The Foodologist

Time for a bit of nose to tail traditional Hungarian food. We got a pallet of lamb in at work last Friday and some klutz at the packing room had put some veal tongue and calves liver on the pallet as well. When my father heard about it, his eyes lit up and he got really excited. Those of you who read my blog regularly will know about my thoughts on offal, nose to tail eating and my agreement with Fergus Henderson and the like that if you by eating meat are agreeing to the killing of animals for food that you realize the importance of the idea that the animal has given up its life in order to sustain yours and that it is therefore important to utilize all aspects of the animal and ensure that nothing regarding that animals life is wasted.

Anyway, my father decided to make a traditional Hungarian dish known as Resztelt Máj which roughtly means ‘Fried Liver’.

So, for this recipe, to feed four as a starter or two as a main course:

500g Calves liver
1 Large onion (Sliced thinly)
Cracked Black Pepper (LOTS)
1 1/2 teaspoons Marjoram
1 1/2 -2 Tablesppons good quality sweet Hungarian paprika (sweet meaning not hot rather than literally sweet!)
Salt to taste (to be added after)

Lard or Oil for frying.

The idea is to treat this almost like a stir fry so it is important that you have all your ingredients ready before you cook and secondly that you have a nice hot pan. Add the lard or oil and fry the onion until translucent but before it turns brown. Then add the liver and stir so that it is nicely browned on all sides. It is very important however not to overcook the liver.

Just when the liver has started to colour, add lots of cracked black pepper, the marjoram and the paprika and continue frying a further 2 minutes or so.

Serve on a plate with rice or cous-cous or just with a couple of slices of crusty bread. Traditionally this would be served with rice but an alternative could be cous-cous (what we used today). Like many other Hungarian meat dishes, this dish is also complemented superbly by a traditional Hungarian cucumber salad.

Enjoy!

I dont normally do this but feel that I should. A friend/fellow gastronomer/talented up and coming food writer, Michelle Toratani has started her own food blog called Desperately Seeking Crab! I seriously urge you to visit her site. She is a graduate of the Le Cordon Bleu MA in Gastronomy at the University of Adelaide and has published work in the proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery on the topic of eggs. She has also presented at this conference to the world’s food media glitterati!

Her site can be found here:

Desperately Seeking Crab

All about food - wild, cultivated, weird or posh!

So, on a Sunday, we normally go out for lunch with my parents to Chinatown and stuff ourselves on either Dim Sum or at BBQ city. However we thought this time we would try something different. Our daughter, Charlotte’s favourite animals at the moment are dinosaurs, so we thought, why not take her to the museum and then go to lunch at the restaurant at the Art Gallery of South Australia which is led by Adelaides own celeb chef, Cath Kerry. The restaurant has been awarded “Best Venue Caterer” three years in a row and is now part of the Restaurant & Catering Association’s “Hall of Fame”.

Diners have the choice of sitting inside or outside and because the weather on this particular day was perfect, we decided on the outside option. There is plenty of shade however so the outside option is still ok during the heat of summer. Inside is nice, bright and breezy and the staff make you nice and relaxed in preparation for your meal. As we waited for my parents, we decided on some olives and bread, the olives from Coriole which were delightful. Our daughter pretty much scoffed the lot!

Helen and I had starters and then we all moved on to mains. For starters, Helen had the Tuna sashimi and I had the beef cheek terrine. Both were lovely, the tuna being lightly seared on the outside and served with a carrot salad and a wasabi. My terrine was made from slowly braised beef cheeks and lentils and was set in jelly and served with pickled onions, gerkins and dijon mustard. Whilst I enjoyed it greatly, my only criticism could be that the jelly was a little hard.

Sashimi tuna, honey soy marinade, carrot salad & wasabi

Chilled terrine of beef cheeks & lentils, tiny French gherkins & onions

For mains, we had a variety of things of which I tried all. I had the ocean trout served over braised fennel with a pernod veloute. The fish was cooked perfectly and the sauce was heavenly. Whilst I am somewhat indifferent towards fennel, it accompanied the dish fantastically. My wife had the timbale of leeks and mushrooms with minted pea coulis. I very nearly went for this myself. For me however, it was a little heavy on leek and light on mushroom, although it was clear that all ingredients had been treated with the utmost of care. My Father had the ham hock which was fall off the bone tender and beautifully finished off although the sauce was perhaps a little ham fisted with what tasted like star anise. Finally my Mother had the lamb and quince tagine which was interestinly served with a coarse cous cous which was a pleasant little surprise.

Ocean trout on braised fennel with Pernod velouté

Timbale of caramelised leeks & braised mushrooms, minted pea coulis

Braised, boned pork hock, sweet potato mash & Cumberland sauce

Lamb & quince tajine on large buttered couscous

We actually found ourselves too full for dessert so opted for coffee and teas instead and overall had a lovely meal. They have an extensive and lovely looking dessert menu but opted to go without and as we werent drinking, I cant comment on the wine although they have a full wine list that is sure to be full of perfectly acceptable accompaniments to the able menu.

Art Gallery Restaurant
Art Gallery of South Australia
ph: 8232 4366

The restaurant is open every day (except Christmas Day) from 10 am until 4.30 pm, with a restricted menu on Saturday.

Today was another really lucky day for me. Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) had a chefs table lunch at one of my favourite restaurants in the world ‘Spice Kitchen’ and were catered for by the lovely hosts Ragini and Sujoy Dey. I have known Ragini through the Food Media Club of Australia for a little while now and her lovely demeanor and extreme knowledge of Indian food make any visit with her both pleasurable and insightful.

Anyway, the purpose of the lunch was to raise awareness of goat meat and so Ragini devised a beautiful menu to highlight the wonderful qualities of goat meat. During her talk, she raised the point that whilst 70% of Indians were vegetarians, goat was the favourite meat of Indians. In Australia, the consumption of goat meat falls way behind that of Beef, Chicken, Lamb, Pork and other conventional meats but is slowly growing in popularity. The majority of goat meat in Australia is produced from wild goats although there are a number of dedicated goat producers who are now starting to produce grain fed goat meat which is not as dry and chewy as its wild counterparts. All the dishes were matched with wines from Fox Creek winery and a wonderful time was had by all.

I apologise for the state of the pictures. I (stupidly) did not bring a flash but luckily had the 50mm 1.4 which meant I could shoot without flash but had to settle for extreme depth of field which looks like I was trying to be too cool with my pictures. Anyway, enjoy!

Appetiser
Hyderabadi Goat Shank baked Kababs with toasted ’sheermal’ bread

Entree
For the Tandoor “Sheekh Kabab” Goat Loin Cutlets and Keema Naan

Main Course
Rogan Josh Two Ways
Shoulder of Goat Curry with ground goat meat balls in tomato ginger gravy with Goat ‘Biriyani’ Basmati rice cooked in a goat spare rib stock

Dessert
‘Bones of Goat’

The Sponsors for todays lunch were:
P&D Exports (Goat)
Fox Creek Wines (Wine)
Fosters Group (Beer)

If you either live in Adelaide or are travelling to Adelaide and would like to try the wonderful food of Ragini Dey, please contact the Spice Kitchen on the details below and tell her that Dr George sent you. You will certainly have a wonderful time.

Dhaba @ The Spice Kitchen
www.spicekitchen.com.au

242 Kensington Road
Kensington Park, SA 5068, Australia
+61 8 8331 8667

Open Mon,Sat-Sun 6pm-10pm; Tue-Fri 12pm-10pm

This week I decided to cook one of my favourite dishes, or at least attempt to get something close to it. Having never been to France (yet!), I have always loved whenever I have had the chance to eat the famous Provencal fish stew known as Bouillabaisse. Here in Australia, we dont have the same fish that one can get on the other side of the world, however I knew that the key to getting a great result out of this dish is to make a great stock. For my version, I used a 1kg Snapper head which is popular here for making beautiful asian style fish curries. It gives a rich fish flavour that is subtle and not overpowering and yet is not something that I would describe as particularly ‘fishy’. This recipe is heavily influenced by that given by the great American chef and food writer Anthony Bourdain and the full and likely ‘better’ recipe can be accessed in his book, ‘Les Halles cookbook’. Whilst I consider him one of the most entertaining of the modern day food writers or gastronomes, this cookbook is one of the few in my collection that I use a lot. His approach is simple and honest and his writing style begs you to try many of his recipes. I would urge anyone who reads this to take a look at his book and try some of his recipes. I certainly found it to be a great ‘gateway’ to the initially overwhelming cuisine of France and he has whetted my apetite for more.

Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients:

For the Stock:
1kg Fish bones (I used a 1kg Snapper head)
2 Carrots finely diced
1 Leek finely chopped
1 Bulb Fennel finely chopped
2 Small Onions finely chopped
4 cloves of Garlic finely diced
3 Tomatoes finely chopped
1 Bouquet Garni
1 small pinch Saffron
1/2 glass Pernod
Olive Oil

For the Aioli:
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 small pinch saffron
1 egg yolk
Juice from half a lemon
1/2 cup olive oil

For the Soup:
3 smallish potatoes
150g Raw peeled prawns
150g Fish fillet (I used Ling fish)
4 Moreton Bay Bug Tails
Traditionally you should use a range of different fish and should also include shellfish such as mussels and clams and you can even use Lobster tail if you wish. In my version, I just used the items above as I was just serving me and my family for a Saturday lunch.

1 Baguette cut into slices.

Method:

In a large saucepan, heat the oil and fry the garlic, onions, leek, fennel, carrots for four or five minutes until the onions and fennel become transluscent. Add the tomatoes and cook for another five minutes until they start to release some of their water. Then add the fish bones or head and cook for five to ten minutes. Then add the pernod and cook another five or so minutes and add the saffron and cover with water. Add the bouquet garni and slowly simmer for around one hour. Strain the stock into another saucepan ensuring you push all the ‘hard’ contents in the strainer with the back of a soup ladle to ensure you get every last drop of the tasty liquor. Set aside and keep warm.

During this time you can make the garlic aioli. Here, I blended the garlic and the salt until pureed and mixed the egg yolk with the saffron and added it to the garlic. Puree for around twenty seconds. Then start to add the oil, little by little starting with just a few drops to ensure it mixes fully with the egg yolk and garlic. As you start to add more, you can add it in larger amounts whilst continuing to blend. Finally add the lemon juice and blend for another twenty or seconds or so until it reaches the consistency of mayonnaise.

Peel and cut the potatoes into ‘chunks’ and boil separately until barely cooked. Strain and set aside.

Toast the baguette slices either in a toaster or under a griller or salamander until crisp and brown.

Now, it is time to finish the dish. Into the simmering stock, add the fish and bug tails and potatoes and simmer for five minutes. Then add the prawns and if using shellfish and simmer for another four minutes. Using a spoon place the ‘hard’ contents into serving bowls and then ladle over the delicious stock. Serve with toasted baguette slices and garlic aioli.

Enjoy.

These pics were sent to me by a friend in Canada and are of coffee’s in Vancouver.

I dont know if she took these pictures or whether she got them from someone else.

Anyway…I love them.

This is a little exercise that I recently undertook as a result of numerous BBQ books urging me to stick a half empty can of beer up a chicken’s butt and smoke it (well kind of)!

Beer can chicken is something that I first heard about from Steve Raichlen’s BBQ Bible books but I see it now in Aussie publications, most notably Kim Terakes’ recent book, ‘The Great Aussie Barbie Cookbook’ but I have not heard of anyone making it and my mentioning it to other people has resulted in blank stares as though I was some crazed, meat eating fundamentalist (maybe….just maybe I am!). The principle is that by putting a canister of liquid inside the bird, the steam created keeps the meat moist throughout the cooking process whilst still allowing the skin to crisp on the outside whilst also allowing the liquid from the can to also flavour the meat. It can also be done in the oven but the recipe I used also called for the use of smoke which adds another flavour dimension. This recipe was the basic beer can chicken recipe from Steve Raichlens book (imaginatively titled!): Beer Can Chicken.

So for this recipe, you need:

Ingredients.
1 Chicken (preferably corn fed or organic)
1 Can of Beer (I used Carlton draught in this exercise only because I couldn’t find a suitable Coopers (local South Australian brew) equivalent but you can also use any other type of liquid you can think of. I am thinking of using Coca cola for the next ‘chook’ I cook like this).
Spice Rub (see attached recipe)
Vegetable Oil

Optional Extras
Smoke pellets or Wood chips
Beer can chicken stand
Extra beer (to taste!)

Spice Rub
1/4 cup Salt
1/4 cup Paprika
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 tbspns Ground Black Pepper

Method
First make the spice rub by putting all the rub ingredients into a large bowl and mix well. The next step in this recipe is the reason why I like this recipe so much. So first, you open the can of beer and drink half of it. And here lies the only problem with the recipe, you can only drink half of the can! This is the reason for the extra beer (for consumption during the preparation, cooking and eating of the chicken)! Then you place the can into the beer can chicken stand which will provide a stable platform for the can and the chicken during cooking and put 1 or 2 teaspoons of rub into the beer and sprinkle 1 teaspoon of rub inside the chicken and rub it into the inside of the chicken (pic 1). After this, you rub a little vegetable oil ALL over the chicken and place the chicken over the beer can and onto the stand (pic 2). Sprinkle the spice rub over the chicken and ensure that the chicken is evenly coated all over with the spice rub (pic 3). I use a four burner gas BBQ with an in built smoke box so for my BBQ, I then set the two outside burners to low and also turn on the burner for the smoke box. In this case I used Jack Daniels smoke pellets (pic 4) but you can just as easily use soaked wood chips (use according to manufacturers instructions. I waited until the temperature gauge on the outside of my BBQ reached 180 degrees centigrade and then added the smoke pellets. To test for doneness, I use an internal thermometer which I either stick down into the centre of the breast or down through the thick part of the thigh (pic 5). This is connected by a wire to a box outside the BBQ and allows me to monitor the internal temperature of the chicken without having to constantly open the lid of the BBQ. Then I simply put the chicken with the temperature probe into the BBQ and shut the lid and essentially wait until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches around 80 degrees centigrade. During the cooking process, the only ‘technical’ thing you need to do is ensure that the temperature of the BBQ or oven is maintained at 180 degrees centigrade. Other than that you will have just over an hour to drink some beer before serving up the chicken.

I actually carved the chicken whilst it was still on the can and as in my case the chicken was stable because of the beer can chicken stand. Without one of these, I would recommend you remove the can before carving, taking care as the liquid inside the can will be very very hot. I served the chicken with a simple green salad and a bottle of Rymill 2007 Sauvignon Blanc (although it goes perfectly well with more beer) and I have to say that it was not only worth the effort but also lived up to all that has ever been written in praise of such recipes. Not only was the chicken was perfectly cooked through but all the meat was moist and delicious. The spice rub gave the recipe not only a needed salty taste but with the simple spice blend gave the chicken complementary flavours which when combined with the effects of the smoke were simply divine.

Pic 1.

Pic 2.

Pic 3.

Pic 4.

Pic 5.

Pic 6.

Sometimes, when you are in the right place at the right time, you get to experience something that is truly special. These one off occasions do not come along very often but when they do, you hold on to those experiences forever. This was one such experience. Admittedly, I was not ready for it. I didn’t have a camera with me at the time, but I managed to get a couple of pictures from someone else to share with you. On this particular occasion, it was a special degustation menu that was put on for a dinner held by Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) at Pipers of Penola restaurant in Penola, South Australia.

It was a five course celebration of meat that brought to light some of the fantastic meat products that are being produced all around the south east of South Australia, an area that geographically includes the Coonawarra, well known throughout the world for producing some truly wonderful wines and the Limestone Coast, an area of land that is quickly becoming known for producing high quality produce of all varieties. On this occasion however, we (being a group of chefs, food professionals and food media) were to sample some of the prize winning meat that is produced in the area.

The menu for the evening was as follows:

Mayura Station Beef consommé braised marrow and beef dumplings served with N/V Rymill, Coonawarra ‘The Bee’s Knees’ Sparkling Red
(NO PHOTO SORRY!)
This was the perfect way to start what was predominantly a meat dinner. The beef consommé was rich and hearty with deep savoury flavours and a crisp clean finish. The marrow and beef dumplings were wonderfully light a fluffy and to the credit of the chef and the amazement of my fellow diners, the held well in the liquid for something that melted as soon as it entered the mouth. The Sparkling Red supported the dish, the sparkling element reinforcing the rich yet crisp mouthfeel of the consommé and cutting the soft unctuousness of the dumplings.

Mayura Station Beef carpaccio, sauce gribiche, crisp potatoes and local olive oil served with 2006 Rymill, Coonawarra ‘The Yearling’ Cabernet Sauvignon
This dish showed off beautifully the marbling characteristics that define Wagyu. Wagyu beef is probably one of the best ways to go with carpaccio. The fat provided a full and rich mouthfeel but with its melting point being much lower than that of standard conventional beef, it was not cloying or tacky on the mouth. The fat was effectively cut by the sauce gribiche and the olive oil provided grassy notes that went well with the beef. The Rymill Cabernet Sauvignon was a big wine but did not overpower the sublety of the dish.

Limestone Coast Lamb, Champvallon, white bean puree, medium rare roasted backstrap and jus served with 2004 Rymill, Coonawarra ‘mc2’ Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc
The lamb provided a flavourful break from the first two beef dishes with its characteristic sweetness and grassy flavour being perfectly matched with the earthy flavours from the white bean puree. The wine was an interesting blend, the combination of the three grapes providing a flavour that was distinct from any of its individual constituents. This wine according to the wine maker would go with just about any dish but it complemented this dish beautifully.

Terra Rossa rare skirt steak, crisp beef croquets, green beans with Roquefort and slivered almonds served with 2004 Rymill, Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon
Whilst the Terra Rossa skirt steak had great flavour and was acceptably tender, for me it was the beef croquets and the green beans with Roquefort and slivered almonds that really did it for me. The croquets were soft, rich and unctuous on the inside and crisp and flavourful on the outside and the beans were perfectly cooked with just a small amount of roquefort to lift the flavour of the whole plate being almost used as a seasoning with the slivered almonds providing textural contrasts and complementary nutty flavours. Again the Cabernet Sauvignon providing full flavoured, robust support to the dish but in a complementary rather than overbearing way.

Coorong Angus, braised short ribs with star anise, roasted standing wing rib, roast garlic mashed potato and jus served with 2002 Rymill, Coonawarra Shiraz
Last but certainly not least, this dish provided a triumphant ending to the red carpet roll call of South-East Australian meat heaven. You only have to read the description of the dish to see how beautiful it could be. Slowly cooked beef with star anise which served merely to accentuate the beef, the roast garlic mash was like a little cloud of garlic heaven was delightful and the dish as a whole really provided a showcase ending to this wonderful meal. Perfectly accompanied by the Rymill 2002 Shiraz.

Yeast doughnuts, pistachio, mint, orange blossom syrup and vanilla ice-cream served with 2005 Rymill, Coonawarra ‘June Traminer’ Gewürztraminer
(NO PHOTO, SORRY!)
This dish was great and the person who took the photo’s neglected to take on of this dish because they were an employee of Meat and Livestock Australia and thought it wasn’t so important!! However, it provided a great little ending to the meal. The highlight of this dish for me however was the sticky the accompanied the dish. The ‘June Traminer’ was such a great little wine, I bought a dozen the next day when we visited the winery! It was so lovely because like so many of its counterparts, did not carry the sometimes ’sickly’ acetone like nail polish remover aromas that sometimes partner up with sticky whites. This wine however was the ‘Goldilocks’ of sweet whites, not too sweet, not too sickly but just right!

Tea and Coffee

One might think that a dinner like this with this much emphasis on meat would be too much to handle and too boring for the palate. However the range of different styles of cooking and textures and different flavours attributable to different breeds of beef meant that each dish was a suprise to the palate and like a breath of fresh air which meant that throughout the meal, my palate never felt jaded. Chef Simon Bowen did a wonderful job for a tough audience on this occasion and in my opinion and the opinion of my fellow diners, all successful chefs, he passed with flying colours.

So what did this meal really do? Firstly, it showed off the wonderful meat that is being produced in the south east of South Australia. These brands that have websites are listed below and I urge you to to visit them and if possible sample their produce. I assure you that you will not be disappointed! Secondly, once you try these products, I believe it will demonstrate that the MSA meat grading system introduced by Meat and Livestock Australia is a valid way of ensuring that meat of the highest quality is identified and marketed to the consumer of being of a higher quality. Finally it really shows of the talent and skills of Simon at Pipers of Penola. I have included a link below to their restaurant. By all means, visit the website but more importantly, visit the restaurant and sample this guys fantastic cuisine!

Terra Rossa Beef (They dont have a website but here are a couple of links with information on the product)
ABC Rural
Olga’s Fine Foods Terra Rossa Beef Range (Shameless plug but please check it out!!)

Limestone Coast Lamb

Mayura Station Wagyu

Coorong Angus Beef

Pipers of Penola
58 Riddoch Street, Penola, South Australia 5277
Phone: 08 8737 3999

Bookings advisable

Every two years, a food festival that is the envy of all Australia comes to Adelaide and foodies from the world over attend a dazzling display of exquisite cooking, local and not so local ingredients and foodie discourse. This year at Tasting Australia 2007, a whole heap of celebrity ‘pan-rattlers’ have descended upon Adelaide to showcase their wares and this year Matt Moran of Aria fame in Sydney put on a five course degustation which at $120 per head was an extraordinary opportunity to sample the food of one of Australia’s top chefs and gain an insight into his approach to food and his thoughts on Australian and global cuisine.

Before the meal, Matt came out a spoke about his food and the current state of dining in Australia with particular reference to Adelaide vs Sydney and the subject of prices. He pointed out that whilst Sydney chefs would have higher overheads and higher wages to pay, the cost of dining in Sydney is still way higher than that in Adelaide because people were prepared to pay more for better service and more lavish dining experience. To some extent I would have to agree. I would have to say that whilst some of the food in Adelaides top restaurants is on par with that seen at the top restaurants anywhere else, the total dining experience and facilities within the restaurants is not of the same standard. People might argue that the food is all that matters and in the lower to middle end of the market I would have to agree but it is important to remember the origin of the restaurant in post revolutionary France (other than as a restorative soup from which the name originates) which emerged as the first establishments where diners had a choice of what we got to eat and was a space where people did in public what they normally did in private (for more on this, see Rebecca Spang: The Invention of the Restaurant). It was supposed to be more than just a meal but an event and in order to do this, you need lots of staff. Ultimately, you get what you pay for and it appears that right or wrong, Adelaide diners are on the whole not prepared to pay what their Eastern state counterparts do for a meal.

Oysters with Chardonnay Dressing, served with NV Champagne Moet Hennessy

This was a great little dish. The flavours were subtle and fleeting but nontheless there with the Chardonnay dressing providing a nice little sour note to balance the salty sweetness of the oysters which was accentuated by the Moet.

Peking Duck Consomme served with D’Arenberg Feral Fox Pinot Noir

My personal favourite of the night. The flavours were clean and crisp with the enoki and shitaki mushrooms providing earthy undertones to the perfection of the consomme. Think pure, perfect liquid peking duck and you’re nearly there! The Feral Fox came out looking like reddish dishwashing water but was adequately matched to the dish.

Scampi with Celeriac and Scampi Bisque, served with Coldstream Hills Chardonnay

This was a nice little dish, again with earthy tones provided by the celeriac with the scampli and accompanying bisque providing a beautiful sweet seafood taste even more exquisite than that of lobster. The salmon eggs gave a nice little crunch to the dish and the addition of crab to the celeriac added a nice little extra dimension to the dish. The wine was good and perfectly drinkable but the pairing was my opinion not quite right but overall still good enought not to divert my enjoyment of the event.

Roasted Aged Beef Fillet with Potato Gratin, Spinach and a Cepe Madeira Sauce served with Penfolds Bin 138 Old Vines Grenache, Shiraz, Mourvedre

I know that this dish is listed in the book and he was plugging it on the night (quite successfully too I might add as I look at my signed copy sitting on my bookshelf!), but I dont really know what all the fuss is about with beef fillet. Whilst my favourite cut of beef is Porterhouse (with Brisket a close second), I can understand them not using those cuts for this type of dish but I would have loved to see the same thing done with a piece of Rib Eye. Perhaps its the French influence but to be honest be done with it and add a piece of truffle to the foie gras that was already on it and call it Tournedos Rossini! The extra fat from rib eye would have added an extra dimension to the dish. The potato gratin was lovely and the Cepe Madeira sauce was to die for. The wine match here was perfect although in Adelaide one would generally expect to see a Shiraz paired with this type of dish. For me this wine was just right.

Chocolate Delice, served with D’Arenberg Noble Riesling

Whilst my wife loved this dessert, I adored the wine. You could see the care put into this dish. The crisp, crunchy biscuit base, the light and fluffy filling and the decadent shiny cover were matched perfectly by the vanilla ice cream and candied hazelnuts. Whilst some people might dive into the ice cream in front of the TV after a hard days at the office, this is the sort of thing that Darth Vader would handle after a long hard day. It was sweet…it was wicked and it was great.

Overall, we had a great night. Matt is obviously a highly talented operator and deserves to be in the position that he enjoys today. It was a great opportunity for the Sebel Playford to host such an event and I look forward to more of the same in the future.

Au revoir!

Grilled Asian style Salmon with Rocket and Baby Spinach salad with Carrot and Beetroot

Greetings. It has been a long time since I posted last and thought a nice recipe would be great to bring in the Australian summer. This is a recipe that I came up with last summer and have been enjoying it ever since.

Salmon, like most fish is somewhat delicate in both flavour and texture, it differentiates itself from some other especially white fish by its ‘oilyness’. A common foil for this characteristic is to use acidic flavours to ‘cut the fat’ which is why simple lemon juice is often all that is needed to provide a sharp counterpoint to the oilyness of the fish. In this dish, the Asian style marinade and dressing is a balance of flavours between sweet, provided by sugar and mirin; sour, provided by the vinegar and salty flavours provided by the salt and soya respectively. This approach towards balancing flavours is a technique especially evident in Thai cuisine but is also used in various cuisines around the world. This marinade and dressing in turn provide the acidic foil for the fish’s oilyness. It is a dish that is simple to make and requires very little cooking, just a few minutes on each side in a pan or on the BBQ and the salmon is cooked and the salad can be prepared in 10 minutes or so.

Since my first experiment with this dish, I have cooked it many times to the delight of friends and family. I truly hope you will try it and enjoy it. I like to serve it with Bethany Q wine, consisting predominantly of Riesling but also blended with Semillon to give a perfect balance of sweetness and acidity where neither predominates giving a finished product that is more complex than the sum of its parts.

Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 x 180g Salmon Steaks

For the Marinade and Dressing:
1 teaspoon Salt
3 teaspoon Sugar
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon Onion Powder
½ teaspoon Hot Chilli Powder
6 teaspoons Cider Vinegar
2 teaspoons Soya Sauce
2 teaspoons Mirin
½ cup Vegetable Oil

For the Salad:
100g Baby Spinach leaves
100g Rocket leaves
1 Carrot
1 Small raw Beetroot
1 tablespoon slivered almonds
1 tablespoon pine nuts

Method:

To make the marinade mix salt, sugar, garlic powder, onion powder and chilli powder in a bowl and then add vinegar, soya sauce and mirin. Mix well ensuring that marinade is smooth and all lumps have been mixed in. Divide marinade mixture in half. Place a table spoon or two of the marinade on each side of each piece of fish and ensure all of fish is well covered. Leave fish to marinade in fridge for at least 20 minutes but not longer than an hour.

To make dressing, whisk vegetable oil into the other half of the marinade mixture, starting with a little oil at first and gradually adding more as you go to make a slightly thick emulsification.

For salad, start by spreading almonds and pine nuts evenly on a baking tray and toast in oven at 180oC until golden brown. You can do this in bulk well ahead of time and they keep well in a sealed container. Peel and cut carrot and beetroot into batons and then slice into fine strips (julienne cut). Mix with rocket, baby spinach leaves and toasted nuts. Toss salad with dressing and serve onto plates.

To cook salmon, heat grill or fry pan to high and cook salmon for 3-5 minutes on each side. Spoon any remaining marinade over the salmon during cooking to ensure that marinade is cooked. Serve salmon with salad. Drizzle a teaspoon of remaining dressing over salmon and salad to give fish a nice ‘glossy appearance’.