Anzac Biscuits 3 ways

April 25, 2018April 24, 2018 / reciperoadau / Leave a comment

Today is Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand, a day to honour the men and women of the armed forces of our countries. One of the most famous of Australian foods is the humble Anzac biscuit, which had its origins in World War 1. The biscuits were sent to soldiers overseas and were designed to keep well during transit. These biscuits are still very popular today due to their chewy texture and slightly caramel taste.

We decided to bake a batch to celebrate the holiday. Then after watching Chef’s Table on Netflix we were inspired by Momofuku Milk Bar’s Christina Tosi to try infusing the flavour of the biscuit in an ice cream. Then we went one step further and turned the biscuits and ice cream into an ice cream sandwich! These are the resulting recipes, and it’s up to you how far along the journey you travel. You could just make the Anzac biscuits, or continue on to make the ice cream, or the ice cream sandwiches.

The biscuit recipe makes about 28 biscuits and you only need 10 of these for the ice cream recipe, so you’ll have plenty of delicious Anzac biscuits to share with friends and family (or make two batches and take some to work!)

Anzac Biscuits:

150g plain flour
165g caster sugar
100g rolled oats
90g desiccated coconut
125g unsalted butter
90g golden syrup
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1 Tbsp boiling water

Preheat the oven to 180° Line 2 large baking trays with baking paper.
Sift the flour into a large bowl, and stir in the other dry ingredients. Make a well in the centre of the mixture.
Place the butter and golden syrup in a small saucepan over a low heat, stirring until the butter has melted and the mixture is well combined. Remove from the heat. Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in the boiling water and immediately add to the butter mixture. Add the mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon.
Roll level tablespoons of the mixture into balls and place on the prepared trays, leaving room for each to spread as it cooks. Flatten each ball slightly with the bottom of a glass or your fingers.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. The biscuits will still be soft to the touch. Leave on the tray for 5 minutes to crisp up before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Anzac Biscuit Ice Cream:

10 Anzac biscuits
250ml (1 cup) full cream milk
3 Tbsp (60 ml) golden syrup
5 egg yolks, lightly whisked
375ml thickened (whipping) cream

Using a mortar and pestle or a food processor, break the biscuits apart into crumbs. Place half of the crumbs into a mixing bowl and set the other half aside.
Warm the milk in a saucepan until just simmering. Pour the milk into the mixing bowl with the biscuit crumbs and stir well. Allow to steep for an hour. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve back into the saucepan, wringing out all the liquid from the crumbs. Discard the solids. Add the golden syrup to the saucepan and bring the milk mixture back to a simmer, stirring well to combine.
Place the egg yolks in a mixing bowl. Pour the warm milk mixture in a steady stream into the yolks, whisking continuously so the eggs don’t curdle. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan, stirring continuously, and cook over a low heat until the mixture thickens. The mixture is ready once it is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
Churn the mixture in an ice cream maker to the manufacturer’s instructions. Just before the ice cream is set, add half of the remaining biscuit crumbs and stir through the ice cream. Keep the other half for garnishing when serving.
Transfer the ice cream to a container, cover and freeze for at least an hour to set.
Serve a few scoops of the ice cream in a small bowl, covered with a dusting of the reserved biscuit crumbs.

Anzac Biscuit Ice Cream Sandwich:

2 Anzac biscuits
1 scoop Anzac Biscuit Ice Cream

Take a scoop of ice cream and place on the flat side of an Anzac biscuit. Add another biscuit to the top, flat side against the ice cream and gently press together. Smooth out the edges of the ice cream filling with the flat side of a knife and serve immediately.

Salmon Ankake

April 18, 2018April 15, 2018 / reciperoadau / Leave a comment

20180328_200521 When we began Recipe Road, we listed our favourite cuisines that we hoped to explore. We’ve presented some French dishes, and plan to explore Italian cuisine after our travels in Italy later this year. Japanese is our other love, and we know we’re not alone here! Who can resist the delicacy of finely sliced sashimi or sushi with a side of soy sauce, wasabi and some pickled ginger? For us it’s using the flavours of sake, mirin, soy sauce and rice vinegar in various combinations that keeps us inspired; whether it’s creating a simple teriyaki dish or something a little more complex like this salmon dish. The joy of this dish is the beautiful sauce, which enhances the natural flavour of the salmon fillet and vegetables.

We have adapted this recipe from Adam Liaw’s wonderful book The Zen Kitchen.

Serves two people.

Ingredients:

2 small salmon fillets, skin removed
¼ cup cornflour
2 cups vegetable oil, for shallow-frying
2 cups chicken stock
10g bonito flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small carrot, peeled and cut into batons
4 spring onions, sliced diagonally
1 tsp grated ginger
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sake
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
½ tsp sesame oil
½ tsp sugar
1 Tbsp cornflour, mixed with 2 Tbsp cold water
100g enoki mushrooms, trimmed and broken into clumps
2 spinach plants, washed and cut into 5cm lengths
¼ tsp chilli oil

Method:

Dust the salmon in cornflour and shake off any excess. Pour the oil into a wok or pan to a depth of 2cm, and heat to 180°C. Shallow-fry the salmon for about 2 minutes each side, until barely cooked and just beginning to colour. Keep warm in a very low oven until ready to serve.
Bring the stock to a simmer in a saucepan and remove from the heat. Add the bonito flakes and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Strain the stock through a fine sieve, discarding the solids, and set aside.
In another saucepan, heat 2 tsp oil over a high heat. Add the garlic, carrot and half of the spring onion and fry for about 2 minutes, until the vegetables start to soften. Add the ginger and cook for another minute. Add the bonito stock, soy sauce, sake, rice vinegar, sesame oil and sugar, and bring to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes, then add the cornflour mixture in a thin stream, stirring constantly. Add the remaining spring onions, enoki mushrooms and spinach and cook for one more minute, until the sauce thickens to a silky consistency and the vegetables wilt slightly. (We prefer the vegetables just slightly wilted, if you’d like the mushrooms and spinach more cooked, add them to the saucepan with the ginger and before the liquids are added.)
Place each salmon fillet in a serving dish and arrange the vegetables across the fillet. Spoon the sauce into the bowl around the fillet. Finish with a few drops of chilli oil, if you like.

Bourbon and Maple Glazed Pork Ribs with Smoked Corn Salad

April 11, 2018April 11, 2018 / reciperoadau / Leave a comment

20180331_203118 This week we continued to draw inspiration from Yotam Ottolenghi & Ramael Scully’s Nopi cookbook. As always, we were inspired by the flavours these chefs use, and this recipe contained a new technique for us, smoking the corn. This was surprisingly easy, there was no fancy equipment required. Simply place the corn cobs in a colander or steaming basket (we used a bamboo steaming basket) inside a large pot sealed with a lid. The smoke comes from burning the husks of the corn in the base of the pot. If you struggle to find corn with the husks still attached, you could use rice instead. Just line the base of the pan with aluminium foil and spread 200g of uncooked rice across the base. If you do this, the cooking time will need to be reduced from 5 minutes to 3 minutes. The cooking times for smoking need to be precise: cook for too long and the smoky flavour can become overpowering.

The real star of this dish is the ribs though, be prepared to get messy and enjoy the delicious glaze and tender pork ribs!

Serves six people.

Ingredients:

1kg pork spare ribs, cut into 12 equal small racks of 2 or 3 ribs per rack.
80g coarse sea salt
35g ginger, peeled and julienned
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
6 garlic cloves, crushed
8 whole star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp black peppercorns
1.5 litres chicken stock
100ml Shaoxing rice wine
100ml rice vinegar

Smoked Corn Salad:

4 large corn cobs, with husks
15g lemon thyme sprigs
3 Tbsp lime juice
2 tsp maple syrup
60ml olive oil
1 green chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced
1 tsp coarse sea salt
20g coriander leaves
20g mint leaves
20g parsley leaves
2 spring onions, white part only, thinly sliced

Glaze:

130g shallots, thinly sliced
350ml bourbon
60ml maple syrup
2 tsp Szechuan peppercorns
1 ½ Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp sesame oil
3 Tbsp tomato sauce/ketchup
1 ½ Tbsp rice vinegar
2 dried red chillies
2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed

Method:

Place the ribs in a large bowl with the salt. Rub the ribs all over with the salt and set aside for an hour.
Rinse the salt from the ribs under cold water, then pat dry. Put the ribs into a large saucepan for which you have a lid, and add the ginger, onion, garlic, star anise, cinnamon and peppercorns. Pour over the stock, Shaoxing wine and rice vinegar. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for an hour.
Remove the pork and set aside. Strain the liquid, discarding the solids and return to the pan. Place on a high heat and reduce the liquid to 200ml. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Remove the husks from the corn and use them to line the base of a large saucepan or wok which is deep enough to fit a colander or steaming basket inside, and for which you have a lid. Add the sprigs of thyme and place the pan on a high heat. Once the husks begin to smoke, place the the corn cobs inside the colander or steaming basket, and place this inside the pan. Seal the pan with a lid and smoke for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside, still covered, for another 5 minutes. Remove the lid and set aside to cool.
Stand each corn cob on a cutting board and use a large knife to shave the corn kernels from the cob. Make sure you cut deeply enough that some of the kernels remain in clusters. Set the corn kernels aside and discard the cobs.
About 45 minutes before you are ready to serve, place all of the ingredients for the glaze, along with 100ml of the stock reduction in a large pan. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a medium-high heat and simmer until the liquid has reduced to 200ml and has the consistency of a syrup, about 20 minutes. Return the pork ribs to the sauce and stir gently so they are coated in the syrup. Cook for about 7 minutes more, until the ribs are warmed through and sticky.
Just before serving, prepare the salad in a large bowl by whisking together the lime juice, maple syrup, olive oil, chilli and salt. Add the corn kernels, herbs and spring onion and mix well.
To serve, on each plate lean two small racks of ribs against each other and serve with the salad alongside. Garnish with a few sprigs of lemon thyme, if you like.

Grilled Figs with Almond Crisp and Verjuice Sabayon

April 4, 2018April 2, 2018 / reciperoadau / Leave a comment

20180331_221618 Figs are in season here in Sydney and every store seems to have plump, juicy figs on display. We couldn’t resist any longer, and decided to try Maggie Beer’s grilled fig recipe. Simply glazing and grilling the figs is a great way to highlight the great quality produce. The Almond Crisp and Verjuice Sabayon add texture and tartness respectively, but don’t detract from the real star of this simple dessert.

We have adapted this recipe from one in Maggie Beer’s Maggie’s Verjuice Cookbook.

Serves four people.

Ingredients:

6 ripe figs
3 tsp vino cotto
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
mint leaves, to garnish (optional)

Almond Crisp:

60g flaked almonds
35g brown sugar
25ml verjuice

Verjuice Sabayon:

1 cup (250ml) verjuice
2 egg yolks
30g caster sugar

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°
Place the Almond Crisp ingredients in a bowl and toss to combine. Spread the mixture on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake for 18 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through the cooking time. Watch carefully in case the sugar burns. Once the almonds are a pale golden colour, remove the tray from the oven and set aside to cool. Break into shards.
To make the sabayon, simmer the verjuice in a saucepan until reduced to 100ml. Set aside to cool. Fill a saucepan one-third full of water and bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low. Place the egg yolks and sugar in a heatproof bowl that fits over the saucepan without touching the water. Whisk the yolks and sugar together, slowly adding the cooled verjuice a little at a time. Continue whisking for around 8 minutes, or until the sabayon thickens to the point where it forms ribbons and holds its shape when lifted with a spoon. Remove from the heat and cover the surface with cling film.
Preheat a barbecue plate or chargrill pan to high heat.
Mix the vino cotto and olive oil together. Cut the figs in half lengthways and brush the cut surface with the vino cotto mixture. Place the cut sides down on the very hot chargrill pan, and cook until well caramelised, around 2-3 minutes.
On one side of each plate, arrange three fig halves and a shard or two of the Almond Crisp. On the other side, place a dollop of sabayon, and smear across the plate. Alternatively, serve the sabayon in a ramekin on the side.