Eggs

Australian eggs come in the following sizes:

		Jumbo 67 g	XLarge 61 g	Large 50 g	Medium 43 g
Shell	10.5%	7.0	6.4	5.3	4.5
Yolk	31.0%	20.8	18.9	15.5	13.3
White	58.5%	39.2	35.7	29.3	25.2
Edible	89.5%	60.0	54.6	44.8	38.5

Most recipes work well with "Large" eggs. However, for recipes calling for egg white foam, such as meringues, French macarons and chiffon sponges, assume Jumbo size unless otherwise stated.

The following table is the number of eggs required for 1 cup (250 mL):

	Jumbo 67 g	XLarge 61 g	Large 50 g	Medium 43 g	Small <43 g
Yolk	11	12	14	16	18
White	5	6	7	8	9
Whole	4	4	5	5	6

Swiss Meringue
150 g egg white
300 g castor sugar

1. Warm to 38 degrees Celsius in a water bath and remove.
2. Whisk until thick and continue until cool.
3. Bake at 100 degrees Celsius for 100 minutes.

French Meringue
150 g egg white
150 g castor sugar
150 g icing sugar

1. Whisk egg white to soft peak. Add castor sugar gradually while beating. Whisk for 10 minutes until thick and glossy.
2. Fold in icing sugar.
3. Bake at 100 degrees Celsius for 100 minutes.

Italian Meringue
150 g egg white
65 mL water
25 g glucose
300 g castor sugar

1. Boil water, glucose and castor sugar for 10-15 minutes until the temperature is 110 degrees Celsius. Sugar temperature at "thread" stage.
2. Start whisking egg white as syrup boils to 115 degrees Celsius. Add the syrup while whisking. Continue to whisk for 15 minutes until cool.
3. Bake at 100 degrees Celsius for 100 minutes.

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Lunch Special: Country Chicken and Mushroom Pot Pie

Freshly baked country chicken and mushroom pie, bursting with country freshness and goodness, the ultimate in comfort food. Juicy chicken breast and luscious, buttery mushroom smothered in a rich, creamy, stock-based sauce with loads of fresh garden herbs and just that touch of freshly ground pepper. Accompanied with seasonal locally harvested vegetables.

Country Chicken and Mushroom Pot Pie
Recipe for 4 pot pies in ramekins:

500 g chicken breast, diced int0 2 cm cubes
150 g mushrooms, sliced
5 T plain flour
1 T olive oil
2 t butter
100 mL cream or milk
400 mL stock
2 T chopped herbs (oregano, parsley, thyme, sage)
1 onion, cut into 2 cm pieces
1 sheet puff pastry
salt and pepper



1. Fry mushroom lightly in butter until golden brown. Remove.
2. Toss chicken in 3 T flour seasoned with pepper and salt
3. Brown the chicken in olive oil. Remove.
4. Saute onion in the pan. Remove.



5. Add the remaining flour to the pan. Lightly brown. Slowly add stock to make a roux.
6. Return chicken, mushroom and onions to pan. Add cream. Simmer gently to thicken.



7. Add herbs. Adjust seasoning.



8. Simmer 5 minutes to blend flavours. Remove from heat and cool.



9. Place pie filling in 4 ramekins. Cover with quarter sheets of puff pastry. Cut a hole in the centre.
10. Bake at 220 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes until golden and bubbling hot.

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Slow Cooked Chicken

WARNING: ultra low temperature cooking below food safe temperature. Hygiene paramount.

2 teaspoons dry sherry
1 teaspoon oil
1.2 kg chicken
olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 100 degrees Celsius
2. Rub the chicken with oil and dry sherry. Put chicken in a preheated crocotte
3. Cook at 60 degrees Celsius for 6 hours
4. Cool in the fridge
   
5. Preheat over to 220 degrees Celsius
6. Drizzle with olive oil
7. Brown the chicken for 20-30 minutes or 15-20 minutes for soy sauce chicken

This technique gives a Hainan style poach chicken with a crispy skin. Ice cubes (with rice wine) may be stuffed inside the chicken to prevent over cooking when browning off.

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Confit Chicken

500 g very fresh organic chicken breast (2 pieces)
2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
500 mL olive oil
1/2 cup chopped scallions

1. Marinade chicken in sugar and salt for 15 minutes.
2. Rinse off marinate and pat dry with paper towels.
3. Heat oil and scallions to 100 degrees Celsius. Watch for bubbles.
4. Pour over the chicken in a ceramic dish. Cover.
5. Cook in an oven preheated at 60 degrees Celsius for 2-2.5 hours.

Can store in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.

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Classic Sunday Roast Dinner

There's no chance of a tantrum when it comes to the classic Sunday roast dinner of stuffed chicken, potatoes and pumpkin served with two vegies. An hour to cook at 180 degrees Celsius using organic chicken and garden fresh vegetables. Thumbs up by all at dinner.

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Roast Chicken for Dinner

Every chef has a favourite kitchen tool. If yours is a good knife you have yet to own, then you can try winning one at Chef Benjamin's website if you register for the newsletter.

Noodle Cook's favourite used to be a pair of secondhand cast iron skillets with seasoning still intact thanks to the previous owner. That was until IKEA reduced their "Made in France" 5 litre enamelled cast iron cocotte to $59.95, a mega 25% savings. At such a bargain price a cheap skase like Noodle Cook has no choice but to queue up and grab. Why wait for a La Creuset or La Chasseur sale? After all, there are only two factories in France making cast iron cookware and the IKEA one probably comes from one of brand name factories. The Kitchen Warehouse sells discount price La Creuset and La Chasseur which you can order online.

There is just one slight problem with this marvellous piece of cookware: Noodle Cook has never used one before! The instructions come with no recipe. OK, you fry some milk in oil to prepare for first use, then what???

It is now up to sly Noodle Cook to hatch a dinner plan for the weekend...

It doesn't take too long for John to announce roast chicken and suddenly out comes the cocotte! John was thrilled with the prospect of cooking with a "camp oven" again, ever since he was volunteered into cooking for the field crew out in the bush. The downside of having John as executive chef means Noodle Cook does the peeling and cutting.

An executive chef cooks to perfection, so a recipe must be found. The first Google attempt returns "Le Poulet de Muriel" by Chocolate and Zucchini, a roast chicken scented with garlic, lemon, thyme and rosemary. An incredibly simple bung it into the oven at 150 degrees Celsius for 3 hours and uncover to brown at 220 degrees Celsius. Before long the Google searches proclaim that it takes 50 minutes per kilo of chicken plus 25 minute at 180 degrees Celsius to French roast a chicken in a Le Creuset cocotte.

Just as Noodle Cook reaches out for the calculator to work out how long it takes to cook a 1.8 kg Mt Barker free range chicken, John interrupts that dinner must be started NOW as it takes 2 hours to cook the chicken his way: it must not be overpowered by garlic, it must have chilli, remove the fat but not the neck, stuff with lemon blanched in boiling water in a pot heated on the stove...

Under intense supervision, Noodle Cook makes one mistake by cutting the blanched whole lemon, intended for stuffing, into halves instead of just slashing the skin which makes the flavouring sour instead of just lemon scented. Like Chocolate and Zucchini's recipe, there really is nothing to the recipe:

1. Defat the chicken
2. Stuff with a blanched lemon
3. Rub the chicken with grapeseed oil
4. Place in the brand new crocotte
5. Arrange quartered potatoes, turnip, and sweet potatoes, and an unpeeled onion around the chicken
6. Top the chicken with chilli slices
7. Season with coarse sea salt
8. Cover and put in an hour preheated at 220 degrees Celsius.
9. Cook for 2 hours at 180 degrees Celsius without peeping.
10. Remove chicken and vegetables to a serving tray and brown at 250 degrees Celsius. Allow 15 minutes browning plus 15 minutes for resting.
11. Decant the fat from the cocotte
12. Use the pan juices to make a gravy
13. Add some plain flour and deglaze with white wine

... and WOW, what an awesome dinner, from a simple chicken scented with intense flavours of onion, lemon and roasted chilli. If there is any secret to roasting to perfection using the crocotte, then it lies in keeping the ingredients dry while letting heat and enough moisture from the ingredients themselves to infuse the aromas.

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