Paradise to Plate

Bread.....so easy in a Thermomix!

2011-07-16T02:57:00.000-07:00

Since having my Thermie in the kitchen I have made dishes I would never have even considered. Who would think that I would make my own bread for sandwhiches and toast. I can't bear the thought of buying a premade loaf, who knows what is in it......have a look at the package next time you do!
I make a great wholemeal loaf each week or sometimes twice a week.

100g of wholewheat
300g warm water
1 sachet dried yeast
420g Strong bakers flour
20g olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp bread improver

In your TM, grind the 100g of wholewheat for 30-60 seconds(depends on how fine you like it, I do 30 seconds)
add 300g warm water. yeast, flour, salt, oil improver.
In that order so the salt doesn't land on the yeast and stall it!
mix for 5 seconds on 7
knead for 2 1/2 minutes on interval speed

warm a s/s bowl with hot water or use your Thermomat. Rest the dough for a good 30 minutes. Then shape, I put mine in 2 balls into a good solid bread tin. Then rest again for 30 minutes. Bake in a hot oven 200deg for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Marion's Thai Red Curry made in the Thermomix

2011-06-02T22:29:00.000-07:00

You all remember the lovely Marion Grasby from Season 2 of MasterChef. She was everyone's favorite to win until that dreadful satay incident I still can't talk about. Since leaving the MasterChef competition Marion has been writing a monthly food column in MasterChef Magazine and happily divides the rest of her time between personal appearances, cooking demonstrations, private catering and various media activities. In April Marion release a range of 5 Thai dishes under the Marion's Kitchen label.

I picked up a box of Marion's Thai Red Curry at Simon's Gourmet during the week and I was impressed with how fresh and easy it was but I also knew this little box of goodness was just made for the Thermomix. I came home and set about converting the instructions on the back of the pack to Thermomix instructions and this is what I came up with:

The Thermomix makes Marion's meals even easier

Marion's Thai Red Curry in the Thermomix

Ingredients

1 Box of Marions Kitchen Thai Red Curry
400g chicken thighs cubed
1 - 1.5 cups of pumpkin in 2cm cubes (approx)
2 tbs vegetabel oil

All ingredients are fresh and in easy sachets

Method

add 20 grams of vegetable oil to Thermomix.
Add contents of sachet #1 Red Curry Paste and cook for 3 minutes on 100 degrees on speed 1
Add the contents of sachet #2 Coconut Milk and 250g water. Cook for 4 minutes on 100 degrees on speed 1.
Add the contents of sachet 3 Dried herbs plus the fish sauce and cook for 1.5 minutes on 100 degrees on reverse speed 1.
NOTE: If you don't like your curries too hot don't add the dried chillies from the herb sachet and add half a cup of additional water.
Add the contents of sachet #4 Bamboo Shoots being sure to drain them first, 400g cubed chicken and the diced pumpkin.
Cook for 17-20 minutes on 100 degrees on reverse soft spoon.

Serve with a steamed rice.

The finished dish - the bamboo shoots added a lovely crunch

Keep an eye out for Marion's Kitchen range at good food stores. Also available in the range is:
Marion's Kitchen Thai Green Curry
Marion's Kitchen Thai Basil & Chilli Stir-Fry
Marion's Kitchen Thai Fishcakes
Marion's Kitchen Satay Sticks

Marion’s first cookbook will be released in July 2011.

Posh Nutella - Lindt Hazelnut Spread in the Thermomix

2011-05-27T18:05:00.000-07:00

You're all familiar with the versatile choc-hazelnut spread Nutella. Loved by kids and dentist everywhere. Well now you can make it even better yourself in the Thermomix. Nutella actually only contains 13% hazelnuts and no real chocolate but cocoa powder instead then sweetened with loads of refined sugar and don't get me started on the palm oil.

I'd never insult your intelligence by suggesting that my choc-hazelnut spread is a health food but I will say that my recipe contains 23% hazelnuts, 22% dark chocolate and raw sugar with no oil of any sort except that occurring naturally in the hazelnuts.

After reading the comments about Hazelnut Chocolate Spread on the Thermomix Forum I decided to 'tweek' the recipe on page 148 of 'Everyday Cooking' and make a posh version using Lindt chocolate. Here's what I came up with:

Fleur's Lindt Hazelnut Spread

50-90g of raw sugar
110g well toasted and skinned hazelnuts
100g 70% Lindt chocolate (Try 60% if your not a dark chocolate fan or 85% if you're crazy)
15g Dutch Cocoa
70g Thermomix butter
100g Milk

After toasting the hazelnuts to a dark brown being careful not to burn them, remove the skins by rubbing in a tea towel while still warm. Don't be tempted to leave the skins on because they are quite bitter.

Add the hazelnuts to the Thermomix and mill on speed 9-10 for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides and repeat 2-3 times until the hazelnuts are a paste. Add the sugar and mill on speed 9 - 10 until well combined. Stopping to scraping sides and lid when needed. Add chocolate broken into pieces and mill on speed 8 for 10 seconds.
Add cocoa, butter and milk and heat for 6 minutes on 50 c on speed 3.
Once finished puree for 20 seconds. Starting at speed 1 and moving up to speed 9 slowly.
Place in sterilised jars. Keep refrigerated. Keeps for 14-21 days - if it lasts that long!

Serving suggestions: Not just for your morning toast. Try it smeared on ice cream or a hot crepe. But my favorite serving suggestion would be to lick it off Hugh Jackman's chest. Please send photos if you every actually do that.

May Contain Nuts - Satay Sauce

2011-05-04T21:08:00.000-07:00

Thermomix Chicken Satay

I know I'm still in the honeymoon phase of life with my Thermomix but everyday there's something new and amazing to make with it. Today it's all about satay sauce. That beautiful oozzing peanut & spice sauce that can be deceptively hard to make well. Remember in MasterChef Season 2 when hot favorite Marion Grasby was shown the door when her Thai satay sauce split? Well, despite it's reputation for humbling good cooks like Marion I was prepared to give it a go with Thermomix by my side. I started off with a bag of beautiful Kingaroy peanuts that were roasted but unsalted. I milled them in my Thermomix with a little grape seed oil and salt and in the blink of an eye I had fresh smooth peanut butter without the additives and cost of its store bought eqivalent.

Roasted unsalted Kingaroy peanuts

As much as my kids would have been happy to eat peanut butter sandwiches all week I was a little more ambitious for my first batch of peanut butter so I moved on to making satay sauce using a recipe from a fellow Thermomix consultant in Victoria - Chris Charge. I started by toasting and milling the spices ( a TM is worth the price for its milling ability alone) then moved on to chopping and sauteing the flavour base before adding all other ingredients,setting the temp and time and walking away. 8 Minutes later I had a generous quantity of warm,smooth and spicy satay sauce that was begging to be poured over sizzling sticks of meat.

Thermomix Peanut Butter

While I pan fried off the chicken thighs. I whipped up a batch of steamed rice in the Thermomix and it all came together resulting in delicious and warming week night meal that just would not have been possible without Thermomix. Here's how to make it:

Peanut Butter:

500g salted or unsalted roasted peanuts
5 tbs Grapeseed oil
Salt to taste

Place nuts in the TM bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 6. Add oil and salt and continue to mill on speed 6-7 until the desired consistency is achieved. Add more oil if needed.

Thermomix Satay Sauce

Thermomix Satay Sauce

Recipe contributed by : Chris Charge, VIC Consultant – NOV 2010Ingredients :

1/2 onion
2 cloves Garlic
1 small red chili (for a milder sauce use a 1/2 - 1 large chili with seeds and membrane removed)
2 pieces Tumeric (or 2 tsp of tumeric powder if you can't find fresh)
3 tsp cumin seeds
3 tsp coriander seeds
Juice of 1 lemon
50ml ketjap manis
2 tblsp fish sauce
30 grams palm sugar
1 can 400ml coconut milk (or coconut cream if you are feeling particularly naughty)
500 gram TM peanut butter - see above
Method:

Place coriander tumeric and cumin in TM and mill on speed 8 for 2 minutes. Take out and set aside.Place garlic, onion and chili into TM bowl and chop for 8 seconds on speed 7.
Add oil and saute for 2 minutes on 100c speed 1. Add all other ingredients and cook on 100c for 5 to 8 minutes speed 3.

You will find the steamed rice recipe on page 16 of Everyday Cooking which comes free with your Thermomix. I sprinkled TM dukkah over the rice. You'll find that recipe on page 49 of Everyday Cooking.

To learn more and see the Thermomix in action you can contact Fleur Cole on 0433 161 523 or fleur@a4media.com.au. Julie-ann Allen 0418 445 125 or thermomix@gourmetgirls.com.au or go to www.thermomix.com.au. To read Choice Magazines Thermomix review click here

Sabayon without the tears

2011-05-03T18:52:00.000-07:00

Did you all see MasterChef last night? Where a bunch of new hopefuls faced their first pressure test in the form of a 4 part Maggie Beer dessert. Contestants had to make a Lemon Curd Tart with sour cream pastry, Almond & Nectarine Frangipane, an Apple & EVOO Dessert Cake with a Verjuice Sabayon. Not an easy task for the new recruits but I was left wondering why the contestants didn't make life a little easier for themselves and use one the 5 Thermomix machines in the MasterChef kitchen to knock out a banging sabayon. George Calombaris used his Thermomix to make a sabayon in a Friday night Masterclass during series 2 remember.

George Calombaris is a Thermomix devotee

Sauces such as sabayon are one thing the Thermomix really excels at, earning its place in many restaurants around the world including George Calombaris' Press Club, Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck, Ferran Adria's El Bulli and Alistair McLeod's Brett Wharf right here in Brisbane.

8 minutes later fresh fluffy Sabayon

This morning I made a sabayon in my Thermomix proving to myself just how easy it is. Prep took all of 2 minutes and cooking only 8 minutes. But that 8 minutes was not spent in arm aching whisking. I simply loaded all the ingredients into the Thermomix, set the temperature and time and walked away to make a coffee. 8 minutes later I have a warm foamy fresh sabayon ready to serve with cake or eaten just on its own. Here's how I made it:

Sabayon Ingredients

1 whole nutmeg

5 egg yolks

100g caster sugar (The TM turns raw sugar into caster sugar in under 5 seconds)

2-3 tbsp fresh orange juice (I actually used mandarin juice & it worked well with the rum)

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

2 tbsp dark rum

Sabayon Method

Place nutmeg into TM bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 9. Remove from bowl.

Place 1 tsp ground nutmeg with egg yolks and all remaining ingredients into TM bowl and cook for 8 minutes at 80ºC on speed 4. (You may insert the Butterfly before cooking if desired)

Serve with cake or eat on its own.Sabayon is just one of the amazing things a Thermomix can do. To learn more and see the Thermomix in action you can contact Fleur Cole on 0433 161 523 or fleur@a4media.com.au or go to www.thermomix.com.au. To read Choice Magazines Thermomix review click here

A Quickie with Anna Gare

2011-03-17T19:33:00.000-07:00

I know its been a while since our last blog. Between Christmas, floods and organising events for Babes in Business and Clean Up Australia Day I have been most neglectful of my blogging duties. Well that's all about to change. Julie-ann and I have just come back from The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival where we have unearthed a rich vein of culinary content to blog about. First up I want to tell you about the fabulously entertaining session we attended with Anna Gare star of "Quickies in My Kitchen" & Junior MasterChef.

Anna Gare talks about her 5 children - 2 with husband Luc Longley and '3 he prepared earlier'.

Anna's session was fun, upbeat and peppered with some saucy jokes that even made moderator Alistair McLeod blush a bright red. Wearing what she called a 'highly flamable' dress instead of chefs whites, Anna showed us how to make Latino Scallops, Persian Spiced Fillet of Beef, Upside Down Potato Salad as well as 3 versions of her Upside Down Tart.

Anna Gare teached Alistair McLeod a thing or two about the morter & pestle

Today I made Anna's Cherry Upside Down Tart using bottled Morello pitted cherries and almond meal I ground myself from blanched almonds in the 'Jesus Machine' AKA: The Thermomix. It was super easy and once cooled and turned out it looked as good as any french frangipane tart I've seen. It took me less than 10 minutes to get in the oven so it really was a quickie in my kitchen. Here's how it goes:

Anna Gare's Upside Down Cherry Tart

Upside Down Cherry Tart by Anna Gare

Cake
150g unsalted butter
150g castor sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla paste
1 XL egg or 2 yolks
150g almond meal
1 1/2 heaped tbs SR flour

Tart base
Butter for greasing
1 tbs castor sugar
1 tbs butter

Fruit
1 1/2 cups of morella cherries (drained)

Using an electric beater, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until pale, light and fluffy.
Add egg or 2 yolks slowly while still beating.
Using a spoon fold in almond meal and flour or add slowly with beaters on very slow speed.
Lightly grease a 35 cm long flan tin. Line with foil being careful not to pierce the foil.
Evenly rub foil with butter then sprinkle with 1 tbs sugar.
Evenly spread the cherries over base of tin.
Spoon almond meal mixture evenly over the cherries.
Bake in 180 C oven on the centre shelf for approx 45 minutes until firm and golden on top.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool a little before turning out.
Turn out upside down on a large plate or board and dust with icing sugar.
Serve with cream of good vanilla ice cream.

You can easily change the flavour of this tart by substituting 3 ripe peaches or 2 ripe pears (halved and cut side down in tin). Or do what Anna did and triple the mixture and make all 3 at the same time.

Fleur

Welcome to my world......Thermomix!

2010-10-28T00:49:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

I am so excited to announce the newest member of my family.......my new Thermomix! I have been so impressed with everything I had seen and heard about this incredible machine that I immediately signed up as a consultant for Thermomix and ordered my own.

I will be posting blogs on my discoveries as I get more familiar with all that my 'Thermie' can do. I have only had him in my kitchen for just over 24 hours and my first night I made;

Pepporanata dip
Mayonaisse (something I never do by hand)
Potato Rosti
Hollandaise (it had me at Hollandaise!)

Tonight I have made a quiche using a pastry made with ground Parmesan and Roasted Macadamia, all done in a few minutes. The Leeks and Pancetta have been chopped and cooked quickly in Thermie and I will then melt a mix of cheeses into the cream and egg mix, again using Thermie and then pop it in the oven. I will let you know how it goes.

This unbelievable device will replace so many of your kitchen gadgets you will be amazed. Goodbye rice cooker, slow cooker, blender, food processor, spice grinder. It will make perfect sorbets in seconds only limited by your imagination and cook food as well as steam. The possibilities are endless and so exciting for someone who loves to cook.

If you have food allergies and intolerences you will now be in full control. Mill your own flours for breads and doughs and biscuits with whatever grains or nuts you can eat and let your Thermie knead it in minutes.

If you would like to have a demonstration of a Thermomix please email me and I will arrange a time to show you a sample of it's capabilities.

thermomix@paradisetoplate.com.au

I would love to share my excitment and enthusiasism with you! And you get to eat all I make.....6 courses, invite some of your foodie mates and let's have some fun.

Julie-Ann

Hot Garlic Dip....Thanks to Super Natural Oganic Garlic!

2010-10-11T01:00:00.000-07:00

Fleur and I were lucky enough to visit Wendy and Peter at Super Natural Organics. This is an incredible farm at the Foothills of the Cootharaba Range in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. We went on the hunt for their Organic Garlic but they also grow a huge selection of organic produce and you will find it available at the Noosa Farmers Market.

These bulbs of garlic are huge and are a variety called 'Giant Russian"'. Most garlic bulbs we see at the grocery store have made their way here from China! They have been grown in highly suspicious circumstances and have been bleached to look nice for the Australian market. How revolting!

It really isn't that difficult to find Australian grown Garlic now and the more we ask for it the more we will find!

I used some of my garlic to make this dip which has been a family favourite for many years and was even named "The Orgasm Dip" at one particular party........

I usually serve it with a selection of fresh vegies (crudites) and bread sticks but I think you will be tempted to have it on anything. Don't leave out the anchovies as they are a key ingredient and even the most fussy anchovy hater will be back for more.

Hot Garlic Dip

1 large onion, finely chopped

3 SNOG garlic cloves or 6 normal size, minced

1/2 jar of anchovies, finely chopped

good knob of butter

good glug of Brandy

Fresh Ground Black Pepper

600ml cream

In a frypan melt the butter and saute the onion, garlic and anchovies slowly until the onion and garlic is translucent and the anchovies have melted. Add the glug of Brandy and cook down. Add the cream and ramp up the heat and let it reduce. Give it a good grind of pepper and when thick enough to coat your chosen crudites pour into a bowl and have a taste!

Check out this youtube video for more info.

Blogged by Julie-Ann

Death by Vanilla!

2010-09-06T03:20:00.000-07:00

Paradise to Plate has been lucky to have been provided with some stunning Vanilla Bean produce from Fiona at 'Broken Nose Vanilla' in North QLD. I have been researching for days on a way to do these justice......and..........

"Death by Vanilla" was born!

Cinnamon Brioche French Toast, Caremelised Banana, Vanilla Icecream and Vanilla & Bourbon Maple Syrup.

My weapons of choice were, A and B grade Vanilla pods and Vanilla scented Honey.
My first job was the Vanilla Bean Ice cream and I made this a few days in advance. The recipe was adapted from one I found on the Taste Website which is now available for your I- Pad!.

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Makes 1 Litre

Ingredients

300ml thick cream

300ml milk

2 vanilla beans, split

6 egg yolks

175g caster sugar

Place the cream and milk in a saucepan. Scrape in the vanilla seeds ( I used and A grade one) and add the bean, too. Bring to the boil, then turn off the heat and set aside for 10 minutes to infuse. Place the egg yolks, sugar and the seeds from another split vanilla bean in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat until pale and thick. Carefully pour the milk over and slowly beat until blended and then return to a clean saucepan.

Cook over low heat, stirring, for anywhere from five minutes to 25 minutes until it is thick and coats the back of a wooden spoon. You should be able to draw a ribbon in the coating of custard on the spoon and when it stays there it is ready! It is difficult to judge...check out this video!

Once thickened I left the mix to cool in the fridge with the bean still in it to get as much flavour out as possible. Once it was cool I Strained the mix, poured it into my icecream maker and set it churning. I have had both types of icream makers and they both work well...the type that you freeze the container worked great until I dropped it, hence the upgrade to a compresser version. Once it has churned and thickened store in a freezer container and freeze until ready to serve. Mine was lucky to make it to the rest of the dish, so creamy and tasty I had to be very strong not to eat it all before hand!

Bourbon & Vanilla Maple Syrup

Split a Vanilla Bean and in a frypan cover with 2 Tblsp of Bourbon. Heat and Flambe to evaporate the alcahol. Add 1/2 cup of the best maple Syrup you can buy.... meaning pure, not the maufactured rubish, it is more expensive but so much better. Cook until incorporated and then set aside in a jug. I then used the pan with all the yummy dregs to cook my Banana in. Just add some butter and then the sliced bananas and cook until coloured and softening.

I used day old Brioche and sliced it quite thick. Make up a batter as follows;

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup cream

1Tblsp of Vanilla scented Honey

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Soak the brioche for a good minute in the rich batter and then fry in hot butter until golden on both sides.
Plate the toast and give them a good dust of icing sugar, top with the Banana and the ice cream and drizzle with the syrup.

I know this sounds rediculously rich and sweet but is was actually quite surprising. Just perfect and a great combination. A special treat for sure but once the ice cream was done the rest was pretty quick and easy.

PS.

Don't throw away those gorgeous Vanilla Beans once you use them. Wash them off and dry them and put them in a jar of castor sugar. The sugar is great for sweet recipes and if you are really stuck for a bean, go ahead and use them, they will be better than most of the esscences we can buy.

I have always wanted to make my own esscence and so used one of the beans split and put in in a cute little bottle and covered it with vodka. I will keep it in a dark cupboard and try it after 6 months....it looks good already and these would make a great gift for your foodie friends!

Posted by Julie-Ann

Happy Herbs at Home

2010-08-04T00:25:00.000-07:00

I'm ashamed to admit that I have been a herb buyer for years. A little piece of me died every time I paid for over priced herbs at the grocers that I knew I could grow better and cheaper in my own back yard but the prospect of starting a herb garden just seemed to hard. The garden I inherited in my current house is filled with mature clipped hedges and feature trees and I never really had the heart or inclination to rip them out to put in a herb bed. I know many of you have good intentions of planting herbs - but where to begin?
The answer to my (& your) problem came at the recent Hilton Masterclass at the Brookfield Garden Centre display. They had a range of collapsible woven willow baskets that, when assembled, are lined with a planting bag (think large re-usable shopping bag) and then filled with good soil. They can be placed on lawn, tiles or cement and the smaller sizes can be moved around to catch the sun making them perfect for renters or apartment dwellers. I chose the largest size at 100x40x40 cm which takes 140 liters of soil.

Fortunately for me I had a bit of expert help at hand when it came to choosing the right soil and plants for my start up herb garden. I've mentioned in a previous blog that my dearest friend, Nicole Moon is a landscape garden designer and has worked on shows for the Lifestyle channel such as Dry Spell Gardening and Matthew Hayden's Home Ground.

Nicole recommended I buy 60% good organic potting mix and 40% composted soil improver. Herbs are nutrient thirsty so you must start off with excellent soil and after about 6 months start fertilising regularly with organic slow release fertiliser pellets at the start of each season. We chose the following herbs which cover all the basics and doubled up on a few that I use a lot of:
Sage
Variegated Sage
Continental parsley x 4
Sweet basil
All year round basil
Garlic
French Tarragon
Chives
Thyme
Pizza thyme (strong)
Variegated Thyme (Lemon)
Oregano
Marjoram

NOTE: You can easily tell the difference between oregano and marjoram - oregano has a slightly hairy leaf and marjoram has a smooth leaf.

Nicole believes that planting done well at the start can ensure your plants thrive, won't succumb to pests and makes your planter look picture perfect.

Nicole's tips for planting the perfect herb garden:

Use the best possible soil
Position your garden where it will get the most sun
Plant taller plants like parsley and garlic towards the back
Plant medium sized plants like tarragon, thyme and chives on the middle
And prostrate plants like oregano and marjoram at the front
When planting make sure the top soil level of the seedling is level to the top soil level in the garden
Once planted press lightly on the soil around the base of the plant to remove any air pockets around the roots
Plant basil between the garlic and chives to prevent pest damage
Finish with a good organic mulch and a gentle watering in. Nicole recommends lucern mulch which is high in nutrients and quick to break down. Mulching also ensures moisture is retained in the soil and is a natural weed suppressant

All up I paid about $200 for the garden bed, soils, mulch and 13 herbs. My children are so excited and enthusiastic about being involved in the herb garden. We now play 'name that herb' and soon to come blindfolded 'name that herb' - too much fun! I don't know why more parents don't do this to entertain their kids instead of buying a DS or Wii.

For more information on the willow garden beds contact Renee at Brookfield Garden Centre. Mail order is available for those that can't get to Brisbane. You'll find them at 2371 Moggill Road, Brookfield, Brisbane Queensland, Phone: (07) 3878 7739

They are also available online from Quality Products Online

For more information on Nicole Moon's garden designs you can contact her on nmoon@ozemail.com.au

For more information on the Burgon & Ball Home Allotment willow planters click here.

Happy Herbing,
Fleur

Spoils from The Mitchelton Farmers Market

2010-07-31T23:40:00.000-07:00

There is nothing better than a successful trip to the farmers market. After a quick coffee this morning it was off to the Mitchelton Farmers market, Blackwood st, Mitchelton. These great markets are held on the first Sunday of each month and offer a terrific range of fresh produce. I had my hubbie, Graeme in attendance, a rare treat and he was in charge of the 'nanny trolley' a must for market shoppers. It was soon brimming with fresh produce. These are some of the treats on offer this morning!

Free Range eggs
Baby Leeks
Homemade jams and lemon butters
honey
Buffulo Mozarrella from Maleny
Beautiful Artisan Breads
Smoked small goods and fresh sausages
vibrant herbs and spice mixes
Fresh made pasta
Seafood.....almost anything you could imagine!
Cupcakes
fruit and vegies of all varieties
Heritage tomatoes

The choice is incredible and you can wander thru the markets with a good coffee in hand and partake in a hot bacon & egg roll. Take your good knives with you and have then professionally sharpened while you are there.

Today in Brisbane it is one of those perfect days, sunny, warm and ripe for a lazy lunch on the deck with a good bottle of wine.
What did we choose for our Perfect Sunday Lunch...........

Coffin Bay Oysters, Ciabatta and a simple salad of sun ripened heritage tomatoes drizzled with Joseph Olive Oil, a good Balsamic Vinegar, fresh basil and Persian Feta.......

Yummy!

A Pantry Staple!.....Julie-Ann's Peperonata.

2010-07-31T23:07:00.000-07:00

I adapted this particular dish from a Hilton Masterclass with Antonio Carluccio back in 2006 and it is a staple in our kitchen. I use it in lots of dishes and when guests pop in for drinks it is just perfect on crusty bread with a good cheese. I have it on crackers with cottage cheese for lunch when I am trying to be reasonably good and it is a great addition to a frittata, quiche or omelette. This is also a great side for grilled or BBQ meats especially Lamb

Give it a try!

Recipe

4-6 red or yellow capsicums ( a mix is good)

6 tblsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

20g castor sugar

3 tblsp white wine vinegar ( chardonnay vinegar is good)

Ground pepper & Salt

Slice off the sides of the capsicums and take out any of the white 'ribs'. Slice each side into thin strips.

Heat the olive oil in a large frypan and fry the capsicum strips over a low heat stirring from time to time until they are soft and starting to caramelize. This can take as long as half an hour but the slower the better as the natural sweetness of the capsicums comes out.

When the capsicum is cooked down and starting to caramelize then it is time to add the garlic and sugar and cook for 5 minutes more. Then add the vinegar and cook till it evaporates. Season with salt & pepper and then it is ready to cool and store in the fridge or just eat it all up!

Recipe Road Test - Gourmet Traveller's Bouillabaisse

2010-07-18T18:29:00.000-07:00

My Bouillabaisse using Queensland seafood

Keeping with French theme, I made my first ever Bouillabaisse using all Queensland seafood. I used the recipe in the current Gourmet Traveller Magazine which is their annual French issue. The recipe is in the 'Fare Exchange' article where readers write in to ask for a recipe from their favourite chef. This particular Bouillabaisse recipe comes from none other than Brisbane's very own Thierry Galichet from his famous Montrachet restaurant in Paddington. For those of you who are not familiar with Thierry, he is known for his easy relaxed French cooking and his love of fresh seasonal ingredients. He earned legend status when he decided to only open his busy Brisbane restaurant from Monday to Friday so he could better live a balanced life. At the time many said he was mad and he'd soon go broke but he proved them all wrong and Montrachet is packed 5 days a week. Reservations are hard to get but well worth the wait. I had the pleasure of meeting Thierry at a Black Pearl cooking school where he taught me to make his famous caramelised onion and Gruyere souffle which I now make regularly.

My iPad with Gourmet Traveller app and my Mise en Place

Today I'm also testing my new iPad as a recipe book. I downloaded the current issue of Gourmet Traveller using their iPad app. It's so easy to use and the iPad sits up nicely on the kitchen bench and the picture quality is excellent. Congrats to Gourmet Traveller for being one the first Aussie magazines to go iPad.

As I mentioned I used all Queensland seafood for this recipe which wasn't hard to source at all. One stop to my local fish monger (Aussie Seafood on Blunder Rd, Durack) and I came away with plump Harvey Bay scallops, Gold Coast Tiger Prawns (See me previous blog on GCMA), Coral Trout caught in the waters off Cairns and finally Queensland's very own Moreton Bay Bugs - not to be confused with Balmain Bugs. You can easily tell the difference between Moreton Bay and Balmain - Moreton Bays have their eyes set wide apart on the edge of the shell and the Balmain Bug had its eyes set more in the middle of the shell.

I found this recipe quite easy to make and the result was very very tasty. A couple of tips for you:
1. Use really good quality and very ripe tomatoes as these give the dish a lot a flavour and colour.
2. You could add more Pernod if you like that aniseed flavour. I thought 20mls was a bit light on.
3. Don't be tempted to skip the Rouille (Mayonnaise). It adds a lot to the dish. If you don't like the zing of raw garlic you could blanch it before blending to take the edge off.
4. In the unlikely event you have some left overs make sure you reheat it very, very gently.
5. Thoroughly pin bone the coral trout and double check you have all the bones before cooking.

July's French issue of Gourmet Traveller

Click here to go the the Gourmet Traveller recipe for Thierry Galichet's Bouillabaisse with Rouille.

Fleur

Coq au Vin on Bastille Day

2010-07-13T23:21:00.000-07:00

The classic French dish Coq au Vin has become a bit of a signature dish for me especially around Bastille Day. I love a really good quality chook in rich wine sauce with the smoky bacon and sweet golden shallots - HEAVEN! I make a point of ordering it when I see it on a menu just to see if it's as good as mine. One memorable Coq au Vin was at Anthony Bourdain's restaurant Les Halles in New York. His was pretty good I must admit but I still like mine better. I've been making it using this recipe for about 5 years particularly in winter and what I've discovered is that cooking the chicken pieces on the bone and skin on adds immeasurably to the flavour and the quality of the wine and the chicken is extremely important. For god's sake don't buy skinless chicken breasts from the supermarket and used cheap wine. Like Julie-ann I used a Bendele Farm organic chook which I also purchased from Black Pearl Epicure but I've also seen them at James St Markets. You can also get them at the Noosa and Big Pineapple Farmers Markets or online at farmfresh.com. Buy the biggest one you can because they have much better flavour. Maggie Beer strongly recommends only buying chooks over 2kgs to ensure they have developed enough flavour. The wine I used was a 2007 Ballandean Estate Family Reserve Shiraz from the Granite Belt. The Paglesi Family take a small parcel of their best grapes each year to create a exceptional full bodied but soft Shiraz that's matured in new oak. It sells for about $25 per bottle. Click here for a list of retailers. My only other advice would be to not scrimp on the marinating time. Overnight is good but 2 days is even better. Like all the classic French dishes there are many many recipes. This one is fairly simple and will take an hour and a half but if you really want to ramp it up set aside half a day and make Julia Child's Coq au Vin.

Coq au Vin

Serves 6

1 large organic chicken - over 2kgs
2 Bay Leaves
1 sprig of thyme
Flour, extra for dusting
Olive oil
125ml brandy
3 tbs butter
1 cup bacon lardons (or speck)
1 tbs chopped thyme2 heaped tbs flour
1 tbs tomato paste
12 button mushrooms washed (halved if they are too big)
12 golden shallots, peeled
1 ltr chicken stock
Chopped parsley to serve
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut chicken by removing breasts and legs, then cut legs in half leaving a thigh and drumstick ( I also include the wings). Discard the frame. Place chicken pieces in a deep dish, cover with wine, bay leaves, thyme and a good grind of black pepper. Cover and leave in the fridge to marinate overnight. Remove chicken from marinade, strain and set aside. Pat chicken pieces dry with kitchen paper then coat with flour shaking off any excess. (I find this easier to do in a plastic bag) Heat olive oil in a heavy based frypan and fry chicken until good colour is achieved (It's important not to over crowd the pan otherwise chicken will stew instead of fry). Remove from the pan. Deglaze the pan with brandy being sure to make sure you remove all the tasty brown bits stuck on the bottom of the pan. Pour over reserved chicken. Melt butter in a heavy based heatproof dish ( you cant beat a Le Creuset French Oven for this). Saute bacon lardons and thyme, add the two tablespoons of flour, stir and cook for several minutes. Add tomato paste, continue to cook then add the mushrooms and Golden shallots (I sometimes add the shallots with the bacon so they get a bit of colour). Add half of the reserved strained chicken marinade, turn to high heat and reduce marinade by half ( add more of the marinade if you think it needs it). Add the chicken stock and return to the boil. Add the chicken and brandy. Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes or bake covered in a moderate oven (160-180) until chicken is tender 45 - 50 mins. If the sauce is still too runny remove the lid and bake for another 10 mins or until sauce has thickened. Before serving taste for seasoning and adjust if needed. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Coq au Vin is great served with a side of buttery mashed potatoes.

Bon appetite,

Fleur

Coq au Riesling........'Vive le Francais'

2010-07-13T01:04:00.000-07:00

To celebrate Bastille Day, Fleur and I prepared our favourite French dish, Coq au Vin, by Fleur and Coq au Reisling, by Julie-Ann. How Perfect!

We both used Queensland grown chickens from Bendele Farm. The Bendele Farm product is grown and hand processed on Sarah and Fred Stern's own farm in Kilkivan using Free Range and Organic principles.The chickens were purchased from Black Pearl Epicure, our go to providore when you need quality product!

I would normally have homemade chicken stock in the freezer but having just moved home this week and the freezer was bare. I am a huge fan of Maggie Beer, Fleur and I were lucky enough to join Maggie at a special cooking class at Black Pearl last Friday night. Wow, is that woman special! So I used Maggie's chicken stock, if you can't trust Maggie then who can you trust!

This recipe is very simple and using fresh, quality ingredients you really can't go wrong. I do use my Le Creuset casserole for this and any slow cooked or casserole style dish. It was an expensive purchase that almost gave my husband a mini heart attack at the time but 10 years on and it being the most used item in my very overstocked kitchen, even he raves about it.

Ingredients

1 size 18 or 20 free-range organic chicken ( The Bendele one was a small size and served 3)

3-4 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

30g butter

3-4 medium French shallots, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, (Aussie if possible) crushed to a paste with salt

375ml Riesling ( I love Clare valley Riesling! I get to drink the rest.)

375ml good chicken stock ( Thanks Maggie)

small bunch fresh French tarragon, coarsely chopped
( Must be fresh, try Woolies, Coles or your green grocer. If all else fails, grow your own. I love this herb and use it alot, look forward to my Chicken, Mushroom & Pancetta recipe)

salt and freshly ground black pepper

150g white button mushrooms, sliced

4 tablespoons cream

finely chopped parsley to garnish

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Cut the chicken into 8 or 9 pieces ( Chicken cooked on the bone has the best flavour) and lightly dust with flour. Heat the oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a heavy-based casserole dish. Add the chicken and fry until the skin is crisp and golden then remove and set aside. Add the shallots and garlic to the pan, fry for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly, then return the chicken to the dish.

Add the wine, stock, tarragon, salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat, cover the dish with the lid and place in the oven for about 1½ hours ( this smaller chicken needed less time, maybe an hour). While the chicken is cooking, brown the mushrooms in a little more butter in the frying pan and add with the cream for the final 10 minutes of cooking time.

Take the casserole from the oven, transfer all the chicken and mushrooms to a large hot serving platter. Boil the liquid rapidly so the sauce becomes concentrated and thickens a little. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and garnish with parsley. Serves 6.

Please try this recipe, it is easy and yet impressive! The flavours are incredible and you could also serve it over hot buttered noodles. I made a very rich potato mash, put through a ricer and then added cream, butter and grated gruyere cheese, OMG! Fresh Beans and Asparagas and QLD Pumpkin! happy guests!

Julie-Ann

Australian Caper Berry Caponata

2010-07-06T00:21:00.000-07:00

The Beautiful Caper Flower & Caper Berries

When Julie-ann and I set up Paradise to Plate we wanted to champion cooking with seasonal Queensland produce but never to the exclusion of outstanding produce from other states that inspires us. The new Australian grown capers are one such example we simply can't ignore.

You could be forgiven for not being a fan of capers. Most of the capers available in Australia are imported in bulk and are not great quality with a notable exception being from the Aeolian Islands near Sicily. Highly respected food identity, Maggie Beer has long been a fan of the Aeolian capers but once lamented in her food column for The Australian newspaper that there was no one growing capers commercially in Australia. Jonathon Trewartha, a South Australian mining engineer read Maggie's caper article and it set him on the path of replacing imported capers with high quality Australian grown ones. Unbeknownst to Maggie, Johnathon went on research trips to Mediterranean countries known for their capers and came back convinced they would be the perfect crop for the dry rocky slopes on the Murray River near Mannum in South Australia. Devastated by salinity, the Murray River could grow little else but a hardy, deep rooting plant like the caper bush. And just like that a new Australian industry was born in the form of The Australian Caper Company.

Jonathon Trewartha and son Alexander

Some years later Jonathon and his wife Samantha introduced themselves to Maggie Beer at a South Australian Slow Food event and presented her with their first bottle of salted capers which she inspired. Maggie says in her book 'Maggies Harvest' how delighted she was to receive Jonathon's capers and even more so to discover how good they taste. Judges at VOGUE Entertaining and Travel agreed with Maggie by awarding the Australian Caper Company a Gold Medal in 2009. This year they are finalists in the Delicious Magazine Produce awards with winners due to be announced in a few weeks - Good Luck guys!

Australian Caper Company Salted Capers (front) & Caper Berries (back)

Australia imports about 100 tonnes of capers per year providing our young caper industry plenty of room to grow. Currently The Australian Caper Company produces about 2 tonnes with a view to increasing that to 50 tonnes over the coming 4 years as more sustainability conscious growers come on board.

The hardy caper bush

I first heard about Jonathon Trewartha's capers at the Noosa Food and Wine Festival earlier this year when Shane Bailey of Berardo's used sliced caper berries to finish off his Queensland Tiger Prawns, Fennel, Grapefruit and Avocado salad. Julie-ann and I were both impressed with their tart saltiness that gave the dish a real note of piquancy. A few weeks later we discovered them for sale at our second home - Black Pearl Epicure in Fortitude Valley. I took home a bottle of salted caper buds (which are picked daily during the hot summer months while they are still closed and tight) and a bottle of Caper berries (which form when the buds are not picked much like rosehip).

Caper buds

What to make? The Australian Caper Company's website tells me that capers go with a large array of flavours but most often with Mediterranean ingredients such as - Fish, shell fish, poultry, lamb, veal, pork, rabbit and other game meat; vegetables (especially tomatoes and potatoes, eggplant) eggs, anchovies, olives and olive oils, milk and cream; most Mediterranean spices ( tarragon, garlic, onion, horseradish, parsley, basil, oregano and garlic, chervil, just to name a few).

Caper Berries

I settle on Caponata, a traditional Mediterranean vegetable dish not that far removed from a Provencal ratatouille and I decide to mix it up a bit by using both the salted capers and sliced caper berries. Like ratatouille this dish benefits greatly from a good rest before serving which gives all the flavours a chance to get to know each other. It's certainly hearty enough to eat by itself (hot or cold) but would also make a great accompanying dish to fish or rabbit. Here is my recipe:

Fleur's Caper Berry Caponata

Fleur's Caper Berry Caponata

2 large eggplant - chopped into 1cm cubes
2 large sticks of celery - 1cm slices
2 red capsicum - cut into 1 cm cubes
1 green capsicum - cut into 1 cm cubes
1 onion - 1 cm cubes
5 tomatoes - 1 cm cubes
3 anchovy fillets
1 tbs tomato paste
1 tbs sugar
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
400 - 500ml olive oil
45g jar of salted capers - rinsed and drained
12 caper berries halved length ways
1/2 cup torn basil leaves
40g toasted pine nuts

Heat 400 ml oil in large frypan until quite hot (smoking point). Add eggplant 1/4 at a time - it's important not to over crowd the pan. Turning regularly until all cubes are well browned on all sides. You'll notice that the eggplant initially soaks up a lot of the oil but will render some back as it cooks. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon onto kitchen paper. Repeat 3 more times in 1/4 batches. Make sure oil comes back up to temperature between each batch. Add more oil if necessary. Then cook celery in remaining oil until soft and set aside with cooked eggplant.

In a clean pan heat 4 tbs oil and fry off anchovies until they disintegrate. Add onion and saute over high heat for a couple of minutes. Add all capsicum and fry for 5 minutes - turning occasionally. Add tomato, tomato paste and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Stir through the capers and caper berries and cook until sauce is thick. Add sugar, red wine vinegar, reserved eggplant and celery. Bring back to the boil and remove from heat immediately. If serving now sprinkle with torn basil and toasted pine nuts. Ideally leave in the fridge overnight to allow the flavours to meld.

A caper berry whole, sliced lengthways & sliced across

NOTE: Maggie Beer adds 1/2 teaspoon of grated bitter chocolate to her Caponata.

PS: Julie-ann and I are looking forward to meeting Maggie Beer this Thursday at her Black Pearl Cooking class. More on that later.

Queensland Strawberry Tart

2010-06-30T21:12:00.000-07:00

The beautiful strawberries I picked myself

When I was about 15 years old growing up in Toowoomba I got my first job picking strawberries. I'll admit I was terrible at it. I hated the 5am starts (so did Dad who drove me) and I ate more than I handed in which meant I didn't earn much. Needless to say it didn't last long but it did give me an appreciation for fresh in-season strawberries. I wanted to give my kids the strawberry picking experience so yesterday we drove up to the Glasshouse Mountains where Batavia Berries allowed us to pick our own Strawberries. With bucket in hand we set out along the perfect neat rows of plants in search of ripe juicy strawberries. It wasn't hard, the plants were laden with fruit. Before long (and a few taste tests later) we each had an overflowing bucket so it was back to the shed to weigh and pay. We paid $10 per kilo which is about what you'll pay in the shops right now but with the one important difference - each and every berry is in perfect condition plus the added satisfaction of having picked them yourself.

My son Angus picking strawberries at Batavia Berries

The Queensland strawberry season stretches from May to October with peak produce available now (late June,early July). There are about 200 strawberry growers in Queensland and most of them are on the Sunshine Coast. You'll find Batavia Berries at 9 Kings Rd, Glasshouse Mountains or click here for a list of other 'Pick-Your-Own' growers.

Batavia Berries, Glasshouse Mountains, Qld.

When we got home with our haul of perfect strawberries they were still warm from the sun and so fragrant it was difficult not to sit down and eat the lot. I decided to make a french style berry tart because you don't actually cook the strawberries allowing their full fresh flavour shine through. The following recipe is made up of 3 parts - Sweet shortcut pasty, Creme Patissiere (custard) & jam glazed fruit. You can use any recipe for each of these but I chose to use Julia Child's recipes from her first book Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

My Queensland Strawberry Tart

French Strawberry Tart

1. Sweet Short Pastry

2/3 cup plain flour
1 tbs sugar
1/8 tsp salt
5/12 Tbs butter (Julia recommends 4 Tbs Butter & 1 1/2 tbs vegetable shortening but I couldn't find the shortening so used all butter)
2 1/2 to 3 Tbs cold water
1/2 cup of strawberry or apricot jam

Julia Child details both a hand mixed and a blender mixed method of making short pastry. I opted for the blender option this time which is as follows:

Measure dry ingredients into blender fixed with metal blade. Pulse to combine. Chop the butter into cubes and add to the combined dry ingredients. Pulse the food processor until all the butter is combined and takes on the consistency of bread crumbs. Add half the water while the motor is running and add more if needed to form a ball of dough. Now the pastry should form a mass around the blade. Do not over mix it. Turn out on to a floured surface and give the pastry a final blend with your hands. The french call this 'frisage' and it helps by working the gluten in the flour to make it more malleable. Shape it into a ball sprinkled with flour, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour (over night is ideal and it will keep for 2-3 days in the fridge). Because of the high butter content it is important to work quickly and on a cool surface. Marble or granite bench tops are ideal but not necessary. Lightly flour your surface and rolling pin. Knead it into a flat shape that resembles the shape of the pie or flan tin you are using. In my case it is a long rectangle. Roll a shape about 2 inches larger than the size of you pan and until dough is 1/8 inch thick. Butter the pie/flan tin. Roll well floured pastry on to your rolling pin then place and unroll over your pan being careful to lift the pastry so it fits neatly into the corners of the pan. Work the pastry gently into the corners of the pan . Trim of excess by rolling the pin over the top of the pan. (Click here for a You Tube demonstration) Line the pastry with baking paper and fill with baking beans or rice and spread evenly. This will ensure that the pastry holds it's shape while baking (blind baking) Bake at 180 C for 6 mins. until the dough is set. Remove the beans and lining. Prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork in several places and bake for 8 - 10 minutes more. Your pastry should have a nice light golden colour. Allow to cool.

Once cooled heat some strawberry or apricot jam in a saucepan over gentle heat and brush hot jam on the inside of the cooked pastry shell. This forms a waterproofing to the pastry preventing it from going soggy too quickly. Keep the left over jam to glaze the strawberries later.

2. Creme Patissiere
(French custard filling the same as a creme anglaise but with added flour)

1 cup sugar
5 egg yolks
1/2 cup plain flour
2 cups of boiling milk
1 tbs Butter
1 1/2 Tbs Vanilla Extract ( Black Pearl's Pure Vanilla Paste is excellent)

Gradually beat the sugar into the egg yolks and continue beating for 2 - 3 minutes until the mixture is pale yellow and forms a ribbon of mixture when you hold up the beaters/whisk. Beat in the flour. While whisking pour on the boiling milk in a thin stream. Once combined pour this mixture into a saucepan and set over a moderately high heat. Stir with a whisk being careful to cover the entire base of the pan to avoid the mixture sticking. As the sauce comes to the boil it will turn lumpy but will smooth out as you beat it. When boiling point is reached cook for a further 2-3 mins to cook the flour. Be careful custard does not scorch on the bottom of the pan. Remove from the heat and beat in butter and vanilla. Set aside to cool.

3. 20-30 Strawberries of uniform shape.

Wash in cold water then hull ( do not hull first as this allows water to get into the berry)

Assemble

Take pastry case brushed with jam and fill with cooled creme patissiere to 1/2 cm below the top of the pastry casing. Smooth to level. Arrange strawberries in a uniform way on top of the creme patissiere. I used a 25 x 12 cm flan pan and my strawberries were quite big so I arranged them in rows of 3 as pictured.

Reheat the jam adding a few drops of water if needed and brush over the strawberries with a pastry brush. This will give them a beautiful gloss finish. You may refrigerate for a short time but make sure you serve within a couple of hours to ensure pastry does not go soggy.

For more information on Queensland Strawberries and other recipes click here.

Fleur

Gold Coast Tiger Prawns

2010-06-21T22:59:00.000-07:00

Gold Coast Back Tiger Prawns

Ask any 'southerner' the food they most associate with Queensland and they will probably say one of 3 things - Prawns, Bananas or Mangoes. At Paradise to Plate we are on a mission to prove there is more to Queensland produce than these three BUT cliches are cliches because they are true and there is no better example than Gold Coast Tiger Prawns. Most Australian prawns come from Queensland, that's true, and one of the best and largest producers are Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture who farm world class, sashimi grade black tiger prawns at the mouth of the Logan River.

I can't talk about prawn production without touching on sustainability. Sustainability is all about getting the food from 'Paradise to Plate' with the least impact on our earth, waterways or the creatures that live there. Traditional prawn trawling has not been kind to marine life and imports - well, don't get me started! Tighter laws have seen the wild prawn catch shrink in recent years (King & Endeavour prawns are still entirely caught in the wild). By contrast the farmed prawn industry has taken off thanks largely to better growing and processing methods like those used at GCMA resulting in a very high quality, flavoursome prawn.

Like OlivFresh, Queensland Tiger Prawns are finalists in this years Delicious Magazine Produce Awards but they are no stranger to industry accolades winning best prawns in Australia at the Sydney Show as well as a finalist in the prestigious President's Awards run by the Royal Agricultural Society of Australia.

Noel Herbst is the man responsible. A third generation cane farmer who saw the potential of prawn farming back in the mid 80's and set about transforming his family property into 45 hectares (soon to be 50 hectare) of prawn ponds. Noel's tiger prawns start life by the millions in his hatchery and around late September each year are moved to the ponds where they live and grow quite happily in water from the Logan River until January when selective netting ensures only the largest prawns are harvested. This process continues regularly until the end of the season in May. Once caught the tiger prawns are, within minutes, lulled to sleep in icy water then boiled for only 2 minutes before resting in a 'secret brine' solution. The aquaculture equivalent of 11 secret herbs and spices. This process ensures the natural sweetness and texture of the prawns in retained. Nick Moore, General Manager of GCMA explains it best. Click here for Nick's You Tube presentation.

Gold Coast Tiger Prawns are at their best from February to April but available fresh from January to June and frozen from February to December. We'll have to wait until next year now for fresh prawns but I'd encourage you to try the frozen ones. I used 2 kilos of green frozen prawns for my red prawn curry and was blown away by the flavour and texture.

45 Hectares of ponds at Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture

You can buy them at:
Sammies Girl
Fresh Fish Co

Or on the menu at
Cloudlands
Cha Cha Char
Jellyfish
Restaurant Two
Baguette

Or make a diary note (I have) for February next year when you can buy Gold Coast Tiger Prawns fresh from the Farm Gate. Click here for open times and directions.

I decided to make a red curry with my Gold Coast Tiger Prawns because I wanted a warm hearty dish to have on a cold night watching the rugby on TV with my family.

Some years ago I did the 2 day basic Thai cooking course at Spirit House with Annette Fear and since then I have made my own curry pastes regularly. It's an easy enough thing to make and the smell as I pound away with my mortar and pestle is intoxicating. Making your own curry paste is cheap as chips and you can freeze it onto an ice cube tray to create perfect little portions. It's the most versatile curry paste of all because you can use it in fishcakes, satay and marinades as well as any curry.

Fleur's Red Curry Paste

Red Curry Paste

15 Dried Red Chillies
2 Tbs coriander root, chopped (This refers to all the roots and the bottom 1 cm of stalk)
2 tsp coriander seeds, roasted
1 tsp cumin seeds, roasted
2 tsp white peppercorns
2 small red onions
12 cloves of garlic
2 stalks of lemon glass, finely sliced
1 tbs galangal (looks like ginger but tastes quite different. Easy to get fresh or you could use pickled galangal)
1tbs lime zest
1/2 tsp ground mace
2 tsp salt
2 tsp shrimp paste (roasted)

Soak chillies in hot water for 30 minutes. (Try to choose the reddest ones as this will make for a better colour in your final product)
Dry roast coriander and cumin seeds in a non stick pan until browned and fragrant. Keep them moving to avoid burning. This should only take 2-3 minutes. If you do burn them start again. To roast the shrimp paste (the stinkyist stuff in the world) place on a doubled up piece of foil. Fold up to make a neat parcel then place foil directly on the gas flame for 1 minute. Turn with tongs and cook for another minute. Allow to cool slightly before unwrapping.

Remove red chillies from the water and chop finely. Note: I like to remove the seeds and membrane to make a milder curry but if you like heat leave then in. In a mortar and pestle grind the roasted coriander seeds and cumin seeds with the coriander root and white peppercorns. Add all the remaining ingredients and pound until a smooth paste forms. This could take 20 minuted to do well but it's worth it to create a smooth paste of well blended flavours. Once I made it in a hurry and opted to blend instead of pound and I regretted it. The blender just can't break up the seeds as well as a mortar and pestle so it was a bit rough to eat. Your curry paste will last for 2 - 3 weeks in a glass jar in the fridge. You should end up with about 2 cups.

Fleur's Red Prawn Curry

Red Prawn curry

3 Tbs Red Curry Paste
2 cups of coconut milk
1/4 cup julienned ginger (optional)
1 - 1.5 kgs of peeled green prawns (I like to leave tails on)
1 tbs palm sugar
2 tbs fish sauce
1 cup Thai basil or sweet basil (not shown in the picture above)
3 kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded

Heat 1/2 cup of coconut milk in a wok and add the curry paste and ginger. Cook until fragrant and the oils are starting to separate from the milk, about 5-10 minutes. Add palm sugar and fish sauce and remaining coconut milk and simmer for 1 minute. Add prawns and simmer until just cooked through, 2 - 3 minutes. Check seasoning and adjust to taste. Stir in basil and transfer to serving bowl. Garnish with kaffir lime leaves and serve immediately with steamed jasmine rice.

Enjoy,
Fleur

OlivFresh Organic Olives

2010-06-17T18:51:00.000-07:00

Good to see so many Queensland finalists in the Delicious Magazine Produce Awards this year. One such finalist is Olivfresh Organic Olives from Coominya west of Brisbane.

Peter & Susan Agnew purchased 350 acres on Lake Wivenhoe, Coominya, 7 years ago and set about planting a 7000 tree olive grove which is certified organic. Despite its relative youth OlivFresh has won a slew of awards so they are good chance to take out the Delicious Magazine award announced next month.

OlivFresh olive grove on the banks of Lake Wivenhoe

Like a lot of you I came to appreciate olives later in life. There is something about their lovely briny, saltiness that is lost on many lolly loving kids. But I love then now and that's the main thing. There is a whole world of olives out there and I don't profess to know my Coratina from my Picual from my Barnea but I do know what I like. That's why the Ligurian Style Olives by OlivFresh stood out. They are elegant little table olives that have a mellow nutty flavour perfect as an aperitif but also excellent in cooking.

The Ligurian style was developed by Benedictine monks 400 years ago by hand harvesting the olives then laying them down in vats with purified water and sea salt for 4 months. They keep a pretty close eye on them while a totally natural fermentation process takes place. The result is a mellow, low salt olive with soft skin and firm flesh that are easy to pit.

OlivFresh Ligurian style olives

OlivFresh use Arbequina olives for this style of processing which are grown to perfection in the undulating north facing land on Lake Wivenhoe in South East Queensland where the warmer climate ripens the olives before the rest of the Australian producers which gives them the jump on the season without sacrificing quality.

So what to do with my tub of perfect little OlivFresh Ligurian Style Olives? I could have eaten them right from the tub but that would have left me with nothing to write about. I wanted a recipe where the olives are the star not a supporting role so I chose to make Stephanie Alexander's Olive Bread from her Cooks Companion. The 370g tub of olives, once drained and pitted, gave me the required 150g needed for this recipe. Since these Ligurian style olives were already marinated with rosemary they only heightened the rosemary flavour of the bread. Be sure to buy good quality flour and olive oil for this recipe.

Stephanie Alexander's Olive Bread

Stephanie Alexander's Olive Bread

600g unbleached strong flour
150g stoned black olives, halved
2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon instant dried yeast
2 teaspoons finely chopped rosemary
1/3 cup olive oil
300ml warm water
Sea Salt (Maldon)

Mix flour, olives, salt, yeast and rosemary in a large bowl. Add oil to water. Make a well in flour and tip in liquid, then stir to mix well. Tip onto an oiled workbench and kneed with oiled hands for 15 minutes or transfer to an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook and mix until dough is springy and elastic. Add a bit more flour if too wet. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and leave in a draft-free place to double in size (about 45 minutes). Tip dough gently onto workbench. Do not knock back. Work into a cigar-shaped loaf with oiled bands, then place on a floured tea towel and to rise again for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 220 C with a baking tray in it. When the dough is ready roll the loaf on to the hot tray and scatter with flakes of sea salt and bake for 20 - 30 minutes (Note: Stephanie's recipe says 20 minutes but mine needed longer). This bread is good when served slightly warm.

I served my olive bread with Joseph First Run olive oil. The following day I cut left over bread into thin slices, brushed with olive oil and toasted under the drill and served it with hot soup - perfect!

You can substitute black olives for green and you can also add chopped semi-dried tomatoes or bacon. You can easily make a focaccia with this recipe too. After the first rising, transfer the dough to an oiled baking tray and flatten with oily hands until you have a rectangle 2-3 cm thick. Scatter with sea salt flakes and drizzle with a little olive oil. Allow to recover for 30 minutes then bake at 250 C until brown and crisp.

You can buy OlivFresh Organic Olives at:

Wray Organics
Mrs Flannerys
Nutriente at Hendra
Organika Noosaville
Celtic Wholefoods - Southport
Food Shed - Armadale
Fundamental - Byron Bay

You'll also find OlivFresh olives on the menu at some of Queensland's top restaurants -
Urbane
Restaurant Two
Ortega
Berardos
Sails

Want to know how to pick a good table olive? Click here for the OlivFresh checklist.

Recipe Road Test - Masterchefs Beef Cheeks in Pedro Ximenez Sherry

2010-06-14T04:10:00.000-07:00

Beef Cheeks in Pedro Ximenez and Poor Man's Potatoes

The second issue of Masterchef magazine hit my mail box this week and the first recipe that jumped out at me was Frank Camorra's (MoVida - Melbourne) Beef with Pedro Ximenez and Poor Man's Potatoes (Page 126). I might be stepping on Julie-ann's toes here a bit because Spanish fare and MoVida are her all time favourites but I think she'll forgive me - this recipe is just so good.

If you haven't discovered Pedro Ximenez yet then RUN, do not walk, RUN to your nearest good bottle shop and get yourself some. Pedro Ximenez (Pedro Jiménez) is a white grape mostly grown in south-central Spain and makes an intensely sweet dessert sherry that has earned it's place on any self respecting Spanish menu either by itself as a digestive or as a surprisingly versatile ingredient in both savory and sweet dishes. My memorable first encounter with Pedro was at the famous Bodega restaurant in Surrey Hills, Sydney. I ordered their dessert special of a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream with a shot of espresso and a nip of Pedro Ximenez poured over the top. Genius in it's simplicity and still one of my most memorable dining experiences.

When I read Frank Camorra's recipe in Masterchef magazine I didn't have to try hard to imagine how flavoursome the Pedro would be with gelatinous slow cooked beef cheeks. As I said, you will find Pedro Ximenez at most good bottle shops and there are a few different labels (mostly Spanish) that make it. I used Valdespino for about $22 for a 750ml bottle . There are more expensive labels but since this recipe calls for a whopping 500ml I went for a cheaper one.

Valdespino Pedro Ximenez Sherry

Beef cheeks are literally the facial cheek muscle of the cow and have previously been an overlooked cut because they are tough and lean but when slow cooked or braised they really come into their own and of late have enjoyed a much deserved return to popularity. The good news is that beef cheeks are a cheap cut and make a perfect winter meal. At this time of year they shouldn't be too hard to find or you can always order them from your butcher.

Raw, trimmed beef cheeks

Beef Cheeks with Pedro Ximenez and Poor Man's Potatoes

Serves 6
Preparation: 25 minutes
Cooking: 3 1/2 hours

125 ml (1/2 cup) olive oil
1.5kg beef cheeks, trimmed (Note: mine were quite large so I also cut them in half)
2 carrots, roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic, bruised
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 star anise, roasted
500ml (2 cups) Pedro Ximenez Sherry
500ml (2 cups) dry red wine
3 bay leaves
6 sprigs of thyme
flat leaf parsley to serve

Heat 60ml (1/4 cup) oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over high heat. Brown beef in 2 batches, turning for 3 minutes. Remove from pan and drain on paper towel.
Reduce heat to medium-high, add remaining oil, carrots, garlic, onion and star anise and cook, stirring, for 10 minutes or until onion is browned. Add sherry and wine, stirring with a wooden spoon to loosen the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add bay leaves, thyme and 500ml (2 cups) of water and return beef to the pan. Bring to the boil, then cover with a lid, reduce heat to low and simmer for 3 hours or until beef is very tender (NOTE: I probably simmered mine for close to 4 hours)
Using a slotted spoon, transfer beef cheeks to an oven tray and cover loosely with foil. Return the sauce to the boil, then simmer; occasionally skimming off impurities, for 10 minutes or until reduced by half. Strain sauce through a fine sieve, discarding the solids and return sauce to the pan. Add beef cheeks and warm through gently over a medium heat. Season to taste and scatter with torn parsley. Serve with Poor Man's Potatoes

Poor Man's Potatoes

60ml (1/4 cup) Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 onion cut into wedges
1 red capsicum, thickly sliced
1 green capsicum, thickly sliced
4 cloves of garlic
3 bay leaves
800g large kipfler potatoes, peeled, cut into 1cm thick slices
5 saffron threads

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, capsicums, garlic and bay leaves and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally or until vegetables are tender. Add potato, saffron and 750ml of water, bring to the boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer gently for 35 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Adiós,

Fleur

Exclusive Sneak Peak at Recipes from Matthew Hayden's Home Ground

2010-06-05T22:53:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Matthew Hayden and the Lifestyle Channel I have an exclusive sneak peak at tonight's premier of Matthew Hayden's Home Ground. What better way to celebrate Queensland Day than with great Queensland produce cooked by one of Queensland's best loved sports stars.

Firstly, a little background on the show. Matthew Hayden needs no introduction (played 103 Tests and 50+ batting ave.) but after retiring from Australian cricket last year he turned his attention a little closer to home. Meet Matt Hayden the farmer, the cook and owner of a sustainable garden where he can grow his own food based on the principles of permaculture.

Enter Nicole Moon - garden designer, permaculture expert and my best friend. Nicole and I went to school together in Toowoomba, went to uni together and lived together in Brisbane before she set off to work in the film industry in Sydney. She worked as a production assistant on such films as The Matrix, Moulin Rouge & Star Wars before turning her creative talents to a more earthy craft. Nicole studied horticulture and permaculture and soon found herself working with gardening guru Brendan Moar on his Dry Spell Gardening series (Lifestyle Channel) as his design assistant. When the Lifestyle Channel approached Nicole to work with Matt Hayden she jumped at the chance - not only to work with such a well respected sporting hero but to create a sustainable permaculture garden for the Hayden family. To view the garden plan Nicole designed for Matt and his family click here.

Matt & Nicole on the final day of shooting Home Ground

In this 6 part series, which is much more than a cooking or gardening show, Matt looks at how to provide a better environment for his family by creating a lifestyle around sustainable growing and home cooking.

Tonight on the premier of Matthew Hayen's Home Ground Matt will cook up an Organic Potato Pizza using a mix of wholemeal and plain flour. I especially like how he uses honey to activate the yeast instead of sugar. While the recipe doesn't specify which potatoes to use I would recommend Bauer's Organic Potatoes grown in the fertile soil of the Lockyer Valley. Their Desiree potatoes would be good as they can be both boiled and baked. Click here for the recipe of Matt's Organic Potato Pizza.

Matt's Organic Potato Pizza

Having spent a lot of his cricketing life in India Matt is a big fan of the Indian food culture. In this episode Matt makes Tandoori Chicken and Lamb skewers. I was fortunate enough to be at the final day of shooting for Home Ground at Matt and Kellie Hayden's beautiful Brisbane home. Matt made some of his favourite dishes for us and these tandoori skewers were a huge hit. They were cooked on a beautifully crafted fire pit/ BBQ designed by Nicole to complement the garden.

Tandoori Lamb & Chicken cooking on Matt's specially designed fire pit

For this recipe I would suggest using the fantastic organic lamb from Silverwood Organics (south west of Longreach). You can buy Silverwood lamb from high end butchers or by mail order. Click here to go the Silverwood site. It's well worth tracking down because this lamb is on the menu at many top end restaurnats. Matt Moran from Aria was talking it up recently at the Jan Powers markets and they are finalist in thre Delicious Magazine Produce Awards. For the chicken Tandoori I would use Ingelwood Farms Organic Chicken . You will find Ingelwood chickens at Coles and Woolworths in the eastern states and at specialty butchers. Another major ingredient in this dish is the natural yoghurt and you can't go past the award winning Natural Yoghurt from Baramba Organics. For a full list of Baramba stockists click here. Finally click here for Matt's delicious Tandoori Chicken & Lamb recipe.

Matthew Hayden's Home Ground - Country Hero to Country Life starts tonight at 6.30pm on the Lifestyle Channel

Matt's Tandoorie Chicken & Lamb

Recipe Road Test - Masterchefs Beef Wellington

2010-05-29T23:26:00.000-07:00

Voilà!! My Masterchef Beef Wellington with Veal Jus and

served with golf ball carrots and mini asparagus spears

Ever since my mother made Beef Wellington from the Woman's Weekly Cooking Class Cookbook back in the 70's I have held this dish is high esteem. So fancy and posh, I dreamed of making it myself when I grew up. Well I did, once, when I first left home and it was an unqualified disaster. I did everything wrong and it tasted like it. So my romance with the Beef Wellington was over until recently when Gary Mehigan, Masterchef judge, made it for a pressure test on the show and I fell in love all over again. Not that Gary's Beef Wellington had even the slightest similarity to that old Woman's Weekly recipe. Firstly, the inclusion of crepes was a new one on me and he didn't smear the meat with pate. So curiosity and the need to right old wrongs led me to revisit Beef Wellington and I'm sooooo glad I did.

Your first stop when making Beef Wellington is at a good butchers. I went to see Chris Luxton of Gordon & Luxton Gourmet Butchers in Graceville. Chris cut me a beautiful 800g piece of 'centre cut' beef fillet which was grain fed from Kilcoy. It's important to ask for a centre cut fillet so it has a uniform shape and will therefore cook evenly. Just as important is the quality of the puff pastry. Puff pastry is one big pain in the arse to make and my hat goes of to you if you do make your own. Grocery store puff pastry is good but not great and if yo are going to the trouble of making this dish you want every element to be great. Fortunately Careme Pastry comes to the rescue with their All Butter Puff Pastry. William Wood, Master Pâtissier and ex co-head chef at Brisbane's Ecco Bistro, started Carême with his wife Claire after moving to Adelaide. Using only the finest ingredients Carême pastries soon became an essential ingredient in many top end restaurants. David Pugh of Restaurant Two once told me that he can't make pastry better or cheaper than Carême so using it is a no-brainer. Luck for us home cooks we can also buy Carême Pastry at good gourmet shops. I buy mine from Simon's Gourmet Gallery in Chapel Hill. Priced at about $10 for 375g pack and you'll need one pack for this recipe. All the other ingredients are pretty strait forward.

The inclusion of crepes in this recipe is a modern addition but as Gary Mehigan says it something he did during his time at the Connaught in London to form a barrier between meat and pastry to prevent to pastry going soggy. My first few crepes were pretty tragic but I got the hang of it. The recipe made about 8 crepes for me and I chose the thinnest of them for the Wellington. Another tip is to make sure that the prosciutto or jamon slices are long enough to go around your fillet and overlap by a inch or so. Also don't be tempted to cut short the resting time. It's just as important as the time spent in the oven.

Strips of prosciutto spread with the mushroom mix prior to wrapping the fillet

The veal jus was lovely. I followed the recipe faithfully and cooked it down for 40 minutes but I ended up with less than 500ml so I would recommend keeping an eye on it or adding a little stock if yours does cook down too much.

I served my Beef Wellington with some Golf Ball carrots and miniature spears of asparagus both from Chris' Superior Fruit at Graceville.

The full recipe is pretty lengthy so click here to go to the Masterchef recipe page online or you will find it in the first addition of the Masterchef Magazine on page 111.

From go to woe to took me about 3 hours which puts it firmly in the 'weekend only' file for me. So how did it turn out? My son Angus has asked for it every night since - enough said!

Fleur

My finished Beef Wellington - just like the one in the magazine.

The Perfect Raspberries!

2010-05-29T19:48:00.000-07:00

Jan Powers's City farmers markets, which are held each Wednesday at the Queen St Mall, Bridge end, have some wonderful producers. Fleur and I are regular visitors and at the moment Kandara Stawberry Farm has had some outstanding Raspberries. This is a berry that I cannot resist and when I buy them they almost never make it home. This time I was determined to get them as far as my kitchen and make something special.

Raspberry & Passionfruit Cheesecake

375g Ginger biscuits

115g melted butter

3 tsp powdered gelatine

1/4 cup water

375g Cream Cheese

1 tsp Vanilla extract or 1 Vanilla pod split and seeds removed

1 cup castor Sugar

1 cup of pouring cream

2 Passionfruit

2 punnets of Raspberries

This can be made as one long cheesecake in a fluted mould around 20cm x 30cm or individual tarts as I have done.

Process the biscuits to a fine crumb, then add the melted butter and mix to combine. Press into your moulds, which I had greased with melted butter or you could line with baking paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Place the gelatine in the water and set aside until water is absorbed. Mix the cream cheese, vanilla and sugar in a mixer and beat for 4 minutes until smooth. Add the cream and beat until thick. Fold through the gelatine and the passionfruit pulp and pour into your moulds over the biscuit base. Decorate with the raspberries and refrigerate till set, around 2 hours.

This is an easy yet impressive looking dessert and can be a great one to try with the kids!

'Trio of Zuchinni Flowers'

2010-05-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

Fleur and I had such a great day on our trip to the Landsborough Zuchinni Flower Farm, Kim and Owen were so generous with their time and knowledge!

Fleur and I really had to pull out all stops to make sure we made the most of our bounty of perfect flowers. Fleur, would agree, leans to the French style of cooking, refined, beautifully presented and well thought out. I, on the other hand, am probably a little more akin to the Italian style of cooking and flavours, more rustic, bold and love the 'shared table' style of eating.
I chose 3 different fillings for my flowers and then once stuffed I used a light tempura batter and shallow fried them. I also sent a selection of the stuffed flowers over to a friend, Carmen, who battered hers with a mix of 3 eggs and finely grated parmesan which she then deep fried. I heard that they were stunning.

Filling 1

300g Ricotta
1/2 Bunch Mint
100g Grated Parmesan
Salt & Pepper

Filling 2

1 small tomato, peeled and seeded, finely chopped
250g fresh ricotta
2 Zuchinni flowers, pistil removed and finely chopped
3 Anchovy Fillets, chopped
1 tbsp Prosciutto, finely chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
Grating of fresh nutmeg
salt & pepper

Filling 3

8 Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
2 anchovies, finely chopped
8 basil leaves, chopped
200g Goats cheese

All of these fillings were quick to mix up in 3 different bowls and then the stuffing began. I did think this was going to be a battle but it was very easy and the flowers were great to work with and I had all 18 stuffed in no time! I did remove the pistil which was done simply with kitchen scissors and I filled them with a teaspoon, no need for a piping bag. I used the 2 methods shown above to close them, the fold over and the others were just brought together and twisted, both held together really well and none of them opened during cooking.

All 3 fillings tasted great and I will do these again, I have to try the egg and parmesan batter!

Landsborough Zucchini Flowers stuffed with 3 cheeses

2010-05-24T02:09:00.000-07:00

Zucchini Flowers stuffed with 3 cheeses served with a cheek of lemon and sea salt

Before embarking on our little Zucchini Flower adventure I had no idea just how versatile they could be. Now I'm embarrassed to admit this is the first time I have cooked with them. After spending the day with Kim & Owen at the Landsborough Zucchini Flower farm I discovered just how much they have to offer. Zucchini Flowers (either the male or the female) are easy to fill and cook yet they are still exotic enough the impress the pants off guests at your next dinner party. They can be filled with any mixture really from mince and vegies to fish. I chose a 3 cheese mixture for my zucchini flowers because I thought it would appeal more to my kids.

3 cheese mixture ready to stuff zucchini flowers

It would make an ideal entree or even a canape. You could also add a stuffed zucchini flower to a main meal to jazz up the plate and add another flavour dimension. One issue with zucchini flowers is weather or not to remove the stamen. Some say it is bitter other say it's not. I removed mine for the simple reason that I could stuff more filling in easily.

Landsborough Zucchini Flowers stuffed with 3 cheeses

240g Fresh Ricotta
50g Parmesan - grated
100g soft goats curd or other soft goats cheese
2 eggs
1/4 cup of lightly packed parsley - fine chop
Salt and pepper to season
20 zucchini flowers with stamens removed
vegetable oil for deep frying
Click here for Egg White batter recipe.

Put ricotta in a sieve and drain for 15 minutes. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add Parmesan, goats curd, egg and parsley and season with sea salt and pepper to taste.
Using a teaspoon gently open the zucchini flowers and spoon in the filling.

Once stuffed I tried folding the petals over to seal as well as tying up with a single chive

NOTE: I tried two different ways of closing the flowers. One was just simply folding over the petals one at a time to form a little parcel. This is the method that Alistair McLeod of Bretts Wharf uses. The other method I tried was tying off the ends of the petals with a single chive strand. By doing it this way I wanted to create a more delicate pretty finish. It wouldn't hurt to refrigerate the flowers once stuffed for 20 minutes to allow them to firm up before frying. This will help them hold their shape and minimise any bleeding of mixture into the oil.

The folded and tied zucchini flower once battered and fried

Heat deep fryer to 190 degrees. You can use a wok or large pot but please, please be careful. You could also try shallow frying in 1.5 cm of oil. Whichever method you use it is important not to crowd the pan or fryer. Once oil is at heat drop stuffed flower in to the batter to coat lightly and hold up to allow excess to drip off before placing gently in the oil. NOTE: I like to hold the tip in for a few seconds first to allow it to seal the batter before placing the whole flower in. This prevents the uncooked batter sticking to the frying basket or bottom of the pan.
Turn zucchini flowers to brown all over. Once cooked remove from oil on to baking paper. Serve with a lemon cheek and sea salt. If you are making a large amount place cooked flowers on a teatowel lined tray in the oven set to 100 degrees.

Field Trip to the Landsborough Zucchini Flower farm

2010-05-24T01:47:00.000-07:00

If we had to pick one thing that stood out at the Noosa Food & Wine Festival it would be the Landsborough Zucchini flowers. Julie-ann and I have long been enchanted by these delicate flowers or "Gastronomic Vessels" as Alistair McLeod of Bretts Wharf puts it.

Today we visited with Kim & Owen Jargo at their Landsborough farm. Kim says they started farming Zucchini flowers 5 years ago and demand for them has grown steadely to the point that they are now looking to expand. Brisbane's top end restaurants feature their zucchini flowers on their menus - such as Restaurant Two, Bistro 3, Bretts Wharf and Manx to name a few. Interestingly the Qld chefs prefer to buy their flowers fully open while southern chefs prefer to buy them closed. Open flowers are beautiful and much easier to fill but have a limited shelf life where as closed (younger) flowers have more longevity but require filling to be piped. Kim picks the open flowers in the morning and the closed flowers in the late afternoon.

Kim packing the mornings pick for market

She immediately packs and refrigerates them after casting a critical eye over the pick. Any with even the slightest irregularity do not make the cut. The flowers she picked today will be sent to Brisbane restaurants in the morning and be on plates by tomorrow night. Kim also sells mini zucchinis which (like all baby vegies) are popular right now.

The zucchini flowers are carefully packed and refrigerated

Zucchini flowers are in season in Queensland from April to Dec. The hot summer months here in Qld are too harsh for the delicate flowers but they are still available from southern growers.

Male & Female Zucchini Flowers

Both male and female flowers can be used to cook with. The females flowers are the mothers of the zucchini so they have a little zucchini attached. The males are just all flowers. Most chefs prefer the female ones but some recipes call for use of the male version but you can use either. Italians only use the males so as not to disrupt the crop of zucchini's from growing. Kim only sells the female flowers as that is what is in most demand here in Queensland. You will see zucchini flowers for sale at good fruit and veg stores when they are in season or you can buy them directly from Kim and Owen - contact: Ph. 07 5494 1238 0421 217 565
Email: hinterlandzucchiniflowers@hotmail.com

Kim very generously sent us home with a box each of zucchini flowers to try our hand at cooking with them. Julie-ann and I will post our recipes soon.

Kim inspecting the middle paddock

Gnocci

2010-05-17T00:49:00.000-07:00

Fleur and I talk food together all the time and texts run hot and heavy between us almost daily......all about food but we don't cook together very often and that is why this Gnocci making session was so special to me. An impromptu dinner shared with special friends, thrown together using local produce and enjoyed with a wine or 2! All the ingredients you need to make life worth living!

Recipe

2 cups of Rock Salt

1kg of Desiree Potatoes

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup of finely grated parmesan chees (we used Reggianno)

About 1 cup of oo Flour, you may need more or less!

Preheat the oven to 250c. Spread rock salt on a baking tray, top with the unpeeled potatoes and bake for 30 minutes or so until cooked. Cool slightly but while still warm halve and scoop out the flesh into a bowl. Mash and then mix in the egg yolks, parmesan and a sprinkle of salt.

Knead on a floured surface and gradually add the flour, a little at a time until it stops being sticky and is a soft dough. Divide into 4 and make a sausage shape around 2cm round and chop off small 2cm lengths. place on a floured tray, We used my new gnocci roller, a cute little wooden paddle with grooves in the surface and you lightly roll the gnocci down and it imprints the gnocci with grooves, this is great for helping the sauce stick to it.

In a large saucepan heat lots of salted water to the boil. Add half the gnocci and cook till they rise to the top, about 1 minute. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and place on paper towel to drain.

Fleur did all this while being watched closely by our guests and then quickly make a burnt butter and sage sauce by adding to a hot frypan a good 125g of butter and lots of fresh sage from our garden. The gnocci were then added to colour and absorb all those wonderful flavours. Shavings of Parmesan on top and OMG, it was sooooo good!

I made a quick, warm tomato salsa by adding chopped spring onion and finely chopped garlic to a hot frypan with a good slug of olive Oil. as it softens add 2 tomoatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped. Then a good sprinkle of Maldon Sea salt and a grind of black pepper. Some people added this to their gnocci and others just dipped their garlic bread in it.

A feast to make an Italian Nonna proud!

NOTE: Do not throw out the potato skins, we quickly drizzled them with olive oil and a good sprinkle of sea salt and put them back in the hot oven. These were terrific as a canape` and only take a few minutes!

Potato and Leek Soup

2010-05-17T00:09:00.000-07:00

I love a good soup and my husband Graeme and I often have a 'soup week' when we want to feel like we are being good and eating lite! I have always hunted for a good Potato and Leek recipe as I just love leeks and they are so good at the farmers markets at the moment. Please try this one as it is perfect for a cold cuddly night in front of the telly with a good toasted ciabatta or sour dough!

Enjoy,
Julie-Ann

Recipe

1 Large or 2 small leeks
2 Bay Leaves
20 Black Peppercorns
4 sprigs of Fresh Thyme

2 Tbs Butter

2 strips streaky Bacon or Pancetta

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 Cup Dry White Wine

5 Cups Good Chicken Stock ( I mostly make my own but also use the liquid ones in the poppers)

600g Russet Potatoes, peeled and diced
1 1/2 tsp Salt

3/4 tsp White Pepper

1/2 to 3/4 Cup of Creme Fraiche or Heavy Cream
2 tbs Snipped Chives

Trim the green portion of the leeks and using 2 of the largest and longest leaves, make a bouquet garni by folding the 2 leaves around the bay leaves, peppercorns and thyme. Tie it into a package-shaped bundle with kitchen string and set aside.

Halve the white part of the leek lengthwise and making sure they are clean, slice thinly crosswise and set aside.

In a large soup pot over a medium heat, melt the butter and add the bacon or pancetta. Cook for 6 minutes, stirring occassionally until the bacon is soft and has rendered it's fat. Add the chopped leek and garlic and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and bring to the boil. Add the reserved bouquet garni, chicken stock, potatoes, salt and white pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are falling apart and the soup is very flavourful.

Remove the bouquet garni and then puree either in the food processor or use an immersion blender (less messy!)

I place a dollop of Creme fraiche in the soup when served and then sprinkle it with the snipped chives.

These Vanilla Cupcakes are a Winner

2010-05-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I entered a few things in the cookery competition at the Brookfield Show. My vanilla cupcakes came out on top taking out second place. The Brookfield Show organisers where amazed at the huge increase in the number of entries this year due, no doubt, to the success of shows such as Masterchef and My Kitchen Rules.

Show cooking is quite different from home cooking. You can't just grab the latest issue of Women's Weekly and use any old recipe. To do well in show cooking you have to adopt more traditional recipes - think your grandma's recipes - and adhere to the criteria for texture, colour, size etc. Such criteria can often be vague so I took the advice of a friend who was 'Grand Champion in last years show and volunteered to be a steward on judging day. Stewarding involves arranging the entries in the show cabinet and preparing each category for judging. It's fairly simple work but the camaraderie is great and best of all I learnt first hand what the judges are looking for. Alison Alexander (Hilton Masterclass) was a judge and she blew me away by her generosity & depth of knowledge. I could have listened to her all day.

I would encourage anyone to enter show cooking because it affords us a unique opportunity to have our food objectively judged. The Ekka is coming up and I will be trying my luck again in their cookery competition. For a full list of RNA cookery categories click here. But hop to it because entries close next Wednesday 19th May.

I'm so excited my cupcakes took out second prize I'm going to go against the tradition of secrecy and share my recipe with you.

My husband and I are big fans of New York and try to go once a year. New York is full of great food experiences but one little cupcake bakery was made famous worldwide by the Sex and the City series. Magnolia Bakery, originally only on Bleeker St, now also has shops in Grand Central Station, The Rockefeller's Centre and Uptown on Columbus Ave. Magnolia's have an impressive menu of 'cupcakeage' but their biggest seller by far is the Vanilla Cupcake. To their credit, Magnolia have shared the recipe for the Vanilla cupcakes on the internet and I have made it a number of times to rave reviews.

Magnolia's Vanilla Cupcakes
Makes about 2 dozen cupcakes (depending on the size of your cupcake papers and muffin tins)

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (equal to 250g)
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract. NOTE: This being a Vanilla cupcake it makes sense to use the best extract possible. I use Black Pearl's own label Vanilla Extract or Paste. I especially like the paste becausee it has the little vanilla seeds in it.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F or 175 degrees C. Note: I have made these with and without the fan forced on and the non-fan forced cupcakes turned out much better - a more even dome on top and a moister cake. Also put the pan in the lower half of your oven but not on the bottom. Things like temp and shelf level will vary from oven to oven so it's really a case of 'suck it and see'!

Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers.
NOTE: For the Brookfield Show I used beautiful blue and white patty papers in a toile like pattern I purchased from Black Pearl.

In a small bowl, combine the flours. Sift & set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. (Note: It look me a lot longer to get the butter/sugar to a cream stage - maybe 10 mins. It's very important to start with a creamy base. Aim for all sugar being dissolved before moving on) Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing. At Magnolia they ice the cupcakes with either Vanilla Buttercream or Chocolate Buttercream. Which I have made and it worked well but for the Brookfield show I decided to do something a little bit special and tried my hand at Italian Meringue Butter Cream. The recipe is below but it is probably best demonstrated so click here for the YouTube demonstration. As for piping the butter cream into beautiful petals you will need a Winton 123 petal piping tube. You can purchase this easily online from West's Cake Decorations. Again the technique used to create the petals is fairly simple but best demonstrated so click here for the YouTube demonstration. You don't have to use Italian Meringue Butter Cream. You could also use French Buttercream (same as Italian but made on egg yolks instead of whites) or even a basic butter cream but it must have a super smooth consistency so it doesn't get caught in the petal tube during piping.

Italian Meringue Butter Cream

300g (10oz) caster sugar

5 large egg whites
500g (1lb) unsalted butter, softened
Pinch of salt
Few drops of vanilla extract
Paste food colourings in pink, violet, yellow and orange
Sugar/Jam/Candy thermometer. NOTE: Please don't be tempted to guess. I've learnt from bitter experience you really do need a sugar thermometer.

Pour 100ml (3 1/2fl oz) water into a saucepan and add 250g (8oz) caster sugar. Place the pan on the heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring the mixture to the boil. Use a damp pastry brush to wash down any sugar crystals on the side of the pan. Boil the mixture rapidly, without stirring it, until it reaches 121°C. Have a large bowl of cold water ready for step 3.

When the syrup reaches over 100°C, whisk the egg whites until stiff, preferably using a table-top mixer. Gradually whisk in the remaining caster sugar.

As soon as the syrup reaches 121°C, remove the pan from the heat and plunge the base of the pan into the bowl of cold water, to prevent the syrup from getting any hotter. Only leave the pan in the water for a few seconds - if it's left too long, it will be too thick to pour.

With the food mixer on full speed, gradually pour in the syrup in a thin stream, taking care to pour it between the edge of the bowl and the whisk - if it's too close to the edge of the bowl, it will set there and won't get mixed in properly; if it's poured over the moving whisk, then it will splatter out of the bowl and make a mess. Continue whisking the mixture for about 8-10 minutes until the bowl feels just lukewarm. If the syrup starts to become too thick to pour, return the pan to the hob very briefly, for the heat to thin is slightly.

Gradually whisk in the butter. Then add the salt and vanilla extract. The meringue will collapse a little, and the mixture may look like it's curdled, but keep whisking it until it forms a smooth fluffy buttercream. Use paste colour to colour the buttercream to the desired colour.

Lovely Leeks

2010-05-13T17:39:00.000-07:00

Leeks are a relative of garlic, onions and lily's and the variety most common in Qld in the Welsh and is in season during most of winter. They are grown year round in the southern states but the quality fluctuates especially at the end of winter when Leeks can become 'woody'. When buying leeks don't be tempted to buy those big impressive looking thick Leeks. Their flavour pales in comparison to the thin young leeks (pencil leeks) which are much sweeter and more tender. Leeks also make a great substitute for onions and give a much milder flavour. Washing leeks is most important as their layers can hide a lot of dirt. This is particularly important if cooking young leeks whole but in this recipe we will be slicing them so I cut them lengthwise first and wash thoroughly before slicing thinly. Another good thing about leeks and they can take a lot of cooking and like their cousin the onion often require it to release their natural sweetness.

Below is a recipe for Leek & Gruyere Tart which I have made many time for my family and they love it with salad for dinner on a week night but I have also made it using small individual tart pans for the perfect dinner party entree. All the ingredients can be found easily in your area but I encourage you to buy from your local greengrocer or deli whenever possible.

Leek & Gruyere Tart

Serves 4

5 thin young leeks - thinly sliced

2 Tbs Butter

I Tbs EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

2 Garlic Cloves - fine chop

150ml pouring cream

4 eggs - well beaten

120g Gruyere Cheese - finely grated (Available in the cheese section of most supermarkets or seek out boutique Gruyere cheese like Heidi Farm from your nearest deli)

1 sheet of savoury shortcut pastry (Crème pastry is excellent and sold at most Deli's)

Sea salt

Herb Note: Tarragon goes particularly well with these flavours so you could add 1 tbs of finely chopped tarragon for a true French flavour.

Preheat oven to 180 C

Trim base from leeks and slice lengthways. Wash thoroughly then pat dry and thinly slice. Heat butter and oil in a non stick fry pan over medium heat. Add leeks and garlic and cook for a minute before reducing the heat to low. Cook for 15-20 mins stirring occasionally. You do not want to brown the leeks so it's important to keep the temp low and don't let them stick . Add more EVOO if sticking. Once cooked and soft remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. In the meantime prepare the tart mixture by combining in a bowl the eggs, cream, cheese (and Tarragon). Mix well and season with sea salt to taste. Add the Leek and garlic to the mixture and combine.

Grease with butter a 20cm tart pan and place pastry sheet over the pan pressing pastry into the corners. Blind bake for 15 mins or until pastry is golden brown. Use pastry weights on baking paper if you have them. Once pastry case is cooked remove from the oven and pour in leek mixture ensuring there is an even spread of leeks. Bake for 20 mins or until mixture is firm to the touch and is a beautiful golden brown. Remove from the oven and serve with a fresh garden salad.

Grandma's Rabbit Paste

2010-05-11T00:18:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Fleur has prompted me to give up our secret family recipe for 'Grandma's Rabbit Paste'. My Grandma, who turns 90 next month was handed this recipe by her Mother in law. This was a recipe born of necessity through the Great Depression as my Grandfather was a legendary Rabbit shooter and not only sold them to the locals but fed his own family. It has been handed down through the generations and is a family favourite. I will admit to tinkering with the flavours a bit as I can't help myself but the base recipe and process is pretty much as it was then.
Enjoy,
Julie-Ann

Grandma's Rabbit Paste

Recipe

1 Rabbit cut into sections

125g Butter chopped

1/2 teaspoon of mace (ground)

sprig of thyme

bay leaf

1 clove garlic (whole)

good splash of Brandy

Ground Black pepper

once cooked

1 jar of anchovies drained

another splash of Brandy

Salt if needed

In a pudding bowl add all the main ingredients and cover with baking paper then foil and tie up to seal like a xmas pudding. Steam in stock pot over simmering water for 3 hours until the meat falls of the bones. Once it is cool enough to handle remove all the meat from the bones add to a food processor ( I know, they didn't have them back in the old days! But we do now!). Be careful as there are alot of small bones in a rabbit so really sift threw and remove them all. Add the anchovies, another splash of brandy and all of the juices from the steamed bowl (strained). Blend and taste for salt. This is great on toast for breakfast, my preference or on crackers for a canape`.

Noosa Spanner Crabs

2010-05-05T00:12:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was certainly one to remember. I went to the Noosa Wine and Food festival with the Gourmet Girls and had the time of my life. We kicked it off on Friday with the Spanner Crab tour up the Noosa River aboard the MV Catalina. On the pans were no less than David Pugh from Restaurant Two and Greg Doyle and Grant King from Pier Restaurant in Sydney.
Greg Doyle from Pier and David Pugh from Restaurant Two cooking our lunch

Halfway up the Noosa River we stopped for a chat with Alison and Jason from Spanner Crabs Noosa. Jason walked us through the finer points of extracting the sweet succulent meat from a spanner crab and just like that I was hooked. Unlike mud crab, which I also love, spanner crabs have a much more delicate & sweet flavour which is perfect in salads and pasta dishes. Many top end chefs are fans of the Spanner Crab and serve it regularly in their restaurants.

Jason Sgro from Spanner Crabs Noosa

Spanner Crabs Noosa sell picked green crab meat in 200g for $20 and 500g for $50 bags as well as whole crabs. Picked crab meat comes vacuum packed in a bag which when placed directly in boiling water, cooks perfectly in just 3 minutes. You can buy directly from their retail shop at 2/15 Production St, Noosaville or at the Sunday Noosa Farmers Market. If you can't make it to Noosa don't panic, Alison will post a cold pack to you - just call her on 07 5470 2967.

200g pack of green Spanner Crab Meat

I took a 200g bag home and decided to make Spanner Crab Risotto with Mascarpone and Champagne. It's a relatively simple recipe that allows the spanner crab to shine through. I didn't cook the crab in the bag before adding to the risotto because the residual heat from the rice was more than enough to gently cook the crab through. I also used Italian Ferron Risotto rice from Black Pearl which is famous for holding its form and grains stay firm. Of course any Aborio rice is fine but if you are planning on making a risotto for a dinner party I would urge you to track down the Ferron rice. I like to make my own chicken stock because it gives the best flavour and is cheap as chips. Good stock can also be purchased from deli's but is quite expensive. Of course you can use supermarket stock but next time you have a roast chook keep the bones and make your own.

Spanner Crab Risotto with Mascarpone and Champagne

Serves 2

300g Risotto rice
3 golden shallots - finely chopped
1 bay leaf
3 cloves of garlic - finely chopped
zest of 1/2 lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 - 1.25 liters of chicken stock**
200g raw spanner crab*
100g mascarpone
150ml Champagne or good sparkling wine
1 baby fennel bulb trimmed and very finely sliced - reserve fronds for garnish
Sea salt & pepper
60ml EVOO
1 Tbs Butter

Heat EVOO in a large heavy based pan over high heat. Add shallots, garlic and bay leaf to pan then reduce heat to medium/high. Sweat for 2 mins stirring occasionally. Add fennel and cook for 1 minute. Add rice and stir to make sure each grain is covered in oil. Cook on medium heat for 4 minutes until rice is toasty. Add Champagne and stir until absorbed. Add chicken stock 1 cup at a time making sure that the stock is almost absorbed before adding another. After adding 3 cups (750ml) taste rice to check for 'nuttyness'. If the rice is still a little hard in the centre add another 1/2 cup at a time. Add the lemon zest and lemon juice and stir. Add seasoning to taste. Remove from heat then add raw spanner crab meat. Stir gently then leave to rest in the pan for a few minutes with the lid on. Finally, gently stir through the butter and serve immediately with a spoon of mascarpone and a fennel frond. Add a dash of EVOO and sea salt to finish.
* You could also try this recipe with mud crab
** Click here for a good basic chicken stock recipe

Enjoy,
Fleur

French Macaroons Class

2010-04-25T20:58:00.000-07:00

My French Macaroons

I have long been a lover of the French macaroon. What's not to love? Those beautifully coloured round pillows of delicate biscuit sandwiching flavoured French butter cream. They inspire and intimidated me in equal measure. They look so complicated and the word on the street is - they are, but I recently faced my fear and took a French Macaroon class at Black Pearl Epicure and found out with a little care and a good recipe they are not too hard at all.

The class was run by husband and wife team, Patrick & Danielle Dennis. They took us through 3 different types of Macaroon mixture plus a variety of butter cream fillings. The easiest macaroon recipe by far is the one using an almond past. The almond meal helps to hold the texture of the mixture to ensure beautiful plump halves.

The egg whites should be at room temperature. The salt is important to prevent the egg whites from going grainy. Like all pasty making this is a recipe of precision. There is no room for guessing measurements so please weigh the egg whites and all ingredients carefully. Also a sugar thermometer is essential for making the butter cream because no one can accurately guess the temperature of boiling sugar

Macaroons with Almond Paste

Makes 18 (36 halves)

75g egg whites ( in two bowls of 30g & 45g)

93g almond meal

150g pure icing sugar

15g castor sugar

pinch of salt

Sift almond meal and icing sugar together. Mix in 30gm of non whipped whites into icing sugar and almond meal with a spatula to create an almond paste. Add a few drops of food colouring at this point. (i.e. red/pink colouring if you are making a raspberry filling)

In a separate bowl whisk the remaining egg whites with the castor sugar and salt to stiff peaks. Gently fold whipped whites into almond paste and mix till smooth and shiny. Pipe 3-4cm balls onto baking paper and allow to sit for 20-30 minutes to form a skin. the balls will relax on the paper to make round disks and when they are dry they should be dry to a light touch. You can also put them in an oven set to 50 C on fan forced with the door open.

Patrick Dennis piping the macaroon mixture on to silicone sheets

Once dry bake at 135 C (fan forced or 150C (no fan) for 10 - 12 mins. Within 8 minutes the biscuits will form 'feet' which is the lovely crisp bubbly base typical of french macaroons. Keep an eye on them at all times and swap trays to different shelves during cooking to ensure they cook evenly. All ovens have hot spots so there is an element of trial and error here in getting to know how your oven will respond to making french macaroons. if they are cooking too quickly or discolouring turn the temperature down 10-15 degrees.

Allow to cool completely before removing very gently from the baking sheet and set aside while you make the filling.

French Butter Cream

220g sugar

60g water

50g egg

480g unsalted butter - at room temp and cut into cubes

flavour to taste (I used 100g of raspberries)

Add egg and egg yolk to mixer bowl and whisk very well. Bring sugar and water to the boil to 125 deg using a sugar thermometer. With the mixer running pour boiling sugar solution slowly over the well whisked eggs. Try to pour it slowly down the side of the mixing bowl to cool the sugar a little. Whisking continuously until all the sugar is included and continue to mix until the mixture is cool (approx. 10 mins). Once cooled keep whisking and add a cube of butter one at a time beating well in between each butter cube. Mixture will become light in texture. Once all the butter in well combined add the raspberries and mix well. This took a few minutes because the raspberries are water based and the cream is mostly butter so at first it may look split but it will combine well with time.

This quantity is quite a bit more than you will need for the number of macaroon biscuits made but it freezes really well.

Patrick Dennis piping filling into an upturned macaroon half

Using a piping bag (I love the disposable ones) pipe a 20c piece size on to the underside of a cooled macaroon biscuit and gently press another on top. Be careful not to press down too hard. You don't want any filling to spill over the sides of the biscuit.

Be brave and give this a go. Please let me know how you get on.

Fleur

Run Rabbit, Run Rabbit

2010-04-25T17:21:00.000-07:00

I should be commended for resisting the urge to publish this post during the Easter long weekend as I had originally thought. Fortunately my husband pointed out it might be a bit inappropriate to talk about cooking a rabbit at that time. So here, after a respectful wait, is my blog post of my first experience cooking with rabbit.

I must thank my friend Jan Woods from Jan's Fine Food for this recipe of Rabbit Ragu. Jan's a talented caterer I have used for many family events in the past and highly recommend her (http://www.jansfinefoodsandcatering.com/).

When Black Pearl announced on their Facebook page a few weeks ago that they would have fresh rabbits in stock I jumped at the chance to have a go at cooking one for the first time. I was delighted to hear the rabbit came from Boarder Range Rabbit Farm at Kyolgal on the Qld/NSW boarder. Their rabbits are raised in the pristine rainforest countryside perfect for farming the New Zealand White breed known for their mild & tender meat.

Rabbit has long been used in French and Italian cooking because of it's rich flavour and versatility. Here in Australia during the depression rabbit was literally a life-saver with many families hunting and cooking them just to put a meal on the table. My partner in Paradise To Plate Julie-ann has a much treasured family recipe for Rabbit Paste which was handed down to her from her grandmother. If I ask her nicely she might share it with us. Wild rabbit is hard to come by today and it requires a fair bit of cooking. By contrast Boarder Range Farmed rabbits have a beautiful lean white flesh which is naturally high in protein and doesn't need endless cooking like its wild cousin.

You'll find Boarder Range rabbits on the menu at some of Brisbane's best restaurants like Baguette and Ecco plus many good butchers carry them. For the full list go to http://www.boarderrangerabbit.com.au/. I'd recommend buying from Black Pear Epicure to be guaranteed of freshness. www.blackpearl.com.au

Jan's Rabbit Ragu

Serves 6

1 Large or 2 small rabbits

Flour to coat - well seasoned with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1/3 cup EVOO

2 Onions

3 Large garlic cloves

1 Large carrot - diced

1/2 stalk of celery - diced

1 sprig of rosemary

2 sprigs of thyme

1 - 1 1/2 bottles of full bodies red wine

200ml chicken stock

1 tin of chopped peeled tomatoes

Lemon zest and chopped parsley to serve

Dust rabbit well with seasoned flour. Heat oil in a large ovenproof dish over med-high heat. Brown rabbit on all sides. Remove from pot, set aside and keep warm.

Add carrot, celery, herbs to the pot and briefly saute in remaining oil left in the pot. Add the red wine, stock and bring to the boil. Boil for a few minutes to reduce wine mixture and intensify flavours. Add the rabbit and tinned tomatoes and bring back to the boil. Transfer to oven and cook on 160 C for 2 hours. Every half hour baste the rabbit in the sauce.

While the rabbit is cooking prepare polenta and salad. After 2 hours cooking check rabbit is coming off the bone easily them remove herb sprigs, serve immediately with polenta and salad and top with lemon zest and chopped parsley.

Jan's Wine Suggestion - a good Merlot ( James Halliday rates the 05 Haan Merlot Prestige from the Barossa Valley an impressive 95/100)

Confit Trout

2010-04-16T03:33:00.000-07:00

OK, so trout is not grown in Queensland but I love it so much I had to share this with you. I originally saw this dish made on the ABC's 'The Cook and the Chef' (god I miss that show) and have since made it many, many times. I love the tender moist flesh of the trout and am always amazed that it cooks so perfectly on only 60 degrees. Its important to pin bone the fillet - no one likes bones. You can get pinning tweezers at most good kitchenware stores.
All of the ingredients are fairly easy to access but the only place I could find beetroot powder was from Herbie's Spices (www.herbies.com.au). You can order online or buy it from Black Pearl. If you can't get the beetroot powder don't worry, it really doesn't add any flavour but gives a lovely colour to the fish which can lose some colour in the cooking process.

Ruby chard is baby beetroot leaves. I can usually always get it at James St or buy it growing in a pot from the herb guy at Jan Powers Farmers Market.
You'll need quite a bit of olive oil so don't use your Joseph First Run. A less expensive brand will do just fine but to make it more economical I strain off the oil after cooking and add the used star anise, cassia bark and bay leaves and refrigerate until next time. It keeps very well and flavour even improves. Next time you make this dish you may need to add some more oil.
So click here for the recipe for Confit trout with ruby chard salad which has become a regular in my house.

Please try it let me know how you go.

Fleur

Recipe Test Drive - Curtis Stone's Green Goddess Dip

2010-03-24T21:04:00.000-07:00

Recipe Test Drive

Curtis Stone's Green Goddess Dip (Delicious Magazine April 2010)

The April issue of Delicious Magazine hit my mail box the other day. It's the one magazine I methodically devour over the course of each month and try many of their recipes. I wanted to share with you the recipe that jumped out as a winner this month. Curtis Stone's Green Goddess Dip on Pg 84. Not only did it read really well but I also imagined dipping Curtis himself into the dip and giving him a good lick. Anyway, I digress!

Another trip to the markets and I came home with some beautiful potted herbs in full flush of green health and flavour. I purchased a pot each of cress, tarragon, chives and flat leaf parsley from the Herb growers at Caboolture. I'd recommend making this dip on the day you buy the herbs as Cress wilts very easily. Another tip would be to go easy on the garlic. The recipe is for only one clove but make it a small one especially if you are using the strong Aussie or Russian varieties. Finally the dip did need a good bit of seasoning at the end or you could double or triple up in the anchovies. I ate it with some thinly sliced sourdough but it would also be great on a lamb.

The verdict: While I will adjust the garlic and anchovies when I make it next, this recipe is a clear winner and I've already torn it out and added it to my recipe folder.

Here is the link: http://www.taste.com.au/delicious/article/people/favourite+foodies,343

Let me know what you think.

Fleur

Paradise to Plate...A Luncheon at Restaurant II

2010-03-18T14:30:00.000-07:00

Fleur and I both belong to the Dionysus Wine & Food Society and I had the pleasure of hosting our lunch this month. It was our anniversary lunch celebrating the clubs' 37th year!

For such a special event we needed a special venue, where else but Restaurant II. This lunch was titled 'Paradise to Plate' and represented QLD produce at it's best. David Pugh, ambassador for QLD produce, was our perfect choice and he and his team certainly delivered a very stunning luncheon experience.

I must thank Fleur for organising Stewart from Ballandean Wines to sponsor our event, providing the wine on the day, perfectly matched to our menu. Stewart introduced each wine to us at the start of every course and provided a learning experience we won't forget in a hurry.

The menu:

Canape`

Srambled Organic Egg with 'Noosa' Spanner Crab on Brioche

2009 Ballandean Estate SSB

Entree

Ricotta filled 'Caboolture' Zucchini flower, Smoked Tomato Butter, Tomato & Olive Salsa with Seared 'Hervey Bay' Scallops on a bed of Fennel and Lemon Risotto.

2008 Ballandean Family Reserve Viognier

Main

Sous Vide` Barrumundi with Pearls of Native Finger Limes, Macadamia Nuts and Herbs.

2007 Ballandean Family Reserve Chardonnay

Dessert

Mango Cannalloni with Banana Ice cream

2002 Museum Release Late Harvest Sylvaner

Friday Night Fish & Chips

2010-03-17T23:45:00.000-07:00

Do you love Fish and Chips on a Friday night or any night? My family does. I recently purchased some Sunshine Coast Whiting fillets at the markets so this week I made my own. I used Stephanie Alexander's Beer Batter recipe, Thierry Galichet's (of Montrachet) recipe for 'Pommes Frites' and to finish it off I also made some egg mayonnaise.

Stephanie Alexander's Beer Batter

250g self raising flour

1/2 cup beer

1 cup cold water

Whisk ingredients until smooth. Add ground spices is desired (pepper, turmeric, cumin) or substitute 2 tbs chickpea flour or ground rice for an equivalent quantity of Self raising flour just for a change.

Tierry Galichet's Pommes Frites (fancy french word or chips)

Sabego Potatoes (Ruby Lou are also good for frying)

Vegetable or peanut oil

Cut potatoes into chip size pieces & throw into hot water to get rid of the starch. Drain and rinse. Blanch frites in a deep fryer at 160 C and remove. (I blanched for 3 minutes). Cook again in the deep fry at 109C till cooked.

NOTE: I took a cooking class with Tierry Galichet at Black Pearl and he taught us to cut chips very uniformly by firstly cutting potato into a block by cutting away the rounded shape of the potato. It also means there is no need to peel the potato first. When you have a rectangle shape cut even slices then cut the slices into even strips - thus giving you beautiful uniform shaped chips. You can cut them as thick or thin as you like.

Mayonnaise

3 egg yolks

pinch of salt

lemon juice or white wine vinegar

300ml olive oil

White pepper or tabasco

Rest a mixing bowl or a damp cloth so it doesn't slip. Whisk egg yolks with salt and 1 tbs lemon juice or vinegar until smooth. Gradually beat in oil using a wooden spoon or a whisk, adding the first few tablespoons one at a time and beating very well after each. After a third of the oil has been added the rest can be added in a thin steady stream, beating all the while (easier done if you have a spare pair of hands to help). Taste for acidity and adjust with a few drops of lemon juice, salt and pepper. Refrigerate.

Fleur

Corn from Mullumbimby

2010-03-10T17:43:00.000-08:00

Another trip to the markets with Juli-anne yesterday and the winner for me was some fabulous looking corn. Corn is an annual but right now it is particularly good so a number of farmers were selling it but I chose mine from Mullumbinby (I know, I know, Mullumbinby is over the boarder!) which had been picked only that morning. Beautiful cobs of corn still tightly wrapped in layers of fresh green husk. Who could resist.

As has become my habit, I came home to hit my fav cook books for inspiration. It didn't take me long to come up with what I was going to cook with my haul of corn. Kylie Kwong's Sweetcorn Soup! The simplicity of this recipe attracted me because it would allow the super sweet and fresh flavour of the corn shine through. My daughter Millie helped me remove the husks to reveal bright shiny pearls of corn so sweet they could almost pass as lollies. Here is the recipe which took me under and hour to make and the kids came back for more. The balance of the sweetness of the corn with the salt of the soy sauce was complimented by the Chinese wine making a full flavour dish. Hurry up lunch time so I can have the left overs.

Kylie Kwong's Sweetcorn Soup

Serves 4

From Kylie Kwong's 'Simple Chinese Cooking and

Stephanie Alexanders 'Kitchen Garden Companion'

4 cobs of corn - husks and skin removed

2 tbs vegetable oil

1 small white onion, fine chop

2 tbs ginger - julienne

1 clove garlic - fine chop

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup shau hsing wine or dry cherry

1.75 liters of homemade chicken stock

1 1/2 tsp light soy sauce ( I used quite a strong soy which resulted my soup being a bit dark)

2 free range eggs lightly beaten

1 tbs thinly sliced spring onion

Remove kernels from the cob firstly by raking the cork kernels with a fork to split the skins, then cutting the kernels from the cobs with a sharp knife which should give you about 3 cups of corn kernels.

Heat oil in a medium sized heavy based saucepan over medium heat and saute onion, garlic, ginger and salt for 1 minute. Add the wine or sherry and simmer for another minute or until reduced by half.. Stir in corn and stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer gently for 30 minutes. During the cooking time you may need to skim the surface of the soup to remove impurities.

Stir in the soy sauce. Slowly pour in beaten egg into the soup in a thin stream, stirring constantly with a fork. Remove soup from the heat as soon as yo see the egg forming fine 'ribbons'.

Serve soup in bowls and garnish with spring onion.

Enjoy,

Fleur

Real Men do Eat Quiche!

2010-03-05T14:12:00.000-08:00

The latest visit to the Farmers market produced the main ingredients for this delicious quiche. Eggs from Redland bay, (To die for) Bangalow smokey bacon, Baby leeks, fresh herbs and wonderful, full flavoured, swiss cheese from the Sunshine coast hinterland. All I had to do was pull out the shortcrust pastry from the freezer and add copious amounts of cream......and voila.....a very yummy, soft and creamy, quivering 'Quiche Lorraine'.

The recipe is as follows but will make a huge quiche so adjust it to suit your dish or make 2.

9 eggs

400g bacon diced

1 onion diced

2 leeks sliced

600ml cream

good tasty cheese shredded ( good handful)

2 sheets shortcrust pastry

1 beaten egg to glaze

drizzle of olive oil

salt & pepper

chopped parsley

Heat the olive oil in a frypan and fry the onion, leek and bacon till soft and has some colour. Cool!

Line your quiche dish with the shortcrust pastry, if using 2 sheets make sure you seal the joins with the beaten egg. Blind bake (top with baking paper and weigh down with pastry weights or rice) in a hot oven 200c for 15 minutes. Remove the baking paper and weights and I then brush the pastry with the beaten egg to create a crisp sealed base for your quiche. Bake in the oven for another 5 minutes or so till crisp and dry.

Lower oven to 180c

Add the bacon mix to the pastry base, beat eggs with cream and salt and pepper. Pour it over the bacon mix. Add cheese and parsley and bake until cooked...around 25minutes, more if it needs it. It should be soft and luscious and great hot or cold with or without salad.

When Bad Things Happen to Good Eggs

2010-03-04T17:59:00.000-08:00

For a long time now Hollandaise has been my Achilles heel. I love nothing more than Eggs Benedict on a Sunday morning and visualised myself whipping up a fresh batch of Hollandaise by hand. The reality however was more like being elbow deep in egg shells and split mixture after several failed attempts.

At the markets recently I picked up some beautiful Asparagus from Mundubbera. They were a crisp bright green with thin stalks like beans. The inspired me to make a classic dish of blanched asparagus, soft poached eggs with (the dreaded) Hollandaise.

Determined to make a success of it this time I turned to Julia Child for her much talked about and apparently fool proof Hollandaise Sauce - made in a blender.

I followed Julia's instructions to the letter and success was mine - at last. If you have also struggled with making Hollandaise and wouldn't dream of buying packet mix then try this recipe and remember there is no shame in relying on our appliances for a little help.

Having said that, I'm still determined to nail it by hand. It's a matter of pride. Until then I'll be using this recipe

Julia Child's Hollandaise Sauce made in a Blender

This very quick method for making hollandaise cannot fail when you add the butter in a small stream of droplets. As the butter cools, it begins to cream and forms itself into a thick sauce.

Makes about 3/4 cup

3 Egg yolks

1/4 tsp salt

pinch of pepper

1 - 2 tbs lemon juice (I used 2 tbs and thought it was way too much - try 1)

4 ounces or a stick of butter

Place egg yolks, seasoning, and 1 tbs lemon juice in blender

Cut up butter into pieces and heat until foaming hot in a saucepan.

With lid on blend yolk, juice and seasoning mixture at top speed for 2 seconds. Take the lid off and with the motor running immediately start pouring on the hot butter in a thin stream of droplets. By the time 2 thirds of the butter has gone in , the sauce will be thick and creamy. Continue adding droplets until all the butter is used but holding back the milky residue at the bottom on the pan. Taste the sauce and add more lemon juice and seasoning if needed.

You can add even more butter to this mixture as the egg yolks will absorb up to 3 ounces per yolk but this is best not done in the blender as it will get too thick. If you would like to add more butter remove the mixture from the blender, melt more butter and mix tin with a hand whisk a few droplets at a time. If you add too much butter the sauce will split.

May the yolk be with you!

Fleur

At the Farmers Market with Matt Moran

2010-02-24T17:24:00.000-08:00

Julie-anne and I had a great experience yesterday at the Jan Powers Farmers Market in the city. Matt Moran, celebrity chef and owner of Aria, spoke to the crowd about his food philosophies. He shared that he believes in using regional and seasonal produce because it is quite simply the best at the time at a great price. Then by starting with the best produce you are likely to get a outstanding result on the plate. Matt added that Farmers Markets such as Jan Powers allowed home cooks easy access to the best produce as well as an opportunity to speak with the growers.

Afterwards, Matt and Jan took a walk through the markets and Julie-anne and I tagged along to soak up as much good advice as we could. Matt took particular interest in the mini heritage tomatoes and mini cucumbers from Helidon which were picked only the night before the market. Moving on we also visited Robert Channon wines, sampled Stanthorpe apples and spoke with the makers of organic sourdough breads.

Julie-anne and I bought some of the produce Matt thought looked particularly good and we will write about how we use them in future blogs.

Matt will be doing another 'walk throughs' in a couple of months when the autumn produce starts to appear. Jan Power will also be hosting other chefs at her markets in the coming weeks. Keep an eye out in your local papers for details or go to www.janpowersfarmersmarkets.com.au

More Native Finger Limes!

2010-02-24T02:17:00.000-08:00

Ok call me "obsessed"!

I love these little guys so I saught out another batch at todays City farmers markets. I am told by Paul, the 'guru' of all that is great from around Gympie, that these little guys take 7 years to fruit! There goes my idea of complete backyard domination....I will just buy them from Paul and freeze them for the out of season months! Yes you read that right, they freeze really well, in fact that little gem of info came from a very reputable restaurant source!

Paul recommended the above tasting of fresh baguette or in this case ciabatta with a generous spread of fresh Gympie Goats curd and a sprinkling of Finger Lime Pearls! Yummy......soft, rich with incredible texture! That popping of pristine lime juice will keep me entertained for months!

Try it.

Native Finger Limes

2010-02-18T15:30:00.001-08:00

Native Finger Limes

These funny shaped little creatures are an incredible find, grown near Gympie and just starting to pop at at various framers markets around town.

If you want to impress with the most stunning food match try these simply scattered over fresh shucked oysters! Oh My God.........absolutely WOW. Little caviar balls of lime juice popping against the soft oyster, it is a taste and texture sensation.

I can't wait to buy another batch and really experiment with these natural wonders.

Paradise Pears

2010-02-18T14:45:00.000-08:00

Paradise Pears

I had the best morning with Fleur at the City markets last week! We found some incredible QLD produce and each produced some great recipes.

I love these mini pears from Stanthorpe called 'Paradise Pears', a must for this blog! I dug out the following recipe from my collection, which always goes down a treat. Please try it if you find these little darlings at your local greengrocer, I know that Zone Fresh often have them in season.

Vanilla Pear Almond Cake

8 small Paradie Pears

1 vanilla Bean

2 1/2 cups water

1 cup castor sugar

1 strip lemon rind

125grams butter chopped

3/4 cup castor sugar extra

3 eggs

2/3 cup sour cream

2/3 cup plain flour

2/3 cup self raising flour

1/4 cup chopped toasted blanched almonds

1/4 cup chopped dark chocolate

1/2 cup almond meal

Peel pears keeping stems intact. Split Vanilla Bean in half and scrape out seeds. Combine Water, sugar, vanilla bean, seeds and lemon rind in a saucepan and heat, whisking until sugar is disolved and seeds are dispersed. Add the pears, cover and simmer for 20minutes until almost tender.Remove pears from syrup and then boil syrup till reduced to 1 cup. Cool and then trim base of pears so they sit flat.

Preheat oven to 160 deg celcius. Grease a 26cm springform tin and line with baking paper.

Beat butter, and extra sugar in a bowl until smooth. Add eggs one at a time until combined. Add cream until combined and then stir in 2 tablespoons of the reduced syrup. Stir in sifted flours, chopped almonds, chocolate and almond meal.

Spead mixture into prepared tin and then push pears down into the mix around the edge. bake in oven for 50 minutes till cooked when tested. remove ring from the pan and cool.

Brush cake with syrup before serving warm or cold. Enjoy!

Woombie Mushrooms

2010-02-15T17:46:00.000-08:00

Julie-anne and I had a fantastic time at the City Farmers Market last Wednesday. We tore through out budget in record time but both went home with a swag of great Qld produce. I was especially taken with the beautiful Swiss Brown Mushrooms from Woombie. I didn't want to mess with with them too much so I found a simple yet delicious recipe in Stephanie Alexanders new Kitchen Garden Companion. Here is what I made:

Sauteed Mushrooms

80g Butter
4 Tbs EVOO
500g Mushrooms - sliced if big
2 clove of garlic - fine chop
2 Tbs flat leaf parsley - chopped
1/2 cup pouring cream
Sea salt
Black pepper

Heat the butter and oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and, when it foams, tip the mushrooms in. Cook mushrooms for 5 minutes, stirring contently with a wooden spoon. Cover and cook for 1 - 2 mins. then increase heat to med-high, uncover and add garlic. Stir for 30 seconds, then add parsley and cream. The cream will form a small amount of sauce. Remove from the heat, season ans serve at once.

I also made puff pasty shells with some fantastic Creme puff pastry I had in the freezer. I just cut the sheet into 8 equal sized rectangles and placed on baking paper on a tray. Brush them with a lightly beaten egg yolk. I cooked them in the oven for 10 mins on 200C then dropped it to 170C for a further 15 minutes. Keep an eye on it because the pastry can go too dark easily.

To plate up I placed one pastry rectangle on the plate and squished it down a bit to make a good base then piled on 1/4 of the sauteed mushrooms and topped with another puff pasty rectangle.

The mushroom seller from Woombie is at all Jan Power's Farmers Market as well as both the Eumundi markets each week.

Skybury Coffee

2010-02-12T18:58:00.000-08:00

After buying a Jura coffee machine a couple of weeks ago I was intrigued to see if Qld produced any coffee of note. It didn't take me long to come up with a name - Skybury Coffee. Situated just west of Mareeba and 1 1/2 hours out of Cairns, Skybury Coffee are Australia's oldest plantation and largest exporter. Apparently North Qld has the perfect growing conditions for Arabica beans and Skybury have a speedy system of processing beans to ensure freshness. They take about an hour from crop to drying as opposed to the industry standard of 3 days.

I was amazed to learn that Skybury coffee is enjoyed all around the world, from the corridors of the UK Houses of Parliament, the street cafes of Paris, Berlin and Madrid, to the cutting edge coffee shops of Melbourne and Sydney. Who knew! One of the best boutique coffees right here in Qld.

As far as I can tell Skybury Coffee is only available by mail order but you can buy it in a range of grinds to suit your machine or in whole beans. The postage was super fast and the beans super fresh.

But the proof is in the tasting right? I made myself a single shot espresso with my Jura machine so as to get the full flavour. I fancy myself as a bit of an espresso aficionado and I thought the flavour was lovely. Full mouth flavour to start with but a soft yet persistant after taste. Some espresso can be quite sharp but Skybury was very kind to my palette. I should have made a double.

You can find out more about Skybury Coffee and order online at http://www.skybury.com.au/.

If you are in the Mareeba area anytime you can drop in for a tour, lunch and browse through the gift shop.

Fresh Currants

2010-02-08T00:38:00.000-08:00

I found some fresh currants at Graceville Fruit And Veg yesterday. I don't ever remember seeing them before so I took them home without a clue of what to do with them and I'm glad I did.

I consulted the high priestess of produce - Maggie Beer - via her latest bible 'Maggies Harvest'. Maggie tells me that fresh currants are rarely seen in the markets as they only in season in February and March and 2 out of 3 seasons fail because they are so fragile. So what to do with them.

Maggie suggested they go best with game because of their high acid content. This suited me because Monday is roast night in my house and I was planning on roasting a big fat Lilydale chicken. I set about coming up with my own stuffing incorporating the fresh currants and this is what I came up with.

Fleur's Fresh Currant Stuffing

3 slices of bread - lightly toasted and roughly blended

70g pine nuts - toasted or fried till golden in a little EVOO

1 Medium onion - fine chop

2 cloves of garlic - fine chop

1 Tsp thyme leaves

3 sprigs of Italian parsley - rough chop

1 rasher of rindless bacon - diced

1 Egg

2 bunches of fresh currants - stems removed

1 tsp lemon zest

EVOO

Salt and Pepper

In a heavy based frypan add approx 3 tbs of EVOO

Saute Onions, garlic & thyme

Remove from pan and place in a large mixing bowl

In the same fry pan add another 3 tbs EVOO and fry the bread crumbs and parsley being careful not to burn them.

Add these to the bowl with the onion mix

Add all other ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix well with your hands.

Add some more EVOO or verjuice if it is too dry

Season to taste

This should make about 2 cups which is more than enough for most Chooks.

This stuffing would also suit lamb.

Let me know how you go.

Passionfruit for Valentines Day

2010-02-07T00:46:00.000-08:00

I was at the fabulous fruit and veg shop at Graceville today and I was inspired when I found some panama passionfruit which I was told come from the Whitsundays.

I came home and found a favourite recipe for Passionfruit Souffle from Philip Johnson's Decadence cookbook.

I wanted to share this one because, with Valentines Day coming up, a souffle is not only romantic and impressive but much easier that it seems.

I used panama passionfruit but you could use other varieties.

Philip Johnson's Passionfruit Souffle

Melted Butter for Brushing

75g Caster sugar + extra for dusting

250ml passionfruit pulp strained, reserving 1 tsp of seeds

35d Cornflour

6 egg whites at room temperature

Icing sugar for dusting

Serve with passionfruit ice cream

Brush 6 185 ml ceramic souffle dishes with melted butter and dust with caster sugar, shaking out excess.

Combine the caster sugar and 50ml of water in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add the strained passionfruit pulp. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until reduced by half.

Mix the cornflour with 3 teaspoons of water to make a smooth paste (I needed a bit more than this) then drizzle into the passionfruit reduction, stirring constantly until smooth. Remove from the heat. Add the reserved passionfruit seeds. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 180 C

Measure the egg whites in a measuring jug, then transfer to a bowl of an electric mixer. Measure exactly the same amount of caster sugar by volume - so if you have 1/2 cup egg whites, you will need 1/2 cup of sugar. Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form, then gradually add the sugar and continue to wisk until all the sugar is used.

Using a large balloon whisk, briskly whisk a large spoonful of the egg whites into the passionfruit reduction, Gently fold in the remaining egg whites - do not overwork.

Spoon the mixture into the souffle dishes, levelling off the top with a spatula, gently run your thumb or a paring knife around the inside of each dish to loosen the mixture away from the top - this will allow the souffle to rise cleanly.

Bake for 10 - 12 mins, or until the souffles have risen about 1 - 2 cm out of the dishes and are well coloured.

Dust with icing sugar and serve with passionfruit ice cream.

Allow me to introduce myself

2010-01-23T02:07:00.000-08:00

(Fleur Cole & Julie-anne Allen)

Welcome to Paradise to Plate!

My Name is Fleur Cole and, along with my great friend Julie-anne Allen, will blog regularly about the one thing that we are both devoted to - FOOD - and in particular good Queensland produce.

We believe that Queensland has a unique microclimate. Think about it - what other state offers the bounty of far north Queensland: Tropical fruit, Asian greens, organic tea & coffee & sashimi-grade tuna. Moving south, Bundaberg is the fruit bowl of the state plus offers the best quality, chillis, tomatoes and the sweetest peas. In the country you'll find Kilkivan's superb organic ducks, Goomeri's Olives, Blackbutt's avocado oil, Kingaroy's peanuts, of course, plus their pork and Gympie's famous goats cheese and macadamia nuts. On the Sunshine Coast Kenilworth also produce world class olives as well as their famous cheeses. Nambour offers an incredible range of culinary herbs and spices and you can't go past Palmview's strawberries. Let's not forget Harvey Bay's scallops. Here is Brisbane we're spoilt with Moreton Bay oysters, Mayfield chocolates and the cornucopia of delights found each week at Jan Powers Farmers Markets. Heading south to the Gold Coast you'll get an explosion of Indian style ingredients, more goats cheese and the worlds lowest caffeine coffee. Heading to the cooler climate of Toowoomba and the Darling Downs you'll find world class beef, venison, apples, pears and stone fruit not to mention a robust wine industry. The Lockyer Valley have also earned themselves a reputation as one of Australia's finest producers of organic vegetables.

So you see Queensland has a lot to offer and that is what Julie-anne and I will focus on in our travels.

For many years now Julie-anne and I have been enthusiastic members of Dionysus, a Brisbane based ladies only wine and food club. Dionysus has afforded us a great many food and wine experiences - most of them good! We've made many friends and learnt a lot but most of all the club has made us both realise that we are in the purest sense of the word 'Foodies'.

We could bang on endlessly about our newest restaurant find, a new class at Black Pearl or the best place to buy in-season produce - to name but a few. We will go to great lengths to get the right ingredients for a dish and love nothing more than discovering a new restaurant.

From today on we are going to share all these experience with you. Welcome to Paradise to Plate.