How to Prepare Artichokes

A lot of people (in this country, anyway) are afraid of artichokes because they are uncertain of how to prepare them. And that’s understandable.
I must admit that it’s a lot easier to just open up a tin. It does save a lot of time and mess doing it that way. I often do it myself and that’s absolutely fine. The tinned ones come in an acidic liquid, which invariably alters the flavour. They are fine for salads that way, but not for a lot of other dishes. If you find the taste of tinned artichokes too sour, soak them in plain water for a while.
Fresh artichokes have a distinct green scent and taste, which is evocative of the springtime. I like to choose small artichokes (about the size of an egg), more out of laziness than anything else. The smaller ones haven’t developed the hairy choke and that means the preparation is easier. Make sure the stalks are firm and crisp- definitely not soft and spongy like the artichokes (and most other green vegetables) they sell at the supermarket. Seriously, does anyone really buy dead vegetables, which are on the point of decay?!
Okay, so to prepare artichokes it does require some effort. I’m not going to deny that fact, but once you get the hang of it is a straightforward task.

• You need to prepare some acidulated water. Begin by filling a large bowl (not metallic, it reacts with the artichoke) with cold water. Add the juice of a couple of lemons. Artichokes begin to oxidize and turn black upon cutting, very, very quickly. For this reason it’s also a good idea to work with the cut artichokes as fast as you can manage. Soaking them in acidulated water will help to slow the oxidation process. Have also another large container to hold all the wastage left from preparing the artichoke -it will be substantial.
• Take one artichoke and begin to strip away the leaves. As you do so, you will notice the leaves will go from green, to yellow. The leaves will also become softer, rather than tough and fibrous. Stop removing the leaves, once you reach those supple, blond leaves.
• The next stage is to prepare the stem. The stems themselves are absolutely delicious (they taste like the heart) so don’t cut all of it away -it will depend on how you are cooking them. Using a potato peeler, remove the skin from the base of the flower (where you removed the leaves previously) and from the stalk too. The colour of the stalk will change from vivid green to pale green as you do so. Don’t use your expensive, fancy vegetable peeler for this. The artichoke fibers are tough and will blunt your instrument. Buy a cheap peeler and replace it as need be- you have been warned…
• Trim the top of the artichoke. Cut way about 1/3 from the top of the stripped vegetable. At this stage I place the prepared artichoke into the prepared bowl of water and lemon. Proceed with the rest of the artichokes. Just before cooking you can cut them into halves, quarters etc.
• If the artichokes you’ve selected are large, or you intend to stuff them, then you will need to remove the hairy choke. The easiest way is by using a small spoon.
• Alternatively, and obviously this will only work if you are not stuffing them, you can just roast them whole and get the people to remove the choke at the table. That’s what I usually do. Just don’t forget to tell people.

Discard all the tough leaves and peelings (or use them for the compost). The artichokes are now ready for cooking.

Golden Braised Artichokes and Kipfler Potatoes

Homemade Strawberry Jam

Spicy & Sweet Lamb Drumsticks

It is traditional during Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) to serve foods that are golden and sweet. The gold part is meant to symbolize prosperity. Sweetness represents a pleasant year ahead. There are many other religious points of reference when it comes to food during this time and indeed for Jewish food in general, but that’s about as far as I am willing to go with pious cooking actions.
I’m not Jewish and not particularly religious (though I do study Kabbalah), but I can’t help getting into a celebratory mood and cooking up a feast. In fact I don’t even need a reason. If I want to eat something, I’m going to cook it. And why not? Most people I know celebrate Christmas and Easter. And that includes roast turkeys and chocolate eggs, etc. Yet most of those people don’t go to church or even claim to be Christian. So with that in mind, I don’t feel the need to be Jewish to have to braise lamb shanks for the Jewish New Year either. The fact that it is springtime just makes me want to go on a lamb feast anyway.
This dish is best if you cook it the day ahead (it does take all day to cook). The flavours improve upon standing. Lamb shanks also throw a copious amount of fat during cooking- its much easier to remove the fat, once it has cooled and solidified.
I served these sweet and spicy lamb shanks with saffron rice, chickpeas and sautéed garlicky leafy broccoli- it was one of the best meals I have cooked all year.

Components
4 Lamb shanks
Olive oil or duck fat
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves
1 red pepper, coarsely chopped
(Remove the skin if you like- I use a potato peeler)
1 dried red chili, finely chopped
1 tsp Spanish sweet paprika
1 tsp Spanish smoked paprika
1-2 pieces cassia bark or cinnamon sticks
1 tsp dried Greek oregano
150ml red wine
400g tin Italian tomatoes
Stock, to cover
Honey, a generous drizzle
Sea salt
Toasted pine nuts

Process
Heat up a spoonful of olive oil or duck fat in pot large enough to hold the lamb shanks. Brown the lamb on all sides and remove to a plate.
Put the onion, garlic and peppers, chili and oregano into the same pot. Lower the heat and cook the aromatics until they have softened- about 15 minutes.
Add the paprikas and cook for a further minute.
Place the shanks back into the pot. Splash in the wine and add the tomatoes too (I don’t bother chopping them). Add enough stock to submerge everything.
Cover the pot and simmer until the meats are tender and almost falling of the bones. It is important to cook everything very, very slowly. And patience is definitely required- mine took about 6 hours to reach the fork- tender stage. It is also a good idea to keep an eye on how the flavours are developing during cooking. You may want to remove the cassia or cinnamon once its reached the right point.
When everything is nice and tender leave it in a cool place until the next day.
When you are ready to serve the following day, scrape away most of the fat (leave some).
Put the pot over a low heat and reheat gradually. This dish needs to be reheated slowly- the meat is dense and takes time to heat through properly.
Once the temperature is right, drizzle over a generous amount of honey to flavour and sweeten the stew. Check for saltiness too.
Sprinkle over with pine nuts and parsley. Serves 4 carnivores.

Barramundi Parcels with Blood Orange and Spices

Incase you haven’t noticed, I have a thing for savory foods combined with sweet, fragrant flavours. This wasn’t always the case though. It has only been in the last couple of years that I’ve developed a taste for savory/sweet combination. I assume our palates are constantly changing. The same way that ours lives evolve, reflecting our mood and personality at the time. Who knows, maybe I have become a sweeter person in general and that’s reflective through my diet.
Anyway, that’s enough of the philosophical banter.
I thought it would be a nice idea to make use of the striking blood oranges that are available right now. The season for the fragrant and scarlet orange is rather fleeting, so I like to make to buy some whenever I see them.
I like to eat them the same way I like to eat tangelos- that is peeled and segmented with a very sharp knife to produce thin wedges, without any of the tough membrane that holds the fruit together. I squeeze over any of the juice from the carcass (which will be quite a bit). I then sweeten with homemade vanilla sugar, and leave them to sit for a few minutes, so all the components merge together. Whilst the blood orange (or tangelo) segments are macerating, I sweeten some crème fraiche with more vanilla sugar. I serve the oranges in huge amounts with some of the crème fraiche to dip each citrus segment, before eating. This combination is divine and I think it leaves strawberries and cream for dead.
This recipe is another excellent way of combining fragrantly sweet with salty. Barramundi is quite a popular fish here in Australia, however it can be on the pricey side. It is delicious though, with a sweet and delicate white flesh and I thought it would go well with blood oranges and spices. If you can find fillets from a small fish, by all means use those. I think they are much nicer, than fillets from a massive fish.
They are baked in a foil parcel and served at the table straight from the oven. There is a certain anticipation and thrill about ripping the parcel open at the table.
River Café London was the inspiration for the following recipe.

Components
2 Barramundi fillets or other white fish
1 Blood orange
A pinch of fennel seeds
A pinch of chili powder
Cinnamon
20g melted cultured butter (unsalted)
20ml vermouth
20ml extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Fresh black pepper
Foil

Process
Preheat the oven to 220c. Squeeze the orange juice. You only need a dash of juice- about 20ml. Remove 2 strips of orange zest and set aside. Crush the fennel seeds and a small piece of cinnamon, until you have a powder. Mix in a small bowl all the ingredients, minus the fish. Pour half of this over the fish fillets and allow it to marinade for a few minutes.
To make the parcels, use a length of foil 5 times the length of the fillet. Fold the foil in half, shiny side out. Place the fillet at one end and pour over half the remaining orange and spice mixture. Top with a strip of orange zest and season with salt and pepper, then fold the foil over the fillet and seal by folding the two ends together, three times, creating a very tight seal. Repeat with the other fish fillet.
Place both parcels on a baking dish. Bake in the preheated oven until both parcels have puffed up to their full capacity.
Serve immediately by placing the unopened parcels on a plate.
This dish goes well with a plate of wilted dark, leafy greens of whatever sort. Serves 2.

Homemade Pasta

Yes, my partner Paul, has managed to teach me the mysterious Italian art of pasta making.
Having attempted this Italian art in times gone by, and failing miserably, I was wary when Paul decided to break me in. Having learnt from his grandmother, Paul decided to pass on the secret to me. And I responded to the challenge!
I was eased into this mysterious art by learning the basic formula:
Italian Tipo 00 flour
Free range eggs at room temperature
100g flour = 1 egg
Sounds simple? Yes. The trick is making it all work together.
Italian Tipo 00 flour is a finely ground flour that is ideal for making pastas. I have tried the Australian Tipo 00 but while it was easier to work the texture, once cooked, wasn’t as good as the Italian flour. (actually, it was horrible- Paul)
I usually use 200g of flour in which I then gently combine 2 eggs. This is done on the bench. As the eggs and flour combine; you start working it eventually kneading the formed dough. This is a very tactile exercise where the feel of the dough is very important. I’ve found the dough should be ever so slightly tacky, just so you can barely feel it sticking to you fingers. Add some flour a little at a time if you feel that the dough is too tacky. You don’t want the dough to be too dry either, as it will become difficult to knead. Keep kneading the dough till it looks and feels completely smooth, “as smooth as babies skin” I’m told….
Once you have reached this point, wrap the dough tightly in cling film and let it rest for 15-20 minutes.
Now the fun starts.
Set up your pasta machine. If you don’t have one I guess you could use the rolling pin (or use the rolling pin on your partner & get them to buy a pasta machine).
Divide the dough into 3 roughly equal portions. Keep 2 of the portions wrapped in cling wrap so they don’t dry out. Press out the portion on a floured bench top. Make sure both sides of the flattened dough are dusted with flour. While the dough was kneaded, the tackiness was important. Tackiness here is the enemy of the pasta machine (trust me or you will be cleaning the insides of the machine). Pass the dough through the largest setting on the machine. Then fold the dough in half. Dust the outsides if it’s feeling tacky, and pass through the machine again. Repeat this 10 (yes 10) times- this is important as it helps work the dough to an ultra smooth consistency.
Now we start winding up the settings, dusting the dough if needed between each pass through the machine. If at some stage you feel the length of the dough is getting unwieldy, cut it in half.
I’ve found from experience that any higher than the 3rd last setting, makes the pasta too thin, leading to it disintegrating rather than being coated in sauce.
Once you have reached this stage, place the rolled out dough on a floured surface & dust with additional flour.
Repeat this with the remaining portions.

Leave the pasta sheets to dry for about 15-20minute. You can trim these sheets & use them for lasagna, or you can pass them through the cutters on the machine making tagliatelle or tagliarini. After each sheet of pasta is cut, wrap the pasta around your hand & then slide it off to form a little nest. Dust the cut pasta with flour & set aside till you are ready to use.

To cook your pasta, have a large pot of salted water boiling (use the biggest pot you have). Test the cooking time with a few strands of pasta. It should only take seconds, a minute at most, to cook, depending on how long you have let it dry. With fresh pasta it’s pretty much, in then straight out. It should be strong enough to be able to be picked up with a fork without breaking. It will be delicate and silky in texture, poles apart from commercial pasta. They are different products and should not be compared.
Drain the cooked pasta & toss with some butter (or oil if need be) before combining with the sauce.
You will find that homemade pasta has a different texture to commercial dry pasta. Once you have tried & mastered the process, you’ll be amazed & addicted. A 2 egg pasta makes enough for 3 decent serves.

Lemon & Lime Pudding

This is another dish which, I think, is lovely during the springtime. The texture is delicate and light, the flavours are pure and intense, making it absolutely beautiful to eat.
It is actually a soufflé but don’t let that put you off from making it. Its not supposed to be a big, puffy number. The recipe contains baking powder, and is baked in a wide dish, rather than the traditional ramekin, making it pretty much foolproof. Made this way the texture remains like chiffon- airy and fragile.
The amount of sugar you use will depend on how acidic your lemons and limes are. I use homemade vanilla sugar, because I have a huge jar of it. It’s fine to use caster sugar too, if that’s what you’ve have available.

Components
10g flour
10g cultured, unsalted butter
125ml milk
50- 100g real vanilla sugar
2 free range eggs, separated
5g baking powder
Enough lemons and limes to make 125ml juice
½ tsp each finely chopped lemon and lime zest

Process
Preheat the oven to 180c. Butter a baking dish. Mine is 26cm by 18cm.
Make a roux with the butter and flour, but do not allow it to brown.
Add the milk and 50g sugar. Cook, stirring all the time it until it has thickened.
Remove it from the heat and allow it to cool a little.
Beat in the egg yolks and baking powder, followed by the citrus juices and zests. Taste the mixture, and add more sugar if you think it needs it (the lemons and limes I used were quiet acidic, I needed close to 100g sugar all up).
Beat the whites until they are white and fluffy.
Fold the egg whites into the lemon/lime mixture.
Pour into the baking dish and bake for 20 minutes, or until just set and lightly golden on top.
Dust with icing sugar and serve with unsweetened cream.
Makes 2 generous serves.

Leek and Potato Soup

I think springtime is a nice time for leek and potato soup.
I had previously made this soup and had some left in the fridge, and the other week when some black truffle was delivered to my door, I couldn’t help crumbling a couple of slices into the reheated soup. It was a superb blend of flavours.
If you want this soup to be truly fantastic, you should use an abundance of leeks. I use an equal quantity of leek and potato. Otherwise, the soup turns out like watery mashed potatoes, and that’s dreadfully boring.
And while we are on the subject of flavour, I use a combination of different potatoes- waxy Desires and King Edwards for flavour, and floury Toolangi Delights for creamy texture. The earthiness of the potato is accentuated by adding a touch of cumin.
Chilled leek and potato soup, otherwise known as Vichyssoise, has never appealed to me. I like this soup hot, but if you prefer it chilled, then please yourself.

Components
500g sliced leek, white part only
1 tsp ground cumin
500g cubed and peeled potatoes
Butter or duck fat
1 brown onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Stock
Sea salt
Black pepper
Bacon lardons, fried until golden brown
Sour cream
Sea salt
Fresh black pepper

Process.
Begin by making sure your leeks are dirt-free. You may need to rinse them thoroughly.
Heat the butter or duck fat and sweat the leek, onion and garlic over a gentle heat for about 20-30 minutes. It is important that the leek cooks right down, but don’t allow to brown.
Add the cumin and continue to cook for another minute.
Add the potatoes. Cover with stock and simmer for 30 minutes.
Puree the soup- I leave mine a little chunky.
Season with salt and pepper.
Serve with crispy bacon lardons and sour cream. Makes about four serves.