Idea - Fresh Herbs In Olive Oil

What a terrific idea!!!

See http://paleodietlifestyle.com/fresh-herbs-olive-oil/ for the concept

Recipe - BBQ Chicken Stuffed with Rice and Mushrooms

Ingredients

-          1 chicken, cavity removed

-          6 Cloves Garlic

-          ¼ cup dry white wine

-          1 cup chicken stock

-          Approx 1 cup mushrooms

-          6 shallot stems

-          100g pancetta finely chopped

-          1 tbsp. butter

-          1 tbsp. oil

-          ¼ cup port

-          ¾ cup raw medium rice, boiled in salted water until barely tender

-          ¼ tsp. thyme or oregano, plus extra

-          1 egg, lightly beaten

-          Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1.       Drop the garlic gloves into a pan of boiling water, boil 1 minute, drain, and slip off the peel. Then simmer the garlic cloves very slowly for 30 minutes with the white wine and stock. Meanwhile continue with the rest of the stuffing.

2.       Lightly chop the mushrooms and shallots then (because I hate fiddly tasks) pop into food processor to finely chop

3.       Finely chop the pancetta

4.       Sautee the mushrooms and shallots in better and oil over moderately high heat for about 2 minutes, then add pancetta and sauté a minute more. Then, pour in the port and boil rapidly until liquid is almost entirely evaporated. Scrape into a mixing bowl

5.       Bring water to the boil for the rice. N.b we’re doing rapid boil method vs. absorption so use plenty of water. Also, if you have any leftover chicken stock (e.g. you took the 1 cup of chicken stock from a 500ml packet, so it doesn’t go to wastes throw this in with the water too). Add rice when water is boiling and you’re aiming to boil it till it’s barely tender which should take about 8 minutes.

6.       Mix the rice, herbs and egg into the mixing bowl

7.       Drain cooked garlic and mash into the mixing bowl along with 2 tsp. of the cooking liquid

8.       Taste stuffing, and carefully correct seasoning

9.       Stuff chicken then seal it

10.   Coat the chicken on both sides with salt, pepper and the extra thyme or oregano.

11.   Cook on BBQ in a tray for an hour and a quarter

This recipe was inspired by Mastering the Art of French Cooking By Julia Child and Simone Beck, Volume Two, Page 275

Review - The Italian, Willoughby

What's great?
The staff are friendly, cool and genuinly trying to get it right. Our pasta dish (daily special - a $33 truffle pasta) was a huge let down and this was rectified nicely. The 4 seasons pizza however was awesome and the best in the area at this point in time.

What's not?
See picture of how they're currently cooking pasta. The teething issues also include forgetting orders (one hour in between the pizza and pasta that was meant to come one after the other) and giving us someone else's bill. The dessert menu (or lack thereof) is also an opportunity for them.

In saying all this I do genuinely look forward to going back and seeing how they fine tune what they're setting out to achieve. What they do well, they've nailed. What they're not doing well, all the signs are there that they've got the right intentions to get it on track.

Recipe - Lime Syrup Coconut Cake

This recipe is from http://www.sydneymarkets.com.au/recipes/Lime%20syrup%20coconut%20cake.pdf

Recipe - Yakn’t – Lebanese Lamb Shank and Potato Casserole

This is a Nouha Taouk recipe taken from her recipe book Whispers From a Lebanese Kitchen

On this occasion I did chicken instead of lamb.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

·         Vegetable oil for cooking

·         4 lamb shanks or kilo of chicken casserole pieces

·         40 g butter

·         2 onions, chopped

·         ½ garlic bulb, cloves separated and peeled

·         1 tsp baharat spice mix

·         1 teaspoon salt

·         6 potatoes, washed, peeled and diced

·         125g tomato paste

Method

1.       Heat a large saucepan over high heat, add a little oil and sear the lamb shanks (or chicken) until brown. Remove from the pan.

2.       Reduce the heat to low, melt the butter and cook the onion until soft.

3.       Add the garlic, baharat and salt and mix well.

4.       Pour 3 litres of water into the pan and bring to the boil

5.       Simmer, covered, for 1 hour or until the lamb is tender

6.       Add the potato and tomato paste and cook for a further 30 minutes

7.       Season to taste

8.       This is ideal served with boiled rice with egg noodles.

Recipe - Ras El Hanout Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1kg chicken (I used lovely legs and things)
• 3 tbs Ras El Hanout
• Olive Oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 6 baby potatoes, halved or qtred 
• cornflour
• 1 cup frozen peas
• handful mushrooms
• 2 cups chicken stock

Method

• Prehear oven to 180
• Prepare the chicken by removing any fat, place it in a bowl and sprinkle over the Ras El Hanout. Leave it for 10 minutes
• Heat a little Olive Oil, cook the onion and garlic. REmove to small bowl
• Sprinkle 1 or 2 tbs of cornflour over the chicken, brown the pieces on either side. When brown, add the onion and garlic back in
• Add baby potatoes 
• Add frozen peas
• Add mushrooms
• Add chicken stock
• Bring to the boil then take off and put straight into oven uncovered
• Check after 40 mins and book longer only if necessary

To buy Ras El Hanout visit www.herbies.com.au

Review - Gowings Bar and Grill Sydney

 

We were a party of six for 2 friends birthdays and Gowings Bar and Grill http://www.qtsydney.com.au/food-drink/gowings-bar-grill/. In true Merivale style the decor is funky, a little eclectic and full of vibe and you're always noticing something different when you scan the room.

I must say I received the best service in anywhere Ive been in the world, right from the start. The waitress was outstanding and other staff we interacted with were the same. I had a problem with my order (asked for the cream to not be added to the muscles broth and the kitchen didn't see this and added the cream) and the issue was resolved in a manner that surpassed expectations exponentially. The staff even overheard there were birthdays at our table and without prompting the desserts came with candles. Twenty out of Ten for service.

The menu has so much selection and big big big - whole fish, whole pigeon, half a duck so bring your appetite when you go - there's no such thing as morsels here! Here's what we had ...

Entrees (most we shared as the menu indicated the meals would be ginormous):

 

The mains:

 

And, The desserts...

 

Review - Signorelli Gastronomia

In a word – wow. Don’t go once because between the a la carte menu, grazing on anti pasto and pizzas; and going back for whatever you didn’t eat on the previous occasions –  Signorelli Gastronomia http://signorelli.com.au/ will give you reason to keep coming back and trying the different offerings will see a different experience each time. Hands down it’s now on my top 5.

On this occasion we went before going to the lyric theatre – the staff were more than accommodating having us arrive at 12:15, were out the door by 1:45 and never felt like we were going to miss the show. Nor did we feel rushed.

We had (photos of all below...)

Entrée

Zucchini Flowers / Taleggio / Polenta / Apple Puree

Home Made Gnocchi / Crab / Tomato / Lemon / Basil

Mains

Mixed Green Salad / White Balsamic

Grilled Moreton Bay Bugs / Scallop / Cherry Tomato Salad 39

Grilled Scampi / Salmoriglio

Dessert

Flourless chocolate cake to share

The bill, which included their best bottle of rose, was $180 – couldn’t get over the value!

Just go there – you’ll thank me J

Prawn Stuffed Eggplant

I saw this originally as a paleo recipe which I'm completely into, but I live with a hungry man who needs a little bit more depth  to his meal so I free-styled the original recipe to get some rice and other density involved (and played with the flavours… as I always do)

Serves 2

Ingredients

·         1 eggplant;

·         350g peeled raw prawns, chopped

·         1 red capsicum, diced

·         1 tbsp. fresh ginger

·         2 cloves garlic

·         3 shallots chopped (including some of the green)

·         ¼ cup chopped parsley

·         2 tbsp. curry paste of your choice;

·         1 tbsp. fish sauce

·         1 tbsp. palm sugar

·         2 tbsp. olive oil;

·         Butter

·         ¼ cup risotto rice

·         ¼ cup breadcrumbs

·         ¼ cup parmesan

Preparation

1.       Preheat your oven to 200C.

2.       Take the eggplant and cut it into 2 pieces lengthwise. Make a series of parallel cuts, taking care not to cut through the skin. Brush the eggplant (cut sides) with 1/2tbsp. of olive oil on each side. 3. Place the eggplants cut side down on a roasting pan and brush the skin with ½ tbsp. olive oil and bake for 15 minutes. Turn over after the initial 15 minutes and cook again 15 to 20 minutes or until the flesh is tender. When you take the eggplant out, switch oven to grill mode. Scoop out the pulp leaving the skin intact and chop the eggplant pulp. Mash it ready to later stir back through into the risotto mix

3.       Scoop out eggplant and mush, put to the side to add to the risotto mix later

4.       In the meantime ….

5.       In a saucepan, heat the remaining olive oil and butter over medium heat

6.       Add the ginger, the garlic, and capsicum, and cook for two minutes.

7.       Add the shallots and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.

8.       Add the curry paste and cook until fragrant (1-2 mins)

9.       Add fish sauce

10.   1 palm sugar

11.   Add rice and stir for 2 minutes

12.   Add parsley

13.   The add boiled water ½ a cup at a time until risotto is 90% cooked

14.   Stir through prawns and eggplant

15.   Pour the mixture into the eggplant shells (you will probably have a bit of left over mix)

16.   Coat with breadcrumbs and parmesan

17.   Grill for 10 minutes

Review - La Grande Bouffe

We were a party of eleven, half of which were visiting from Paris. Everything was sensational with resulting comments saying it was like being in Paris in Australia. I was lucky enough to try a few things across our shared entrees and cheeky tastings of others dishes but the main dishes I had (and pictured) were:

Smoked Salmon and Dill Baguette

Salmon and Potato Cake with Rocket, Capers and Aioli

Chocolate Marquise with Frangelico Ice Cream

The Parisians did made some comments here and there that ingredients had been added to the traditional dishes that they didn’t expect (e.g. cassoulet) but not in a negative way. It could just be a different region thing. Also, we were a little surprised that, as the chefs appeared (towards the end), none that we saw were actually French but all in all a terrific restaurant and absolutely we’ll be back.

www.lagrandebouffe.com.au/

MKR’s Jessie & Biswa’s Goat Sindhi Biryani

After the hype around Jessie & Biswa, I couldn’t help but make one of their dishes to decide for myself if they are the culinary geniuses that they proclaim to be.

Yes the recipe turned out quite nice but I’m baffled that Jessie & Biswa see this as a competition dish?

Note I did a chicken version.

Preparation time: At least 30 minutes marinading + 2 hours cook time

Cooking time: Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

·         Raisins, to serve

·         Cashews, to serve

·         Walnuts, to serve

·         Flaked almonds, to serve

Chicken

·         1kg chicken breast cut into 3cm pieces

·         100g natural yoghurt

·         Juice of 1 lime

·         4 tsp salt

·         2 tbs vegetable oil

·         1 large brown onion, finely chopped

·         4 garlic cloves, crushed

·         3cm-piece fresh ginger, finely grated

·         8 black peppercorns, ground

·         5 green cardamom pods

·         5 bay leaves

·         3 cloves

·         1 tbs ground coriander

·         2 cinnamon quills

·         2 tsp chilli powder

·         2 tsp turmeric

·         2 tsp paprika

·         2 tsp ground cumin

·         2 tsp cumin seeds

·         2 black cardamom pods

·         250ml (1 cup) water

·         10 prunes

·         4 long green chillies, 3 whole, 1 finely sliced

Rice

·         500g basmati rice

·         8 green cardamom pods

·         ¼ tsp saffron threads, soaked in

·         60ml (1/4 cup) milk

·         50g butter, chopped

·         Salt and pepper, to season

Tomato Cucumber Salad

·         4 small vine tomatoes, quartered

·         1 small Lebanese cucumber, chopped

·         ½ bunch mint, leaves picked

·         ½ bunch coriander, leaves picked

·         1 long red chilli, thinly sliced

·         2 tbs red wine vinegar

Raita

·         1 cup Greek yoghurt

·         1 garlic clove, crushed

·         2 tbs chopped mint

·         1 Lebanese cucumber, deseeded, grated

·         1 tbs lemon juice

METHOD

1.       Wash goat thoroughly, then pat dry with paper towel. Place goat in a large bowl, then add yoghurt, lime and salt. Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Remove from refrigerator and bring to room temperature.

2.       Preheat oven to 150C.

3.       Heat oil in a large flameproof casserole dish over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Stir in garlic, ginger and spices and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Return goat to dish with remaining ingredients. Cover lightly and transfer to oven. Cook for 2-3 hours or until very tender.

4.       Meanwhile, to make rice, place rice in a bowl and cover with cold water. Set aside for 30 minutes, then drain. Cook in boiling water with cardamom pods until just tender. Drain. Stir through saffron mixture and butter, then season with salt and pepper.

5.       To make tomato cucumber salad, combine all ingredients in a bowl.

6.       To make raita, combine all ingredients in a bowl.

7.       Arrange a layer of rice on each serving plate. Top with a layer of goat curry, then a little raita. Sprinkle raisins and nuts on top and serve with salad on the side.

http://au.tv.yahoo.com/my-kitchen-rules/recipes/recipe/-/16038846/goat-sindhi-biryani/

Left Over Basil?

I bought a Bunch of Basil for the sake of 15 leaves and made sure the rest didn't go to waste by making this awesome marinade for salmon and prawns. It was terrific. Key is to not over cook, take it off as soon as it even thinks about crusting.

1/4 cup nuts

1/3 cup Parmesan

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

1/4 cup water

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic 

1/2 tsp Salt or to taste 

Pepper to taste

Recipe - Chocolate tart

Chocolate tart

The whole tart serves 10 but I decided to use half the mix to make individual tarts and also individual desserts.

Filling

·         400 gm  dark chocolate (56% cocoa solids), finely chopped

·         260 ml  pouring cream

·         120 ml  milk

·         2  small eggs (50gm each), lightly beaten

For dusting:         

·         Dutch-process cocoa

To serve: 

·         vanilla ice-cream

Sweet pastry

·         150 gm  softened butter

·         100 gm  caster sugar

·         250 gm  (12/3 cups) plain flour

·         25 gm  almond meal

·         egg yolk

·         Juice of ½ lemon

·         Seeds of  ½ vanilla bean

 Method

1.       For sweet pastry, beat butter and sugar in an electric mixer, add flour and almond meal and stir to combine. Add egg yolk, lemon juice, vanilla seeds and 1 tbsp iced water and stir to combine. Pat into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate to rest (1 hour). Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface to 5mm thick, line a 24cm-diameter fluted tart tin, trim edges and refrigerate to rest (30 minutes). Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180C. Blind bake tart until edges are golden (10-12 minutes), remove paper and weights, bake until base is golden (7-8 minutes) and set aside.

2.       Meanwhile, place chocolate in a bowl, set aside. Bring cream and milk to the simmer in a saucepan over medium heat, add to chocolate, stand until chocolate melts (1-2 minutes), stir to combine, cool slightly, then stir in beaten egg.

3.       Reduce oven to 130C. Pour chocolate mixture into tart and bake until just set with a slight wobble in centre (30-35 minutes). Set aside to cool, dust with cocoa and serve at room temperature with ice-cream.

This recipe is from the July 2012 issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller.

Image of whole tart courtesy of Gourmet Traveller. Individual dessert image and mini tart image taken by me.

Recipe - Vine Leaves

This is the recipe from the "Whispers from a Lebanese Kitchen" cookbook.

I did 1 lemon vs the suggested 2 and it was still a little more lemony than I what I prefer so I'll have to have a play with that next time - also the recipe doesn't say it but do make sure you use fresh tomatoes.

Lunch for My Parents – Dessert: Apple & Blackberry Tarte Tatin

For this dessert I used the recipe from Everyday Gourmet with Justine Shofield http://www.everydaygourmet.tv/recipes/258, just used blueberries instead of blackberries.

Ingredients

1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed

100g caster sugar

80 ml brandy

3-4 apples, peeled and cored, cut into half horizontally

50g butter

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. ground clove

1 cup frozen blackberries

Recipe by: Justine

Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4-6

Method

·         Pre heat the oven to 190C.

·         Heat sugar in a 26cm no stick frying pan to form a caramel.

·         Once the sugar starts to change colour, add the brandy and allow to bubble away for a few minutes until it is a deep caramel colour.

·         Now add the apples, butter, cinnamon and clove and stir gently to coat all the apples in the sticky caramel.

·         Cook for about 5 minutes before adding the frozen blackberries.

·         Lay the pastry over the apple and blackberries and then tuck in all sides, as if it were a blanket.

·         Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

·         Once cooked, bring it out of the oven and gently twist the pastry to ensure nothing is stuck to the pan.

·         With certainty, in one big gesture, flip the tart tatin upside down onto a plate.

·         Serve with cold crème Anglaise or vanilla bean ice cream.