Smoking with Broadbeans

Smoked Lamb with smashed broadbean and spiced pumpkin salad

Photos by Steve Shanahan

Apologies in advance are probably in order here, as I inflict the well worn café and restaurant mantra of fresh, local, seasonal produce, on you again to describe these dishes. This concept is not new or unique and producers from the world over have been working with seasonally available produce for ages, actually, forever.

In these recipes I also incorporate one of the most basics of preservation techniques, smoking, used to preserve the spring produce through leaner times. In this instance, this is not used to preserve, but to add flavour.  In making the most of the sweet spring produce available at this time of year and the smoking for flavour, makes for a light, spring lunch, evocative of the Mediterranean.

As in the Mediterranean, I was fortunate to produce my own backyard crop for the choicest and sweetest peas, broadbeans, mint and citrus that were ready to harvest, bang on time for a family birthday feast. 

While preparing the vegetables, I am captivated by the soft, fluffy green papoose of the broadbean pod that protects its offspring, keeping it in perfect condition. And the verdant greens of the mint, coriander and peas have not yet been yellowed off by the sun. This time of year really is the height of food perfection. 

For a low fuss feast, throw together these ingredients with some smoked new season lamb, and few embellishments are needed for a gorgeous Mediterranean inspired spring lunch.

To smoke the lamb and lemons I used a simple smoking technique using a kettle barbeque with hot coals and hickory chips available at most hardware shops. 

Smoked lamb with smashed broad bean and spiced pumpkin salad

Serves 4

800g butternut pumpkin, deseeded, peeled and diced

¼ tspn ground allspice

salt and ground pepper

3 tbsp pumpkin seeds

500g broadbeans, unpodded. If fresh broadbeans are not available use frozen.

12 lamb cutlets

100g marinated feta, crumbled

½ cup coriander leaves, finely chopped

2 tbsp lemon juice

Hickory wood chips

Olive oil spray

Paste

1 tbsp olive oil

1tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

½ tsp ground turmeric

2 tbsp lemon juice

¼ cup chopped flat leaf parsley

¼ cup chopped coriander

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line an oven tray with baking paper and place chopped pumpkin on the tray drizzled with olive oil, and sprinkled with allspice, salt and pepper to taste.

Bake for thirty minutes and then scatter the pumpkin seeds over the top and bake for another five minutes or so until the seeds are roasted. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

To make the paste, heat the oil in a small saucepan over a medium to low heat. Add the cumin, ground coriander, paprika, turmeric and garlic. Cook, stirring for one minute. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice, fresh, chopped coriander and parsley. Stir to combine. Smear half of the paste onto the cutlets to marinate and set the remainder aside.

Prepare the broad beans by cooking in a medium saucepan of boiling water for three minutes. Drain and refresh in cold water and drain and cool. When cooled, peel off outer shell and reserve the inner beans. Gently smash with a potato masher, still leaving a coarse texture.

Any smoker can be used to smoke the lamb cutlets. I use a simple kettle barbeque using hot coals cooked down for a few hours with the kettle lid placed on it. Spray the cutlets with a light spray of olive oil. Place the cutlets on a greased wire rack that sits over a disposable foil tray with a handful of hickory chips spread over the base. The foil tray should sit on the kettle rack in the barbeque with the hot coals underneath it. Place the lid on the preheated kettle barbeque and leave the vent slightly open. The cutlets should take about thirty minutes to cook. They will turn a dark red on the outside and just pink on the inside. For well done lamb return to the heat for about another ten minutes or cooked inside when checked for doneness.

To assemble the dish, combine the pumpkin, broad beans, fetta and coriander in a bowl with a dash of olive oil and the lemon juice. Divide among serving plates and top with the lamb cutlets and dolloped with the remaining paste.

Smoked Lemon, pea and broadbean on flatbread

Serves 4

4 Lebanese flatbreads

olive oil spray

2 tsp dried mixed herbs

2 garlic cloves, peeled

4 tbsp olive oil

800g broadbeans in shell, alternatively use frozen broadbeans

250g fresh peas in shell, alternatively use frozen peas

1/3 bunch fresh mint

2 lemons, halved

100g pecorino cheese, grated

salt and ground pepper

Smoked lemons

Preheat smoker or barbeque and place lemon halves over a grill with a smoking wood below. I generally use hickory chips. Smoke for fifteen minutes or until the lemons appear golden and caramelised. They should be softened. If you are cooking this complete meal with the smoked lamb, you can smoke the lemons at the same time as the lamb.

Broad bean and pea topping

Shell the broad beans from the outer pod and cook the beans in a pot of boiling water for two minutes. Remove the beans with a slotted spoon and reserve the water for the peas and set broad beans aside. Shell the peas and cook for two minutes in the broad bean water. Drain the peas and set aside. Shell the cooked broad beans.

In a food processor, pulse the broad beans, peas, mint half the pecorino cheese, garlic, olive oil and juice from one smoked lemon in a food processor for only a few seconds to achieve a slightly chunky mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Flatbread

Preheat oven to 200C and spray the flatbreads lightly with olive oil on both sides. Sprinkle with a little salt and the herbs. Cook in the oven on a rack over an oven tray for about ten minutes or until golden and crisp but not burnt.

To assemble, break the flatbreads into shards and pile on the broad bean and pea topping, serving with extra grated pecorino, a further drizzle of olive oil and the remaining smoked lemon cut into halves again.

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.

Fruit and vegetable pancakes

Photos by Steve Shanahan

 First published Canberra  Times 13 February 2013

With the challenging morning ritual of filling school lunch boxes fast approaching, so is the dilemma of finding something appetizing and somewhat healthy to put in them.

There aren’t too many kids I know who will refuse a pancake, and with fruit and vegetables hidden within, these are a tasty and satisfying way of ensuring vegetables are on the school menu. If your kids are old enough, they might even like to help prepare or cook the pancakes themselves.

The idea of combining fruit and vegetables in pancakes was initially brought to me by our daughter who decided she wanted to put everything in hers. The combination of flavours lends a slight sweetness, which she loved. Just remember to squeeze out the juices from both the apple and vegetables and you will have dry, crispy pancakes that should keep fresh in a lunch box without going soggy.

The combinations are endless, and depending on the palate of your little diners, you can add spices, different cheeses or herbs to these pancakes to vary the flavours.

Regardless of the combinations, if you are serving them hot and want to add an extra touch, a few dollops of greek yoghurt adds further body and balance to these pancakes.

These are the perfect lunch finger food and kids will find them even tastier when they are involved in the making.

1 zucchini, washed with skin left on, finely grated

1 cob of corn

1 carrot, finely grated

1 green apple, washed with skin left on, finely grated

squeeze of lemon juice

1 cup plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

¾ cup milk

2 tbsp natural greek yoghurt

2 eggs

½ cup tasty cheese, grated

1 tbsp olive oil

Remove the husks and silk from the corn cob, and slice the end off it so it has a flat bottom. Standing the cob up on a board with the flat side down, use a sharp knife to cut the kernels from the corn cob. Discard the cob and set the kernels aside.

Using your hands, squeeze the grated zucchini, carrot and apple to remove the excess juice. Place the in a large bowl, add the squeeze of lemon juice, and mix until well combined. The juice squeezed from the carrot, apple and zucchini is delicious to drink. Add the corn cobs to the mixed grated fruit and vegetables.

Sift the flour and baking powder together into a separate bowl. Whisk the milk, yoghurt and eggs together in a jug and add to the flour, mixing until well combined and the batter is smooth. Add the batter and grated cheese to the zucchini, carrot, corn and apple and mix well together.

Heat a little of the oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Spoon two tablespoons of the batter mixture into the pan to make one pancake. Cook pancakes in batches, for three to four minutes each side until golden through.

Using a spatula, transfer pancakes to a plate lined with paper towel. Repeat with remaining oil and batter.

Serve with extra yoghurt.