Paper Chef #20 springs up even before Noodle Cook has a chance to brag about the success (um, failure) of the already eaten Paper Chef #19. Owen of Tomatilla is back and hosting. Thanks to Kevin for Seriously Good for hosting the the last two challenges.
The four secret ingredients: peaches, cherries, a new discovered herb, and a fourth topical ingredient, "in honor of global warming and heatwaves worldwide: something hot - spicy hot".
At first the ingredients look unworkable in the middle of winter with no fresh peaches or cherries. But then something hot sounds perfect for winter. The challenge lies in creating a dish which goes down well in both the heat in the Northern hemisphere and the cold downunder, something to tempt the tastebuds of this month's judge, Stephen from "What's For Dinner?".
The ingredients selected for the challenge:
.....dried quandong, Australian native peach, a wonderful red fruit, with beautiful seeds often seen in beaded jewellery.
...black cherries in a fruit jam without cane sugar
... a newly discovered herb, so new that a name can not be found even after extensive search in "materia medica" by Terry of Graves Support. This leaf belongs to a trailing plant known for its usefulness as a medicinal herb in managing thyroid disease. It is definitely edible since it comes from the garden of a Budhist vegetarian. The leaf is eaten fresh or cooked as a vegetable, just like spinach.
... the hot spicy ingredient comes in the form of mountain pepper berries from the highlands of Australia. These amazing dark wrinkled seeds berries, which give off a purplish juice, enhance the tastes of poached fruit, very much like cloves and cinnamon, yet at the same time work like juniper berries. When used raw as a sprinkle, the berries impart a hot zingy sensation just like mustard. The zing dissipates on heating. The berries, for this challenge, go in a sauce with dried quandongs, baby figs and red oriental dates (jujubes).
... and the resulting dish, Moroccan Spiced Beef served with fruit sauce, salad greens and a side of polenta.
Moroccan Spiced Beef
500 g beef roast
1/2 - 1 teaspoon coarse rosemary salt
1 teaspoon peppercorn, coarsely milled
1-2 dried red chillies, coarsely milled (or 2 teaspoon harissa)
1 tablespoon fruit jam (with cherries)
Spice crust mixture (see below)
Bring the meat to room temperature. Rub in the rosemary salt, peppercorn and chillies. Let marinate for 30 minutes. Brush with fruit jam. Roll the beef in the spice crust mixture. The oil in the mixture helps distribute the heat during cooking and ensures a faster cooking time.
Preheat oven to 75 degrees Celsius. Cook for 2.5 hours for rare or longer to your liking. Turn off the oven and rest for 1/2 to 1 hour to set the juices. This low temperature cooking, a wonder for summer months, works for cheaper cuts as well as corned meats (low salt versions). For well done, sear the meat in the a hot pan or smoke in a covered wok for 10 minutes at 120-130 degrees Celsius.
Serve the beef in thin slices, warm or cold, with fruit sauce, salad greens and polenta slices. Left over beef converts easily into a thai style salad.
Spice Crust Mixture
2 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon carraway seeds
1 teaspoon red mustard seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, coarsely milled
1 garlic clove, crushed (optional)
Heat the oil until smoking. Toss in the spices and garlic. Saute until the mustard seeds start popping. Remove from heat. This spice mixture is great for dukkah, couscous and polenta. The fragrant oil makes a wonderful salad dressing.
Fruit Sauce
1 cup water
1 teaspoon dried whole mountain pepper berries (or juniper berries)
1/4 cup dried red oriental dates (jujube)
1/4 cup dried baby figs
1/2 teaspoon rosemary salt
1/4 cup dried quandong (Australian native peach)
4 lemon myrtle leaves (or "preserved" lemon)
1 onion, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 tablespoons fruit jam (with cherries)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
extra mountain pepper berries, milled (or ground black pepper)
Bring water to boil and gently poach the mountain pepper berries, dates, and figs with salt and rosemary. When the fruits plump up, add the quandong and lemon myrtle leaves. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
Heat the olive oil. Add the onion and cook until softened. Add the jam and slightly caramelize. Deglaze with the poaching liquid. Add the poached fruits and simmer for 5 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly. Remove from heat. Add the red wine vinegar. The sauce tastes better when left overnight for the flavours to develop. On serving, sprinkle with freshly milled mountain pepper berries for that special mustard-like zing.
Polenta
1 cup fine polenta
3 cups water
1 teaspoon rosemary salt
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
Mix together and microwave for 6-8 minutes until boiling. Stir. Cover. Reduce to 30% power and cook for 10-15 minutes. Cool.
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