Veal Marengo with Potato Rosti

Photo by Steve Shanahan

First published Canberra Times 10 July 2013.
Served in bistros all over France, this retro dish comes with its own crazy legend with Napoleon Bonaparte at its centre. Marengo is a town in northern Italy where, in 1800, Napoleon was victorious over the Austrians. This has been immortalised as the Battle of Marengo. 

The story goes that Napoleon’s chef, directed to come up with a suitably celebratory feast, whipped up a dish using ingredients that he was able to scrounge locally and named it Chicken Marengo to honour the decisive battle. Fortunately, some of the original ingredients such as scrambled eggs and crayfish haven’t survived to current versions of this recipe.

Napoleon, with all his insecurities, needed constant reminders of his victory, so also named his horse Marengo. Given Napoleon’s temperamental nature, we can only hope that Marengo didn’t end his days in the cooking pot in yet another variation of this eponymous dish.
So now that’s straight, my memories of this dish aren’t quite as auspicious as those above. Back in the 1960s when Mum wanted to impress at a dinner party, she would often trot out Chicken or Veal Marengo. It was served with a Napoleonic flourish, inside a ring of rice or buttered noodles, and we thought ourselves pretty sophisticated.

I admit I haven’t really been able to figure out when veal replaced chicken, why crayfish and eggs were ditched or how and why mushrooms got involved. But the result is a hearty winter stew that is easy to make and delivers flavour considerably more than the sum of its parts.
Made with veal, this dish is much richer and more complex than when made with chicken.

Serves 4

Veal Marengo

3 tbsp plain flour, for coating veal

salt and pepper

1 kg boneless veal, cubed

4 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 onion, chopped

1½ tins diced tomatoes, drained

3 tbsp tomato paste

2 ½ cups dry white wine

sprig of thyme, rosemary and  2 bay leaves

12 small eschalot onions, peeled

1 cup water

12 small white mushrooms, stems removed and wiped

10 baby potatoes, unpeeled

chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 165C. Using a large ovenproof and stovetop proof casserole dish with lid, cut a round of baking paper big enough to fit the lid. This will reduce the amount of evaporation of juices while cooking. For this dish I usually use my Chasseur pot.

Season the flour with salt and pepper and place in a large dish. Add the diced veal and roll to coat in the flour in batches. Shake off excess flour and set aside.

To the ovenproof dish, add two tablespoons of olive oil and place over high heat. When hot, slip in some of the veal and fry in batches to not overcrowd the dish. Cook the veal cubes till brown and then transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining oil and veal.

Wipe out the dish with paper towel, add the butter and place over medium heat. When hot, add the chopped onion and cook for about five minutes or until soft. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, wine and herbs. Add the veal and stir, bringing to a boil. Check for salt and pepper, adding more if needed.

Add the water, eschalots, mushrooms and potatoes and bring back to the boil. Once boiled remove the lid and place the baking paper circle on the top. Replace the lid and insert into the preheated oven.

Bake in the oven undisturbed for forty-five minutes until the potatoes and onions are softened.  Fish out the herbs and discard.

Serve with a sprinkle of parsley and a potato rosti.

If you feel inclined to replicate retro, you could serve this dish with buttered thick noodles or boiled rice.

Potato rosti

Makes 4 large rosti.

3 medium sized potatoes

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp duck fat or oil

3 tbsp flour

salt and pepper

pinch of nutmeg

Parboil the potatoes whole with skin on in salted water until just tender, but not soft. Allow to cool and chill for a couple of hours.

Once cooled, coarsely grate the potatoes and squeeze out any excess liquid. Place grated potato into a bowl and add flour, mixing to combine. Season to taste and add nutmeg.

Heat half the butter and oil in a small heavy based frypan on a high heat.

Add a heaped tablespoon of the potato mixture to the pan and press down with the back of a spoon to form a flat pancake.  Allow to cook for a few minutes, shaking the pan to loosen the potato cake.

When the cooked side is crispy and golden, using a spatula or egg lifter, carefully turn the rosti over to cook the other side until golden.

Remove each potato cake to cool on paper towel.

Serve with Veal Marengo as a side dish.

Venison pie with cumquat and star anise

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 Photo by Steve Shanahan

This column first published Canberra Times 8 September 2010 and  an updated version in November 2012.

This pie, now a family favourite started life as a simple and unadorned venison pie. Over the years I’ve modified the recipe to reflect the seasons and our changing tastes.  This recipe is by far my most popular post and still attracts the highest number of hits. The recipe has been scooped up by a number of foodies in the US and appears on websites as diverse as food history and game shooting. 

Venison is a sturdy meat that can be matched with bold and robust aromatics, and like other game meats has a tendency to toughen and tighten up. To avoid this, I generally slow cook my venison and I prefer to use the cuts from the shoulder or the rump, as when slow cooked it falls apart and melts in the mouth. These cuts deliver a rich and gamey pie topped with a crispy, buttery crust.

The Maggie Beer sour cream shortcrust pastry is the only pastry I would consider for this pie, as anything else would sell it short. The richness of the sour cream and the butter is a perfect match for the bold flavours of the meat. If you are a novice at pastry making this recipe is very forgiving and worth a try.

I find that I need to order the venison meat through my butcher as it’s not generally readily available. As this pie is worthy of a special occasion, it would be wise to check the availability of venison with your butcher. If you cannot get your hands on some deer meat, you could easily use beef and still have a delicious result. 

Venison pie is an exceptional special occasion meal, with an incredibly rich, complex and balanced set of flavours that can be served with a creamy mash or my new favourite, creamed cauliflower.  Broad beans or green string beans with a hint of butter and nutmeg work beautifully too. The perfect wine match is a rich Pinot Noir. 

If you cannot obtain cumquats, use 1/4 of an orange, including the skin and flesh. Remove before serving.

To make creamed cauliflower, blend cooked, hot cauliflower with 2 tbsp cream or butter, adding salt and nutmeg to taste.

Venison Filling

4 tbsp olive oil

250 g speck, diced

¼ cup plain flour

1.3 kg cubed venison

2 cloves garlic, chopped

10 golden shallots, diced

6 large mushrooms, sliced

375 ml red wine (pinot is good)

300 ml beef or veal stock

2 tbsp tomato paste

5 whole cumquats, halved and deseeded

½ tsp ground cloves

4 star anise

½ tsp ground cinnamon

1 level tsp juniper berries

extra stock if needed

2 sprigs of rosemary

salt and pepper to taste

Ensure the venison is trimmed of sinew and diced into small pieces. Roll the venison in plain flour, shaking off excess and setting aside. Bruise the juniper berries, cinnamon and cloves in a mortar and pestle. 

Heat the oil on medium heat in a large saucepan then add the shallots and garlic, frying until transparent. Add the juniper, cinnamon and cloves and mix well. Then add the diced venison and speck cooking until browned for about eight minutes. Add the stock, wine, cumquats, star anise, rosemary and mushrooms and cook on medium to high heat until bubbling. 

Reduce heat to low, place the lid on the pan and cook for approximately two to three hours, stirring occasionally until meat is tender and sauce is thick and dark. Add seasoning to taste and set aside to cool. Prepare the pastry while the filling is cooking.

Maggie Beer's Pastry

200 g of chilled unsalted butter, chopped

250 g of plain flour

½ cup of sour cream

1 beaten egg

Preheat the oven to 200 C

Grease a 23cm deep pie dish. Place the butter and flour into the bowl of a food processor, then pulse until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the sour cream and pulse again until the dough just forms a ball. Carefully wrap the dough in plastic film and leave to rest in the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes. 

Place the cooled filling into the greased pie dish, filling till it is about one centimetre below the rim. Roll out the dough until it is about 5 mm thick, then carefully folding the dough back over the rolling pin, place it over the filled pie dish and press to seal the edges. Cut three slits in the top of the pie to allow the steam to escape. Chill the filled pie for about 20 minutes before cooking as this will reduce shrinkage. 

Remove the pie from the refrigerator and coat the pastry top with beaten egg. Cook the pie for approximately 45 minutes until warmed through and the pastry is lightly golden.

Cool Christmas

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Photo by Steve Shanahan

First published Canberra Times 12 December 2012 and in Goodfood.com.au
 

Christmas for us this year will be light and cool with minimum fuss. Family and friends will call by and we will hang out by the pool, going inside to do only the simplest of food preparation. Apart from the food that I will have pre-prepared, the majority will be ready to serve chilled straight from the fridge.

My favourite special occasion pre dinner nibbly is buttery chicken liver pate that can be made a couple of weeks in advance. It can be kept in the fridge till needed, as the clarified butter poured on the top provides an airtight seal. The Marsala flavour doesn’t overpower, but provides just enough cheer to make it taste like Christmas. The quantity below makes two large sized dishes, or as I like to do, buy some little glass pots with lids and fill with the pate to give to friends as gifts. They make great pressies with a pack of gourmet crackers. Another delicious way of serving this pate is to stuff half a teaspoon into cognac-poached prunes.

Our Christmas day meal this year will be a chilled pea soup starter with a scoop of mint gelato, and mains will be ocean trout tartare with tomato tea. These two dishes are refreshing and elegant and taste sensational. The soup, gelato and tomato tea can be made a couple of days before and the ocean trout prepared  half an hour before you are ready to eat.

Chicken liver pate with pistachios

225g unsalted butter, softened, plus an extra 4 tablespoons melted

3 large French shallots, thinly sliced

Photo by Steve Shanahan

1kg chicken livers, trimmed

salt and freshly ground pepper

¾ cup dry marsala

½ cup chicken stock

1 ¼ cups salted roasted pistachios, ½ cup chopped

¼ cup parsley

1 tsp chopped thyme

Quantity makes about 5 cups.

In a large pan, melt four tablespoons of the softened butter. Add the shallots and cook over a moderate heat, stirring occasionally until softened, about eight minutes. Add the trimmed chicken livers, season with a little salt and pepper and cook over a moderate heat, turning a few times, until firm, about four minutes. Add the Marsala and simmer for two minutes. Add the chicken stock and simmer, turning the livers another few times, until they are light pink in the middle, about five minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool for about another five minutes.

Transfer the contents of the pan to a food processer and puree. Cut the remaining butter into cubes and add it to the liver mixture bit by bit, blending while the machine is still running until completely incorporated.

Scrape the puree into a large bowl and fold in the whole pistachios, parsley and thyme. Generously season the pate with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the pate into dishes or glass jars with lids and refrigerate until firm, for about two hours.

Pour the melted butter over the pate to seal it, then garnish with the chopped pistachios. Cover the dishes with lids or plastic wrap until the butter is firm. The pate will keep in the fridge for a few weeks.

 Chilled pea soup with mint gelato

Photo by Steve Shanahan

Soup

2 cups fresh or frozen peas, plus extra for garnish

1 potato, peeled, chopped

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce

4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

¼ cup thickened cream

Mint gelato

2 tsp grated lemon zest

1 tbsp lemon juice

¼ cup caster sugar

1 cup chopped mint leaves, plus whole leaves for garnish

½ cup mascarpone cheese

1 eggwhite

Serves 6

For the gelato, place the lemon zest and juice, sugar and all but two tablespoons of chopped mint in a pan with 180ml of water. Stir over low heat to dissolve the sugar. Increase the heat to medium and simmer for two minutes, then strain through a sieve, pressing down on the solids to extract the flavour. Cool, then stir the syrup into the mascarpone.

Transfer the gelato mixture to a shallow plastic container, then place in the freezer for a few hours, or until frozen.

Whiz the gelato mixture, eggwhite and reserved two tablespoons of mint in a food processor until combined. Return to the freezer for at least another four hours or overnight.

Place peas, potato, onion, lettuce and stock in a pan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for ten minutes. Remove from the heat and using a food processor blend until smooth. Strain through a sieve, then stir in the cream. Season, then chill for a few hours.

When ready to serve, divide the soup among six small bowls and top with a scoop of gelato, a few mint leaves and whole peas.

Ocean trout tartare with tomato tea

500g sashimi grade ocean trout fillets, skin removed

1 small red onion, very finely chopped

Photo by Steve Shanahan

60ml vodka

small herb leaves to garnish

Tomato tea

1kg vine ripened tomatoes

¼ red onion, chopped

¼ cup basil leaves

1 garlic clove

1 tbs Worcestershire sauce

2 drops Tabasco

1 tsp sugar

For the tomato tea, remove the stalks and set aside. Blend tomatoes with remaining ingredients until smooth. Line a sieve with muslin or a clean chux, then set over a bowl. Pour the tomato mixture into the sieve and drain for a couple of hours until you have about a cup or more of liquid.  Don’t be tempted to stir the liquid or your tea will be cloudy, it must drain through without pressure. Discard solids. Add reserved stalks to the liquid, this is for flavour, then chill.

For the ocean trout, line a tray with plastic wrap. Arrange six ring moulds or ramekins on the tray.

Half an hour before you are ready to eat, finely chop the trout, then combine in a bowl with the onion and vodka. Press the mixture firmly into the ring moulds, then chill for up to thirty minutes. If you leave it any longer the vodka will start to cook the trout.

To serve, transfer the ring moulds to serving plates using an egg lifter. Remove the moulds, then garnish with herbs. If using ramekins, turn upside down and they will come away neatly.  Serve with the tomato tea drizzled around the base of the trout.

Chicken bastila

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Photo by Steve Shanahan

 

First published Canberra Times 17 October 2012. 

The food truck phenomenon is part of everyday life in cities across the world. Many trucks are tarted up with industrial chic to titillate the increasingly sophisticated palates of the curbside customer, and late night revellers in cities such as LA, New York and London regularly feast on Mexican cuisine, Indian, gourmet burgers, and a range of cured meats.

 While these styles have been monopolising the meals on wheels menus, punters in need of a carb and fat hit are also being offered new and different foods. One that’s growing in popularity in LA is the Moroccan inspired bastila. The bastila, is a Moorish meeting of sweet and savoury, with infused and roasted spiced meats enveloped in a buttery flaky case. 

Australia is no stranger to the late night van, with Harry’s Café de Wheels being Sydney’s iconic late night purveyor of Pies ‘n Peas, originally targeted to dock workers in Woolloomooloo in the 1930s. This late night sailor’s haunt had been Harry’s Café since the depression years, but after world war two, in order to meet council requirements to move at least twelve inches a day, it was reborn as Harry’s Café de Wheels.  Similar to Harry’s iconic pie ‘n peas, the bastila is the perfect street food, easily eaten in your hands.

These new styles of street eating are finally gaining traction in Australian cities, having been hamstrung in the past by restrictive local government regulation.  However, the City of Sydney is swinging behind this trend, with a twelve month trial that will eventually see ten food trucks prowling its carb craving night scene. Currently, you can dine on Mexican from the Cantina Mobil, and from the more eclectic offerings of former Tetsuya sou chef, Stuart McGill, at the Eat Art Truck. The trucks to come will have a range of cuisines, including organic fare, Japanese, Yum Cha and pasta. You can read more about this at www.sydneyfoodtrucks.com.au

The bastila originates from Morocco, and traditionally contains a wide variety of fillings. Game meats, eggs and almonds are layered and wrapped in filo pastry.  This ancient dish is believed to date back to the 1400s when the Moors were driven out of Spain. Still popular in Morocco and France, the bastila is served to celebrate special occasion feasts filled with squab, pigeon or fish.

My stocks of squab and pigeon are running pretty low, so I make do using organic chicken thigh fillets. 

As with pies that contain filo pastry, this dish takes some fiddling to assemble and the chicken needs to marinate for at least an hour.  A couple of things to remember are, to allow the flavours to develop in the chicken, the thighs needs to marinate for at least one hour. Also, while you are working, you should cover your unused sheets of filo with a cloth to prevent them from drying out.

12 chicken thigh fillets, skinned

4 garlic cloves, chopped

2 large onions, chopped

3 eggs

2 tbsp hone

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground cloves

3 cups of chicken stock

3 tbsp lemon juice

salt and white pepper

1 tbsp coriander, chopped

1 tbsp parsley, chopped

¼ cup ground almonds

1 cup almond flakes, roasted

8 sheets of filo pastry

6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1 tbsp mixture of ground cinnamon and caster sugar for dusting 

Place the chicken thigh fillets, garlic, onions and spices into a large casserole pot and give them a mix around with your hands. Cover and let marinate for one hour or longer.

Add the chicken stock and one teaspoon of salt to the pot and bring to the boil. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover the pot and cook for one hour. The chicken should be very tender and falling apart.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to a large bowl. Strain the broth, saving the liquid and the onions separately. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred the chicken using two forks to pull it apart.

Pour the broth back into the pot. Whisk in the lemon juice and bring to the boil. Reduce the liquid till you have about one to two cups of liquid remaining in the pot. Reduce the heat to low.

Beat the eggs with the honey, and pour into the broth in the pot, in a slow steady drizzle, whisking all the time. The sauce will eventually thicken, and it may take a few minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and season with salt and pepper.

Mix the shredded chicken and reserved onions into the sauce, together with the parsley and coriander. 

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Place the filo sheets between sheets of baking paper and cover with a clean tea towel.  Grease a 23 centimetre round cake tin with sides about three centimetres high. Brush one sheet of filo with butter and centre it in the tin, so that the excess hangs over the sides. Brush another sheet and press it gently into the tin without ripping it, so that it sits at right angles to the first sheet and forms a cross. Place a third and then a fourth repeating the process. The overhang from the four sheets should cover the edge of the tin. 

Sprinkle half of the almond flakes into the base over the filo pastry. Spoon in the chicken, spreading it evenly across the tin and top with the remaining flaked almonds. Fold the overhanging filo pastry over the chicken.

Butter the remaining four sheets of filo pastry, stacking them one on top of the other on the kitchen bench. Using a saucepan lid as a guide, one that is about 26 centimetres wide, or cut around the cake tin, leaving an extra two centimetres around the edges, so you have a disk of filo bigger than your tin. Place the circle over the cake tin and gently tuck the edges of the dough into the sides of the tin, working your way around until you have tucked in all the filo pastry. Brush the top of the bastila with melted butter and dust with cinnamon and sugar. 

Place the bastila tin on a tray and bake for 20 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 180C and bake for a further 20 minutes. If the top starts to get too brown, cover it loosely with foil. When cooked, transfer the bastila to a wire rack to rest for about five minutes.

Lay a piece of baking paper over a small cutting board and have a serving platter ready. Turn the bastila out onto the paper-lined board and invert it onto the platter so it’s right side up. Serve the bastila still warm or at room temperature.

Lemon pot chicken

Photo by Steve Shanahan

First published Canberra Times 15 August 2012

On Sunday afternoons, in homes around France, chicken in its many guises takes pride of place at the dining table. It’s likely to be grounds for a family uprising if something else other than chicken is served.

Pot chicken with flavours of lemon and garlic is a light and bright family meal that has its roots in the Alsace region of France. Many restaurants have their own take on this dish, yet it always includes a sweet organic chicken with the choice vegetables of the season. It’s one of those surprising dishes that is comforting, yet more complex in flavour and sophisticated than you would first expect. This dish screams comfort in a pot and the dough-sealed lid produces a clean and intense broth, not muddied by cream or thickened with flour.

The addition of sweet potato provides an intriguing hint of sweetness balanced by the lemon. If you do want to make its more substantial cousin for a heartier winter meal, you can add some sour cream or yoghurt to the recipe before cooking.

I begged this recipe from a friend whose childhood culinary memories, growing up in Alsace, are steeped in foods such as this. She explains that the dough seal, although functional, also adds some anticipation and drama when serving the dish. Bring the hot dish to the table before breaking the seal to allow the aromas to excite the taste buds of your guests.

To give this meal some further substance but not pack it out with carbohydrates, I partnered it with a cauliflower puree tinged with a hint of nutmeg.

You will need a casserole pot with lid, large enough to hold a whole chicken and the vegetables.

Quantity serves 4

Sliced peel of 1 lemon

1 whole chicken, or equivalent in chicken pieces

1 cup water

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup olive oil

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

10 small French shallot onions (or small white onions)

10 small Dutch carrots, cut into thirds (or 2 large carrots, cut into 2 centimetre slices)

½ fennel bulb, sliced

3 celery stalks, trimmed and quartered

5 garlic cloves, separated

3 thyme sprigs

2 bay leaves

2 rosemary sprigs

1 cup chicken stock

½ cup dry white wine

1 cup plain flour

½ cup hot water

salt and ground black pepper

1 whole cauliflower, cut into florets

¼ cup pure cream

pinch nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 215C. Using a sharp knife cut the lemon peel strips into small cubes. Discard the pulp or keep to re-use in another dish. Bring the one cup of water and sugar to the boil in a small saucepan, add the lemon peel and cook for one minute. Drain the water away, keeping the lemon peel, and set aside.

Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Add the vegetables and garlic, season to taste with salt and pepper. Saute the vegetables until they are slightly golden. Spoon the vegetables into a large casserole pot, big enough to take a whole chicken. Add the herbs and the lemon peel.

Return the frying pan to the heat, add another tablespoon of oil and brown the chicken on all sides, seasoning well with salt and pepper. Place the chicken into the casserole pot, tucking it between the vegetables and herbs. Add the stock, wine and any remaining olive oil to the casserole pot.

Place the flour and water in a medium bowl and mix to a soft dough, adding water or more flour as needed. Flour a work surface and roll the dough into a long snake, the same length as the rim of the casserole pot. Place the dough around the rim of the pot, pushing down to make it fit, ensuring it goes right around to meet the beginning. Patching any holes. Place the lid down over the dough, pushing firmly to form a seal on the pot.

Place the pot into the oven and bake for one hour.

Bring a medium sized saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the cauliflower florets and cook until tender. Remove from the heat and drain well.

In a blender or food processor place the cauliflower, cream and nutmeg and blend until pureed. Place into a heatproof bowl ready to reheat for serving as a side to the lemon pot chicken.

Mushroom port pies

Mushroom port pies. Photo by Steve Shanahan

First published Canberra Times, 1 August 2012.

By this stage of the year, I’m a bit over all those stolid dishes made from seasonal winter veggies. To top it off, tonight I don’t much feel like cooking a big dinner. I just want a quiet evening at home sipping a big glass of red wine and scoffing yummy mushroom pies with rich, buttery puff pastry.

If puff pastry scares you, don’t worry. I’m using a pain-free, store-bought organic version. While it did cross my mind to make my favourite Maggie Beer sour cream pastry, my tried and true food philosophy is, if I’m not in the mood to make it, I won’t force it.  When I ignore this rule, it more often than not ends in disaster. Good. Permission to instantly reject the Maggie Beer.

Out of the frozen depths of the packed freezer, I remove the sealed puff pastry packet, ingredients listed as NASAA certified organic unbleached wheat flour, pure butter, sea salt and Otway ranges water. This can’t go wrong.

A standby in French homes, savoury tarts are often cut into small portions, or made as tartlets and served with an aperitif. The tarts are made by cooking vegetables, such as leeks or onions, asparagus or mushrooms, and then combined with cheese or cream to make a smooth filling. The filling can be spread onto flatbread dough or sheets of puff pastry.  They are frozen for use when required and little justification is needed to invite the neighbours, friends or family in for an aperitif and snack.

These pies are great to serve as a starter, but if feeding people for a main, I like to convert it to the grander version, individual mushroom pies. If you prefer to make the small tartlets, use the mushroom filling mixture, just reduce the size of your pastry tart moulds or rounds. If making a large tart, spread the mushroom filling mixture over a sheet of puff pastry.

This particular recipe is delicious and has many different layers of flavour. The twist in the tail here is the addition of a port reduction, bathing the mushroom mixture in a silky stickiness, which curiously enhances the earthiness of the mushrooms. To further develop the flavours, and if you can hold off long enough, the mushroom mixture can be left to sit in the fridge overnight before filling your pie or tart moulds.

These pies or tartlets make a great fast food, taken straight from the freezer for unexpected events.

Preheat the oven to 200c.

20g mixture of varieties of dried mushrooms, you could use porcini and shitake

125g fresh brown mushrooms, brushed clean and stems removed

125g fresh white mushrooms, brushed clean and stems removed

680g packet of frozen puff pastry, thawed

½ cup of vegetable stock, heated

2 shallots, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

4 tbsp of unsalted butter

2 tbsp of plain flour

¼ cup of hazelnuts, chopped

¼ cup of pure cream

2 slices of dry-cured ham or prosciutto, diced

¼ cup of Port

Pinch each of cayenne pepper and nutmeg

Egg yolk mixed with 1 tbsp milk for glazing

Lightly grease four, 10 centimetre pie tins, preferably ones with a removable base. On a lightly floured surface roll out the pastry sheets, slightly thinner than their existing thickness. Using one of the pie tins as a guide, cut around the base adding about two centimetres to the diameter of the circle, so you have a pastry base that covers the base of the pie tin, and comes up over the sides with a small overhang at the top. Push the pastry firmly into the base of the pie tin. Repeat this process for each pie. You will have some pastry left over for the pie tops. Refrigerate the left over pastry and the pastry filled tins.

In a small bowl, combine the dried mushrooms and the hot stock. Cover and let them soak for at least half an hour. Drain the mushrooms through a sieve, pushing down to squeeze out the stock. Reserve the stock. Coarsely chop the mushrooms and set aside.

In a large frying pan over medium heat, melt two tablespoons of the butter. Add the shallots and garlic and saute until softened, about two minutes. Add the mixed white and brown mushrooms. Increase the heat to high and continue to saute until browned, about four minutes. Add a little butter if they begin to stick to the pan. Add the rehydrated mushrooms, and saute until combined, about two minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

In the same pan over medium heat, melt one tablespoon of the butter. Sprinkle in the flour and cook, stirring to blend until lightly browned. Stir in the reserved stock from the dried mushrooms. Cook, stirring until the mixture thickens, one to two minutes. Add the cream, stirring to blend. Stir in the mushrooms and season with the cayenne, nutmeg and salt to taste. Continue to cook, stirring until the mixture is bound together and almost no liquid is left, about two to three minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Rinse the frying pan and return it to a medium heat. Add the remaining one tablespoon of butter and the ham, and cook, stirring for one minute. Add the Port, increase the heat a little and bring to the boil. Cook until the liquid reduces, almost to a glaze, this should take about three minutes. Remove from the heat and add the hazelnuts, stirring to combine. Pour over the mushroom mixture, stir to combine, cover and refrigerate till cool. If you wish, the mixture can be left overnight at this stage to allow the flavours to develop. 

Remove both the cooled the mushroom mixture and the filled pie tins from the refrigerator. Spoon the mushroom mixture into the pie tins, dividing it evenly and heaping it slightly in the middle.

Roll out the remaining pastry into a square and cut four rounds of 11 centimetres each. Carefully lay each round over the filled pies. Fold the overhanging pastry from the base and sides up and over the pastry lid, crimping the pastry with your fingers to seal. Cut a couple of slits in the pastry lid. Using a pastry brush glaze the top of each pie with the egg and milk mixture.

Bake the pies until the tops are golden for about 20 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for a few minutes before removing the sides and bottoms.

Delicious served with green vegetables and a bottle of Pinot.

The quantity makes four pies.

Eggplant with anchovies, garlic and tomatoes

Eggplant, anchovies, garlic and tomatoes. Photo by Steve Shanahan

 

First published Canberra Times 16 May 2012

Again, winter hits with the subtlety of a sledge-hammer. I don’t know why I’m surprised, because it happens most years. With the end of the warmth, goes my need for fresh and light salads. My tastebuds crave something just a little more substantial, but not the full winter stodge, well not yet anyway.

It’s time to celebrate what’s left in my garden to eat. I do have some winter vegetables planted now, and I am pretty excited about the prospect of cooking some broad bean dishes. So, with what’s left of the summer harvest, I now have in my basket, eggplants, rocquet, heirloom tomatoes and thyme.

It’s the first time I’ve grown eggplant, and I was surprised at the time it took for it to grow, but not as surprised as being a victim of the spikes protruding from their stalks. As cool as it is to ‘grow your own’, my bloody finger is testament to the hardships of the grow what you eat philosophy. The upkeep and maintenance of a vegetable garden is not all roses, and the commitment it takes, is not to be sneezed at, well that is, if you don’t’ suffer from allergies.

The flavour of eggplant is muted and musky and it just begs for tasty additions to pick it up. There is also something oddly comforting about the texture of cooked eggplant, it becomes soft and floppy and melts in the mouth. At the last step, pouring over the umamied oven juices, shoots the flavour up the scale. I love that word. Finally, we’ve found a description for it, rather than Nigella’s lusciousness and Jamie’s deliciousness.

This combination of eggplant, tomato and lemon juice is still light enough for the early onset winter time of year, but the cooking of the eggplant provides a meatiness that gives substance to the dish. I put this as a side dish with some fillet steak, providing some blokieness to the dish. But sure, you could happily put this with chicken, or as a stand alone meatless meal and crusty bread, perfect as a vegetarian lunch.

Serves 4

2 large eggplants, sliced into ½ centimetre lengths

1/4 cup good quality olive oil

8 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced

bunch thyme

3 medium sized tomatoes, best flavour, finely sliced

7 anchovies

juice of 1 lemon

pinch of sea salt

cracked black pepper

3 to 4 tbsp olive oil, extra

rocquet to serve

Preheat the oven to 180C. Place eggplants in an oiled baking dish, in a single layer with the cut side up. Drizzle with the olive oil, scatter the garlic, anchovies, thyme sprigs and salt over the eggplant slices and roast for about 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned and softened.

Remove eggplants and arrange on a serving dish with the rocquet and place the sliced tomatoes on top.

Add the lemon juice and extra olive oil to the baking dish. Return to the oven for five minutes until the juices are hot. Scrape the bottom of the dish to release all the cooked on flavours and mix together. Drizzle the juices over the eggplant and tomatoes, sprinkle with cracked pepper and serve.