[ Back ] [ Up ] [ Next ] October 2005 cholesterol assault

Marley Beach, sunset after storm.

So, why are you living in Bundeena?

(see above)
We often see sea urchins in brine in Sydney, but in Auckland here they were in situ (left). When the shell was cracked an almighty pong emanated, so much so that I thought they were off. The actual edible roe consists of a miniscule portion of the beast, and had a much more piercing iodine mixed with violets flavour than those brined. Green lipped mussels in the fire, though by the time they were cooked the shells incinerated- practice needed. 
Last time Allison ate my pizza the pizza stone met its demise (April I think). I promised not to do the same to hers. Potato and blue cheese, and tomato sauce with mozzarella- neither up to that of Fratelli Fresh.
In Raglan I picked up a piece of rib eye roast with a lovely covering of yellowing fat. The rather limited accommodation only had a bench top electric grill with a capacious lid. However, we managed to roast/ fry some potatoes and this slab of beef, which on slicing was a bit more resilient than rib eye, but it had a lovely flavour, maybe it was brisket. Mega garlic cloves also cooked alongside, and washed down with Carrick Central Otago Pinot Noir (2004?), which according to Shona (via Jancis Robinson) was the best pinot in the world that year. Not sure I agree to be honest, maybe it needed to breathe and have a Riedal glass, not a coffee mug.

The Cheese Scones of Raglan sound like a surfing punk band, but were in fact another resounding success in the crap oven. Always carry buttermilk and some good 'crap' cheddar I say.

Drooling over rare beef

Some alarming chard

A surprising success of stewed tamarillo and apple.
In Rotorua we stopped at a campsite that had a geothermally powered Hangi, or giant frigging 'Bain Marie' as Lewis put it. So in went some lamb (more like hogget) leg chops with some carrots, onions and mixed spice, christ knows why I bought that. We were supplied with a tin and some foil, however, a small hole let in collected water and the thing ended as more of a stew, which was fine as the broth was rather a good pre-amble to the meat, which we had with hangi cooked potatoes, mashed.

click for link to see incredible migration/ nesting routes

In the same fish shop that supplied the mussels, urchin and flounder, I also spotted a number of birds in the fridge which looked like small ducks. They were in fact Muttonbirds, Sooty Shearwater or indeed Puffinus Griseus, names that refer to the overwhelming amount of fat on them. Apparently a favourite Maori food, recipes were somewhat scanty on the net, so after a few days ponging out the fridge with its fishy gaminess I thought it would be an ideal opportunity for the geothermal hangi. In it went overnight in the trangia pot as shown, to stew in it's own juices, confit style. A slice of lemon might have been a thought. The aroma reminded me of kippers, and so it seemed more appropriate to have for breakfast, though Shona and Ali were not for turning.

 

 

 

 

Back to Oz

 

 

 

Shona bought some cut price striploin Mandalong lamb, which is pretty exorbitant being divested from it copious fatty layers. So, in the interest of balance, some hollandaise was required. A seville orange's zest and juice made a delicious sauce Maltaise (Sevillaise surely?). The lamb was cooked to pinkness on the bbq.
Prawn pullao, another Madhur Jeffrey recipe which was not too dissimilar to paella (hum, interesting), though we used turmeric. The tiger prawns were delicious. Shona also made some paratha which were a labour of love but worth it. Excellent for mopping up dhal. 
 

 

 

 

 

*also eaten plain with some squid ink tagliatelle, v good

The Italian buffalo mozzarella from fratelli fresh is very good but pricey, unsurpisingly. I can't recall seeing any Ozzie stuff, which is odd given the fact they culled stacks of them in Kakadu a number of years ago. Saying that, I think they all had bovine TB, ho hum. Anyway, their (FF's) tomato sauce and this wonderful springy yet creamy cheese is a simple but wonderful thing. This time we used *puttanesca (tomato/capsicum/ caper/ chili/ anchovy), though I think I prefer the purity of the plain tomato. However, I got the temperature of the stove just right, just a little rustic charring around the edges. Three bricks next time should give me more room I think.  

Before we left for NZ Shona had the foresight to roast and freeze a slab of pumpkin that would have wastefully putrified in the fridge. Adding this halfway through a 'white risotto' and finished with some chopped parsley produced a gorgeous colour, barely captured in the blurred picture- trust me.
 

 

 

 

Masi - malbec/corvina, Argentina 2002- fantastic wine using the 'doppia fermentiazone' ripasso method  

 For some reason Fratelli fresh have stopped getting their lovely grass fed south Australian beef, so Shona bought a couple of very well insulated (!) sirloin steaks from their new suppliers, AC Buthery Leihardt, who incidentally make fantastic wagyu beef prosciutto. These I barbecued on the ridged griddle whilst some pink eye potatoes made stunning chips. For our healthy veg input, some steamed bok choi, and soy sauce as a condiment which I rather like with steak. No wasabi, but might have been good.
SIGNATURE DISH ALERT

The yabbie butter has been waiting in the freezer waiting for an appropriate second marriage for said use in a hollandaise. I think the first one was with some steak, which needs to be lean I think for balance with the silky fatness of a hollandaise. Shona had bought an organic chicken from a newish stall at the Farmers market, Cornucopia, which I 'hung ' in the fridge illegally of course. I had thought that the yabbie hollandaise might be good with a pork fillet or chicken, and so chicken it was. Trouble is, the thing was a beast, so I lopped off the legs for the freezer, stuck a bit of lemon in the cavity and roasted away. Meanwhile, I cooked up some asparagus and some kipfler potatoes (then de-skinned). For the hollandaise, I put the butter in a pouring jug in simmering water and slowly whipped into the egg yolk, and when quite stiff, some lemon juice  from the piece in the cavity, to loosen.
and a signature sandwhich? 

Nautilus, Marlborough 

 Before the copious left-over hollandaise was put to bed I loosened it further with some of the cooking juices from the pan for use cold with other chicken breast, being inspired by SH's  vitello tonnato dish where the cool veal roast is immersed in an emulsified sauce. Next day I spread some of this now fondant textured sauce on bread, a thin slice of chicken (too thin according to some??) and a pile of mixed green salad. Washed down with a glass of Kiwi sauvignon blanc- genius.