Coq au Vin

Ingredients:

• 1 whole free-range chicken cut into about 18 pieces (I kept the spine and parson's nose - there was plenty of meat - and cut each breast into three parts).


• 12 French shallots (eschalots), peeled and whole


• 5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped


• 200g sliced venison pepperoni (I don't eat pork - used instead of speck)


• 1 stick celery, finely chopped


• 2 carrots, diced


• 1 carrot, sliced


• 1 parsnip, chopped


• 750ml red wine (I used Waterstone Bridge Cabernet Merlot 2011)


• 750ml home-made chicken stock (from one whole free range chicken in water on constant boil in the slow-cooker)


• 6 springs of thyme


• 6 bay leaves


• 400g button mushrooms


• 2 tbsp tomato paste

Method:

1. Rub the chicken in plain flour mixed with salt, pepper and piri piri. Brown the chicken using some olive oil on a medium heat to avoid burning the flour. I cook in batches in the 28cm Le Creuset and leave the cooked chicken in the upturned lid while I cook the rest.


2. Once the chicken is done, deglaze the pot with some of the wine, then cook the eschalots and garlic until soft.


3. Add the venison pepperoni, carrots, celery bay leaves and thyme and cook for another 5 minutes.


4. Add the sliced carrot and parsnip and fry off the tomato paste.


5. Add the red wine and chicken stock and bring to a simmer.


6. Add the chicken, bring back to a simmer, then cover and cook over a low heat for 40 minutes.


7. Remove the lid, add the mushrooms and bring to a medium heat and cook for a further 20 minutes to thicken the sauce and until the mushrooms are cooked.


8. Serve in a bowl with mashed potato in the centre.

Scones...

Finally, I baked something. Scones again. Here's the recipe exactly as I did it today. Seemed to hit the spot with everyone.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs (from our chooks)


• 4 tbps grape seed oil (from Costco)


• 2 cups Paul's organic un-homogenised milk


• 4 cups Coles unbleached white self-raising flour


• 1 tsp Saxa iodised salt


• 1 tbsp CSR caster sugar

Method:

1. Beat 1 egg, oil and milk.


2. Add flour, sugar and salt.


3. Then the usual. I use a large champagne glass to cut the scones out into a narrow but tall scone.


4. Use the other egg for the glaze.


5. Add cut-outs to  buttered (I used Lurpak) and floured (White Wings plain flour) tray in a 230 degrees oven for about 10-12 minutes.

We went to the Young (NSW) Cherry Festival and picked up some marmalade and lime chilli jam from Poppa's Fudge and Jam Factory on Lovell Street. It is one of the highlights of the trip to Young each year which will no doubt become an annual pilgrimage over time!

Spaghetti Carbonara: Not-so Italian Style

So I finished as much of my work as I could for the day, I was screaming hungry, and right in front of me was a big red book: The Silver Spoon (otherwise known as the bible of Italian cooking). I used it the other night to make a Bolognese sauce (ragù alla bolognese) and it asked for carrot and celery with no tomato other than some tomato purée and it was simply the best. Only then we used it in a chicken crêpe bechamel and I am still recovering from the experience. Nevertheless, I thought to myself, "I have a spicy Turkish sujuk... (I don't eat pork) and I have fresh eggs from the ladies this morning (my chooks) and I want spaghetti carbonara. I had the sujuk with eggs and spring onions on baguette for breakfast so it was only natural! I found this sujuk at the Shiraz International Supermarket on Josephson Street, Belconnen. They have some great products there so it is now a permanent part of the fortnightly shopping trip.


I digress. I grabbed the big red book and then I was into it!

The original recipe calls for pancetta and pecorino cheese - I had the sujuk and grabbed a tub of Bulgarian sheep's fetta as a sheep's milk-related alternative. I had parmesan of course! The original recipe is all available on page 357 of The Silver Spoon but here's my take and I like it!

Ingredients

• one clove of garlic roughly chopped


• 25g butter


• 40g parmesan cheese


• 40g Bulgarian fetta


• 100g spicy Turkish sujuk


• 2 of the freshest eggs available


• packet of organic spaghetti


• salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Melt the butter in your 28cm Le Creuset (!) pot while the water for the pasta is boiling in the 24cm Le Creuset (!) pot.


2. Add the sujuk and the garlic and simmer on low heat. The sujuk should get almost crispy and the garlic will go brown but you must throw the garlic away before adding the pasta.


3. Cook the pasta in well-salted water until al dente then drain and add to the pot with the sujuk.


4. Beat the eggs and stir into the pasta. Add half of each of the cheeses and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste.


5. Add the rest of the cheese and then eat.


6. Voilà

I am so happy with the recipes in this book - no fatty grossness but simple, honest, authentic flavours, albeit my substitution of key ingredients. Might be worth doing a Julie and Julia blog of every recipe in the book, but I think that would take me forever. Yet it would not be a waste of time!

Lazy Arabic-Style Pasta

Apparently this is a knock-up dish for when you don't really want to cook. My wife taught me how to do this, and it tastes great!

Ingredients:

• 500g minced beef


• 1 x packet of pasta


• a good handful of pine nuts


• 3 x cloves of garlic


• a bunch of parsley


• 600ml Greek-style yoghurt


• salt and pepper to taste


• a dash of olive oil

Method:

1. Cook pasta as per directions. Use a large pot that will accommodate the entire meal (i.e. mince and pasta).


2. Crush the garlic cloves and leave aside for later.


3. Roast a good handful of pine nuts by regularly moving them around on a dry, non-stick fry pan on a medium heat. Be careful not to burn them!


4. In a separate pot, cook the mince with a little olive oil and salt, on medium heat, stirring regularly until the mince is browned and the moisture has evaporated.


5. When the meat is cooked, turn off the heat and stir in the pine nuts. Keep handy for later. Stir the raw garlic through the warm pasta. Stir it through well.


6. Add about 600ml of yoghurt to the pasta (or as desired - the pasta soaks up a lot of yoghurt) and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste.


7. Spread the meat and the pine nuts evenly over the top of the pasta.


8. Top with chopped parsley. Enjoy!


9. When the pasta is cooked, drain quickly (leaving a little moisture) and return it to the pot.

Crêpes

I find making these things finicky and annoying but it is time to get over it. This is the recipe my wife recounts from memory and I write it down here so I won't forget. Apparently it is based on Julia Childs' recipe. As follows:

Ingredients:

• I cup plain flour


• pinch of salt


• 3 eggs


• 2/3 cup milk


• 2/3 cup water


• 1 tablespoon butter

Method:

1. In a large mixing bowl, add the flour and salt.


2. Crack in the three eggs.


3. Whisk the flour and eggs while adding the milk and then water. Whisk so as to prevent lumps forming in the batter.


4. Add the butter and whisk some more.


5. Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.


6. Cook on a crêpe pan.


7. Mess it up 50 times and hardly ever get it right. At least that's how I do it!

Brioche

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="390"] I can't believe I made it myself...[/caption]

My most favourite breakfast is brioche with some  good quality butter and jam, with a good, strong black coffee. After much moaning and not-wanting-to-even-try-I-am-so-tired-why-me, my wife finally convinced me to make brioche myself (she has made it successfully many times), using our bread machine to mix the dough. The trouble with doing this at home with high-quality ingredients is that everything we make at home now is so much better than anything available locally, so going out is often a major disappointment. Not only do we get "fatitude" from rude service people, but the food is expensive and often not very good. Now the only "fatitude" I'll be getting is from all the butter in my home-made brioche :)

Ingredients:

• 260ml milk


• 2 eggs


• 180g butter (melted)


• 600g unbleached white bread flour


• 1 1/2 tsp salt


• 80g caster sugar


• 2 1/2 tsp easy-blend dried yeast

Method:

1. Mix ingredients together into a soft, gooey dough.


2. Leave to rise for 1 1/12 hours in bowl.


3. Transfer to refrigerator overnight to continue rising (minimum 7 hours).


4. Take out dough in the morning and knead slightly with flour.


5. Divide roughly into 9 parts and form into balls using the palms of your hands.


6. Place in a round, spring-form cake tin with eight balls around the outside and one in the middle.


7. Cover loosely with cling wrap and place a tea towel over the top and leave to rise for 3 hours.


8. Place in preheated oven for 10 minutes at 205 degrees Celsius.


9. Turn oven down to 190 degrees Celsius and bake for a further twenty minutes. It's a good idea to check with a bamboo skewer after the first ten minutes.


10. Let cool then eat!!

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="390"] Oh brioche I love thee...[/caption]

Scones Recipe

I found this laying about and thought I better add it. Anyway, this seems to work just fine each time!

Ingredients:

• 1 egg


• 4 tbps vegetable oil


• 2 cups milk


• 4 cups self-raising flour


• 1 tsp salt


• 1 tbsp sugar

Method:

1. Beat egg, oil and milk.


2. Add flour, sugar and salt.


3. Then the usual. I use a large champagne glass to cut them out into a narrow but tall scone.


4. A buttered and floured tray in a 230 degrees oven for about 10-12 minutes, egg glaze if you will...