Nicoise Summer Tart with Monkey Bread

Nicoise Summer Tart.

Photos by Steve Shanahan

First published Canberra Times,  26 November 2014.

The thing that’s so lovely about these warm, summery evenings in Canberra is the gorgeous luminous light that highlights the bright, new soft leaves of the trees. I believe we appreciate our seasons, as they are so incredibly extreme.

This association with light, summery evenings, easily translates to serving lighter, fresher foods incorporating the new seasons delicate vegetables, so easily accessible here. Tarts are perfect for entertaining and ideal fare for Christmas celebrations as they can be served warm on plates or passed around as finger food.

This particular tart is reminiscent of the French bistro classic, Nicoise Salad, however instead of serving it with tuna, I opted for the richer, more decadent flavours of salmon.  The tart holds up well for left-overs and can be made a day in advance. The beauty of a tart is that you can prepare and par-cook the tart shell in advance and the filling combinations are endless.

This tart was served alongside the wicked and indulgent Rosemary Monkey Bread, swimming in butter and honey.

Serves 8

2 cups flour

130 g unsalted butter, cold and cubed

3 medium sized eggs

½ head of butter lettuce leaves, torn into 5cm pieces

10 green beans, cut into 5 centimetre lengths

1 medium potato, peeled and sliced

1 95g good quality tinned salmon

½ cup cream

½ cup milk

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

3 tbsp olive oil

1 anchovy fillet

1 clove garlic, peeled

1 small red shallot onion, peeled

2 medium Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced

½ cup pitted black olives

Place the flour, butter and salt into a bowl. Using your fingers, rub the flour and butter together until it resembles course breadcrumbs. Add six tablespoons of ice-cold water and mix with a knife until a dough forms. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it until smooth. This should take about two minutes. Form the dough into a disk and wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

Boil the potato in salted water until tender, then add the green beans and cook for a minute more. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the vegetables to a bowl of ice-cold water, then drain and place in a medium sized bowl. Add the lettuce and salmon to the vegetables and set aside.

Blend together the milk, cream, oil, mustard, eggs, anchovy, garlic, shallot and salt and pepper until smooth and add to the vegetables and salmon. Stir to combine and place in the fridge until ready to use.

Preheat the oven to 170C.

Roll the dough into a thirty-two centimetre circle and transfer to a greased twenty-six centimetre spring form tart tin with a removable base, pressing the dough gently into the base and sides of the tin. Place the tin on a baking tray.

Prick the dough with a fork and cover with parchment paper and fill with dried beans. Bake until slightly firm, about fifteen minutes. Remove the paper and beans and spread the filling into the crust. Arrange the tomatoes and olives on the top and bake at a reduced oven temperature of 150C for approximately thirty minutes, this may vary and take longer depending on your oven. Check for doneness in the centre of the tart, it shoudl not be runny. Let the tart cool slightly before removing from the pan to serve.

Rosemary monkey bread

Rosemary Monkey Bread

180g unsalted butter

4 cups flour

1 cup of grated Gruyere cheese

1 cup of milk

¼ cup sugar

1 tbsp rosemary, finely chopped

2 tsp salt

¾ cup honey

2 packets or 14g of dried yeast

Grease a twenty-five centimetre bundt tin with butter and then dust well with flour. Whisk the flour, cheese, rosemary, salt and pepper in a medium bowl and set aside. 

Heat two tablespoons of the butter with the milk and one-third of a cup of water over medium heat until warmed. Do not overheat the milk as you will damage the yeast. Transfer the milk mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Stir in the sugar and yeast and allow to sit for about ten minutes until the mixture is foamy. With the motor running slowly add the dry ingredients to the yeast,  beating until the dough is smooth. Transfer to a lightly greased bowl, cover with cling wrap and leave in a warm place for about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Melt the remaining butter in a small saucepan and whisk in the honey and set aside.

On a lightly floured benchtop, pat the dough out into a twenty centimetre square about two and half centimetres thick. Cut the dough into two and half centimetre pieces and squash together into the prepared bundt pan, layering as you go. Pour the melted butter and honey mixture over the dough. Bake until golden and a skewer, when inserted into the middle of the bread, comes out clean. This should take about thirty minutes. Let the bread cool slightly before upending onto a plate and serve with the Nicoise summer tart.

Lemon tart

Lemon tart. Photos by Steve Shanahan

Tarte au citron. This French classic, provides a light, tangy finish to a meal or as an indulgent treat at any time of the day or night. 

Pastry

250g plain flour

100g chilled unsalted butter

2 egg yolks

2 to 3 tbsp chilled water

pinch of salt

Place the flour, butter and salt in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolks while still blending, then the water until the mixture comes together. Stop as soon as the mixture comes together as further blending will toughen the pastry.

Roll out the pastry on a floured work surface, to fit the base and sides of a butter-greased twenty-four centimetre loose base fluted tart tin. Once the tart tin is lined with the pastry, place it in the freezer for twenty minutes. This will provide a better result.

Preheat the oven to 180C.

To prebake the pastry shell, place the tart pastry in the preheated oven and bake unfilled for about ten minutes, until just cooked. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.

Reduce oven to 150C.

Lemon tart filling

3 large lemons

6 eggs

250g caster sugar

200ml cream

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Icing sugar to dust

Zest and juice the lemons. In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the egg and sugar until well combined. Add the lemon zest, juice, cream and vanilla paste, whisking well till all combined.

Place the pre-baked pastry shell and tin on an oven tray. Pour the lemon and egg mixture into the pastry shell. Bake the lemon tart in the preheated oven for about thirty minutes or until just set and still wobbly. Remove from the oven and cool in the tin. To remove the tart from the sides of the tin, place the baked tart in the tin over a cup or glass and carefully push down on the tin using both hands to support the tart. The tart tin should come away from the tart. The tart cuts better when cooled and can also be placed in the fridge to speed up the cooling process before cutting.

Poached salmon with lemon and egg caper sauce

Poached Salmon with lemon and egg caper sauce and freekeh tabbouleh. Photos by Steve Shanahan

First published Canberra Times 27 August 2014.

As the frozen veil slowly lifts from Canberra and we enter thaw mode, its time to ditch the meaty, one pot wonders and embrace lighter acidic flavours. Don’t get me wrong - there is a place for the meaty one-pots, but I need a rest from cheek, shank and hinds for a while …… at least until next week. So I opt for moist and succulent poached salmon.

Recently I’ve been reading up on the cultivation of capers, and I am quite captivated by these feisty little buds that grow wild on hillsides throughout the Middle East, Turkey and parts of Asia. Their pickled acidity and brinyness adds a punch to fish dishes and provides a perfect match to this salmon dish. I prefer the bottled capers in salt, rather than the ones in brine as they can tend to be mushy. These can be found in supermarkets or delis.

As it happens, I’ve been lucky enough to score a bucket of juicy, sweet lemons from my sister and some fresh chook eggs from a good friend. This generosity of produce then prompted a forage to Fishco Fyshwick for wild salmon and a pile of fishheads to make a rich, fish stock. This is a bit of extra effort, but I want the flavours to shine through. 

I prepare the fish stock the day before I need it and leave it to reduce, simmering away on the stove for a few hours to extract maximum flavour. The secret to this stock is the roasting of the fish and vegetables first. The cooking smells coming from the kitchen are absolutely sublime as I am swept away on a nut-buttery seafood drift.  If I’d had any reservations about the input needed to make the fish stock as part of this recipe, they were quickly snuffed out. The sauce in this dish only requires one cup of stock, but the extra will keep for about a month in the freezer or for a few days in the fridge. If time is short, use a good quality, store bought fish stock.

To cut through the richness of the salmon, I added a freekeh tabbouleh salad and follow it up with the French classic tarte au citron, featuring both the fresh lemons and delicious chook eggs.

The following quantities serve 6 people.

Rich Fish Stock

Makes about 8 cups

2 onions

4 celery stalks

4 carrots

2 tbsp unsalted butter

Bones and heads of 3 or 4 fish

6 whole peppercorns

1 bottle of dry white wine

4 each sprigs of parsley and thyme

1 bay leaf

salt

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Coarsely chop the onions, carrots and celery. Melt the butter in a large roasting pan and add the vegetables and fish pieces. Roast for 30 minutes.

Transfer the vegetables and fish pieces to a large stockpot and add three and half litres of water, the wine, peppercorns, herbs, bay leaf and salt to taste. Bring to a boil over a medium heat and then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer for approximately two to three hours. The stock should reduce by half.

Strain the liquid and reserve and discard all of the solids.

Poached Salmon

1 carrot, peeled and sliced

1 stalk of celery, sliced

1 medium onion, peeled and sliced

1 lemon, sliced thinly with skin on

2 bay leaves

6 black peppercorns

2 kilogram piece of centre-cut wild salmon

sprigs of fresh dill and parsley

2 cups of dry white wine

Place carrot, celery, onion, lemon slices, bay leaves and pepper corns into a fish poacher or deep roasting pan large enough to take the fish and vegetables. Rub the salmon with salt and sit on top of the vegetables in the pan. Add the dill, parsley, wine and enough water to just cover the fish.

Place the pan over two hot plates or large burner and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook until the salmon is just opaque and check for doneness to your liking by separating the flakes gently with a knife. This will take about 30 to 35 minutes. Let the salmon rest in the poaching liquid for ten minutes, then transfer to a board and peel off the skin on the underside of the fish and discard. It will come away easily. Also remove any dark flesh if you prefer.

Carefully lift the salmon onto a platter and remove any bones. Serve warm with the egg caper sauce and freekeh tabbouleh.

Egg Caper Sauce

1 ½ tbsp butter

1 ½ tbsp flour

1 cup Rich Fish Stock

½ cup of heavy cream

2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped

2 tbsp salted capers, rinsed

salt and white pepper

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a medium to low heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly to prevent burning. This should take about two minutes.

Gradually whisk in the Rich Fish Stock, then the cream. Bring to a simmer, cook for about one minute, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool. The sauce will thicken a little as it cools.

Stir in the hard-boiled eggs and capers. Season to taste and keep warm over a very low heat until ready to serve over the salmon.

Freekeh Tabbouleh

5 tbsp of freekeh, washed

60g unsalted butter

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 stick of celery, finely chopped

2 pink shallots, finely chopped

½ medium white onion

1 tsp of kosher salt

½ tsp ground allspice

300g of cocktail tomatoes, finely chopped and drained of juice

3 cups of minced flat leaf parsley

½ cup of finely chopped fresh mint leaves

7 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

5 tbsp lemon juice

Place the butter in a medium saucepan and melt over a medium heat. Add the garlic, celery, shallots, stirring to cook for about five minutes. Add the washed and drained freekeh stirring to coat with the butter. Add 230 millilitres of water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer until the freekeh is soft, this should take about ten minutes. Drain the freekeh and vegetables in a colander.

Place the cooked freekeh into a medium sized bowl and add the chopped onion, salt to taste and the allspice. Then add the tomatoes, parsley, mint, oil and lemon juice. Stir to combine and further season to taste. Serve as a side to the poached salmon.

Elvis's banana pound cake

Photo by Steve Shanahan

First published Canberra Times September 18 2013.

With nothing better to do than focus on the eating habits of the rich and famous, I find that there really are some weird culinary appetites out there. I wonder if being rich and famous causes this or is it an pre-existing enzyme in the brain that sets them on this path to culinary oddity? 

I am curious about Elvis Presley’s food habits; the widely known peanut butter and jelly sandwich binges and flying cross country to gorge on pre-ordered burgers. In researching this culinary curiosity, I was further surprised to stumble upon his obsession for pound cake. It’s said that he single-handedly consumed a whole loaf each time it was made for him by a childhood friend. This friendship persisted and she developed the recipe especially for Elvis, delivering the cooked cakes to him at Gracelands. She beefed up his version of the basic pound cake with extra cream, creating a smooth crumbed but heavier texture, to satisfy his food cravings that could strike at any time.

I decide to “doctor” Elvis’ cake and create my version, adding bananas, ground cinnamon and ginger to the Elvis mixture and halved the cream. This makes a delicately flavoured banana pound loaf, moist and fudgy with a hint of spice. The quantity makes two loaves and one always ends up in the freezer for later. I like this old style cake in its unadorned state, pristine and warm from the oven, with maybe just a little butter. Alternatively, top with a sweet cream cheese and walnut icing.

Makes two loaves.

Preheat the oven to 175C.

220g unsalted butter, softened

3 cups plain flour, sifted

2 ½ cups brown sugar

5 eggs

2 tsp vanilla paste

½ tsp salt

½ cup cream and ½ cup milk, combined

3 bananas, mashed

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp orange zest

Grease two, twenty-three centimetre loaf pans and set aside.

Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until pale and creamy.

Add eggs one at the time, beating each one in well.

Add the flour and the cream and milk mixture, alternately, beginning and ending with the flour.

Add the spices and salt and beat until combined for about three minutes.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir in the mashed banana and orange zest.

Divide the cake batter between the two greased loaf tins and bake for thirty-five to forty minutes. Remove from the oven and leave for about fifteen minutes before removing from the tins.

French vanilla slice

Photos by Steve Shanahan

First published Canberra Times 28 August 2013.  

An oozy, vanilla custard cream layer, that squeezes out as you bite down, sandwiched between thin sheets of crispy, golden pastry topped with a dusting of icing sugar. That slab of heaven is my ideal vanilla slice.

With the jury still out after intense debate on what constitutes the real thing, I strive to match the quality of the finest French vanilla slice I’ve had in a long time. This accolade is not bestowed on a trendy patisserie in Melbourne or Sydney, but goes to Barnetts Bakery, nestled in the picturesque NSW north coast surfing village of Crescent Head.

While holidaying in Crescent with the extended family in November last year, we rapidly develop a morning ritual based around our collective need for a decent coffee heart starter and a shared, growingly insatiable appetite for Barnett’s fabulous vanilla slice. Our morning scouts are sent down the hill each day to forage for these freshly baked pastry delights and half a dozen strong flat whites, with strict instructions to return post haste with the goodies and the day’s surf report.

As the debate rages between enthusiasts of the French creamy, custard variety, versus the yellow rubber Aussie icon, my Napoleonic allegiance does not miss a beat - a heart beat that is.

 

Makes 10 large slices.

Preheat the oven to 180C.

400ml fresh cream (not thickened)

350ml milk

2 sheets of ready rolled frozen puff pastry, thawed

50g butter

2 tspn vanilla paste or extract

6 egg yolks, separated from whites

½ cup caster sugar

½ cup water

½ cup cornflour

Icing sugar for dusting

Trim both sheets of puff pastry to fit a rectangle slice tin, measuring twenty centimetres by thirty centimetres. Line the tin with non-stick baking paper, greasing lightly to hold the paper in place. Allow some overhang of the paper to provide a handle to lift out the slice when set.

Place the two trimmed pastry sheets on a paper lined baking tray side by side. Leave a small gap between the two pastry sheets to allow room for spreading. Top with another layer of baking paper and place a tray on top of the baking paper to provide a weight on the pastry when cooking to reduce the pastry from rising and bubbling.

Bake the pastry for fifteen minutes, checking for colour. They should be cooked to a light golden colour.

Cool on wire racks and make the vanilla custard filling. Place the cream, milk, sugar, butter and vanilla in a saucepan over a medium heat. Cook until the mixture is hot, but not quite boiling and remove from the heat. Mix the water and cornflour to a smooth paste, then whisk into the hot milk mixture. Add the beaten egg yolks and stir briskly. Return to a low heat, stirring continuously until the mixture thickens.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Place one of the cooked pastry sheets into the base of the lined slice tin, it should fit snugly. If the pastry sheet is too big, place on a flat board and trim carefully with a sharp knife to fit. Return to the tin and spread the cooled custard over the pastry. Top with the remaining pastry sheet, trimming to fit again if necessary.

Fold the overhanging baking paper back over the top to enclose. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least two hours until set. To remove, carefully lift the overhanging baking paper and place on a board ready to slice. Peel away the paper.

To successfully slice this without squashing the custard from the middle, the trick is, to  

use a small sharp knife and cut only through the top layer of pastry, marking out ten, even sized slices. Then go back and slice the rest of the way down through the initial cut in the pastry, with a large, sharp knife until you hit the bottom layer of pastry and then push down to cut.