Category: Blog

Early Italian migrants to North America brought with them traditional recipes which naturally they adapted to suit the local ingredients. One of those original recipes was parmigiana which is an eggplant dish topped with a tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. It was adapted to suit both chicken and veal.

The basis of the meat parmigiana is thin breaded veal which we commonly refer to as schnitzel. Its origins can be traced back both Austria and Northern Italy and shouldn’t be confused with a similar dish called Picatti.

In Australia we embraced the schnitzel, particularly the chicken variety a few decades ago. Now it would be almost impossible to find a pub or club in Australia that did not have chicken schnitzel on the menu.

I remember when I was apprenticed in the early 1970’s; veal schnitzel was a specialty of the restaurant I was working at. It was pan-fried in a mixture of good quality oil and butter. You would probably have found veal schnitzel on the menu in most restaurants offering cuisine from Germany, Austria and the Benelux countries.

So how did the chicken schnitzel become so popular in Australia? Well basically it came down to a few core reasons. For the customer it was the appeal of the crunchy breadcrumb coating and the reasonable price. For the pub or club, it was a no-brainer. Chicken schnitzels were easy to prepare and even easier to cook; pan-frying was out, and deep-frying was in. A big advantage of chicken as opposed to veal was price stability throughout the year. I think a big reason was that people were not deep-frying food at home because it is just too expensive and messy; and we do like deep-fried food.

So, I have slightly digressed, for the subject of today is parmigiana and depending on where you live in Australia the term parmigiana can be used pretty broadly.

In Victoria, in 2018 the then premier, Dan Andrews released a statement intended to stifle debate on whether ‘parma’or ‘parmi was the correct term when used in conjunction with buying a beer. Parma and Pot won the day, but the debate still rages, and pub menus are still running with both Chicken parmigiana and the eggplant variety.

In N.S.W. the national love of abbreviating names continues, and people refer to chicken schnitzels as ‘schnittys’. Taking the discussion a little further you will find that a ‘parmi’ night (my preferred spelling) can also refer to a chicken schnitzel without the said tomato sauce and cheese but with an array of different toppings and sauces.

At the end of a day chicken schnitzels are an expensive way of buying breadcrumbs

So, I thought for today I would show you a simple, easy and a little different way of preparing chicken parmigiana.

The no crumb chicken parmigiana:

Coating a thin slice of raw chicken with breadcrumb can increase the weight of the finished schnitzel by 50%

By deleting the breadcrumb, you will be decreasing the weight and also minimizing the amount of carbohydrate in the coating and hence the amount of chicken you use per person should be increased.

Skinless chicken breast fillet is your best option for this recipe, but you can also get a good result using skinless thigh fillet.

The coating for this recipe is a light dusting of flour and beaten egg. But firstly, let’s have a look at the all important tomato sauce recipe; in fact, two recipes, both using a small saucepan.

Tomato sauce #1

per person

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course: Main Course

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 125 ml Classic tomato sauce from newsletter # 13
• ¼ tsp minced garlic
• ½ small ripe tomato blanched, peeled, deseeded and chopped (4mm dice)
• Dried basil to taste

Method

 

1. In a small saucepan combine the four ingredients and heat
2. Simmer slowly for 10 minutes. Ready
3. Ready
   

Chicken Parmigiana

per person

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course: Main Course

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 150-180 g chicken breast fillet
• minced garlic to taste
• ground paprika to taste
• plain flour
• 1 egg beaten
• 30 g grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tspn chopped parsley
• 15 g olive oil
• 15 g butter

Assembly Ingredients - per serve

• 120 ml tomato sauce
• 30 g grated mozzarella cheese

Method

 

1. Assemble ingredients
   
2. Flatten or cut the breast fillet to an even thickness of around 4mm
   
3. Season both sides with a little garlic, paprika, salt and pepper
   
4. Light dredge the chicken in flour, pat off excess
5. In a small bowl mix the egg, parmesan and parsley
6. Dip the chicken in the egg mix. Ensure good coverage
7. In a non-stick frypan melt the butter with the oil over medium heat
8. When the butter is hot enough to foam place your coated chicken fillet in the pan
   
9. Add a little more egg mix to the chicken’s top side. Cook on medium heat for two minutes
10. Turn the chicken and cook the reverse side for a further two minutes.
    
11. Take out and place on absorbent kitchen paper.
12. Ready

Assembly:

1. Set your oven to grill setting, or turn on your air-fryer
2. Place the cooked chicken on a suitably sized oven able dish
   
3. Coat the chicken liberally with the tomato sauce and top with cheese
   
4. Grill the chicken for about 3 minutes until the cheese is bubbling

Notes

An ideal side for the chicken is a vegetable risotto.

For a smooth tomato sauce use your stick blender.

I used baby bocconcini instead of mozzarella. 

 

In a country like Australia where we enjoy authentic cuisine from many different countries it is still possible to find offerings that are unique to a smaller part of Australia.

Yes, it is surprising that variations in cuisine do occur within Australia; some dishes have become national icons like the meat pie, the Democracy sausage and the lamington. The same dish may also be known by a different name in a different part of Australia. Today’s recipe is an example of a dish that is famous for its relative isolation – Tasmania’s Curried Scallop Pie.

SUCCESS

From Smithton in the island state’s North-West, to Tasmania’s state capital, Hobart, in the South-East and many points in between, when the scallops are running the curried scallop pie is being baked.

But before we look at the pie recipe, let’s have a quick look at Hobart’s famous Salamanca Markets where you will definitely find this tasty speciality.

Chris and I had only visited the markets once before, in 1983, having missed it on two more recent visits. The July 2025 Tasmanian visit was my ninth and Chris’s fourth (yes, we love Tasmania) and this time we made sure we were in Hobart on the Saturday, when the Salamanca Markets are always on.

The markets have been running since 1972, and they had become much larger since our previous visit. Nestled close to the picturesque harbour with the backdrop of the re-purposed Heritage sandstone warehouses the markets stretch about 500 metres along Salamanca Place from the Davey Street intersection.

For those people where the very mention of a market evokes thoughts of “the same old stuff”, Salamanca has more than 350 stalls that offer something uniquely Tasmanian including food, wine, woodwork, spirits, handicrafts and so much more.

The markets open at 8.30 am and we arrived a little before they officially opened to find that most stalls were ready to trade. The morning was chilly, but the skies were clear, and the sunny weather continued.

Starting at Davey Street end, Chris and I worked our way down Salamanca Place’s gently sloping pavement past the various traders offering leather work, clothing, souvenirs, books and packaged foods. For memory there was only one stall offering takeaway food in this area.

Once you pass the first 100 or so stalls, Salamanca Place levels out and from here you will find more than thirty stalls offering take away foods. Also, in this area you will find fresh fruit and vegetables, distillers, winemakers, confectionary, ice cream and toys. There are also lots of other non-food stores distributed throughout this area.

Naturally it was the food stalls that were of great interest with so many locally made products on display. The quality and variety of the hot food offered made you want to purchase something at every stall, but we had to pace ourselves.

It was in the take-away food section that we were reacquainted with the curried scallop pie.

The Curried Scallop Pie

One of the features that Tasmania is renowned for is fresh fish and seafood.  No point in Tasmania is more than 80 kilometres from the sea (as the crow flies), so fresh fish and seafood is generally plentiful; and July is the tail end of the scallop season.

The curried scallop pie (it’s also available as Mornay) shouldn’t be treated like an ordinary meat pie. I have only seen it sold as an individual serving. This pie would not be successful at the footy. Scallops are placed in the pastry raw and then the cold curry sauce is added, followed by the pastry lid. The baking process will cook the scallops and at the same time thin the curry sauce, so the sauce is a bit runny. You could make the sauce thicker, but this would be less traditional.

Each baker has their own preferred spice mix – their proprietary blend (or so I’m told). This would give a point of difference. Further differences can be achieved by adding other ingredients – onion, carrot, celery and potato. These ingredients would need to be finally chopped and used sparingly otherwise you run the risk using less scallops than is recommended; and that number varies, but between four and eight scallops per pie, depending on size, would do the job.

The sauce will be a derivation of another “Mother sauce” our fourth one – Veloute. In this case it will be made with basis of fish stock.

Finally, the pastry should be shortcrust pastry. It can be store bought but avoid puff pastry. The recipe provided is quick, easy and any leftover uncooked pastry can be frozen.

Shortcrust pastry

It is well known that making pastry dough by hand can give varied results with temperature being the main culprit. Basically the warmth of your hand softens the butter too quickly and this can be worse when the air temperature is warmer in summer. By-pass the problem by using a food processor. I used the attachment on my stick blender.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course: Main Course

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

Ingredients for three individual pies:

• 220 g cups plain flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 115 g unsalted butter diced and chilled hard
• 2 ½ tbsp plus 1 tbsp iced water

Equipment

• The pie tins inside measurements was 10cm x 14cm with a depth of 2.5cm

Method

 

1. Assemble your ingredients
   
2. Place the flour and salt in your processor and give it a quick pulse to mix
   
3. Add the cubed butter and intermittently pulse the processor for about 30 seconds.
4. The mixture should look like a course breadcrumb
5. Add the 2 ½ tbsp of chilled water. Process again for up to 10 seconds
6. There should be some change, but it won’t look like a ball of dough yet.
7. With your fingers see if the mixture comes together. If not add a little more iced water and give it a quick pulse.
8. Turn the mixture out and quickly work into a ball
9. Wrap the pastry in plastic wrap and chill for one hour
   

Notes

The addition of caster sugar with the flour and salt will give you a sweet shortcrust pastry.
Don’t be tempted to substitute margarine instead of butter.

The Curried Scallop Pie

As already mentioned the curry sauce is a veloute. Basically it is prepared in a similar fashion as béchamel sauce. The roux is cooked a little longer, perhaps a minute and the milk is replaced by stock – in this case fish stock. The amount of roux will dictate the thickness of the sauce. A little extra texture comes with the added vegetables and the curry powder. I used fennel, which is a good accompaniment for seafood.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course: Main Course

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

Curry Sauce:

Ingredients for 750ml sauce:

• 65 g butter
• 80 g onion peeled, finely chopped.
• 80 g potato washed, peeled, finely chopped
• 80 g fennel washed, finely chopped.
• 20 g curry powder
• 55 g plain flour
• 500 ml fish stock
• 5 ml lemon juice
• 100 ml cream
• Salt
• ground white pepper

Assembling the pie:

• 10 g butter melted
• 100 g shortcrust pastry as per recipe
• 4 - 8 Tasmanian Scallops per individual pie The weight of mine were 150g
• 160 g curry sauce
• 1 egg yolk mixed with 10ml milk

Method

 

Curry Sauce - method:

1. Assemble ingredients
   
2. In your saucepan on a moderate heat melt the butter on your stove top
   
3. Sweat the onion and fennel for 2-3 minutes. Avoid colouring
   
4. Add curry powder and gently cook for a further one minute
   
5. Add the flour, combine well and cook for a further one minute
   
6. Take off the heat and add the fish stock and lemon juice. Mix well to break up the roux. Return to the heat and bring to the boil. Sir until you have a smooth sauce
   
7. Add potato. Simmer for 12 minutes
8. Add cream. Bring back to simmer for 1 minute
   
9. Check seasoning
10. Ready
11. Chill the sauce before using it in your pies

Assembling pie - method:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180c
2. Lightly grease the pie tin with melted butter
3. Roll out the pastry to approx 2mm thick
   
4. Line your pie tins with the pastry. Avoid air bubbles under the pastry. Avoid stretching the pastry
   
5. Trim the pastry to the edge of your pie tin
6. Chill the pastry for a few minutes to firm the pastry up again
7. Gather scraps into a ball and roll out the pie top to suit the size of your pie
8. Fill the base with the scallops and enough cold sauce to give a domed effect after you lid the pie
   
9. Brush the edge of the pastry with the egg yolk mix
10. Cover the filled base with the pastry top
    
11. Seal the pie by crimping the base and top together
    
12. Brush the top of the pie with the egg yolk mixture
13. Cut a couple of steam holes in the top of the pastry
14. Place in the your oven and bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown and the sauce is bubbling through the steam holes
    

Notes

I used non stick metal pie dishes, offering a better heat transfer than ceramic or glass.
Place a baking sheet on the shelf below the cooking pies to catch any overflows

The leg of lamb that we won at the golf club resided in our freezer for a few weeks until we entertained a couple of friends. This recipe is similar in preparation to pulled beef/pork or chicken and like those other recipes it is a great dish to prepare the day before and the finished product also stores well in your freezer. You can substitute lamb shoulder and naturally the lamb can be boneless.

Traditional lasagne ticks most the boxes when it comes to comfort food. But it can be so much more as it lends itself to a number of variations including seafood, chicken, and vegetarian and let’s not forget gluten free pasta.

Within my own community lasagne is a go-to dish that is offered as a wellness meal, and I am often asked for the recipe; so here it is.

But first let’s have a look at a common problem – estimating the amounts of the sauces and pasta you need; having too much sauce finds you searching for a supplementary lasagne baker; having too little sauce means you are going to have to make more sauce.

Firstly, your lasagne baker should be 6cm – 7cm deep. Bakers made from glazed ceramic, glass or enameled cast iron is best

Next check the volume of your baking dish (if you don’t already know it). This can be done by filling your dish with a measured amount of water. The one I am using takes 3 litres; hence the finished product will be approximately 3 kilograms, which will give you 10 -12 portions.

Standard packets of lasagne sheets are 375g (fresh or dried). You don’t have a lot of options here, but surplus fresh pasta can be frozen, and the dried variety can go back in the pantry. Depending on the dimensions of your baker you may have to cut the pasta to size. The 375g pkt was just enough.

The meat sauce can account for 50% of the weight of the finished lasagne.

The cheese sauce will add a further 30%.

So, for the 3kg lasagne I will need 1.5 kg meat sauce and 900ml of cheese sauce to add to the 375g pasta and the grated cheese to top the lasagne.

Finally, most lasagne sheets are sold ‘instant’ or ‘ready to bake’. If you are using the dried variety your sauces will have to be slightly thinner. Alternatively, the dried lasagne sheets would benefit from quickly dipping the pasta in warm/hot water as you use each sheet.

You’ll need a medium sized lidded saucepan for this recipe.

Lasagne

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course: Main Course

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

Ingredients for the 1.5 litres meat sauce:

• 20 ml olive oil
• 120 g onion finely chopped
• 120 g carrot finely chopped
• 120 g celery finely chopped
• 1 tsp garlic crushed
• 800 g lean beef mince
• 20 g plain flour
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 400 g can crushed tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• 2 cups rich brown beef stock
• 1 cup dry red wine
• salt and pepper
• chilli flakes – optional
• worcestershire sauce - optional

Ingredients for Mornay sauce:

• 800 ml full cream milk
• 1 onion peeled
• 2 clove
• 1 bay leaf
• 8 black peppercorns
• 40 g butter
• 35 g plain Flour
• salt
• ground white pepper
• 200 g grated cheese – Gruyere cheddar, parmesan mix

Pasta sheets:

• 375 g lasagne sheets
• Hot water (if you are using dried lasagne sheets)
• 200 g cheese mix

Method

 

Meat Sauce

1. Prepare your ingredients
   
2. In your saucepan, heat the oil and sweat the onion, carrot, celery and garlic for about 4 – 5minutes. A little colour is OK
   
3. Add the mince and break up by stirring until there are no large lumps of mince. Continue cooking for about 10 minutes, until most of the moisture has evaporated.
   
4. Stir in tomato paste. Cook for a further 1 minute. Take off heat.
   
5. Stir in the flour – enough to absorb the fat and oil. Place back on the stove and cook for a further 1 minute
6. Stir in the stock and tomatoes.
   
7. Add the herbs. Turn the heat down to low.
   
8. Give the sauce a stir before lidding the saucepan
9. Simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally
10. After 1 hour take lid off. Stir occasionally for 20 minutes
11. Add red wine. Take out the bay leaf and thyme sprigs and discard. Ready.
    
12. Keep warm, ready to assemble your lasagne
    

Mornay sauce

1. Mornay sauce is a derivative sauce from a French ‘mother sauce’ – béchamel. Previous newsletters have looked at both espagnole and tomato sauces. Bechamel  or White sauce is the base for many other  sauces including Mustard, Nantua, Dill and Horseradish. You’ll need a small saucepan, whisk, spatula and a strainer plus a bowl to heat the milk, for this recipe.
   
2. Push the 2 cloves into the onion, do the same with the bay leaf by making a small incision with a knife
   
3. Place the onion, cloves and bay leaf in the milk
   
4. Heat the milk to just under simmering temperature. Do not boil the milk
5. In a saucepan melt the butter and add the flour to form a roux.
   
6. Cook on a medium heat for about 1 minute. Avoid browning the roux. Take off the heat and cool slightly
   
7. Remove the onion from the hot milk and discard.
8. Add the hot milk to the roux. Whisk until the roux has dissolved. Return the saucepan to the heat and continue whisking
9. The milk will thicken and then boil. Turn heat to low and continue whisking for 1 minute. Take off the heat. At this stage you have prepared Bechamel
10. Stir in the grated cheese until it has melted.
11. Strain the sauce. Ready. Keep warm ready to assemble your lasagne

Assembly:

1. Set your oven at 170c
2. In your baker cover the bottom with about 3mm of mornay sauce
   
3. Place one lasagne sheet on the mornay sauce
   
4. Cover the pasta with one quarter of meat sauce
   
5. Add another pasta sheet, followed by another ¼ of the meat sauce
6. The next layer will be lasagne sheet followed by a layer of mornay sauce
7. The next two layers will be pasta sheets and meat sauce
8. Top the last meat sauce with pasta sheet and cover with the rest of the mornay sauce
9. Finally top the mornay sauce with the cheese mix
   
10. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes until the cheese is golden brown and the sauces are bubbling.
    

Notes

Milk can burn easily – make sure you regulate the temperature and stir constantly.
I find that the microwave can heat the milk perfectly (without stirring)
Grate the cheese directly from the block. Avoid pre- grated packaged cheese for the sauce. If you have no alternative but pre-grated, avoid boiling the sauce after you add the cheese.  I used Jarlsberg cheese which is a good substitute for Gruyere cheese.

Portion leftovers and freeze them in labelled containers.

A few newsletters ago I made mention of the term – ‘service a la Francaise’ – the buffet.  At a similar time in history the Russians had developed service a la Russe. Service a la Russe involved the carving of meat at a customer’s table. The French (again) took this concept a degree further and came up with Gueridon Service where food was actually cooked beside the customers table. This was done with the aid of trolley which was equipped with a burner, quality frypans and ingredients.

True Gueridon Service only existed in high-end restaurants and apart from the entertainment value for customers it gave an outlet for staff to show their skills. Most importantly it not only stimulated customer’s senses, it also stimulated demand for this same level of service.

How did it work?

Have you ever been sitting in a restaurant (a good restaurant) and after going over the menu from front to back, still been left wondering what you will order. Then something happens – a server carries a meal to another table; it looks good; it smells even better; was that sizzling you heard; you look at the menu again; finally you ask for guidance from your server.

That’s what you order.

What has happened is that three your five human senses have worked together to evaluate a dish – sight, smell and hearing. Your server has filled in the blanks – taste and touch (temperature and texture).

In Australia there are more than 50000 restaurants and cafes and only a small percentage of those establishments would be classified as high-end; fewer still are ‘fine dining’ and only a handful would offer an interpretation of Gueridon Service.

The Hilton’s ‘San Francisco Grill’, the Wentworth’s ‘Garden Court’ and Romano’s Restaurant are all long gone. The ‘Chef’s tables, tableside gelato bars, Teppanyaki  bars are modern interpretations of what some would consider a resurgence in Table Cookery.

But what has happened to some of the Table Cookery signature dishes? Fortunately not all have disappeared, but unfortunately they have been relegated to almost insignificance. If you had spied a favourite dish from years ago, ordered it and been left disappointed, you wouldn’t be the first customer. Steak Diane is one such dish.

Steak Diane  

As with many famous dishes, this steak has a vague European history but with many contenders putting up the collective hands as being the original inventor. Strangely enough it appeared in Australia in 1940 and at same time it appeared in the U.S.A., by then the recipe was anything up to twenty six years old and still being refined.

The original ingredients were thin cut, best quality steak; butter, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, salt, chopped parsley and with garlic as an option. WHAT! Garlic was optional? Clearly there was work to be done.

It is generally believed that once Steak Diane departed Europe and arrived in pre WW2 United States, dry mustard, lemon juice, chives and brandy found their way into the recipe. The brandy would have been almost certainly included in the table cookery version. But overall for me to call it a sauce at this point is a bit of a stretch. Enter fresh cream.

Today’s recipe is hopefully what you would expect. Once you have assembled your ingredients (which are not too onerous) it’s a pretty quick dish to prepare. Indeed your side dishes of choice will probably take longer. It would be great with Lyonnais potatoes and steamed vegetables.

If you are preparing it for guests, drag them into kitchen, dim the lights and flambé your work, they will be impressed.

Steak Diane

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Servings: 2 people

Course: Main Course

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 2 160g fillet steaks trimmed
• 10 ml Olive oil
• Butter
• 1 French shallot peeled and finely chopped
• 1 tsp crushed garlic
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 15 ml Worcestershire sauce
• 20 ml Demi-glaze
• 10 ml Brandy
• 120 ml Cream
• Salt and cracked pepper
• Parsley washed, picked and finely chopped -1 Tbsp finished

Equipment

• A stainless steel or non-stick frypan is all that is required for this recipe.

Method

 

1. Prepare ingredients
   
2. Prepare the fillet steak. Cut of flatten to about 5 mm thickness
3. Heat the oil in the frypan
4. Pat the steak dry and season with salt and cracked pepper
   
5. Seal the steak in the frypan for 1 minute before turning. Seal the other side for a further 1 minute. Turn the heat down and take the steak out of the pan to rest on a plate.
   
6. In the frypan add the butter and when the butter is sizzling add the chopped shallot and garlic. Sauté for 3 minutes on medium heat.
   
7. Add, Demi-glaze, mustard and Worcestershire sauce
   
8. Add any collected juices from the steak. Reduce the liquid a little. Avoid scorching
9. Return the steak to the pan
10. Flambé with brandy
11. Add cream. Bring the sauce to the boil
    
12. Take out steak and place on pre-warmed serving plates
13. Reduce the sauce (if needed) to a coating consistency
14. Add chopped parsley to the sauce. Ready
15. Serve the sauce over the steak

Notes

Diane sauce is a stand-alone sauce that can be adapted to chicken, pork and lamb. It is also delicious on chips, as many a pub goer would know
I used reduced beef stock in place of Demi-glaze (Gravy)

Today we have a look at a British breakfast/ brunch dish with Indian sub-continent origins – Kedgeree. Many recipes that I feature have a story but kedgeree has a history. Traceable back to the year 1340 ‘khichuri’ was a similar dish that had rice and lentils as ingredients and occasionally fish. It gained popularity with the British when India was part of the British Empire. Eventually Kedgeree found its way back to Great Britain. Again there are a number of variations in how it is prepared  and presented but common ingredients include cooked rice, curry powder, butter, smoked  Haddock and boiled egg.

When I serve Kedgeree I prefer top the rice with a single poached egg instead of the quartered boiled egg. The runny yolk mixes well with the rice as opposed to the hard-boiled egg and it feels more Australian.

But firstly we’ll have a look at how to poach not one, but multiple eggs, which is handy if you have guests for breakfast and you would prefer to all eat at the same time.

How to poach eggs:

Some appliances and utensils are sold as egg poachers. Lidded pans with individual metal or plastic cups and silicon moulds both offer a cookery method that is not poaching. Recently I saw a recipe for poached eggs cooked in an air-fryer – NO!

Poaching is a ‘moist’ cookery method used for preparing delicate foods that require less cooking such as fish, fruits and eggs. You can use milk, stock, diluted wine and in the case of poached eggs, water. The cooking temperature is between 70c – 80c, which is lower than simmering. A good way of achieving the correct temperature is to bring the water to the boil and then turning the heat down until the water stops simmering.

Of the many videos showing you how to successfully poach an egg, I can’t recall seeing more than one egg being poached at a time. A single egg takes about three minutes to poach, so if you were poaching eggs for three people (two eggs each) the last egg would be ready 18 minutes after the first egg was done, or longer if someone wanted hard yolk. If you need a single egg or multiple eggs this is how I do it.

Step 1.  Assemble your equipment and ingredients. You’ll need a small un-lidded saucepan – say 2 litres or a small shallow pan, say 60mm deep, both preferably non stick  or stainless steel;  a plastic slotted spoon to avoid scratching the pan surface; one small ramekin; absorbent kitchen paper; a small bowl with chilled water. Remember to use the freshest eggs available.

You’ll need four fresh eggs and 50ml of white wine vinegar.

Step 2. Bring to the boil in your pan or saucepan enough water to poach the four eggs. Add the vinegar. Turn the heat down till the water is just below simmering.

Step 3. Crack the eggs in the ramekin one at a time and gently lower the egg into the water. In a clockwise direction, do the same with the other eggs. Depending on the size of pan  you could put the final egg in the centre.  This should take about one minute. Adjust the heat up to compensate the drop in water temperature, but avoid boiling the water.

Step 4. Using the spoon, starting with egg number one, gently make sure the eggs haven’t stuck to the surface of the pan.

Step 4. If any of the eggs are not immersed, spoon the hot water over them or add a little hot water from the kettle.

Step 5. When you think the eggs are to your liking, lift the first one and test with your finger tip.

Step 6. In order, take the eggs out and place in the chilled water. This does two things – it stops the cooking process and negates the vinegar flavour.

Step 7. Discard the poaching water (unless you require more eggs) and replace with fresh simmering water. When you need to serve them place the poached eggs (which by now should be around room temperature) into the fresh simmering water for 20 seconds before taking them out and placing them on the absorbent paper. Ready.

Notes:

• As long as you don’t overdo the vinegar, you may find the flavour acceptable without refreshing the eggs, particularly in the case of Eggs Benedict
• The pan I used can take up to six eggs

Kedgeree

While you could consider using leftover cooked rice, Kedgeree would benefit from fresh rice cooked pilaf style. This is rice cooked by absorbing just enough water or stock. Some recipes call for the separate poaching of the smoked fish in milk; I prefer steaming the fish on top of the rice.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course: Breakfast, Main Course

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

Kedgeree ingredients for 2 – 3 servings:

• 100 ml milk
• 250 g -350g smoked haddock fillets
• 1 cup Basmati rice
• 10 ml Olive oil
• 1¾ cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
• 1 small bay leaf
• 3 Cardamom pods split (optional)
• 2 Curry leaves optional
• Salt
• Cracked pepper
• 50 g butter
• 2 small French shallots or 1small onion both peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic peeled, finely chopped or minced.
• 10 g Curry powder I use ‘Clive of India’
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• Juice from half a lemon
• 100 ml cream
• Parsley rinsed, picked, roughly chopped. ¼ cup finished.
• Coriander optional prepared the same as parsley
• chives to garnish

Equipment

• You’ll need a lidded saucepan and frypan for this recipe. A steamer style top for the saucepan would be helpful, but not essential

Method

 

1. Assemble ingredients
   
2. Macerate the smoked haddock in the milk for 30 minutes and then drain
3. Prepare the smoked haddock into pieces that will fit within the saucepan or steamer’s diameter
4. Heat your saucepan with the oil and add the dry rice; stir with a wooden spoon to prevent the rice from scorching on the bottom of the saucepan
   
5. After 2-3 minutes add the stock, bay leaf, curry leaf, cardamom. The stock should boil at first before recovering. Season carefully now for better distribution.
6. Stir the rice until it starts boiling again. It should have the consistency of a thin sauce. Turn the heat down to lowest temperature and give it a final stir.
7. If you are using a steamer top for the fish place it on top and lid the saucepan. If you aren’t, just lid the pot.
8. After about 5 minutes, quickly check the rice to make sure it is cooking by giving it a stir. Alternatively the heat may be too high and the rice is sticking; in either case adjust the heat. Lid the pot
9. If you are not using a steamer top, place the fish directly on top of the rice now to cook. Try for a single layer of fish so it will cook evenly. Lid the pot
10. After another 10minutes, both the rice and the fish should be done, regardless of which way you steamed the fish
11. Remove the fish and let it cool a little.
12. Remove the rice from the heat and carefully ‘fluff’ up the rice, before replacing the lid. Try and retrieve (and discard) the leaves and the pods. Leave the rice saucepan at the back of the stove to keep warm.
13. With your fingers, flake the fish, being careful to remove and discard all the bones and the skin. Keep the flaked fish at the back of the stove
    
14. Meanwhile heat the frypan and melt the butter. When sizzling add the onion and garlic.
    
15. Gently cook for 2 minutes before adding the curry powder and ground cumin
    
16. Continue cooking for a further 1 minute
    
17. Stir in lemon juice. When it has evaporated add the cream. Bring to the boil.
    
18. Either in the rice saucepan or a large bowl break up the rice (a dinner fork or chopsticks works well). Fold in the hot curry cream, mix well. Add the parsley and coriander. Mix well.
19. Finally, carefully fold in the smoked haddock
20. Serve with a poached egg and buttered toast. Garnish with chives.

Notes

I made up a vegetable stock with a powdered stock base.
I soak the fish in milk to make the fish less salty. Be careful with your seasonings as the fish will still be salty.
The fish will also add liquid to the rice so be careful not to add too much stock
Smoked haddock may still have fine bones particularly at the thicker end of the fillet
The fish will take longer to cook in a steamer top
In Australia, smoked salmon is a popular substitute for smoked haddock. However smoked salmon does not require cooking. Just fold through the salmon the hot cooked rice or alternatively just arrange the salmon on top.
As with any ‘green food’ extended cooking can leach the colour out to give a less appetising appearance. So be careful with your green herbs and any other green vegetables such as peas that you might consider adding
In our kitchen we have a glass top stove. These stoves not only take longer to heat up but they also retain heat. Take this into account when turning down the heat to a low simmer.

Iconic Australian Hotels – The Adams Hotel Sydney.

I wish I had a direct connection to The Adams Hotel, but this famous hotel was demolished in 1969, the year before I reached the legal drinking age. I did however work in the hotel that replaced it – The Sydney Hilton. Any conversation about The Adams Hotel could very easily drift into one of the many other interests that George Adams, the hotels namesake, had.

George Adams migrated to Australia in his mid teens, in 1855. He spent a number of years in various occupations including gold mining, jackaroo, stock dealer and butcher. Over time Adams developed a love of horse racing and gambling. By 1875 he was able to purchase the license to a Hotel in Kiama on the N.S.W. south coast.

A likeable man of influence and with many good friends, Adams frequented The Tattersall’s Club in Sydney where the common interest was gambling. The Tattersall’s club had already been re-named The Tattersall’s Hotel when in 1878 three of Adam’s friends purchased the hotel for him. Apparently it was a deal done on a handshake. Did I not mention that they were very good friends.

Still under the name Tattersall’s, George Adam’s expanded the gambling operation to be even more successful and by 1884 he had repaid the 40000 pounds that his friends had paid for the hotel.

The hotel had not undergone any updating since 1860 and realising that he had to stay ahead of his competitors, Adam’s in 1890, embarked on a renovation spree.

The work included expanding the hotel’s footprint to include constructing The Palace Theatre next door which included Sydney’s first electric power station. An arcade running from Pitt Street to George Street, decorated with imported marble and rich timbers was also constructed. By far the most opulent appointment was the fabulous Marble Bar and its collection of Julian Ashton paintings. Designed to Adam’s specifications, very early on The Marble Bar was destined to become a world famous watering hole.

George Adams became very wealthy and still found time to run a coal company in N.S.W. plus a brewery in Tasmania. But the main source of his wealth was his gambling empire –Tattersall’s.

Today, George Adam’s financial legacy is entwined in Tabcorp, Australia’s largest gambling company. However I like to think he might like to be better remembered for his beautiful Marble Bar.

The Mixed Grill

A popular counter lunch at The Adams Hotel in the early 20^th Century was the mixed grill. The classic English version could have featured lamb chop, beefsteak, pork or beef sausage, lamb’s fry, kidney, gammon, chicken and bacon. A fried egg, green peas, grilled tomato as well as gravy would have accompanied the meat. This was all balanced with a healthy serving of chips. It sounds like a very challenging meal.

Many cuisines offer an interpretation of the mixed grill. In Italy marinated chicken would be featured while you would find skewered meats in menus not only the Middle East but also in Spain and Latin America. Generally the main ingredients should be grilled but the cooking style of the accompaniments will differ – baked potato and beans in China; chips and chutney in England; pickled vegetables in Romania; buttered toast in the American mid- west.

Today, by popular demand, I’m featuring an updated version of the mixed grill that doesn’t feature meat; but don’t worry, a more traditional mixed grill will be featured in a couple of weeks

You’ll need a flat top grill or ridged grill or a frypan, a small saucepan for blanching, and a stick blender to prepare this meal.

Vegetarian Mixed grill:

It is important that the cooking times for all the vegetables are similar and this can be achieved by blanching. Some vegetables benefit from blanching in boiling salted water prior to grilling, particularly denser vegetables. I blanched the potatoes, corn, sweet potato and onion. Additionally I blanched the asparagus. The way you cut the vegetables is also important; different shapes will give you better presentation on your plate. If you are doing a large amount use your oven to keep the finished vegetables. The choice of vegetables is up to you – whatever is good in the market. Some vegetables are best avoided. These include leafy greens, peas and beans. The volume of vegetables you have to purchase will feed more than 4 persons, but keep in mind you have the rest of the week to use up your vegetables in other recipes Some of the zucchini will be turned into a blended sauce.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course: Main Course

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• Two Kestrel Potato – peeled 4 thick slices, blanched 10 minutes
• One ear of corn – cleaned cut in four, blanched 8 minutes
• One small sweet potato peeled, cut in four, blanches 7 minutes
• Two small onion peeled, halved, blanched 7 minutes
• One bunch of asparagus 4 spears, trimmed, blanched 2 minutes
• Two Japanese eggplant washed, split
• 1 x 200g Haloumi cheese 4 x 50g slices
• One red pepper with garlic and pine nuts
• Two medium size tomatoes washed, cored, halved
• ½ Butternut pumpkin peeled, 4 x 1cm thick slices,
• 350 g zucchini washed, 4 x 60g slices for grilling, the rest thinly sliced for the sauce
• Four mushroom caps destalked.
• Six cloves Garlic peeled, 4 slit, 2 chopped
• One bunch basil – about 8-10 leaves
• Salt and pepper
• 10 g Pine nuts toasted
• Extra virgin olive oil.

Method

 

1. SAUCE
2. Heat your small frypan with a little oil
3. Add the chopped garlic, sauté for 30 seconds
4. Add sliced zucchini. Cook for another one minute
5. Add basil leaf, stir in.
6. Season
7. Blend all with stick blender
8. When blended chill to retain colour
9. GRILLING
10. Heat you pan – hot enough to sear and brown the vegetables
11. Brush the vegetables and the pan with oil
12. Start with the vegetables which take the longest – potatoes, corn, sweet potato and pumpkin. Turn the vegetables occasionally
13. Colour these before you put the next vegetables on – eggplant, zucchini red capsicum and mushroom
14. Add 8 halves of garlic. Cook those a little before putting them onto the mushrooms
15. Add onion, tomato and asparagus.
16. Cooking times will vary. Adjust heat accordingly
17. When finished serve with zucchini sauce. Sprinkle the grilled capsicum with pine nuts

1. SAUCE

2. SAUCE

3. SAUCE

4. SAUCE

BRUSHING VEGETABLES

GRILLING VEGETABLES

Next week: Ossobuco with creamy polenta. An easy recipe for one or two people

Continuing with the carbohydrate theme here are another couple of potato recipes plus a bonus roasted soup recipe – all very tasty.

Baked Stuffed Potatoes

4 portions

These potatoes are great as an accompaniment for a grilled steak. Alternatively you can choose tiny potatoes and use as a finger food item. You will need a small frypan, a baking sheet and a bowl for this recipe.

• 4 x Potatoes, around 200g each
• 60g Bacon, lean, rind less; small dice
• 10ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 20g Butter
• One small brown onion, around 80g, peeled, finely chopped
• 60 ml sour cream
• ¼ bunch chives, washed and chopped
• 10g Parsley, washed and chopped
• 60g Cheddar Cheese, grated
• Paprika, scant
• Salt and pepper

Method:

• Pre-heat oven to 175c
• Select even size potatoes, remove any dirt by washing and scrubbing
• Place potatoes either on a baking sheet or directly on the oven rack
• Bake the potatoes for 45 minutes until the skin is crisp but the potatoes ‘give’ a little when pressed
• While the potatoes are cooking, cut the bacon into a 3mm dice
• Heat the oil in your frypan and add the diced bacon and onion. Sauté on low heat until the bacon is brown and a little crispy and the onion is caramelising. When ready take off the heat and keep the bacon and onion warm.
• When cooked remove the potatoes from the oven

• Place the hot potatoes on your kitchen bench. Using a serrated knife slice off the top 10% of the potato, parallel to your kitchen bench
• While holding onto the potato with a clean tea towel , scoop out the inside of the potato into your bowl until leaving a potato ‘shell’ about 3mm thick
• Mash the hot potato before adding half the cheese and all of the rest of the ingredients except paprika. Check the seasoning
• Mix well
• Divide the potato mix evenly between the potato shells
• Top each potato with a little cheese and a sprinkle of paprika
• Return the finished potato to the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes until the potato tops are golden brown
• Serve

Notes:

• I used a nylon scourer to clean the potatoes
• These potatoes do well when prepared the day before (and refrigerated). When you go to cook them, microwave them a little before putting them in the oven

Warm Potato Salad

This salad recipe lies somewhere between a German Potato Salad with its vinaigrette dressing and the creamy mayonnaise style with which we are familiar.  It goes well with a veal or pork schnitzel. The combination of the egg yolk, vinegar and oil and the hot potato makes the dressing. You will need a small saucepan, a bowl and a wooden spoon for this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 500g small new potatoes, peeled cut into 2cm cubes or 4mm slices
• 40mlWhite wine vinegar
• One egg yolk
• 80ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 20g Dijon Mustard
• Salt and pepper
• 80g red onion, peeled, thinly sliced
• 2 x shallots, picked, cold rinsed, dried, cut in 1cm pieces
• 10g parsley, picked, cold rinsed, dried, rough chopped

Method:

• Rinse the prepared potatoes in cold running water before covering them with fresh cold water in your saucepan. Add a little salt. Bring to boil. Turn down to simmer. Cook till the potatoes are tender, but not overcooked – around twenty minutes.
• Meanwhile place the vinegar, egg yolks, oil, mustard and seasoning in your bowl. Mix.
• Stir in the onion, shallots and parsley. Mix well.
• Be sure that the egg yolk has mixed in

• When the potatoes are ready drain them well
• Add the hot potatoes to the bowl and quickly mix in. Ensure you have even distribution of dressing, onions and parsley.
• Serve

Notes:

• I steamed the potatoes, instead of boiling them
• As an alternative you could not peel the potatoes

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 used include prawn and green onion as well as a mixture of sour cream, toasted macadamias, crispy bacon and chopped chives. Yes it is a departure from ‘healthy eats’ but it is delicious.

You’ll need a baking dish (or two), a large saucepan, a large bowl and a medium-fine sieve.

Makes 3 1/2 litres

Ingredients:

• 5 Kg Butternut Pumpkin, peeled, de-seeded, 3cm cubes
• Three medium Onions, peeled, rough chopped
• 100ml Extra Virgin olive oil
• 3 tsp chopped garlic
• 2 tsp ginger, chopped
• 1 tsp chopped chilli
• 5 litres vegetable stock
• Two bay leaf
• 50ml honey
• 10ml lemon juice
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground white pepper

Method:

• Preheat your oven to 175c
• Place the pumpkin and onion in the baking dish and splash it with the oil
• Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, giving the mix an occasional stir
• Add the garlic, ginger and chilli to the pumpkin mix. Stir in
• Continue roasting for another twenty minutes. The pumpkin should be browning a little. Try and avoid browning the onion.
• The pumpkin should be soft by now. Continue cooking if not.
• When ready, take out of the oven and place the pumpkin mix in your saucepan
• Hold back 300ml of stock; put the rest of the stock in with the pumpkin
• ‘Deglaze’ the baking dish over a medium heat with the 300ml of stock. Discard any scorched pieces of onion. Add the stock deglaze to the rest of the stock and pumpkin
• Add the bay leafs, honey, lemon juice and seasoning to the stock
• Bring the saucepan to the boil. Turn down to simmer
• Simmer for 30 minutes. Take off heat. Remove the two bay leafs
• In batches strain the soup into the bowl. Push the solids through your sieve with the back of a spoon. This puree will give the soup its thickness
• When finished you should have around less than one cup of ‘solids’. Discard these.
• The finished product should be a soup consistency. Check seasoning
• Serve with toast

Notes:

• The flavour of this soup seems to improve overnight in the fridge
• It’s a little bit spicy so you can decrease the chilli if you need to

Pears in Australia are available in store for much of the year but are at their peak during what we consider the cooler months. Pear orchards, with the exception of Stanthorpe in South East Queensland and Manjimu

p in Southern Western Australia are all located in the southern states.

The varieties of pear you are likely to find at the market include Beurre Bosc, Bartlett, Corella and the ones I am using today – the Packham Pear.

While the “Packham” story may not be as well known as the Granny Smith apple it does share similar historical credentials. It was first grown in the central the west of New South Wales, in 1896, near the township of Molong. Today this Australian Pear is a top seller around the world.

Firstly let’s have a look at how to poach pears and follow it up with two delicious recipes.

Pears Belle Helene

This recipe uses a chilled poached pear and the preparation of the chocolate sauce is pretty quick.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course: Dessert

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

Chocolate Sauce Recipe for Pears Belle Hélène

• 200 g dark chocolate.
• 100 g milk chocolate.
• 300 ml cream.
• 10 ml brandy optional.

Equipment

• You will need a small saucepan to heat the cream, a bowl for to mix the sauce plus a whisk or wooden spoon.

Method

 

1. Break or chop the chocolate up and place in a bowl. Stainless Steel or Pyrex style is good.
2. In a separate pot heat the cream to almost boiling before pouring the cream over the chocolate,
   
3. Gently stir the combination until it is smooth. Serve warm or at room temperature.
4. It will firm up if you refrigerate the sauce (for up to a week).
5. Assembly:
6. Your dessert plate should be at room temperature
7. Drain the chilled whole poached pear well.
8. Square off the base if required so that the pear is upright and stable.
9. Coat half of the pear with chocolate sauce.
10. A scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side
11. Garnish with an edible garnish of contrasting colour – I used green mint leaf.
    

Notes

If you find this sauce too rich you could increase the ratio of milk chocolate and also add a little more cream
A gentle heating in a microwave (after refrigeration) will return the mix to sauce consistency.

Pear upside down cake

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course: Dessert

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 5 ripe pears peeled cored, cut into 2cm-thick wedges for fresh pears, a little thinner for poached pears.
• 100 ml pear poaching liquid if available concentrated by 50% and 130g brown sugar, otherwise increase the brown sugar a little.
• 270 g unsalted butter softened
• 300 g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 2/3 cups (250g) plain flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 80 g almond meal
• 1 cup 250ml milk
• Thick cream to serve

Equipment

• Your will need a greased and lined 25cm spring form tin and your electric mixer for this recipe.

Method

 

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (not fan-forced).
2. Sprinkle brown sugar and concentrated syrup over the base.
3. Melt 100g of the butter and pour over brown sugar syrup mix. In a neat pattern top with overlapping pear slices.
   
4. Place remaining butter and caster sugar in bowl of electric mixer beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. It should take about 5-6 minutes.
5. Add eggs one at a time while beating. Turn the mixer off occasionally and scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
6. On a low speed fold in the dry ingredients.
7. Mix in the milk to form a smooth batter.
8. Pour all of the batter over the prepared pears.
   
9. Place pan on a baking tray, to catch any possible leaks and place in the oven.
10. Bake for 45 minutes and drop the temperature to 150c.Cover if necessary to prevent overbrowning. Continue baking for another 30 minutes.
11. When ready take the cake out and cool for 20-30 minutes.
12. Carefully invert the cake on to a suitable sized serving plate.
    
13. Serve with thickened cream for afternoon tea or warm with vanilla ice cream as a dessert.
    

Notes

This recipe is suitable with drained poached pears or because of the extended cooking time you can use fresh pears as long as they are ripe.