2000 Clean kitchen again
2030 Blog about dinner

So with that schedule, I wanted something quick and easy for dinner and with left over crispy skinned duck in the fridge and a packet of wild rice in the cupboard a jazzed up fried rice was great choice. Simple and easy and best of all, using those little bits of stuff you’ve got laying around.

Fried Wild Rice with Crispy Duck

Fried Wild Rice with Crispy Duck - Serves 2 as a main, 4 as a side
2 eggs
2 cups of wild rice
2 cups of cooked duck, shredded
4 rashers of bacon, diced
½ cup frozen stir-fry veg (or peas, carrots, corn etc diced)
1 cinnamon stick (optional)
1 star anise (optional)

Whisk the eggs together and fry in a wok, swirling around to create a thin omelette. Turn the omelette out and dice.
Cook the rice and leave to cool.
Fry the spices, duck and bacon until the bacon is crispy, add the vegetables and fry until almost cooked and add the rice. Fry until the rice is loose and not clumping any more, add the egg and heat through. Serve.

Tags:Asian, Rice, Duck, Vegetables, Eggs

Ever since I first went to Billy Kwong’s a few years ago for a birthday dinner (thanks again Tony) I’ve been in love with Kylie’s crispy skinned duck in blood plum sauce and I’ve been trying to get around to making it for myself ever since and this weekend came the opportunity.

It was a bit of a nightmare getting to make this, I went to eight different places to find a whole duck and twice as many to find either blood plums or blood oranges. I ended up settling for standard oranges and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening wondering if the dish would still retain it’s quintessential tastiness. Luck won with a not as sweet, but with a nice piquancy the original blood plums didn’t have.

Orange Crispy Skinned Duck

Crispy Skinned Orange Duck - Serves 2
1 whole duck, approx. 1.5kg
1 tablespoons of sichuan pepper
3 tablespoons of sea salt
¼ cup plain flour
vegetable oil for frying
1 cup of water
1 cup of white sugar
250 grams of oranges, juiced (or blood plums)
⅔ cups of fish sauce
6 whole star anise
2 cinnamon quills
⅓ cups of lime juice

Trim away the excess fat from the cavity of the duck. Grind the sichuan pepper and salt together and then rub all over the duck. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Boil some water in a wok or large saucepan and place a steamer basket over, the duck inside, cover and leave for an hour and a half. Take the now cooked duck out and leave it to cool.

Once the duck is cold enough to handle, slice it in half lengthwise, from neck to tail. Gently pry the carcass out, leaving the drumstick and wings intact. Cut each half into half again so you have a wing and a leg piece.

To make the sauce, mix the water, sugar, oranges together and bring to the boil in a saucepan, reduce the heat to a simmer and add the fish sauce, star anise, cinnamon and lime juice. Simmer while you fry the duck.

Heat the vegetable oil a wok or deep saucepan, cover the duck pieces with flour and deep fry each piece separately until the skin has gone a crisp golden colour. Drain the pieces after they’ve cooked on paper towel. When their all cooked, cut the duck down into bite-sized pieces, except for the bones.

Pile the duck on a serving platter and pour over enough sauce to coat the duck.

Eat it with your hands and have a bowl of rice on the side.

Tags:Duck, Oranges, Star Anise, Cinnamon, Asian, Frying

Only in death will the members of Flight Club have a name. His name was Robert Paulson.

Jack (Ed Norton) and Bob (Meat Loaf) at support group in Fight Club

I was considering calling this post “My Meatloaf has Bitch Tits” but that doesn’t really portray the damn fine tasty meatloaf that I made tonight. I know it’s a bit of a tenuous link but Meat Loaf played the character Robert Paulson, the guy with bitch tits that Jack meets at his testicular cancer support group... With torn off pieces of fresh buffalo mozzarella and sun-dried tomato this meatloaf really is a notch above what you’ve probably ever considered a meatloaf could be.

The original recipe for this meatloaf comes from Mario Batali’s father (via Epicurious), which might explain Mario’s own bitch tits. The entire loaf, if made as directed weighs in at 2-3 kg! I intended to make half of this but I wasn’t paying attention when I went to buy the ingredients and bought enough to make the full recipe, luckily meatloaf can be frozen well. Sort of like Meat Loaf’s assets. I cheated a little in this recipe, David Jones had some great looking beef rissoles that had onion, carrot, parsley and a few other bits already mixed through in what looked about the right proportion so I bought that instead of just plain minced beef. For a little more vegetable matter in a meal that will be almost entirely meat I made some balsamic roast vegetables to go along side - just baby carrots, red onion, parsnip etc tossed with some olive oil and a splash of balsamic and roasted along side the meatloaf for the last half hour.

Beef and Italian Sausage Meatloaf with Sundried Tomatoes and Mozarella

Beef and Sausage Meatloaf - Serves 8 or more
1kg of lean beef mince
500g of buffalo mozzarella, torn into pieces
500g of italian sausage, cases removed
2 cups of chopped fresh basil
2 cups of fresh breadcrumbs
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup of sliced sun-dried tomatoes
5 garlic cloves
1½ tablespoons of dried oregano
2 teaspoons of salt
2 × ½ cup of tomato sauce
3 eggs
½ cup of dry red wine

Pre-heat your oven to 190ºC. Thoroughly mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl except one of the half cups of tomato sauce. Mould into a loaf shape and place in a loaf tin and even out the surface. Brush on the remaining tomato sauce. Bake in the oven for about an hour and fifteen minutes or until a meat thermometer reaches 70-75ºC at the centre of the loaf.

Tags:Meatloaf, Beef, Pork, Vegetables, Roast, Baked

In 1867 His Royal Highness Alfred the Duke of Edinburgh was shot in the back while on a picnic in Contarf, which is probably why a pub named after him was built miles away in Enmore in 1876. Well, actually it probably had a bit more to do with the near-by Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, which was built with memorial funds after his assasination attempt (the hospital, not the pub). A little ironic building a hospital since the guy that shot him was hung.

Affie, as he was known by his family was so called because he was affable, easy to talk to and that sense really has been instilled at The Duke. Given it’s prime location meters away from the Enmore Theatre everyone comes here for a beer and a meal before a show ( The Presets drew me here Monday night). If you’re planning on eating get here early because the place fills up fast. On freezing cold nights like last night, the roaring open fire helps too!

I’ve been here a few times, and the place isn’t cheap but the food is good and usually pretty high quality with some very generous servings. I had the mixed grill this time around, sausages, minute steak, bacon and lamb cutlets on chips with sauce of your choice, pepper, mushroom etc, all for the princley sum (get it?) of $17.50. It is just pub food here, steaks, burgers and the good old chicken parma that a friend had, looking equally as delicious and priced.

Mixed Grill @ The Duke, Enmore

Food, 7/10 - Better than most pubs and everything you’d expect on a classic pub menu board
Service, 8/10 - For a pub, you can’t complain - they were happy and friendly
Coffee, 10/10 - Because it was made with hopps and barley and served by the pint
Value, 7/10 - Tough one, but for the location and the generous servings it gets a couple extra points
Location, 9/10 - If you’re going to the Enmore it’s ideal

The Duke of Edinburgh
148 Enmore Road, Enmore NSW 2042
P: 02 9519 1935
F: 02 9557 1381
W: http://www.duke-hotel.com/

Tags:Pub, Enmore, Duke, Mixed Grill, Steak, Sausage, Fries, Lamb, Bacon, Chicken

After going to Bills today I headed across the street to Hudson Meats for some inspriation for dinner and came out with a pair of duck marylands. I didn’t really have any idea what to do with them but I managed to throw something together with what was in the fridge. Next time, I’ll strain the berry sauce - the raspberry pips hurt.

Duck with Roast Fennel and Berry Sauce

Duck with Roast Fennel and Berry Sauce - Serves 2
2 duck marylands
2 sprigs of rosemary
1 tablespoon of salt
1 fennel bulb
1 zucchini
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Salt and Pepper
¼ cup of frozen berries

In a mortar and pestle grind the salt and rosemary until they’re mixed well. Coat the duck marylands well and leave to sit lightly covered with plastic wrap until it’s ready to cook.

Pre-heat the oven to 160ºC. Slice the zucchini in half and the fennel into 5mm slices. Drizzel with olive oil and season with salt and pepper and spread out on a roasting tray and roast in the oven until the fennel is soft.

After the fennel has been in the oven for about 30 minutes, add a little olive oil to a frying pan at medium heat. Add the duck skin side down and fry until golden, turn over and fry until the other side is golden. Finish the duck in the frying pan in the oven for 15 minutes.

Take the duck out of the oven and rest. While the duck is resting, add the berries to the frying pan and simmer until reduced. Strain out any pips. Put the veggies on the plate, then the duck and spoon over the berry sauce.

Tags:Duck, Fennel, Roast

Tonight was meant to be catching up with a couple of friends for dinner, Adam, Neil and Matt but Matt couldn’t make it. There’s a funny story about Matt. Stoned at a party at Neil’s house people were throwing out some crappy dance moves and talking about some crappy music like The Salmon Dance. Matt pipes up “What’s a salmon?” with the reply being called out, it’s a fish. Funny stuff if you were there - or stoned. Now if Adam wasn’t allergic to fish, we’d be having salmon. So, to keep a theme, we’re having pork because Adam thinks I’m a man-whore.

Roast Pork Loin with Dried Fruit

Roast Pork Loin with Dried Fruit - Serves 4-6
1kg pork loin
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 large shallots, chopped
¾ cup diced dried apples
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup dried mixed berries
¼ cup dried wild figs
1½ cups low-salt chicken stock
½ cup dry white wine


Preheat oven to 220°C. Sprinkle pork with rosemary, salt, and pepper.
Place pork in the oven and roast for 20 minutes. Lower the temprature to 170ºC and continue to roast until thermometer inserted into center registers 65°C to 75°C, about another 35-45 minutes. Transfer pork to platter; let stand 10 minutes.
Add apples, figs, cranberries and berries to the pan with the wine and stock.; stir until fruit mixture is heated through, boil 1 minute, lower the heat, cover and simmer. If thicker sauce is desired, boil until reduced enough to coat spoon. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Slice pork and spoon sauce over.

Tags:Dried Fruit, Pork, Fruit, Tenderloin, Roast

Luckily, days before I had a diabetic friend over the fag and the hag the cook and the chef had an episode dedicated to diabetic recipes. They did make a really good point in that a diabetic diet is really the way everyone should be eating, low fat, low cal and low in sugar. I decided to make their Pearl Barley and Mushroom Soup. I added a couple of ham bones to give it a great meaty quality and removed any reason to add any salt. I've never had a barley soup before but damn it was nice. Even the ass that I call a best friend said it was good.

UPDATE: This soup freezes very well, after two months frozen solid it was brilliant and the barley still had a great texture, as good as when it was first made.

Pearl Barley and Mushroom Ham Soup

Pearl Barley and Mushroom Ham Soup
Serves 4-8 depending on how much stock you add

250g pearl barley
40g butter or 2T of olive oil
200g onion, diced
3 cloves garlic
2 sprigs rosemary
3 springs thyme
3 dried porcini mushrooms (or dried chinese mushrooms)
100g shiitake mushrooms
200g swiss brown mushrooms
2 large ham bones (optional)

Boil the barley and ham bones in 1½L of water for an hour. While that's on the go, chop everything else and fry the onion and garlic until it's translucent then add the rest. When the barley is soft take out the ham bones and chop off any left over meat. Add that and the mushrooms into the pot with the stock and bring it all back to the boil.

Season if needed and serve with some toasted sourdough.

Tags:Barley, Mushroom, Ham

I've roasted a chicken for TRW before but when I offered the chance to make a home cooked meal for someone I figured that I should probably make a classic, or something resembling one so I searched epicurious and came up with Olivada Roast Chicken. This version or a roast chook has an olivada (which is very similar to a tapenade and would make a great dip or spread) slipped under the skin of the chicken after you've given it a reach around and separated the skin from the flesh. If you're at all squeamish or have just watched any movie by Ridley Scott you might not want to do this on an empty stomach. Please note that this is not the same hollow feeling you get after watching anything by Michael Bay.

Olivada Roast Chicken

Olivada Roast Chicken with Thyme Roast Vegetables - Serves 4-6

Olivada (can be made a day ahead)
1½ cups of kalamata olives
4 teaspoons of fresh chopped rosemary
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

Chicken
1½-2kg whole organic chicken
¼ cup of melted butter or olive oil
⅓ cup dry white wine
⅔ cup chicken stock

Vegetables
1kg of mixed roasting vegetables
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper
Fresh thyme

To make the olivada, pit the olives if they aren't already (press down on them with the back of a kitchen knife is easiest), toss them all in a blender and wizz until you've made a paste. Stir it halfway through if the bits are clinging to the side. If you're making this a day or two before, put in in an air-tight bowl and and keep in the fridge until ready. Let it come back to room temperature before cooking otherwise it will slow the chicken getting to a safe temperature making it dry out.

For the chicken, pre-heat your oven 200ºC. While the oven is heating rinse the chook under cool running water and dry it out with either paper towel, or a hairdryer (no, really). Once that's done place the chicken on your work surface with the neck facing you and gently slip your fingers under the skin on the breast side. Continue rummaging around the gap between the skin and flesh like you're looking for your keys under the couch until the skin is separated across the breasts, legs and most of the drumsticks. Take a small handful of the olivada and insert it in the gap made looking for your keys. Keep doing that until you've filled the gap or run out of olivada. Massage the chicken to spread the olives evenly.

If by the time your oven is up to temp and your chicken is room temperature, place it on the roasting rack in your roasting tin, brush it with the melted butter and roast until the chicken has reached a safe temp 85ºC which should take about an hour and a half. Otherwise let it warm up before roasting. Add the vegetables to the bottom of the tin about half way through.

When your chook is looking like a retiree from Miami, take it out and place the roasting rack and the vegetables on a chopping board or somewhere else to rest, cover with foil to keep them warm. Put the roasting tin on the stove across two burners on medium to low and add the wine and enough chicken stock to make 1, swirl it around and scrape off all the sticky bits on the bottom of the pan, simmer and reduce to about ⅔ of a cup.

Tags:Olives, Kalamata, Roast, Chicken, Potato, Thyme, Olive Oil

It looks like I might finally be over my cold, sure there is a bit of a cough left but I can taste my food again! To celebrate I picked up a recipe from Dinner Tonight from back in March. Their baked chicken sausage with roast potato. I forgot to pick up a red cabbage that was the suggested accompaniment but I had a sweet potato and added that in for some colour. It helped that chicken sausages were half off at the supermarket tonight!

Baked Chicken Sausage and Roast Potato

Baked Chicken Sausage and Roast Potato
500g Chicken sausages
250g Baby (chat) potato, cut in half
250g Sweet potato, cut to the same size as the potato
Rosemary
Salt & pepper
Olive oil

Pre-heat your oven to 200ºC, place everything in a roasting pan, toss to coat.
Bake for 30 minutes.

Tags:Potato, Sausage, Chicken, Vegetables, Quick

Taking another queue from Donna Hay this week I picked out her Chorizo and Lentil umm, stew? It seemed a pretty simple recipe and it was but at the same time I don't think there was a lot of accuracy in the Donna Hay test kitchen the day they wrote that one. The lentils had to simmer for almost an hour instead of 25 minutes. I haven't cooked with lentils very often but I've heard that salt can retard the cooking process, stopping them from softening. I used salt reduced chicken stock and didn't add any salt opposed to what the recipe said but they still stayed firmer than I had hoped and given the extra cooking time the colour from the celery had drained out and wasn't any where near as vivid as in the picture in the magazine. It also seemed to make four good sized serves instead of the 2 it was meant to make. It's a si