cooking challenge twenty two: coq au vin

I think there's an air of romance that surrounds this classic French recipe. It's a meal that is said to have existed since Roman times, and immediately makes me think of convivial chatter, friends around a rustic table, crusty baguettes and tasty sauce. Well, friends, the reality was somewhat of a let down. It was nice, but for the amount of preparation fiddling, I can think of a heap of other dishes that are much more satisfying and tasty. I am going to keep tweaking the recipe and my technique, to see if I can make it more to my taste.

Here's the recipe, nonetheless.

(Just a few last tips: You need to start this at least 24 hours before serving. The chicken needs to be cut into 8 pieces. I did this without poultry scissors, but it was hard work. I'd recommend getting your butcher to do this, or buy the equivalent amount of chicken pieces - breast, thighs, wings, drummies etc).

You will need:

1 organic chicken.
4 spare drumsticks
2 tablespoons browned flour
1 teaspoon each of salt, pepper and stock powder.
4 bacon rashers, diced
2 cups button mushrooms, brushed clean
2 cups schallots, peeled
2 celery sticks, sliced into 1cm thick rounds
1 litre Merlot or Shiraz
Parsley

What to do:

Boil the red wine for about 20 minutes, until it has reduced and concentrated. Cool.
Mix all the vegetables except the mushrooms, the boquet garni (I used parsley, thyme and chives) and chicken pieces in a large bowl. Season with salt, pepper and stock. Add the cooled red wine and refigerate, covered, for at least 24 hours.


Strain through a colander, reserving the liquid, then separate the chicken from the other ingredients. Pat dry with paper towel. Discard the boquet garni and reserve the vegetables. Heat some butter in a large frying pan, over moderate heat. Fry the chicken pieces until slightly browned. Remove and set aside. Fry the vegetables off in the same pan, same juices.

Preheat the oven to 180'c.

Transfer the vegetables to a large flame proof, oven proof casserole and add the browned flour. Stir over moderate heat until it has a gluggy consistency. Add 1/3 of the reserved red wine mixture and bring to the boil, stirring constantly. It will thicken and bubble. Add the rest of the wine, and the chicken, and bring back to boil. Cover the casserole dish and transfer to the oven for half an hour or so.

Meanwhile, in the same saucepan you fried the chicken and vegetables, fry off the bacon and mushrooms until crispy and browned. Add to the coq au vin right before serving, as well as the parsley.

I served this with roasted vegetables and garlic bread, as well a beautiful rice pilaf that D's mum makes (I will blog that recipe soon, it's divine!). I'd give this an 6.5/10. I would make it again, but I'd thicken the sauce more, and add something else. Let me think about it... I'll get back to you.

an ode to mum

I absolutely love my mum's style. When I last visited her, I took these snaps and, now that I have internet, I'm able to share them with you too, so you can see how homely and and country chic my mum's kitchen is.

Don't you just want to pull up a chair and have some pumpkin soup? :)

the challenges resume...

I did a cooking challenge for the first time in a long time the other night.

The cooking challenge was a dark gooey chocolate tart with a choc orange crust. I served it with caramelised orange and almond essence.

For our main course, I made a cauliflower veloute with pea puree, crushed chats and crispy skinned atlantic salmon.

I made some savoury scrolls to snack on for entree - capers, tapenade, sundried tomato and goats cheese. Very nice. I served them with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Recipes coming this afternoon!

dd.x

baked camembert

This is one of the most delicious snacks ever. Clearly, it's a heart attack waiting to happen, so we don't have it too often, but when we do, we have to fight for every last scrape of the gooey cheese.

You will need:

1 wheel camembert (or brie if you prefer)

Rosemary

4 cloves garlic

100mL white wine

Coarse sea salt

Crackers or Turkish Bread

What to do:

Pre heat the oven to 100'c.

Stab about 12 slits in the cheese. Peel the garlic and slice each in half. Stab them into the slits. Put sprigs of rosemary in the other slits. Rub a teaspoon of sea salt into the surface of the cheese and put it into a small and shallow dish. Pour the wine over the cheese.

Bake the cheese, uncovered, for 10 minutes, then cover with a lid, or alfoil, for another 10 minutes. Serve with crackers or toasted bread. It should be gooey and smooth, as above.

Absolutely. Delicious.

pomodoro passata (tomato pasta sauce)

A traditional passata would be strained through a fine sieve to remove the seeds, but I think this is a beautiful (and low fuss) way to make pasta sauce. It's hearty and robust and it lets the star of the dish really shine through. The quality of ingredients makes a difference - plump, juicy tomatoes, fresh from the vine, and cold pressed extra virgin olive oil. Last time I made this, I tossed some salty olives through at the last minute.

You will need:

10 ripe tomatoes
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tblspoons olive oil
3 birdseye chillis (optional)
250 ml water
salt and pepper to season

What to do:

In a saucepan, over low heat, fry off the garlic and onion until slighty translucent. If using chilli, add here. Meanwhile, quarter the tomatoes. Add to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Add the water and cover. Cook for 20 minutes, checking every so often to make sure it's not sticking to the bottom. If necessary, add more water.

It will reduce down to a thick tomato paste, as below.

Serve with pasta and aged parmesan cheese, or as a pizza sauce.

perfect pikelets

These brought back such beautiful memories from growing up. My nanna would always have made a heap of pikelets whenever I went to stay, and she'd serve them with fresh, creamy butter. They're one of my favourite breakfasty treats, and my nephew loves them too, so what better breakfast to make when he came to stay over?

You will need:

1 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
3 tblspoons caster sugar
1/2 cup skimmed milk
1 tblspoon butter, melted.

Butter to serve.

What to do:

Sift the baking powder, sugar and flour into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and crack the egg in. Add the milk and melted butter and use a fork to slowly incorporate the mixture until smooth.

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over moderate heat. Put a little bit of butter in the pan, then use a paper towel to wipe away any excess.

Drop the batter in with a tablespoon. After a few minutes, once small bubbles have started to form, flip them over and fry the other side. Best eaten fresh, otherwise, reheat gently in a microwave before serving.

vegetarian sausages

I fell in love, properly, with cooking when I was about 12. My mum had this fabulous recipe book - the name escapes me at present, but I think it might have been Green Feasts? I would pour over it page by glorious page and taste the flavours with my eyes. The only recipe I ever actually produced from the pages of that book was a vegetarian sausage. It was a long time ago, so I've forgotten the exact recipe, but the essentials are unchanging and easily replicated.

You will need:

Approximately 3/4 of a standard size loaf of bread
1 free range organic egg
1 corn (on the cob)
1 small cooking onion
3 garlic cloves
1 cup loosely packed flat leaf parsley
1 small red bell pepper
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated and loosely packed (optional)

Olive oil for frying.

What to do:


Preheat the oven to 180'c.

In a food processor, wizz the bread until you have coarse breadcrumbs. Remove half of the mixture and put it in a mixing bowl. Quarter the onion and peel the garlic cloves. Add them to the processor and blitz until a moist mixture forms. Add the parsley and pulse for a few seconds. Transfer the wet bread and onion mixture to the large mixing bowl. Slice the corn from the cob and add to the mixing bowl, as well as the bell pepper, diced. If using, add cheddar cheese.

Whisk the egg in a small bowl and add to the bread mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Use your hands to form sausages - the above quantities should yield about 10 - 12 small and fat sausages.

Fry over moderate heat, rotating every few minutes until properly sealed. Transfer to an oven tray and finish off for about 15 minutes.

Yummy and healthy breakfast. dd.x

cooking challenge twenty: slow roast leg of lamb with crushed chickpeas

As you can probably tell from the above, I seem to have leaped over the final hurdle in my meat eating quest with great gusto. Now, I have made friends with my local butcher and am working my way through the various cuts of meat at my disposal. Amazing.

This roast took ALL day. I modified a recipe from the most recent Australian Gourmet Food & Travel (aka, my bible).

You will need:

1 x leg of lamb (mine was about enough for 6 people)
3 lemons
2 x 400g chickpeas
1/4 cup olive oil
1 litre chicken stock
50g dried harissa
150ml Olive Oil
250ml water
1 cup loosely packed flat leaf parsley
1 spanish onion, roughly diced

What to do:

Mix about 100ml olive oil with the harissa, and the juice and zest from two lemons. Chop what is left of these lemons and scatter them over the base of a deep roasting pan. Rub the harissa mix over the skin, place the lamb on top of the sliced lemon and leave to absorb the flavours for around 3 hours. It's winter here, so I left it covered, on my bench top, but if you're cooking somwhere hot, refrigerate it for 2 hours then remove for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 150'c. Pour 250ml cold water into the base of the pan. Cover with foil. Roast for 3 hours, then turn the temp down to 120'c and continue to roast for 3 - 4 hours.

Ok, for the crushed chickpea side dish, strain and rinse the chickpeas, then add them to a deep saucepan with the litre of chicken stock. Simmer for 30 minutes. Ladle out 1 cup of stock, and then strain the chickpeas. Add them and the reserved stock to a food processor and "pulse" for a few seconds until they are slightly mashed.

Fry off the onion in a little oil. Add the chickpeas and parsley, and the juice from the final lemon. Drizzle with remaining olive oil before serving. Season with salt and pepper.

When this is done, the meat will literally fall from the bone. It is the most tender and succulent way to roast meat that I've ever tried. I can't wait to attempt this with pork belly, and I'm also going to try using red wine or ale instead of water.

Will I make this again? Oh, yes. I am going to be making this as often as time permits!!

long, lazy days

Hi fellow foodies.

I apologise for my absence.

I haven't fallen into the abyss. Though for my northern hemisphere friends, Australia might well seem like it.

My internet access is patchy. My kitchen appliances even more so. I am a food loving blogger without access to all the things that make me tick most.

However, I have taken up a blissful lifestyle by the beach, and the regular recipes should resume within the week.

I haven't desserted my challenge. Just the opposite. This low-fi time has provided a great opportunity to peruse endless cook books and fantasise hungrily about what's to come, what's to learn.

love, dd.x

rosemary and sea salt focaccia

This is one of my favourite baking tricks. It's so easy, always tastes great, and while it takes a-g-e-s, this is mostly because you have to keep leaving it to rise. In fact, the longer you can give it between kneads, the better the end result. And oil - lots and lots of good quality extra virgin olive oil. Don't try to make this without the right quantity of oil, or you'll just get a dry, powdery bread. Ick.

You will need:

2 sachets of dried yeast (14g)
600g strong white bread flower (type "00")
1 1/4 cups tepid water
1/2 cup good quality olive oil
3 tbs good sea salt (I use Maldon)
1/2 tsp cooking salt3 sprigs of rosemary

What to do:

Put the flour, yeast and cooking salt into a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Make a well in the centre. Pour in all of the olive oil except 2 tablespoons, and the tepid water. Combine first with a spoon and then knead, in the bowl, with your hands.

Sprinkle some flour onto a work surface and knead the dough until it is elastic (about 10 minutes). Sprinkle the reserved olive oil into the mixing bowl and return the dough. Cover with glad wrap and leave to rise for an hour, or until the dough is twice its original size.

Remove the dough from the bowl and knead it to remove the air. Lightly oil a rectangular baking tray. Roll the dough out to roughly the size and then ease it into the tin. Use your fingers to push it into the corners.

Preheat the oven to 180'c (fan forced). You don't want the temp to be too hot so this may take a bit of experimenting to get it right. You don't want it to get too brown on top.

Make indents in the top surface with your finger tips. Sprinkle a little more olive oil and the maldon sea salt over the top, and add rosemary sprigs into each divet.

Bake for around 40 minutes. It should be lightly golden and soft and springy to the touch. Leave it to sit for 10 minutes and then serve with good quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Delicious!