Pears

Beautiful autumn pears, often seen in paintings. Great fresh or caramelized. Pair well with strong cheeses, honey and mustard.

Caramelized Pear and Chicory Salad
The perfect entree for a French dinner. For each serve:

1 beurre bosc pear
2 t butter
6 chicory leaves
3 slices camembert
1 t pecorino or blue cheese, crumbled
6 cashew or pecan
1 t Dijon mustard
1 t lemon juice

1. Peel the pear. Cut into 5 mm thick slices.
2. Fry the slices in butter over medium heat until slightly caramelized. Remove from heat. Cool.
3. Arranged the pear slices on a serving plate. Add chicory, camembert and nuts. Sprinkle crumbled cheese.
4. Mix mustard and lemon juice together. Drizzle over the salad just before serving.

Read more...

Delicious Tomato Sauce

Simple, yet flavoursome. The key is to extract the flavours by careful frying to caramelize the ingredients.

Tomato Sauce
1 kg fresh tomatoes, peeled, chopped
or
1 x 425 g tinned tomatoes in juice
1 onion, finely chopped
1-2 garlic, finely chopped
3 T olive oil
1/2 t basil
1/4 t thyme
salt, pepper to taste



1. Using 1 T olive oil, fry the onion on gentle heat until light golden brown. Add more oil as needed. Allow around 30 minutes. Add garlic towards the end so as not to burn.

2. Remove the onion and garlic. Add remaining oil. Pour in the tomatoes and fry at high temperature until reduced. Lower temperature and fry until orange oil starts to separate and the mixture is thick. Return the onion and garlic.

3. Season with salt and pepper. Add herbs. Remove from heat.

Use the tomato sauce as a base for pasta sauce like marinara, and with chilli mussels.

Fettuccine Marinara
For 2 serves
300 g seafood (fish, prawn, mussel, squid)
2 t olive oil
1-2 c stock or water
1 batch tomato sauce as above
200 g fettuccine (dried)

1. Heat the olive oil in pan until smoking. Toss in the seafood and cook for 2 minutes until the flesh starts turning white. Remove.
2. Deglaze pan with stock or water.
3. Add tomato sauce. Cook until thickened.
4. In a separate pot boil the fettuccine for 10 minutes until cooked. Drain.
5. Add the seafood to the tomato sauce. Remove from heat and serve immediately over the fettuccine.

Read more...

Potato

The humble potato lends itself to many dishes. Bland on its own, it is perfect for adding flavours to complement main dishes. Here are ideas:

Potato gratin (dauphinois)
Potato boulangere
Baked jacket potato
Potato galette
Potato tart, quiche and pizza
Potato chips, skins and wedges
Potato mash
Potato rosti and fritters
Potato salad
Potato masala
Potato soup
Potato gnocchi
Potato paratha

Potato has high potassium. Water from boiling potatoes and the discarded skins make a wonderful fertiliser for potted herbs.

To par cook whole potatoes:
Score with a sharp knife and microwave 2 minutes/200 g or
Boil for 15 minutes

To cook whole potatoes:
Score with a sharp knife and microwave 4 minutes/200 g or
Bring to boil and simmer for 40 minutes

To bake whole potatoes:
Bake for 40 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius until soft when tested with a skewer.

Read more...

Shepherd's Pie with Middle Eastern Style Spiced Lamb

The classic Shepherd's Pie undergoes a makeover with the addition of exotic baharat, a Middle Eastern spice mix which combines sweet and warm elements, like cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves with a subtle curry aroma from cumin and coriander. The baharat together with lemon zest, and lemon myrtle give the dish a Moroccan flavour. Serve with boiled vegetable dressed with lemon, and crispy minted potato skins as a side dish.



Spiced Lamb Mince
Adapted from "The Hairy Biker's Cook Off"

500 g lamb mince
1 T olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
2 celery sticks, finely diced
1 garlic, smashed
2 T plain flour
500 mL stock or water
1 x 425 g tinned tomatoes in juice
1 bay leaf
2 t baharat, see below
1 T Worcestershire sauce, omited for this dish
1 t lemon zest
1 lemon myrtle leaf
1/2 t salt

1. In a frying pan, add 1 t of olive oil.
2. Render fat from the lamb mince and continue to fry the mince in its fat until brown. Remove the mince and drain the oil.
3. Add more olive oil. Fry onions until soft. Add garlic, celery and carrot. Saute until the vegetables starts to soften. Allow 10 minutes.
4. Return the lamb mince. Stir in the flour and baharat.
5. Add stock and tomatoes. Top with enough water to cover the mince. Add bay leaf.
6. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove cover and reduce to a thick sauce.
7. Add lemon zest and lemon myrtle. Season to taste.
8. Remove from heat. Discard bay leaf.

Potato Mash

4 (800 g) potatoes
1/4 c cream
1/4 c milk
1 t butter, optional
salt

Boil the potatoes with skins for 40 minutes until soft. Carefully slice off the skins with 3 mm of flesh and reserve. Press potatoes through a sieve. Add cream, milk and butter. Season to taste.

Crispy Potato Skins

Skins from 4 boiled potatoes
1/4 t paprika
1/8 t pepper
1/8 t salt
1/8 t mint or thyme
2 t olive oil

Place potato skins on a baking tray. Sprinkle with paprika, pepper, salt and herb. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 220 degrees Celsius for 10-15 minutes until golden and crisp. Serve as as side dish with yoghurt or sour cream.

Baharat

1/2 t cardamom powder
3 cloves
1 t cinnamon powder
1/4 t nutmeg powder
2 t cumin seeds, roasted
1 t coriander powder
1/2 t turmeric
2 t paprika
1 t peppercorn

Mill and store in an airtight jar.

To make the Shepherd's Pie
1. Place cooked mince in a 20 cm casserole.
2. Top with potato mash.
3. Mark the mash with a fork.
4. Dot with 1 t butter.
5. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 20-30 minutes until golden

Read more...

Apple Salad

The perfect salad combination of apple, celery and cabbage with a creamy yoghurt and Dijon mustard dressing.

1 new season granny smith apple, diced
1 c shredded cabbage
1 stalk celery, diced
2 T yoghurt
1 t Dijon mustard
1 T lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 red onion, sliced (optional)
1 T parsley leaves (optional)
salt and pepper

Toss everything together and chill until serving. The salad goes well with pork sausages.

Read more...

Pumpkin

It's autumn in Perth. Pumpkins are in season. Mellow, sweet butternut, beautiful, simply roasted with a splash of olive oil. Unbelievably scrumptious, as an accompaniment to a roast or made into a warm hearty soup.

Other pumpkin ideas:
chiffon pies
sweet or savoury tarts
ravioli
chiffon cake



Pumpkin Chiffon Cake

Adapted from Christine's Recipes

Batter

20 mL (1 T) milk

60 g (3) egg yolks

50 g cooked mash pumpkin

20 mL (1 T) walnut oil (or vegetable oil)

50 g flour (use a mixture of cornflour and plain flour)

Foam

80 g (2) egg whites
50 g sugar

pinch cream of tartar

1. Make a chiffon batter as per instructions given by Christine, following the videos on how to beat and fold egg whites.

2. Bake in a narrow loaf tin (8cmx20cm) at 160 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes until golden and a skewer comes out clean. Do not grease the tin or the cake will not grip the sides to rise well, to almost double in volume.
3. Invert the tin over a wire rack to cool completely before un-moulding.

Read more...

Stuffed Bitter Melon

Due to the bitterness, bitter melon, or karela in Hindu, is an acquired taste. The bitter taste can be reduced by salting first, or blanching in boiling water, and removing all traces of the white piths.

To prepare whole baby bitter melon for stuffing, make a slit down the length. Plunge into boiling water and remove from heat. Allow the bitter melon to change colour. Immediately plunge into cold water. Carefully remove the pith with a knife and scrape remnants with a spoon. Rinse.

For bigger bitter melons, cut into 2 cm sections. Carefully core out the white piths. Plunge into boiling water and remove from heat. As before, allow the bitter melon to change colour before rinsing in cold water.

For vegetarians, try red lentil stuffing using the recipe for Red Lentil Burgers. Season the lentil mix as for meat filling with your own choice of herbs and spices.

The stuffed bitter melon can be cooked a number of ways, typically by frying, steaming and/or boiling. With lentil stuffing, it is best to brown the stuffed bitter melon first by shallow frying before finishing off with steaming, or simmering in a sauce for 5 minutes.

Deep fried stuffed bitter melons make a wonderful snack food, with yoghurt dip, for those prepare to overcome the bitterness to savour the delicate aroma.

A recipe for Thai Pork with Bitter Gourd (Khiew Wan Mara Yud Sai Moo) can be found in Charmaine Solomon's Thai Cookbook. Charmaine's favourite way is "thinly sliced, sprinkled with salt and turmeric and left for an hour, then wiped over and shallow-fried until golden brown."

Read more...

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.

Read more...

Bitter Melons

Bumper summer harvest! Bitter, with a delicate aroma. Ayurvedic medicine claims bitter melons cure diabetes.

To prepare, cut open to remove bitter white pits and the seeds. Blanch in boiling water before use. Use in dish of choice or simply steam, stir-fry or boil and dress with deep fried shallot and extra virgin olive oil. Use as a side vegetable.

A few recipes found searching the internet:

Thai Pork with Bitter Gourd - aromatic coriander and pork mince stuffed in thick bitter melon sections, deep fried and then cooked in a savoury sweet Thai green curry gravy.

Chinese Bitter Melon and Dried Oyster Soup - a traditional soup cooked in a clear pork bone broth.

Indian Karela Curries - a variety of dishes from masala to curry gravies
Indian Stuffed Karela - a 100 year old family recipe of spiced chickpeas stuffed in bitter melon

Read more...

Salted Mustard Green and Tamarind Soup

Read more...

Cabbage Galette

A warm, hearty French pancake filled with ham and layers of cabbage. The perfect side dish to roasts at dinner, a quick lunch or even brunch.

Read more...

Potato Boulangere

A classic French dish with crispy crust over luscious layers of potatoes and onions cooked slowly in stock at 150 degrees Celsius for 3 hours. Potato boulangere is a close cousin of gratin dauphinois and potato galette.

Read more...

Confit Byaldi

Ever since the animated movie "Ratatouille" which starred a mouse as an aspiring master chef, Joesph Keller's confit byaldi ("French Laundry" cookbook) became a dish for kitchen snobs to serve with flair if visited by the most famous food critic. In Australia, that food critic is Matt Preston of Channel 10's Masterchef TV cooking competition.

Confit byaldi is a version of the French provincial ratatouille dish which comprises rustic vegetables cooked in a tomato sauce. In confit byaldi, the vegetables are sliced, attractively arranged, and then slow cooked (at 135 degrees Celsius) in a capsicum and tomato sauce known as piperade. Traditional vegetables are zucchini and eggplant.



Here is a simple version which can be cooked in the microwave as well. Serves 4 as a vegetarian lunch. By using seasonal vegetables with potato as the main ingredient, accompanied by pasta or bread (including crepe or chapati), this dish suits budget meal plans for "Living Below the Line" challenge.

1 small capsicum, sliced (100 g)
2 Roma tomatoes, sliced (120 g)
2 shallots, sliced (50 g)
1 potato, sliced (250 g)
2 cabbage leaves, cut into 5 cm squares (150 g)
400 g canned diced tomatoes in juice
1 garlic, finely chopped
1/2 t parsley
1/4 t thyme
1/4 t basil
1/4 t pepper
1/2 t salt
2 T olive oil

1. Mix garlic, herbs with diced tomatoes in juice. Place half in bottom of pie dish. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
2. Arrange sliced vegetables over the tomatoes base.
3. Season well. Drizzle with remaining olive oil.
4. Top with rest of diced tomato in juice.
5. Microwave 4 minutes on high until liquid starts to bubble.
6. Bake, covered with foil, for 2 hours at 135 degrees Celsius.

To serve, neatly lift the sliced vegetables onto a plate and fan out. Sprinkle with herbs, drizzle with olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar.

Read more...

Mushroom

Read more...

Cucumber Carpaccio

Paper thin slices of cucumber served with olive oil and lemon dressing. Simple, but beautifully effective salad, achieved with a quality sharp knife.

Check out King of Knives for their range of top brands at discounted prices, from budget Victorinox to Shun and Wusthof. This is the place where the local culinary school (TAFE) sends their commercial cookery students.

Read more...

Beans

Beautiful freshly picked organic beans throughout summer need nothing more than a light blanching, and a lemon juice and olive oil vinaigrette. Perfect for salad nicoise with olives, seared tuna, boiled quail eggs, grape tomatoes, cos hearts and baby potatoes.

Read more...

Garden Fresh Rocket

Some 12 weeks after sowing, the best tasting rocket leaves made it to the salad menu.

Read more...

Bitter-Sweet Ending for Gourmet Bitter Melons

Three bitter melons wait on the chopping board, feeling excited about starring in "An Electronic Restaurant". With Noodle Cook, the "masterchef" at helm, nothing can go wrong in a short 2-minute production. Anyway, there is nothing Photoshop and superglue can't fix.



The greatest challenge is how to entice villainous John to eat them and give the thumps up at the same time. Hiding the bitterness with 100% genuine maple syrup seems absurd, even for Canadian raised John. Also, it'll be a shame to adulterate the beautiful flavour of freshly picked bitter melons in a black bean, garlic and chicken stir fry.

When all seem lost, Noodle Cook contemplates dialing 000 or 911. Hangon, that will be jamming the emergency line when lives are at stake. Instead, after the recent Victorian bush fire tragedy, a space-technology like Twitter leads the way in emergencies as important as getting the worst food critic in home cooking to eat an exotic vegetable.

Problems solved, according to Twitter, "mounties" like Allen of Eating Out Loud eats Rocky mountain piles of bitter melons while singing "O Canada".

Noodle: Bitter melon tossed in saute shallots coming up! This is what they eat in Canada!

John: Sorry, I still have the tummy ache from yesterday. No solids yet. I'm watching the best show in Australia, "Corner Gas" made in Canada. You go ahead!

With belly heaving in laughter at the comedy, there is no sign of the claimed stomach ache. No drama this time, since that means there's more bitter melon for one connoisseur of the finer things in life.

Read more...