prawn saganaki (garides saganaki)

Many years ago, when I was an innocent young teenager, my sister Shamu and I travelled to Greece to delight in the wonders of the Mediterranean. We had a wonderful time exploring the ruins in Athens, getting a bit wild with Norwegians on the “Party Island” of the time, Ios, playing at sophistication in Santorini and embarking upon an impromptu road trip with three French girls across Crete from Heraklion to Chania.

In Crete I became incapacitated, throwing my back out from carrying my gigantic backpack, but luckily our travelling companions were trainee physiotherapists who were happy to massage me back to health each evening (merci à Caroline, Julie and Melanie - mes amies française).

It was a fun gaggle of girls posing some interesting language challenges since they didn’t speak English and we didn’t speak French. After living in Italy for the past 7 months I miraculously understood their French and they understood our English, so we each spoke our own languages and somehow we communicated quite efficiently.

It was on this multicultural roadtrip that we stopped off on a deserted beach for lunch. Between two quiet cafés on the beach, we chose the one without any patrons because we could sit under the shade of an umbrella.  The menus were all in Greek so the rest of the crew traipsed into the kitchen where the cook pointed out different ingredients in an attempt to mime meal options. When they came back Shamu confessed she’d ordered me something, but wasn’t quite sure what.

As we waited for our mystery lunch to arrive, our empty café started to fill up with locals and by the time they set the food on the table the place was buzzing and alive with vibrant activity. It was so stereotypical and romantic, it was as if we’d stumbled on the set of Greek film. Absolutely magical.

But even more magical was the food they served us. A tomato sauce filled with plump prawns and scattered with melting feta cheese. It was amazing. Pure perfection in a beautiful setting.

We asked the waiter to tell us the name of the dish and when they spoke I wrote down the sounds, perplexed that the dish sounded more Japanese than Greek: saganaki.

Now that I have much more experience with Greek food I know that saganaki, in its various forms, is one of Greece’s most famous dishes and has been successfully exported worldwide.

The prawn version, known as Garides Saganaki, is surprisingly simple to make, and the perfect lunch or dinner whether it’s summer or winter.

Garides Saganaki / Γαριδες Σαγανακι
Prawn Saganaki

Anna’s recipe. Serves 4.

Ingredients:
1 onion, thinly sliced
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
400g canned tomatoes
1 roasted red pepper, finely sliced
60ml ouzo
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 dried bay leaf
150g Greek feta
24 large peeled green prawns
Olive oil, for frying
Crusty white bread, to serve

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 220’C.

2. In a frying pan, heat olive oil in a saucepan then sauté onion and garlic until soft.

3. Add bay leaf, tomato and peppers and simmer for around 5 minutes.

4. Add ouzo, oregano and thyme and simmer for another 5 minutes.

5. Transfer the sauce to a baking dish and crumble over the feta.

6. Bake until feta just starts melting, about 15 minutes.

7. Push the prawns into the tomato sauce and cook for another 5 minutes or until the are opaque and cooked.

8. Serve hot with crusty white bread.

brussels sprouts, pancetta & lemon pasta

A few months ago, I met Tia Bicky for lunch and was lucky enough to get a plate of Luxe Bakery’s winter pasta special of shredded brussels sprouts and mandolin-thin slices of broccoli. They were tossed in buttery, lemon moisture and salted by a touch of crisped prosciutto. It was divine, meeting all my salty sour requirements.

I just had to make it at home.

The best part about this dish is that it uses fairly few and quite cheap ingredients, it’s perfect for a wintery lunch or dinner and it easily becomes vegetarian if required.

The brussels sprouts and lemon make a delightful flavour that made me think of a fresh sauerkraut and, if you have a mandolin, by all means add some wafer thin slices of just-blanched broccoli for texture and colour.

Brussels Sprouts, Pancetta & Lemon Pasta

Anna’s very own take on a Luxe special. Serves 4.

Ingredients:

270g shredded brussels sprouts
70g pancetta, chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lemon
125ml chicken stock
1 knob of butter, for sauce
1 knob butter, for frying
1 dash olive oil, for frying
Pecorino, for serving
Salt and pepper
Pasta, for serving (I used troifie)

Method:

1. In a frying pan, fry pancetta until browned and just crispy. Set aside.

2. In the same frying pan, heat a little butter and olive oil for frying. When frothing, add shredded Brussels sprouts with salt and pepper. Sauté for 1 minute or so.

3. Add a dash of chicken stock and mix through. This will spread the heat and steam throughout the sprouts and help to soften them. Sauté the sprouts for another 5 minutes.

4. Now they might start to form browned edges and stick to the pan. Add another dash of chicken stock to deglaze and incorporate those browned bits. Cook until the sprouts are soft.

5. Once soft, add the lemon zest and reserved pancetta and heat through.

6. Next add the lemon juice, remaining chicken stock and the chopped up knob of butter, stirring through to create extra juices that will form a sauce around the pasta.

7. When the pasta is ready, toss the sprouts and juice through then topped with freshly ground pepper and grated pecorino cheese.

Note: if you want to make this vegetarian, use vegetable stock and instead of the pancetta consider tossing salty ricotta salata through the pasta before serving.

pounti: auvergne pork & prune meatloaf

Some time ago I read about “pounti” or “picoücel” a special pork, prune and bacon cake from the Auvergne region of France. It uses the famous prunes of the region and is served either cold or fried in slabs.

Ever since I read about this pork cake, I dreamt of coming up with my own meatloaf inspired by those flavours, and in fact made it one of my 2012 Food Challenges to come up with a meatloaf recipe.

Ta daaaa!

The results were pleasing. The prunes and sage matched perfectly with the sweet-salty pork meat.

It’s quite a rich meal, so I recommend serving with a refreshing side, such as watercress dressed in olive oil and lemon juice.

Auvergne Pork & Prune Meatloaf (Pounti)

Anna’s very own recipe. Serves 4.

Ingredients:
5 rashers bacon, finely diced
1 onion, finely diced
5 garlic cloves, crushed
500g pork mince
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs (see notes)
200g prunes, pitted & halved
2 tablespoons sage, finely chopped
1 egg, beaten lightly

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180’C.

2. Cook the bacon in a dry frying pan until crispy. Set aside to cool.

3. Using the fat from the bacon, sauté the onion, garlic and sage until soft. Set aside to cool.

4. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients together by hand, using your fingers to knead the mixture together into a meat dough.

5. Place in a baking loaf and bake in the oven for around 1 hour or until the meat is cooked through the juices run clear.

6. Remove from oven and allow it to rest for 10-15 minutes before cutting in and eating.

Note: put one torn, fresh bread roll in a food processor and blitz until it turns into fluffy crumbs. Don’t process for too long or the heat of the machine may make the bread damp.

smoky chipotle chicken nachos

The base of this meal is Jonas’ amazing Shredded Chipotle Chicken. I cannot emphasise how amazing it tastes after 6 hours of slow cooking in our wonderful NewWave 5 in 1 MultiCooker.

The chicken absorbs the wonderful spice of the chipotles (smoked jalapeños) and Jonas breaks it apart into shreds that soak up the sauce it sits in.

The shredded chicken recipe will make enough nachos for a group of 8 people, but if there’s only a few of you then the leftover chicken is a beautiful filling for another meal like tacos, enchiladas or burritos. It’s as versatile as it is tasty.

The best part is just how easy it is to make. Fry up some garlic, onion and chilli, throw all the ingredients into a slow cooker and then shred. That’s it.

Shredded Chipotle Chicken

Jonas’ very own recipe.

Ingredients:
½ brown onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 chipotle chillies in adobo, finely chopped
1kg chicken thighs (no bones)
800g canned organic tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
1 tablespoon dried oregano
Olive oil, for frying
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Fry onion and garlic until soft.

2. Added chillies and fry until softened.

3. Add all ingredients to slow cooker, cook for 6 hours.

4. Remove chicken, shred into fine strips.

5. Return to sauce, stir through and keep warm until ready to serve.

Smoky Chipotle Chicken Nachos

Jonas’ very own recipe. Serves 8.

Ingredients:

Jonas’ shredded chipotle chicken
Tortilla chips
Cheese
Guacamole
Pico de Gallo
Sour cream
Salsa verde or salsa de chipotle y tomato

Method:

1. Spread tortilla chips over baking tray covered in baking paper. Scatter with cheese and grill until cheese has melted.

2. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat the chipotle chicken until warmed through.

3. Once the cheese has melted over tortilla chips, remove from oven and place on serving dish.

4. Top with shredded chicken, guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo and sauce of your choice.

5. Eat blissfully, perhaps with a tamarind margarita.

pollo en salsa verde

Chicken Baked in Green Tomatillo Sauce

I am a sucker for Mexico’s salsa verde (green sauce). What’s not to love? Tang, acidity, spice and salt.

It’s great on anything and everything, but this is one of my favourite applications. In fact, this is quite possibly one of the tastiest and easiest dinners you’ll ever make.

Either prep your own salsa verde or buy it in a can or jar. If I am feeling lazy and just want to use a can, I love Las Palmas Green Chile Enchilada Sauce. Those living in the Americas (north, central or south) will no doubt find Mexican ingredients on their regular supermarket shelves but those of us in Australia are not so lucky. Fireworks Foods is a brilliant online store that ships nationally across Ausland and, if you’re in Sydney, Fiji Market in Newtown is a great supplier.

I serve this with Arroz Verde, which is basically rice cooked in a green stock of puréed chillies and coriander, finished with lime.

My Mexican friends jokingly call this meal “chicken rice” due to its sheer simplicity, but this belies the astounding flavours. I think of this as comforting homely food with a wonderful punch of gutsy Mexican sabors.

Pollo en Salsa Verde (Chicken baked in Green Sauce)

Anna’s very own recipe. Serves 4.

Ingredients:
8 chicken thigh fillets (deboned)
2 pickled jalapeños, chopped
750ml salsa verde
Olive oil, for browning
Coriander, for garnish
Queso freso (or crumbly feta), for serving
Arroz Verde, for serving

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180’C (360’F).

2. Put salsa verde in a sauce pan on the stove and heat over high.

3. Heat the olive oil in a pan and brown the chicken thighs to give them a little colour. No more than a minute or two on each side.

4. Remove from pan and place them in a large baking dish. Scatter with chopped jalapeños.

5. The salsa verde should now be at boiling point, so pour over chicken thighs and place baking dish in oven.

6. Cook for 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and salsa verde has thickened slightly around the edges of the baking dish.

7. Sprinkle with coriander and queso freso, then serve hot with arroz verde.

cactus & pineapple salsa

The Pineapple. The King of Fruit.

How can you not love this amazing creature?

Rough, brown skin.
Head of spiky, cascading leaves.
Sweet, succulent, juicy golden flesh.

To celebrate the season of these beautiful tropical fruits the team at King of Fruit, headquartered in northern Queensland’s Yeppoon, gave me four luscious pineapples so I could cook up a storm.

After cutting into the first, and tasting how sweetly divine it was, I decided to dedicate a full seven days to the delights of these wonderful fruits.

Sevens Days of Pineapple!

Check back at Morsels & Musings each day this week to experience a new pineapple recipe daily:
Salsa de Piña y Nopal (Cactus & Pineapple Salsa)
Amaretto Piña Colada
Barbequed Chilli Pineapple
Caramelised Pineapple & Coconut Cake
Sticky Tamarind Pork & Pineapple Skewers
Pineapple Carpaccio w Mint Sugar
Chicha De Piña (Spiced Pineapple Drink)

First up is a Mexican inspired salsa with cactus, chilli and lime. I served it with pork cutlets that had been marinated with achiote paste, which gets its beautiful red colour from annatto seeds.

Salsa de Piña y Nopal (Cactus & Pineapple Salsa)

Anna’s very own recipe. Serves 4.

Ingredients:
1 cup chopped pineapple
¾ cup chopped prepared cactus (see note)
¼ cup lime juice
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
1 tablespoon sliced fresh Serrano chilli
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh coriander
Salt, to taste

Method:

1. Combine everything except the salt and coriander, and allow to sit for one hour.

2. Before serving, add fresh coriander and season with salt to taste.

Note: I use cactus (nopales) that come in a jar pre-boiled. Rinse off the thick sap before using.

Achiote Pork Cutlets

Anna’s very own recipe. Serves 4.

Ingredients:
4 pork cutlets
1 tablespoon achiote paste
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon olive oil, to taste
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Prepare marinade by combing the achiote paste, lime juice, olive oil and garlic and blending completely.

2. Seal pork cutlets in a snap lock bag with marinade and refrigerate for 2 hours.

3. Heat griddle pan, grill until cooked through.

Pineapples supplied by the team at King of Fruit

pan-fried duck breast

A while ago I attended an event hosted by Bitton Café for Game Farm, a company producing predominantly chicken (corn-fed and spatchcock/poussin), quail and duck.

Since their farm is in Galston, an rural-like area on the northern outskirts of Sydney (and also where I spent the first seven years of my life) I was keen to try their products.

It was interesting they felt the need to promote their products to Australian consumers in this way, primarily because they were concerned people saw ducks and quail as something exotic and difficult to cook with. They wanted people to understand how easy and tasty they are (and cook/buy more).

I think duck is pretty easy to cook. It's certainly no harder than chicken.

For dinner, I knew I had some pretty delicious sides dishes (potatoes roasted in duck fat, crispy brussels sprouts with bacon, sautéed apples and sage) so I just wanted a simple duck breast recipe.

No-nonsense, pan-fried duck breast. As every chef and their dog says these days “I wanted the ingredients to speak for themselves”.

To test the mettle of Game Farm, I decided to use the recipe on the inside of their duck breast packaging.

It was fantastic, and just as easy as cooking a steak.

A quick rendering in the pan, to give it colour, and then gently finished off in the oven for a few minutes.

This could be a dinner party favourite, for when you want to put on a bit of a show, but better still it’s easily a meal Jonas and I would enjoy during the weekday, even after a hard day at work.

You could serve it sliced into a salad, or as a slab with awesome sides. Too easy.

I served mine with a little cabernet wine jelly I bought on our Easter road trip to Mudgee.

Pan-fried Duck Breast

Game Farm packet instructions! Serves 2.

Ingredients:
2 duck breasts
Salt
Pepper

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200’C.

2. Score or prick the skin of the duck with a sharp knife - this will allow the natural juices under the skin to render during cooking.

3. Season with salt & pepper, or your favourite spice mix. Heat a non-stick frying pan to a low heat. Do not grease the pan.

4. Place the fillet skin-side down and cook for 3-4 minutes to crisp the skin, turning and cooking for a further 1 minute.

5. Place into a hot oven, skin side up, and cook for a further 7-10 minutes or until cooked through.

Note: Appliance temperatures can vary. You may need to adjust cooking times accordingly.

If you're interested in more duck, quail and chicken recipes, Game Farm has a pretty extensive online library.

I've also made:

Armenian Yoghurt Soup w Dumplings
Avgolemono
Buffalo Wings & Blue Cheese Dip
Coq Au Vin
Creole-Spiced Chicken
Duck w Cherries
Hungarian Chicken Paprikas
Kentish Pigeons w Plums
Moroccan Chicken Tagine
Palestinian Chicken w Sumac, Za’atar & Lemon
Portuguese Chicken
Senegal Chicken
Walnut & Pomegranate Spatchcock

smoky pulled pork

Pulled pork is just magical.

The juicy meat slow cooked for hours until it falls from the bone and then smothered in spicy, smoky sauce and piled high onto soft burger buns.

To. Die. For.

When Kitchenware Direct contacted me and offering to give me a slow cooker of my choice to review on this blog, their email couldn’t have come at a better time.

Jonas and I had been discussing the idea of getting a slow cooker just so we could make pulled pork sliders. We’d eaten them recently at Porteño and had not recovered from their marvellous flavour. We wanted to replicate the magic at home.

So here I was being offered a slow cooker and all I had to do was use it and tell you what I thought about it.

I love my life.

I selected the NewWave 5 in 1 MultiCooker because it’s not just a slow cooker but also a pressure cooker, rice cooker, steamer and soup maker. It’s Kitchenware Direct’s most popular model and after trawling through some online review sights it ranks right up there among the best of its type.

It arrived promptly in a well packaged box, safely cushioned in plastic air bags and styrofoam. When we took it out we cooed and sighed, stroking our shiny baby with all the love of proud new parents.

Once we were ready to use it, we got a bit scared that it might be broken, because the vacuum seal on the lid was wobbly freakishly and didn’t seem too stable, but then we realised we were complete idiots and that once you use the pressure cooking function the valve sucks into place perfectly.

Crisis averted.

We plonked the meat and sauce inside, hit the slow cooker and walked away for a few hours. At the end, we vamped up the intensity with a few minutes of pressure cooking and we were left will a sweet sauce and meat so tender it just peeled away from the bone.

The results were so good that even the highly critical Fabio let out an involuntary exclaim of satisfied praise.

This cooker is definitely easy to use (one couple cooking together, zero arguments) and even easier to clean (good work Jonas).

All the residual fear I had from my high school friend’s horrific pressure cooker accident was dispelled by the quick vacuum seal and the easy steam release valve. No explosions, good times.

My rule when accepting free gifts or meals is simple: if I don’t like it, I won’t write about it.

Well, I love my NewWave 5 in 1 MultiCooker and I’m not afraid to tell the world! Without the crew at Kitchenware Direct we might never have been introduced, and that would have been a tragedy.

Spicy Pulled Pork

Based on a recipe by Feast on the Cheap. Makes 10 buns.

Ingredients:
2kg pork shoulder, bone in
1 medium brown onion, diced
1 cup carrot, grated
4 garlic cloves, sliced
2 chipotle chillies in adobo sauce*
800g can crushed tomatoes
250ml (1 cup) passata (tomato sauce)
250ml (1 cup) ketchup
250ml (1 cup) BBQ sauce
125ml (½ cup) red wine
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from chipotle chillies)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons kosher salt
¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
Olive oil, for frying

To serve:
Hamburger buns
Aioli
Fresh coriander, chopped
Coleslaw

Method:

1. Trim the pork shoulder of skin and excess fat to prevent congealing in the slow cooker.

2. Over medium heat, sauté the onion, carrot, garlic and chipotle chillies in olive oil until the onion is translucent.

3. In a bowl, combine the sautéed vegetables, BBQ sauce, ketchup, crushed tomatoes, passata, adobo sauce, red wine, cider vinegar, dried oregano, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Stir well.

4. Back in the frying pan, sear the pork shoulder and brown on all sides.

5. In the slow cooker, pour a cup or so of sauce into the base to completely cover the bottom.

6. Put the pork shoulder inside the slow cooker and cover completely in sauce. Cover and cook at 100’C for 5 hours.

7. Switch to your pressure cooker setting and cook for another 20 minutes.

8. Remove the pork from the sauce, cool then shred with a fork. Set aside in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap to keep moist.

9. Pour the sauce into a pan and check seasoning. Adjust balance of sweet and sour according to your tastes, then reduce the sauce by simmering for 10 minutes over medium-low heat. Blend into a purée.

10. In a bowl, add enough sauce to pork to allow for a sticky but not soupy mix.

11. Serve on soft hamburger buns topped with aioli, coriander and sides of coleslaw and dill pickles.

Note: If you don’t have a slow and pressure cooker in one, buy one from Kitchenware Direct! Or you can cook it in a slow cooker for 6-7 hours or a large oven pot at 175’C for 4-7 hours, depending on your oven.

* In Australia, chipotle chillies in adobo sauce are sold in cans in Latin American sections of specialist supermarkets like Fiji Markets in Newtown, Sydney. You can buy them online at Fireworks Foods too. Otherwise substitute with Chipotle Tabasco.

This post has been featured on the wonderful slow cooking blog:

achiote & tequila cured beef w pozole rojo

Image supplied by Ellie

"Paddock to Plate" Beef Degustation

A few weeks ago I participated in a very exciting event organised by Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) and hosted by Warren Turnbull and his team at Assiette.

A lot of organisations are jumping on the social media band wagon, not understanding the differences between social media and traditional media.

You can’t just broadcast one-way to bloggers and expect them to pick up your content with interest. Blogging is about interacting with your readers and the world, not just a blathering monologue.

Sorry, was I blathering?

The point I’m trying to make here is that MLA created a social media event to draw food bloggers in a fundamental way: they made us the event. Clever.

So, eight bloggers were invited to learn more about beef with the help of a well-known Sydney-based chef, Warren Turnbull of District Dining and Assiette.

Each of us were allocated a cut of beef to create our own recipe and then Warren and his team would transform it into a restaurant dish for a special degustation dinner. Genius.

Beef producer, Alison McIntosh, handed over one of her prized Angus steers and Anthony Puharich, CEO of Vic’s Premium Quality Meat and owner of the fabulous butchery Victor Churchill, made the cuts and shipped them out.

I got given the beef knuckle. I had no idea how to cook a beef knuckle or even what it looked like! I thought it might be something I’d need to braise for hours. Nope!

Luckily Warren explained that a beef knuckle is a big slab of meat, often called a beef round, and is usually slow cooked as a roast.

One of the best parts of the challenge was talking through my ideas with Warren. It was fun to workshop recipes with a chef and even more rewarding to introduce him to some new ingredients (like hominy and achiote).

I think he was pretty excited about the opportunity to experiment too.

I steered him towards a pozole recipe, and he encouraged me to give curing a go. I think we were both happy with the results.

Here’s what I came up with.

Achiote & Tequila Cured Beef Knuckle with Pozole Rojo

Anna's recipe. Serves 8-10.

Achiote & Tequila Cured Beef Knuckle

Ingredients:
1.5kg beef knuckle eye, trimmed
330g (1½ cups) raw sugar
100g (1 cup) sea salt
190ml (¾ cup) tequila
1½ teaspoons achiote paste
4 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
½ teaspoon dried epazote (or dried oregano)

Extra for roasting:
1 teaspoon achiote paste
2 tablespoons olive oil

Method:
1. Grind the peppercorns and coriander seed with a mortar and pestle until coarsely crushed.

2. Add sugar and salt and grind a little. Add oregano.

3. Mix achiote paste with tequila to loosen it up, then add to sugar and salt. Mix until it has the texture of wet sand.

4. Lay a few layers of plastic wrap down, then coat all sides of the meat with a thick layer of the curing mix.

5. Wrap tightly then refrigerate for 24hrs (use a plate in case it leaks).

6. The next day, unwrap the meat and scrape off all the curing mixture. Wash and pat dry with kitchen paper. The meat will be darker and the exterior will have hardened a little.

7. Preheat the oven to 170’C (350’F).

8. Mix together the olive oil and extra achiote paste as well as you can. Rub the achiote oil mixture all over the meat.

9. Place on a roasting rack in a roasting tray. Set aside and allow the meat to come to room temperature.

10. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes for rare, but no more than 1 hour or until the centre reaches 50’C (120-125’F)

11. Remove roast and allow to sit for 20 minutes before cutting. Serve in thin slices.

Pozole Rojo (Red Hominy Soup)

Ingredients:
822g can pozole (hominy)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon achiote paste
2 onions, grated
12 garlic cloves, grated
2 chipotles chillies (in adobo sauce)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 litres beef consommé
Pinch of sugar
Salt, to taste

Garnish:
1 avocado, cubed
3 limes, juiced
½ iceberg lettuce, shredded
¼ cup fresh coriander, finely chopped
½ cup diced radish
½ cup crumbled queso freso (or tangy feta)
Thin slices of Achiote & Tequila Cured Beef Knuckle (above)

Method:
1. In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add pozole and cook for 15 minutes. Drain.

2. Heat olive oil in heavy based saucepan.


3. Add achiote paste, onion and garlic. Mash paste throughout and fry until mixture becomes dry.

4. Add chipotles and fry a little.

5. Then add tomato paste and fry until thickened.

6. Next add beef consommé and sugar and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 minutes.

7. Add pozole and simmer a further 5 minutes.

8. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice to taste.

9. Ladle soup into bowls. Pass garnishes separately so people can add to taste.

~ ~ ~

So, how did it look when Warren and the team were done with it?

Much more beautiful of course! It’s actually amazing to see how much skill and artistic talent chefs bring to humble home cooking.

Warren said they stuck to the curing recipe pretty closely, but reduced the tequila. But the biggest difference was the addition of agar agar to the soup broth transforming a warm dish into a cold one served with a thick sauce rather than soup.

The Assiette team were quite nervous that I wouldn’t like it, or that the flavour of the soup wouldn’t be the same, but once you mixed all the ingredients together and started to eat it could have been the very same dish as mine.

It was quite an amazing experience and the best social media PR event I’ve been invited to take part in because we were truly included rather than just bystanders. Kudos to Haussmann Communications for coming up with it and bravo to MLA for having the sense to agree. Take note other PR agencies!

Image supplied by Ellie

The full list of dishes served on the night really showed the diverse ways beef can be cooked and eaten.
- Beef & Ale Pie
- Achiote & Tequila Cured Beef Knuckle w Pozole Rojo
- Seared Sirloin, Buttered Roots, Horseradish & Wakame
- Thai Beef Salad w Mint, Peanuts & Chilli Dressing
- Beef Satay w Spicy Peanut Sauce, Rice Cake & Herb Salad
- Scotch Fillet w Moghrabiyeh
- Pulled Beef & Pine Mushroom Cannelloni
- Braised Beef in Coffee w Brandied Cumquats & Onion Milk
- Slow Braised Brisket w Cauliflower Cream & Pedro Ximenez Muscatels

If you want to see all the dishes of the night, check out these posts on my fellow blogger’s site:
Almost Bourdain
Aficionado
The Food Blog
The Gourmet Forager
Inside Cuisine
Taste
 

tuscan chicken

Audrey Gordon’s Tuscan Summer

This cookbook is a riot.

A group of Aussie comedians, known as Working Dog, have invented this hilarious celebrity chef Audrey Gordon to take the piss out of our obsession with chefs, cooking and all things food!

There have been so many cooking shows, cookbooks and reality rat races on TV these days. People are a little cooked out.

Now there’s Audrey Gordon, an invented caricature combining the funniest aspects of Nigella, Gordon, Delia and Jamie into one delicious satire.

They’ve created a resume and accolades for Audrey, including her time as lifestyles editor of Implausible Homes magazine or her three year reign as “Britain’s Sternest Chef”. She’s even got her own website.

They have really lavished a lot of time and attention into this book with daily diary entries by Audrey, quotes, tips on etiquette and cultural reflections. It chock-full of content to laugh over.


And the 60 recipes are real, and tasty.

I came home from work and Jonas, who had been chuckling away at the book during his day off, had decided to give it a test run.

The results were superb.

Pollo alla Toscana (Tuscan Chicken)

Recipe from Audrey Gordon’s Tuscan Summer. Serves 2.

Ingredients:
1 x 900g chicken, preferably corn fed
1 large lemon
60ml EVOO
8 sliced prosciutto, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 good handfuls fresh thyme leaves, coarsely chopped
4 large potatoes, quarteed
Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Preheat oven and a roasting tray to 220’C. Wash the chicken inside and out and pat dry with kitchen towel.

2. Using your fingers, separate the skin from the breast meat, being careful not to rip the skin. Slice the lemon and work the slices under the skin over each breast. Smooth the skin back in place and wipe the chicken dry.

3. Rub 2 tablespoons of olive oil seasoned with salt and pepper over the bird. Really massage it in, paying particular attention to the back, shoulders and other common areas of tension.

4. Push the prosciutto, garlic and thyme into the cavity and put your chicken on the hot roasting tray and into the oven for 20 minutes.

5. While the chicken is cooking, parboil the potatoes in salted water for 10 minutes and drain. Add the potatoes to the roasting tray and continue to roast for 40 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 200’C and cook for a further 15 minutes.

6. To tell whether the chicken is done, insert a skewer into one of the thighs. If the juices run clear, then it’s ready to eat. If you detect blood either the chicken is under-cooked or you’ve stabbed yourself.

7. Remove the chicken to a heated platter and cover loosely with foil. The potatoes may require a further 10 minutes in the oven for crisping.

Audrey’s tip: If you can’t find proper prosciutto at your local shops. You can use ordinary bacon or perhaps consider moving to a better suburb.

Anna’s tip: If you don’t want to do a whole chicken, choose drumsticks or thighs with the skin still attached.

The book is published by Hardie Grant (who sent me a copy to check out, thanks!) and Australians will know Working Dog as the people behind classic Aussie films like The Dish and The Castle, or the TV shows Thank God You’re Here and The Panel.

If you want a little taste of the tongue in cheek humour this book delivers, you can watch YouTube clips of the lady herself whipping up a tiramisu (below) or cooking pasta with prosciutto.

Watch out Nigella!

persian pomegranate soup

Ash-e Anār

I first heard of this Persian soup when a friend gave me the gorgeously designed 2006 Marsha Mehran novel called Pomegranate Soup.

Despite my lukewarm response to the book, I had an overwhelming urge to slurp down this sour, tangy soup rich with Middle Eastern flavours and aromas.

When I finally made it, I wasn’t disappointed. The pomegranates give it a sour, earthy flavour and the lamb adds intensity and richness.

This type of Iranian stew is thick and hearty with chunky ingredients. I highly recommend it.

Persian Pomegranate Soup (Ash-e Anar)

Anna’s adaptation of various bloggers' recipes. Serves 4.

Ingredients:
1kg lamb, diced
2 onions, thinly diced
6 garlic cloves
½ cup yellow split peas
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Aleppo pepper
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
1 cinnamon stick
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
4 cups (1 litre) beef stock
2 cups (500ml) water
½ cup parsley & coriander tender stems, very finely chopped
¼ cup fresh mint, chopped
1 small beetroot, peeled & diced finely
¼ cup basmati rice
2 cups pomegranate juice*
¼ cup pomegranate molasses
1 cup green scallions, chopped
½ cup fresh coriander, chopped
½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds for garnish
1 tablespoon fresh coriander, chopped for garnish
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped for garnish
1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped for garnish

Method:
1. In a large pot, brown the lamb in batches and then set aside,

2. Next add in the onion and garlic cloves and cook until tender.

3. Add in split peas, salt, black pepper, turmeric, cinnamon stick and Aleppo pepper and stir for a minute.

4. Add stock and 2 cups water. Bring to the boil then reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

5. Stir in rice, mint, parsley and coriander stems and beetroot. Simmer, partially covered, for another 20 minutes.

6. Add the lamb and its juices, the pomegranate juice and pomegranate molasses. Simmer for 10 minutes.

7. Taste soup to balance out sweet and sour. Add more pomegranate juice (or lemon juice) to increase acidity or a little sugar for sweetness.

8. Add scallions (green parts), coriander, parsley and lemon zest and simmer for another 5 minutes until herbs have wilted slightly.

9. Ladle soup into serving bowls then garnish with pomegranate seeds and fresh herbs.

Note: *I managed to get around 2 cups from 3 very large and juicy pomegranates.


This recipe, with pomegranate as the theme ingredient, is my contribution to Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Simona from Briciole.