Food Diary - Saturday Night Dinner at Home

There are few things I enjoy more than catching up with friends at home over a good meal and a glass of wine. We were long overdue in catching up with our friend Kim (who actually only lives close by - isn't that always the way!) so last night we did something about that and invited him over for a moochy Saturday night dinner at home.

To start, I came up with a dish that is basically posh eggs on toast - a crunchy base of toasted rustic garlic rubbed bread, piled with Prosciutto, fresh greens, a soft poached free range egg - and finished off with luxurious black truffle butter sauce. The combination of the crunchy bread, velvety eggs, salty Prosciutto and fresh greens created a gorgeous contrast of textures - and that decadent black truffle butter sauce created an entree that was wickedly good.

 Soft Poached Egg on Garlic Toast

With Prosciutto, Greens and Truffle Butter Sauce

I recently purchased a small bottle of Tetsuya's Black Truffle Salsa - which is designed to be used to create the famous truffle butter that he serves in his restaurant. I've been lucky enough to dine at Tetsuya's quite a few times now (in fact we are heading there in a couple of weeks for our wedding anniversary dinner) and the truffle butter is something we always look forward to. Lots of other people clearly think so too, so he now sells the base of it so that people can create their own. I decided to make up a batch of the butter and just warm it through, to create a luxurious sauce. The result was an eye rollingly delicious entree.

If you want to get your hands on some of Tetsuya's Black Truffle Salsa for yourself, you can find it in good gourmet stores, or online. If you are searching for it, it comes in a tiny jar that looks like this -

For the basis of main course, I chose something that I haven't cooked at home for ages - venison. Regular readers of Gourmet Goddess would know that I'm a big fan of game meat, and in the last week or so had been thinking that I wanted to get my hands on some venison to create a dish using Autumn produce. I used a beautiful piece of venison loin, which I marinated in olive oil, some garlic, a splash of raspberry vinegar, crushed juniper berries, pepper and allspice.

I then seared the meat in a very hot pan and transferred it to a 200C oven to cook for 10 minutes. After resting the meat, I carved it and served it with a rich, velvety puree of cauliflower and potato (I used the Dutch Cream variety), roasted beetroot ( which I cut into uniform circles with a cookie cutter, to improve the presentation), toasted hazelnuts, beetroot leaves and a jus that I made from beef stock and Pinot Noir jelly (similar to redcurrant jelly, but made with Pinot grapes) and flavoured with bay leaves from my garden. Yum.

Loin of Venison with Cauliflower & Potato Puree, 

Roasted Beetroot, Hazelnut and Pinot Noir Jus

Venison is a fantastic flavoursome and super lean meat that is not hard to cook with, as long as you choose the right cut for the kind of dish you are making. I chose the loin of the venison, which is cooked for a short time and served medium rare, to rare. The only real thing that you really need to watch for is overcooking. It isn't a meat that is really suited for people who like their meat well done, so if you are making it at home, know your diner's preference. Cooking venison to a well done order will just result in a grey, tough piece of meat. A waste of really excellent produce.

I decided not to make a dessert and to serve a selection of cheeses, fresh pear and some quince paste - but after what was a rich entree and main, we decided that we were all satisfied, and that a cheese plate would just be overkill. The cheese platter might end up being Sunday lunch.

If you like game but have never had a go at cooking venison at home, I really encourage you to give it a try. It isn't hard and makes a great key ingredient for a special meal, whether you are sharing it with guests or not.

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Festive Season Food Diary

I'm always a bit bemused about the Christmas/Festive Season hysteria. And yes, it really is hysteria. Why people blindly buy in to it and put themselves through the ringer about this time of the year I just don't know. In our household we take a very laid back approach to the whole thing. For us, it's less about parting with large amounts of cash to buy "stuff" most people don't want, or putting pressure on yourself to cook what all the glossy mags or smug TV chefs tell you that you should be cooking - and more about having much valued time off work and enjoying each other's company. Usually we bypass the traditional Christmas palaver altogether, by heading off on our own somewhere quiet, and staying there till new year. The downside to this of course is that it tends to be expensive staying anywhere in December, and as we are currently in saving money mode, (to buy our longed for plot of nature in Tasmania) we stayed home this time around.

Instead, we headed up to the NSW Central Coast to enjoy a laid back Christmas Day with my in laws, Kate and Peter. I volunteered to cook the four of us Christmas lunch, and thought that I would take a "mystery box" approach to the cooking, bringing with us a selection of seasonal ingredients that I liked, and then making up a menu pretty much on the day. Until Christmas morning I wasn't 100% sure what I was cooking - I had a few ideas in my head - but I just ended up cooking according to the ingredients and my mood. The exception to this was the dessert, which I did make the day ahead. Having one of the courses already sorted made the rest quite easy. Only cooking for four people also helped a lot too of course, and I could focus on quality over quantity.

Kate had requested a fairly light menu, so I thought that seafood and a fruit based dessert were obvious choices. We have recently returned from Western Australia, and thanks to my Mum's boyfriend John, had been given some beautiful W.A Rock Lobsters that he had caught for us. These became the basis of the main course. We grabbed some fresh local prawns on Christmas eve from the local fish lady at Ettalong Beach, and along with an esky full of bits and pieces - and what was growing in Kate's garden, created our lunch menu.

First up was a bit of a take on the Prawn Cocktail, but with a salsa of home grown tomatoes, avocado, lime, chilli and herbs from the garden. As I was preparing this, I noticed a leftover bread roll from lunch the day before in the bread basket. I turned this into crispy, oven baked parmesan toast to serve on the side. It was tasty and gave a nice crunchy textural element to the entrée. I served the cocktails in insulated coffee glasses that I found in the cupboard. Great to keep the cocktails nice and cold.

Prawn Cocktail with Avocado Salsa

and Crispy Parmesan Toasts

Main course was based around that gorgeous W.A lobster. I didn't want to mess with it too much, so just sautéed it gently with a little butter, a touch of olive oil, salt, pepper and a small squeeze of lemon. I served this with grilled asparagus, a super velvety cauliflower puree spiked with a little cream, and Red Oak and Sorrel micro herbs. I drizzled the pan juices over the lobster just before serving. It was really delicious and a big hit with the family.

Sauteed W.A Lobster

with Cauliflower Puree, Asparagus and Micro Herbs

My do ahead dessert was based on mangoes and passionfruit, which are great at the moment. I made a passionfruit and mango mousse and layered it in a big bowl, with fresh mango and Savoiardi sponge fingers soaked in Limoncello (from New Zealand, that I had picked up at the Sydney Food and Wine Show last year.) I served the dessert with some fresh cherries and raspberries for a bit of a festive touch.

Mango and Passionfruit Mousse

with Italian Sponge and Limoncello

 

 

So that was Christmas day. Two days later, we ended up having what looked a lot like a traditional Christmas dinner when I decided to cook some free range, organic turkey breast that we had bought from our favourite meat supplier, Feather and Bone. I stuffed the turkey breast with some left over zucchini and parmesan stuffing I had in the freezer (I always do a big batch of stuffing when I make it and freeze some. Really worth doing, and it freezes very well) Served it with all the trimmings - vegetables, cauliflower and broccoli gratin and gravy -  and also invited friends over to share it with us. It was really delicious and made us all ponder why we don't eat turkey more often.

 

 Stuffed Turkey Breast

with all the trimmings

 

 

Andrew has been asking me for what feels like forever (years!) to a make pavlova, so I thought I would finally give it a try. I was a bit unsure about it, so consulted Stephanie Alexander's "The Cook's Companion" (aka "The Bible") to find out what to do. I was really thrilled with the result - crispy on the outside, marshmallow on the inside, just as it should be. Stephanie rules. I topped the pavlova with a vanilla cream, and more mangoes and passionfruit.

 

Stephanie Alexander's Classic Pavlova

Only down side to my pavlova success is that now I think I am going to have to add it to the regular cooking repertoire. Andrew loved it. I have an idea to do one with a salted caramel and fresh fig topping at some stage.

Ready to eat - Summer Pavlova

Now, I really hate wasting food, and I am the queen of recycling ingredients and turning leftovers into another meal. After our turkey dinner, we had turkey and some of the cauliflower and broccoli gratin left, so I turned it into brunch the next day - made into fritters with the addition of sweet corn and herbs from the garden. Served with a quick tomato salsa and a spoon full of light sour cream, it made a lovely tasty summer dish.

Turkey and Corn Fritters

with Tomato Salsa

So that is what I have been cooking and eating over the festive season. There is a whole lot of really wonderful produce in season at the moment, and I would encourage you all to enjoy it while you can. The season will be over before you know it. My favourites are stone fruit, berries, cherries, mangoes and fresh pineapple - and seafood of course.

New Year's Eve is only a few days away, and we have a tradition of ringing in the new year by having dinner at Restaurant Atelier, our favourite local eatery and an exceptional place to dine. This year will be a little sad as the evening of 31 December will be their last service ever, after over a decade of consistently serving magnificent food and wine. This restaurant is very special to us, as they have shared in so many celebrations and great meals - we even visited on the night before we were married. We will be sitting at our favourite table on New Year's Eve and raising a toast to Chef Darren Templeman and his wife, Maitre d' and Sommelier extraordinaire Bernadette in gratitude for the amazing meals and evenings we have spent at Atelier. They will be sorely missed. Word is, they may be heading south to Melbourne. Lucky Melbourne!

I wish all of my Gourmet Goddess readers a very happy, healthy and delicious 2014. May it bring you all of the good things.

Me, enjoying a swim in the rain on Christmas Day,

 while everyone else was having a nap

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Degustation to Order

On Saturday night I had the pleasure of putting on my official catering hat - a paid gig, cooking a six course 70th birthday degustation dinner. After consultation with the hosts, we came up with a menu that we thought would please the guests and especially the birthday boy. I was able to do most of the prep work in my own kitchen, which was great. It is always a challenge working in someone else's space with someone else's equipment but with most of the work done prior to the event, I only had a few tasks left once I got to the venue. Whether you are catering for a couple of people or a hundred, the planning is pretty much the same. I am the queen of list making and scheduling! Without a clear plan of what to do and when, it is easy to mess up your preparation and particularly the timing of the courses. You don't want guests kept waiting, but you also want enough time between courses to not make them feel rushed. This is even more important with a degustation menu.

I am happy to report that Saturday night went brilliantly, with happy guests, a happy cook and a lovely evening all round. Here is what was on the menu:

We started with an amuse bouche - a deliciously creamy chilled soup to get everyone's tastebuds going.....

Chilled Zucchini and Leek Soup

with Garlic, herb and paprika croutons

Next came the first of two starters - lovely fresh prawns that were marinated in heaps of garlic and pan fried, served with crispy rosti and a creamy horseradish sauce with heaps of tang and bite.

Garlic Prawns and Potato Rosti 

with horseradish cream sauce

Second starter was hand made tortellini, filled with fresh herbs from my garden, ricotta, mozzerella and parmesan. This was served with fresh asparagus that was sauteed with sea salt and plenty of black pepper.
 

Handmade 3 Cheese Tortellini

with sauteed asparagus

Next up was a free range chicken, that I deboned and stuffed with almonds, apricots, fresh herbs and Dijon mustard. I served this with a salad of pears and toasted walnuts and dressed it all with a maple and white balsamic dressing.

Deboned Free Range Chicken with Apricot and Almond Stuffing

Served with baby spinach, rocket,pear,toasted walnut salad and maple dressing

The second main course was a beautiful piece of lamb which I marinated for 24 hours in crushed juniper berries, bay leaves, garlic and verjuice. This was then pan fried and served with a decadent creamy puree and a salsa verde, flavoured with capers, anchovies, garlic and plenty of fresh herbs.

Juniper and Garlic Backstrap of Lamb

Served with cauliflower, potato and parmesan puree/ salsa verde

And finally the dessert - a French fruit tart which was cut and served at the table. The recipe for this tart came from my stint at cooking school in Paris last year. A great chance to revive my baking skills, as I don't tend to make desserts that often. I used seasonal berries and finished the tart with a redcurrant glaze.

French Berry Tart

with almond crust and vanilla bean creme patissiere

I really enjoyed creating this menu and it was really well recieved by the guests. It is such a lovely feeling to see everyone enjoying what you have created - makes all the preparation totally worth it.

The Roman philosopher Seneca once said that "There is no delight in owning anything unshared" - I feel sure that food and good company fall into that category! A wonderful evening that I was thrilled to have been part of.

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Matrimonial Matters

Apologies to my regular readers that I have been a little quiet this week. I have been busy in preparation mode for the catering of my friends, Chris and Michela's wedding. This week has been the business end of the preparations. Shopping to be done, lists to be checked and rechecked, work plans to be reviewed. The wedding is today and I'm up bright and early to complete the last few tasks before the celebrations begin. Yesterday was a big day - 9 hours straight of prep work, which among other things involved making hundreds of Polpettini (small Italian meatballs), litres of rich, spicy tomato passata, cutting and peeling over 12kg of pumpkin, making 2 varieties of frittata (almost 200 pieces), grilling about 350 asparagus spears, slicing and roasting kilos of eggplant and zucchini. I have even developed a blister on my hand from all that chopping!

You will gather from the ingredients that the food we will be serving has a rustic Italian theme. We wanted to take advantage of the beautiful fresh spring produce (which not only means the quality will be great but that the costs stay down too) The food will be served on large sharing platters, where everyone can help themselves and pick and choose whatever they fancy. Think abundant, sociable, relaxed and fun. There will not be assigned seating (just tables and chairs laid out under the trees, which will be full of glowing lanterns when the sun goes down) so people can roam around when they feel like it, socialising and grazing as they go. This is not going to be one of those stuffy, sit down affairs, that's for sure!

I have attended lots of weddings and I must admit that with very, very few exceptions they have been extremely dull, with not a lot of real creativity going on. They are usually so similar it is like a matrimonial groundhog day! It also seems to me that the more money is spent, the more stereotypic and pedestrian the event. Good taste becomes obliterated by monogrammed gilt champagne flutes, cliched menus and enough nasty nylon tulle to swathe the Sydney Harbour Bridge. And why is it that normally smart and "right on" women suddenly think that wearing a $6,000 dresses that makes you look like a giant meringue is the way to go??  Nup. I dunno either....

I think that perhaps people get led astray by bridal mags, wedding planners and businesses, spruiking their products and telling them what they "have" to have. It is a HUGE business after all. The weddings that have been special to me and that I remember, are those where the people involved have marched to their own tune and created something that is uniquely them. Chris and Michela have certainly done that and I think that their personalities are going to shine through all aspects of the wedding and the reception. Above all, I think we are all going to have a ball :)

I will be posting later in the weekend, with photos, a menu rundown and a full report from the event so you can see how it all came together, so stay tuned. In the meantime, I plan to be the queen of multitasking, as I attempt to make 4 kinds of salad dressings whilst dying my hair and also deciding what to wear......

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