Blueberry Masterclass

 
The first series of MasterChef Australia has come to an end and I'm left with a sad little hole in my heart. Friday night masterclasses were a highlight at my house and the little tips and tricks demonstrated by both George and Gary have already proved invaluable. Apparently a Celebrity MasterChef is in the works and if it's set to be anything like Top Chef well.. Ho! Ho! I can't wait! It may not get quite as many ratings as the original with its slightly more professional approach but it's about time we aired more established cooking techniques on free to air television (how many apprentices can afford Foxtel anyway?). Now if only they'd bring back The L Word..

Buttermilk Pancakes with Blueberry Maple Butter

inspired by Gary's buttermilk hot cakes

125 g flour
22 g castor sugar
1 g sea salt
4 g vanilla paste
260 g buttermilk
1 egg, separated

Whisk together flour, sugar and salt in a bowl.

Make a well and pour in vanilla, buttermilk and egg yolk.

Slowly incorporate with flour to prevent lumps.

Whisk egg white to medium peaks.

Fold whites into batter.

Pour circles of batter into a lightly greased skillet and cook over medium heat.

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For the blueberry maple butter I didn't really weigh anything. Grab a handful of frozen blueberries, throw them in a small saucepan with a slosh of maple syrup and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. You just want to defrost the blueberries and reduce the juices that cook out a little. Remove the pan from the stove, drop in a few squares of butter and swirl it all around for a bit (or "monte") until it thickens. Pile the buttermilk pancakes onto your plate and drizzle the blueberry maple butter on top. Yum.

Making Lotus Pancakes

 
My dad invited some old university colleagues of his for a long lunch at our house. It was a lazy afternoon so I offered to give my mum a hand and whip up some lotus pancakes - the sort you'd normally use to make little parcels filled with Peking duck skin.

This is another recipe from my old paperback edition of The Chinese Chef by Martin Yan. His recipes are proving quite reliable so far, although I'm somewhat reluctant to try the ones that suggest the use of dry sherry. Basically all you have to do is make the dough, rest it, roll it into a long sausage, chop it up into equal-sized bits, squash them flat with a cleaver, stick them together, roll them out then cook them over a low heat and separate them. One recipe makes enough for one whole Peking duck and four hungry people. I suggest cooking them as you roll more out to save time unless you have four similar sized pans that you can use simultaneously.

Mandarin Pancakes

from The Chinese Chef

2 C. flour (250 g), plus extra for dusting
3/4 C. boiling water (188 g)
2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil

Place flour in a bowl and make a well in the centre.

Pour in the boiling water and mix in with a spoon.

Knead for 5 minutes until smooth.

Dust with flour, wrap in clingfilm and rest at room temperature for at least half an hour.

Lightly dust bench and roll into a long cylinder 16" long (about 40 cm).

With a cleaver cut into 1" pieces.

Place each piece cut side down and squash flat with the side of the cleaver.

Brush one side with sesame oil, being sure to cover completely then sandwich together with another piece of dough.

Repeat for all.

Roll each sandwich into a thin 6" circle (15 cm).

Cook over low heat in a non-stick saute pan for about 2 minutes each side.

Do not use oil. Pancakes should not colour.

Separate after cooking.

Saved!

 
I want to say a BIG thank you to the good people at Everten Online. I experienced what Julia on MasterChef refers to as a brain fart, momentarily at the point of alighting the very last train home for the night whilst carrying my knives. Or should I say not carrying.. Needless to say I probably won't be seeing them again unless by some miracle. Fingers crossed that they don't turn up at a murder scene.

Head over to Everten as they're having an end of financial year sale on at the moment (postage is $6.90 Australia-wide via registered post). Don't forget to sign up for the newsletter for a chance to win $2,000 worth of SKK Titan Cookware! I saved 43% off the RRP on a 21cm Ice Bear Chef Knife, 40% off a Global G-2 Cooks Knife, 26% off a Global Meat Cleaver, 32% off a Global Birds Beak Peeling Knife, 44% off a Global Nakiri Vegetable Chopper and 30% off a brand spanking new Global Professional Knife Case. The estimated delivery time is 3-10 working days but I received my order in only 2 days. Thanks Skye!

Learning Block

 
I rocked up to Ultimo TAFE last Thursday to enrol in the second semester of the retail combined baking and cake course. It seems that history is cursed to repeat itself. Exactly as my attempted enrolment in first semester went, I was placed on the waiting list again. Apparently only the first 15 people to pay are guaranteed a spot. I'm so disappointed. I wish the faculty had told me that when I called them asking about the course 6 months ago. I would have camped outside E block and hidden all the public signs pointing to the enrolment room until my paperwork had been completed.

To date, my pastry experience has been fairly limited so I'm pretty pleased with what I've managed to learn so far through reading blogs, cookbooks and magazines. It didn't hurt that I spent a few short months working in the Aria pastry kitchen making macarons, bombe alaskas, jellies and chocolate truffles but I was probably too young to fully appreciate the situation.

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Humility, knowledge and pride in one's work all take time to develop and despite desperately wanting to have that amassed knowledge and understanding of everything now I'm very well aware that it will take years if not decades to be what I want to become.

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With a little hard work and persistence, I've managed to complete half of my 2 year Science of Baking course in just over 3 months. I decided to buy the TAFE baking training book anyway, despite missing out on enrolment. Hopefully in another 3 months I'll have put theoretical lessons of the Science of Baking behind me and be moving onto learning the more practical and hands-on-get-in-there-and-get-dirty-isn't-this-just-AWESOME! side of things.

Obviously I still have a long way to go..

Photographs in Sepia

There's a fancy new restaurant downtown that's run by George Costi of De Costi Seafoods and Martin Benn - former executive chef of Tetsuya's and The Boathouse Restaurant. The entrance is situated inconspicuously on the ground floor of Darling Park, directly underneath the looming corporate firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. If you don't yet know what I'm referring to, it's called Sepia Restaurant and Wine Bar. You'd do well to remember the name.

I am forewarned that the establishment is of the stiff sort and suits will be the common attire but stepping through the heavy glass doors, we are greeted with the warmest of smiles and not a hint of discomfort. It is quite the opposite in fact. Soft lighting and heavy hardwood set an intimate scene, the studded feature wall imposing an air of elegance against the cocktail of richly-toned tables and flooring.

Wine is poured compliments of the house, napkins are unfolded with an expert flick of the wrist and warm, crusty sourdough rolls appear at the table alongside a perfect square of just soft cultured butter. On this occasion we decide upon the degustation menu which features some much talked about dishes.

To start tonight is a simple amuse bouche of smoked eel and Jerusalem artichoke veloute with chive oil delivered in a miniature stemless wine glass. The heady aroma of smoke envelopes the table, drawing sighs of expectant pleasure. Smooth, creamy and deeply aromatic.

A charming waiter spies us eyeing the dishes that arrive at the table next to ours and whispering, he tells us to refrain from looking so as not to spoil the surprise.

Plump seared sea scallops with white kelp, mustard shortbread and green apple salad arrive for my friends next. I have an unfortunate shellfish allergy and to be on the safe side, I have an adaptation of confit ocean trout with mustard shortbread, wasabi nage and elderflowers. The Japanese influence is apparent here with the juxtaposing textures and horseradish kick. The confit trout lacks a little seasoning but that is easily remedied with the sea salt flakes already at hand.




Sweet and pungent BBQ Silver Lake eel lies atop skillfully moulded sushi rice, lined on one side with licorice powder and on the other, with slightly crunchy confit leek. The lightly vinegared rice keeps the dish quite fresh and the sweet, smokey eel pairs wonderfully with the flavour of salty aniseed.

Yellow Fin Tuna tartare with avocado cream, soy and wasabi jelly presents gorgeously in a glass serving bowl reminiscent of a conch sea shell. The texture of jelly and tuna meld impeccably, broken only by the occasional burst of capers studded amongst the layers. Eating with a wooden caviar serving spoon only manages to accentuate the lavishness of this dish further.




The Queensland spanner crab and buckwheat risotto with mustard butter and shellfish essence smells divine and I just have to try some. The worlds first existential philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche is quoted for saying "What does not kill me, makes me stronger" and who can argue? The buckwheat risotto possesses a lemony tang, the crab is sweet and so unbelievably soft. My own chestnut mushroom and buckwheat risotto with chestnut foam and black truffle is earthy and juicy with mushrooms and herbs.

Butter-poached Blue Eye with baby fennel, pickled cuttlefish, smoked ink and bacon floss is strikingly composed. The perfectly cooked fish sits alongside a few strands of cuttlefish and bacon floss - a house rendition of Asian pork floss. Droplets of smoked cuttlefish ink and olive oil emulsion combine to make a smoky, salty vinaigrette to coat the crunchy baby fennel and soft pencil leek. I'm seriously contemplating returning for a long lunch tomorrow but the meal is far from over yet.




Gippsland lamb is brought to the table. Beneath the pink loin lie slivers of raw Jerusalem artichoke and beside it is a heaped pile of braised daikon radish and crispy slice of lamb belly. Mushroom "infusion" is poured at the table from a carafe and appears to be a mixture of enoki, shitake, chestnut mushrooms and snow fungus steeped in a delicate broth. The crisp lamb belly holds a little too much oily residue and could use a sprinkling of salt but the flavours are otherwise exceptionally clean and exceptionally satisfying. My only other criticism is of the salad of mixed greens that takes table centre. A few brown stalks and a decomposing leaf are pulled out and strewn aside.

A short break, a bottle of still mineral water and then it's onto dessert. Pre-dessert is a playful palate cleanser of pineapple with lime and gingerade. The pineapple is sweet and lush, the lime and gingerade is thick and foamy with the lime keeping things gently acidic and the ginger adding a rounded hint of pepperiness.




Complimentary dessert of citrus marshmallow, pineapple sorbet, mint whip and coriander sprout follows. For some reason it disappoints me a little. The citrus marshmallow is soft and pillowy and caramelised on one side, the sliced pineapple is sweet and the pineapple sorbet balancing on top has just the right amount of tartness. The mint whip seems to be a little subdued, I have trouble detecting any mint at all so it comes across as a sweet and foamy meringue - a combination which appears a little too similar to the pre-dessert. The baby coriander seems to take over when it finally goes down, but in all fairness coriander is one of those things that I just can't seem to warm to.

I'd heard mixed reviews of the elements of chocolate dessert. Beautifully tempered sheets of Valrhona sandwich layers of Gianduja cream, milk chocolate mousse, milk chocolate praline, chocolate sponge and prune sauce, topped off with a spoonful of cocoa bubbles. It's easy to see this as the pièce de résistance. It's texturally complete. The thin tempered chocolate sheets are so shiny I can see my own reflection and they crack loudly under the weight of my spoon, piercing through the layers of chocolate cream and sponge below. The cocoa bubbles are an interesting feature although they seem a little unnecessary and I detect a hint of raw flouriness. My favourite component I decide, is the milk chocolate praline layer. It's the forte in this symphony of elements.




Food aside, service is practically flawless and incredibly warm. I'm pleasantly surprised by the attentiveness shown to our table of three - all in our early 20's, we're clearly the youngest patrons dining tonight and probably not of the usual sort. Given Simon Thomsen's recent gleaming review I expect that this new city haunt will be gifted with a hat. Or perhaps this time next year it will have two.


Sepia Restaurant and Wine Bar

www.sepiarestaurant.com.au/

Ground floor, Darling Park
201 Sussex St, Sydney
Telephone: (02) 9283 1990
Fax: (02) 9283 5007

Opening hours: Monday to Friday lunch from 12 noon
Monday to Friday dinner from 6pm
Wine Bar: Monday to Friday from 12 noon
Saturday and Sunday open for exclusive bookings
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Porky Pig Pasta

I've been so behind with my blog this month that I just don't know where to start. I've missed a few Culinarty: Original Recipe Round-ups and it's starting to make me feel guilty. In real time my plate of spaghetti would be covered in fluffy green mould considering how many weeks ago I actually cooked it.
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Gee.. I'm not even sure what to call this. I'll be totally original here and name it porky pig pasta.
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The breadcrumbs I used were el cheapo tipo de Coles. Looking through the ingredients list I was a little confused after seeing fish. An email to Coles quickly cleared that up.

Thank you for your email regarding the Coles Bread crumbs and the ingredients.

Our Quality Control Department have advised that we add tuna to increase the Omega 3 content in bread.

We trust this information has been of assistance to you. Feedback from our customers is important information that assists us to maintain our high standards.

Anyway, moving on to the recipe for..
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Totally Original Porky Pig Pasta

100 g spaghetti no.3
5 g dried porcini mushroom slices
100 g boiling water
5 g veg oil
42 g smoked speck, rind removed and diced
20 g unsalted butter
3 g garlic, sliced
10 g breadcrumbs
3 g lemon juice
4 g Parmesan, grated

Rinse porcini slices in cold water and drain.
Place in a small bowl and pour over boiling water. Allow to soak for 20 minutes. Drain, reserving liquid.
Cook spaghetti in a large pot of salted water.
Heat oil over medium heat.
Saute smoked speck for a minute.
Add porcini mushrooms and cook until speck is beginning to crisp.
Add 10 g of butter, garlic and breadcrumbs and continue cooking until breadcrumbs are crisp.
Remove all ingredients and deglaze pan with reserved porcini liquid.
Add lemon juice, remaining butter and cooked pasta.
Toss until butter has melted then toss through breadcrumbs and grated Parmesan.

Food for Show

The Good Food & Wine Show was back in Sydney last weekend and packed with fellow foodies celebrating the return of a single event showcasing some of the nations best talents and produce. Chefs Gordon Ramsay, Matt Moran and Tobie Puttock were welcomed back with great support, likewise were television newcomers and superstars of MasterChef Australia - Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris.

I spotted a few familiar faces from Barambah Organics (producer of the deliciously rich organic sour cream that we use at work paired with Biodynamic red wine-poached pears dusted with almond praline and szechuan pepper), chocolatesuze's mum was manning The Biscuit Tree stall surrounded by an array of homemade gluten-free biscotti and after a long wait I managed to pick up some wonderfully ripe brie and washed rind cheeses from Binnorie Dairy.

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Around the corner, Tasmanian Heritage was giving away slice after slice of a triple layered cheese flavoured with olive tapenade, capsicum and some other horrendous flavour that my mind has blocked from my memory. Luv-A-Duck was dishing out 2 minute microwavable roast duck legs. They were tender with a soggy, steamed texture - just how roast duck should be..

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Batlow Fruit Co-op had their goods on display. A woman caught me peeking through their apple cookbook and had the girls peel and slice an apple of my choice using their super-cool apple peeling machine while I nibbled on a piece of Granny Smith. The Fuji apple was ethereal! Fresh and crisp, bursting with juice and unbelievably sweet.. I have to tell my dad to stop buying those inferior apples at Flemington Markets every weekend. I'd go so far as to say it was the best goddamn Fuji apple I've ever tasted.

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A free VIP ticket to see Matt Moran's performance in the LG Celebrity Theatre had me seated in the front section for his last show over the weekend. Alastair Mcleod loosened up the crowd with a few distasteful jokes and a game of fruit or veg. I managed to be one of the last few standing in the crowd of 3,000. We played this game last year Alastair!

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Matt Moran demonstrated his dishes available at the Lindemans Early Harvest Restaurant - prawn tempura with sauce gribiche, chicken saute with chorizo and chickpeas and a raspberry tart with burnt champagne sabayon.

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Unfortunately I had the dreaded call to come into work on my day off due to someone being sick (aka big wuss) so I had to skip off early and miss seeing the Riedel decanter bar, cheese matters masterclass, gourmet garden cooking school and much of the BBC Good Food demos.

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Restaurant 09 Sydney is coming up in a month and hopefully I'll be able to make it this year. It boasts product tasting from restaurant suppliers, demos, "innovative new services" and wine tasting, all for industry professionals only. Demos always sound alluring and it's no fault that there won't be a mass of brightly coloured carts to climb over either.