Over the last few weeks I’ve been talking about the changing of the seasons and how that changes the way we eat. This has brought me, almost inevitably to the Sunday Roast. As I sit here in my office on a wet and cold Sunday afternoon writing my column the air is filled with the aroma and warmth of a slow cooking roast gently sizzling away in the oven. The anticipation of a cosy family gathering, insulated from the outside elements, makes it really quite hard to concentrate. I find my mind wandering to how the Sunday roast came about.
To find its roots we have to go way back to 7th March 321 when Emperor Constantine, a convert to Christianity, passed the first law making Sunday a day of rest. Over the years since many rules have been passed, banning all kinds of activities on Sunday, except of course, eating.
Historically Sunday would have been the working family’s only day off and probably the only meat day as well. Everyone was expected to attend church in the morning and so the slap up meal was both the best meal of the week and a reward for being so virtuous. In fact during the Middle Ages in England the Lord of the Manor would provide a roast Ox for his serfs, thus starting the tradition of the Sunday roast.
In the days before ovens in every home, the poorer families would have used the local bakery, popping their joints of meat in the big bread oven that was still cooling down from the early morning baking. They would pick up their perfectly roasted meat on their way home from church.
Thankfully today it’s all a bit easier and the recipe below is the family favorite that we’ll be enjoying in about an hour’s time. Some of you might be curious about the curry powder – don’t worry you’ll barely taste it but it will make an amazing flavour-enhancing crust to the beef fat. Happy Roasting.
Roast Sirloin of Beef on the Bone
2.5 – 3kg Sirloin of Beef on the Bone
1 tablespoon Curry powder
2 tablespoon salt
Fresh ground black pepper
2 Onions , roughly chopped
1 Leek, roughly chopped
2 Carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
3 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 sticks of Celery, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon Plain flour
1 cup red wine ( optional but really good)
! litre of stock or water
Method
Mix all the powders together and spread on the fat layer of the sirloin. (This will make it very crispy.)
Put all the chopped veg in a high-sided roasting dish and sprinkle with the plain flour.
Place meat on top of the veg and flour and on the middle shelf of a preheated oven at 240˚C for 15 minutes per 450g plus 15 minutes extra, turning oven down to 190˚C after first 20 minutes.
Carefully lift the meat off the now caramelised veg, wrap the meat in foil and leave to one side to rest. Rest for at least 30 minutes before serving. While resting make the sauce by placing the roasting with the caramelised veg in over a high heat on the stove top. Get good and hot again and then deglaze with the red wine if using. Let this reduce by half, then add the stock or water making sure that you get all the lovely tasty bits off the bottom. Once boiling, sieve into a saucepan and keep warm
Top tip.
If you have a meat thermometer then these temps will guarantee doneness
Core temperature for RARE 50˚C
Core temperature for MEDIUM RARE 56˚C
Core temperature for MEDIUM 65˚C
Core temperature for WELL DONE 75˚C
Yorkshire Puddings
225g plain flour
3 eggs
225ml milk
150ml water
Salt & pepper
Beef dripping or Duck / Goose Fat
Method
Sift flour into bowl and, making a well in centre, break eggs into it, gradually incorporating flour. Now beat in milk, water & seasoning. Heat muffin tray, with a bit of dripping/duck fat in each, on top of stove until smoking hot. Add a bit of batter to each and place on top shelf of pre-heated oven at 220˚C for 15-20 mins. Serve with roast beef.
Wine Match
Pinot Noir is one of the most food-friendly wines. A signature grape variety in Burgundy France, this temperamental and sometimes great grape is grown in an ever-extending list of counties and regions. Luckily we produce some of the best here in New Zealand. Central Otago is certainly right up there with the best in the world and the Mount Dottrel 2008 from Mitre Rocks is winning the awards at the moment
Passing through the Farmers market the other day, wrapped up against the cold, it dawned on me that I haven’t covered pork yet and since its getting colder now is the time to have a look at pork belly. Animal fat is so often the enemy of the good diet and yet it transfers to body warmth better than any other fat so this time of year is the perfect time to bring out the belly!
Through out history pork was one of the few types of meat that was widely available and affordable. Indeed for many it was the only meat they ever had to eat. What’s better is that pork lends itself to many wonderful ways of preservation, just look at the array of cured and dried bits of pork that are now available to us from all over the world.
That said pork is getting a pretty poor reputation these days and frankly it shouldn’t. It is after all people who choose to treat pigs in the most appalling ways; sadly it’s also us that want cheap meat and can get blinded to the fact that cheap meat comes from cheap production.
Thankfully it doesn’t have to be this way, we are so lucky in the Bay of Plenty to have some fantastic piggeries that are organic and free range and we must really support them whenever we can. To put it simply it is so much better to use the cheap cut of an expensive animal than the expensive cut of a cheap one. By showing our support of good farming practices we encourage more farmers to do what they wish they could do, that being produce top quality product and get paid for their skills. For those that are interested I bought my piece of belly pork from Free Range Farms in Katikati.
So all that waffle brings me to the belly pork, in this case a wonderfully crispy and fragrant piece of perfection, which I hope you’ll try and enjoy as much as we do?
Chinese Crisp Roasted Pork
1 x 1kg piece fresh belly pork, boned but not skinned
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
3 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon five-spice powder
Method
Score pork skin at 1cm intervals, using a very sharp knife and cutting right through the skin. Blanch meat in a large sauce pan of boiling water for 2 minutes, then lift out, rinse under cold water and dry well with kitchen paper. Combine garlic and soy sauce and rub all over meat side of pork. Combine salt and five-spice powder and rub all over skin. Refrigerate uncovered, skin-side up, for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 230°C and line a baking dish with foil. Position a rack in baking dish and settle pork on rack, skin-side up. Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 200°C and bake for 40 minutes or until skin crackles and crisps.
Cool a little before cutting into slices and then into thick fingers. Serve hot with steamed rice and Asian greens or at room temperature as an entrée with a dish of hoi sin sauce for dipping, or use in a stir-fry.
I love the flavour of a good Gewürztraminer with pork and in this case the Chinese aromatics really work, try the Nelson vineyard
KAIMIRA ESTATE WINES and their Brightwater Gewürztraminer
Well, I promised a recipe from the recent ‘One Pot Wonders’ cookschool at Mills Reef and here it is…a delicious combination of red cabbage, fruit and spices which provides a wonderful flavour match with duck, venison or beef. It’s the sort of easy, comforting dish which is so great at this time of the year and, once cooked, any that is left can be frozen for another meal.
Spiced Red Cabbage
Serves 4-6
900g firm red cabbage
450g Granny Smith apples
225g onions
110g butter
2 cloves garlic
¼ teaspoon each of powdered nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, thyme and caraway seeds
275ml red wine
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar
100g sultanas or raisins
Juice and grated rind of 2 oranges
Seasoning
Method
Shred the cabbage finely and toss in the melted butter. In a suitable casserole dish, layer the cabbage, apple, onion and orange rind. Sprinkle each layer with salt, pepper and sugar. Pour over liquidised red wine, vinegar, orange juice and spices. Cover and bake at 190˚C for 30 minutes.
The season for standing on the edge of our children’s sports fields has definitely arrived, and with it the promise of winter around the corner. This gives me the chance to delve into the earliest history of food and cooking.
Once man had succeeded in making fireproof containers (saucepans), soup would probably have been the first beneficiary. Diet no longer had to consist of individual foods such as grains or seeds, leaves or berries, or a hunk of meat charred over flames. Now theses ingredients could be mixed and cooked in water to achieve different flavours and textures.
Over the centuries soup has become all things to all people, from simple food to feed a family cheaply to the elaborate, ambitious and expensive. Soup is one of the few foods that has a virtually unlimited repertoire. Flavours from anything that is edible can be cooked, mixed and mingled; and the end result can range from a clear consommé to a thick creamed soup. This wonderful variety of consistencies suits different eating times, both day and year, and different occasions, the delicate starter to the flask full on the boat.
Over recent years the idea of having a soup pot on the stove all winter has been somewhat replaced by tins in the pantry, and we seem to have forgotten just how quick and simple a soup can be to make. So here are a few simple rules to good soup making, the better the quality of the raw ingredients the tastier the end result will be and don’t boil the life and flavour out of it. Apart from that it’s up to you’re imagination.
When you read this I’ll be standing on the sideline watching Te Puna under 12’s, hopefully winning another game, with a flask of warming goodness in my pocket. I love this time of year!
Carrot, Ginger and Honey Soup
This recipe was purloined from a good friend, Scottish chef Nick Nairn, when he still owned Braeval Old Mill in Aberfoyle. He is now seen every week on the Food Channel!
120g unsalted butter
300g thinly sliced onion
40g root ginger
1.5 kg peeled and grated carrot
2 tablespoons of clear honey
12 teaspoons lemon juice
seasoning
chicken or vegetable stock or water
fresh coriander to garnish
1. Sweat the onion and ginger until soft
2. Add the carrot, lemon juice and honey and sweat for a few minutes.
3. Add water or stock to cover and simmer for 45 minutes.
4. Blend and sieve.
5. Garnish and serve
Hot and Sour Thai Chicken Broth
This recipe is based on a version of Tom Yum soup – a spicy, clear, refreshing broth found on the menu of most Thai restaurants. It can also be made with tiger prawns and is very low fat. This soup is also nice made with Japanese miso stock.
Serves 4
2 skinless chicken breasts (175g each)
1.2 litres chicken stock
10g bunch coriander leaves, stalks removed and set aside
2 small red bird’s eye chillies, halved and de-seeded
1 stalk lemon grass, roughly chopped
2.5cm piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
2 medium ripe tomatoes
3 salad onions, trimmed and finely sliced (including green parts)
50g fresh, shelled peas (or frozen)
50g sugar snap peas, cut in half
1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce
1 tablespoon tamarind puree
Juice of a large lime (about 2 tablespoons)
Method
Put chicken stock into large saucepan and add coriander stalks, one of the halved chillies, lemon grass and ginger. Bring to boil, stir, then cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes to allow Thai flavours to infuse stock.
Skin tomatoes with hot water and cut into quarters, removing seeds, then cut quarters into three lengthways so you have thin slices. Cut chicken breasts in half widthways and slice into thin slivers. Strain stock, discarding flavourings, and return to the pan. Bring to a simmer, then stir in chicken slivers and half of salad onions. Stir and cover, leaving chicken to poach gently for 5 minutes until cooked through. Meanwhile, finely slice remaining chilli (washing hands afterwards!)
Next, add peas, sugar snaps, sliced chilli, fish sauce, tamarind and lime juice to the soup, stir and gently simmer for 2-3 minutes or until peas are tender. Stir tomato in and divide coriander leaves among 4 deep bowls. Ladle hot soup on top, sprinkle with remaining salad onions and serve.
For all those that came to the Home Show Today and over the next few days here are the recipes, Happy Cooking.
Easy Sweet or Savoury Brioches
Makes 12
3 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
½ cup lukewarm milk
2 cups plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted
2 eggs
180g butter, softened
Filling:
¼ red onion, chopped finely
½ bunch coriander, chopped
½ red capsicum, chopped
75g cooked ham, chopped (optional)
Salt and pepper to season
150g cheese, grated
1 egg, beaten, to glaze
Poppy seeds or sesame seeds
Method
Place the yeast, sugar and milk in a bowl and set aside for 5 minutes. The mixture will start to foam, indicating that the yeast is active.
Process the yeast mixture, flour, extra sugar and egg in a food processor until combined. With the motor still running, add the butter a little at a time and process until a very soft and sticky dough forms. Place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place for 30 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 190˚C. Grease a 12 x ½ cup capacity muffin tray. Roll out dough on a floured board into a rectangle, about 1cm thick. Mix ingredients for filling together and spread across rectangle. Roll up into a long ‘sausage’ and cut across with a sharp knife into 12 even-sized ‘pin wheels’.
Place brioches into moulds and set aside for 20 minutes to rise again. Glaze with beaten egg and sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Remove from tins and serve warm or cold.
Carrot, Ginger and Honey Soup
This recipe was purloined from a good friend, Scottish chef Nick Nairn, when he still owned Braeval Old Mill in Aberfoyle. He is now seen every week on the Food Channel!
120g unsalted butter
300g thinly sliced onion
40g root ginger
1.5 kg peeled and grated carrot
2 tablespoons of clear honey
12 teaspoons lemon juice
seasoning
chicken or vegetable stock or water
fresh coriander to garnish
1. Sweat the onion and ginger until soft
2. Add the carrot, lemon juice and honey and sweat for a few minutes.
3. Add water or stock to cover and simmer for 45 minutes.
4. Blend and sieve.
5. Garnish and serve
Gourmet Pizzas
For the tomato sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
1 medium clove garlic, peeled and crushed
450g ripe tomatoes, skinned and chopped
1 dessertspoon chopped fresh basil
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
For the base:
1 tsp active dry yeast
Pinch of sugar
165ml warm water
250g plain flour
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp olive oil
Method
Place yeast, sugar and water in a bowl. Set aside until bubbles form. Meanwhile, make up tomato sauce by heating olive oil in a saucepan, adding onion and garlic and cooking for 2-3 minutes to soften. Then add chopped tomatoes and basil, season with salt and pepper, and continue to cook over a medium heat for 20-25 minutes until tomatoes have reduced.
Add flour, salt and oil to yeast mixture. Mix to form a smooth dough and knead for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in a clean, oiled bowl, cover and allow to stand in a warm place for 20 minutes or until doubled in size.
Knead and shape into one large or several small balls. Flatten with back of hand. Place on greased baking tray, add a few spoonfuls of tomato sauce, add toppings (see below) and bake at 180˚C for 20-25 minutes for a large pizza and 10-15 minutes for smaller pizzas.
Toppings:
- Ham, red onion and mozzarella.
- Olives and mozzarella.
- Smoked mushrooms and mozzarella.
- Pancetta and parmesan.
- Red onion and goats’ cheese or feta.
Classic Lemon Tart with ‘Deinlein’ Lemon-cello Sorbet
Serves 8 – 10
1 Sweet Pastry case:
175g plain flour
40g icing sugar
75g softened unsalted butter
Pinch salt
1 egg yolk
1- 2 tbsp water or milk
Seeds of ½ vanilla pod and grated zest of ½ lemon
6 eggs
175g caster sugar
Zest of 6 unwaxed lemons
275ml lemon or orange juice
200ml cream
Method
Place all pastry ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and process until it forms a firm dough. Then turn out and knead lightly before placing in a polythene bag and leaving in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.
Preheat oven to 200˚C and place a solid baking sheet inside. Roll out pastry as thinly as possible and carefully line a flan tin (23cm diameter). Prick the base with a fork (or use baking beans) and brush all over with beaten egg white. Bake on the hot baking sheet on the middle shelf for 20 minutes. Once cooled, the pastry case can be brushed with melted white chocolate to stop it going soggy from the filling.
Grate the zest of six lemons and squeeze enough juice to give 275ml. Now break the eggs into a bowl, add the sugar and whisk to combine, but don’t overdo it or the eggs will thicken. Next pour in the lemon juice and zest, followed by the cream and whisk lightly. Pour into the pastry case and bake at 180˚C for about 30 minutes or until the tart is just set and feels springy in the centre.
Fatayers
Serves 4
220 strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp dried yeast
100ml tepid water
2 tbsp olive oil
Method
Mix dough ingredients to a dough and knead for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. No need to prove; roll out and place a spoonful of filling in centre. Moisten edges and fold to make a three sided pyramid. Cut off excess dough and place fatayer on a greased baking tray.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 230˚C for 10-15 minutes.
Fillings:
v Lamb, feta and pine nuts.
v Spinach, raisins & pine nuts.
Pitta Bread
Makes 12 servings
500g high grade white flour
2 tablespoons easy blend yeast
25g softened butter
310ml water
1½ teaspoons salt
Method
Make the dough and knead for 10 minutes. Leave to prove, then cut into 12 and roll each into a pitta shape. Bake on greased trays in a pre-heated oven at 220˚C for 8-10 minutes. When cooked, cover with a tea towel until cool to stop them getting crispy.
English Muffins
Makes 8
400g Hi-Tec white flour
1 tsp salt
25g butter
225ml milk
2 tsp dried yeast
1 egg
Butter or oil for frying
Method
Sift flour and salt into large bowl and rub in butter. Warm milk gently in a saucepan to blood heat, then sprinkle dried yeast on top and leave for 10 – 15 minutes until frothy. Beat in the egg. Add yeast liquid to the flour to make a very soft dough. Beat by hand or with a wooden spoon for about 5 minutes, until smooth and shiny. Cover with a large, lightly oiled plastic bag and leave in a warm place for 1 – 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
Knead again lightly and roll out onto a well floured surface to a thickness of about 1 cm. Cut into rounds and place on a floured baking sheet. Cover with plastic bag and leave to rise for about 45 minutes or until light and puffy. Heat oil or butter on a hot plate or heavy bottom frypan. Cook muffins for about 4 minutes on each side until golden.
Soda Bread
Makes 10 servings
900g plain flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons salt
900ml buttermilk
Method
Mix the flour, cream of tartar, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Mix to a soft dough with the buttermilk. Pat into a flattish round loaf and place on a greased baking tray. Mark the top into quarters with a knife. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180˚C for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack. Eat fairly quickly, while nice and warm.
A quick trip to your nearest veggie store will show you that apples are very much in season at the moment. This means that they are not just great value but are also at their absolute best. So bearing in mind that it’s autumn and we’re starting to crave comfort foods, why not bake an apple pie with custard or – to be more upmarket – Apple Tarte Tatin with Crème Anglaise? To be honest they are practically the same thing.
Most cultures have their own recipe for apple pie. However the French version, Tarte Tatin, is recognised as one of the best and incidentally one of the easiest. Like many pieces of culinary genius, the Tarte Tatin was discovered quite by accident. During the late 1800’s Stephanie Tatin overcooked the apples for a traditional apple pie and, not wanting to waste them, she tried to save the dish by pressing a disc of pastry on top of the apples and popping it in the oven. She then turned it out on to a plate, creating a sort of upside down tart in the process (except that it is now the right way up, of course).
To her amazement the guests at the Hotel Tatin in Lamotte-Beuvron, France, raved about the new dish, with its topping of buttery, caramelised apples. The recipe soon became well known in the region. But to achieve greatness, it needed another slice of luck in the form of Louis Vaudable, the legendary owner of Maxims Restaurant in Paris, who was served a slice as he passed through the area. He loved it and immediately added it to his own menu in Paris and what’s more Tarte Tatin is still on Maxims menu today.
Food history is littered with examples of mistakes leading to discoveries of recipe greatness. Usually it’s the need to use everything or sometimes, like the Lamington, it’s just a lack of time to repair the mistake…but that’s a story for another day!
Apple Tarte Tatin with Vanilla Sauce
It’s really cool to bring this out of the oven and turn it over just as everyone finishes their main course. As you can tell from the timings, that means make it in advance but only cook it when you start eating the main course.
Serves 6
6 Granny Smith apples – peeled, cored and halved
120g butter
200g sugar
sprig of fresh thyme
250g puff pastry
Pinch flour
1. Evenly grease the base of the frying pan with the butter, cover with the sugar and then arrange the apples, rounded side down, on the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with the picked leaves of fresh thyme.
2. Lay the puff pastry over the apples and rest for at least 20 minutes.
3. Set the pan over a high heat and caramelise the appless, then cook in a preheated oven at 220˚C for 20 minutes.
4. When cooked, immediately turn over onto a plate and serve with mascarpone cream or vanilla sauce.
Vanilla Sauce
Serves 10
6 egg yolks
120g caster sugar
500ml cream
2 vanilla pods, split
1. Boil cream with vanilla in a saucepan.
2. Meanwhile boil a second pan half filled with water.
3. Mix eggs and sugar until pale and then add boiled cream very slowly.
4. Mix well and place over a pan of boiling water, stirring continuously until the mixture thickens.
The Changing face of the Kitchen
Many of you already know that I’m supported by Fisher & Paykel with the cook school at Mills Reef, which is why last Saturday I had the opportunity to look into the future of our cooking spaces at the launch of the Urbis Design Day in Auckland with Fisher & Paykel’s Social Kitchen, and let me tell you as a cook it looks great.
I know that I’m biased, but the fact is that our kitchens have reflected the social and economic changes in our society throughout history. Go back in time and the kitchen was a large space which handled not only the finished meal but also the bakery, butchery and the myriad of tasks related to daily life from preserving to curing.
With the birth of supermarkets and processed food we no longer needed the large workspace and our kitchens became small and hidden from view. Our easy access to pre packaged processed food meant that our homes could be designed around the social areas instead of the functional ones, sadly that also meant that we lost our handed down cooking knowledge and skills.
Its all starting to sound depressing, but wait, things are changing. As kitchen appliances became more designed and less utilitarian we started to place the kitchen in the middle of the house as a design feature, almost a domestic piece of art. We still weren’t bothered about the cooking but at least it was on show.
So what’s next? Well it looks like things are changing again. With the massive growth in the Farmers Market movement and the Celebrity Chef phenomenon it looks like we are starting to care about our food supply again. This means that the kitchen now becomes the hub of the home, where we all come together to cook, eat, socialize and even work. Happy days.
Which bring me to this week’s recipe; I want something classic but unpretentious. Coq au Vin or chicken in red wine is one of those meals that will draw people to the hub of your home with exquisite aromas. A little trick for you is to immerse the chicken pieces in the red wine in a sealed plastic box in the fridge for at least 24 hours to marinate; this will intensify the flavours beautifully
Coq au Vin
Serves 6
Method
1.5kg corn fed chicken, cut into 10 pieces
125g piece of unsmoked streaky bacon, cut into 5mm thick strips, 4cm long
50g butter
1 tablespoon oil
Plain flour for dusting
1 crushed garlic clove
A fresh bouquet garni of thyme and parsley
½ bottle red wine
10 button onions
10 mushrooms
Seasoning and beurre manié (butter and flour mixed to a paste) for thickening
Method
Heat half the butter in a flameproof casserole and put in the sticks of bacon. When they start to brown, add the flour dusted pieces of chicken and sauté until they are nicely browned all over. Add the garlic, then after a minute or so the garni, wine and seasoning. Once the casserole is nearly boiling, transfer to a pre-heated oven at 180˚C for ¾ hour. Add onions and mushrooms and cook for another 20 minutes. Remove the chicken and bacon and reduce the liquid for 5 minutes. Whisk in the beurre manié to thicken the liquid and bring everything back together and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve with Rice or steamed vegetables.
Traditionally chicken is partnered with white wines, but in this case since the cooking is in red wine then this is perfect. A quick point to remember is that only ever cook with wines that you like, they don’t have to be expensive but you do need to like them as the flavour is going to run through the whole meal. A bad flavour in the wine is not going to suddenly get better with cooking.
As I travelled around the bay this week I couldn’t help noticing that Autumn is on the way, admittedly daylight saving was a bit of a give away. More than that though is the changes on the land, the leaves starting to change colour and fall and the different foods starting to show themselves.
Which leads me to mushrooms, how come they seem to appear overnight? All over our garden, in every damp shady spot they seem to be flourishing where last week there was nothing and it’s really tempting to give them a taste, however a quick word of warning be very sure that it’s edible and not toxic before you do.
When we had a lodge in Scotland we used to look forward to the autumn when the Chanterelles would start to appear in the woods, as a young chef I’d head off with a basket and pick as many as I could find and pop them on the menu that night, That was until I found out that there were some very similar that were highly poisonous, I guess that was the moment when I realised that research and knowledge were actually quite important and luck maybe should not be relied on The majority of mushroom-forming fungi in New Zealand are not poisonous, but it is difficult to identify some species, and unknown fungi should not be eaten.
That said there are some great mushroom businesses in the bay and if all else fails then there are always dried wild mushrooms available in most speciality food stores and even some supermarkets. Interestingly dried mushrooms will generally give your dish a much more intense mushroomy flavour as mushrooms are mostly water and drying obviously removes that.
Open Ravioli of Wild Mushrooms
Serves 4
1 batch of ravioli pasta:
75g strong plain flour
25g semolina
1 medium egg, beaten
1 tsp olive oil
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
200g fresh mushrooms, wiped and sliced
15g butter
20g dried porcini
½ cup Vermouth or dry white wine
½ cup cream
Pinch fresh thyme
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
Method
Mix the flour and semolina in a bowl and add the beaten egg, olive oil and seasoning. Knead to smooth dough. Add a few drops of water, but not too much or the pasta will become brittle. Rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
soak dried porcini mushrooms in cold water for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, sweat off fresh mushrooms in butter until soft. Add vermouth/white wine and reduce. Add stock from dried porcini and reduce. Add cream and cook for 5 minutes until it starts to thicken. Add porcini, thyme and season to taste.
If you have a pasta machine, roll pasta dough through three times, the final time at the second thinnest setting. Otherwise use a rolling pin which will do the job as well except that it might not be so neat! Cut the pasta into 7cm diameter circles. Boil a pan with plenty of salted water, and then drop in the circles. They cook almost immediately, certainly within a minute. Drain and lay pasta on a damp cloth or oiled tray side by side and keep warm until serving. Place one circle on plate, spoon over mushroom filling and place a second circle on top. Garnish with fresh thyme and olive oil and serve with warm crusty bread.
For me a Pinot Noir is the best fit for wild mushrooms, that warming spiciness just works so well on an autumn evening. Try the Morton Estate White label Marlborough Pinot Noir, or if your feeling flush splash out on the Ata Rangi from Martinborough, a bit expensive but right up there with the best Pinot Noirs in the world
Last week I had the opportunity to do a cooking demonstration for the lovely folk at the Mount Ocean Sports Club. The plan was to provide some fresh ideas on seafood. So….armed with some snapper, kingfish and scallops, I walked into a room full of people who have caught, cooked and eaten these species countless times. A bit daunting – after all, no one knows fish like a fisherman, right?
Well it’s true. For those who live in the Bay, we have some of the best seafood on our doorstep. All we need to do is experiment and enjoy the wonderful healthy varieties that the ocean has to offer. The key word here being healthy. So we leave the deep fat fryer in the pantry and explore the simple flavours without all those added fats. The other thing is to try to use the whole fish to extract the maximum flavour. To that end, this dish starts with the use of the bones to make a fish stock. Don’t be daunted – it really is quick and the flavour you’ll get is worth it. Then just follow the recipe for the Bouillabaisse and enjoy.
For the purists from the South of France this dish needs very specific fish from the Mediterranean which, let’s face it, is not feasible when we have such amazing seafood right here. So we follow the basic principles and substitute our local favourites and call it a ‘Pilot Bay Bouillabaisse’ in honour of where this one was caught, cooked and eaten.
For me, the best bit of my time at Mount Ocean Sports Club was after I’d finished and everyone was tasting the fruits of our labours. There was a buzz of conversation around the room. Who’d have thought that the fish they know so well could still surprise them with crisp, clear, healthy flavour?
Bouillabaisse
Serves 6
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion and 1 red chilli, chopped
1 fennel bulb and 1 leek, trimmed and sliced
10 saffron threads
1 tablespoon boiling water
400g can peeled tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 litres fish stock (see below)
500g snapper fillets, skin on, cubed
12 raw green lip mussels, cleaned and cut into 6
12 medium raw prawns, peeled, tails intact
8 scallops in the half shell
2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
Method
Heat the oil and add the onion, fennel, leek and chilli and cook for 6 minutes until soft and golden. Meanwhile place the saffron threads in a small bowl and pour over the boiling water. Add the tomatoes, saffron (and water) and stock to the pan. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the snapper, mussels, prawn and scallops to the broth and simmer for 2 minutes. Stir through the parsley and serve in bowls with croutons.
Fish Stock
2kg soaked and washed fish bones
3 litres cold water
2 medium onions
2 white leeks
2 sticks celery
50g fresh herbs
12 white peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil
600ml white wine
Method
Sweat the vegetables and herbs with the olive oil until soft but without colouring them. Add the fish bones and stir to coat. Add water and wine to cover and bring to the boil. Skim and simmer for 20 minutes. Allow to cool (about 3 to 4 hours), sieve and store in the fridge or freezer.
Over the past few years many of you will have noticed an odd South American product called Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) appearing on our supermarket shelves. You’d be forgiven for thinking that this is a new product. However, it is thought to be 10,000 tears old and was so sacred that religious rites were held in its honour. The rituals were passed down through generations and lasted until 1532 when the Spanish Army killed the Incan emperor and destroyed the quinoa crop while taking over the lands. The conquerors suppressed all quinoa practices and usage but some of the natives would sneak to the higher portions of the land to secretly cultivate quinoa plant. Unbelievably people forgot about the plant until the 1970s.
So why is quinoa so good? Well the answer to that delves into both science and geography. It is the seed of the South American goosefoot plant – a distant relative of silver beet and spinach. It is rich in manganese, magnesium, iron, tryptophan, copper and phosphorus. It has many of the B vitamins as well, and with all nine essential amino acids, it’s a complete protein — like meat — which makes it the Holy Grail of the vegetarian world. And it’s gluten-free.
On the geography front, quinoa is one of those grains that likes to struggle, growing best at high altitude and in poor soils. It copes well with frost and drought and frankly the only thing it doesn’t like is heat.
Quinoa is easy to digest and quick to prepare. I prefer to soak the seeds for a few minutes, before placing them in a fine-meshed sieve under running water. Dry the kernels on a kitchen towel and toast the seeds in a dry, hot saucepan for a few minutes until the water evaporates and the quinoa becomes aromatic, before adding simmering water or stock to cook for about 10 – 12 minutes or until marvelously fluffy with little threads.
It’s official; after 450 years in the wilderness Quinoa has again achieved cult status. The ancient Incan grain has captured the public’s imagination with its mix of nutritional superpowers, delicious flavour and rainbow colours, popping up on trendy restaurant menus all over New Zealand
Quinoa Salad with Roast Vegetables & Haloumi
Serves 6
1 red capsicum, chopped roughly
1 yellow capsicum, chopped roughly
1 red onion, sliced
1 courgette, sliced
1 small carrot, peeled and chopped roughly
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 cup quinoa (pronounced ‘keenwa’)
Salt & pepper
1 cup spinach, chopped roughly
150g haloumi cheese, grilled until golden brown
Vinaigrette dressing (see below)
Method
Roast chopped vegetables (except spinach), garlic and olive oil in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for 30 to 40 mins until golden brown. Meanwhile, wash quinoa with cold water in a sieve and squeeze dry in a clean tea towel. Place quinoa in a pan, place over a medium heat and fry until lightly toasted. Cover with boiling water or stock and simmer gently until all the liquid has been absorbed. Remove vegetables from oven and add to quinoa with spinach and seasoning. Add dressing and mix well. Place in a bowl with grilled haloumi on top as a garnish and serve.
Vinaigrette
Makes 400ml
½ tablespoon smooth Dijon mustard
50ml red wine vinegar
50ml balsamic vinegar
100ml hazelnut oil
100ml avocado oil
100ml olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
6 turns white pepper
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
Method
Place all the ingredients into a blender and blitz for 60 seconds. Strain through a fine sieve.
