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March is the month for new-season apples like golden delicious and royal galas, and then from May, granny smith, pink ladies and Lady Williams. Western Australia's apple capital, Donnybrook comes alive with harvesting. Time to look forward to apple tarte tatin with that wonderful buttery, scorched, caramel sauce, baked upside down with pastry.
Apple favourites:
Apple Tarte Tatin
Apple Pie
Apple Crumble
Apple Charlotte
Apple Bread and Butter Pudding
Apple Sauce for Roast Pork
It is not everyday, Perth gets a an internationally acclaimed seafood guru and personality like Chef Rick Stein. Food loving fans enjoyed a close encounter with Chef Rick at an exclusive book signing held on 28th March 2011 at Kailis Brothers, Leederville, surrounded by the best seafood available in Western Australia.
Very fresh NW coral trout with red eyes.
Eager fans, each with multiple copies of Rick Stein's Far Eastern Odyssey, queued for pole positions to win tickets to Chef Rick's show in Perth, on 29/3/2011 and 30/3/2011, at Burswood theatre.
With such a queue, and an over-zealous media contingent, including the 2-minute Noodle Cook, Chef Rick was snowed under with signing. For over half an hour, the queue continued to grow as new fans arrived.
Chef Rick signed with speed, wishing the pen was motorized.
Chef Rick was charmed by his fans. His most devoted fan, who requested a photo with Chef Rick and a kiss, planned to attend the Perth show, as well as travel to Chef Rick's restaurant at Padstow, Cornwall. The people in the queue were envious!
Chef Rick gave seafood tips.
The 2-minute Noodle Cook, as luck would have it, was no match for the journalists and their sophisticated equipment, and was beaten by the clock, when the parking meter expired, to get to the front of the loooong queue to meet Chef Rick.
However, not all was at loss, as on hand to pay tribute to Chef Rick, were Perth identities, Chefs Sophie Budd and Sunny de Ocampo, about to launch Taste Budds Cooking Studio. Chef Sunny choice of cookbook, like most of the fans, was Rick Stein's Far Eastern Odyssey. Here is a recipe from Taste Budds, Quick Chilli Crab Pasta:
(Serves 4 as a main)
You will need:
400 g pasta
4 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 red chilli, de-seeded and thinly sliced
400 g fresh crab meat
the juice of and zest of 1 lemon
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch Italian parsley finely chopped
Method:
Boil the pasta in rapidly boiling salted water. In a big based pan heat the olive oil, fry the garlic gently for a minute, add the crab, chilli, lemon zest and juice. Add the cooked pasta when it is al dente (still with a little bite). Finish with the parsley and a little drizzle of olive oil. Serve with Salad. (For a recipe to make fresh pasta checkout our website.)
Local Western Australian river crabs from Kailis Brothers, Leederville are perfect for the dish.
Chef Sophie Budd is a Jamie Oliver chef. Sophie arrives from Cornwall and has over thirteen years experience as a chef in restaurants and cafes in England and in Perth. Sophie is extremely well qualified, having been a Training Chef at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen Restaurant in Cornwall where she trained the apprentices in all aspects of commercial cookery. She has also worked with celebrity chef, Rick Stein at his seafood restaurant also in Cornwall.
Chef Sunny De Ocampo comes from a family of restaurateurs in the Philippines. He migrated with his family to Western Australia, where he joined Perth’s Parmelia Hilton as an apprentice, and before long, became Head Chef at the Hilton’s Globe Restaurant. He travelled extensively, where he finds inspiration for the international flavors in his cooking. Sunny promotes his "eatgoodlife" philosophy, of healthy eating in a fun environment, through cooking shows and classes, cookbooks and magazines.
For cooking lessons with Chefs Sunny and Sophie, including seafood after Rick Stein's Seafood Journey, check out the following cooking schools:
http://www.thecookingprofessor.com.au
http://www.uppercrust.com.au
http://www.kitchenwarehouse.com.au
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.
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
Quandong Pudding
Adapted from A Taste of the Bush
A bush tucker version of the quintessential self-saucing sponge pudding with native Australian peach, quandong.
1/2 c dried quandong (40 g)
1 c fresh red grape juice
225 g sugar
150 g butter
2 eggs, beaten
150 g SR flour, sifted
1 t ground lemon myrtle, optional
1. Soak the quandong in grape juice until double in size or overnight
2. Drain the quandong.
3. Bring the grape juice to boil.
4. Add 50 g of the sugar. Boil until syrupy.
5. Add the quandong and boil for 5 minutes.
6. Place quandong and syrup in the bottom of 4 ramekins.
7. Make a cake batter by creaming the butter with remaining sugar. Slowly add the eggs. Fold in flour.
8. Pour batter over the quandong in the ramekins.
9. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 30-40 minutes.
Serve with fresh cream.
Quandong and Grape Clafoutis (pronounced klah-foo-tee)
Adapted from Cherry Clafoutis recipe by Joanne Harris & Fran Warde, The French Kitchen
A classic French dessert of soft custard like pudding loaded with delicious juicy fruit.
250 g red grapes
60 g sugar
20 g dried quandong
10 g butter, melted
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
200 mL milk
85 g flour, sifted
icing for dusting
1 t cornstarch
1. Mash 200 g of the grapes. Microwave for 2 minutes. Strain the juice. Discard the pulp.
2. Add half the sugar to the juice.
3. Soak quandong in the grape juice until double. Microwave for 2 minutes. Drain. Reserve the juice.
4. Cut remaining grapes in half. Remove pits.
5. Grease a shallow dish with the butter.
6. Place the fruit in a neat layer in the buttered dish.
7. Whisk the eggs, with remaining sugar and milk.
8. Add the mixture to the flour and mix to a smooth batter.
9. Pour batter over the fruit.
10. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes until the custard batter is firm and golden.
11. Sprinkle with icing.
To make sauce, add water (or more grape juice) to the reserved juice to make 1 cup. Add cornstarch. Microwave for 2 minutes. Serve the clafoutis immediately while well risen, with the grape juice sauce.
Plums grow well in Perth. These 2 varieties survived coastal conditions and limey soils.
Santa Rosa
Medium size, crimson red skin, light red flesh. Matures December.
Laroda
Glossy red skin, yellow-red flesh. Matures January. Low to medium chill.
Plum and Grape Conserve
500 g plums
750 g red grapes
850 g sugar
1 T pectin (Jamsetta)
50 mL lemon juice
1. Cut plum and grapes in halves and carefully remove seeds.
2. Place in a shallow saucepan. Add remaining ingredients.
3. Heat gently until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil. Skim off foam and residual seeds.
4. Boil on medium-high for 20 minutes before testing for gel on an ice cold saucer.
5. When jam gels to your liking, pour into sterilized jars and cover immediately.
Use as a jam or as a base for oriental plum sauce.
Fresh Plum Sauce
1 c fresh grape juice (or orange juice for duck)
2 cm cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1 star anise
2 T plum and grape conserve or sugar
1 t Dijon mustard
4 plums, sliced
If pan juices are available, deglaze with grape juice. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 5 minutes until plums soften. Remove cloves, cinnamon stick and star anise. Serve with pork or duck.
Bumper summer harvest from the garden!
Grape Jam
2.250 kg fresh ripe grapes to yield 1.5 L pulp and juice
1.25 L sugar
2 T pectin (Jamsetta)
100 mL lemon juice
1. Mash the grapes through a sieve. Retrieve the juice, pulp and skins. Remove the seeds.
2. Boil 10 minutes. Skim off foam and residual seeds.
3. Measure volume of grape mixture. Measure equal volume of sugar. Transfer to a wide saucepan.
4. Add pectin and lemon juice. Adjust lemon juice to taste.
5. Boil on medium-high for 20 minutes. Test for gel on ice cold saucer. When ready, the boiling jam looks syrupy with small bubbles 2-3 mm in diameter. Allow up to 40 minutes to gel.
6. Bottle in sterilized jars and cover immediately.
Serve with quality cheeses on crackers.
Grape and Macadamia Clafoutis
160 g grapes, halved and pitted
1 T grape jam
1 t butter, melted for greasing
60 g macadamia nuts, milled
2 eggs, beatened
250 mL cream
50 g (3 T) sugar
1 t cornstarch
icing and ground macadamia for dusting
ice cream for serving
1. Place grapes and jam in a shallow buttered dish.
2. Mix together macadamia nuts, eggs, cream, sugar and cornstarch. Pour into the ramekins.
3. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes until golden brown on the top and custard sets.
4. Dust with icing and macadamia
5. Serve with ice cream.
Baked Custard with Grapes
160 g grapes, halved and pitted
1 T grape jam
1 t butter, melted for greasing
3 eggs, beatened
250 mL milk
300 mL cream
100 g (1/3 c) sugar
2 t cornstarch
1. Place grapes and jam in 4 buttered ramekins.
2. Mix together eggs, milk, cream, sugar and cornstarch. Pour into the ramekins.
3. Place ramekins in a tray with boiling water half way up.
4. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes until golden brown on the top and custard sets.
COOKING IN PROGRESS......
Computer: Computation in progress.... running... running... running...
Noodle: Oops! The computer has been running all night and day. Ctrl Q to quit. What's up?
Computer: Australian cuisine is PERMUTATIONS of borrowed TASTES, INGREDIENTS, TECHNIQUES & PRESENTATIONS from around the world that evolve over time with immigration. Insufficient time to complete permutations. Permutations infinite.
Noodle: That's enough time lost. We'll miss the competition. Computer, check out Maggie Beer and Australian Cuisine.
Computer: Click "I'm feeling lucky" for result
Noodle: Of course! Australia is the lucky country with gourmet like dim sim, chiko roll, pavlova, vegemite, fish & chips, meat pies, roast lamb on mash, damper, anzac biscuits, lamington/jelly cake... and we even eat kangaroo and emu on our coats of arms without being tried and shot for treason. Dinner is getting cold. Let's get this published.
SERVING THE ULTIMATE AUSTRALIAN DISH FOR DINNER....
Click here for recipe
The Great Aussie BBQ Invention
Australia does not have a distinctive local cuisine, unless one considers cooking singeing and charring, in game preparation, on campfires by indigenous Australians, the precursor to Paul Hogan's "shrimp on the barbie", and Australians' obsession to alfresco cooking and dining which features char grilled meats. Perhaps the BBQ attraction lies in the ease of cooking in the "sun, surf and sports" way of life enjoyed by Australians.
Tossing a "shrimp" on a BBQ is old fashion. For a start, Australians are proud of their fresh, uncontaminated, environmentally sustainable seafood. A "shrimp", in more than one way, is really a diminutive of the king prawn, the dominant species found off Exmouth Gulf and Shark Bay, Western Australia. Secondly, Modern Australians enjoy their "shrimp on the barbie" a bit differently to the perception of Americans. The prawns are usually marinated, and most likely threaded on skewers like satays or kebabs, for ease of cooking and eating. Quite often the prawns are butterflied into steaks. Giant leader prawns can be stuffed after scoring a slit along the back. The flavours of the marinate are often borrowed from other cultures, with a skew towards Asian or Italian. Check out lemon myrtle garlic prawns as an example.
Cast iron griddles, BBQ kettles, fancy gas powered $2000 stainless BBQ grillers and smokers are really technological advancements of the ground oven used by indigenous Australians throughout Australian history....
Australian cuisine in the past....
Indigenous Australians migrated over land bridges 40000 to 50000 years ago, bringing nothing more than their bush survival skills to make use of what was locally available bush tucker.
Tastes: Natural flavours of freshly harvested local produce native to Australia. Natural flavours from native aromatic leaves found locally.
Ingredients: Flora and fauna native to Australia. Indigenous Australians consumed kangaroos, echidnas, emus and other wild birds, snakes, lizards, grubs and insects, and hundreds of native fruits and nuts. Bush herbs include lemon myrtle, mountain pepperleaf, and mountain pepperberries.
Cooking technique: Game prepared by singeing and charring over camp fires to aid removal of skins and feathers. Bush meals cooked in ground oven of heated rocks, overlaid with aromatic bush tucker leaves for flavouring, with paperbark cover to retain heat for roasting. Water was added to steam while roasting.
Australian cuisine now....
Cultural diversity imparts new tastes from each lot of new arrivals: British convicts, gold rush Chinese, British "10 pound pom", Italian, Greek, Lebanese, Southeast Asian, Middle-eastern.... Many of these arrivals, like their indigenous Australians predecessor, came with nothing except for the shirt on their back, others came with just hopes of a better life, and a privilege few came with friends in their suitcases. Intrinsically, the migrants brought with them their food habits and food cultivation skills.
Tastes: Traditional from country of origin. "Confusion" of using local ingredients, not used in traditional dish, led to new fusion style cooking. Eventually local ingredients simulate tastes of traditional dishes, or traditional ingredients become available locally through market gardening. The traditional dishes become classic dishes for Australians, although seasonal ingredients, local cooking techniques and presentation may differ from the original dish.
Ingredients: With air transportation, the sky's the limit.
Cooking techniques: A combination of methods from many cultures.
Australian cuisine in the future....
History tends to repeat itself. Ingredients that once were foreign are now produced locally, in a green, sustainable environment.
Tastes: Natural flavours of freshly harvested local produce. Natural flavours from aromatic ingredients grown locally. The combination of flavours reflect that of traditional dishes.
Ingredients: Advances in agriculture made it possible to procure local ingredients previously not possible, like Manjumup truffles, and Tasmanian wasabi.
Cooking techniques: Instead of migrants, the internet and television bring cooking techniques from around the world. Technology and food science advancements made possible haute cuisine techniques like cooking under vacuum in sous vide, low temperature roasting, molecular gastronomy, and cold aging of meat using UV. Indigenous Australians have already invented a version of the combination steam oven, and that was using free locally available materials for their ground oven! A steam oven by Blanco costs AU$2499, while a combination hot air and steam version by Miele skyrockets to AU$5499.
"What is Australian Cuisine?"
Some ask where is the Australian in a dish if there is no native bush tucker ingredient like kangaroo or bush seasoning like lemon myrtle, while others fail to see how a bush herb with similar taste to common herbs can make a dish more Australian. Maybe the answer lies in the cultural aspect: a dish is Australian if it demonstrates the cook and/or diner embraces the tastes from a culture/cuisine which may differ from their own, and hopefully the dish contains some locally derived ingredients to uphold Australian pride?
So, here, the 2-minute Noodle Cook presents, John's gourmet dinner, the humble Aussie beef burger of char-grilled premium West Australian beef mince cooked barbecued on a modern cast iron griddle.
Delicately piquant from home grown oregano, thyme and continental parsley, with hints of garlic and shallot, and a touch of zing from freshly ground black pepper, complemented with a sprinkle of ground bush tomato (akudjura) and native mountain pepperleaf. Served in a crisp toasted, buttered bun with quality WA cheese from the pristine southwest, and a salad, of vine ripened tomatoes, fresh boiled beetroot, dill pickle, wilted seasonal Asian greens, and saute onions, dressed lightly with balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. Click here for recipe.
This burger is the equivalent of serving up several Italian inspired dishes, namely tomato brushetta, and beetroot & onion salad, in a fast food format. The meal pretty much sums up the essence of Australian cuisine as eaten in an Australian home: the British pub food heritage, Australian barbecue cooking, the incorporation of Italian flavours, use of native ingredients, use of locally produced ingredients, and best of all, ease of cooking and serving a meal that suits the Australian way of life. Nothing beats the satisfaction of cooking a healthy meal that is universally enjoyed, even by a food critic like John (the villain in this blog) who normally can't wait to brag about how bad everybody elses cooking tastes.
Laid back Australians, thankfully, do not conform to a local cuisine that never existed in the first place. Australians are happy to cook and sing "advance Australia fare" (to the tune of Waltzing Matilda) in which ever way: we don't care what fare you pay to be on the way here, as long as you share your fare!
Rick Stein is in town to find the answer. He's already concluded "I won't be able to answer it but I'll have a jolly good try." Rick Stein is running a competition to find the ultimate Australian dish. Click below to find out more about Rick Stein's tour:
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