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This is delicious hearty beef stew attributed to the Burgundy Region of France. Not particularly old and without a pedigree, it only became popular in the mid 20^th Century after Volume 1 of  ‘Mastering the art of French Cookery’ was published in 1961.

Key components for a flavoursome stew include the cut of beef; the dryness of the red wine; the quality of the beef stock and whether or not to marinate the beef. I use chuck steak, which is excellent stewing beef. Blade steak would be another option, but you may find it a drier meat and it will take longer to cook.  Cabernet Sauvignon  was in my wine cupboard and possibly a better option than Pinot Noir. Powdered beef stock was used this time; choose a lower salt variety as it will give you greater control over the seasoning. If you choose to marinate the beef the overall flavour of the finished product will be better than not marinating the beef. Firstly the meat needs to be marinated at least 6 hours before you start cooking. Naturally the meat needs to be drained before sautéing and you have an additional job to do. The retained marinade needs to be slowly simmered and the gently strained to clarify the liquid before adding to the stew. Common problems (that can be overcome) include the smokiness of the bacon and selection of the onions. The nitrites in bacon can eventually give the cooked beef a ‘pink’ hue. While not detracting from the taste of the stew or making the dish unsafe you may find the colour unappealing. Try giving the bacon a quick blanch in boiling water or adding the sautéed bacon towards the end of the cooking process. Pearl onions are small white onions and can be difficult to obtain. One solution is to blanch and rinse small cocktail onions to minimise the vinegar flavour, before adding them to the stew late in the cooking process. I don’t particularly recommend this idea. You could use pickling onions (if available) and just take off a few layers of the peeled onion to get closer to the size you need. Chop finely the outside of these onions and sauté them after the beef.

Beef Bourguignon

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 3 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Marinating time 6 hours hrs

Servings: 6

Course: Main Course

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 50 ml olive oil
• 1 kg chuck steak 800g trimmed
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup red wine
• 250 g carrots peeled and cut to approximately a similar size as the onions
• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 12 pearl onions peeled, kept whole
• 200 g shortcut rind less bacon
• 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 400 g mushrooms quartered.
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• Plain flour a little to help absorb fat
• 1 cup cold beef stock
• Salt and cracked pepper to season

Equipment

• I used a single Dutch oven for the stew. Alternatively you could use a slow cooker but you will need a frypan to do all that sautéing.

Method

 

1. Assemble ingredients
   
2. If the onions are bigger than say a 20 cent piece then take off a some layers
3. Finely chop any of those onion layers
4. In a bowl marinate the beef, thyme, bay leaf, carrots and pearl onions in the red wine; cover it and refrigerate for between 6 and 24 hours.

Ready to cook:

1. Drain the meat and retain the liquid
2. Heat the Dutch oven on the stove and add a little oil
3. Evenly sauté the pearl onions and carrots for 5 minutes. Take out and keep on the side.
   
4. Add a little more oil to the Dutch oven and sauté the mushrooms. Take out and keep on the side
   
5. Add a little more oil and sauté the beef in batches. Take out and keep on the side
6. Add a little more oil to the Dutch oven and on a lower heat sauté the chopped onion and garlic for 5 minutes. Do not scorch the onion.
   
7. Take off the heat and add the tomato paste. Stir in.
8. Add a little flour to absorb any oil of fat. Return the Dutch oven to medium heat
   
9. Stir in the beef stock and dissolve any roux lumps before the liquid boils
   
10. Meanwhile slowly bring the marinade to the boil. The beef juices will coagulate.
    
11. Strain the relatively clear liquid into the Dutch oven and stir in
    
12. Add the beef, pearl onions, carrots, thyme and bay leaf.
    
13. Lid the pot and slowly simmer the stew for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally
14. In a separate pan gently sauté the bacon pieces. Do not make the bacon crispy. When ready drain the bacon and add it to the stew for the last 15 minutes of cooking
15. Check the tenderness of the beef after 2 hours. This can be done by selecting a piece of beef of the Dutch oven pressing it firmly between two fingers to see if the meat separates.
16. Check the seasoning. Find, remove and discard the thyme and the bay leaf.
17. When cooked serve the Beef Bourguignon with mashed potato and a steamed green vegetable.

Notes

I used the bacon fat (from the sautéing pan) in the mashed potato. 
Fried bread croutons are a tasty topping when plating up.

History Bites  – A quick  look at the origin of the modern menu

For many years European cuisine and British Cuisine in particular was influenced by the French. So much so that many French Culinary words have been absorbed into the English language. Ones that quickly come to mind include Croissant, terrine, soufflé, hollandaise and canapé.

Two French phrases are the basis for the structure of the modern written menu – table d’hote and a la carte. A third French phrase, service a la francaise, we now call the buffet.

Table d’hôte . From its origins in the 17^th century table d’hôte is now a familiar way of presenting a menu. A literal translation is “the hosts table “and basically it means a fixed menu at a fixed price. A wedding menu would fall into this category. This type of menu could be as simple as offering a single selection of one entree, one main and one dessert but it would more likely offer the guest a choice from at least two entrees, two mains and two desserts. Generally the guest accepts what is put in front of them. Often only the host knows the fixed price or price per head. Here the chef would hopefully take considerable care in offering a well balanced menu.

Another interpretation of this style of menu would be a restaurant that would offer multiple choices of each course at a set price. I would think that this style of menu is very popular in good restaurants now. A guest may be offered two courses at a particular price or three courses for a higher price. Side dishes that once upon a time were “included” are generally priced separately. Hopefully restaurant staff would guide the patron in making wise selections.

A third example of table d’hôte is a degustation menu. Here multiple small courses are offered at a set price and it is almost always accompanied by matching wines and beverages to complement each course.

The a la carte menu came to the fore in the early Nineteenth Century. A literal translation of the term is “at the card”. Here a customer would choose from a menu where everything has an individual price and the menu could be quite extensive. If you were dining in a restaurant featuring an a la carte menu you might expect that most menu items were cooked to order (yes that used to happen)but more likely there may be some items pre-prepared. Regardless of this you would expect a high degree of service by knowledgeable staff.

In Australia many club and hotel bistros offer a la carte menus but with heavy reliance on pre-prepared food. Here price pointing is important with the aim of attracting the general population.  Customers decide for themselves what to eat, often with the help of photos or displays. The level of service is often limited to cashiers and plate clearers.

When I was growing up, if you were dining a la carte it was considered posh and probably a rare event. Cole’s cafeteria, a local cafe, the fish and chip shop or a Chinese restaurant were more likely alternatives, but none of these were on a regular basis. Today, dining out for many is the norm and as consumers we are spoilt for choice. We have a multitude of restaurants and dining options offering either specialisation or a mishmash of culinary styles. Hidden within it all, but not forgotten, are those two terms.

The much maligned buffet became popularised in the nineteenth century (with those who could afford it), with after theatre crowd suppers. The buffet is a form of self service/self selection from an array of food on open display. Nowadays it has various interpretations throughout the world and across all strata’s of society. At one end of the scale you would have correctional institutions often being served at a form of buffet with strict price controls, while a New Year’s Eve buffet at a popular restaurant in New York would have almost unlimited options with both pricing and the quality and variety of food.

In Australia, the Coles Cafeteria (yes that qualifies as a buffet) had a run of more than 50 years from 1928 and for many of those years it was a family favourite. In our youth a trip to Coles and its cafeteria was a special treat offering multi coloured jellies and a soft drink and ice cream concoction called a “spider”. My favourite was a “Lime Spider”.

Two years before the demise of the Coles cafeteria in 1987, Sizzlers was born in Brisbane. The concept proved very popular and became the go-to family restaurant. Memorable for its toasty cheese bread and unlimited buffet visits, you could also order grilled items.

By the early 2000’s things weren’t as rosy for Sizzlers. Changing trends in eating out led to a revenue slide and Covid was the nail in the coffin, with the last Sizzler’s outlet closing in 2020. We had three or four Sizzler’s restaurants locally and I can still recall the shock of their closure.

These days buffets are not uncommon, but they are generally found within the club industry, particularly in NSW, where larger clubs can offer a variety of dining options. Other popular locations for buffets are the tourism operators which ply their trade within the harbours of our larger cities. And let us not forget the buffets with perhaps an undeserved bad reputation – the ones that are enjoyed by 1.2 million Australians cruise passengers annually.

Thinking about cruising and cruise ships, my earliest recollection of dining out with a menu in front of me was on the P and O – Orient Ship the S.S. Oriana in 1962. I’m sure there were earlier occurrences but this was a special time.

The Oriana, in March of 1962, had been involved in a collision with an aircraft carrier in California. I’m not sure how long the Oriana was out of service but it had resumed its cruises out Sydney later in the year and our family was on the Christmas – New Years cruise.

At the time the ship had two classes – First Class and Tourist Class (where we were) and the livery of the ship was a corn coloured hull with a white superstructure. There was only one restaurant in tourist class but I recall they had an occasional ice-cream outlet offering three flavours of ice-cream, an impressive afternoon teas set up in the ballroom and also a lunch buffet in the same room.

On board they had a “Junior Club” but apparently I ate in the restaurant with the rest of our family. Every morning a bugle melody would resonate through the ship (well at least in tourist class) calling passengers to breakfast. The aroma of the freshly baked bread rolls was wonderful and I always had two.

Other memories were the guided tours through the engine room, the Bridge and naturally through the massive galley. It was while watching the kitchen brigade working that I developed an interest in cooking.

Below are two menus, a breakfast and a dinner from that first of four trips our family did on the Oriana in the 60’s. The third menu is a luncheon menu from a 1985 cruise that Mum and Dad went on. By then the Orient Line name had disappeared, the ship was painted all white and it was a single class ship.

Looking at the breakfast and dinner menus you’ll note the strong British influence with French overtones. You’ll also notice that on both the luncheon and dinner menus cheese is served as a final course – that’s the English way. In France cheese is served before dessert or in place of dessert.  I remember that the Head Chef was British as were many of the crew.

Twenty two years later , in 1985, not a lot had changed but there were a few international dishes creeping in on the luncheon menu, which reflected the multi-cultural nature of Australia. Note the addition of Australian wine by the bottle, the house wine by the glass and check out the prices. Also of interest was the Consommé Olga which was also featured on the menu of the RMS Titanic on the 14^th April, 1912.

After starting my cooking apprenticeship I found myself often correcting people when they referred to luncheon as dinner and dinner as ‘tea’. I also started using the 24 hour clock. Yes I worked with European Chefs. In retrospect that must have really annoyed my family and friends.

So the two recipes today are re-created from the 1985 luncheon menu.  Firstly a hearty soup – Scotch Broth and for the second is Farfalle Cacciatore where we will also have a look at another Mother sauce – Tomato.

Scotch broth

The technical name for this soup is a potage. That means that it is a soup thickened by the weight of its ingredients; strain the soup and you will have just broth with perhaps a slight thickening from the starch of the potatoes and barley. Scotch broth had its origins naturally in Scotland and was written about in the early 1800’s. Like many dishes that came from a working class background it utilised the most abundant and cheapest ingredients available – mutton neck, barley and root vegetables. After breaking-the-fast a cast iron pot would be filled with ingredients before being swung over the fireplace where it would slowly cook and be ready for the workers returning for their early afternoon dinner. This soup has similarities to other soups of peasant origin; soups such as minestrone and Spanish bean soup.

Scotch broth

Scotch broth is a hearty winter soup that I am sure you will enjoy. Mutton has been replaced by lamb and the vegetables are progressively added to maintain their shape and texture. The ‘greens’ are added closed to the end to maintain their colour. You’ll note that neither the lamb nor the vegetables are sautéed or sweated – everything is simmered. 

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Course: Soup

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

Ingredients for 5 litres:

• 1 cup pearl barley soaked in 3cups of cold water for 6 – 8 hours
• 1200 g boneless lamb shoulder or 900g boneless lamb leg
• 2 litres vegetable stock
• 2 bay leaf
• Seasoning
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 1 Swede or turnip about 250g, peeled, 1 cm dice
• 250 g carrots peeled, 1cm dice
• 650 g potato peeled, 1cm dice
• 1 large leek trimmed, halved, washed, green and white separated
• 2 celery stalks trimmed, peeled, 1 cm dice.
• ¼ of a Savoy cabbage about 400g, cored, 1cm dice.
• 1/3 cup curly parsley leaf rinsed, pat dried, roughly chopped (1/3 cup finished)
• Salt and Pepper
• Crusty bread to serve

Equipment

• One sizable saucepan is all you will need for this recipe.

Method

 

1. Soak the barley, preferably the night before.
   
2. Prepare vegetables
   
3. Place the lamb, stock, bay leaves and thyme in your saucepan. Slowly bring it to the boil before turning it down to simmer for one hour
   
4. Gently skim the scum from the surface of the soup and discard the scum.
5. Add the Swede, carrot and the white of leek. Continue simmering for a further hour
   
6. Add a little water to compensate the evaporation.
7. Add the barley and any of the water the barley hasn’t soaked up.
8. Add the potato. Continue simmering for another 15 minutes
9. Take out and discard the bay leaf and thyme
10. The meat should be tender enough to take out of the soup. Cut the meat into a one cm dice, discarding any sinew or excess fat. Add the diced meat back into the soup.
11. Add the green leek, celery and cabbage to the soup. Simmer for a further 15 minutes
12. Gently skim the surface of fat. There should be more fat if you are using lamb shoulder. Alternatively carefully use some absorbent kitchen paper to soak it up
13. Add the parsley and serve
    

Notes

Alternatively you could use lamb shanks, just allow for the bone’s weight.
I used boneless lamb leg. If you are using other cuts you will need to extend your cooking time by perhaps one hour before you add the carrot and Swede.
Turnip is another vegetable you could use as well as or instead of Swede
Maybe avoid parsnip
Kumara would make it more ‘down under ‘style. Add that with the potatoes.

Farfalline Cacciatore

By 1985 Italian cuisine was well entrenched in Australia thanks to post-war migrants, so it was not surprising to see it on the Oriana’s menu. Farfalline pasta is a miniature version of Farfalle pasta and we often refer to it as bow-tie pasta. Its origin is from northern Italy can be traced back to the 16^th century. You may find Farfalline harder to find than its big brother which is what I will use.

Cacciatore sauce is often associated with braised chicken, but it is a standalone sauce that can also be used with rabbit, lamb or potatoes, in a similar way or just as a straight pasta sauce. Interestingly you can use either red or white wine and either black or green olives. I prefer  fresh tomatoes in season but the standard 400g can of peeled or crushed tomatoes is a good substitute and also cheaper. Two saucepans (one with a lid), a colander and a small mixing bowl are required for this recipe.

Cacciatore Sauce Ingredients (for about 900 ml of sauce):

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Course: Main Course

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 40 ml olive oil
• 1 medium onion peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/2 red capsicum deseeded, de-stalked, white removed, thinly sliced
• 1/2 green capsicum deseeded, de-stalked, white removed, thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves peeled, crushed or thinly sliced
• 200 g button mushrooms washed, pat dry, sliced
• 5 ml lemon juice
• Leaf from two sprigs fresh thyme
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• Sea salt
• Cracked black pepper
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• Generous pinch of chilli flakes
• 200 ml chardonnay or any dry white wine
• 400 g can crushed tomatoes
• 80 g of Kalamata olives drained and pitted.
• Vegetable stock optional

Method

 

1. Ingredients
   
2. Heat the oil in a suitable sized saucepan
   
3. Add the onion and garlic and sweat for two minutes
   
4. Add both capsicums and continue cooking for another three minutes
   
5. Add the mushrooms and lemon juice. Cook until the liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated. Turn the heat down
6. Add the thyme, turmeric chilli flakes and tomato paste and cook for another two minutes
7. Add white wine and tomatoes and bring the sauce to the boil before turning the heat down to maintain a low simmer for 10 minutes. Lid the saucepan
8. Add the olives and continue cooking for another 10 minutes.
   
9. Check seasoning and serve.

THE PASTA:

1. Allow 100g pasta per person or a little more or less depending on your appetite
2. Follow the instructions on the packet
3. When the pasta is cooked to your liking drain the pasta.
4. The pasta is best when you don’t rinse it.
5. When it is well drained place your pasta in the mixing bowl with a little of the Cacciatore sauce and fold the sauce in
6. Portion the pasta in pre-warmed serving bowls followed by a generous ladle of sauce
7. Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Notes

You will find the colour of the green capsicum will dull with only a little cooking so you can replace it with more red capsicum or yellow. Alternatively sweat the green capsicum separately at the last minute and either fold into the finished sauce or place on top
Replacing the dry white wine with a red variety shouldn’t change the flavour too much but there will be a difference in colour
Drained and pitted green Manzanilla olives can be substituted for the black olives.

In season tomatoes:

During our Australian summer we have available some delicious tomatoes and I often use ripe Roma tomatoes in both sauce and soup recipes. They are easily prepared and will give you a great start for any tomato based sauce.

Firstly pre-heat your oven to 150c then wash and core one kilo of firm ripe Roma tomatoes. Split the tomatoes and place in a baking dish and sprinkle with 50ml olive oil and a little salt and cracked black pepper. Roast in the oven for one hour.  Add sliced onion and garlic after 30 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent scorching. The tomatoes will collapse and the flavour will intensify.  There should still be lots of juice but you are going to blend everything, but do not strain. Use the blended mix in place of the crushed tomato, onion and garlic in the Cacciatore sauce.

Your finished Cacciatore sauce will be smoother with the other ingredients becoming more visible.

French Mother Sauces – Tomato Sauce– not to be confused with Tomato ketchup

Previously when we did the meat mixed grill I gave you the recipe for our first “Mother Sauce” –Espagnole. Last issue , in the Chicken Tetrazzini recipe we made a veloute sauce, but I forgot to tell you that it was another of the  five “Mother Sauces” – we’ll go back to that in a future issue.

The classic Tomato sauce still has a place in our kitchens even though it’s not used as much as it used to be and there is less of a tendency to use roux in tomato based sauces – but it’s worthwhile having a look at it.  The process is similar to sauce Espagnole. You’ll need a thick bottom lidded saucepan or Dutch oven and a strainer for this recipe.

ClassicTomato sauce

makes about 2 - 2.5 litres finished sauce :

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Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 40 g butter
• 40 g plain flour
• 60 g smoky bacon diced small
• 1 cup carrots washed, small dice
• 1 cup onions peeled, small dice
• 1 cup celery washed, small dice, avoid leaf
• 6 mushroom stalks optional
• 4 parsley stalks
• 2 cloves garlic peeled, thinly sliced
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 400g cans crushed tomatoes
• 1 litre vegetable stock
• Scant salt and pepper

Equipment

• You’ll need a thick bottom lidded saucepan or Dutch oven and a strainer for this recipe.

Method

 

1. Ingredients
   
2. Melt the butter in over medium heat and gently sauté the bacon.
   
3. Add the carrots, onion, celery, mushroom stalk and garlic and sweat for a further 5 minutes
   
4. Take the saucepan off the heat and mix in the flour. Return the saucepan to the heat and add the stock and tomatoes. Stir to break up the roux.
   
5. Add the thyme, parsley and bay leaf
6. Bring  liquid to the boil before turning down to a low simmer and lid the pot
   
7. Simmer for 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching
   
8. Strain the sauce, avoiding pushing the vegetables through the sieve.
9. If needed return the sauce to the saucepan to further concentrate the sauce
10. A little seasoning when done
11. Use, refrigerate or freeze the finished sauce

Notes

A dated recipe, but still tasty. More relevant for perhaps a cream of tomato soup
You may be wondering, after looking at the last picture, why do we throw away all the vegetables? Firstly remember it is a Tomato sauce not tomato and vegetable sauce. However if you take more care with preparing the vegetables, that is peeling the carrot and celery and making sure the cuts are actually even in size and then removing the thyme and bay leaf you would then have a different sauce without straining.

Cooking for one

You would think cooking for just yourself would be easier and cheaper. Unfortunately it is not the case. There are two main reasons for this.

Firstly the recipes we use are generally for two or more people.

Secondly, when we purchase food we have fewer options available for single diners. Supermarkets will offer a far better price per kilo for pre-packaged fruit and vegetables, while canned goods are generally too much of a single ingredient for a single portion recipe.

Invariably, purchasing in larger quantities can lead to monotony. What to do. Here a few ideas.

• Take a little time to plan your menus for the week.
• Select recipes which give you flexibility with the main ingredient. For example mince beef (still the cheapest way of purchasing beef) could be made into meatballs, bolognaise or Shepherd’s pie. Those three dishes can also be made with other types of mince
• Some of your recipes will have to be freeze stable. By that I mean food that can be frozen and be reconstituted with minimal loss of quality or flavour. Lasagne and casseroles are good examples while thawed grilled meats (by themselves) are poor.
• Incorporate your vegetables into rice, pasta or noodles to serve with your main course. Alternatively do a medley of roast vegetables, bouillon vegetables or stir fry vegetables
• If you prefer fresh, buy fresh. Alternatively there are very good individually frozen fish portions available. Barramundi, salmon and green prawns come to mind.
• Consider cutting up a whole fresh chicken into its various parts and freezing certain portions for later use. Chicken breast fillet, done this way is superior to store bought fillets plus the overall cost will be cheaper.

Our second recipe today is an example of “Bricolage”. You may remember I used that term in the first newsletter with the recipe for Chicken Marengo. Basically it is an original recipe based on whatever ingredients you have on hand. At home I call it my “clean out the fridge recipe” and it uses up accumulated bits and pieces. But first let’s have a look at the recipe using minced beef.

Meatloaf Mignon

This recipe will give you three good size portions. For variety you could make one or two portions into meat loaf mignon and then turn the balance into meatballs to serve later in the week with spaghetti.

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Course: Main Course

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 20 ml olive oil
• 100 g mix of onion/carrot/celery finely chopped
• 250 g lean beef mince
• One egg
• 70 g coarse breadcrumb
• 80 ml milk
• 1/8 tsp paprika
• 1/8 tsp thyme
• 1/8 tsp chopped chilli
• ¼ tsp onion powder
• A few drops of Worcestershire sauce.
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• 3 x 35g approx rind less streaky bacon – 15cm-17cm long

Method

 

1. In a saucepan sweat the onion mix in the oil and butter on a low heat about 3 minutes. Cool to room temperature
   
2. In a small bowl soak the breadcrumbs with the milk
3. In a separate mixing bowl place all other ingredients, except bacon. Mix by hand.
4. Add the breadcrumbs to the meat mix. Mix really well.
5. Cover and refrigerate the meat mix
6. On a clean board, split the bacon length wise
   
7. Form a cross with two strips of bacon.
   
8. Divide the meat into three even portions. Form the in your hands in large balls.
   
9. Place the meatball on top of the bacon and wrap the bacon around the meat.
   
10. Repeat with the other two portions. Cover and refrigerate until needed
    

Cooking:

1. Set oven or air fryer to 180c
   
2. Place the three mignons in a small lightly greased baking dish and into the oven
3. Cook for 15 mins before turning down to 150c for a further 20 minutes
4. I served this with a Diane sauce. Mushroom sauce would also be suitable.

Notes

Assuming you are using fresh mince extra portions can be frozen in their uncooked state

Vegetable Parcel

So what do to when you have ingredients leftover? No I am not talking about “leftovers” I am referring to uncooked ingredients. It can be relatively easy as long as you follow two rules: The ingredients have to be useable i.e. still within their use-by date. The ingredients have to be compatible. It works best when you have a variety of ingredients – don’t overload with a single ingredient Apart from those suggestions it really is down to personal taste. This recipe made use of some filo pasty and an array of raw vegetables from the fridge as well as some cooked rice and mashed potato both of which were actual leftovers. It could be likened to a pasty without meat.

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Course: Main Course

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• Olive oil
• Garlic optional
• Brown onion
• Red onion
• Sweet potato
• Pumpkin
• Carrot
• Green beans
• Corn
• Cauliflower
• Broccoli
• Red Capsicum
• Cooked rice
• Spring onion
• Vegetable seasoning Vegeta
• Salt and Pepper
• Filo pastry
• Melted butter

Ingredients (sauce):

• Tomato blanched and skinned.
• Bottled pizza sauce

Method

 

1. Prepare all the vegetables (washing and peeling) and cut into 4mm cubes.
2. Line the prepared vegetables in the order presented above
3. Heat a little oil in your frypan and sweat the onions for about 5 minutes
4. Progressively add the other ingredients with the ones requiring the least amount of cooking added last.
5. I micro waved the rice and potato to heat them before adding them to the mix
6. Combine everything well and adjust the seasoning.
7. Transfer the finished mix to a bowl and refrigerate
8. Prepare the sauce by mixing all the ingredients and blending. Heat the sauce gently on the stove top or in the microwave oven.

Assembling the parcels:

1. The number of sheets of pastry you will need depends on the amount of filling. Generally I use no more than three but most of the time I use two sheets
2. Follow the instructions on the packet of filo pastry.
3. Place one sheet of pastry on your clean bench top
4. Brush the surface of the pastry with melted butter
5. Add a third sheet and brush with butter if you like*
6. Cover with a second sheet of pastry. Brush a little butter on the end of the pastry furthest from you
7. About 10 cm from the end of the pastry closest to you place two ice cream scoops of chilled vegetable filling.
8. Roll the pastry over the mix and turn in the pastry sides. Continue rolling (not too tight) until you have a neat parcel.
9. Brush the parcel with butter all over
10. Place the parcel on a baking tray (the join of the pastry down first)
11. Prick a couple of holes in the top of the pastry
12. Bake at 170c – 180c for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
13. Serve with a tomato cream sauce

I’ve heard of that: Chicken Tetrazzini

In Australia we have our ‘pasta bake, a handy dish that you can generally throw together pretty quickly because often you will  have the necessary ingredients on hand and if you are missing one or two you can make do. It’s perfect if you have to ‘bring a plate’; it freezes well; and it’s tasty.

But who first thought of the delicious combination that is Chicken Tetrazzini. There are three possible claimants, all of which are plausible. One was a chef in San Francisco; one was a chef in New York and both the claims were around the early 1900’s. The third possible inventor was supposedly the French chef Auguste Escoffier, but it really doesn’t sound like the type of dish he would have been associated with.   However there is no dispute over the origin of the name; that belongs to the famous Italian opera singer – Luisa Tetrazzini.

Chicken Tetrazzini

Traditionally spaghetti was used (which is what I will use) but in Australia there has been a tendency to substitute penne or fusilli pasta.

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Course: Main Course

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• One barbecued Chicken flesh retained, skin and bone put aside 1350
• 1 litre vegetable stock
• 300 g Spaghetti
• 60 g butter
• 3 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 5 ml lemon juice
• 250 g button mushrooms washed, drained and sliced
• 80 ml 1/3 cup white wine
• 50 g 1/3 cup plain flour
• 500 ml 2 cups chicken liquid stock
• 250 ml 1 cup milk
• 300 ml cooking cream
• 120 g 1 1/2 cups 50/50 grated cheddar and grated parmesan
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh continental parsley plus extra to sprinkle
• Salt and pepper.
• 10 g extra butter for greasing the dish

Equipment

• For this recipe you’ll require three saucepans, a fine strainer and a lasagne style dish

Method

 

1. In a saucepan place the chicken bones, skin and any juices from the barbecued chicken bag. Cover with the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil and turn the heat down to low. Simmer this stock for 30 minutes.
   
2. Cut the chicken meat into a large dice.
3. In a separate saucepan cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water as per the instructions on the pack. Cook till underdone or “al dente”. When ready drain and rinse and put aside
4. Pre-heat your oven to 180c
5. In a separate saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Sweat the garlic.
   
6. Add mushrooms and lemon juice and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep cooking until the liquid produced has evaporated. Take off the heat and add the flour.
   
7. Stir the flour in and cook for a further 1-2 minutes. Adjust the heat to prevent scorching before taking the saucepan off the heat
8. Strain the stock and let it settle before removing any fat from the surface
9. Add 500 ml of this stock to the mushroom saucepan. Return to the heat and bring to the boil while stirring.
10. Add white wine. Combine well. Continue stirring
11. Add milk and cream. Bring back to simmer while stirring
    
12. Adjust seasoning
13. Stir in half the cheese mixture and half the chopped parsley
14. In your lasagne style dish cover the bottom with bottom with 2-3mm of sauce.
    
15. Add the chicken
    
16. Add the cooked pasta to the saucepan. Combine well.
    
17. Turn out this chicken mix out into the dish. Spatula out all of the mixture.
    
18. Sprinkle the rest of the parsley and cheese on top
    
19. Bake for 15 minutes until the top is golden brown.
20. When ready let it stand for five minutes before serving.

Notes

I used an unseasoned barbecue chicken from Costco. It was 1.35 kg, which is heavier than the chickens sold elsewhere. I kept a little of the breast meat for some sandwiches
You will end up with too much stock so freeze it for future use
This recipe is easily adaptable for both seafood and vegetarian

The Mixed Grill (part 2 – with meat)

I hope you have your grill or frypan handy for this week’s recipe. Alternatively if the weather is fine and warmish and you have a few friends over, why don’t you fire up the Barbie?

I have avoided including a number of meats that would have featured in The Adam’s Hotel traditional mixed grill. Nevertheless at around 300g of uncooked meat plus sides it is still a large meal, but plated, it looks very appealing.

If you are shopping at a minimum service supermarket you may struggle to purchase ‘single’ amounts, so you will have to resort to storing the extra cutlets and sausages in your freezer.

If you are tempted to make your gravy from scratch, perhaps make it the day before and then leave out what you think you need and freeze the rest.

Firstly blanch the chips in either boiling water for ten minutes or in the hot canola oil (around 150c) for seven minutes before draining. Leave them on the side for the final cooking

Importantly, pat all the meats dry with kitchen paper before seasoning the lamb, beef and pork. Brush the meats with oil and add a little oil to your hot pan.

The sausage should take the longest so start with that and then progressively the other meats. The mushroom should be next, followed by tomato, apple and finally the bacon. If you are grilling for a few people, keep the bits and pieces warm in the oven as they finish cooking. Juices that collect are precious and should be added to the gravy, plus perhaps a dash of red wine.

Meanwhile you’ll need to get the peas going in salted boiling water and also heat the gravy.

The chips should now return to the hot oil (about 180c). Cook them until golden brown and crispy. When perfect drain them and place them on kitchen paper to absorb the last of the oil.

Choose a large dinner plate for assembly and consider presenting the peas and chips separately.

I chose a grill plate with ridges that could fit on the glass-topped stove we have. You will also need two small saucepans – one for your chips and one for the green peas. To heat the gravy, your microwave will do.

The Mixed Grill (part 2 - with meat)

(per person)

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Course: Main Course

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• One x Lamb cutlet French trimmed
• One x thick Chicken and fetta Sausage
• 60 g Pork fillet centre cut
• 60 g Beef steak fillet or sirloin
• 50 g Streaky bacon
• One x fresh tomato ‘golf ball size’, firm, ripe, cored.
• One flat mushroom
• One garlic clove peeled, thinly sliced.
• One slice about 4mmGranny Smith apple
• Extra virgin Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 50 g frozen peas
• Two leaves fresh mint
• 250 g potato one large, peeled and cut into 70-80mm x 15ml x 15ml strips
• 5 g butter
• 200 ml canola oil
• 80 ml sauce Espagnole gravy
• Sharwood’s mango and ginger chutney to serve
• Watercress or parsley garnish

Method

 

1. Assemble and prepare all the non-meat accompaniments for your mixed grill – chips, mushroom, tomato, apple, garlic, parsley
2. Blanch the chips for ten minutes in boiling water. The cut potatoes should still be holding together when done. Drain them, let them dry out and put aside till later
3. Pre-heat your grill plate. It needs to be hot enough to grill but not too hot to char any single ingredient
4. Pat all the meat dry and then lightly salt the lamb, chicken and beef
5. Brush those meats with oil
6. Start grilling the sausage and progressively add the other the other meats
7. Adjust the heat accordingly
8. When you are comfortable with how the meat is progressing add the mushroom you have seasoned, oiled and popped the garlic in.
9. It’s time to get your deep fryer pot going and your other pot happening for the peas.
10. When the oil is hot enough carefully add the potatoes
11. Brush the tomato and apple with oil and add to the grill plate
12. Add your peas to the boiling salted water
13. Add the bacon to the grill plate
14. When the individual grills are done to your liking, take them off and let them sit for a minute or two
15. This should give you enough time to finish the chips, peas and gravy
16. Drain the peas and add the butter and mint.
17. Turn your deep fryer off and carefully take out the finished chips; drain them well and lightly salt them
18. Add collected meat juices to the gravy
19. Arrange everything on a pre-warmed plate.
20. Serve with chutney on the side.

Notes

There’s a bit to think about in the recipe and timing is important
• Adjust the meats to suit your tastes
• Think about combining elements of this recipe with the vegetarian mixed grill from two weeks ago

Sauce Espagnole  – Our Gravy

This sauce is one of five ‘Mother sauces’ of France. The other four “mother sauces are Bechamel, Veloute, Tomato and Hollandaise. Sauce Espagnole will be the base sauce for our gravy. Check ‘Cookery Basics’ for the recipe for beef stock; alternatively you could purchase a readymade stock.

SAUTE BACON AND VEGETABLES

EVERYTHING IN – COOKING

STRAINING

FINISHED PRODUCT

Sauce Espagnole  - Our Gravy

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Course: Side Dish

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 25 g butter
• 25 g bacon roughly diced.
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/4 cup diced carrot
• 1/4 cup diced celery
• 25 g plain flour
• 750 ml beef stock
• 1 bay leaf
• Two sprigs fresh thyme
• Four fresh parsley stems
• ½ tsp whole black peppercorns
• 100 ml tbsp tomato puree

Equipment

• You’ll need a heavy based saucepan and a fine strainer for this recipe

Method

 

1. Heat your saucepan and melt the butter. When sizzling add the bacon
2. Sauté the bacon for 5 minutes; add the diced vegetables and continue cooking until the bacon and vegetables are nicely coloured. Take off heat.
3. Add the flour to absorb the fat. This is called a roux. Place the saucepan back on a low heat to cook out the flour for 2 minutes. Take off heat
4. Add the stock and stir to dissolve the roux. Make sure the bottom of the saucepan is free of roux.
5. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring the liquid to the boil.
6. When boiling turn down to a low simmer.
7. Simmer for one hour.
8. Avoid seasoning at this stage
9. Strain through a fine strainer
10. Refrigerate, freeze or use straight away.

Notes

You may be wondering why I took the saucepan off the heat. The general rule when making roux is that you add cold stock to hot roux or vice versa. This is to eliminate the lumps that form when you add hot to hot.
As mentioned this is a base sauce and can be used in most recipes requiring a “gravy” style sauce.
Use the collected juices from the grilled meat to enrich the espagnole or a packet gravy mix