Archive for May, 2010

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In search of the perfect apron

May 31, 2010

Many years ago my sister-in-law Jacqui from Tassie made me the best apron I’ve ever owned. So much a part of our lives was it, this heavy cotton lime-green apron even scored a mention in the best woman’s speech at our wedding nearly seven years ago, as some kind of symbol of how we live (code, basically, for Pair of Gluttons).

Last week, the neck strap on this faithful friend (not the one pictured here, but similar) finally gave way, coming apart in my hands. And my elegant solution – tying a knot in it – ended up creating an unfortunate noose-like effect.

Luckily, I had to hand my first understudy apron, given me as a kitchen-warming present by the Parsnip Princess last year. This rather glamorous, intricately patterned number is especially good for hiding the many splotches and blobs that inevitably end up all over me, and also – having been made by some hardworking Kenyan gals – has the added benefit of the humanitarian glow one gets from wearing.

Then, later in the week, I was very thrilled when Charlotte Chicken’s foster grandmother Deb presented me with a perfect replacement for my old green faithful, that she picked up during the dreadful hardship of a trip round Spain and Italy recently.

All this led me to think about the essential qualities of the apron, and whether I am alone in obsessing about this. I am amazed by all those cooking TV shows where there’s nary an apron to be seen – how do they do it? What do they wipe their hands on? I have several half-aprons, but find the classic coverall shape the best for my particular style, which tends to the slip-slop-slap.  And I am keen to hear from you, dear howtoshuck family, about your criteria for the perfect apron. Do you, indeed, even use one? If you do, what’s your favourite type? Do you have views on length and width? Are pockets essential? Are you a fan of those cute retro half-pinnies? What about strings and straps – adjustable, or no?  Front-fastening, or back? Half or full?

I await your advice. And then down the track we must do a companion piece on tea towels…

Posted in equipment, fads & fashions | Tagged | 12 Comments »

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A fine kettle of fish

May 23, 2010

Sunday lunch in winter is a very fine thing, and a big pot of shellfish stew has gotta be up there as one of the easiest ways to make it happen. I don’t think I’ve ever made a proper bouillabaisse according to a recipe, but over the years various versions of this fishy number have made their way to our table.

Great for a crowd or just few, as we discovered today it must also be one of the easiest meals to take to someone else’s place – just make the stock base at home, stick it in a container, then throw it in a pot with the seafood five minutes before you’re ready to eat. The prawn stock is the important bit. This quantity makes a hefty bowl for four.

Ingredients

  • 12 large prawns
  • 1 small fennel bulb, roughly chopped
  • 1 leek, finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 stick celery, chopped
  • splosh white wine
  • 1 can diced tomatoes
  • 1 litre chicken stock
  • 3 strips orange peel
  • few threads saffron
  • pinch dried chilli flakes
  • ½ kg black mussels, cleaned
  • ½ kg perch or other firm white fish, cut into 4cm chunks
  • 1 blue swimmer crab, cleaned & quartered
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
  1. Peel & devein prawns, leaving tails on and setting aside the shells & heads.
  2. Heat oil & toss in shells & heads, stirring over high heat till pink, then add leek, fennel, garlic & celery and stir till softened & starting to caramelise.
  3. Deglaze with the wine, then add stock.
  4. Remove as much of the prawn shells & heads as much as you can using tongs – but if a bit of leg or shell remains, what’s a smidge of crunchy crustacean between friends?
  5. Add tomatoes, saffron, orange peel & chilli flakes. Bring to the boil and simmer for around 30 minutes.
  6. A few minutes before you’re ready to eat, add the fish and cleaned seafood and turn the heat to low or even off.
  7. Check for seasoning, serve in big bowls with a drizzle of olive oil.

Make sure you have some great bread for dunking. Today our family from the beachside burbs provided some incredibly good sourdough baguette from Iggy’s Bread in Bronte – I’d never heard of this guy before today, but he’s obviously the business.

And if you have any other fishy stewy recommendations or ideas for giving this version some extra zing (a la a splash of Pernod), I’m all ears…

Posted in herbs & spices, seafood, soup, Uncategorized, vegetable, winter food | Tagged , | 7 Comments »

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Purple reign

May 19, 2010

Aren’t aubergines beautiful?

I routinely wish for a luxury garment in that exact glossy colour, and have never found anything near it. The search goes on …

Winter has  finally arrived here. Last weekend while staying at our friends’ cocoonish beach house (thankyou Caro & D…) I revisited Neil Perry’s recipe for ‘Cinnamon Scented Lamb’  casserole, of which eggplant / aubergine is a central ingredient.  The recipe is a corker, from that big fat white book of his (and theirs) called Food I Love. I don’t yet have it, but it does have an awful lot of good things in it and I think it must go on my list.

Not only because I love pictures of aubergine, but also because it is a very good recipe, I’m sharing here a very slightly adapted version of Mr Perry’s dish, which is full of those irresistible Middle Eastern flavours. This quantity is quite generous for seven or eight, I’d say.

Ingredients

  • 1.5 kg lamb shoulder, cut into chunks
  • 2 solid small aubergines, cut into large chunks
  • 6 baby aubergines, thickly sliced into rounds
  • salt
  • olive oil
  • 4 tablespoons currants
  • 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 brown onion, halved & then sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 can diced tomatoes & juice
  • 1 small red chilli, split
  • 1.5 cups chicken stock
  • 2 tsp turmeric
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • juice 1 lemon
  • ½ bunch chopped mint
  • ½ bunch chopped coriander

Method

  1. Sprinkle the aubergine generously with salt and leave for half an hour. Then rinse salt and any liquid away, and dry eggplant with paper towel or clean tea towel.
  2. Soak currants in vinegar in a cup or bowl.
  3. Using a cast iron cassserole or heavy pot, fry eggplant in batches in hot olive oil until golden on both sides; remove & drain on paper towel.
  4. Add lamb pieces to the pan in batches over high heat till lightly browned; set aside.
  5. Fry onion & garlic  till soft, then add tomatoes, currants, chilli, spices & stock, return lamb to pan and bring to the boil, then simmer gently for 1 to 1.5 hours or till lamb is very tender.
  6. Return cooked aubergine to pan along with lemon juice & seasoning, and stir to combine. When well combined, remove from heat and add herbs.

This dish is great served with plain couscous (or rice) and steamed green beans.

While winter evenings are fab for cooking, not so great for photography – but here’s a pic of the casserole anyway to give you an idea. Shame about the lack of natural light … it actually looks much more luscious than this in real life.

Anyhoo, if you’re a meat eater, I urge you to have a go with this one. And I think I might have a crack at a vegetarian version too, with chickpeas – do you think that would work?

Posted in herbs & spices, meat, Uncategorized, vegetable, winter food | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments »

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Cauliflower please!

May 13, 2010

Well hello there once again – if there’s anyone still out there, that is!  I’ve missed you all during my time in hermitage, and funnily enough I think my cooking has suffered too. Without the impetus of this blog to try new things – not to mention having my head down on the novel – we’ve fallen into a bit of a culinary rut round these parts. But now seems a great time to get back into the kitchen. All this cold weather finally, and all that wintry stuff to play with. Only trouble now I think is that what with the early darkness and evening cookery, the pix might suffer – but cest la vie. It’s good to be back.

So! On my first day back at the post I wanted to share my newest infatuation – roasted cauliflower.

I love a good cauli any old how, and in fact have been indulging in a bit of excellent cauliflower cheese lately too. But the other week,  through sheer laziness, I just chucked a few hunks in with some other roasting veg. And discovered for the first time how beautifully the whole flavour changes when it’s lightly browned – much nuttier, and super good.

Not rocket science, I hear you say – and you’ve all probably been doing this for years. But just in case you haven’t tried it, you must. I toss & turn the cauli florets in oil first with my hands, to make sure they have a good coating (you could spray them with olive oil too I guess, which might give a more even slather), and then whack them in the oven with whatever else you have going on, for a good half-hour or more, turning a couple of times. The best flavour is when it’s well browned all over.

I note here that Mr Oliver is a fan of the roasted cauli too, but he blanches it first and goes in for a bit of additional flavoursome whatnot, whereas being a girl of simple tastes, I am totally hot for the easy bung-it-in-the-oven version.

Love to hear of anything you do to give your cauliflower some power … and thank you for coming back.

Posted in Uncategorized, vegetable, winter food | Tagged | 17 Comments »