I'm a transplanted New Yorker, married to Colin, a Sydney cabbie, who chronicles the Sydney street art scene here: http://www.wallup.net/Wallup/_New_Now/_New_Now.html
I've been living in the inner west suburb of Glebe for the past ten years. I've done some catering work, but I'm more of an an intuitive home cook, with no formal training. I enjoy reading cook books and watching cookery instruction shows and then adapting recipes with my own twist.
We were married on Valentine's Day and this year marked our tenth anniversary.
To avoid the madding crowd on the 14th, we had a cozy candlelit meal at Tokonoma Japanese restaurant in Surry Hills on Valentine's eve. Standout cocktails and meal. We lucked out by getting a quiet corner in the bar area. The adjacent main room (Toko) features what they term " the informal style of Japanese izakaya dining," long rows of shared tables. It's a noisy wash of humanity and on a different occasion could be quite convivial. Surry Hills has become Sydney's mecca of modern dining.
But I digress. This blog will be more about home cooking than reviews of local restaurants. I abhor celebrity chefdom. I want to encourage you to adapt and finesse these recipes to your own palette. Don't be put off by the precious posturing of the current food wankers. If you start with good quality fresh ingredients, most of the time you won't need a lot to embellish the taste.
For our Anniversary/Valentine dinner I chose a menu of Valentine inspired cocktails, a savoury Chicken Pie, a warm salad of Asparagus and Tomatoes and for dessert a Ginger Panna Cotta with Strawberry Ginger sauce and Chocolate dipped Strawberries.
When possible I prefer to shop at the local providores in my neighbourhood. I get most of my fresh produce at Galluzzo's green grocers, on Glebe Point Road. Run by two friendly brothers, they have good quality and always feature some bargains out front. They try to source locally, when they can. At the moment, strawberries, lychees and ginger are at perfection. I've featured all or some in both cocktails and dessert.
Cherish (is the word I use to describe this) Cocktail
A handful of fresh lychees - peeled and pitted
A handful of fresh strawberries
2 shots of vodka
1 shot of cherry liqueur
A spoonful of strawberry ginger sauce (recipe to follow)
A squeeze of lime juice
A tray of ice
Ginger beer
Garnish with candied violet (future recipe)
Combine all ingredients, except the ginger beer, and put in the blender. Mix on high, until blended and frothy. Fill chilled glasses 2/3 full. Top with ginger beer. Float a flower in your drink. Slainte!
Chicken Cheddar Pie
180c/350f degree oven about 40 mins
2 cups of cooked chicken, cut into small cubes - poached or roasted
1 cup button mushroom- if very small keep whole, otherwise slice to desired size
1 large spanish onion
2- 4 large cloves of garlic
1 ear of sweet corn - steamed, grilled until brown all around, then cut off cob
1 cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup sour cream - approx.
A handful of fresh tarragon chopped
2 sheets of puff pastry
1 egg
Small amount of olive oil
Roughly minced onion and saute on medium heat, in small amount of olive oil until just turning golden. Add minced garlic and mushrooms. Turn up heat to quickly sear. Leave aside to cool.
In a large mixing bowl combine chicken, sweet corn, cooled veggies (if oily, make sure to drain off excess) and chopped tarragon. Slowly add enough sour cream to bind. Cover bottom of pie pan with one sheet of puff pastry. Fit neatly into pan and trim excess. Add chicken filling and cover with grated cheddar. Top with remaining sheet of puff pastry. Trim edges, crimp and brush with egg wash.
Cut several slits on top to release steam. Decorate top with extra pastry if desired.
Bake in pre-heated oven with cookie sheet underneath. Depending on your oven it takes about 30-40 mins. Set timer for 30 mins and check. Bake until golden brown.
Warm Asparagus/Tomato Heart Salad
Bunch of asparagus
Fresh mini type of tomato
Squeeze of lemon juice
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
If the ingredients are of the freshest quality, then little is needed to dress the salad.
Steam asparagus a few minutes depending on width. You don't want them soft and soggy. Arrange on platter. Squeeze lemon juice on top. Add a quick squirt of olive oil and a dash of salt and pepper. Toss lightly. Slice thin wedges of mini tomatoes and arrange on top in a heart shape.
Ginger Panna Cotta
This is a reprint of a recipe featured in the SMH - Sydney Morning Herald, by chef Steve Manfredi. I used a heart shaped cake tin for this recipe. Approx. 20 cm/7 in in length. To unmould, dip pan quickly in large bowl of hot tap water. Reverse onto plate.
Ingredients
- 375ml cream
- 90g sugar
- 4 tbsp of freshly grated ginger
- 10g of gelatine
- 375ml of cold buttermilk
- 1 tsp of vanilla essence
Method
Heat 375ml cream, 90g sugar and 4 tbsp of freshly grated ginger, stirring so the sugar dissolves. Take off the heat once it starts simmering. Add 10g of gelatine and stir well until dissolved. Strain it through a fine sieve into a pouring jug and stir in 375ml of cold buttermilk and a teaspoon of vanilla essence. Pour into moulds and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
To serve
Unmould the pannacotta and serve.
Makes 8.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/cuisine/desserts/recipe/ginger-buttermilk-pannacotta-20111019-1lzpr.html#ixzz1mQthnaBz
Strawberry Ginger Sauce
1 cup of chopped strawberries
2 Tbs. grated fresh ginger
1 lime - juiced
sugar to taste
Combine all ingredients, except sugar in blender. Mix and transfer to stove. Heat under medium to low heat until it thickens to a consistency of applesauce. Sweeten to taste. Maybe a Tbs or 2 of sugar. Cool down then refrigerate before using.
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
2 punnets/pints of Strawberries
100gram bar of good quality dark chocolate - I used Green & Black's 70% dark
Break up chocolate into small bits. Heat on medium heat in a bain marie. A bowl or pot, inside a larger pot, half filled with simmering water. You want to keep at it that just melted temperature, if it is too hot it may burn or be too runny.
Rinse and paper dry your strawberries. If you prefer you may substitute the berries for cherries. It's all about adapting to your tastes. There is no haute here.
Cover a cookie sheet with baking or waxed paper. Dip fruit into chocolate either holding by the leaves or using a wooden skewer. Let excess drip off. Place gently on cookie sheet, try not to jostle too much. Depending on size of fruit and how thick you dip, you may not use up the entire lot of berries.
Before serving, unmould Ginger Panna Cotta onto serving plate. Drizzle with Strawberry Ginger Sauce. Decorate with Chocolate Dipped berries.
This dessert recipe is time consuming to make but not too difficult. It's well worth the effort.
I first meet my husband Colin on a newsgroup, called "Raindogs", populated by a diverse group of Tom Waits afficiandos. We met up in San Francisco, amongst an international gathering of Raindogs, for the tour promoting his "Get Behind the Mule" album release. That was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. The title of my post is a tribute to this song, from the highly underrated Francis Ford Coppola film "One From The Heart". Tom Waits composed the soundtrack for the film, with Crystal Gayle. An unusual pairing but it works. This post is dedicated to Colin.
