Category: Blog

Writing briefly last week about Tulip’s Restaurant, I couldn’t help thinking of East Sydney Technical College, where I did my formal training which was required if you were apprenticed. Located in Darlinghurst, its sole tenant now is The National Art School, but back in the 1970’s it also hosted a variety of other trades, including a Hospitality school.

The commercial cookery training kitchens were located on the ground floor of one of the blocks and while I am sure pastry and butchery were also at the Darlinghurst College, I can’t remember where they were located. After spending the day at the college, it was more than a 3 kilometre walk back to Tulips in order to work the dinner service. Eventually I changed employers and my walk from the Hyatt Hotel was only about 600 metres.

While a cookery school existed at Darlinghurst until the mid 1990’s, the preferred college for tuition in all things ‘hospitality’ was the Ryde College of Hospitality which opened in 1974, one year after I had completed the third year of my apprenticeship at Darlinghurst. It was at this new college that I undertook specialist courses.

In writing this week’s newsletter it occurred to me (perhaps for the first time) that my mother, being an artist, had studied at the same college, the national Art School, 30 or so years earlier than myself. Enough reminiscing, let’s have a look at today’s recipe –Crème Caramel – one of the first dessert recipes that a young chef had to prepare.

Crème Caramel

It is thought that the dessert,Crème Caramel has a long history, but documentation of this dessert didn’t happen until the late 1800’s. It is similar to crème brulee but the texture is lighter and a liquid caramel is on the top instead of crispy caramelised sugar of the brulee.  Many countries have their own individual interpretations of the Crème Caramel however the basics remain the same – eggs, milk and sugar as well as the all important cookery method – bain-marie or water bath.

Crème Caramel

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Servings: 4 servings

Course: Dessert

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 100 g caster sugar (for caramel)
• 30 ml water
• ½ tsp vanilla paste
• 500 ml full cream milk
• 2 eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• 70 g caster sugar

Method

 

1. Assemble your ingredients
   
2. Place the clean and dry ramekins into a baking dish, ready to receive the caramelised sugar, which is the next step
3. In a small clean saucepan place the water and then pour the 100g caster sugar into the centre of the saucepan. Do not mix.
   
4. Place the sugar and water over a medium heat and let the sugar dissolve
5. Bring the sugar to the boil. Avoid disturbing the sugar
   
6. The sugar will get a light amber colour. Turn the heat down
   
7. Give the sugar a little swirl as it darkens. Turn off the heat
   
8. Take care here. Too dark and the sugar will be bitter.
   
9. The sugar process takes about 8 – 10 minutes
10. Divide the sugar which is now caramelised between the ramekins by pouring directly into the base of the ramekin
    
11. Place the sugar saucepan into soak –any residue caramel should dissolve
12. Set the ramekins aside while you prepare the egg mix
13. Pre-heat your oven to 150c
14. In a clean saucepan gently heat the milk and vanilla to just below simmering
    
15. In a bowl whisk the eggs, egg yolks and 70g sugar together until the sugar is dissolved
    
16. Gently whisk in a little hot milk, followed by the balance of the hot milk
17. Mix well
18. Strain the milk and egg mix through a fine strainer
    
19. Let it stand for a few minutes so that the floating bubbles dissipate
20. Divide the strained egg mix between the ramekins.
    
21. Carefully pour boiling water into the baking dish until the water level is halfway up the side of the ramekin
    
22. Place the baking dish into the pre-heated oven for 40 minutes
    
23. After 20 minutes rotate the baking dish
24. In another 10 minutes turn the oven down to 120c
25. When you think they are ready (by jiggling) turn the oven off and leave them in the oven for about 15 minutes
26. Remove the baking dish from the oven and carefully take the ramekins out of the water
    
27. Cool the Crème Caramel to room temperature before individually covering them and placing in your fridge
28. Best refrigerated overnight
29. Serve either in the ramekin or turned out onto a plate
    
30. Fresh berries make a good accompaniment

Notes

When mixing the egg and sugar we are not trying to ‘lighten’ them, just mix until the sugar dissolves.

Avoid ‘boiling’ the mix in the oven, because you will end up with tiny bubbles, similar to Swiss cheese.

Can be prepared 2-3 days beforehand.

To turn out, run a non-serrated knife around the inside edge of the ramekin.

Cover the ramekin with your serving plate and quickly invert the plate.

The Crème Caramel should come out with a little coaxing.

Alternatively, eat it straight out of the ramekin.

I have included a picture of a kitchen blowtorch which I use to dissipate the bubbles a little faster.

 

In 1971 I was an apprenticed chef in a Dutch restaurant in Sydney. ‘Tulips’ restaurant was in George Street, not far from Australia Square, the record-breaking development, which had opened four years earlier. The restaurant was in the Wynyard precinct of George Street, just south of The Rocks which had come under the scrutineer of developers. Fortunately, the Green Bans of the 1970’s saved The Rocks and many of the heritage buildings of note closer to where I worked.

Tulips was a basement restaurant and backed on to Bridge Lane, but you entered via stairs off George Street. Adjacent buildings included Burn’s Philp, the Metropolitan Hotel and the Cricketer’s Club. Those buildings are still there and Bridge Lane still looks the same, but the only reminder of Tulips is a couple of curb stones close to where the ‘pig bins’ were put out every night. Ahh – happy memories.

Tulip’s catered for about 200 diners at once, in either the full service table section or the more casual ‘bar’ section. At lunchtime we were always packed with suits but the dinner service was always very quiet, probably because that part of town was still regarded as dodgy after 6.00 pm.

I used to start work at 10.00am and finish at 9.00pm with a break in the middle. That meant I left home at 8.00am and got home just before midnight. More happy memories.

The restaurant offered a European menu with many traditional Dutch dishes as well as Indonesian meals which reflected the Dutch historical association with Indonesia. The owner and staff were all of Dutch ancestry, with me and a waitress the only two ‘locals’. You could say that Tulips was an early example of a fusion restaurant and it was really my first introduction to both European and Asian food preparation – Nasi-goreng and Ryjsttafel  sat side by side with Dutch Croquettes and Holstein Schnitzel. It was here that I learnt to make, regrettably, Sambal Oelek, a potent Indonesian chilli condiment – but that is another story. Let’s instead talk about today’s recipe

It was at Tulips that I first became acquainted with peanut sauce or satay sauce, where it was served as you would expect with meat skewers. Today satay sauce is commonplace on many menus and is available in powdered, frozen, canned and bottled form in supermarkets.

When it comes to preparing quick, tasty meals for one or two persons, my recipe will make use of a number of your pantry and fridge ingredients and you can also incorporate leftover roast chicken, prawns or vegetables.

Satay Noodles

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Servings: 2 servings

Course: Main Course

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 60 g Peanut butter
• 1½ tbsp fish sauce
• 1½ tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp honey
• Juice from ½ lime
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 tsp minced ginger
• 1 tsp crushed chilli
• 100 ml coconut milk
• pasta water
• 250 g dried egg pasta flat style – fettucine/tagliatelle
• 3 spring onions washed, 1cm slice
• chopped nuts optional
• prawns /chicken/vegies optional

Method

 

1. Assemble your ingredients
   
2. In a saucepan bring 2 litres of salted water to the boil, for the pasta
3. Meanwhile, in a non-stick frypan, large enough to add the pasta later, add all the other ingredients except the shallots
   
4. Slowly heat these sauce ingredients to a low simmer
   
5. Adjust the seasoning to suit your taste
6. When the water is boiling add the pasta and gently break up with a wooden spoon if required
7. Cook the pasta as per the directions on the packet. Mine was a little over 8 minutes
   
8. Drain the pasta (do not rinse) and retain about 1 cup of the pasta water
9. Add the hot pasta to the peanut sauce
10. Use a spatula to stir and coat the pasta with sauce
    
11. Add a little pasta water if you feel the sauce is too thick
12. Stir in half of the onions
    
13. Serve the pasta and top with remaining onions
    

Notes

Avoid overcooking the pasta in the water

I find dried pasta works better than the more fragile ‘fresh pasta’

All sauce ingredient amounts can be adjusted to suit

You will remember when I prepared the baked stuffed pumpkin in Newsletter # 49, I ended up with a lot of pumpkin, unused. Here is the recipe that solved that problem – roasted butternut pumpkin soup.

This is a recipe I developed for a hotel chain that was promoting a healthy eats menu. It was a time when over consumption of fat and salt was a focus. In the meantime, carbohydrates, among other nutrients have been added to the list. Never-the-less this is a tasty soup perfect for our upcoming winter. It is suitable to make it in bulk and freeze portions plus you can think up additional garnishes. Two garnishes that I have previously used include prawn and green onion as well as sour cream, macadamia, bacon and chives. Yes, it is a departure from ‘healthy eats’ but it is delicious. Another alternative that will also make the soup both gluten and dairy free is by adding light coconut milk.

The caramelising of the vegetables during the roasting will add natural flavour so if the healthy aspect of the recipe appeals to you, be careful you don’t over season the end result.

Roasted Butternut Pumpkin Soup

5 from 1 vote

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Servings: 3.5 litres

Course: Soup, Vegetarian

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 2500-3000 g butternut pumpkin peeled, seeds removed and cut into chunks
• 750 g brown onion peeled and roughly chopped
• 6 garlic cloves peeled and smashed
• 100 ml olive oil
• 2 tsp crushed ginger
• 2 tsp crushed chilli
• 3 bay leaves
• salt
• cracked pepper
• 2 litres vegetable stock
• Juice of one lemon
• Zest of half lemon
• 40 ml honey optional
• skim milk optional for finishing

Equipment

• You will need a stick blender or food processor for this recipe, while sieving the soup is optional.

Method

 

1. Preheat your oven to 180c
2. Assemble your ingredients
   
3. In a baking dish place the pumpkin, garlic,onion, ginger, chilli and bay leaves
   
4. Season with a little salt and cracked pepper
5. Add oil and give it a good stir
   
6. Place in the oven and roast for 1 hour, stirring occasionally to avoid scorching the mix - golden brown is the aim
   
7. Add a splash of water if needed
8. Remove the pumpkin mix from the oven when the pumpkin is soft
   
9. Add the pumpkin mix and the stock to a suitably sized saucepan
10. De-glaze the baking dish with a little stock to free up any caramelised vegies and add to the saucepan
    
11. Bring the soup to simmering
12. Add the lemon zest and the lemon juice
13. Simmer for 20 minutes
14. Remove the bay leaves and lemon zest
15. Add the honey
16. Turn the heat off
17. Blend the soup to a fine puree
    
18. At this point I strained the soup through a fine wire strainer, but that is optional
19. To serve add a little skim milk to give it an even creamier finish
    

Notes

I placed the bay leaves and lemon zest in the sieve for easier removal

 

I garnished with a dollop of sour cream

To finish today I have included a couple of images of the seafood cottage pies we made for Good Friday, for some of our residents.

Happy Easter, Ken and Chris.

In newsletter # 4, I prepared the French bistro dessert, Tarte Tatin. It is a recipe that requires few ingredients, but the simple combination of caramelised apples and puff pastry is delicious. Turn the clock back 100 years, long before store bought frozen puff pastry was available and the average home cook was less inclined to prepare puff pastry.

Enter pineapple upside down cake. In the 1920’s canned pineapple was considered trendy and actually elegant following a mass advertising campaign and contest. By replacing the puff pastry of Tarte Tatin with a simple cake batter and the common apple with pineapple and the equally popular maraschino cherry you had a winner.

The base recipe for pineapple upside-down cake lends itself to a number of different fruits with plums being perfect.  Other fresh fruits you could consider include peaches, nectarines, apricots and pears; however, they need to be ripe but still firm. Naturally canned fruit is always an alternative, but you can’t beat fresh fruit in season.

A few weeks into autumn and our thoughts turn to heartier foods such as soups and stews and Easter where seafood and chocolate dominate, but it is still warm and we need some recipes to bridge that gap. Today’s recipe will give you a delicious standalone main course and a base ingredient for a soup which you can freeze for winter.

I prepared this recipe for 4 people which gave me a substantial amount of pumpkin leftover to make soup with.

Baked stuffed butternut pumpkin

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Servings: 1 serving

Course: Main Course, Vegetarian

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1 kg whole butternut pumpkin washed, dried and unpeeled
• olive oil
• seasoning
• 2 garlic cloves peeled and crushed
• 1 small potato peeled, 4mm dice
• 30 g shelled walnuts roughly chopped
• ¼ cup brown rice
• ½ cup vegetable stock
• 1 small brown onion peeled, 4 mm dice
• ⅛ tsp dried rosemary
• ⅛ tsp cinnamon
• 125 g can mixed beans drained and rinsed
• 20 g Greek feta cheese crumbled
• 10 g baby spinach blanched and chopped

Method

 

1. Assemble your ingredients
   
2. Pre-heat your oven to 180c
3. Inspect the pumpkin and cut across about 80mm from the seed end of the pumpkin – not the stalk end. Put the stalk end aside
   
4. Gently trim the end to ensure the pumpkin sits flat.
5. With a spoon scoop out the pumpkin seeds and any loose stringy bits of pumpkin
   
6. Rub the pumpkin with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and garlic
   
7. Bake the pumpkin in the oven for about 45 minutes, until just tender
8. Meanwhile in a small saucepan slow simmer the brown rice and stock with the lid on for 30 minutes followed by a further 15minutes to evaporate any excess liquid
   
9. In a small baking dish, dry roast the walnuts for 4-5 minutes
   
10. In the oven in a separate baking dish cook the potato and onion with a little olive oil for 20minutes
    
11. With all the ingredients now prepared you can make the filling
12. In a mixing bowl add the rice, potato, onion, spices, beans, feta and spinach and mix well
    
13. Spoon this mix into the empty pumpkin base – use it all
14. Place the pumpkin back on the baking dish and cover with a little alfoil
15. Return the pumpkin to the oven and bake for 30 – 40 minutes
    
16. Serve.

Notes

I served the pumpkin with green tomato relish and a drizzle of honey

Today we are revisiting ‘crumbles’, this time apple and rhubarb.

Rhubarb is thought to have been originally cultivated in China where it was used for medicinal purposes. It reached Europe in the 14^th century and before it was cultivated locally it was a prized commodity along with other imports such as diamonds, pearls and rubies. By the 18^th century rhubarb was appearing in European kitchens thanks mainly to the availability of sugar from the Americas.

Just the trimmed stalk is used in food preparation and along with quince, pear and apple is a perfect ingredient for crumbles.

You will note the flexibility of ingredients when it comes to making the crumble, particularly if you compare this recipe to newsletter # 4.

Traditionally, this classic French dish is served in springtime, however we in Australia tend to be a little more flexible and come autumn, even though it is still warm, we start thinking about putting away the barbeque tongs and dragging the slow cooker out of the cupboard.

The vegetable components of this dish should contain turnips, carrots, potato and peas; however turnips can give the navarin a distinctive taste which you may or may not like; sweet potato would be an alternative. You will notice that I have not included potatoes in my recipe, because I was going to serve the navarin with mashed potato.

You may choose to bulk up the vegetable ratio to end up with a complete meal that does not require any accompaniments, while any leftovers freeze very well.

Navarin of Lamb

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Servings: 4 servings

Course: Main Course

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 300 g net lamb shoulder, 2cm-3cm dice
• 2 tbsp oil
• salt
• pepper
• 1 onion peeled, 15mm dice
• 2 cloves garlic peeled and crushed
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 30 g plain flour
• 500 ml chicken stock
• 50 ml white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp thyme leaf
• 1 bay leaf
• 20 g butter
• 2 turnips peeled, cut into wedges,
• 2 carrots peeled
• 1 medium tomato skin and seed removed, flesh diced, juice retained
• 80 g beans topped and tailed, cut into 2cm pieces
• 80 g frozen peas

Equipment

• I cooked the navarin in a thick bottomed Dutch oven. If you are using a slow cooker you will need to increase the total cooking time and need a frypan to sauté the meat, onion, garlic, turnips and carrots.

Method

 

1. Assemble your ingredients
   
2. Season the lamb with salt and pepper
3. Heat the oil in your pan to almost smoke point and add the diced lamb
4. Move the meat around for 3 minutes to achieve even browning
   
5. Remove the meat from the pan with a slotted spoon and keep on the side
6. Reduce the heat a little and add the onion and garlic to the pan
   
7. Cook for a further 3 minutes
8. When the onion have a little colour add the tomato paste
   
9. Cook for a further 2 minutes before stirring in the flour
   
10. Lower the heat a little more and cook the flour out for 2 - 3 minutes
11. Add the stock, vinegar, brown sugar, thyme and bay leaf to the liquid
    
12. Add the meat and any collected juices plus the tomatoes
    
13. Bring to a simmer before turning the heat down and covering the pot
14. Cook for 1 hour
15. Test the meat with your fingers for tenderness
16. In your frypan melt the better and sauté the turnips and carrots to lightly brown them
    
17. Add the carrots and turnips to the stew
    
18. Continue cooking the stew for 30 minutes
19. Add a little more stock or water if the stew thickens too much
20. Add the beans and peas to the stew and continue cooking for another 6 minutes
    
21. Check the seasoning
22. Ready
23. Serve with mashed potato

Notes

Finally, I used gluten free flour

My interest in food and accommodation can be traced back to travels and holidays with my family in the late 1950’s and 1960’s. Early caravan park visits on New South Wale’s Central Coast probably didn’t offer much in the way of inspiration, except for tasty fish and chips, but the locations were great. Caravan parks gave way to motel trips and the opportunity to ‘eat out’ every day. Waiting in the room for the knock on the door of the magical ‘breakfast hatch’ and finding a local restaurant after our daily adventures are fond memories.

The 1960’s saw the Harris’s fall in love with the cruise industry.

Cruising in Australia was very different to today’s industry. Dining was generally limited to one or two options throughout the cruise and we generally ate breakfast and dinner in the dining room at our set table. I was in the junior club but most of the time I ate with mum and dad. The choices I thought were vast and the quality very good. I don’t think I was a fussy eater and while I have likes and dislikes now, 60 years ago I would try most foods.

This exposure to eating out, which was uncommon at the time, led me into the hospitality industry in 1971. After one year in a restaurant, I moved to the Hyatt Hotel in King’s Cross. It was there that I became reacquainted with the N.R.M.A’s accommodation directory and I started looking up places that we had stayed and how they were ranked.

The Ratings system

A printed accommodation directory in Australia had been around since the 1950’s and its associated booking service and star rating system was owned and operated by the individual motoring services of most states of Australia as well as the Royal Automobile Club of Australia (RAC).

The directories offered information on individual properties such as location, number of rooms and facilities available in a paperback style book.  Of primary importance was the rating system – ‘stars’ for hotels (both international and pub style) and ‘diamonds’ for motels, with 5 solid stars or diamonds being the best and lesser establishments attracting fewer stars or diamonds. Blank stars and diamonds meant a half star, but the highest rank then was 5. While no stars generally indicated something you should avoid, it could also have meant that it hadn’t been reviewed.

Naturally the ratings system didn’t take the word of the hotel proprietor and stars were awarded based on physical visits, reviews and the dreaded (for many) mystery guest stays. Perhaps no other industry was subjected to so much scrutiny which could make or break the reputation of an establishment.

You may recall a TV advertisement for M.F.A  (motels) where Arthur Daley (from ‘Minder’ TV series) tried to circumvent the rating system.

Many of the facilities that we now take for granted were not commonplace in the 1950’s. While a hot shower and a comfortable bed was something that you would hope for after a day’s travelling, most mod-cons were a rarity. The advent of television saw T.V’s in hotel and motel rooms and for two schillings (to cover the license fee) in the slot you could view all three T.V. stations. Meanwhile the motel down the road offered free T.V. Damn! You have to love competition – out-door pools lost out to heated pools which were gazumped by indoor pools. The list goes on.

It was possible to slip in the rankings due to mismanagement in a number of areas including cleanliness, poor food and indifferent service. Upgrading to achieve another star or diamond in your establishment was not that easy and generally a very costly exercise. Gradually standards changed and some establishments found they were stuck with rooms that didn’t meet the criteria and couldn’t be changed or perhaps 24-hour room service was impossible to supply, among other reasons.

Most of the larger Sydney hotels of the 1970’s were at least 4 stars with the Wentworth sitting on 5 stars along with the Sydney Hilton. The Menzies, the Boulevard Hotel and the Hyatt Kingsgate were probably 4.5 stars.  But the booming industry and the internet only accelerated change.

Eventually the motoring organisations exited the rating system and AAA Tourism was the peak body before settling down to the current brand ‘Star Ratings Australia’ under the management of the ‘Australian Tourism Industry Council’ which runs the ‘Quality Tourism Accreditation Program’ which reviews standards and awards ratings. This body does not operate a booking service but is a licensed system where establishments can opt out of participation.

It should be noted that the current rating system is separate to the ratings given on the many different booking sites which relies on posts and feedback from guests of hotels, motels, caravan parks, apartments and homes.

While I miss the printed version of the 60’s and 70’s, the advent of the internet gave people greater access to most properties not only in Australia but also worldwide. However at the end of the day it is still possible to make poor choices regardless of how up to date information is.

In 2005, following the success of various cooking shows, reality TV in England presented the first episode of a series, which is still running after 20 seasons. It’s called The Hotel Inspector and it’s hosted by Alex Polizzi. Each episode features a struggling pub, hotel or guest house and the venues proprietors trying to pursue their dream of being awarded a star rating for their establishment.

One cannot watch that show without being reminded of a TV show which aired 30 years before The Hotel Inspector. It’s called Fawlty Towers. Interestingly one of the episodes is called The Hotel Inspectors. That episode and a later episode called Basil the Rat compounded the fear into the already paranoid proprietor, Basil.

Most episodes featured something happening in the dining room of FawltyTowers and occasionally the plot revolved around foods such as Roast Duck, Bombe Alaska and Waldorf Salad.  Which brings me to today’s recipe – Paella. This traditional Spanish dish, was actually never served in the episode titled The Anniversary.

Paella

True Paella is one of the original ‘one pan meals’, put together almost casually by workers tending the rice paddies south of the Spanish city of Valencia in the 15^th century. Originally local ingredients were used including snails, rabbit, eels , butter beans, aquatic birds and naturally the locally grown ‘Bomba’ rice which is a short grain rice, slightly similar the Italian rice ‘Arborio’.

The word paella refers to the large steel pan associated with the dish. The cooking method 500 years ago was over an open fire and using a wooden spoon to stir the dish while cooking.

While authentic interpretations of the dish ‘Paella’ are most likely to be found in Spain and traditional restaurants, in Australia, the abundance of local ingredients (along with the unpopularity of snails, rabbit and eel) have led to the inclusion of prawns, calamari, chicken and even chorizo. I am unsure why chorizo is included outside of Spain, but perhaps the word reinforced the dishes Spanish origins.

In preparing this dish at home, it is important to remember that Arborio rice will give a different result than Bomba rice. Bomba is harder to break down than Arborio, hence you can add more stock or liquid to Bomba while Arborio will release more starch earlier and create a creamy texture. It’s your choice what you use.

Also remember that the seafood will also release liquid, when it is cooked, but always have some backup stock if you feel the finished product needs thinning. Alternatively use boiling water.

Both paprika and tomato paste will add colour and some flavour to the paella and are optional.

You may see recipes that use fish stock but I think a good flavoured chicken stock provides a better flavour profile.

Finally, as you know, I am not a proponent of purchasing cooking equipment I only use occasionally, and a paella pan falls into that category.

One of this week’s recipes is, by popular demand, Zabaglione, while the other offers an alternate use for the ricotta filling used in last week’s Chicken Roulade and I call it Eggplant Cannelloni.

It definitely has an Italian theme.

The Zabaglione was served on a medley of summer berries, and it was the dessert our cooking group presented at our most recent ‘Dinner with a Twist’, which is a dinner we hold five times a year here at our over 55’s community.

The Ricotta filling of the Eggplant Cannelloni is similar to the Chicken Roulade, and I guess the end product could be classified as a roulade; but cannelloni sounds more appropriate. The origins of the term cannelloni can be traced back the early 1900’s in and around the City of Sorrento just south of Naples, so it is a relative newcomer in the history of pasta. The term cannelloni refers to its literal English meaning – ‘large tubes or reeds’.

For my ‘cannelloni ‘recipe I have replaced the pasta with grilled eggplant and retained the ricotta filling and naturally it is gluten free. I finished the dish in the traditional way, a Napoli sauce. To serve I have re-introduced pasta in the form of Risoni.

Eggplant Cannelloni

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Servings: 4 servings

Course: Main Course, Vegetarian

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 2 large eggplant washed and top trimmed off
• 50 ml olive oil
• seasoning
• 400 g fresh ricotta well drained
• 80 g pine nuts toasted
• parsley washed and chopped
• 1 spring onion washed, trimmed and finely chopped
• ½ tsp garlic
• ½ tsp each - dried basil, dried oregano and dried thyme
• 1 cup risoni pasta
• 50 g butter
• 500 ml Napoli sauce Newsletter # 20
• 200 g grated cheese mozzarella, cheddar, parmesan mix

Method

 

1. Assemble ingredients
   
2. Carefully toast the pine nuts in your oven or air-fryer – around 2 minutes. Cool to room temperature.
3. Place the ricotta, pine nuts, spring onion, garlic, herbs, parsley and seasoning in a mixing bowl
   
4. Mix these ingredients well, cover and chill
   
5. Slice the eggplant lengthwise about 7mm-8mm thick
   
6. Brush each side of the eggplant slices with olive oil
   
7. In a heated non-stick pan grill the eggplant on both sides. Each batch takes about 5 minutes
   
8. When the eggplant is all grilled, cool to room temperature
   
9. Place ¼ of the eggplant slices on plastic wrap in a single layer
10. On top of the eggplant place ¼ of the ricotta mix, down the centre
    
11. With the help of the plastic wrap, roll the eggplant into a cylinder shape – not too tight
    
12. Twist the ends of the plastic wrap to form the eggplant into a thick sausage shape
    
13. Repeat the process with the other three portions
    
14. Chill for one hour
15. Gently heat the napoli sauce
16. Pre-heat your oven to 175c
17. Prepare the risoni by boiling in salted water
18. Cook the risoni underdone – no more than 6 minutes
19. Drain the risoni, retaining a little of the cooking liquid
20. Mix the butter into the risoni
    
21. In a lightly greased baking/serving dish, pour in the risoni to cover the bottom of the dish
22. Unwrap the eggplant and place them on the top of the risoni
    
23. Mask the cannelloni with Napoli sauce
    
24. Top with grated cheese
    
25. Bake in the oven until the cheese is golden brown
    

Notes

Goats cheese, which is lower in lactose, would be a good alternative to ricotta

Zabaglione

What would we do without eggs? They are an integral part of cookery. From simple, nutritious breakfast dishes to their uses in baking and sauces. A key reason for their success is their ability to emulsify with oil and their aeration qualities.

One of my favourite uses of eggs is custards – crème patisserie and crème anglaise. An even simpler recipe is the Italian custard, zabaglione which requires as little as three ingredients, a fact which should please many of my readers who appreciate brevity. Yes you will note that apart from the berries the zabaglione recipe has three ingredients. This applies when you are using a fortified wine which has alcohol. If you wanted to avoid the alcohol you could make a flavoured sugar syrup and use only two ingredients. Possible flavours for a syrup you could experiment with include ginger, peach, quince and pineapple. I used a de-alcoholised strawberry liqueur and sugar, but regardless of you final choice of flavouring the preparation method is the same.

The classic Zabaglione recipe appears below:

Zabaglione with summer berries

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Servings: 4 servings

Course: Dessert

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 320 - 400 g mixture of fresh berries – strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries
• 4 - 6 egg yolks 1 -1½ per person
• 60 - 90 ml Marsala or other sweet wine
• ¼ - ⅜ cup caster sugar

Method

 

1. Portion out the berries into individual glasses
   
2. Select a stainless steel or heat proof glass bowl (not plastic)
3. Add the egg yolks, marsala and sugar to the bowl
   
4. Using a whisk mix these ingredients together
5. In a saucepan large enough to suspend the bowl. Bring to the boil one litre of water before dropping the heat to keep the water at a slow simmer.
6. Place the bowl over the water and start whisking. Do not let the bowl come in contact with the simmering water.
7. Continue to whisk. Occasionally scrape the sides of the bowl down with a spatula. Gradually (about 4-5 minutes) the egg mix will thicken and at the same time ‘bulk up’ with air.
   
8. A thickness which can coat the back of a spoon is what you are looking for.
9. Pour the finished Zabaglione evenly over the berries.
   
10. Your choice of garnish on top and serve.
    

Notes

I topped the finished dessert with a combination sponge finger biscuit and ginger nut biscuit crumb.

Roulade is style of preparation that originated in Europe. Generally, it involves wrapping or rolling thin slices of meat around a filling. The meat used is boneless, lean and of good quality. You could find recipes for roulades using beef, veal, pork, and fish as well as today’s recipe for chicken roulade.

Paupiettes, cabbage rolls and involtini are all savoury members of the roulade’s European family, while further afield, Japan inspired the California Roll in North America and South America can offer you ‘Matambre’.

Sweet examples are not uncommon. In Australia the jam roll and the Yule log are still popular while the Pavlova roulade is often a feature at Christmas time as an alternative to a traditional Pavlova.

The French dish ‘Chicken Ballotine’ is similar, but larger and uses the whole de boned bird, including the skin. Often this dish is served cold.

There are two methods used when rolling this roulade. You can completely cover the flattened chicken with the ricotta mix before gently rolling the chicken up ‘like a carpet’ which will give you a spiral cross-section; or you can roll the chicken over the filling as I have done.

Chicken roulade with citrus glaze

5 from 1 vote

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Servings: 2 serves

Course: Main Course

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 350 g chicken breast fillet
• 100 g smooth ricotta well drained of excess water
• 40 g pine nuts gently toasted
• 1 small spring onion rinsed and chopped
• 1 egg yolk
• ¼ tsp grated lemon rind
• ½ tsp corn flour
• sea salt
• cracked black pepper
• 4 leaves of silver beet green only or the equivalent in English Spinach or baby English spinach
• olive oil
• paprika a pinch
• 100 ml chicken stock
• juice from one orange
• juice from ½ lemon
• 15 g orange/lemon zest
• 15 g brown sugar

Method

 

1. Assemble your ingredients
   
2. Pre-heat your oven to 200c
3. Blanch the green leaves in boiling water for 30 seconds before refreshing them in cold water
   
4. Gently squeeze dry the leaves
   
5. Blanch the zest in boiling water for 20 seconds before refreshing in cold water.
   
6. Drain and pat dry
   
7. In a bowl mix the ricotta, pine nuts, spring onion, egg yolk, corn flour and seasoning together. Keep chilled while you prepare the chicken breast
   
8. With a sharp knife, split the chicken breast horizontally (butter flied)
   
9. Between two sheets of plastic wrap flatten the chicken, with a meat hammer, to around 6ml even thickness
   
10. Remove the top sheet of plastic and discard and almost cover the surface of the chicken with the silver beet
11. Place a generous amount of ricotta mix down the centre
    
12. Use the plastic wrap to roll the chicken to form a cylinder
    
13. Carefully transfer the chicken roll to an oiled sheet of al-foil. Remove the plastic wrap
    
14. Wrap the chicken in the al-foil. Secure the ends by twisting the foil
    
15. Place on a baking dish (with the foil join upwards) and bake for 20 minutes before turning down the oven to 170c and cooking for a further 15 minutes
16. When ready take out and let it stand, unopened for 15 minutes
17. Meanwhile, add the fruit juice, brown sugar and chicken stock to a pan and gently reduce by half
    
18. Add the citrus zest to the pan
    
19. Open the chicken and add any collected juices to the orange juice mix
20. Diagonally slice the chicken into six pieces
21. Arrange on two plates
22. Coat the chicken with the citrus glaze
    

Notes

English spinach is a better alternative – I used silver beet

Take care with toasting the pine nuts – 2 minutes in your oven while it is preheating

Alternatively use your air fryer

I served the chicken with mashed potato and steamed vegetables