Shona was tempted by these gorgeous pale asparagus. Not sure if they are a different variety or whether they are just grown in the dark- delicious all the same.
[ Home ] [ Up ] October 2004, 
 

a lot of cooking

100% Groin free

Semillon, Barossa- not exceptional but I do think semillon and riesling suits the sweetness of parmesan based cooking (see also squash gnocchi)

A Simon recipe here dug out from the vaults by Shona, and one I had actually failed to register during archiving, very exciting, particularly when the recipe looks a blinder. Simon starts the recipe noting the often "pointless quail". I may have cooked it once, but was obviously not overly excited myself, hence the lack of repetition of its use. Anyway, a bit of an Italian theme here starting with a primi piatti of asparagus risotto, first read in Alastair Little's Italian cook book which is not big on content but comes from the heart not the balls. Just an aside, and it may already be an accepted idea, but restaurant cooking, and thus 99% of cookbook food can, I think, be thought of as testosterone-driven 'bollock' food. The evolution of restaurant food has been primarily one of appearance, where the cooking has been directed from the groin and not the heart. The concept is beautifully illustrated by nouvelle cuisine, much derided but actually climaxing in recent times with laughably Freudian towers of inappropriately balanced foodstuffs. Just bullshit. Anyway, these two courses were very much from the heart.

Shona had reserved some asparagus cooking water and we also had some chicken stock, essential for a savoury risotto. One onion finely chopped and sweated in butter, 330 g of rice stirred in. This is a generous amount for a meal for two, and enough as a primi piatti for 4. I think I had about 3/4litre of liquid (stock and asparagus water) which I added further to by cooking in it the woody bases off the asparagus stalks.  So, on a low heat add the liquid in stages, stirring when added to prevent sticking to the base. You can leave the pan intermittently but don't let it burn---aarrrgghhhh!!! 4-5 pours/ stir/ bubble cycles should do.  Just as the rice was becoming al dente, i.e. still a bit chalky, I added the chopped asparagus sans tips, stirred, added more liquid (water by now as stock supply had dried up), seasoned, then, when I felt the rice was done added the tips on the top and put the lid on, turning off the heat. A cloth to seal the pan might have been an idea here, as the tips were still very crispy even after 5mins, whatever. Plenty of parmesan grated on top- sensational.
 

 

Brokenwood Pinot noir, Indigo vineyard. A special wine untouched since we picked it up at the vineyard in the Hunter valley. Never been convinced of Aussie P/noir, but this one had interest more than just fruit.

Shona tells me we should be calling it 'Speck'.

 And so to the quail. A very simple recipe which is essentially a dry stew/ pot roast, with a bit of pissing around at the end. However, it was a moment of alchemy, the sum being considerably greater than its parts. We had six 'jumbo' quail picked up from the Fox Market as part of an enormous haul, making up for two whole missed weeks!! Anyway, I dried them off in the fridge overnight, resting them on kitchen paper. Poultry is not hung here, probably due to unfavourable weather, but more likely due to overbearing bureaucracy (have I mentioned Aussie bureaucracy?), so I  'hang' in the fridge to desiccate and firm up the flesh, but also to dry out the skin, particularly for chicken (approx. 3 days), which needs this to crisp up. Before any cooking, a crushed garlic clove and a sage leaf were placed in each carcass (performed by executive chef, Shona B). Simon asks to fry pancetta, I had some deliciously fatty (maybe 20% fat free), mildly smoked bacon, which rendered down beautifully. (I might have reserved some of this fat for sage frying later). The crispy bacon cubes were removed and the quail browned on a high heat, flambéed with a slug of Aussie brandy, followed by a glass of dry white wine. Being Ozland, this is difficult, as Euro 'dry' is not possible with the prevailing climate and winemaking methods, just taste before you slug. The wee fellas were left for 20-30mins on a low heat. Simon instructs to extricate them leaving the juices which he reduces down with butter, placing further sage in to fry and the juice of a whole lemon stirred in at the end. I wasn't convinced that the sage would fry in this reduction, and was anxious this would burn before frying temperature was achieved, and so I skimmed off some fat, and fried the sage leaves separately. As I said earlier, putting the fat aside earlier would simplify the issue. The juice I did reduce but almost forgot the lemon juice which was vital to cut though the unctuous liquid. I think my bacon was fattier than the average pancetta, hence I omitted the extra butter- Simon is in the habit of OD'ing on the cholesterol. He recommends mash or polenta. I was wondering about truffly mash but Simon warns of avoiding sage if you place some truffle in each quail, as it is too assertive. Though if you are forking out on truffle I suppose you don't want to risk a catastrophic imbalance. We had some plainly boiled and then de-skinned kipfler potatoes which I enjoyed crushing up into the final juices leaving a bare plate- stunning
Oysters Kilpatrick, according to Simon H, in turn via  Anders Ousback , (an Aussie), actually should be Kirkpatrick after the mayor of San Francisco, c. 1908.  Trivia aside, the combination is a fine one but I still struggle to cook the Sydney rock, it is such a sublime thing raw. At the fish market you the poor things piled high with second rate pig, and most probably desiccated to oblivion. So here I fried the speck until crispy, and just put a couple of pieces on each shucked oyster. Stout to accompany here, joy. The use of bacon gave me the idea of serving oysters with fried bread in lard- yum, next time?
Today's visit to the local Lebanese shop, (left) was an inspired moment and reinforced our impression that we were right not to move away from the much derided Redfern. The place is run a lovely family whose elders are frequently behind the counter. Service is not speedy, but this does not matter. Today was a Sydney microcosm of cultures, with a petite Asian girl and her relatively giant pacific friend ahead of us. A couple of Lebanese gang boys had made a special journey from Fairfield 'hood because the halawi jima (sp??- semolina cream cheese layers) served here is the best in the city, superb.

Payment for the sweets involves access to chaos theory, Grandma stares at your plate of sweets in deep thoughts and comes up with a number. Quite often she aborts this exercise, tells you how much each one costs and asks you to add it up. Today's variant was bypass the stare, and hand me a sheet of paper to add it up. A true gem of a place. Did I mention the faded Lebanese LP covers on the shelves? This includes a guest appearance by Mick Hucknell (he doesn't look Lebanese?). As John Peel has said wrt to the ginger one, there is no justice in this world. 
 

 

*after Antarctica

 Steak and chips is probably our favourite, or at least most commonly eaten meal, There is something in the pursuit of the finest steak around which we think is from Mandalong lamb, Tamworth (they have a stall at Fox Studios). The same hunt exists for the perfect chip. Initially, the chances of finding a suitable potato seemed bleak on Gods second driest continent*, but the Pink Eye variety was surpassed by the Royal Blue in terms of crispiness and flavour- heaven.
Indian BBQ fest Well, it seemed a good idea at the time. Luckily, I had a most excellent specially trained chef from the finest eating establishments of Delhi. Well, Shona has cooked a lot under direction from Madhur Jaffrey. Anyway, I thought it would be an interesting spin on the traditional aussie gathering.  Shona prepared a spread that included:

Chana maseldar- chick peas cooked with onion, garlic, ginger and garam spices ('hot' spices ie cloves, nutmeg, cumin, pepper, cardomen)

Pyazwale sookhe aloo- dry potatoes with onions

Prawns with crushed mustard seeds (again)- cooked on the newly acquired 'wok' frier attachment on the bbq.

'Roo burgers with garam masala and green yoghurt sauce

Butterfly leg of lamb, marinated overnight. I'm not sure how MJ can cook her 8-9lb piece of lamb in an hour without incinerating it. Our 5lb piece took at least 1.5 hrs on the lowest setting, turning every 20mins, and basting with marinade- very satisfying and delicious cold.

Tomato and roast cumin salad
Buloke sangiovese- a great cheapy reminicient of a rustic Italian quaffer A return to Europe once we had finally finished the cold leftovers from above, still using fennel, but fennel alone! An old favourite here, sprinkling it on a pork chop. Our oven grill is crap so of course this went on the barbie. Served with truffle oil mash.
Sand whiting was a pricey and as yet untried fish. Did the price reflect quality? Well, not really that impressed. Missing turbot!!
Shona seems to make Janssen's temptation frequently on my late shifts, usually failing to hide the evidence of her own temptation. At last one to share. Washed down with stout- super.
Chicken livers fried with speck and sage served on salad.
Redgate sauvignon blanc fume, 2003 Margaret River- a sublime and complex wine. I think oaked wine can go with mildy smoked foods. I just got a book out of the library concerning an Englishman's pursuit of eels. As well as evoking warm beer fantasies, I also felt the urge for eel which was fulfilled at the fish markets with the acquisition of a packet of smoked eel. This actually hung around for a while and emerged in a triumphant emergency meal of plain boiled kipfler potatoes, freshly grated horseradish, cucumber slices with rice vinegar (sprinkled with salt, left an hour, washed, drained and then splashed with rice vinegar). I think quails eggs accompanied here also- magic stuff.
A week of nights were followed by a weeks release. We haven't really explored west much and Michelle at work suggested the Warrumbungles as an interesting place to visit. As ever, our departure wasn't very prompt but we at least managed to get to Hawkesbury Heights YH on the edge of Sydney, modern, ecologically sound and almost cosy with a huge wood stove. It was actually pissing it down most of the night so a warming meal of chicken and prunes leapt out of the traveling store cupboard. I lightly fried some chicken thighs, then sweated some shallots with the chicken. Prunes thrown in, a little water to cover and simmered until falling off the bone. When done, I reduced the stock to a quarter, having removed the shallots keeping aside the prunes. The creme fraiche was added at the last minute to the stock. Served with basmati rice. I suppose I could have done this using the chilau method.
You wouldn't expect a good fish shop in Mudgee but there was one. Salmon steaks are good on the barbie thanks to there fat content. We also had some superb cooked prawns.
Another rump steak from mandalong lamb, though not quite reaching the heights of the one prior. I wrapped up potatoes and sweet potatoes in foil to cook around the embers- very nice. 
A walk up in to the hills and overnight camp necessitated a lightish meal. I had cooked the sheftalia on the bbq after the steak, and also an onion in foil. Some plain boiled rice on the side but no greens unfortunately. However, we did bring up vital wine supplies, transferring some wine into a perfectly sized 'sports' water container, ha ha. 
Walking with a 10kg pack is not a great deal of fun in 34 degrees, even with the excitement of spotting a koala in the wild. To celebrate survival, I made an omelette with salted mullet roe washed down with squires IPA, which was just about chilled in the melted ice water bath esky left to bake in the car for 30hrs. I have since picked up a much larger polystyrene box from work, with double the capacity and insulation i.e. takes up half the car- doh.
Feeling at one with Australia, I returned to the shop in Mudgee selling RM Williams boots with a free akubra hat. Having done nights, I felt like a treat. We stopped at a roadside BBQ on the way home and cooked snags, wearing the aforementioned hat- do I get residency now?
Juicetasm Shona researched and prepared the following meal. I think pasta and seafood was the thought, and tracked down a recipe of Rick Steins on the BBC for seafood and linguine. Shona did notice a distinct lack of sense in many of the BBC recipes instructing to throw away juices from cooked seafood and other such aberrations- just shocking, good old Rick knows what to do with his juices. Anyway, chopped garlic and chopped chili (dried would be good too) fried to smoking, squid added until juices  just  browning, all removed then de-skinned and chopped tomato added with chopped parley, scraping off the lovely crust into the tomato sauce. Served with dried linguine, not fresh.
For the lovely pale asparagus shown above I couldn't not make hollandaise. With the remainder I made sauce maltaise, putting finely grated zest and orange juice into the sauce to accompany 'roo fillets griddled on the bbq. Caramalised turnips and green beans accompanied. Roo and venison seems to have enough similarities to exchange flavour ideas- maybe saffron dauphinois?

Dawn from Bluff Mtn, Warrumbungles NP