The Collective Cook

To market « Cook's Bookshelf

Looking for some inspiration? Head down to your local farmers market this weekend. You’ll leave wondering why you ever bought a vegetable in a supermarket. There is nothing like browsing the stalls and buying fresh produce to inspire a new recipe. Then of course there is the coffee, chocolate, fresh breads and cakes… and so much more. If you are not lucky enough to have a farmers market near you, I hope you enjoy these photos of the Frenches Forest Organic Market, my favourite local market.

via cooksbookshelf.wordpress.com

Linguine with lemon, chilli, garlic and pangrattato

Ingredients 180g piece day - old Italian style bread 150ml extra virgin olive oil 2 lemons 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped 400g linguine 1 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley 1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

via www.fratellifresh.com.au

You've got to admire a restaurant that publishes its recipes on-line - for free! Ate this at Cafe Sopra last friday night and then cooked it at home a day or two later, and I'm doing it again tonight - yumm!

Roast Pork with Pedro Ximenez sauce

I stumbled across a nice twist tonight. I cooked the pork (rolled loin sourced from feather and bone, of course) in the usual manner, including placing it on a layer (8) fresh bay leaves while it cooked. After the pork was cooked, I rested it under alfoil for 2 hours. In the roasting pan I cooked 5 green apples (peeled, cored and halved) in the pan juices and bay leaves. This idea of roasting apples with pork I got from a Stephanie Alexander book some time ago. I added a tablespoon of brown sugar, sprinkled over the top, along with 3 or 4 cloves. After the apples had cooked, I removed them and then made a sauce in the pan. I had no wine open so what to deglaze the pan with? I opted for pedro ximenez, a sweet Spanish sherry that I love on ice-cream (an idea I got from Moro). The sherry was a fabulous complement to the sweetness of the apples, cloves and sugar. I added flour, chicken stock and some more brown sugar to balance the residual saltiness from the pork skin. It was a beautiful sauce that was magic on the pork, roasted apples and potatoes roasted in duck fat, garlic, rosemary and citrus zest ( a Jamie Oliver idea). Yum, I'll be doing this one again.

GARLIC: Patrice Newell

Garlic soup can be made in the same way as leek soup. However, garlic has some strange qualities. If you saute chopped garlic you will highlight those qualities that are most unattractive. If, however, you boil whole cloves of garlic you may eat it in copious quantities without any unpleasant effect. The following recipe is deceptively simple but the result is a soup of great finesse. 

via www.patricenewell.com.au

Garlic is back in season. I have ordered tow kilograms this time because last year they ran out pretty quickly

Pilu at Freshwater

Situated on the shores of beautiful Freshwater Beach with spectacular views out to the ocean, the restaurant was established in 2004 by owners Giovanni Pilu and Marilyn Annecchini.

 

Pilu at Freshwater is an award winning restaurant, proudly receiving two chef's hats in the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide for consecutive years since opening.

via www.piluatfreshwater.com.au

Had a great dinner here on Wednesday night - the pork and lamb were divine. I believe the pork was sourced through my favourite meat supplier Feather and Bone at Rozelle

The Aylesbury Melbourne

Jesse and Vanessa Gerner, the young Iberian-influenced couple who opened Gertrude Street's excellent Anada in 2008, have just opened another, more ambitious, restaurant and bar.

via www.theage.com.au

We had dinner here a few weeks ago and it was a wonderful find. I am a big fan of the Moro restaurant in London, and Jesse Gerner worked there for awhile, as well as that other London foodie temple, the River Cafe. I had a chat with Jesse who tells me that the restaurant design and food in Aylesbury were heavily influenced by Moro. Indeed, they use some recipes from the fabulous Moro cookbook (the first one), including for bread and the tortilla. The couple who run Moro (the Sam Clarks) have a great philosophy on food and I am excited to find a little bit of Moro in Australia, I hope their ideas spread more widely. BTW from Moro we got the best ever quick dessert idea - a scoop or two of high quality vanilla ice-cream with a generous splash of pedro ximenez - a wonderful sweet dark Spanish sherry - buy a good bottle and taste the difference!

Fooderati Blog: buy meat like a pro

There's a lot to be said for buying meat properly. No, I don't mean in neat rows of tightly wrapped plastic containers in the supermarket, but from people who actually know where your meat comes from and how it's gotten from the paddock to your plate. A great butcher is someone you want to have a relationship with. Not only will you get great quality, but when it comes to needing something less common, or cut a certain way, you need look no further.

Here's the reality: You may fantisise about restaurants having direct and passionate relationships with producers, going direct to the farm gate for your beef (if advertisements by KFC and a certain 'celebrity' (who?) chef has anything to say about it), but the truth is that no chef or restaurateur has that kind of time.
If you want to shop like a pro (for real), here are three suppliers you need to know about:

Feather & Bone

If you want to know where your meat comes from, the guys from Feather and Bone are the guys to know. Started by Grant Hilliard in 2006, the company have strong relationships with their producers and make a point of knowing everything there is to know about the meat they sell. Supplying restaurants like Rockpool, Red Lantern and Sean's Panaroma, whether it's a whole goat or a shoulder of lamb, pork belly or just a really good chook, these guys can tell you exactly how the animal has lived and been processed to get to you. Based in Rozelle, there are regular open days and delivery to most Sydney areas, you'd be hard pressed to find a more passionate bunch.

Factory 1
2-8 Parsons Street
Rozelle, Sydney NSW 2039
Tel: 02 9818 2717
Fax: 02 9818 3506
http://www.featherandbone.com.au/

via fooderati.blogspot.com

The Lost Art of Buying From a Butcher - NYTimes.com

via www.nytimes.com

Feather and Bone

Another great Sydney food supplier:

Since 2006 we’ve been building relationships with a network of wonderful producers and clients committed to quality and provenance. Our clients are restaurants, cafes, butchers, delis and domestic customers across Sydney. 

Omelettes

The food we choose to prepare for ourselves and for our friends and family can be encased in all manner of messages and meaning. The world of subtlety, as Elizabeth David once observed, can be infused into the serving of a dish of eggs. No one alludes to this more eloquently than Gertrude Stein.

via www.kingstribune.com