Giant Dumplings for the Soul

Time to bring out the pasta maker again…

Tortellini of Chicken & Gorgonzola In A Fragrant Thyme Broth

Sunday arvo, whole chicken plus leek, fennel, carrot, celery, thyme and bay leaves, in a big pot, covered with water and simmered for an hour an half while I watched DVDs and read the social pages. Bliss.

I shredded the chicken breast meat and threw it back into the (drained of vegies) broth. I finely chopped the meat off the bones and mixed it with gorgonzola, parmesan, lemon juice (no rind!) and parsley stalks to make the tortellini stuffing. Meanwhile I made the pasta – not as tricky the second time around, which was a relief – and then turned it into tortellini. Well, sort of. I mean I tried to make tortellini, but really they just ended up looking like oversized dumplings. I read and reread the instructions, but just could not get the rolling technique spot on. Not to mention that my teaspoon of mixture was probably a little generous.

Still, tortellini or dumplings, it was still a healthy and good-for-the-soul chicken soup dinner at the end of a very chilled and enjoyable weekend.

Note to self, next time I make fresh pasta again, I need to halve the recipe. I had way too much leftover and still can’t figure out how to store homemade fresh pasta without it all sticking together in a huge lump.

Xx

A quick bake-off.

I had a lovely day visiting friends yesterday – breaky with Becko, visiting baby Lukas and dropping in on Jen & James, returned from their honeymoon.

By the time I got home, the sunny day was turning to evening and I was heading out for a big birthday dinner. I needed to cook something to make sure I stayed on target this week, so I flipped to the dessert section thinking there had to be something that I had all ingredients for in the pantry.

Tea-party Fairy Cakes

I quickly whipped up the mixture in my new mixing bowl – I can’t tell you how long I’ve been searching for the right one, so I am very excited about this new addition to my kitchen. It’s got an old school look about it, which reminds of baking with Mum when I was little. The cupcake mixture is the sponge recipe in Jamie’s book (sponge to be made at a later date), but I have so say that I’m a little worried about the sponge, now that I’ve made these fairy cakes.

It’s not that the cakes didn’t turn out nicely (I should mention that – of course – there is lemon zest in this recipe!!!), they are very tasty, but they’re not the lightest, fluffiest cakes I’ve made, so it doesn’t bode well for a spongey sponge. But not to worry, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

I’m off to lunch today, taking fairy cakes as an après-lunch treat.

Xx

Light and easy, bird.

This will just be a quick one. A mid-week tally count.

Roasted Chicken Breast Wrapped in Pancetta with Leeks & Thyme

I chopped half a leek (the biggest leek I’ve ever seen – the vegie man was super proud of his product!), some thyme, S&P, oil and a knob of butter. Draped the pancetta over the chicken breast, sat it on top of the leeks and into the oven for 25 minutes. Served with some cous cous and a few peas. Done and dusted.

Plenty of time for watching the season finale of All Saints and reading my book. A perfect mid-week night at home.

Xx

PS – sorry for the lack of photo, but I got a bit excited and before I knew it, the plate was empty and then I remembered!

If you can’t take the heat, hire some sous-chefs!

Mammoth. That’s what my weekend in the kitchen with Jamie was. Apart from it being a par for the course big weekend of eating, drinking and dancing at the farm with friends, I tackled four recipes from the book and though they probably weren’t the four quickest and easiest recipes, when you’re feeding 11 people and celebrating a 30^th birthday, you don’t do things by halves.

Overnight Slow-roasted Pork

Roast Leg of Lamb with Aubergines and Onions

Potato Rösti

1980’s-style Black Forest Swiss Roll

It all began on Thursday, with a trip to the butcher for the pork shoulder and the leg of lamb. Followed by a two trolley session at Woollies with Gem.

After a few wind-down cleansing ales on arrival at the farm on Friday night, it was, before we knew it, the middle of the night and time to make a start on the pork. Stu helped me rub crushed fennel seeds and salt into the skin then we placed in it the baking dish with chopped fennel bulbs, chopped carrots and some garlic cloves (expertly peeled by Gem – a fun job after a few wines!) and into the pre-heated-to-max-oven for 30 minutes before turning down to 100 and heading to bed at 2am!

Not only did I dream of the pork, but I woke in a panic several times, running out to the kitchen, to be met by amazing aromas and finding it beautifully roasting away. I shuffled back to bed.

As much as we were tempted to pull it out and eat it for breakfast – seriously, you cannot imagine how fantastic the smells in the house were – I left it to continue it’s slow roast, all the way through until 1pm. A whopping 11 hours in the oven. We pulled the meat of the bone and put it in the fridge for later.

Why, you ask, did I do this? Because I needed to free up the oven for everything else! If only the farm had an industrial catering kitchen, but alas no… By this stage, Sarah had arrived and was looking forward to taking up her post in the kitchen, so we made a start on the logs. Yes plural. Two chocolate logs. One in the oven while mixing the next one and making the syrup (I’ll just say here that my “splash” of brandy was about half the size of Sarah’s “splash”, though no doubt she’ll tell a different story!). Chocolate sponge, spread with cherry brandy syrup, chocolate cream, whipped cream and sprinkled with cherries. Now you roll. Quite a challenge, but incredibly fun. And all the creamy choc goodness that oozed out the end had to be eaten by someone, so why not two people who’d been slaving in the kitchen all day…

Chocolate logs in the fridge to set, time to start the lamb. Into the oven for half an hour, then throw in wedges of eggplant and red onion and back in the oven for an hour. Meanwhile, I made a tomato sauce with tinned plum tommys, anchovies, parsley stalks, garlic and red wine vinegar, left to simmer for half an hour, while Sarah and I took turns to chop matchsticks of potato for the rosti.

A small break to head up into the paddocks with the rest of the gang to watch the sunset and have a cheeky vino.

Back down the hill and into the kitchen, it became a frenzy of activity and my sous-chefs excelled themselves. While I flitted about the kitchen, yelling orders left right and centre, the girls took it all in their stride, chopping, topping, tailing, stirring, squishing, tearing and frying.

Half an hour later we served up a pretty spectacular dinner – Happy Birthday Stu!

More than one of us went back for seconds, so a short break was necessary. Some dance floor action suited, making space for the dessert. I have to say, the choccy logs were amazing.

If I had to sum it up I’d say: Farm = good food, good wine, good friends, good times.

And thank god for the sous-chefs, otherwise dinner might not have been served until the wee small hours. It was definitely a mammoth effort.

Xx

Too much my friend. Too much.

I know it’s pasta, so it’s not exactly going to be light, but he called it Summertime, so I at least thought it would be fresh and zingy.

Summertime Tagliarini

But it’s almost 2 hours since I ate dinner and I am still struggling to come to grips with the fact that this is the first recipe in my experiment thus far, that I can honestly say I will NEVER cook again.

It seemed harmless and summery enough – pine nuts, lemon juice and zest, chopped parsley, grated parmesan and olive oil, stirred together and stirred through the cooked pasta.

Simple enough, but it was the richest, most full on pasta I’ve ever eaten. I couldn’t finish it and it’s not very often that I find myself in that position!

I’m kind of glad to find that there’s a recipe in the book that has caused some grief – I wish it wasn’t such uncomfortable grief, but hey? – it makes me appreciate all the good experiences just that little bit more.

Though it hasn’t done anything to change my opinion of the pine nut. It may be small and innocent but it’s no friend of mine.

Xx

Time out dinner.

This weekend I headed out of town for some down time. I wanted a weekend of sleeping in, watching DVDs, reading books and generally mooching about, so I headed to Mum’s farm, lit the fire, let the cat in and settled in for the weekend.

Roast Rack of Lamb with Potato and Cauliflower Dauphinois

Unfortunately by the time I went into town on Saturday to buy supplies, I’d missed the butcher and couldn’t get a rack of lamb at the supermarket, so had to settle for lamb chops instead. Not ideal, but still tasty.

Mum and I were only recently discussing how underrated cauliflower is as a vegetable (it really is damn good), so I was pretty excited by its addition to the classic potato dauphinois. I layered the potato slices and the chunks of cauliflower, plus a sprinkling of thyme then poured over a cream and milk concoction that had been simmering and infusing with garlic, nutmeg and bay leaves – super tasty. Into the oven for 40 minutes covered with foil, then remove the foil and sprinkle over some grated parmesan and back in the oven for 10 minutes to melt and brown.

Meanwhile I browned the (seasoned with S&P & rosemary) chops and popped them into the oven briefly.

Served with steamed beans, it was a perfect country dinner of meat and three veg, enjoyed in front of the fire, totally chilled out.

I promise I will try to do this again with the proper rack of lamb next time. With those tasty dauphinois, I can’t say my arm would really need to be twisted to do the re-attempt…

Xx

Can I get a bib with that?

I’ll start by apologising that it’s taken me a few days to post the après-lobster post, as you have all been keen to hear the result!

Unfortunately FSL (fish shop lady) was obviously still not convinced by my courageous attempt to tackle the ALIVE lobster as when I arrived to pick him up, ready for the trip home (I hear jaws music at this point, imaging Lobby attempting one last rush for freedom!) FSL proudly handed me a very dead and very much chopped in half lobster. Misreading the disappointment/annoyance on my face as relief (seriously FSL?), she said “I thought I’d help out by killing him and cutting him in half, so you didn’t have to worry and next time, I suggest you just buy the lobster tails like everyone else”. Ten points go to FSL for persistence, but seriously what part of I WANT AN ALIVE LOBSTER did she not understand!!!

A bit of a disappointing start to the evening, though just between you and me, I was a teeny bit relieved he was already dead. But lesson learned, for the next lobster recipe, I’m heading to the fish markets to hand pick him from the tank!

Sticky Fingers Lobster

Warm Salad of Crispy Smoked Bacon and Jerusalem Artichokes

I made a paste with crushed black peppercorns, garlic, shallots, lemon juice, honey, ginger and olive oil and smothered to lobster halves with it, into the oven for 15 minutes then served with fresh chilli and coriander.

I thought that Dad and I might need something else to accompany the lobster so searching the salad pages, I decided on the Jerusalem artichokes coz I’ve eaten but never cooked them before. Throwing them into some salted boiling water, they instantly give off a really earthy smell. It was quite amazing.

Bacon and red onion finely chopped and sautéed, add the boiled Jerusalem artichokes for a few minutes to crisp up then serve on top of gem lettuces (I used baby cos) and radicchio (which I love but unfortunately couldn’t get at three F&V stores, so had to go without), add some balsamic and oil to the bacon pan and put back on the heat to thicken for a few minutes then pour over the whole salad.

So Dad and I sat down to our lobster feast and even though I’d thought to grab the pliers from my tool box to make the most of the lobster experience (sticky fingers can only go so far, one needs to rip it apart with something a little more heavy duty!), I didn’t think to buy us bibs… At the end of the lobster session, both Dad and I were covered in spots of lobster juice – it was like a Jackson Pollock painting. And I was scrambling around trying to retrieve pieces of lobster claws from the all over my apartment. It was yet another Pretty Woman moment – “slippery little suckers” – but without the friendly waiter to catch my flying lobster!

The salad was a huge hit – there was supposed to be leftovers for my lunch the next day, but Dad had seconds (then thirds!), so my lunch was more like a snack! Jamie says this salad is his favourite warm salad and I see why - the earthy flavour of the Jerusalem artichokes is really quite cool.

All in all, the lobster experience was a success, but if I ever decide to return to the fish shop in question, I will be sure to keep my requests to the more simple kind, y’know, things already dead.

Xx