Cheats pierogi

You may previously have heard me mention my love of all foods Polish & in particular pierogi, a food I grew up eating thanks to my Grandma. Pierogi are little filled dumplings, everyone has there own version, we had ours with a potato & onion filling. Sadly my Gran is no longer with us & you may find it hard to believe but I am always too lazy to make this myself as I have memories of it being such a mammoth task. My gran would make hundreds so that whoever dropped in not only could eat a few but could also take home a bag for later! To make them involves making the pastry dough which needs to be kneaded for quite a while & then you make little balls (about golf ball sized) which then have to be rolled flat, these are then filled individually by hand. As a kid the most help I usually offered was to take a ball or two & make them into different animal shapes.

So a while back my mum & I had a craving & she being as bad as me at actually getting around to these suggested a quick fix. We used wonton wrappers & those little plasticy wonton press thingies you buy for a couple of bucks from the Asian grocery store. So we made our filling by boiling a load of potatoes in salted water, frying up a few chopped onions in lashings of butter & mashing the whole lot together. We then set up the assembly line. For each pierogi we stuck two wrappers together with water (one is too thin), lay the wrapper flat on the press, in goes a teaspoon of potato, wet the edges with water & press to seal, continue until you have hundreds & all of your wrappers or filling is gone. To cook, bring a pan of water to the boil, drop them in a few at a time & cook until they float or a few minutes each. When cooked, swirl around in some butter until melted & nicely coated & serve with lashings of good sour cream, we prefer Jalna. When you eat them the next day, fry them up in some more butter (yes this is definitely heart attack material) until crisp & golden on both sides & serve with sour cream again. Absolutely delicious & tasted the real deal too, now that I have my ‘cheats’ version, I can see myself making these more often which is very dangerous indeed.

Sicilian Roasted Fish with lemon, anchovies, capers & rosemary

Last night we had this delicious fish from Jamie Oliver’s Happy Days. The recipe called for Brill, turbot or halibut steaks which I’m not sure if you can even get here in Australia, certainly not at my local fish shop anyway so I used some lovely Blue Eye fillets instead. All of the flavours give the fish a beautiful flavour & I found no additional lemon or seasoning was required at all, it was perfect the way it came out of the oven. Also for the fist time ever I actually really enjoyed the anchovies, these being one item I was never that fond of when whole & only coped with when incorporated into sauces, stews, etc, amazing how your taste buds change over time. I served it with a simple baked potato & some salad.

Sicilian Roasted Fish with lemon, anchovies, capers & rosemary

1 handful of fresh rosemary, leaves picked
extra virgin olive oil
4 x 200g brill, turbot, halibut or blue eye tranches/steaks
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 large unwaxed lemons, finely sliced
1 large handful of salted capers, soaked
8 good anchovy fillers
a splash of white wine or prosecco

Preheat the oven to 200c. Bruise your rosemary in a pestle & mortar to bring out the flavour. Add 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil & scrunch together. Pat half of this flavoured oil round the fish, season well & put into an earthenware dish or roasting pan. Lay 4 or 5 thin slices of lemon over each steak, sprinkle over your capers & drape over the anchovies. Drizzle with remaining flavoured oil & bake for around 15 minutes off the bone or 25 minutes on the bone. Now you could splash the wine in if you like. Remove from the oven & allow to rest, like a steak for 5 minutes.

Spring Vegetable Soup

For some cleansing this week I made yet another soup, this one chock full of fresh veggies & even using my very own vegetable stock, the recipe is from Bill Granger’s Sydney Food. The home made stock does make a big difference, especially as this one is full of extra flavour including such ingredients as garlic, parsnips & spring onions. Now that I’ve been good I can safely make some more cookies!

Spring Vegetable Soup

25g butter
½ cup sliced keels, white part only
1/3 cup diced celery
1/3 cup unpeeled, diced red potato
1/3 cup diced turnip
3 cups vegetable stock (recipe below)
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup freshly shucked corn kernels
1/3 cup diced zucchini
1/3 cup chopped green beans
½ cup ripe, chopped tomatoes
1/3 cup peas
1/3 cup parsley, chopped, to serve

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add leek, celery, potato and turnip 7 cook, stirring frequently for 5 minutes. Add vegetable stock, salt & pepper & bring to the boil. Lower heat & add remaining ingredients. Simmer gently for 5 minutes until vegetables are just tender. Ladle into bowls & top with chopped parsley. Serves 2.

Vegetable stock

2 tablespoons olive oil
500g onions, chopped
500g carrots, chopped
250g parsnips, chopped
2 celery sticks including leaves, chopped
6 cloves garlic, crushed
2 leeks, white part only, sliced
4 spring onions, chopped into 6cm lengths
1 bunch parsley, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
4 bay leaves
1 tablespoon salt

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, parsnip, celery & garlic & stir fry for 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and 2 litres of water, and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to a simmer & cook for 1 hour. Allow to cool, then strain. Makes 2 litres. Leftover keeps well in the freezer.

Cherry Tomato, Herb & Chilli Fish

For my birthday this year, Megan gave me this great little cookbook that I had never heard of, The Hungry Girls cookbook. It is a small collection of recipes put together by 3 Melbourne friends, each of the limited 200 copies are stamped, lined with cloth & sewn together by hand & it is truly a special gift. The recipes all look delicious & here is a look in, last night I made my first attempt which was seriously good & so very simple. I used flathead which cooked up perfectly, I was worried it would break up but no chance of that. The flavour of the tomatoes really penetrates the fish & along with the simple herb sauce went well with a simple baked potato & salad. The book was released In April so I’m not sure if there are any left but if you can get to any of the stores that stock it, pick up a copy, it is a real treat & I love something unique, especially when produced by local girls.

Cherry Tomato, Herb & Chilli Fish

1 whole white fleshed fish weighing 1.5kg, filleted & skinned, each fillet cut into 2 pieces
or
4 x 150-200g white fish fillets
salt & pepper
75g butter
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1-2 red birds eye chillies, finely chopped
2 punnets cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons chopped basil
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped chives

Pat the fish dry & rub with a little salt. Heat the butter & oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat until the butter foams, then add the garlic & chilli, frying until the garlic begins to color. Add the tomatoes & fry for 30 seconds, then add the herbs & season with salt & pepper. Stir to combine, and make sure the tomatoes cover the base of the pan fairly evenly. Lay the fish fillets on top & gently press them into the tomatoes. After 2-3 minutes, when you can see the fish turning opaque up the sides, turn the fillets. Try to pick up some of the tomatoes underneath so they end up on top. Cook for another 2 minutes then serve. Serves 4.

Double Potato & Halloumi Bake

Here is a nice recipe for some lovely comfort food veggies topped with lovely comfort food cheese - halloumi, could you ask for more on a cold winter’s night? I nearly ate the whole tray it was so good. The recipe comes from Nigella Lawson’s Nigella Bites.

Double Potato & Halloumi Bake

1 large sweet potato
1 large Desiree or other red/firm potato
1 red onion
1 yellow capsicum
1 red capsicum
½ head garlic
4 tablespoons olive oil
black pepper
125g Halloumi cheese, sliced as thin as you can
ovenproof baking dish, 25 x 15cm

Preheat oven to 200c. Peel & cut the sweet potato into rough 4cm cubes & the potato slightly smaller, 2.5cm as the sweet potato will cook more quickly. Peel & halve the red onion, then cut each half into 4-6 segments, discarding any tough outer skin. De-seed the peppers & cut into 2.5cm squares, and separate the cloves of garlic. Put everything into a large roasting tin and, using your hands, give the vegetables a good coating of olive oil. Season with black pepper, but no salt as the cheese will make it salty (& make water leech out). Cook for 45 minutes, by which time the vegetables should be cook through & here & there tinged with brown. Turn the oven right up or use a grill & place the cheese on top of the bake & put in back in for 5-10 minutes until melted & slightly brown on top. Serves 2-3.

Slow Cooked Shoulder of Lamb with Roasted Vegetables & Shepherd’s Pie

Yesterday I made this slow cooked roast from Jamie Oliver’s Jamie’s Dinners & turned it into a pie as suggested. The aroma in the kitchen all afternoon, not too mention the lovely warmth filling the house was wonderful. When it came out of the oven though I was a little disappointed to find that even after 4 hours my lamb was a little tough & wasn’t the greatest cut of meat – may have to rethink my butcher. Apart from that, the flavours were wonderful & the roasted veggies had that sweet, garlicky flavour from all of the juices, much nicer than the traditional mince meat, bland shepherd’s pie of old.

Slow Cooked Shoulder of Lamb with Roasted Vegetables & Shepherd’s Pie

1 x 2.25kg shoulder of lamb, bone in
olive oil
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 whole bulb of garlic, broken into cloves
a handful of fresh rosemary sprigs
2 red onions, peeled & quartered
3 carrots, peeled & roughly chopped
2 sticks of celery, cut into pieces
1 large leek or 2-3 baby leeks, trimmed & cut into pieces
a handful of ripe tomatoes, halved
2 bay leaves
a handful of fresh thyme sprigs
2 x 400g tins of good quality plum tomatoes
1 bottle of red wine
Potatoes (For Mashing)

Preheat oven to 200c. Rub the lamb with oil, salt & pepper & put it into a roasting tray. Using a sharp knife, make small incisions all over the lamb & poke rosemary leaves & some quartered cloves of garlic into each one. Add the rest of the garlic cloves, the onions, carrots, celery, leeks and fresh tomatoes to the tray, then tuck the remaining herbs under the meat. Pour the tinned tomatoes over the top, followed by the wine. Cover the tray tightly with a double layer of foil & put it into the oven. Turn down the oven to 170c & cook for 3 ½ to 4 hours, until the lamb is soft, melting & sticky & you can pull it apart with a fork. Gently break up the meat, pull out the bones & extract any herby stalks. Squeeze the garlic out of the skins & mush it in. Shred the lamb, and check the seasoning.

To turn this into a shepherd’s pie, transfer the lamb & veggies to a casserole dish, cover with mash potato, add a sprig of rosemary & bake in the oven at 200c for 35 minutes until golden.

Potato Cakes with Smoked Salmon & Mustard Dressing

Another breakfast from Bill Granger, this one from Bill’s Food. As I absolutely love potato pancakes of any description, even the ones from Macca’s when I have a hangover though of course it has been a long time since one of those was present, ahh those were the days! Anyway I thought that I would try this recipe of Bills even though I thought it sounded like an odd combination, you never know until you try right? The pancakes were good but I hate to admit that I don’t think they worked too well with smoked salmon & most of all not with the mustard dressing but who knows some of you might love these 3 together, all elements were great alone, they just didn’t do it for me as a mix, you decide.

Potato Cakes with Smoked Salmon & Mustard Dressing

3 large potatoes (about 700g)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
60g butter, melted
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
60ml (1/4 cup) olive oil

Mustard Dressing

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
60ml (1/4 cup) canola oil

To serve
8 slices smoked salmon

Preheat oven to 150c. Grate the peeled potatoes & squeeze out any excess liquid. Put the potato in a bowl & add the chives, butter & a little salt & pepper.

Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan over a medium to high heat. For each potato cake, spoon 1 ½ tablespoons of mixture into the pan & fry until golden on both sides. Drain on paper towels & keep warm in the oven until all the potato cakes are made.

Meanwhile to make the dressing, whisk the mustard, sugar, salt & vinegar together in a bowl until the sugar has dissolved, then whisk in the oil in a thin stream.

Put two potato cakes on each plate, top with salmon & drizzle with dressing

Not so Purple Potato Salad

Another potato salad from Jamie Oliver, this one from Jamie’s Kitchen. I made this for my Barbie on the weekend, it is supposed to use purple potatoes which of course I couldn’t find, if anyone has seen any in Melbourne please enlighten me & let me know where. The salad was nice though I have to say it wasn’t anything special, some of his others are much tastier. I think the trick is the purple potatoes, they would make it look great so next time I find some I will give them a go.

Purple Potato Salad

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1-2 lemons, to taste
255g crème fraiche or fromage frais
500g baby new potatoes
500g purple potatoes
sea salt 7 freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch radishes, finely sliced
1 handful of fresh mint leaves, chopped
1 handful of chives, chopped

Make the dressing by mixing together the olive oil, lemon juice and crème fraiche. Cook the potatoes in plenty if boiling salted water for around 20 minutes until tender & drain well. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle rub off the skins with a knife and slice into bite size pieces. Mix with the dressing, then add the radishes and herbs & season well to taste.

Lamb with Quince Glaze

For a really quick & easy & very tasty mid week meal this week I turned to the Marie Claire ‘Food Fast’ book for inspiration & found this yummy lamb dish which seriously takes no time at all to put together. As you can see I served it with sweet mash potato & asparagus. Note - you could also make your own quince paste as Another outspoken female did this week but then it wouldnt be as quick would it, very impressed with the effort though?

Lamb with Quince Glaze

600g lamb backstrap or eye of loin
1 tablespoon oil
3 tablespoons quince paste
2/3 cup dry white wine
cracked black pepper

Trim lamb of any fat or sinew. Heat oil in a frying pan over high heat. Add lamb & cook for 1-2 minutes on each side or until well sealed & browned. Remove lamb from pan & place on a plate. Reduce heat to medium and add quince paste, wine & pepper to pan and simmer for 2 minutes or until glaze has thickened slightly. Simmer lamb in the quince glaze for an extra minute on each side or until cooked to your liking. Slice lamb into large pieces & serve with the quince glaze.

Amazing Potato and Horseradish Salad with fine herbs & Bresaola.

Having a Polish & Lithuanian background I absolutely love the humble potato salad & am always on the lookout for new recipes using them. This salad from Jamie Oliver’s new Book ‘Cook with Jamie’ took my fancy right away & the other night I got around to making it made it. I didn’t serve it with bresaola as per the recipe, instead I served it along side a nice juicy steak for a bit more substance. The salad was delicious, I also am a huge fan of horseradish & sour cream so it was the perfect combination for me & one that will definitely be made again & again. I have included the entire recipe for those of you that want to serve as suggested.

Amazing Potato and Horseradish Salad with fine herbs & Bresaola.

680g new potatoes, scrubbed
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
juice of 2 lemons
½ a celery heart, yellow leaves only reserved & rest finely sliced
a bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley, leaves picked & chopped
2-3 teaspoons of grated horseradish
3 heaped tablespoons of crème fraiche or sour cream
24 slices or bresaola or cold roast beef
a bunch of fresh tarragon, leaves picked
extra virgin olive oil

Boil the potatoes in a pot of salted water until nicely cooked. Drain them & allow to cool for 5 minutes while making the dressing.

Pour most of the lemon juice into a large bowl and add a good pinch of salt, some pepper, the celery, parsley & horseradish. Mix in the crème fraiche or sour cream. While they’re still hot, cut the potatoes in half or quarters & add to the bowl. Season carefully with more salt & pepper & toss everything together. Have a taste & add more lemon juice if needed.

In the meantime, overlap 6 slices of bresaola in a circle on each plate, pile the salad in the middle & then draw up the edges of the meat. Sprinkle over tarragon & celery leaves, drizzle with a little olive oil & serve.

Serves 4

Fish Tagine

Michaels mid week cooking last week was this tagine from Marie Claire’s Zest. It was quite interesting, I’ve never had a potato based one before, normally I have had them served with couscous. A quick meal to knock up after work though be warned our potatoes took more like half an hour than ten minutes before soft. Also the preserved lemon as a garnish was a bit too strong for us when we got a bite so you might want to tone it down or leave it out all together.

Fish Tagine

4 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 large red onion, roughly chopped
10 saffron threads
1 teaspoon ground cumin
4 large potatoes, sliced into bite size pieces (about 750g)
2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 small cinnamon quill
600g tick snapper fillets, cut into 4 cm chunks
1 handful flat leaf parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped preserved lemon

Heat the olive oil in a large deep based frying pan or casserole pot over medium heat. Add the onion, saffron & cumin and cook until the onion is soft & slightly caramelized. Add the potatoes, celery, tomatoes, cinnamon & 1 cup of water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for a further 10 minutes. When the potatoes are soft, season the fish with sea salt & add them to the stew. Simmer for a further 10 minutes then season with freshly ground black pepper. Garnish with parsley & preserved lemon & serve with warm crusty bread.

Fifteen Melbourne - Finally a look in!

A couple of weeks ago when I heard that Fifteen was opening for reservations I suggested to Michael that it would be great if he could get us a booking there, you know a nice surprise seeing as how I'm normally the one doing all of the organising for the 2 of us. I thought the booking line might be a bit busy but had no idea that within a matter of days they would be booked solid until the end of January next year, amazing what a tv show can do for you. Anyway Michael being the fantastic hubbie that he is, got on the line & waited for 1.5 hours (on speaker phone while he was working so it was bearable!) & got us a booking for a Saturday night no less, very impressive.

There have been a lot mof mixed feelings out there about Fifteen so I was quite curious to see exactly what it would be like. I love the idea of what Fifteen stands for, helping those in need but at the same time providing us with a (hopefully) great experience in oder to achieve that goal. At the same time I think that for $90.00 a head for the 6 course tasting menu which is your only option for dinner, the food has to be bloody good & stand up to other great Melbourne restaurants.

I had very high expectactions for the food, a few months ago I did a Queen Vic Market cooking night with Tobi Puttock & the food was to die for so I was hoping for more of the same.

Ok so now down to last night. On the decor, I loved it & it was totally different to the 'artist impressions' as seen on tv. The colorful bar area which Jamie knocked looked great & the colors were much more toned down, oranges, reds, very warm & filled with wine very subtle too. The place is split into 3 areas, the private dining room which I spied a corner of, looked very dark & gothic from what I could see, would be nice having a private party there with some friends, I believe it seats 10. Then onto the main area, on entering you walk down some stairs where you can see straight into the kitchen, then around the corner the bar area with more casual looking dining area in front, light wooden seats & tables, etc. this is split down the middle where you go into the second dining area which is where we were seated. I loved this area, all dark wood furniture, dark wood floors, black walls & ceilings, a purplish couch forming the back seat for the tables on the side & back walls & long mirrors along the walls too & some very funky globe light fittings hanging here & there. Ask Michael, I love black & the trend seems to be now to have everything all nice & light so this darkess worked well for me.

Now onto the food, as mentioned it is a six course set menu, soup, seafood, pasta, main, dessert & cheese platter with a choice of 2 dishes offered for the pasta & main course.


First course was Borlotti bean & pasta soup with fresh grated parmesan & Fifteen olive oil.

This was really nice, though needed a bit of salt, luckily there was a dish of Pink Murray River salt flakes on each table - nice touch - which did the job. As you can see it was a very thick, hearty, warm & homey soup which I would love to replicate at home.


Next was fried whitebait, sage salt, lemon & aioli.

As you can see a very small serve but dont be put off, by the end of the night we were well satisified & if the courses were any biggger we would have struggled to fit them in. The fish was cooked perfectly, nice & light & the salt/aioli combo went very well with it.

For the Pasta course I opted for the Fifteen ravioli with biodynamic riccotta, free-range egg yolk, served with white asparagus & butter broth.

Yummo, nothing beats home made pasta & the runy egg filling was quite unusual, quite a big ravioli too as you can see. Michael went for the Risotto of calamari, squid ink, celery, chilli & fifteen olive oil which he reallay enjoyed too.


For the main we both had the Slow roast Bachus Marsh grass fed beef, Nicola potato & fennel al forno, braised greens & salsa verde. The other choice was Tasmanian Salmon. The beef dish smelled divine which I think was mainly due to the whole clove of roast garlic hidden amongst the greens which I happily devoured. The beef was very tasty though mine was a bit on the cold side which is obviously a bit dissapointing. Mine pictured was cooked a little extra as I'm not supposed to be eating any raw or underdone meat at the moment, Michaels was as per the menu & pretty bloody which is a good thing, nothing worse than an overdone piece of cow.

Dessert was Vialono Nano Tiramasu, little twist on the traditional with crostoli.

The twist was rice instead of sponge/biscuits in the tiramasu, I have to say that this & the crostoli were fantastic & by far by favourite course of the night.


Lastly, the cheese course. pear, quince paste, muscatels, grissinei, some fruit bread & of course the cheeses, sorry have forgotten what they were except tto say that one was lovely & oozy & the other was as bitey spanish crumbly one, both fantastic, in fact the whole cheese course was really great.

Overall the whole experince was enjoyable, the staff were very friendly & helpful, extensive wine list to choose from, fast servce though not too fast that you had no time between courses & the food was good, presentation & tatse. For 2 weeks of opening & a bunch of kids that a couple of months ago had no idea it is pretty amazing to see how far they have come though I would like to see them improve some more & lift the food from being just pretty good to being fabulous!

Fifteen Melbourne
115-117 Collins Street
Melbourne
1300 799 415 www.fifteenmelbourne.com.au

Pink-Eye potato, olive and Caper Salad

Being of both Polish & Lithuanian background I am a very big fan of the humble potato & am always looking for new ways to dress it. I love anything from a simple mash, a hearty baked spud jammed packed with tasty fillings, crispy roast ones & of course a great potato salad. My all time favourite potato salad is the family recipe which I have eaten my whole life, its pretty much boiled potatoes, peeled, mixed with chopped onion, boiled eggs, tons of mayo & some salt & pepper, very simple yet very tasty. Occasionally however I do like to try something different so the other night I tried Ben O’Donoghue’s take on the dish from the surfing the menu cook book of series 1. It was great, the olives & capers added a nice zing to the dish. Very repeatable, we served it alongside a good steak for a quick & simple meal.

Pink-Eye Potato, Olive and Caper Salad

1kg pink eye potatoes
½ garlic clove
salt
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley
100g baby capers
200g pitted large green olives
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
100ml extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground pepper
finely peeled zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons white celery leaves

Place the potatoes in a large pan & cover with cold water. Add salt, bring to the boil & simmer until tender, about 20 minutes depending on the size. In a large mortar smash the garlic with a little sea salt, then add the parsley & roughly smash. Add the capers & olives and do the same to give a coarse, roughly broken up texture.

Peel & cut the potatoes in half while still hot. Add the vinegar & oil. Cool fro 10 minutes, then add the olive & parsley mixture. Season with salt & pepper & toss through the zest, celery leaves & remaining parsley.

Quince and Red Wine Duck

The other night I had planned on cooking dinner but after a hectic day/week in the new office, got a bit caught up so once again Michael was a darling & did the prep. I have made this dish several times before, its so easy & really, really yummy, great for a simple dinner alone or even impressive for guests – or so I have been told. It has a lovely sweet flavour that goes perfectly with the richness of the duck meat. I always serve with mash potato & greens on the side even though the recipe suggests couscous. The recipe comes from Marie Claire ‘Zest. Sorry the photo is not the prettiest, don’t let that put you off. I also find that a bit further cooking time is required so they aren’t completely raw & that the skin does crisp up nicely.

Quince and Red Wine Duck

12 thyme sprigs
250ml (1 cup) red wine
2 garlic cloves, sliced in half
4 duck breast fillets, skin on
3 tablespoons quince paste
1 teaspoon cumin

Preheat oven to 200c. Arrange the thyme sprigs over the base of a baking dish to form a bed for the duck. Add the wine & garlic to the dish. Rinse the duck fillets under cold water then pat dry with paper towels. With a sharp knife make several incisions through the fatty skin on each of the fillets. Rub the quince paste into the skin, sprinkle with cumin & season with salt & pepper. Sit the duck fillets on top of the thyme, skin side up. Bake for 5 minutes, then remove form oven & spread the paste over the fillets with a knife. Return to the oven for a further 10 minutes. For crispy skin put the cooked duck under a hot grill for 2 minutes. Allow to sit for a few minutes then slice. Serve with cooking liquid drizzled over.

5 things to eat before you die

Reb from Cucina Rebecca has tagged me for the latest meme which seems to be spreading like wild fire, 5 things to eat before you die. This all started not so long ago by Melissa at The Travellers Lunchbox. Here is my contribution which doesn’t contain quite as many fancy things as some, when I came to thinking about my favourite things, they all came back to pretty simple stuff!

1. Pierogi – Home made & Polish style the way my grandma used to make them. One of my best memories from childhood was visiting my Grandma when a fresh batch of pierogi were made, or even better making them with her, this was a whole day affair as when you make them you make 100's so you can give them out to the whole family to take home of course. I think the fact that they were made on this mammoth scale each time is what has deterred me from making my own so far. Pierogi are a European pastry, hers were filled with mashed potato mixed with loads of onion fried in butter. They are then boiled, drained, lots of butter applied until melted & then served with lashings of sour cream. The seconds were then pan fried a golden brown & again served with sour cream. So this simple fair is something I miss dearly & have vowed to stop being so lazy & make & perfect myself before I die. Now that I am about to start my own family hopefully this will inspire me so that my children can grow up with them as I did.

2. Cherries - these luscious beauties would have to be my favourite fruit of all time. I love them & eat them all on their own, they are so sweet & heavenly that I find they need no embellishment. The only downside to cherries is that the season is so short that from beginning to end I eat as many as I can before its all over for another year.

3. Chocolate - sorry to be so general but good chocolate in any shape, size or form is on my ultimate food group list for obvious reasons

4. A picnic of fresh local produce somewhere fabulous with the one you love. A couple of memorable ones for me would have to be a spring picnic in Paris in the botanical gardens with Michael, eating French cheese, bread & wine amongst other delights & the recent picnic I had in Lorne for my wedding anniversary which as well as some fantastic fresh food we topped off with a bottle of Dom Perignon which we had picked up in Champagne itself a few years ago, great food for me does not have to be fancy, the setting & company can play just as major a part & nothing beats eating fresh regional food where its made, ie Fresh bread, local cheeses, chutneys, jams, fruit, dips, chocolates

5. Grilled Haloumi on fresh bread. Something more specific for number 5. Haloumi grilled with a bit of oregano & drizzled with some lemon juice on top of some really good fresh bread would have to be one of my favourite ways to eat cheese, I do love all cheese however this is number one & is so good can pretty much eat enough so that it is a meal in itself

And before I go I will pass this on & tag (hope no one else has got to you first!)

Mellie at Tummy Rumbles
Sarah at Sarah Cooks
Niki at Esurientes
Kaylyn at Kaylns Kitchen
Ellie at Kitchen Wench

Marinated & Pot roasted beef fillet with a brilliant potato and horseradish cake

Well I’m finally getting around to telling you about the main course content of Wednesday nights feast. The following recipe comes from Jamie Oliver Jamie’s Kitchen. The beef was sensational, all of the juices & herbs soaked through to give it a lovely flavour & kept it nice & moist & tender despite the fact that I discovered I had no garlic to use & substituted with onions! The potato bake was ok, I wasn’t overly impressed, Michael loved it though. I didn’t think the flavours came together all that well & it was a bit dry, I would definitely make the meat again but probably serve with mash instead.

Marinated & Pot roasted beef fillet with a brilliant potato and horseradish cake

1 x 900g whole fillet of beef, trimmed
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 handfuls of fresh rosemary sprigs
1 bulb of garlic, broken up, cloves left whole with skins on
extra virgin olive oil
2kg desiree or Maris piper potatoes, peeled & sliced 0.5cm thick
3 heaped tablespoons creamed horseradish
½ bottle of red wine
170g butter

Generously season the beef with salt & pepper. In a pestle & mortar bash up about a quarter of the rosemary with a clove of garlic to make a paste. Lossen with 5 tablespoons of olive oil & then rub this all over the beef. Tie the beef with 4 pieces of string then poke the remaining rosemary sprigs under the string.

Preheat oven to 250c. Parboil the potatoes in boiling salted water for 5 minutes & drain in a colander. Transfer to a bowl & add enough olive oil to just coat, season well. You can make this in a non stick cake tin or oven proof non stick frying pan or make small individual ones. Place half the potatoes in the pan then smear the horseradish cream over the top & place the rest of the potatoes on top, pat down & put to the side.

Brown off the meat in a snug fitting roasting tray until all sides are coloured. Add the garlic cloves to the tray, place the beef on top & put on the oven with the potatoes on the shelf below. Cook fro 20 minutes, then turn the beef over, baste, add the red wine & butter & place back in the oven for another 15-20 minutes or until cooked to your liking. When ready, rest the beef for a few minutes, then cut off the string & carve. Return any juices to the pan , mush up the garlic & put through a sive & use this sauce as your gravy. Serve with the baked potaotes

Chicken breast Baked in a bag with Mushrooms, Butter, White wine & thyme.

This is a great winter dish that takes no time at all. Seriously it takes 5 minutes to gather & prepare the ingredients & then you just pop it into the oven to cook for a while. I like to serve with Mash potato so you can soak up all of the deliciously wicked juices formed from the butter, wine, garlic & thyme. Also I skipped the porcini as didn’t have any handy. Lovely comfort food. The recipe comes form Jamie Oliver’s Happy Days with the Naked Chef

Chicken breast Baked in a bag with Mushrooms, Butter, White wine & thyme.

2 x 200g skinless chicken breasts
1 handful of dried porcini
250g mixed mushrooms, torn up
1 large wineglass of white wine
3 large knobs of butter
1 handful of fresh thyme
2 cloves of garlic, peeled & sliced

Preheat oven to 220c. Using foil, places 2 pieces n top of each other, about the size of a shoe box, fold 3 sides over leaving one open. Mix everything together in a bowl & place it all, liquid included in the bag, taking care not to pierce the foil. Seal the remaining edge, place on a baking tray & bake for 25 minutes. When opening the bag after cooking, be careful as a lot of hot steam will escape & you don’t want to burn yourself.

The Brandon, Carlton – Dad’s Birthday celebrations

My Mum & Dad had thought about it for ages & just couldn’t agree on anywhere to go for his birthday dinner. I have been wanting to try out The Brandon Hotel dining Room for ages & after seeing a write up in my local weekly magazine talking it up & mentioning it was the 3AW pub restaurant of the year I knew I could talk them into it, they love 3AW! I also knew that when they saw the menu they would be complaining that it was all too fancy, by the time I got them there it was too late & they were stuck with it & I managed to explain the choices in plain English with them & stopped them from moving into the public bar for a parma & chips.

I settled on the duck special of the day which was a crispy skinned duck leg confit on potato parsley with a fennel, rocket & artichoke salad & some roasted beetroot. I also convinced my mum to have this, she hasn’t been impressed with duck in the past so I told her to trust me, if it’s cooked well it’s delicious. Myself I tried very hard not to order the duck as I always end up with duck but I love it so much I just couldn’t resist, it was delicious too & my mum loved it as well. As you would expect the meat was falling off the bone & it had a lovely rich flavour, the salad was nice & fresh & perfect alongside the powerful duck flavours & the gnocchi great to mop it all up with. My dad had the steak with polenta which was very nice but he was a bit disappointed in the size, being much more used to huge servings, it was really perfect though as it didn’t spoil his appetite for the cake afterwards! Rob, my brother had the pot roasted chicken with pea puree which he declared absolutely excellent too. Lastly Michael had the chermoula lamb rump which he says was cooked very well (nice & pink inside) & overall was very impressed.

A great pub dining room with a lovely atmosphere, the tables are well spaced, lovely art work on the walls, a warm fireplace, very attentive & knowledgeable staff, all in all a very inviting place which I will be back to one day for more.

The Brandon Hotel
237 Station Street
Carlton
9347 232

Weekend Herb Blogging - Fennel, Chilli & Rosemary roast pork

I thought I would cook up a Sunday roast using some fresh rosemary from my herb shelf & finally participate in weekend herb blogging # 38 which Virginie from Absolutely Green is recapping this week. I absolutely love rosemary, it is one of my favourite herbs & it's so easy to grow that I have it handy all year round. I love it with roasts - lamb, pork & it gives the roast veggies an extra lift in flavour too, in pasta sauces, with fish, all in all a very versatile & flavoursome herb.

This recipe comes from a recent food magazine, I can’t remember which one as I rip them out for later use, sorry. I also served this with some roast potato, pumpkin & parsnip. Well the pork was scrumptious, I love fennel & the flavour of the fennel salt was really strong but not overpowering, so good that I would make the salt again & even just use as a rub on pork chops, really good.

Fennel, Chilli & Rosemary Roast Pork

1kg pork rack (8 cutlets)
Olive oil for rubbing
Sea salt for rubbing
3 teaspoons fennel seeds
3 dried chillies
3 teaspoons sea salt, extra
2 tablespoons rosemary leaves
3 brown pears, halved

Preheat the oven to 220c. Pat the pork rack dry with absorbent towels. Use the point of a small, sharp knife to score the skin into thin strips & rub with oil & salt. Place the fennel, chillies, salt & rosemary in a small frying pan over medium heat. Cook for 1 - 2 minutes or until aromatic. Place in the bowl of a small food processor & process until combined. Rub the fennel salt over the pork rack & cut into four double cutlets. Place the cutlets on a wire rack in a metal baking dish & roast for 25 minutes. Reduce the heat to 200c. Add the pears to the bottom of the baking dish & cook for a further 10-12 minutes or until the pork skin is crispy and cooked to your liking and the pears are tender. Serves 4.

Zuppa di Zucca (Pumpkin Soup)

Another soup from the River Café cook book. All of this crazy cold weather we have been having has given me cravings for good hearty winter soups. This was a slight variation on the normal pumpkin soup I make & the little extras really helped to lift the flavour, it was very thick, the chilli gave it a nice zing & the handful of parmesan I threw in at the end gave it a nice creamy texture too. Also I used a 'Barbara' pumpkin which I picked up from Ceres, it was the shape of a butternut with the dark green striped skin similar to a jap & nice & orange on the inside. Another great soup from this book

Zuppa di Zucca (Pumpkin Soup)

1.5kg pumpkin, peeled, seeded & diced into 5cm cubes
150g new potatoes, peeled & cubed as above
3 tablespoons olive oil
50g butter
2 small red onions, peeled & finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled & cut into slivers
4 large sprigs fresh marjoram
1-2 dried chillies
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 litre Chicken stock

Heat the oil & butter in a large heavy based saucepan & gently fry the onion until soft. Stir in the garlic & marjoram, pumpkin & potato, & continue to cook for a minute. Season with the chilli, salt & pepper. Add enough stock to just cover the pumpkin, simmer until the pumpkin is tender, about 20-25 minutes. Add more stock if necessary. Puree with a hand held blender & adjust seasoning to taste.