The Collective Cook

Bacon and egg rolls

Few things are more enjoyable to eat then an egg and bacon roll on a sunny Australia Day morning.

Ten 'herbs' for the Sydney garden

Herbs are wonderful and essential. Jamie Oliver says he uses herbs every day. They give wonderful flavour and freshness to dishes, lifting them above the ordinary. The problem is that they can be costly if you have to buy bunches when just need a little, and they can be sad after a few days in the fridge. Luckily, a lot of them aren't hard to grow in pots and sunny patches of even a small backyard. Using your own herbs, gives a great sense of satisfaction.

1. Rosemary - a must, a hardy and attractive plant that is great with lamb and roast potatoes.

2. Thyme - usually described as woody, great with roast potatoes or sauteed mushrooms.

3. Chilli - not strictly a herb, but it grows well and 'excess' chillis from the summer crop can be frozen in a plastic sandwich bag and used for a bit of bite in pasta sauces etc.

4. Sage - think sage, think chicken and stuffing. But, also pork and a wonderful, quick pasta sauce.

5. French Tarragon - one of my favourite herbs, so intoxicating. Great in roast chicken, and, of course, bearnaise sauce.

6. Parsley - sometimes it seems just about everything you cook has parsley as an ingredient or a garnish. We're talking flat-leaf or continental, of course, no one seems to use the old curly variety anymore except for decoration.

7. Mint - essential for the occasional Mohito of course but also great for making some hot mint sauce for that roast lamb.

8. Basil - is summer really summer without a caprese salad (tomato, basil, bocconcini and olive oil) or some fresh pesto sauce.

9. Chives - your scrambled eggs will sing!

10. Bay - a tree not a herb, of course, but a leaf or two is great in a bolognese sauce, or any soup or stew. It gives a peppery boost. Whack half a dozen in the pan when you're roasting pork, Kylie Kwong also has a great roast chicken recipe which uses lots of bay leaves. (Note: bay trees require a fair bit of room. I have to prune mine ruthlessly).

Rod's tomato triumph

Just picked 4kg of tomatoes from my vege garden. Take that, supermarket oligopoly!

via twitter.com

Tuna and rocket pasta

 

Pasta Norma

 

The Economics of Happiness (film trailer)

 

Simon Schama's cheese souffle recipe

Simon Schama is one of my favourite intellectuals and his popular cheese souffle recipe really does work.

You will need: 2 tbsp butter, 1 1/2 tbsp plain flour, 6 eggs (separated into 4 yolks and 6 whites), 200ml milk, 170g grated gruyere, 50g finely grated parmesan, 2 tbsp dijon mustard, and salt 

Full recipe here www.guardian.co.uk

Moro's spanish tortilla

Moro is a wonderful restaurant in London. When we first ate there in 2007, we loved it so much we bought all three of their cookbooks to take home and add to our already large collection. This spanis tortilla is right up the front of the first of the Moro books: "Moro: the cookbook". The authors describe the tortilla as encapsulating much about Spanish food. With a little practice, it is simple to make and it is a real crowd pleaser. It can be served hot (but it has to cool a little to cut properly) or at room temperature. It goes well with other 'plates' like cold meats, cheeses, salads, dips and so on. I get more enthusiastic requests for this tortilla then just about anything else I cook.

One secret to the dish is the onions. You cook two large spanish onions (cut in half and thinly sliced) in 10 tablespoons of olive oil with a pinch of salt over a low heat (lower the better) for about 45 minutes or until they are golden and sweet-smelling. Be patient. You don't want them to crisp, but otherwise the longer you cook them the better really.When they are cooked drain the onions and reserve the oil. You cook the tortilla in the onion-infused oil and that really makes a difference, I believe.

The potatoes need to be soft but retain their shape - you don't want chips or mash. I use desiree or pontiac. Peel 700gms of potatoes, halve lengthwise and slice to 5mm thickness. Toss potatoes with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cook the potatoes in sunflower oil (or other light vegetable oil) at a simmer until tender. Drain (reserve oil for another time) and leave to cool.

Beat six eggs (I only use free range or organic, I love chooks) in a bowl briefly. Add the cooled potatoes and onions and stir gently until well-integrated. Taste and add a little pepper and some salt if needed.

Put three-quarters of the onion-infused oil in a 20cm pan and when it is hot (just starting to smoke) pour in the mixture while gently shaking the pan (this helps get an even distribution). A hot pan will prevent sticking. When the mixture is in the pan reduce the heat to low and cook for 3 - 5 minutes. the underside should be a dark golden brown, just a little short of actually being burnt.

Now comes the fun part. Cover the pan with a dinner plate and quickly (and smoothly) invert the tortilla onto the plate. I do this over the sink because the uncooked side of the tortilla can be a little runny. Some recipes suggest popping the tortilla under a griller or in the oven rather than turning it, but this is wrong! Successfully turning the tortilla will give you a small thrill of personal accomplishment. It also helps to give the tortilla its distinctive shape - and you want your tortilla to look authentic right?

Pour the remaining oil in the pan and turn up the heat. When it is starting to smoke again, slide the tortilla into the pan and with a spatula or similar make sure the edges are tucked in. Turn the heat down and cook for 3-5 minutes. Turn the tortilla out on to a clean plate - it's much easier this time. 

It will look magnificent in the middle of your table. Let it cool a little and then slice thinly.

By the way, Movida is a great spanish restaurant in Melbourne. We've got their book, too. Even closer to home, we love eating at firefly a tapas bar in Walsh Bay. I've also had several great lunches at the Cantina Bar and Grill on Sydney's Oxford street.

A fabulous insider account of food reviewing

It’s easy to imagine that being a restaurant critic would be one of the best jobs on Earth — particularly when millions of people are eager to churn out lengthy reviews for free on sites like Yelp and Chowhound.

via blogs.plos.org

Slow cooked Greek Lamb, Moutabal, Cacik

Last night we had a combination of several of our family favourites.

I got the slow-cooked greek lamb recipe from a friend a few years ago, and its sensational. Though like any slow-cooked dish you need to start cooking well-in-advance of course! On the other hand one of the great benefits of slow cooking is that your house smells fantastic all afternoon.

The Moutabal (essentially tahini and roasted eggplants), similar if not identical to baba ghannouj,  and Cacik (yoghurt, mint and cucumber), a turkish version of tzatziki, are recipes from Nigella Lawson's Forever Summer book.

To round it off we also had our latest, favourite way to cook potatoes - new potatoes, a mix of white and pink, par-boiled then slightly-smashed and then roasted in olive oil, fresh thyme and salt. We got this recipe from Annabel Langbein's  book, "The Free Range Cook". Langbein is a sensational cook, and has quickly become one of our favourites, but more of that another time.

If you like, you can also eat a simple green salad of a variety of lettuce leaves and a little oil and vinegar (eg balsamic).

Slow cooked Greek Lamb

Put the leg of lamb (bone in) on a rack in a baking tray. In a bowl, mix together a quarter of a cup of olive oil, the juice of one lemon, two cloves of garlic and one teaspoon of dried oregano. Pour over lamb and season with salt and a little pepper. Put water in the baking tray, as much as you can without touching the lamb. Put in an oven pre-heated to 160 degrees. Cook for 3 to 4 hours uncovered. Baste every hour. Cover with alfoil and cook for another two hours. Covering stops it from drying out - all those flavours steam through the meat. You want it to cook till it is so soft you just pull the meat off the bone with tongs - no carving! You may need to experiment with timing to get it perfect for your oven. But if it still needs a little carving the first time - don't worry it will still taste wonderful. After cooking, the rest the meat for 15 - 20 minutes (as always this is essential for any roasted meat, and grilled steaks) then put on a platter, drizzle with lemon juice and chopped parsley. Take the platter to the table and let the diners pull meat off the bone for themselves, it's a deeply satisfying thing to do.

There is an interesting Bill Granger version of this recipe on the ABC website. I might give this a go next time, just for some variation.

Moutabal

This is a fantastic accompaniment for lamb in particular, or as part of a vegetarian feast. It's also great as a dip on toast or some fresh bread the next day. It is also great for Aussies because you can roast the eggplants (aubergines) on the barbie while you're heating it up. I often roast some capsicums this way too. The barbie is best because you blacken the skins and that seems to add to the flavour.

You roast 3 good-sized eggplants. Make sure you stab each one several times with a fork first. Eggplants have a lot of moisture in them and if you don't pierce the skins the eggplants will explode when the water turns into steam. This happened to me once - not good. Mix four tablespoons of tahini in a bowl with a tablesppon of warm water and a teaspoon of salt. When the eggplants have collapsed (meaning the flesh is nice and soft inside) take them off the barbie and put in a bowl to cool. When they are cool enough to handle drain away the liquid then cut each eggplant lengthwise so you can scrape out the flesh with a spoon. Put the flesh in a strainer and leave it for 15 minutes to let more liquid drain away. Then put the eggplant flesh in with the tahini and add two tablesppons of oil and the juice of one and a half lemons. Next you mash it with a fork. Mash it well until it is soft and creamy and the eggplant is completely integrated. Taste and add more salt if you like. Nigella adds a mince clove of garlic before serving but I'm not that keen preferring it without.

Moutabal is a lot simpler then the above might suggest. It is addictive and it must be very good for you! It is often called baba ghannouj but to me this recipe is yummier - maybe it's just because it's fresh or because the eggplants are roasted, often they are broiled in Lebanese recipes.

Cacik

 Yoghurt of some sort is great with slow-cooked lamb. I used about 500ml of greek yoghurt, a teaspoon of dried mint, a clove of minced garlic, a tablespoon of lemon juice, a bunch of chopped mint leaves, a cucumber finely chopped. You just mix all the ingredients and taste it to make sure its balanced. I put it in the fridge for an hour or two to make it nice and cold.

Roast potatoes

We love to cook these small potatoes this way. It is quick and no peeling and we get to use some fresh thyme from the garden. Par-boil the potatoes until almost tender. Place in a roasting tray, crush each slightly with the back of a fork. Drizzle oil to coat generously, add a bunch of chopped thyme and some sea salt. Mix it all up with your hands to make sure the potatoes are well-covered. Put in a hot oven until they go nice and brown.