Thanksgiving Menu Special

A delicately spiced pumpkin chiffon parfait with wattleseed fig gelee and mountain pepper berry poached apples. Australian bush herbs replace the traditional ginger, cinnamon and cloves. The dessert suits thanksgiving dinners which take place on the fourth Thursday in November in North America, or earlier on the second Monday in October in Canada. General instructions follow.

Ingredients
16 mountain pepper berries
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1 apple, thinly sliced
500 g butternut (to make 1 cup of puree)
2/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon mountain pepper berries
1-2 fresh lemon mrytle leaves, bruised
1-2 fresh aniseed myrtle leaves, bruised
2 fresh mountain pepper berry leaves, bruised
1 tablespoon honey, or to taste
2 egg whites, whisked very stiff
16 glazed wattleseed figs together with the reduced poaching liquid

Gently boil the mountain pepper berries in the water and vinegar for 5 minutes. Add the apple and poach for 5 minutes or until just cooked. Sweeten if required. Chill.

Place deseeded butternut into a microwave safe dish. Add 2 tablespoon water. Cover and microwave for 5 to 10 minutes until cooked and very soft. Scoop out the flesh and puree. Press through a sieve.

Warm the milk gently for 5 minutes with 1 teaspoon of mountain pepper berries. Then add lemon myrtle, aniseed myrtle and mountain pepper berry leaves. Simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and steep for 5 minutes. Add the gelatine and stir to dissolve. Cool and strain the infused milk. Discard the herbs. Save the the mountain pepper berries for garnish. Sweeteen with the honey. Add the pumpkin puree and chill for 30 minutes until partly set.

Whip the chilled pumpkin mixture until light. Fold in the whisked egg whites. Assemble as shown and chill for 4 hours until set.

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A Saucy Fish Tale

Noodle Cook secretly schemes revenge on food critic John, the "secret reviewer", for chickening out of the Paper Chef #11 duck challenge. So when lamb finds itself on the secret ingredient list together with orange, basil and fish sauce for Paper Chef #12, Noodle sheepishly hints what a great lamb roast John cooks...

At dinner, John proudly pulls out the beautiful roast, done to perfection as usual, with a fishy looking mustard sauce. "Lamb is really expensive, but you'll love beef roast!" So there goes Noodle grand plan with John's lamb (lame) excuse. The orange in the meal comes from the sweet potato mash and basil fails to make it to the table.

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Quandong Jellies

Quandong (Australian native peach) jellies attractively presented in shot glasses. A very simple dessert fit for a dinner party. General instructions follow.

To make the jelly, add 1 tablespoon of pureed cooked quandong (or peach) to a mixture of 2 teaspoon gelatine dissolved in 1 cup warmed fruit juice or fruity herbal tea (hibiscus, raspberry, or peach). Sweeten to taste. Pour half the jelly mix into glasses and refrigerate. Whisk the remaining jelly mix to a marshmallow and spoon over the setting jelly in the glasses. To serve, decorate with berries and drizzle over Australian Wild hibiscus syrup.

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Paper Chef #12 - A Celebration Tribute

As a celebration tribute to participants of Paper Chef #12, here are oyster shooters with orange granita and basil seeds sweentened with Australian Wild Hibiscus syrup. The basil seeds resemble caviar. Serve the shooters seasoned with fish sauce (or worcestershire), and garnished with lambs ear lettuce to complete the four secret ingredients of orange, basil, fish sauce and lamb. As shown here, mountian pepper leaves substitute for the lambs ear lettuce .

For the roundup of Paper Chef #12 entries, head to Belly Timber. For Paper Chef #13, check Tomatilla for details towards the end of November for the December 2, 2005 start.

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Noodle Cook's Cuisine Rules Supreme!

Finally, Noodle Cook gets a chef hat. Read all about it!

Meanwhile villainous John the "secret reviewer" continues to wear his crown in the home kitchen. On the other hand, Noodle strives for culinary success on the computer screen.

Stay tuned as Noodle Cook and fellow Aussie food bloggers act as judges for Paper Chef #13, Festive Anniversary Edition, which starts on December 2, 2005. Look for details at Tomatilla towards the end of November. Note: South Park style cartoon characters created using "South Park Studio 2".

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Paper Chef #12 - Orange Basil Seed Champagne Jelly

An exquisite licorice tasting orange juice and champagne jelly. The jelly comprises 2 layers: a honey layer with basil seeds, and a herbed layer with sprigs of fresh fennel and finely chopped fresh lavender leaves. Compared to basil leaves, basil seeds on their own taste bland. The black seeds swell up on soaking in water to white gelatinous balls with black crunchy centres. After soaking, the seeds readily take on the flavours of the jelly. The intense licorice taste of the jelly comes from a combination of fennel seed, aniseed and aniseed myrtle.

This jelly forms the top of the bush tucker lamb parfait for Paper Chef #12. General instructions follow.

Ingredients

2 teaspoon basil seed (from the oriental shops)
2 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon honey
1/2-3/4 cup orange juice (freshly squeeze from 1 large orange)
4-6 aniseed myrtle leaves, ground (or 1 teaspoon ground aniseed/fennel seed)
1/2 -1 teaspoon aniseed, ground
1/2 -1 teaspoon fennel seeds, ground
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
3 teaspoon gelatine
3/4-1 cup sparkling white wine
sprigs of fresh fennel leaves
1/4 teaspoon finely chopped lavender leaves

Soak the basil seeds water until they expand into white gelatinised balls resembling tadpoles. Add the honey.

Warm the orange juice. Soak the aniseed myrtle, ground aniseed, fennel seed and orange zest in the juice for 10 minutes to infuse. Adjust the liquorice taste to liking with ground aniseed or fennel seed. Strain the juice and make up 100 mL with more orange juice. Warm lightly and then add the gelatine. When the gelatine dissolves, divide into half.

To one half of the gelatine mix, top up with champagne to make 1/2 a cup of jelly. Add the chopped lavender. Place sprigs of fennel leaves over the the lamb in the mould. Pour 1/2 the jelly over enough to cover the fennel. Refrigerate for 10 minutes until the jelly is partly set. Add more fennel leaves and pour over the rest of the jelly. Refrigerate another 10 minutes.

To the remaing half gelatine mix, add the soaked basil seed and top up to 1/2 cup with sparkling white wine. Pour into the mould. Refrigerate until set.

Champagne Jelly for Dessert:
The champagne jelly makes a wonderful dessert as part of a cheese course. To complete Paper Chef #12 ingredients, cubed sourdough pain perdu (French toast), sprinkled with sesame seeds to resemble lamington, substitutes for lamb ("lamb-ington"), and whitebait tapenade paste as a spread makes up the fish sauce component. Below is a serving suggestion for the jelly:



Related Articles:

Paper Chef #9 - Glazed Wattleseed Figs
Akudjura Tapenade
Australian Bush Herbs - lemon and aniseed myrtle
Paper Chef #12 - On a Budget
Paper Chef #12 - Ingredients
Paper Chef #12 - Bush Tucker Lamb
Paper Chef #12 - Orange Basil Seed Champagne Jelly
Paper Chef #12 - Sauces

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Paper Chef #12 - Bush Tucker Lamb

A beautiful green marbled lamb parfait with orange basil seed champagne jelly. The dish features Australian bush herbs and spices. The aroma is intensely pernod/anise and citrus with hints of nuts and coffee from the wattleseeds. The dish goes with the whitebait tapenade sauce as part of Paper Chef #12. The recipe follows.

Ingredients

2 kg meaty lamb bones or thick forequarter pieces (shanks are a better choice if budget permits)
1 tablespoon ground roasted wattleseed (or substitute coffee grounds)
1 teaspoon mountain pepper berries (or substitute juniper berries)
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic, chopped
1 strip of orange zest (or orange blossom essence at end of cooking)
2 lemon myrtle leaves (or substitute lime leaves, lemon zest, lemon grass)
2-4 aniseed myrtle leaves (or pinch of ground aniseed or fennel seed)
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley (strong tasting basil is not recommended)
2 tablespoon finely chopped chives
2 tablespoon orange juice
4 tablespoon dry white wine

Blanch the lamb in boiling water and rinse. Place the blanched lamb in a pot of fresh water together with the wattleseed, mountain pepper berries, onion and garlic. Simmer for 2 hours until tender.

Remove the lamb and let cool before picking off the meat. Strain the cooking liquid and discard the pulp. Return the liquid to the pan and boil until the liquid reduces to about 1 cup and looks thick. Add the orange zest, lemon myrtle and aniseed myrtle. Boil for another 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stand for 15 minutes. Discard the zest and leaves. Skim off the fat when cool.

Combine the remaining ingredients with the lamb meat. Season to taste. Press into a lined loaf tin. Refrigerate at least 5 hours or overnight until set. Pour over the champagne jelly and basil seeds mixture and refrigerate until the jelly sets.

To serve, turn out from the tin and slice. Pipe a spiral of whitebait tapenade sauce on a plate. Neatly arrange a lamb slice over the sauce. Serve with melba toasts and a side sauce dish of yoghurt cream. Recommended with glazed wattleseed figs from Paper Chef #9.



Related Articles:

Paper Chef #9 - Glazed Wattleseed Figs
Akudjura Tapenade
Australian Bush Herbs - lemon and aniseed myrtle
Paper Chef #12 - On a Budget
Paper Chef #12 - Ingredients
Paper Chef #12 - Bush Tucker Lamb
Paper Chef #12 - Orange Basil Seed Champagne Jelly
Paper Chef #12 - Sauces

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Paper Chef #12 - Sauces

Whitebait Tapenade Sauce

A very aromatic sauce (with hints of citrus and licorice) carried in olive oil instead of butter, perhaps better called Cafe de Perth EVOO (extra virgin olive oil), as an analogue of Cafe de Paris Butter.

4 tablespoon dried baby whitebait (anchovies)
4 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra
1 strip orange peel
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
1 aniseed myrtle leaf, slivered (or substitute 1/2 teaspoon aniseed)
1 lemon myrtle leaf, slivered (or substitute lime leaves, lemon zest, lemon grass)
4 tablespoon akudjura tapenade (a vegan bush tomato tapenade described in a previous post)

Rinse the whitebait to remove excess salt and dry well. Gently fry the fish in the olive oil until crispy. Strain the oil and top up to 1/2 cup with fresh olive oil. Add the herbs and spices and gently heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 30 minutes for the herbs and spices to infuse.

Mill the fried fish to a fine paste. Add the tapenade and mill. Press the paste through a sieve. Remove 1 tablespoon and adjust with infused olive oil to a smooth flowing consistency for piping. Put the remaining in a sauce dish for use as a dip.



Yoghurt Cream
Drain 1 1/2 cup of low fat yoghurt in a strainer overnight to thicken. Add 1 tablespoon chopped dill gherkins, 1 tablespoon chopped chives, 1 tablespoon fresh fennel leaves, 1 teaspoon tarragon, 1 chopped lemon myrtle leaf. Place in a sauce dish or egg cup.

Melba Toast
Thinly slice (0.5 cm) a sesame crusted French stick and bake at 180 degrees celsius for 10-15 minutes. Brush with aniseed myrtle, ginger and onion olive oil infusion.

Glazed Wattleseed Figs
See Paper Chef #9


Related Articles:

Paper Chef #9 - Glazed Wattleseed Figs
Akudjura Tapenade
Australian Bush Herbs - lemon and aniseed myrtle
Paper Chef #12 - On a Budget
Paper Chef #12 - Ingredients
Paper Chef #12 - Bush Tucker Lamb
Paper Chef #12 - Orange Basil Seed Champagne Jelly
Paper Chef #12 - Sauces

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Paper Chef #12 - On a Budget

The Paper Chef challenge is invented by Owen at Tomatilla. The secret ingredients for this month's gruelling challenge for internet home cooks, professionals and dreamers, as announced by previous month's winners, Mrs D and Chopper Dave at Belly Timber:
Fish sauce, basil, orange, and lamb

Ingredients Selection
Whitebait tapenade for fish sauce...



Basil seeds for texture in place of basil...



B-grade oranges, and finally cheap lamb bones and forequarter pieces at AUD$1.99 per kilo ....



... for a budget of AUD$5.00, together with a bit of imagination becomes what??

Charcuterie, French for pate, sausages, preserved meats and terrine, which makes Russell Blaikie's "Must Winebar Restaurant" in Perth famous, is a great choice for a budget dish. The proposed dish transformed a frugal cut of lamb into a restaurant meal easily costing 5 times more. Although the end result looks simple, cooking took 2 days.

Here it is:

Bush Tucker Lamb Parfait with Orange Basil Seed Champagne Jelly and Whitebait Tapenade Sauce



A pernod/anise and citrus tasting lamb equivalent of the French jambon persille, which is a ham terrine with parsley. The lamb is accentuated by nutty and coffee tasting wattleseed. The dish, which features Australian bush herbs and spices, pairs well with the honey glazed wattleseed figs from Paper Chef #9.
See recipe >>

An exquisite licorice tasting orange juice and champagne jelly tops the lamb parfait. The jelly comprises 2 layers: a honey layer with basil seeds, and a herbed layer with sprigs of fresh fennel and finely chopped fresh lavender leaves. Compared to basil leaves, basil seeds on their own taste bland. The black seeds swell up on soaking in water to white gelatinous balls with black crunchy centres. After soaking, the seeds readily take on the flavours of the jelly. The intense licorice taste of the jelly comes from a combination of fennel seed, aniseed and aniseed myrtle.
See recipe >>



The whitebait tapenade sauce, with subtle fennel and citrus flavours, complements the lamb. The tapenade itself acts as dip for the accompanients to the lamb parfait. The sauce is considered an olive oil variant of Cafe de Paris Butter Sauce, where butter carries a complex range of herbs and spices.
See recipe >>



The lamb parfait is intended as part of a charcuterie ensemble consisting:

Pickled gerkins (cornichons)
Radishes
Fried fish (goujon) or whitebait fritters (mix fish with tempura batter and deep fry)
Pate (mushroom or chicken liver)
Camembert or other cheeses
Toasted bread (French bread or lavash)
Glazed wattleseed figs from Paper Chef #9



The Taste Test
The jellied stock tasted really beautiful, like a cross between a Chinese red braising sauce and a spiced Middle Eastern coffee. The sweet, cooling licorice effect was barely detectable even though overall, in the lamb, the aroma was pernod like. The hints of nuts and coffee from the wattleseeds worked really well with the citrus.

However the parsley in the lamb was a bit too much. The beautiful green marble look could be produced using less parsley and adding ground pepitas (pumpkin seeds) or green pistachio nuts.

The champagne jelly not only look sensational, but the licorice, citrus and honey aromas can only be described as WOW! The refreshing taste nicely balanced the more earthy taste of the lamb. Although, the jelly could be a bit sweeter to balance the salt in the lamb.

The whitebait tapenade sauce on its own tasted delicious like a highly seasoned Thai fish cake with olives and lemongrass (from the lemon myrtle leaves). The sauce sort of removed the gamey taste of the lamb. The citrus and subtle anise flavours also worked well with the lamb.

Overall, thumbs up to a very pleasant combination of flavours. Perhaps this is Noodle Cook's best Paper Chef effort yet, despite another "fusion" mishap with the jelly falling off the lamb. Not bad, for a budget of AUD$5.00!

Note: The quantity of lamb was doubled to make full use of the long cooking time. The budget was for the secret ingredients only.

Related Articles:

Paper Chef #9 - Glazed Wattleseed Figs
Akudjura Tapenade
Australian Bush Herbs - lemon and aniseed myrtle
Paper Chef #12 - On a Budget
Paper Chef #12 - Ingredients
Paper Chef #12 - Bush Tucker Lamb
Paper Chef #12 - Orange Basil Seed Champagne Jelly
Paper Chef #12 - Sauces

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Lemon Myrtle Yoghurt Souffle

To be completed....

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