New Frontiers...

I swore I would not use this blog as a venting playground but today is all about new frontiers and I really feel the need to get something off my chest.

A weird thing happens when you put yourself in a public forum. People seek you out. That sounds frightfully arrogant and I didn’t mean it that way, I am well aware my book reviews are lining bird-cages across this fine nation. It’s more the surreal idea that people feel they know you enough to seek you out at all and make contact. Random people. Just like the delight I received today from a gentleman who decided his Tuesday morning was best spent crafting me an email to congratulate me on my ability to embrace my curves. WTF?

I find it strange that he could have even seen me, let alone find me to provide comment on my grand derriere. And what’s with the tone? Yes the email definitely had tone and it definitely intonated that he was actually surprised I left the house at all given my ‘voluptuous state’. My husband doesn’t seem to mind whatever I’ve got going on, well I’m still married so I figure that’s safe to presume...

Hang on, Tom was the email from you?

I digress, back to my issue with the curve commentary. What gives me the right royal irrits, is that this guy thinks I did nothing for it; that I just smashed a couple of cheeseburgers, skipped the personal trainer and weights sessions and then let my female hormones do the rest.

Here is the thing champ, I eat for a living. My career depends on it. Now if I worked in Hollywood, obviously the opposite would apply. I would eat air, get lypo-suction, faint dramatically on movie sets then run home to see if anyone had emailed me to tell me how delightfully skinny I was looking.

Given how well I eat, my ass is some serious a-grade, top-of-the-range fat. There’s wagyu in there, pork crackling, fondue, triple cream brie and all of his mates, the odd incidental bit of fois gras, chocolate –light and dark - as I hate to discriminate, and if I am being honest an obscene amount of butter. There is consistent, concentrated grazing in the top paddock. And I like to think the sort of 9+ marbling that Kobe and his brethren might hold a deep admiration for.

Yes I have an ass. We all do. (Quelle horreur) So I’m not sure why any of it deserves comment.  Should the day come where I choose to channel a bit more Hollywood and a little less feeding frenzy (I doubt it) I can guarantee you random emailer that the ass would still be there, probably just a little saggier,  significantly unhappier, and as equally unworthy of any kind of comment. So until you’ve put in the hours, the groundwork of some serious fork to mouth training, please refrain from commenting on my ass or anyone else’s for that matter. It makes you sound weird. Like you might need to get out more, perhaps go and get a bite to eat. Low blood sugar and hunger pains can bring on the crazy in anyone and I’m hoping that’s all that happened to you today.

Tarragon Beef Sliders

Wrote a quick post on Tarragon Beef Sliders for Daily Life today. Nothing like a good burger to make the world a better place. For some reason, tarragon is severely underrated. It’s the herb that hung out at the library instead of sneaking ciggies out the back behind the shed with the fennel fronds, micro-herbs and other cool kids. French tarragon in particular is spectacular. The taste divine and unmistakable, and when freshly picked and finely chopped it is destined to be massaged into a bit of meat and eaten with abandon.  I’ve included recipes for the brioche rolls and spiced tomato relish here but you could easily replace these with store bought versions. Either way, these sliders are perfect Sunday afternoon backyard bbq fodder.

Ingredients

Patties

500g good quality beef mince

¼ cup French tarragon, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 brown onion, finely chopped

1 egg

2 tbsp breadcrumbs

Brioche rolls

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 tbsp milk

Pinch salt

1 2/3 cups plain flour, sifted

7g instant dried yeast

3 eggs

160g butter, softened at room temperature

Spicy tomato relish

3 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

250g cherry tomatoes

1/2 tbsp brown sugar

Tiny splash of fish sauce

Salt and pepper to season

To serve

Thinly sliced Gruyere cheese

Fresh avocado, sliced

Method 

If making the brioche, add the caster sugar, milk and a pinch of salt into a bowl and stir to combine and dissolve the sugar. Add the flour and yeast to a mixing bowl. Pulse using a food processor until combined. With the motor running on low, add the milk mixture. Add the eggs, one at a time until incorporated. Add the butter, spoonfuls at a time until well combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 45 minutes. Use your hands or a wooden spoon to knead/knock back the dough (it will be really sticky). Allow to rest for another 30 minutes. Line a 12-hole muffin pan with paper muffin cases. Beat the dough again quickly then divide into 12 pieces and, using your hands, roll into balls. Add a ball to each muffin case and cook on the bottom shelf of the oven for 12-15 minutes or until tops are golden.

For the spicy tomato sauce, heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and sweat until translucent. Add the passata, cherry tomatoes, brown sugar and fish sauce and cook for 5 minutes. Lower heat, season generously with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and simmer for 20 minutes or until sauce begins to thicken.

For the patties combine beef, tarragon, garlic, onion, egg and breadcrumbs in a bowl. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Shape into 6-12 small hamburger patties and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

Heat a frying pan over medium heat. When hot, drizzle a little oil in the pan and cook the patties for 3 minutes each side for medium rare.

Slice the brioche rolls in half and place a hamburger between each half and top with Gruyere cheese, avocado and a dollop of tomato relish.

Duck wraps and Gingerbread

I have started a regular weekly column with Fairfax on their great new site Daily Life. The column goes up every Wednesday - here are the posts from this week. Have a great weekend xoxo

Caramelised duck wraps with grapefruit and Asian herbs

Quick, fresh and tasty as hell. These fresh duck wraps are easily the best culinary kick off to a celebration. And they are a canapé in the proper sense, offering that easy hand to mouth movement of food without having to put down your drink; not one of those mindless contraptions to be eaten from cones, cups or other such things that are mindless victories of aesthetics over sense. They are straightforward to make, so I’m not going to offer any tips here other than to suggest you hover dangerously close to the plate as these never seem to last long.

Ingredients

4 duck breasts, skin on

3 tablespoons palm sugar

2 tablespoons fish sauce

24 betel leaves

2 ruby red grapefruit, peeled and segmented

1 large red chilli, seeded and very finely chopped

½ cup mint leaves

½ cup coriander leaves

¼ cup fried shallots

Method

Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the duck, skin side down and cook for 10 minutes or until the fat has rendered and the skin is crisp. Turn over and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes or until just cooked through. Remove from heat, allow to rest then thinly slice on the diagonal.

Combine the chilli, herbs, and fried onion in a bowl and toss to combine.

Add the palm sugar and fish sauce to a saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until the palm sugar has melted and the mixture is starting to caramelize and thicken. Remove from heat and toss through the duck slices.

Lay out the betel leaves. Place a segment of grapefruit on each leaf, top with a slice of duck and a little of the salad mix. Top with extra fried shallots if using. Repeat with remaining betel leaves and duck mix. Serve warm with extra sweet soy sauce to dip into.

Gingerbread with violet cream

I like a dense cake. Light and airy is fine for those of genoise sponge sort of sentiments but I want a bit of weight in my cake. Something a bit dense and spicy seems more meaningful somehow, and comforting.  Like I have been lovingly bathed in butter and that I have been fed well, and often. This gingerbread is all of those sentiments and the violet cream finish, well that’s the gently belly rub and cup of tea.

Ingredients

125 g (4 1/2 oz) butter

115 g (4 oz/1/2 cup) sugar

90 g (3 1/4 oz/1/4 cup) molasses

1 egg

175 g (6 oz/1 1/4 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour

1 tsp baking powder

3 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Violet cream

100 ml (3 1/2 fl oz) cream

20 g (3/4 oz) icing (confectioners’) sugar, sifted

1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped

2 tsp violet liqueur or ½ tsp violet oil

50 g (1 3/4 oz)crystallised violets

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C. Line a 13 x 23 cm (5 x 9 inch) loaf (bar) tin with baking paper. Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in the molasses and the egg.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Sift the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture and pour into the prepared tin. Bake for 90 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the gingerbread comes out clean. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool and slice thickly.

Add the cream to a bowl and whisk to soft peak. Gently fold through the sugar, vanilla seeds and violet liqueur.

Serve gingerbread with dollops of violet cream and top with crystallised violets.

If you missed the chocolate and cookie dough brownies from last week check them out here http://www.dailylife.com.au/dl-food/food-features/the-crassly-hedonistic-brownie-20120228-1u08k.html

Leah's Lemon Meringue Pie

One of my best friends Leah is on her way to Sydney to visit. Hip hip hoorah - cannot wait to see her. Her favourite thing is a lemon meringue pie so hastily made some this morning for when she arrives. Should be just the warm up before we go and see Anthony Bourdain tonight. So excited! 

And yes I will be a complete tragic groupie and go celebrity stalking in the hope of getting a photo, preferably one with me in as well, quite close, wearing my nicest frock.... I digress, back to the tart. I swirled through a bit of leftover raspberry compote that I had made, its lovely with the lemon curd but for the purists out there, you can just skip that step.

You'll have to excuse my piping - its not my favourite thing, I do however have a great affinity with my blow torch, it must release my inner pyro - go figure. Also a hot tip, don't be so busy talking and getting overexcited like I did and drop a tart all over the floor. Such a waste of lemon curd, and that is never a good thing.

Lemon curd

Spooning in the lemon curd, one spoon for the pastry case, one spoon for me

Adding the raspberry compote

Italian meringue

Piping the meringue

Burning the meringue tops

This is what happens when you are talking too much and you drop the damn tart on the floor.

Gooey and delightful

Lemon & Raspberry Meringue Tarts


Ingredients
Lemon curd
Juice and zest of 2 lemons
2 eggs + 2 egg yolks (reserving the whites for the meringue)
165g caster sugar
80g butter


Raspberry compote
250g raspberries
80g icing sugar
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped


Sweet shortcrust pastry
220g plain flour
70g icing sugar
120g butter
1 egg yolk


Meringue
2 eggwhites (reserved from the lemon curd)
175g caster sugar
Pinch cream of tartar


Method
For the curd, place all ingredients in a saucepan and place over low heat. Whisk continuously until thickened. Watch it though - if it curdles its a hideous eggy lemony mess. And a waste of great curd mix. You can make this ahead, it lasts up to 2 weeks (well so I've been told) covered in the fridge.

If including the raspberry compote, plop the raspberries, sugar and vanilla seeds in a saucepan. Place on low heat and gently break up with a fork. You want to release the juices and get a sticky, juice meets jam kind of consistency.

For the pastry, preheat the oven to 175C. Add all ingredients to a bowl, knead until well combined. Flatten out into a disk and cover in wrap and rest, in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Roll out the pastry between 2 big sheets of baking paper to about 2mm thick. Gently press pastry into the moulds and rest again for at least 10 minutes.

Bake in the oven for 10 - 15 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked through. Remove and allow to cool.

Spoon the lemon curd into the tart shells. Add a tsp of raspberry compote and swirl through with a fork.

To make the Italian meringue, add the sugar and about 60ml water to a saucepan and bring the heat to high - cook until the sugar reaches about 110C on a sugar thermometer or it reaches about softball stage. While the sugar is heating up,add the reserved eggwhites to an electric mixer with the cream of tartar and whisk until soft peak. Gradually add the hot syrup over the eggwhites and whisk until the mix returns to room temp and looks thick, glossy and generally luscious. Pipe the meringue over the lemon tarts and then gently brown the tops with a blowtorch. 

Eat until you feel slightly ill.