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Mapo Tofu

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Mapo Tofu
Mapo Tofu

Our new is favourite cookbook is “Hong Kong Food City” by Tony Tan. We purchased it on a whim from a bookstore while on holiday in the beautiful little town of Kiama, about 2 hours south of Sydney. If there’s anything better than finding a gem of a book while on holiday, it’s making delicious food that demands to be made again and again. So far we’ve made 4 dishes from this book and would make any of them again. But first there are many more recipes we want to try.

Today we’re bringing you the best dish from the book so far, Mapo Tofu. This has long been one of our favourite dishes to order when eating out, so being able to create a beautiful version at home is exciting and much simpler than we had thought. We love the silkiness of the tofu, the zing of the Sichuan pepper, and the depth of flavour in the sauce. It’s spicy, but not so hot that you you’ll be crying.

The traditional Mapo Tofu recipe uses beef mince, but if you want to make the dish vegetarian, you can substitute some finely diced mushrooms, and replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock. Both versions work really well.

A note on a few ingredients you may be unfamiliar with: Doubanjiang or Chilli bean paste from Sichuan can be hard to find, but the Lee Kum Kee brand works fine and is available in supermarkets. Fermented black beans can be found at Asian grocers. Sichuan preserved vegetable is made from the stems of mustard greens. We found it labelled as “preserved mustard greens” in our local supermarket.

This is a really simple dish to make, but we would recommend that you spend some time measuring out all your ingredients at the start. Once your wok is hot you’ll be adding all the ingredients very quickly and you don’t want to be measuring everything out at this point.

Serves 2 people as a main dish with some fluffy jasmine rice, or 4 people with the addition of another dish such as some simple stir fried green vegetables with oyster sauce.

Ingredients:

  • 50g minced beef (or finely diced mushrooms)
  • 500g soft bean curd (or tofu), cut into 3cm cubes
  • 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2 Tbsp Chilli bean paste(Doubanjiang)
  • 2 tsp fermented black beans
  • 2 tsp light soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 Tbsp chilli oil
  • 250ml chicken or vegetable stock
  • 1 baby leek, finely sliced
  • 1 tsp roasted ground Sichuan pepper
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes (optional)
  • 30g Sichuan preserved vegetable, rinsed and finely chopped
  • 1 tsp potato or corn flour, mixed with 2 Tbsp water
  • Spring onions, finely sliced, to serve

Marinade:

  • ½ tsp light soy sauce
  • ½ tsp Shaoxing rice wine
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp sugar
  1. Place the beef or mushrooms in a bowl and add the marinade ingredients. Mix well and set aside.
  2. Bring a saucepan of water to a simmer. Gently place the bean curd in the pan and cook until warmed through. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a plate lined with paper towels.
  3. Heat a wok over high heat, add the oil and then the beef or mushrooms. Stir fry for 20 seconds, then add the garlic.
  4. Reduce the heat to medium and add the chilli bean paste, fermented black beans, soy sauce, sugar and chilli oil. Stir fry for another 30 seconds.
  5. Pour in the stock, add the bean curd and stir gently so as not to break the bean curd cubes. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes.
  6. Add the leek, Sichuan pepper, chilli flakes (if using), Sichuan preserved vegetable and potato flour mixture. Stir and simmer until the sauce thickens.
  7. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with spring onions. Serve with steamed rice.

Lamb Harira

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Lamb Harira
Lamb Harira

Today we’re bringing you one of our all time favourite recipes! This is our version of the Moroccan dish Harira, a soup or stew usually served at special occasions. The great thing about this stew is that it’s easy to make, extremely delicious and you feel virtuous eating it, as it’s packed full of vegetables and herbs. There are many versions of this recipe, and so many options for which ingredients you could include. We’ve used lamb shanks as they are easy to source and add a nice depth of flavour to the stew, but you could use any kind of meat which benefits from a few hours of slow cooking. Similarly, we used freekeh as our grain because that’s what we had in the cupboard, but buckwheat, lentils or chickpeas would all work just as well. We’ve used winter vegetables which are in season, but use whatever you have available or the vegetables you like most.

We love making this in the morning and leaving the pot to simmer away all day, giving the flavour time to develop and filling our home with the fragrant aroma. The dish tastes even better the next day, so make more than you need and you’ll be rewarded with delicious leftovers for the rest of the week.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup freekeh
  • 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
  • 4 lamb shanks
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 celery stalks, diced
  • 6 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 400g can diced tomatoes
  • 2 litres stock or water
  • 1 sweet potato, diced
  • ½ butternut pumpkin, diced
  • 2 zucchini, diced
  • 1 bunch of kale
  • 1 handful of coriander leaves, chopped
  • 1 handful of parsley leave, chopped
  • 1 handful of mint leaves, chopped
  1. Soak the freekeh or buckwheat overnight, or cook according to the directions on the packet.
  2. Place a large pot over medium high heat and melt the coconut oil. Season the lamb shanks with salt and pepper then brown them on all sides. Remove the shanks and set aside.
  3. Add the onion and celery to the pot and fry for a few minutes, until the onion is translucent.
  4. Add the garlic and spices, and continue to cook for a minute or two, until fragrant.
  5. Add the chopped tomatoes and stock, give it a good stir, and then return the shanks to the pot.
  6. Bring the liquid to the boil, then reduce the heat and leave to simmer gently for at least two hours, or until the lamb is falling from the bone.
  7. Once the lamb is cooked, remove from the soup. When the shanks are cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones and roughly shred. Return the meat to the soup and discard the bones.
  8. Add the freekeh and sweet potato to the soup and simmer for 10 minutes, then add the pumpkin and simmer for a further 10 minutes. Finally, add the zucchini and kale and simmer for 10 more minutes.
  9. Adjust the seasoning and add the coriander, parsley and mint.
  10. Serve in a warm bowl with a slice of lemon, and some fresh crusty bread, if you like.

Korean Soybean Paste Stew with beef and mushrooms

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Korean Soybean Paste Stew with beef and mushrooms
Korean Soybean Paste Stew with beef and mushrooms

It’s winter here in Australia and we’re craving hearty, warming dishes like soups, stews and curries. We love eating out at Korean restaurants, and there are so many to choose from in Sydney now. We rarely cook Korean at home though, so we decided to try making this fairly simple stew. You need to visit a specialty Asian grocer to find a few ingredients, but they will last for ages and will hopefully inspire you to cook more Korean food in the future.

A few notes about this recipe – we added the beef stock to give the soup more body, a traditional recipe would just use the rice washed water, which we found a little bland. You can remove the chillies if you don’t like the dish very spicy. We used a mixture of enoki, shiitake and oyster mushrooms here but feel free to add whatever kind of mushrooms you enjoy.

Serves 2 people as a main dish, or can serve up to 4 people with the addition of Korean side dishes (Banchan).

Seasoning sauce:

  • 1 Tbsp light soy sauce
  • 2 tsp green onion, minced
  • 1 tsp garlic, minced
  • 2 tsp sesame oil
  • a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Stew:

  • 200g sirloin steak, thinly sliced
  • 2 cups medium grain rice
  • 500ml beef stock
  • 75g Korean soybean paste
  • 250g firm tofu
  • 100g mushrooms
  • 1 tsp Korean red pepper powder
  • 30g green onion, sliced
  • 1 green chilli, sliced
  • 1 red chilli, sliced
  • Sesame seeds, to garnish
  • Green onion, finely sliced, to garnish
  1. Prepare the seasoning sauce ingredients and mix together. Add the sliced beef and leave to marinate while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
  2. Wash the rice in water and drain, reserving 500ml of the rice washed water. Put the rice on to cook in a rice cooker or according to the instructions on the packet.
  3. Drain the tofu and cut into 2cm cubes.
  4. Preheat a heavy pot or large saucepan over medium high heat. Add the beef and seasoning sauce and stir fry for two minutes.
  5. Add the beef stock and the rice washed water and bring the liquid to the boil. Reduce the heat to low, and keep the stew simmering gently.
  6. Place the soybean paste in a fine metal sieve and lower into the simmering stew. Allow the paste to dissolve into the stew for 10 minutes and then remove the sieve and any remaining solids.
  7. Add the tofu, mushrooms and red pepper powder and continue to simmer for another two minutes.
  8. Add the green onion and chillies and cook for another minute. Check the seasoning and adjust to taste.
  9. Serve the stew in bowls and garnish with sesame seeds and finely sliced green onion. Serve with a bowl of rice and side dishes of your choice, if you like.

Chicken Asado

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Chicken Asado

Chicken Asado

On our recent trip to The Philippines, we spent a week visiting Patrick’s family. As everyone knows, nothing tastes better than your mother’s cooking! We were treated to homemade sinigang, adobo, caldareta and Mommy’s famous Chicken Asado. This recipe is our attempt to replicate the experience of eating your mother’s home cooking, but with modern plating. If you’ve never tried Filipino cuisine, this is a great place to begin. It’s an easy but tasty dish with no challenging ingredients. Let us know if you enjoy it!

This recipe serves 6 people. Serve with rice.

Ingredients:

  • 100ml soy sauce
  • juice of ½ a lemon
  • 6 whole chicken legs (Marylands)
  • 2 medium potatoes
  • 1 large carrot
  • Canola or vegetable oil, for frying
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 85g liver spread or chicken paté
  • 300g tomato passata
  • 2 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 3 green chillies, whole
  • salt to taste
  • parsley and sorrel leaves, to garnish

Method:

  1. For the marinade, combine soy sauce and lemon juice in a large bowl and add the chicken legs. Rub the marinade all over the chicken, then cover and refrigerate for at least one hour, or overnight.
  2. Cut half of the carrot into matchstick shaped batons approximately 3cm by ½cm. Slice the remaining carrot and the potatoes into ½cm thick slices. Using a 4cm cookie cutter, cut the sliced vegetables into rounds. Then, using a 2.5cm cookie cutter, punch a hole through the middle of the carrot circles, to create a carrot ring and a smaller circle.
  3. In a pan, heat the oil and then shallow fry the potato and carrot until tender and brown. Remove from the pan and set aside.
  4. Remove the chicken from the marinade, reserving the liquid. Fry the chicken in the same pan, browning both sides but not cooking all the way through. Remove and set aside. Once the chicken cools a little, french the bone by cutting through the meat around the bone 1 inch from the base of the leg. Remove the skin and flesh by pulling it from the bone. Clean the bone by scraping away any remaining meat with a knife.
  5. Add the onions and garlic to the pan and sauté until slightly brown, then add the liver spread or paté and continue to sauté until this has browned as well.
  6. Add the tomato passata, brown sugar, pepper, water and marinade. Mix together and add the chicken pieces back to the pan. Simmer over a low heat for 15 minutes, or until the sauce is thick. Add the bay leaves and chillies and continue to simmer for another 5 minutes.
  7. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  8. Remove the chicken from the sauce and set aside. Strain the sauce through a fine metal sieve into a large bowl, and use a stick blender to emulsify the sauce. Wipe out the pan and return the sauce, then return the pan to a medium heat, reducing the sauce until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.

To Serve:

Swirl 3 tablespoons of sauce in a circular pattern across each plate. Place a chicken leg on one side of the plate, and pour another tablespoon of sauce on top of the chicken. On the opposite side of the plate, arrange the potato and carrot circles and batons according to your preference. Finely chop some of the parsley and use it to garnish the chicken leg. Decorate the plate with some sorrel and parsley leaves. Sarap!

Traditional Asado

If you’re curious to try a more traditional Asado, or just can’t be bothered with fancy plating, simply change a few steps above.

At Step 2, slice all of the potatoes and carrots into 1/2 cm thick slices.

At Step 4, there’s no need to french the bone.

At the end of Step 8, return the chicken, potatoes and carrot to the pan, stir well and serve immediately with rice.

Cauliflower with Grapes, Almonds and Curry

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Cauliflower with Grapes, Almonds and Curry

Cauliflower with Grapes, Almonds and Curry

We’ve been wanting to try another recipe from the Eleven Madison Park cookbook by Daniel Humm and Will Guidara, after we enjoyed the Roasted Pork Rack with Onions and Cherries. The amount of preparation time is daunting however, so it wasn’t until we had a long weekend that we had time to cook this recipe. We’re so glad that we took the time, because it’s the most delicious thing we’ve made so far! The various textures of cauliflower, with the complimentary flavours of raisin, curry and carrot were amazing.Once again, we found the most daunting thing about cooking an Eleven Madison Park dish is the number of elements to be prepared, and flipping backwards and forwards between the main recipe and the sub-recipes in the back of the book. Hopefully our adaptation of the recipe makes the steps a little easier to follow. Individually, each element is fairly straightforward, and delicious! If you don’t feel like making this whole recipe, at least try the cauliflower puree, or the curry oil, or burnt butter, which we’ve been using in just about everything we make this week.

We have adapted this recipe to serve 4 people. You will have some extra brown butter, curry oil, and curried raisins.

Brown Butter:

  • 250g butter
  • 3 sprigs thyme
  • 1 clove garlic

Place the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer slowly for about 40 minutes, until the butter is clear and a light caramel colour. Continue to cook, whisking vigorously until the butter becomes a walnut brown colour. Place the thyme and garlic in a sieve lined with cheesecloth. Strain the Brown Butter over the thyme and garlic, and set aside until needed. Discard the thyme and garlic.

Curry Oil:

  • 2 cups canola oil
  • ½ cup thinly sliced Granny Smith apples
  • 1/3 cup thinly sliced white onions
  • ½ stalk lemongrass, thinly sliced
  • 2 Tbsp Madras curry powder
  • 1 kaffir lime leaf

Heat 1 cup of the oil in a medium saucepan over a low heat. Add the apple, onion and lemongrass and sweat until translucent but not caramelised, about 5 minutes. Add the curry powder and toast for 2 minutes. Add the remaining oil and the kaffir lime leaf, and heat the oil to 70°C. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to steep for 20 minutes. Strain through a coffee filter.

Curry Raisin Puree

  • ¾ cup golden raisins
  • 30ml Curry Oil
  • ½ tsp salt

Place the raisins in a bowl. Pour hot water over the raisins and bloom at room temperature for 2 hours, or until they are soft. Drain, discarding the water, and puree in a blender or with a stick blender. Slowly incorporate the Curry Oil, with the blender still running. Add the salt and stir through.

Dehydrated Grapes

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 32 seedless red grapes

Preheat the oven to 65°C or set a dehydrator to 50°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. In a large saucepan, combine the sugar with 2 cups of water and bring to a simmer until the sugar has completely dissolved. Add the grapes and remove the pan from the heat. Steep for 5 minutes, remove the grapes from the syrup and transfer them to the baking tray. Dehydrate the sugared grapes in the oven for 2 hours or in the dehydrator for 4 hours.

Curried Raisins:

  • 1 tsp canola oil
  • 1 ½ cups thinly sliced Granny Smith apples
  • ¼ cup thinly sliced shallots
  • 1 tsp Madras curry powder
  • 1 pod star anise
  • 10 black peppercorns
  • 1/3 cup white port
  • 1 kaffir lime leaf
  • 1 Tbsp salt
  • ¼ cup golden raisins

Place the canola oil in a medium saucepan and set over medium heat. Add the apple and shallots and sweat without caramelising until pale and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the curry powder, anise and peppercorns and toast for about 1 minute. Deglaze with the port and reduce until the pan is almost dry. Add two cups of water and the kaffir lime leaf and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and allow to steep for 10 minutes, then season with the salt. Place the golden raisins in a heatproof container, then strain the hot liquid over the raisins. Discard the solids and keep the raisins in their liquid at room temperature until ready to serve.

Carrot Curry Sauce:

  • 1 Tbsp canola oil
  • 2 cups thinly sliced carrots
  • 1 cup thinly sliced white onion
  • 1 Tbsp thinly sliced ginger
  • 1 tsp Madras curry powder
  • ¼ cup white wine
  • ½ cup canned whole peeled tomatoes, drained
  • 3 ½ tsp coriander seeds
  • 1 ½ tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 ½ cups chicken stock
  • 1 ½ tsp salt

In a large saucepan, heat the oil over a medium heat. Add the carrots, onion and ginger and sweat the vegetables for about 15 minutes, until they are tender. Add the curry powder and toast for one minute. Deglaze the saucepan with the white wine and reduce until almost all of the liquid has evaporated. Add the tomatoes, again cooking until almost dry. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, toast the coriander and cumin seeds over a low heat until fragrant. Add the toasted spices and chicken stock to the vegetables. Simmer slowly for 45 minutes, then strain the sauce and discard the solids. Return the liquid to the pan and reduce until you have 1 ½ cups of liquid. Season with the salt and immediately chill over ice.

Cauliflower Cross-Sections:

  • 1 ½ heads cauliflower

Slice 6 cross-sections of the cauliflower, each one measuring 3/8 of an inch thick. Each cross-section should keep the florets intact. Reserve the remainder of the cauliflower for the Cauliflower Puree.

Cauliflower Puree:

  • 1 ½ cups cauliflower trim, diced
  • ½ cup single cream
  • ½ cup whole milk
  • 1 Tbsp Brown Butter
  • 1 tsp salt

Place the cauliflower in a saucepan and cover with the cream and milk. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer the cauliflower until tender, around 25 minutes. Drain the cauliflower, reserving the liquid. Puree in a blender or with a stick blender, adding one tablespoon of the liquid at a time, until the mixture is smooth but not too runny. Blend in the Brown Butter and season with the salt. If your puree is still a little coarse, pass through a fine mesh sieve.

Sous Vide Cauliflower:

  • 2 Cauliflower Cross-Sections
  • 30ml Curry Oil
  • 30ml Brown Butter
  • ½ tsp salt

Use a 1 ¼ inch ring cutter to punch out 8 cauliflower rounds from the Cauliflower Cross-Sections, including some floret and stem in each round. Trim 12 florets from the remaining cauliflower. Save all other trim for the Cauliflower Couscous. Place the rounds, florets, Curry Oil, Brown Butter and salt in a Sous Vide bag and vacuum seal. Simmer the bags in a water bath at 85°C for 20 minutes, until tender. Transfer to a bowl of ice water.

Cauliflower Couscous:

  • 1 cup cauliflower trim
  • ½ Tbsp Brown Butter
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • ¼ tsp salt

Finely chop the cauliflower so that it resembles grains of couscous. Place in a small bowl and add the Brown Butter, lemon juice and salt. Stir well and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Roasted Cauliflower

  • 4 Cauliflower Cross-Sections
  • ¼ cup Curry Oil
  • ¼ cup Brown Butter
  • 1 Tbsp salt

Preheat the oven to 150°C. Slice each cross-section in half, so you have 8 pieces. Heat two large oven-proof sauté pans or casseroles over a high heat and divide the Curry Oil and Brown Butter between the pans. Place 4 pieces of cauliflower in each pan and lower the heat to medium. Sear the cauliflower until well browned on each side, basting with the oil and butter. Transfer the pans to the oven and roast until the cauliflower is cooked through and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Season with the salt.

To Serve:

  • 4 Tbsp Cauliflower Puree
  • 4 Tbsp Curry Raisin Puree
  • Carrot Curry Sauce
  • 2 Tbsp Curry Oil
  • Sous Vide Cauliflower
  • 1 Tbsp chicken stock
  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • Salt
  • Curried Raisins
  • Dehydrated Grapes
  • 16 Blanched Almonds
  • Cauliflower Couscous
  • Madras Curry Powder
  • 8 sprigs celery leaves
  1. In three small saucepans, reheat the Cauliflower Puree, Curry Raisin Puree and Carrot Curry Sauce over a low heat. Add the Curry Oil to the Carrot Curry Sauce.
  2. Open the bags of the Sous Vide Cauliflower, drain the liquid and reserve it. In a medium sauté pan, heat the chicken stock and the reserved cooking liquid. Bring to a simmer and add the cauliflower discs and florets. Add the butter and reduce to a glaze, about 3 minutes. Season with salt to taste.
  3. Onto each plate, spoon 1 tablespoon of Cauliflower Puree and 1 tablespoon of Curry Raisin Puree. Place two Roasted Cauliflower sections on top. Add 2 cauliflower rounds, 3 cauliflower florets, 3 Curried Raisins, 3 Dehydrated Grapes, 4 Blanched Almonds and a spoonful of Cauliflower Couscous around the Roasted Cauliflower. Finish each plate with 1 tablespoon of Carrot Curry Sauce, a sprinkle of Madras Curry Powder and 2 celery leaves.

Salmon Ankake

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20180328_200521When 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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.)
  4. 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

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20180331_203118This 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:

  1. Place the ribs in a large bowl with the salt. Rub the ribs all over with the salt and set aside for an hour.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.

Roasted Pork Rack with Onions and Cherries

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One of the most inspiring restaurants in the world right now is Eleven Madison Park in New York, which last year became the No.1 restaurant on San Pellegrino’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. We love the ethos of chef Daniel Humm, who strives to balance modern techniques with classical flavours. One day we hope to travel to New York to dine there, but for now we have to settle for recreating some of the dishes from the cookbook at home. This week we set aside a day to create our first dish from the book, and chose one which doesn’t have too many unfamiliar ingredients or techniques. Although the number of elements in this dish is daunting, there was actually nothing very difficult about the recipes, and we had fun creating our own spin on the incredible plating in the book.

We have to be entirely honest, though – we did simplify a few things here. For instance, rather than spending 6 hours making a chicken jus (which we’re sure would taste amazing!) we cheated by using chicken stock and pimping it up with some tomato paste. We also changed a few ingredients we couldn’t source, such as particular varieties of cherries and cured pork. If you don’t feel like tackling the whole thing, just making the cherry pork sauce to go with your favourite cut of pork would be totally worthwhile. Similarly, the pickled mustard seeds and pickled cherries were delicious and could be used in so many dishes. Let us know if you give it a try!

We have adapted this recipe from Eleven Madison Park – The Cookbook by Daniel Humm and Will Guidara to serve 4 people. You’ll have some extra pickled mustard seeds, onion puree, cherry sauce and brown butter to use another day.

 

Pickled Yellow Mustard Seeds:

  • ¼ cup yellow mustard seeds
  • ½ cup white balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp sugar

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Add the mustard seeds and cook for 30 seconds. Strain through a fine sieve and refresh with cold running water. Add the vinegar, salt and sugar to the saucepan and bring to the boil. Transfer the mustard seeds to a bowl and pour over the liquid. Cool to room temperature, then cover and leave at room temperature overnight.

Roasted Onion Petals:

  • 1 white onion
  • salt
  • olive oil

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Toss the onion with salt and olive oil and wrap in aluminium foil. Roast in the oven for 2 hours, or until the onion is soft but still holds its shape. Cool to room temperature. Quarter the onion, remove the skin and separate the onion into individual petals. Trim the ends and cut each petal into half-inch thick strips. Set aside until ready to serve.

Onion Puree:

  • 3 ½ cups thinly sliced white onions
  • ½ Tbsp salt
  • 3 white peppercorns
  • 1 ½ Tbsp butter, plus ½ Tbsp cold butter
  • 3 Tbsp white wine

Season the onions with salt and set aside. Tie the peppercorns in a small piece of cheesecloth. Heat a pan over high heat and add the butter, onions and peppercorn parcel. Cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute, being careful not to let the onions begin to colour. Add the wine and 1 ½ Tbsp water, cover with a cartouche of baking paper, and cook until the onions are tender, adding more water if the onions begin to dry out. Once the onions are cooked, remove the cartouche and reduce any liquid that is left in the pan. Puree in a blender with the ½ Tbsp cold butter. Pass through a fine-mesh sieve or chinois and cool over ice. Set aside until ready to assemble the dish.

Brown Butter:

  • 250g butter
  • 3 sprigs thyme
  • 1 clove garlic

Place the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer slowly for about 40 minutes, until the butter is clear and a light caramel colour. Continue to cook, whisking vigorously until the butter becomes a walnut brown colour. Place the thyme and garlic in a sieve lined with cheesecloth. Strain the Brown Butter over the thyme and garlic, and set aside until needed. Discard the thyme and garlic.

Pork Rack:

  • ½ pork rack (4 chops when sliced), frenched and skin removed
  • 1 Tbsp canola oil
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 2 sprigs thyme
  • 1 clove garlic, lightly crushed but still intact

Preheat the oven to 150°C and place a roasting pan and rack in the oven to heat. Season the pork with salt. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over high heat and then sear the pork, fat side down, until it is evenly browned (about 2 minutes). Add the butter, thyme and garlic and baste for another 2 minutes. Transfer to the preheated roasting rack and roast in the oven for about 40 minutes, basting with butter every 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 to 15 minutes.

Cherry Pork Sauce:

  • 2 tsp canola oil
  • 1/8 cup of speck or bacon, diced
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 475g cherries, pitted
  • 3 pods star anise
  • ½ cup red wine
  • ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1 ½ cups chicken stock
  • 2 Tbsp tomato paste
  • salt

In a sauté pan, heat the oil over medium heat and add the speck. Render the fat for 5 minutes, then strain the oil to remove the solids.

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the sugar to a dark caramel. Add the cherries and star anise. Cook until the cherries are soft, then deglaze with the red wine and balsamic vinegar. Stir to dissolve all of the sugar. Reduce to a glaze and then chill over ice.

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the chicken stock and tomato paste, and reduce to 1 cup of liquid. Whisk in 2 tablespoons of the glaze. Stir in the rendered fat and season with salt to taste.

Pickled Cherries:

  • 5 Cherries
  • 75ml white balsamic vinegar
  • 75ml water
  • 2 tsp salt

In a medium bowl, stir together the vinegar, water and salt, until the salt dissolves. Pit and quarter the cherries, and add to the pickling liquid. Marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Onions and Cherries:

  • 1 scallion/green onion, white and light green parts only
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • salt
  • Roasted Onion Petals
  • 4 baby scallions/green onions
  • 8 cherries, pitted
  • ½ Tbsp butter

Shave the scallions into shards with a vegetable peeler, and dress them with the olive oil and salt. Heat the chicken stock in a saucepan over a medium heat. Just before you’re ready to serve, add the onion petals, baby scallions and cherries. Toss to combine and add the butter, tossing to glaze.

To Serve:

  • Pork Rack
  • Brown Butter
  • Sea Salt Flakes
  • Cherry Pork Sauce
  • 4 Tbsp Onion Puree
  • 8 Pickled Cherries
  • 4 tsp Pickled Yellow Mustard Seeds
  • 4 slices shaved Prosciutto di Parma
  • 12 mizuna leaves

Slice the pork rack between the bones, giving you 4 pork chops. Brush the sides of the pork with brown butter and sprinkle with sea salt. Place a few spoonfuls of the Cherry Pork Sauce on one side of the plate, and top with a pork chop. Beside the pork chop, place a baby scallion. Warm the onion puree in a small saucepan over low heat and spoon 3 small blobs onto each plate above the pork chop. Top two of the piles of onion puree with glazed cherries, and the other with a pickled cherry quarter. Arrange two more pickled cherry quarters, some onion petals, some shaved scallions and a few strands of prosciutto around the plate to your liking. Scatter some pickled mustard seeds around the plate, and garnish with 3 small mizuna leaves.

Octopus and Stir-fried kale with black olive and golden raisin salsa.

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Two of our main reasons for starting this blog were to find ways to challenge ourselves, and to cook with ingredients we haven’t used before. This week’s recipe certainly achieved those two goals! We were both a little scared of cooking octopus, but it turned out to be not very difficult and the results were delicious. This would be a great dinner party dish as you can do almost all of the work in advance and leave the octopus to marinate in the fridge overnight. This recipe is adapted from Ottolenghi and Scully’s Nopi cookbook, and like all of Ottolenghi’s recipes, the flavours of each component is perfect. We’ve never found kale particularly tasty, but this stir-fried kale is delicious and would work well as a side dish to any of your favourite mains. If the octopus challenge is too much for you, the salsa and kale would also work well with some fried fish fillets.

We took Ottolenghi’s advice and bought a frozen octopus, which we de-frosted before cooking. This helps to tenderise the meat and prevent it becoming chewy. If you buy a fresh octopus you could tenderise it by bashing it with a rolling pin, or by blanching the tentacles a few times in boiling water. We watched some helpful youtube videos on preparing the octopus (we recommend the videos from Sydney Fish Market for any kind of seafood preparation), as we were unsure if ours had been prepared or not. In the end all we had to do was cut out the eyes and we were ready to start cooking.

Ingredients:

  • 1 large frozen octopus, with head and tentacles (about 1.5kg)
  • 1 small celery stick, roughly chopped
  • 1 small fennel, trimmed and stalk removed, roughly chopped. Reserve the fronds for garnishing.
  • 1 small leek, trimmed and sliced
  • 2 thyme sprigs
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp black peppercorns
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds
  • 500ml white wine
  • 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp harissa
  • ½ tsp rose water
  • 1 ½ Tbsp lemon juice
  • sea salt

Salsa:

  • 50g golden raisins
  • 1 small red onion, finely diced (110g)
  • 100g pitted kalamata olives, finely sliced into circles
  • 1 ½ Tbsp sherry vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 10g mint leaves

Kale:

  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 10g unsalted butter
  • 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
  • 300g kale, stalks removed and discarded, roughly chopped
  • 80ml vegetable stock
  • 80ml white wine

Method:

  1. If you need to clean the octopus, cut the head from the body just below the eyes and discard the head. Remove the beak from the top of the tentacles by turning the tentacles inside out and pushing the beak through. Peel and discard any excess skin, leaving the tentacles intact and still held together at the top.
  2. Put the celery, fennel, leeks, thyme, bay leaves, peppercorns, coriander seeds, white wine and 1 teaspoon of salt into a large deep pot. Add 1.2 litres of water, bring to the boil, then reduce to a medium low heat. Using a pair of tongs, plunge the whole octopus into the hot water for about 5 seconds. Lift out, then repeat this process twice more. You will see the tentacles beginning to curl up with each plunge. This will also prevent the skin from peeling during cooking. Return the octopus to the water and submerge completely. Cover with a cartouche (a round of baking paper the same size as the pot) and cover with a large plate to ensure the octopus remains submerged. Simmer over a medium heat for 40 to 50 minutes, until the octopus is cooked through. The cooking time will vary depending on the size of the octopus, you will know it is cooked when the flesh is tender but retains a little bite.oct2
  3. Remove the octopus from the pot. Set it aside to cool and then transfer to the fridge for an hour or so, until chilled. You should now have about 650g of cooked octopus. Discard the stock and vegetables.
  4. Slice the octopus, leaving the tentacles untouched and cutting into the body to make 2cm thick slices. Place the octopus in a bowl with the olive oil, harissa and rose water. Stir to coat everything well, then refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
  5. To make the salsa: place the raisins in a saucepan with 80ml of water. Bring to the boil, then remove from the heat and set aside for 1 hour. Drain any remaining liquid and place the raisins in a bowl with the rest of the salsa ingredients, except the mint. Add a grind of black pepper, mix well and set aside until ready to serve.
  6. To cook the kale: add the olive oil and butter to a frypan and place on a medium high heat. Once hot, add the garlic and cook until just brown, stirring constantly. Add the kale and keep stirring while you add the stock and wine. Add ½ teaspoon of salt and some black pepper to taste. Cooke for 3-4 minutes, until the kale has wilted. Drain the kale, shaking it in a colander to dry. Keep warm until ready to serve.
  7. Just before serving, place a griddle or frying pan over a high heat. Toss the octopus in the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once the griddle is smoking hot, add the octopus and grill for 1-2 minutes, turning it over halfway through. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan by working in batches if necessary. Once the octopus is charred and warmed through, transfer to a bowl and toss immediately in the lemon juice.
  8. Shred the mint and stir it through the salsa.
  9. To plate: place some of the kale in a small circle on each plate. Add two small circles of the salsa to each plate. Gently place a piece of octopus over each of the little piles of kale and salsa you have created. Garnish with the reserved fennel fronds and some halved Kalamata olives (optional).

Boeuf Bourguignon

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20180110_190602To start our journey, we wanted to cook some classic French cuisine, and decided to begin with possibly the most famous dish of all, Boeuf Bourguignon. We have adapted this recipe from the classic book Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisetta Bertholle and Simone Beck.

In keeping with our goal of using local produce, we have used wine sourced from our favourite winery, Tamburlaine. Their organic wine is produced in the Orange region, not far from Sydney. The recipe in Child/Bertholle/Beck suggests using a full-bodied, young red wine, and we thought that the full-bodied flavor of Tamburlaine’s 2016 Reserve Malbec would work well in this dish.

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Ingredients:

  • 180g speck (or bacon)
  • 35ml olive oil
  • 1.5kg stewing beef, cut into 5cm cubes (we used Rump Cap)
  • 1 medium carrot, sliced
  • 1 medium brown onion, sliced
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1.5 Tbsp plain flour
  • 650ml Red Wine (see note above)
  • 2 to 3 cups Beef Stock
  • 15g tomato paste
  • 2 cloves garlic, mashed
  • ½ tsp thyme
  • 1 bay leaf

For the onions:

  • 20 small white onions (pickling onions), peeled and trimmed
  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 100ml Red Wine
  • Bouquet garni (4 sprigs parsley, 1 bay leaf, 1 sprig of thyme tied in cheesecloth)

For the mushrooms:

  • 500g button mushrooms, quartered.
  • 1.5 Tbsp butter
  • 3 tsp olive oil

To serve (optional):

  • Roasted dutch carrots, trimmed to retain 1cm of stalk.
  • Roasted baby potatoes, served with butter and parsley.
  • green beans, blanched.

 

Method:

  1. Remove the rind from the bacon and cut into lardons roughly 3.5cm x 0.5cm x 0.5cm20180110_130015
  2. Simmer the rind and the bacon for 10 minutes in 1.8 liters of water, then drain and dry.
  3. Dry the beef with paper towel (this will help it brown properly)
  4. Preheat oven to 230°C
  5. Using a cast-iron casserole (ours is 22cm x 28cm, 10cm deep), heat the oil over moderate heat and sauté the bacon until lightly brown. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside.
  6. Heat the casserole until the fat is almost smoking, then sauté the beef in batches so as not to crowd the pan, until all the beef is browned on all sides. Remove the beef as each batch is browned and set aside with the bacon.
  7. In the same pan and fat, sauté the vegetables.
  8. Drain the fat and return the bacon and beef to the casserole. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle the flour over the ingredients, and toss to combine.
  9. Set the uncovered casserole in the preheated oven for 4 minutes, then remove and stir. Return to the oven and cook for another 4 minutes. This cooks the flour and gives the beef a crusty coat.
  10. Remove the casserole and reduce heat to 160°C
  11. Add 650ml of red wine and enough beef stock to just cover the beef, then add tomato paste ,garlic, herbs and the bacon rind. Bring to a simmer on the stovetop, then cover and set in the oven. Cook for 2.5 to 3 hours, making sure the liquid simmers very slowly. The meat is done when it can be pierced easily with a fork.
  12. While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms. For the onions, bring the butter and oil to a bubble in a small pan, then sauté the onions over a medium heat, stirring so that the onions will brown evenly. Be careful to keep the onions intact.20180110_160326
  13. Add 100ml of red wine, the bouquet garni and season to taste. Cover and simmer over low heat for 40 to 50 minutes, until the liquid has evaporated and the onions are tender with an intact shape. Remove the bouquet garni and set aside.
  14. For the mushrooms, add the butter and oil to a pan over high heat. After the butter has foamed and begun to subside, add the mushrooms and stir for 5 minutes. Once the mushrooms have browned lightly, remove from the heat and set aside.
  15. When the beef is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan. Wash the casserole and return the beef and bacon to it. Add the cooked onions and mushrooms to the casserole.
  16. Skim fat off the sauce, and simmer lightly. You should have a sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. If too thick, add some extra stock, and if too thin, continue to reduce the sauce. Taste and adjust the seasoning if required.
  17. Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, carefully stirring occasionally to cover the meat and vegetables with the sauce.

To serve:

  1. Slice the onions in half, and take apart the layers of onion.
  2. Place three pieces of beef on each plate, top with several mushrooms and a good ladle full of sauce.
  3. Scatter over a few slices of onion and roasted dutch carrots (optional).
  4. Serve with roasted baby potatoes and blanched green beans on the side (optional).