Friday, August 28, 2009

Should I Be Projectile Vomiting?

"Food becomes blood, blood becomes heart and brain, thoughts and mind stuff. Human fare is the foundation of human culture and thought. Would you improve a nation? Give it, instead of declamations against sin, better food. Man is what he eats." - Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach
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Never have truer words been spoken. We are affected by all that we digest through our eyes, ours mouths, through the air that we breathe. Food is one of the greatest (and sometimes sinful) pleasures in life that warms the heart and nurtures the soul. Good food unites nations and creates everlasting memories. Great food has the ability to transport us to another world or to take us home, wherever that may be.


It saddens me to think that despite being granted great opportunities, there are many deprived individuals who really have no idea what good food is. I have a small handful of friends who are vegetarian by choice although admittedly we don't talk much. And I do have an obsession with chicken.

I hold much respect for those who must refrain for reason of allergy and so forth (I myself have recently discovered that consuming crustaceans of some variety results in urticaria and indeed it takes a great deal of restraint despite knowing the dire consequences). And so it makes me terribly angry to discover that people don't really give a damn and will eat shit that resembles a shrunken foam mattress and be positive about it.

For the record, the crust-making technique is all wrong and it's disturbing that a jerk I mean woman with 38 years of eating experience thinks that coconut cream replicates the taste of egg in any way, shape or form. And on top of that, still hopes for some sort of book deal.

All I can say is: BLEURRGGGHH!

Monday, August 24, 2009

A Tart Pie

The weather seems to be warming up already so I'm making the most of the last few dreary days of winter with rhubarb and custard-filled pies. It's my first attempt so I consult baking expert Shirley O. Corriher on the whys and how-to mumbo jumbo of making pie crusts and borrow a vanilla pastry cream recipe from the very famous Adriano Zumbo.
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According to Shirley, sugar prohibits the formation of gluten and, in the case of pie doughs and shortcrust, proves to be functional in addition to acting as a sweetener. I choose butter over lard as the source of fat for my pie crust as it contains diacetyl - the source of buttery flavour which is commonly added to margarine and oil-based shortenings. Oh how I love diacetyl!
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The actual process of making these pies isn't as difficult as it is time-consuming. I only have four little fluted tart tins so making a whole batch is somewhat of a pain in the butt with the hour of refrigerated resting time in between shaping and baking. I fill half of the pies with a rhubarb and currant mixture and the remaining half with a slurry of date and lime. I've somehow managed to lose my recipe for the date and lime mixture but fortunately it's easy to remember - pitted, chopped dates cooked with a little orange juice, a little water and tiny pinch of salt until mushy then sloshed with fresh lime juice.
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I originally plan to fill the pies with fruit filling, pastry cream and then bake them but for some reason the pastry cream breaks down during the baking process and leaves me with a curdled mess. So I change methods and half-fill the pies with fruit filling, popping the lids on and baking them then piping the pastry cream in to fill the remaining cavity afterwards.
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The combination of deliciously tart rhubarb with lusciously smooth pastry cream is a soft and sensual experience aided by the occassional burst of sweet currants and feels just right with the crunchy, flaky crust that envelops it.
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Pie Crust

600 g flour
450 g unsalted butter
170 g icing sugar
2 g salt
85 g cold water

55 g buttermilk
1 egg white
Sift together the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
Rub the butter into the flour and stir in water and buttermilk.
Press dough together until it forms a ball.
Flatten, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for one hour.
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Rhubarb Filling

310 g rhubarb
320 g water
2 g salt
50 g cane sugar
40 g castor sugar

25 g currants
Peel rhubarb by scraping a small knife along the cut ends of the stalks. This will lift up the long fibers and allow you to pull them away without removing the skin pigments.
Slice rhubarb and simmer with water, salt, sugar and currants for 20 minutes or until almost dry.
Remove from heat and refrigerate until cool.
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Pastry Cream
a recipe from Adriano Zumbo

520 g milk
2 g salt
110 g egg yolks
132 g castor sugar
32 g potato starch
65 g unsalted butter, chopped
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

Bring milk, salt and vanilla bean to the boil.
Remove from heat and allow to infuse for 20 minutes.
Whisk egg yolks, sugar and starch until pale.
Bring milk to a simmer and temper by slowly adding to eggs, whisking continuously.
Return to the pot and bring it back to the boil to thicken, stirring contunuously.
Remove from the heat and stir over a bowl of cold water until it reaches 55ºC.
Add the butter and stir until fully incorporated.
Cover with plastic wrap (prevents a from skin forming) and refrigerate until cool.
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Roll out the dough to 2 1/2 - 3mm thickness.
Using a fluted tart pan 11cm x 2 1/2 cm (4 1/4" x 1") as a guideline, cut out a circle a little over 1" larger in diameter. This will be the base.
Turn the pan upside down and press into the dough to cut out a fluted round. This will be the lid.
Continue cutting out an equal number of bases and lids until there is no more dough.
Press the bases into the tart pans and trim off the excess (keep leftover dough wrapped and refrigerated).
Half-fill with cold rhubarb mixture and place the lid on top.
Press the edge of the lid into the flutes with the left index finger while pinching from the outside with the right thumb and forefinger to seal.
Whisk the remaining egg white and brush over the top to glaze.
Use a small paring knife to cut slits into the middle of the lid to allow steam to escape.
Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 190ºC.
Bake pies for 25-30 minutes until golden.
Cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing.
Place pastry cream into a piping bag fitted with a small flat decorative piping nozzle.
Insert the nozzle into a slit and fill the cavity with pastry cream.
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Saturday, August 22, 2009

Make 2009 Gluten Free


The 2009 Gluten Free EXPO will continue for its second running day today. It's chock-a-block with coeliac friendly foods for purchase and tasting and features presentations and cooking demonstrations by the likes of Lyndey Milan, Graham Price, Rachael & Kim and Dr. Jason Tye-Din.
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It's located in exhibit hall 4 in Olympic Park, Homebush, and ends today at 5pm.
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Friday 21st, Saturday 22 August
Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park
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Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Zingy Chicken Sambo

 
I've been really forgetful as of late. I've been searching all afternoon, high and low for a recipe I wrote down many weeks ago and to no avail. Perhaps the stress, late nights and strange sleep patterns have finally caused my brain to rupture, clogging up my skull with tiny little blood clots that are killing off my axons one by one and preventing normal neural transmission activity.

I made up a great recipe for horseradish and lime mayo and I have no idea what I've done with it! I'm so annoyed! Oh well, stay tuned. I may still find it yet - when I'm tidying up my belongings to move house in ten years time. In the meantime, if you want to give it a go (fingers crossed) I think I used an egg yolk, Dijon mustard, maldon sea salt flakes, horseradish cream, delicious GM canola oil and a squeeze of lime juice to taste.

The horseradish and lime mayonnaise wasn't the hero of the dish of course. That title was given to the leftover Chinese white-cooked chicken, the star of my sandwich show - cold and quivering, thinly cut slices of just cooked chicken, poached in a heavily seasoned broth of ginger, shallots and shiao xing wine.

The chicken is gently poached for 15 minutes then left to cool in the broth until it reaches blood temperature (about 3 hours) allowing for the residual heat to penetrate and cook the meat without excessive temperature and protein shrinkage. The resulting meat is tender and succulent, unlike that achieved by any other technique.

To finish off my sandwich I toasted some bread, slathered on a little butter, popped on some crisp watercress layered with cold slivers of chicken and drizzled over with my zingy horseradish and lime mayo. Delicious!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

restaurant 09 Sydney


This is but a tasty morsel. More photos of this years restaurant show can be accessed here..

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