Chicken Story 1 - Wild Chook Run

Up until last week, there was no sympathy in my kitchen for the provision we humans know as “chicken”. It was prohibited from my table. Why, you may ask? Because it is unexciting, ordinary and I am appalled by the manner it is reared for commercial consumption. And as a young boy, I ate the fore mentioned fowl too many times. Boring! Yuk! Gross!
Yet, I often read in the work of well-known English food writers, of how lovely the bird is to roast and eat. I have attempted it. Who hasn’t? Is there anyone in this world who hasn’t roasted a chicken? My roast chickens have always been edible but of bland flavour and disappointing texture. I suppose they are okay, but never extraordinary as described by Nigella Lawson, Simon Hopkinson and Nigel Slater. My attempts have not been worth writing about. According to the culinary grapevine one must chose his bird wisely- corn fed, free range or organic. So, being an interested gourmet, I decided to go on a wild goose, I mean chicken, chase…

On a particular shopping trip to the supermarket, I discovered a raw and packaged chicken labeled “corn fed”. Golden, and at a weight of 1.2 kilos, it was a perfect feast for two. It appeared authentic. Into the shopping basket it went, to be roasted that evening. Whilst I waited in line to pay for my selected items, I became bored (as one does in queues). As I reached for the nearest issue of “Gourmet Traveler” magazine, I become aware of a listing of ingredients on the avian creature. It read, upon other things- 89% chicken. Now, I am not a mathematical genius but what was the other 11% (132 grams of foreign matter, to be precise)? Maybe it was yellow food dye? Or perhaps the bird was diseased, and it was hepatitis vaccination fluid? That would explain the yellow colouring. At that moment I became rather alarmed and ran, in a state of terror back to the chicken section, to dispose of the jaundiced beast.

Since the supermarket incident I have experimented with free-range specimens and organic varieties. All have been okay, but nothing to write about. I was beginning to think that maybe English chickens are more genetically advanced than their Australian cousins. Until my discovery last week, that is. There is a stall at Prahran Market in Melbourne, which specializes in game birds. I mentioned previously of those qualities, which are thought to promise a superior bird- corn fed, free range or organic. Now until this time I had never come across a chicken, which was all three. This particular stall happens to trade poultry which possess all three attributes, and what a splendid surprise these chickens are. It is difficult to express their taste in words. Simply, the pale flesh is sweet and rich, with a firm but tender, luscious texture. This bird is so very delicious.

Spatchcock and roast the fine hen at a high temperature, smothered with an enormous amount of excellent butter. Add to the butter, lemon- both juice and zest. Include small amounts of garlic, tarragon and thyme, too. Serve the glorious bird with the natural “jus gras” from the baking pan and of course, the essential roasted vegetables. Carrots, fennel, mushrooms, pickling onions, King Edward potatoes, cherry tomatoes and turnips all work well. This is truly a feast for the gods. At last the ban has been lifted.

Ice Queen

I had every intention of writing today. However I am keeping my narrative short because of the extreme weather conditions here, my fingers are ice covered and I can no longer type…
As I sip a glass of red wine, Mike is preparing a roast loin of pork, stuffed with porcini, garlic and rosemary. Ideally, I would have preferred it full with Australian black winter truffles, but alas our supplier has not delivered the merchandise. He assures me, via email, the prized black diamonds of the earth will be obtainable next week.
Besides I should not whine, Mike bought me a fur jacket (upon my request) to keep me warm from the Antarctic freeze, yesterday (pictured right). I am sure our feast will be as exquisite as the jacket. I am so very spoilt…

Polenta, Hazelnut, Walnut and Mandarin Cake

Last month, I decided to host a birthday feast for a precious friend of mine. This is a rather novel occasion for a person such as myself as I do not usually have company and when I do so, my parties tend to be of an informal nature. But for this episode, I wanted to impress my dearly loved comrade- it was his birthday after all.
So the for the first installment, I decided upon homemade pumpkin and white truffle ravioli, served in a crystal clear beef consommé. Twice-cooked duck followed the first course. The fowl was first poached in a red wine stock, glazed with sugar and balsamic vinegar and roasted. The result was crispy bronzed duck, served with a red wine jus and cumin roasted carrots. Very chic. To close the palate, the main dish was followed by a cold, cannellini bean, coriander leaf and lemon salad. For dessert I created my own cake for the occasion. No cookbook formulas or recipes, just my imagination and personal performance. Uncomplicated and triumphant, it consisted of polenta, nuts and mandarin. The birthday cake was served with cointreau infused Crème Chantilly.
Now, you may be thinking “How remarkable!” The only problem is that by the time the guests had arrived I was ready to overdose on Valium, jump off my balcony, or simply run far, far away and never return (probably to a mental institution). I am not used to cooking for a crowd, only for two people. Or three at the most. And entertaining a stylish three course meal was just too much for my pretty little head.
The moral of the story is: I will never host a dinner party ever again in my life. Luckily, my sane and levelheaded partner saved the night, simply by throwing me out of my kitchen and taking control!
Once again, thank you for saving me, I love you Mike.

Ingredients
225g cultured unsalted butter
225g caster sugar
110g ground hazelnuts
110g ground walnuts
1 vanilla pod, seeds only
3 free range eggs, lightly beaten
Juice from ½ mandarin
Zest from 1 mandarin
115g yellow polenta
5g baking powder
pinch sea salt

Method
Remove the butter from the fridge and leave it at room temperature to soften.
Preheat the oven to 160C.
Cream the softened butter, sugar and vanilla seeds until fluffy.
Add the nuts and eggs in an alternating fashion.
Mix in the zest, juice, polenta, baking powder and sea salt.
Spoon the cake mixture into a paper lined, greased and floured round cake tin (1.3 litre capacity). I did not keep in mind the amount of time the cake took to set- I was performing other traumatic dinner party tasks at the same time. I am guessing it ought to take about 30 minutes to bake to an appealing golden brown.
Dust with icing sugar & serve with cointreau flavoured Crème Chantilly.
You should get about 4- 6 slices from this quantity. It all depends on how gluttonous you are!

PS. Happy Birthday Glenn.

Mushroom, Sausage Meatballs and Potato Gnocchi

Australia does have a winter, and it has finally arrived. It is currently 9am and 8C, here in the metropolis of Melbourne, Australia. It is glacial! Well not quite arctic, but it is bloody cold! Citizens from other countries imagine that Australia is a tropical paradise with kangaroos hopping about in our backyards. I blame the Australian tourism industry for selling such a bullshit image of my charming country to the rest of humankind. Yes it is true, that Northern Australia is a steamy territory, but here in the southern state of Victoria and Tasmania, we definitely experience the four seasons.
Anyway, for today’s recipe I have chosen a true winters day dish. Well actually my partner in life and food blogging chose the subject for me. You see he decided to write of his grandly successful gnocchi yesterday, and as I made the sauce for those delicate little potato pillows, I have no choice now but to write about my delectable accompaniment. Thank you Mikey! I would also like to mention that Mike has an innate gift for producing superior homemade pasta of all types- tagliatelle, tagliarini, ravioli and gnocchi. For an individual who did not grow up eating home produced pasta (Mike is of Russian descent), he is doing very well indeed. I guess he has a wonderful instructor (myself!).
I must warn you- this is very rich. I would only make this dish for a chilly winters evening and then enjoy it in small quantities.

Ingredients
50g unsalted cultured butter
50ml extra virgin olive oil
50g pancetta lardons
15 small Swiss Brown mushrooms, halved
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 red onion, thinly sliced
300g pork and fennel seed sausage meat
150ml meat stock
200ml porcini stock
200g Béchamel sauce
1 tsp white truffle oil
Grana Padana cheese, finely grated
Fresh black pepper
Freshly grated parsley
1 quantity Mikey’s gnocchi

Method
Over a low heat, gently cook the pancetta, mushrooms and garlic in half the butter and oil, for 20 minutes. The mushrooms and pancetta should brown lightly.
In a separate pan melt the remaining butter and oil and caramelize the onion slices for about 30 minutes, over a low heat.
Whilst the onions are gilding, roll the sausage meat into little balls, the same size as the gnocchi.
Once the onions are done add them to the pan containing the mushrooms.
Brown the sausage meatballs in the remaining fat used to fry the onion.
Add the browned meatballs to the mushrooms.
Deglaze the pan used to brown the onions and meatballs, with the meat stock.
Add the reduced meat stock and porcini stock to the mushrooms, onion and meatballs. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Mix the teaspoon of truffle oil into the béchamel sauce.
Turn the oven to the highest temperature.
Gently mix the gnocchi with the mushroom and meatball sauce.
Place into a baking dish and dot with the truffle scented béchamel sauce.
Drizzle over with grated Grana cheese.
Bake in the oven until the dish is a lightly golden brown, about 10 minutes. Scatter with chopped parsley and black pepper. Eat at once. Serves 4.

Mikey's Gnocchi

This is my first food post! And what did I decide to do? Gnocchi. Something easy. Simple. Yet intriguing. After looking through various cooking books and seeking words of wisdom from my partner, I settled on a recipe based from “Made in Italy” by Giorgio Locatelli.
And they worked! Not perfectly shaped cookie cutter, mirror images of one gnocchi after another but a huge number of individuals. Like us. My better half tells me that gnocchi in Italian means “little lumps” and mine certainly were! But what lovely soft delicate lumps they were.

Ingredients
500g Desiree potato
1 egg
160g flour tipo 00
Pinch of salt.
Pinch of ground nutmeg

Method
Pack the unpeeled potatoes into a steamer and steam for about 30 minutes. They are done when a skewer slides easily into the potato. They should be tender. Do not over cook the potato, otherwise they will become water logged and you may as well start again.
Remove the potatoes from the heat and peel them using your fingers. Please be careful as they are hot. The Gourmand may have cast iron hands, I do not.
Pass the potatoes through the finest disk of a mouli.
Add the egg and about ¾ of the flour. Combine the mixture quickly so that it comes together. Work the mixture swiftly but lightly so that you don’t overwork the gluten. The dough should feel slightly tacky like the sticky surface of a Post-it note. Add more flour if needed. You have to be careful with the amount of flour: too much and the gnocchi will end up as dry lumps, not enough and they will disintegrate.
Using your hands, roll small amounts of the dough on a floured surface into the form of a rope. The thickness should be about 1cm (1/3 inch for the non-metric population). With a knife cut the rolls of dough into 2.5cm sections (1 inch). Lightly flour the newly formed gnocchi and place on a floured surface till you are ready to cook them.
Bring a large pot of water to a gentle simmer and add plenty of salt.
Poach the gnocchi in batches. They are ready when they float to the surface. This will take seconds. Do not allow the water to boil rapidly as this will destroy the delicate gnocchi and you will be left with a rather insipid potato soup. Remove them with a slotted spoon to a buttered serving dish. Combined with a sauce that The Gourmand made, this will serve about 4 or 5.

Wild Rabbit Braised with Vinegar and Thyme

Do you ever have days when you simply do not have any idea what you wish to cook or eat? Yesterday was one of those days for me. As I wondered the market place rather aimlessly, I finally decided on rabbit legs, to braise slowly. And when I say rabbit, I mean “wild” rabbit. Oh how I adore wild game meat! And of course winter is the perfect time for all things wild of the culinary nature.
Now wild rabbit isn’t exactly what I would describe as tender meat. The farmed variety is, but not its wild relative. However where it lacks in tenderness, it makes up for in flavour. People, I think, are too obsessed with having tender meat all the time- boring veal and intensely farmed chicken. Leave those meats to infants and the geriatrics! I don’t mind meat to be on the firm side as long as it has a good flavour. Of course, I don’t want to eat meat with the texture of leather boots, but a little chew factor I am absolutely fine with. After all, that’s why God gave us teeth. Use them!

Ingredients
700g wild rabbit legs, back only
20g unsalted cultured butter
20 duck fat
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp fresh chopped thyme
1 tbsp brown sugar
50ml vinegar (I used balsamic)
Rich brown stock- 1 or 2 ladles
Sea salt
Fresh black pepper

Method
Ask the butcher nicely, to cut each leg in two pieces.
Rinse the rabbit and pat dry.
Melt the butter and duck fat over a medium heat and sear the pieces of rabbit, until lightly golden.
Add the garlic cloves, thyme and sugar.
Splash in the vinegar and a ladle of stock.
Cover the pan, turn the heat to low and braise very slowly for 1 hour. Check from time to time the juices are not drying out. Add a ladle of stock if need be.
At the end of the hour the rabbit will be well done, but still firm. This is the nature of the beast.
Check the seasoning and enjoy it with parsnip puree to which you have added sour cream and nutmeg.
Serves 2 on a cold winters night.

Cheesy Onion and Cumin Soup

It is currently 9 am and 9 chilly degrees as I write this story in the city of Melbourne, Australia. Hello winter!
For the first time in my life, I decided to make the very famous French onion soup. And what a great choice it was. Making a wonderful appearance from a hot oven, like a cheesy volcanic eruption, this soup is perfectly suited for the cold season.
Of course, me being me, I couldn’t make this classic dish without giving it my own touch. As I gently sautéed the onions for this golden soup, I had a flash of divine inspiration from the culinary gods, somewhere from the faraway heavens. They whispered to me to add a smidgen of cumin to the onions, helping to round out the flavours and to complement the molten cheese in the finished soup. Thank You!

I have 2 points of importance in preparing this potage:

1. You will need to make your own brown stock. I say this, not because I have anything against stock cubes and their convenience, but only because this soup is made from a very basic flavor profile, which includes onion, stock, cheese and bread. In other words, there isn’t really much there to begin with, and using stock cubes just wont cut it. Stock cubes lack body. If you make this soup from stock cubes you will be very disappointed- it will taste of salty onion water. Making stock isn’t very hard at all and for this dish you need not worry about keeping it crystal clear. Just cook some beef on the bone (beef shin is perfect), with onion, celery, carrot, parsley stalks, bay, thyme and peppercorns, covered with water, very very gently. Do not boil and keep it under the simmer. The water should barely move. It should be ready after about 3 hours, but if you are low on time, 1 hour is fine.


2. The bread used is of great importance. Buy a real loaf of bread from a real baker. Not from Brumbys, or Bakers Delight. And certainly not from a Vietnamese bakery. You will need a dense, heavy white bread, with a solid crust. Phillipas bakery makes superb bread in this fashion- I used her Pane Francese Naturale. If you use bad bread, your soup will have the texture of glue, and the taste of cheap bread mix. You have been warned…

Ingredients
50g unsalted cultured butter
1 kilo brown onions, peeled and thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 –2 tsp ground cumin
300ml dry white wine
1.5 litres homemade stock, rich and brown
Bouquet of herbs (fresh bay, thyme, parsley)
4 slices European style bread, crusty and dense
200g gruyere cheese, grated
Sea salt
Fresh black pepper
Fresh chopped parsley, to garnish

Method
You will need a wide saucepan able to accommodate the onions. Over the lowest heat cook the onions, garlic, sugar, cumin and cumin for 1 hour. Stir from time to time.The onions should be golden brown, sweet and aromatic after this time.
Transfer the onion mix to a soup pot.
Deglaze the saucepan you used to cook the onions with the white wine and then pour into the soup pot also.
Add the stock and bouquet of herbs and simmer for 30minutes (or longer if you wish).
Turn the oven to 200c.
Place a slice of bread into 4 deep oven proof soup bowls. Place the soup bowls on a baking tray.
Season the onion soup and ladle over the pieces of bread.
Sprinkle over the cheese and bake until the cheese has melted and the top is golden brown.
Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.
Nothing else is needed with this soup, it is so delicious and satisfying. Serves 4.