Max's Roast Fennel Salad
2 Fennel bulbs 2 Naval oranges 2 tablespoons currents 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 2 tablespoons pine nuts 8 anchovy fillets (or as many as you prefer) Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Balsamic vinegar sea salt, freshly ground pepper Cut each fennel bulbs into half and then each half into six to eight wedges, leaving each wedge attached to a section of the core. Put into a roasting pan. Cut one whole naval orange into eight to ten wedges and mix with fennel in roasting pan. Season the fennel /orange mixture with sea salt, freshly ground pepper, a sprinkling of Balsamic vinegar and two tablespoons of olive oil. Place in medium to hot oven and bake until fennel is tender. Both fennel and orange segments will have crisp and browned edges. Remove from oven and cool. While the fennel is roasting slowly simmer the currents in the red wine vinegar until the vinegar is mostly absorbed. In a non stick frying pan toss the pine nuts over a medium to high heat until fragrant and lightly browned. Peel the remaining orange and dice the flesh approx 2cm x 2cm. Cut each anchovy fillet into 3 pieces. While the roasted fennel / orange mix is still warm add the warm currents and any remaining red wine vinegar, add the toasted pine nuts, the diced orange flesh and the anchovy fillets. Add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and toss the mix. Serve as a warm salad to accompany fish or chicken. or Serve warm or room temperature with a green salad and crusty bread or, With freshly cooked pasta and a green salad Max's Cauliflower with Chickpeas 1 cauliflower cut into florets six whole cloves of garlic (or as much or as little as you like) lemon 1 can of chickpeas sea salt, Freshly ground pepper, Extra virgin olive oil Fry cauliflower and whole cloves of garlic in olive oil until just tender and nicely coloured. NB remove garlic if it browns faster than the cauliflower. Drain chickpeas and put in blender with garlic cloves, oil the cauliflower was cooked in, squeeze of lemon and blend to a puree. Add extra olive oil if required. Add sea salt, freshly ground pepper and extra lemon to taste Serve with a green salad and crusty bread Max's Roast Sweet Potatoes with Chickpeas & Lemon 1 kilo (or so) of Sweet Potatoes 2 Meyer lemons two or three sprigs of rosemary sea salt Freshly ground pepper Extra virgin olive oil Cut Sweet potatoes in into slices. Cut each whole Meyer lemon in to eight wedges distribute among the potato. Scatter the rosemary through the mix and season with sea salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and roast in a medium to hot oven for approx 30 minutes or until potatoes are done and lemon is charred around the edges. Add drained chickpeas and leave in oven until they are warmed through. Serve with a on a bed of rocket with crusty bread Max's Roast Sweet potatoes with Chickpeas As above but leave out the rosemary and season with powdered cumin and coriander, about a teaspoon of each. Max's Iman Biryani Top up a baking dish with layers sliced eggplant sliced Roma tomato and basil season with sea salt and pepper as you go. Pour over a cup of olive oil and top with a layer of breadcrumbs or a mix of breadcrumbs and grated parmesan cheese. Put in medium to high oven until tender. Serve with cous-cous or rice or bread and salad . VEAL AND PISTACHIO TERRINE (from Susan Bridie) 1 onion chopped 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 50ml olive oil 1 tbsp thyme leaves ½ tsp allspice Salt Freshly ground white pepper 250g thinly sliced streaky bacon 500g coarsely minced pork 500g coarsely minced veal shoulder 250g pistachios, blanched and peeled 250g porkfat, diced and blanched 2-3 bay leaves Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. gently cook onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, about 10 minutes. Add thyme leaves, allspice and season well. Line a loaf tin or terrine mould with bacon so it overlaps and hangs over the sides. Combine remaining ingredients with onion mix in a large bowl. Pack into terrine mound and cover with the overhanging bacon. Decorate with bay leaves. Cover with foil and bake in a water-bath for 1 ½ hours. Remove and allow to cool slightly. Place in the fridge with a 3 kilo weight on top to press overnight. It is important to get the weighting right as it ensures there won’t be any air pockets in the terrine. A chopping board with 2 x 800gm tins on top works well. Remove from mould and cut into thin slices. Serve with pickled gerkins and onions NOTE: Susan uses pancetta instead of bacon Max's Plums & Almond 1 cup plain flour 1.5 teaspoons baking powder 150 g butter 150 g sugar 150 g almond meal one egg Plums - (I use Satsuma plums from my garden) Grease & flour pie tin. / line with baking paper or use non stick pie tin. Cream butter & sugar until soft and light, beat in egg. Stir in almond meal then sift in flour / baking powder mixture. Mix to a batter which will be very stiff. Divide and spread half on base of pie tin put on one layer of whole plums (stones and all ) then dot with the remaining batter. Do worry if there are a few gaps with plums showing through. Bake at 180 until it starts to shrink at the sides and the top is brown and firm, about 45 to 50 min, but watch carefully and cover with a loose sheet of foil if it looks like it is starting to burn on top. Serve warm or room temp. Max's Plum Custard pie (with thanks to Marion Halligan) pastry 180 g butter 240 g plain flour (200g flour + 50g Almond meal for almond pastry) approx quarter cup of cold water Put flour in blender, chop butter into small pieces and add. Pulse until it looks like very coarse breadcrumbs. Add cold water a tablespoon at at time until pastry comes together. Wrap in plastic bag or glad wrap and refrigerate - minimum 30 minutes. Roll out & line base of greased pie tin, chill again and then blind bake 15 min at 180 degrees, then remove weights brush with egg white then for 5 min to 10 min until pale gold. Add a single layer of whole Satsuma or other smallish plums, as many as you can squeeze in, sprinkle with sugar, 2 tablespoons, more or less to suit your own taste for sugar. Cook in 180 degree oven for approx 20 min, then add a mix of one beaten egg added to approx half cup of cream, return to oven for 10 min or until custard is set. Serve warm or cold. Duck with Plum and Parsnip
Duck breast with plum & Parsnip
As a part of the Shoalhaven Food /Art group a mystery box of ingredients was circulated with the challenge to make a meal using all or as many of the items as possible. You are also allowed to use some common ingredients normally found in your pantry, such as lemon, salt, pepper etc. The box contained duck, plums, parsnips, cream cheese, raw almonds and mushrooms.
This is my effort: 1 duck breast per person 1 plum per person 1 portabello mushroom per person 1 small parsnip per person 250 gm tub cream cheese 150 gms raw almonds Additional: clove of garlic, salt & pepper, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, parsley, rocket and lemon juice Mushrooms Remove mushroom stalks and dice, dice garlic clove. Sweat both in a frypan with olive oil – after 2 to three minutes when slightly coloured remove and place in bowl. Use a hand blender to grind almonds into meal. Add to bowl along with cream cheese – quantity of each depends on the number of people / number of mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper. Aim for a stiff mixture that sticks together and can be spooned into the mushroom cavity. Place stuffed mushrooms on an oiled tray and roast in 180 C oven until tender approx 15 to 20 minutes. Parsnips Clean & cut into pieces, set aside some thin rounds of parsnip 2 to 3 per person, steam the rest until tender. Mash until smooth, with olive oil, salt and pepper, squeeze of lemon juice and dollop of cream cheese. Add the thin rounds set aside to olive oil in the fry pan and brown both sides – ie parsnip chips Duck Season with pepper, make sure skin side is well salted. Place skin side down in hot fry pan or on/under grill, until skin is well browned and crisp about four minutes . Turn over and brown the flesh side 3 to 4 minutes, extra if you want well done. Remove, put covered in warm place to rest. Add slices of plum to the pan/grill, turning once, until hot. Assembly Place some rocket leaves on plate, slice duck breast into 1.5 to 2 cm slices and place on rocket, put plum slices on or beside duck. Add to one side 2 tablespoons of parsnip mash and decorate with parsnip chips and one almond /cheese stuffed mushroom. Add a drizzle of olive oil and a couple of drops of balsamic vinegar and chopped parsley. 3 Course Meal: Also decided that it could be made into a three course meal by making extra stuffed mushrooms (3 per person) and for dessert making Max's Plum Custard Pie (see above) modified by adding cream cheese to the cream and egg custard. Rice Pudding* with Quince and Rose Petal Jam
*With thanks to Joy Najar’s Modern Lebanese Cooking 1 lt milk 200 ml cold water 100 g short grain rice 120 g sugar 2 tbl rose petal water Rose petals or small fresh eatable flowers e.g. rosemary, violets Heat milk and water almost to boiling point then add rice and simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent rice from sticking to the base of the pan. When mixture is thick and creamy, add the sugar and stir over heat for five minutes, Add Rose water, allow to cool then put rice in a large glass bowl and refrigerate. Quince – 2 ways 1 kg quinces 250 g sugar Juice of a lemon 2 tbl rose petal water Peel and core quinces, slice into 1/8th pieces. Place quince slices, sugar and lemon in a casserole dish and bake in a slow oven until fruit has coloured to a deep red . Cool and add rose water. NB Liquid from the quinces can be boiled to jam / jelly consistency and bottled ½ kg quinces 1 tbl sugar 1 tbl lemon juice 1 tbl rose petal water Peel, core and dice quinces. Place quince, sugar and lemon in a pan and simmer until fruit is soft & coloured to a pale pink . Mash to a puree. Cool and add rose water. Rose Petal Jam - Available from shops specialising in Lebanese foods Or there are numerous recipes on the internet – NB if making your own you will need a good supply of red roses that are free of any pesticides etc i.e. home grown. To Assemble Spoon a layer of pink quince puree on top of the, now firm, rice. Lay deep red quince slices in a pattern, on top of the puree. Glaze with Rose Petal jam ( NB if jam is thick, warm until it has thinned). Decorate with flowers. Serve. Beans, Potato, Tomato and Egg with Sesame / garlic sauce 1 kg French Beans, topped and tailed 1 kg small new potatoes 1 punnet grape or cherry tomatoes 6 hard boiled eggs Small jug of sesame / garlic suace Steam beans, Steam potatoes Pile cooked beans in the centre of a round platter, surround with potatoes and tomatoes, decorate with halved hard boiled eggs. Serve with sesame garlic sauce for guests to pour on sauce to taste. NB Sauce can be fairly strongly flavoured depending on how heavy handed you are with garlic – a little can go a long way. Sesame / garlic sauce * *With thanks to Joy Najar’s Modern Lebanese Cooking 2 cloves garlic, crushed (can add extra if a stronger garlic result is required) 1 teaspoon of salt 3 tbl tahini (sesame paste) 100 /150 ml Lemon juice ¼ cup water In a mortar crush garlic and salt to a paste with a pestle. Work in Tahini and mix until smooth. Gradually add lemon juice to taste but mixture should not be thinned beyond a pouring consistency light mayonnaise. Slowly add water to achieve the right consistency. |
Ruby Grapefruit and Prawn Salad
1 kilo prawns Two ruby grapefruit Salad leaves – mixture of bitter, acid, sweet, bite, peppery, crunch, warmth, colour etc Greens are from my garden & include mustard greens, rocket, baby cavoloro nero leaves, rapini, radiccio, warrigal greens, dandelion leaves, beach bananas (pig face), mint, parsley and ruby chard. Asparagus or snow peas or sugar snap or broadbeans whichever is in season. (Omit if unavailable) Segment the grapefruit and peel each segment, remove seeds. Peel prawns, de-vein Rinse and dry salad leaves Blanch asparagus / peas (if using) for a minute then plunge into cold water to retain green, dry. Add everything to a large salad bowl and toss. Just before serving, add dressing and toss again Dressing Olive oil, Lime or lemon juice, 3 anchovy fillets, A very small medium hot red chilli, or only use half - the idea is to add warmth not chilli heat, A very small clove of garlic or again only half – again this is to add a background complexity. Ground black pepper and easy on the salt – the anchovies will provide a lot. In a mortar grind the anchovies, chill and garlic to a paste add the lime or lemon juice then the oil . Add pepper and adjust for any additional salt Max's Rhubarb & Apple pie with crumble topping Short crust pastry 180 g butter 240 g plain flour approx quarter cup of cold water Put flour in blender, chop butter into small pieces and add. Pulse until it looks like very coarse breadcrumbs. Add cold water a tablespoon at at time until pastry comes together. Wrap in plastic bag or glad wrap and refrigerate - minimum 30 minutes. Roll out & line base of greased pie tin, chill again and then blind bake 15 min at 180 degrees, then remove weights brush with egg white then for 5 min to 10 min until pale gold. Rhubarb (approx 6 stalks) Cook with a hand full of berries ( eg black berries, logan berries or strawberries ) plus a half cup of red wine until thick and almost a puree. Add sugar (no more than 2 tblespoons) to taste toward end of cooking Apples (about 6 small ) Core and slice (I leave the skin on but up to you) then stew in lots of butter and a squeeze of lemon juice until tender but still holding together. Add sugar (approx 1 Tblespoon) to taste toward end of cooking. Crumble 70 g butter 80g plain flour 40g almond meal Mix last two items, add butter as small cut cubes, crumble into flour mix until it resembles very coarse breadcrumbs, up to the size of a pea. Then toss this mixture with a 2nd mixture of: 1.5 teaspoons cinnamon 2 tblespoons of sugar 1 teaspoon of Baking Powder Pie Add apple to rhubarb, add mixture to pie case. Both mixture and case should still be warm. (Any left over fruit mixture can be used for breakfast topping on pancakes, sourdough toast etc etc with ricotta) Spread crumble on top and bake in 180 degree oven for 30 to 45 min or until crumble is golden and filling is bubbling through topping at edges. Serve warm with cream and/or ice cream. COUNTRY- STYLE TERRINE (from Susan Bridie ) 700g port mince 200 g chicken liver, minced 300 pork fat ½ garlic glove, crushed ½ tsp quatre epices (this is apparently a mix of 1 heaped tbsp black peppercorns, 2 tsp whole cloves, 2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg, 1 tsp ground ginger) ½ black pepper 15g salt 15ml sherry 25ml Cognac ½ bunch parsley chopped ½ bunch chervil, chopped 4 sprigs rosemary, leaves removed 5 slices of pancetta Combine the meats and fat, garlic, spices, pepper, salt and liqueurs in a container and leave to marinate in the fridge overnight. The following day pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees. Add the parsley, chervil, thyme and rosemary to the mixture. Take a 28cm x 8 cm x 8 cm terrine mould and line with the pancetta slices. Spoon the mixture into the mould, pressing down firmly. Put a lid on the terrine dish, place in a baking dish of boiling water in the oven for about 1 ½ hours. Remove. Allow to cool for 30 minutes. Cover the meat with baking paper, put a firm weight on top and leave overnight in the fridge before turning out. Maggie Beer’s Roast Kipfler Potatoes with Lemon 1 kilo Kipfler potatoes 2 Meyer lemons, two or three sprigs of rosemary, sea salt, Freshly ground pepper, Extra virgin olive oil Cut Kipfler potatoes in half lengthways add to roasting pan. Cut each whole Meyer lemon in to eight wedges distribute among the potato. Scatter the rosemary through the mix and season with sea salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and roast in a medium to hot oven for approx 45 minutes, until potatoes are done and lemon is charred around the edges NB Kipfler potatoes are a firm potato used for roasting and salads Meyer lemons are thin skinned and less sour than other lemons Serve as an accompaniment to chicken or fish; or Serve with a green salad and crusty bread Kuchen Mathiass From Gavin’s mother, Rose. From her recipe book circa 1940 3 eggs 4 ozs butter 6 ozs sugar 4 cups S. R. flour 2 ozs currents 2 ozs sultanas 1 ½ glasses of beer a little nutmeg and cinnamon Rub butter into flour, then add sugar, spice, currents and sultanas. Beat eggs well, add beer, use large basin, then mix in dry ingred. Straesill. 4 ozs butter, 4 ozs sugar, 4 ozs flour can add a little nutmeg & cinnamon Additional instructions : Like a number of recipes in this home cook’s records full instructions are not given*. Rose just knew the cooking time, the oven temperature and what to do with the Straesill. Rub strusel ingredients together to resemble bread crumbs and spread on top of cake batter. Cook at 375 C for 1 hour. * Rose’s recipe with the shortest instructions is a Sultana Cake: 1 ½ lbs S R flour, 1 lb sugar, 6 eggs, ¾ lb buter, ¾ lb sultanas, 1 cup milk. Bake for one hour. Banana & Walnut Bread- extract from Jane Grigson’s Fruit Book This simple recipe is my favourite Banana Bread, because it needs no butter when it is newly made, and for a day has a crust that is crisp and a buttery golden brown. Put in a tin or a box and the crust softens. 125g (4oz / ½ cup) butter 175g (6oz / ¾ cup) caster sugar 2 large eggs 2 – 3 bananas (500g or 1 lb approx) 60 – 90g (2 –3 oz/ ½ cup) walnuts, coarsely chopped 250g (8oz / 2 cups) self raising flour ½ level teaspoon salt ¼ level teaspoon cinnamon or mixed spice ¼ level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, and add the eggs, beating them in well. Peel and mash the bananas with a fork; do not use an electric chopper or processor, or the bananas will become too liquid. Add them to the mixture with the walnuts. Sift together the dry ingredients and fold them in using a metal spoon. Line a 23cm (9inch) loaf tin with Bakewell (grease-proof) paper. Brush it with melted butter. Spoon in the mixture, leveling it out. Bake at gas 4, 180 C (350 F) for an hour. Test with a warm skewer, and give it longer if the skewer does not come out clean. Leave the cake in the tin for 15 minutes when it comes out of the oven, then turn it on to a wire rack to cool completely. When the cake is too dry to eat with pleasure on its own, spread the slices with Brandy Butter. Brandy Butter With an electric beater or processor, brandy butter takes seconds to make (as long as you remember to take the butter out of the fridge in good time). Cream 125g (4oz / ½ cup) slightly salted butter, add half the weight of caster or icing sugar, and a tablespoon or more of brandy. Some cinnamon is also a good idea. If you want to make the butter extra light, fold in a stiffly beaten egg white. Rum butter is made the same way using brown sugar and rum. You can also use brown sugar in the banana bread recipe – but I find it much too strong and dominating. The same with rum. Snapper with spiced pearl couscousMarinate snapper fillets for a couple of hours in
60 ml olive oil, squeeze of lemon juice, 2 cloves garlic finely chopped,1 Tbsp parsley finely chopped, 1 tsp of each of paprika, turmeric, black pepper, ground coriander, ground cumin. Cook fillet skin side down in heavy pan for a few minutes, transfer to hot oven skin side up for 5 minutes or until just cooked, then rest in warm place. Cook pearl couscous in salted boiling water until tender, drain and toss with olive oil. Cook 1 chopped onion in pan until melted (transparent/tender) add 3 cloves chopped garlic, 2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp cumin, 1 scant tsp cinnamon. Cook for a few minutes until garlic is tender but not brown. Add pearl couscous and half a cup of water, cook for 2 minutes add half cup chopped parsley, half cup chopped dried figs and 1 tb sp chopped preserved lemon, black pepper to taste. Serve snapper on bed of couscous with steamed green vegetable (eg broccoli) and yoghurt flavoured with tahini, chopped garlic, lemon juice and pinch of all-spice or Lebanese spice mix. Snapper SoupSimmer snapper head & bones in water for approx. 30 minutes, Remove
head and bones and return any cooked flesh ( eg cheeks etc ) to the stock, add 2 potato chopped, 1 onion chopped simmer until tender then blend to creamy consistency. Add half cup cream, a glug of dry sherry and salt, ground black pepper to taste. To serve: Add one or two cooked prawns, four to six freshly opened oysters to soup plate, top with very hot soup add a tablespoon of finger lime (native citrus) and some "beach bananas" (a native succulent). Eat with sour dough toast, rubbed with a garlic clove and drizzled with olive oil. Apple PieThis pie, made from an old South Australian recipe, is cooked in a deep dish lined with short crust pastry, the original calls for a 8” deep casserole, the dish I use is 26cm x 5cm deep and the quantities have been adjusted to suit. You may need to adjust quantities to your pie dish.
4 large cooking apples (Granny Smith) 1 litre fresh apple juice (or substitute water) ½ lemon juiced ½ cup of sugar 2 tablespoons butter 1 heaped tablespoon self raising flour 2 eggs separated 1 cup milk Peel core and quarter apples. Place in saucepan with apple juice and lemon juice to cover. Use water if extra is needed. Cook until just tender but not falling apart. Drain and cool apple quarters, save apple juice. Cream butter and sugar, add SR flour, egg yolks, milk and 1 cup of reserved apple juice (rest of the juice can be refrigerated as a drink). Mix well. (It will be fairly liquid). Beat egg whites until just stiff, then fold into the custard mixture. Line pie dish with pastry add cooked apples and custard. Bake in a moderate oven for approx 1hour or until set and top is brown. (if top starts browning too fast cover with foil until custard is almost set.) |