Sydney Seafood School: a South American cooking adventure

Sydney Seafood School provides participants with the opportunity to learn new skills, taste different flavours and most of all have a bit of fun. I’ve been teaching at Sydney Seafood School for almost 20 years. Started to demystify seafood cooking for customers of Sydney Fishmarket, it is now a popular venue with all manner of guest chefs, food writers, celebrities and seafood demonstrators giving classes. I love face-to-face teaching. It keeps you real and the Seafood School is perfectly set up for this with a demonstration auditorium, spacious hands-on kitchen and dining room for clients to eat the fruits of their labour. I only teach three hour food and wine matching workshops, usually focussing on a different cuisine.

South American seafood
Each time I teach these classes I develop new recipes and work with different ingredients, especially different types of seafood, different cuts, whole fish and fillets and different techniques. Coming up on the 5^th of June I have a completely new class South American seafood and wine matching workshop. South American food is so NOW,  brightly coloured, a blend of culinary techniques and until recently relatively neglected.  So I set about researching and worked on developing some different recipes with authentic flavours but with a little of my trademark simplicity.

Things to consider when developing recipes
A priority is always seasonality, both in terms of seafood and other fresh produce. This makes sense from a flavour and financial point of view.  Then  I always consider using different cooking techniques, to facilitate using a range of skills and showing the variety of methods used in a particular cuisine.  Finally I like to use a mix of different types of seafood, using the opportunity to show something whole before cleaning and preparing it for cooking. With these recipes I tried to incorporate authentic South American flavours, remembering that sharing food is a very social event: about celebrating, enjoying food with friends and family. So the recipes must be fun, achievable and taste great. These is what I finally chose:

Ceviche
Ceviche is typical of the area and was a must.  The fish is marinated in lime juice, which changes the protein to 'cook' it until it becomes opaque and softens. While keeping to the traditional method of making ceviche, I wanted to make it pretty to serve and so added some salad ingredients. The combination of the cucumber, radishes and red onion give it crunch in contrast to the soft fish. 

Churrasco prawns with aji sauce
This dish is often served with a Chimichurri sauce, but when I preferred to make the less well-known Peruvian Aji sauce. This is a sweet onion and jalapeno combination, a sweet and spicy combination which brings the prawns to life.

Moqueca with mussels and clams (pictured above)
Moqueca is a Brazilian coconut stew, usually made with white fish. However, I decided to use shellfish as well, all of it only taking 2-3 minutes.

Tuna empanadas
Empanadas tend to made of meat, but because I love them I wanted to do a seafood version. I chose tuna for flavour but I found my first attempt a bit dry, especially when coupled with puff pastry. I tweaked the recipe, increasing the roma tomatoes and adding some cream cheese (surprisingly quite authentic) giving it a richer finish. I also used shortcrust pastry.  Left-over Aje sauce went well too.If you are feeling inspired by these ideas, why not come down and join me at Sydney Seafood School on 5^th June 2013. It will be a bit of fun.

Click here for more information.

The Bridge Room’s Pyengana Cheddar custard

I was thrilled to be invited to the Bridge Room for the announcement of the 2013 Australian GrandDairy Awards late last year.  Ross Lusted, Chef and co-owner and his lovely wife Sunny, General Manager and co-owner have been overseas far too long, albeit opening many Aman resorts. Both have had stellar careers and one mouthful of Ross’s food, served with Sunny’s stylish supervision and I remembered why I had always enjoyed his food all those years ago at the original Rockpool and the Park Hyatt’s harbourkitchenbar. 

 

Their newish venture with The Fink Group, The  Bridge Room, is a pared-back but appealing space, warm with the use of wood,  in a low-rise 1030s heritage listed building on the corner of Bridge and Young Streets.  Ross created a menu to showcase the award winners. He shared his recipe for  Pyengana Cheddar custard with me. Pyengana Cheddar which was named 2013 Australian Grand Dairy Champion in the cheddar-style cheese category.  In a strange twist, I learned from a recently discovered relation, that the cheesemaker and manager of the factory  in 1905, Thomas James Molphy married into my mother’s family. I knew there was a reason I loved cheese!

 

Scroll down for Ross’s recipe. 

 

Nearly 400 Australian cheese and dairy products were judged by a panel of 21 expert judges accordingly to the industry standard criteria: flavour and aroma, body and texture, and colour and appearance.

 

Other notable Australian Grand Dairy Award winners were:

• That’s Amore Cheese’s Cuore Blu Burrata – awarded Champion Fresh Unripened Cheese.  Owner Giorgio has only been making his delectable range of fresh Italian style cheeses for two years.  Not only he is a talented cheesemaker, but he starred last year at the Good Food & Wine Shows’ Cheese Alley which I co-ordinated,  on the masterclass stage demonstrating stretched curd to an enthralled audience.
• Paradise Beach’s Pesto Swirl Dip was awarded Champion Dairy Dip.  This is only one of owner Steve’s luscious dips, make just north of Sydney using premium Australian ingredients.  Steve also makes pita bits, perfect with his dips!

Look out for these and more Australian Grand Dairy medallists at your favourite gourmet food retailers.

Pyengana Cheddar custard, hazelnuts, muscatels and saba

Makes: 12 x 50g custards

500ml cream

40ml milk
100g Pyengana Cheddar, grated
2 leaves gelatin
 
Garnish
24 hazelnuts, roasted and peeled
100g Miche, roasted and finely ground (method below)
24 dried muscatels
100g Pyengana Cheddar
Saba (concentrated grape juice syrup)

To make the Miche crumbs, peel the crust from day old Miche, place the chopped bread into a food processor and pulse the bread to form breadcrumbs. Once the crumbs are formed in the processor add 20ml olive oil and a little salt, pulse again until combined. Remove the crumbs from the machine and lay out evenly on a baking tray. Bake in a preheated oven at 170⁰C for approximately 8 minutes or until the crumbs are brown.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Once cooled return the crumbs to the processor and pulse again quickly to create a very fine crumb. These crumbs will keep in an airtight container for a couple of days.

To make the custards, combine cream and milk in a heavy based saucepan and heat to 72⁰C.  Remove from the heat and stir in the grated Pyengana Cheddar. Add the gelatin leaves that have been soaked in cold water to soften. Season with salt and pepper. Strain the mixture through a fine strainer. Pour the strained mixture into individual molds and refrigerate for approximately two hours.

To serve, with a hot spoon scoop the custards out of the molds and place in the center of a cold plate. Dust with toasted miche crumbs, grate roasted hazelnuts over the custard and finally grate some more cheddar to finish, serve with dried muscatels and a drizzle of Saba.

Lyndey’s Note: Miche is a type of sourdough bread which is large, round, rustic and flat.

Christmas ham - tips and tricks

With Christmas upon us, locations, numbers and menus are being decided for the all-important Christmas feast in households everywhere. One dish that will feature on the menu in many homes is the ham. 

Hams can be bought at varying prices and the difference between the supermarket soccer ball ham and the more expensive hams can be hard to understand. When choosing a ham for Christmas, there are many variables which impact on the taste and quality of the ham. No two legs are the same and there are seasonal changes in the flavour of the pork. Interestingly pigs feel the heat as much as we do and do not eat as much in the middle of the summer. Fortunately, the pork needed for hams is produced well before this.

There are various ways to transform a leg or piece of pork into a ham and the good news is there’s a size and shape to suit almost everyone. The more commercial producers may inject the brine and then tumble the hams to reduce the curing process to as little as 12 to 24 hours and increase the weight but as with all things there are traditionalists such as Pino Tomini Foresti and his wife Pia, owners of Pino’s Smallgoods at 45 President Avenue, Kogarah in Sydney’s south.

Pino with one of his magnificent hams

Pino’s family has been making ham for seven generations and supplying the Australian market since his arrival here from Italy in 1973. Pino uses only Australian hams that take ten days to prepare. Pino takes great care in the preparation of his hams, using no additives, which he claims makes his hams safe for pregnant women to consume and chooses legs with a good amount of fat covering. He produces a ham which is a cross between the English and drier Italian style, brining it for 8 to 10 days. Then, they are baked and smoked for 16 to 24 hours using his secret combination of woodchips and seasonal herbs such as rosemary, sage or fennel.

Pino makes hams in every size from a 1.3k mini up to a 12kg whole ham on the bone. A visit to his store is like visiting a meat and smallgoods Nirvana with a fabulous cooking school attached. It is well worth a foodie excursion.

Pino's curing room

I have always been a fan of whole leg ham on the bone, especially at Christmas or to entertain a crowd. For me a good quality ham should have a flavour balance between sweet and salty, not taste chemical, be moist but not wet and not be stringy or smell porky. It is important to remember that all legs are different and colour may vary between different muscles however the ham should have mostly all the same flavour.

Glazing a ham really makes it very, very special and keeps hordes happy. There are a few tried and true guidelines that I always follow for a fail proof ham at Christmas.

1.  Choose the best quality ham you can afford. In addition to using the tips I have given you above and doing a little more research, look out for the Australian Pork logo. Any ham on the bone is sure to be Australian but for boneless ham, you need to check.

 
Andrew Spencer, CEO of Australian Pork, stipulates we need to support Australian pork farmers stating “more than 70% of Australia's processed pork products (ham, bacon and smallgoods) have been produced from cheap, subsidised imported pork."  

2.  To remove the skin from the ham, place in a warm oven (160°C fan-forced) for 20 minutes. Cut through the skin about 10cm from the shank end of the leg. Run your thumb around the edge of the rind just under the skin and start pulling from the widest edge of ham and continue to pull carefully away from the fat up to the cut. Remove completely.  

3.  Using a sharp knife, score across the fat at about 3cm intervals, cutting just through the surface of the top fat. Do not cut too deeply or the fat will spread apart during cooking. Score in the opposite direction to form a diamond pattern.

4.  Brush your favourite glaze recipe (mine contains honey, mustard, dry sherry, soy sauce and brown sugar) over the ham (i stud mine with cloves) and bake in the oven for 45-60 minutes at 180°C (160°C fan-forced) or until golden brown, basting every 15 minutes.

5.  Serve warm or cold with your favourite condiments and accompaniments.

Learn more of my tips and tricks for a high impress and low stress Christmas on the Lifestyle FOOD channel this December. I have all of your needs covered for both a traditional Christmas feast and one with a more contemporary flair.

For my traditional Christmas tips, Lyndey’s Cracking Christmas will be airing on Lifestyle FOOD on December 10th at 8:30pm and the contemporary Christmas special on December 17th at 8:30pm, with repeats throughout each week. 

Lyndey’s Cracking Christmas viewing times

LifeStyle FOOD Australia
Traditional episode times
Monday 10 December at 8:30pm
Monday, 10 December at 11.30pm
Wednesday 12 December at 8.30am and 4.30pm
Saturday 15 December at 6.30pm
Sunday 16 December at 11.30pm
Monday 24 December at 3pm
Modern episode timesMonday 17 December at 8:30pm
Monday, 17 December at 11.30pm
Tuesday, 18 December at 8.30am and 4.30pm
Saturday, 22 December at 6.30pm
Sunday, 23 December at 11.30pm
Monday 24 December at 3.30pm

 

Food TV, New Zealand
Traditional episode times Wednesday 12 December 1pm, 5pm & 9pm
Modern episode times Wednesday 17 December at 1pm, 5pm & 9pm

 

Australia Network
Traditional episode time Monday 24 December at 5:30pm (Hong Kong time)
Modern episode time Tuesday 25 December at 5:30pm (Hong Kong time)

It is love … a three course romantic dinner in 30 minutes

I prepared this simple, yet impressive three course romantic dinner on the Kerri Anne show on the 9 Network last Thursday. To quote a cliché: minimum effort for maximum effect. 

Easy is a word that best sums up this menu. The ingredients are easy to source, the recipes are easy to follow, all three courses are easy to eat and, last but not least (another cliché) the food is easy on the stomach. Oh, and easy on the eye too.

Oysters natural, served on the shell, is the first course. They should be freshly shucked. If you are unsure about shucking oysters, ask your fishmonger to release the hinge, but keep the top of the oyster attached. Why would anyone forgo the delicious liquor inside? The oysters are served simply with a squeeze of lemon and freshly ground black pepper. 

For mains, beautiful fillets of Regal King Salmon are wrapped in prosciutto and simply baked with asparagus spears.  Eight minutes in the oven and you are ready to serve.  

Dessert takes minutes too. Top seasonal fruit – I love a mixture of blueberries and raspberries – with light sour cream or crème fraîche, sprinkle with dark brown sugar and grill or blowtorch until golden and bubbling. Serve with a crisp biscuit or wafer.

Dinner is served.

Click on the links below for the recipes.
Oysters Natural
Regal Salmon with proscuitto and asparagus
Cheat's berry brulee


Happy Valentine’s Day.

Australian Pork masterclass

Back in October I blogged about how you could win with Australian Pork.

Even though everyone wins when eating or cooking with Australian Pork, one lucky taste.com.au reader, Fotini Starvridis, was a triple winner. She won a pork masterclass, a Brilliant Cut Knife and my three latest books: Just Add Spice, Lyndey Milan’s Best Collection and Balance. Matching Food and Wine, What Works and Why.

The pork masterclass was held a couple of weeks ago. Fotini and I had a lovely time getting to know each other while delighting in lots of porky goodness.

Prior to the masterclass, Fotini nominated roast pork (with crackling) and pork larb as two recipes she would like to cook with me. I added char siew and pork belly to bring the number of pork recipes to four and to demonstrate different cuts and cooking methods.

First up, we cooked Glass Crackling Pork Belly, adapted from a recipe by chef Michael Moore.

Glass Crackling Pork Belly

Click here for the Glass Crackling Pork Belly recipe. When you make this recipe, plan ahead as the rind (crackle) really benefits from two hours pre-salting to reduce moisture and ensure the resultant crackle is ‘glass-like’. I know the method is fairly lengthy (salting and then marinating), but I recommend you follow all the steps to achieve excellent crackle and tender meat, ever so lightly scented with Chinese five spice.

Next up we cooked the perennial Chinese favourite, Char Siew Pork which we later served with noodles and vegetables.

Char Siew Pork just out of the oven

I have been cooking this recipe for many years. The taste, texture and flavour belie the effortless method and store cupboard ingredients. Char Siew Pork is so versatile – we served it warm with noodles and baby bok choy but it is equally delicious the next day served cold, sliced with salad greens and a dash of chilli soy dressing. Cook it now to celebrate Chinese New Year!

Char Siew Pork with noodles and bok choy

Click here for the recipe on my main site.
The celebratory pork rack was next. We cooked Gingered Pork Rack, a recipe from Just Add Spice. This is a great dinner party recipe that can be prepared and cooked in under an hour. The 1kg rack (perfect for four serves) is roasted and while it rests, the sauce comes together in the pan juices with the addition of ginger, cinnamon, marmalade, orange segments and my favourite Indonesian soy sauce, Kecap Manis.

We served the Gingered Pork Rack with roasted potatoes and broccolini in a pool of the gingery orange sauce.

Gingered Rack of Pork

Click here for the recipe on my main site.

The last recipe of the day was one I cooked on my Brilliant Cut Knife dvd, Pork Larb, the ten minute wonder!

There are quite a few ingredients, but all are pretty easy to find at your local fruit and vegetable shop or Asian grocery store. The sweetness of the pork mince is the perfect carrier for these strong Asian flavours. For a more substantial dish, you can add reconstituted rice stick noodles, but don’t substitute the lettuce cups – they are the perfect serving vessel.

Click here for the recipe on my main site.

The golden rules of freezing

As I’m often asked about freezing I thought it was high time I posted a summary of the tips and tricks I’ve picked up over many years cooking and eating.

Why freeze?
~ Freezing will preserve flavour, colour, texture and nutritional value as long as foods are frozen frozen fresh and in good condition
~ Great way to store leftovers and avoid waste
~ Out-of-season produce is available all year
~ Food bacteria stops growing (note: freezing won’t kill bacteria but does stop it growing)
~ Partial freezing of meat or fish makes it easier to slice, eg carpaccio

Why not?
~ Organisation is required for defrosting; frozen food normally stored in the fridge should be defrosted in the fridge
~ Some foods will spoil, eg food with high salt like ham or high sugar like jam can be watery when defrosted

What should I freeze?
~ Liquid based dishes – such as stock, soup, sauces and casseroles
~ Berries – such as strawberries (place in a single layer on a baking tray to open freeze, when frozen transfer to container and return to freezer)
~ Muffins, cakes and slices – double wrap (plastic and foil) and store in a plastic bag
~ Egg whites – try individually in an ice-cube tray
~ Meat – remove from butcher’s packing and wrap portions separately in plastic wrap
~ Mince – in a plastic bag and flattened to allow for even defrosting
~ Nuts – stops them becoming rancid
~ Ice-cream – cover surface with plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn
~ Pastry – make sure it is well wrapped

The sweetest thing

I start every day with fresh seasonal fruit and while I love winter vegies, find fruit choices much more limited during this season. However, surprisingly this is the best time of year for a tropical fruit – luscious sweet pineapples.

Pineapples are a super food, high in vitamin C and low in sugar. In fact just one cup of pineapple provides the daily recommended dose of vitamin C. To my mind, eating pineapple beats taking cold and flu medicine.

When selecting pineapples, look for fruit that is free from soft spots, bruises and darkened eyes, all indicating the fruit is past its prime. While pineapples will happily sit in the fruit basket for a couple of days, after skinning and slicing you should store in the fridge for up to 6 days.

I enjoy pineapple in savoury dishes – think Asian-style pork belly or filet with chilli pineapple salsa or red duck curry with pineapple –as well as sweet treats like this dessert style cake from my recently released cookbook Just Add Spice [http://www.lyndeymilan.com/books/books.php]. The flavour is intriguing because it contains quatre epices – a seductive blend of cinnamon, allspice, cloves and black pepper which provides an interesting, complement to the sweetness of the pineapple.

Here is a link to the recipe on my main site.

Chicken & tarragon pie in 30 minutes

Winter is all about comfort food – not the we always have time on our side. This pie, however, doesn’t take that long, pleases adults and children alike and is smart enough for a midweek dinner party.

I love the classic French combination of chicken and tarragon and have further highlighted the aniseed flavour by including fennel (in season now!) in the filling and finishing the tart off with a sprinkle of fennel seeds for crunch, aroma and, of course, flavour.

A quick word on the chicken – I’m a fan of thighs for their meatiness and flavour, however breasts can easily be substituted, just be careful you don’t overcook them.

The pie is topped with filo, instead of traditional puff pastry. I like filo because it is easy to work with, quick, incredibly forgiving … and always in my freezer.

I’ve made one big family-style pie, but the recipes work equally well as individual pies cooked in ramekins – these can be topped with filo or circles of puff pastry.

Here is a link to the recipe on my main site.

My ultimate four cheese macaroni

Comfort food, is comfort food, is comfort food. I can’t say I ever really liked macaroni cheese – until I played around and made an indulgent one. I love using different cheeses and the combination of ricotta, sharp cheddar, gruyere and parmesan is a firm favourite. While the success of this recipe depends on the choice of cheeses, feel free to mix it up. Next I’m going to try a mild blue cheese with mozzarella and ricotta.

The other reason I love this recipe is that you don’t need to make a béchamel or white sauce; ricotta is an ideal replacement to bind everything together in combination with a beaten egg. In this version I’ve also used a sharp, mature cheddar for flavour and bite, parmesan for a salty punch and a gruyere style (Australian is available) for delightful melting qualities and rich, nutty flavour.

One of the other delights is the crunchy topping – a combination of prosciutto, more (!) cheese and fresh breadcrumbs baked until golden – the perfect cover for the creamy cheese lurking below.

Here is a link to the recipe on my main site.

My Brilliant Cut Knife makes easy work of chicken larb on Kerrie-Ann

This morning I appeared on Kerrie-Ann (Nine Network – weekdays from 9am) as I usually do on a Thursday morning, and cooked one of my favourite fast and fabulous recipes, Chicken larb with rice noodles.

Using my Brilliant Cut Knife makes this recipe extra speedy! The fine blade (a unique alloy of diamonds, silver, ceramic and titanium) makes easy work of the fine chopping involved – garlic, ginger, chilli and kaffir lime leaves – all done in a flash!

Larb is a Laotian dish that found its way to northern Thailand and is now loved across Thailand and, in fact Australia. It is a salad of finely chopped or minced meat or fish cooked gently with aromatics and mixed with a fragrant dressing. While the dressing has lots of variations, the core ingredients are fish sauce, lime juice and lots of fresh herbs such as coriander and mint. I like to include basil too, and slicing basil leaves into a chiffonnade couldn’t be easier with the Brilliant Cut Knife plus the leaves won’t oxidise and discolour because the blade doesn’t contain steel.

Larb can be served a number of ways. I like to place a spoonful in a lettuce cup (baby cos are good), roll up and eat with my fingers. Another way to serve it is over rice or rice noodles. Both are good. 

On Kerrie-Ann today I served it over rice noodles

   

  I think Kerrie-Ann and Jamie liked it!

Here is a link to the recipe on my main site.
Here is some more information about my Brilliant Cut Knife

Diamonds really are a girl’s best friend

I am very excited to announce that my Brilliant Cut Knife has arrived!

This is the first time in my 25 year career in the food industry that I’ve put my name to a product. However after testing this knife and working with the Forever Knives’ developers and designers for over 12 months, I couldn’t say no. I love it.

First of all, it hardly ever needs sharpening. According to world leading testing organisation CATRA (UK) the blade will hold its cutting edge up to 45 times longer than steel. Impressive. The more so because so many of us just don’t know how to sharpen knives properly. My pet hate is trying to work in someone else’s kitchen without a decent sharp knife. This one is so versatile, it can suit all your needs.

Back to the cutting edge, the blade is made of a unique alloy – also a world-first – that combines diamonds, silver, ceramic and titanium:

DIAMONDS a world-first for incredible performance and durability
SILVER with unique anti-bacterial properties for good health
CERAMIC for sharpness and holding the cutting edge for a very long time
TITANIUM is corrosion resistant, flexible and lightweight to reduce fatigue

The other things I love include:
 it is lightweight and perfectly balanced, hence comfortable for long periods in the kitchen or for those who find chefs’ knives too heavy
 it is dishwasher safe
 the blade is sharp, durable and flexible and can tackle all kitchen jobs such as slicing, chopping, shredding and dicing with ease and precision – this means no “crying” when cutting onions
 because there is no steel and no oxidation, you can cut lettuce and basil and there is no discolouration!

The Brilliant Cut Knife will be making its debut at the Sydney Good Food & Wine Show, 16-18 July, Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour. I’ll be demonstrating the knife at the Forever Knives stand (i40) on the hour, each hour. The show times are:

Friday 16 July 10am-6pm
Saturday 17 July 10am-6pm
Sunday 18 July 10am-5pm

The knife will retail at the show at the introductory price of $199 (though the RRP is $249.00) inc GST including a special sharpener for fool-proof sharpening when it does finally need it.

**As a special limited offer Sydney Good Food & Wine Show purchasers will receive a FREE 52 minute DVD featuring five of my favourite fast and fabulous recipes with step-by-step instructions plus lots of handy knife tips and tricks, normally valued at $29.95.**

Click here for more information about the Brilliant Cut Knife
Click here for online sales at Forever Knives

The King of Salmon

On a recent trip to New Zealand I tasted New Zealand King Salmon and to my delight have discovered that not only is King Salmon (also known as Regal Salmon) the salmon of choice for many top restaurants but it has recently hit the Sydney Fish Market’s auction floor and is available at de Costi, Aldi, IGA stores in NSW, Victoria and Queensland as well as specialist food shops and fishmongers.

Comparable in price to local salmon, it is higher in healthy Omega-3 fat which makes it difficult to overcook and has vitamins and minerals that promote good health. Fantastic as sashimi, it is available year round as whole and portioned fish, cold smoked, wood roasted and as dips and caviar. It has clean, green credentials being grown in the remote pristine waters of the Marlborough Sounds in the South Island of New Zealand without any chemicals or medicines.

Back to my trip … we were taken on a fascinating tour of the farm and my overriding thoughts were pristine and pure. The farm is compliant to robust environmental regulatory framework and is the only salmon producing region with no antibiotics. Further, pesticides or sea lice treatments are not used and there is a pressurised water system to clean the nets rather than anti-foulant paint.

When I looked at the whole fish the fins and tails were not clubbed, this is a sign of low intensity production – these fish are free to swim around with no overcrowding. Predators, principally seals, are not treated lethally but kept out with caging and the like rather than shooting.

Slow cooking rules

As the seasons change here in Sydney I’ve been taking a more relaxed and slow approach to cooking.

Not only is slow cooking a great way to transform secondary cuts and even roasts into delicious meals, but the prep time is minimal – it really is set and forget cooking.

I don’t have a slow cooker, however I know these are very popular. I simmer on the top of the stove, braise in the oven or use a pressure cooker.

Whatever you want to call the results of slow cooking – hotpot, casserole, stew or daube – the principle remains the same. It’s all about combining meat, vegetables, liquid and seasonings in a single pot – which also means less washing up! These dishes also freeze well but cool first before placing in the freezer.

Here are my top tips:

1.  Use a secondary, and therefore less expensive cut of meat. These cuts have more flavour but would be tough if cooked quickly. Long slow cooking allows the connective tissue to break down without the meat disintegrating, giving a wonderfully succulent and flavoursome result.


Beef – chuck steak, gravy beef (boneless shin), blade
Veal – osso bucco, breast
Lamb – boneless shoulder, boneless forequarter, shanks, neck chops
Pork – boneless shoulder, neck
Chicken – pieces on the bone are best, doesn’t need such long cooking


2.  For flavour and colour, brown the meat in small batches in the stockpot first. Either toss the meat in flour first, or sprinkle flour over afterwards if you are cooking a lot and be sure to brown for colour and to cook out the floury taste.

3.  Don’t overcrowd the meat when browning or it will stew in its own juices and toughen.

4.  Cut meat and vegetables into similar-sized pieces to ensure even cooking. Add quick cooking ingredients like mushrooms towards the end of cooking.

5.  Choose the right size stockpot or casserole to cook in. Too small and the liquid may overflow, too large and the liquid can evaporate too much. Choose a stockpot or casserole dish which will be about ¾ full at the beginning of the cooking process.

6.  Ensure your pot has a tight fitting lid so that too much liquid doesn’t evaporate. If unsure, tie some baking paper over the top of the pot with string and then put the lid on. Alternatively for very long, slow cooking, you can make a flour and water paste to seal the lid to the pot.

One of my favourite recent recipes is Slow Cooked Beef in Guinness – something magical happens when you combine dark beer and beef, however don’t forget the tomato paste, it is essential to add sweetness and counteract the bitterness of the beer.

Here is a link to the recipe on my main site.

Enjoy!

Meaty issues

I did a segment on Mornings with Kerri-Anne on Monday 5 April about cooking mistakes and it prompted me to put together a quick checklist specifically about cooking with meat. Here it is:


Room temperature is best
If time allows, always remove meat from the fridge 15 to 30 minutes prior to cooking. This will avoid uneven cooking – overdone on the outside and raw in the middle. It will also avoid having to adjust cooking times.

Starting with a hot pan
Pale, blonde-looking meat is not only unattractive but the taste suffers too. The best way to maximise flavour and obtain an aesthetically appealing dish is to heat your pan well before adding oil or fat and finally meat, fish or poultry. That sizzle sound is good. This will also avoid food that sticks.

A meat thermometer takes out the guesswork
When dealing with a large roast, by all means calculate the cooking time based on weight, however inserting a meat thermometer into the thickest part is the easiest way to avoid under or over cooking. A meat thermometer is a small investment to make when seeking a perfectly roast chicken or medium-rare beef roast. Some ovens come standard with a digital probe, however it is just as easy to pick a thermometer up from a kitchen supplies shop.

Don't turn, turn, turn meat, fish or poultry too often when cooking
It is very important to leave food alone when cooking, particularly when grilling and especially when barbequing. You want your piece of meat, fish or poultry to develop a crust on one side before you turn it. How do you know its time to turn? Your spatula or tongs will slide easily underneath the meat and the crust will stick to the meat not the pan. This is true for both regular and non-stick pans.

Give it a rest
Depending on size, all meat should be rested from 5 minutes (a chicken breast) to 30 minutes (a whole bird or a standing beef rib roast). Or as a guide rest it for half the cooking time. When you remove the meat from the oven ‘tent’ it with foil to keep it warm and set aside to allow the juices, which migrate in the centre of the meat, to distribute throughout. This applies for both expensive and inexpensive cuts. Now you can turn up the oven to brown the potatoes or cook the Yorkshire pudding, as well as transfer the roasting dish to the stovetop and turn the pan juices into gravy.

Season season season
Recipes will often say ‘season to taste’. Learn to use your palate and remember that while under-seasoning may ruin your carefully constructed dish, it can be corrected, over-seasoning for the most part, cannot. Proceed with caution and taste, taste and taste again. It’s always best to season during the cooking rather than adding afterwards, except for something like a risotto where you are adding stock, as some stock can be quite salty.

Boiling when you should be simmering
You cannot fast-track slow cooking by excessive boiling. It doesn’t work that way. You will end up with a tough, dry dish. Simmering is when a bubble breaks the surface every second or two and boiling is a more vigorous bubble. They are not interchangeable.

Read the recipe
Some recipes do not include cooking and preparation times in the method. To avoid serving meat that should have braised for three hours to guests arriving in one hour, read the recipe from beginning to end to calculate preparation and cooking times. Some recipes will even sneak another ingredient into the method that wasn’t listed in the original list. If it is an ingredient you don’t have and you don’t have time to shop, this may ruin your carefully planned dinner. Be vigilant!

Speaking of meaty issues, I recently did four short videos for MLA on roasting beef. Click on the links for some great winter roast beef ideas:


Standing rib roast
Slow roast
Beef rump
Beef eye round roast