SALMON IN AN ADOBO OF ANCHO CHILLIES

No two chillies are the same. Anchos have very little heat, but a wonderful raisin-like fruitiness. They are great stuffed with a mix of minced pork, rice, maybe some finely diced zucchini or sliced zucchini flowers and then steamed. Here they have been turned into a marinade. The salmon fillets still have the skin on. They rested (flesh side down) in the marinade for about 10 minutes and then went onto a very hot cast iron skillet skin side down for 30 seconds before going under the grill for 4 minutes. I bought these miniature heirloom tomatoes at James Street Market in Brisbane.

ADOBO OF ANCHO CHILLIES

8 ANCHO CHILLIES
6 CLOVES OF GARLIC (WITH SKIN ON)
1/4 TEASPOON OF CLOVES
1/4 TEASPOON CUMIN SEEDS
1/2 TEASPOON BLACK PEPPERCORNS
1 TEASPOON SALT
2 TEASPOONS DRIED MARJORAM OR OREGANO
150 MLS CHICKEN STOCK OR WATER

Rinse the chillies, remove stems and seeds. Heat a griddle over medium heat and cook the chillies on each side until fragrant. It is OK if a little smoke rises - but not too much or thee chillies will burn and taste bitter. Put the chillies into a bowl and cover with hot water for 20 minutes. Cook the garlic in the same hot skillet, turning until the skins are slightly burnt. Grind the dried spices and salt to a fine powder. Place the soaked chillies, spice mix, peeled garlic cloves and stock or water (you can use 150 mls of the water in which the chillies soaked) into a blender and blend until you have a smooth, shiny paste.

To make the marinade for the fish, mix a tablespoon of dark brown sugar and 1 1/2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar with 4 tablespoons of the adobo. The remainder of the adobo will keep up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator or can be frozen.

Some of you will know we were in partnership in a fish cafe in Coolangatta. A disaster. I mention it now because we used to serve a salad there that was crap. The menu was devised by our partner - not the one who was the conman but the one who was his accomplice - and the best amateur cook of Chinese food I know. This did not necessarily make her the perfect person to devise the menu of a fish restaurant. The salad was primitive. The dressing was made with distilled white vinegar. Because there is so little going on in a salad, every element is critical. Here some beautiful mixed lettuces share a bowl with slices of Sharwill avocado. Sharwills are about to come to the end of their season here. There are many avocado growers around the area who only eat Sharwills. Wonderfully smooth, nutty flesh. A dressing of macadamia oil, lemon-infused olive oil and white Balsamic.

SALMON IN AN ADOBO OF ANCHO CHILLIES

CHICKEN WITH ARTICHOKES

How to speak Italian ... Speak English. Wave your arms around a lot. End of lesson. How to cook Italian ... Cook English. Throw it out. Start again. Love the simplicity of Italian food. Chook legs ( I cooked the front half last night) roasted with chilli, salt, pepper and olive oil. Artichokes quartered and braised in chicken stock (made with the carcass of the chook), lemon juice and garlic.

CHICKEN WITH ARTICHOKES

NORTHERN LIGHT

What are the great food towns of the world? New York? Paris? Milan? How many of you named Copenhagen? Maybe its time has come. According to the Wikipedia listing the name is a contraction of two words "nordisk" (Nordic) and "mad" (food). I like the fact that food is mad. Maybe the chef is also mad. Maybe you have to be mad to have on your menu a dish called radishes in edible soil. René Redzepi is 32. He worked in a couple of serious kitchens - The French Laundry in the Napa Valley and El Bulli in Spain. He now owns what Restaurant magazine named the best restaurant in the world in 2010. This is a beautiful cookbook. It breaks with tradition by seducing the reader with photos of food, produce and places up front and gathers the recipes in the back. For those of us with lots of cookbooks, this comes as a breath of fresh air. Quite cold fresh air. With so much of a our food based on French, Italian, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and Mexican traditions, a cookbook with a strong Scandinavian influence introduces new ingredients and new ways of preparing food.

Here is the current lunch menu -

Dried scallops and watercress
Biodynamic cereals and beech nut

Oyster and the sea

‘Læsø’ onion
Onion cress and thyme


The hen and the egg

Deer and wild thyme
Red beets and red fruits


Hay and chamomile
Sorrel and wild herbs

“Gammel dansk”
Milk and woodsorrel

Buy the cookbook. Try a few recipes.

NORTHERN LIGHT

BREAST OF CHICKEN WITH PRESERVED LEMON & TOMATO KASAUNDI

What? No photo? Sorry. Camera battery died. So, I will make up for the lack of photographic evidence with a recipe instead.

But first, about the chicken ... Monday is not a good day to be a chicken at Alstonville. Monday is killing day. If chickens were brighter than they are, they might notice that their numbers are reduced every Monday. If they were brighter, they might take to hiding on Mondays to avoid be killed. Maybe they could dress up as something else. Small shrubs, for example. Cow dung? Land mines? Anyway, chooks are not that bright and so every Monday the number of chickens on the Alstonville property are reduced. On Monday night a box of the newly slaughtered and dressed chickens are driven to the coast. Not for a swim, but to the home of our butcher Paul. And so today, Tuesday, we can go to his shop and buy one of these tasty and fresh Alstonville chooks. I broke the chicken down into breasts (with half wing) and legs (to be used tomorrow). I will use the frame to make chicken stock.

So here is a recipe for breast of chicken with preserved lemon.

BREAST OF CHICKEN WITH PRESERVED LEMON

2 CHICKEN BREASTS WITH SKIN & HALF WING INTACT
2 WEDGES OF PRESERVED LEMON
2 CLOVES OF GARLIC
GROUND ROASTED CHILLIES
EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
SALT & PEPPER

Peel and slice each garlic clove into three. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil and baking paper. Place three garlic slices under each breast (skin side up). Place a wedge of preserved lemon on each breast. Sprinkle ground roasted chillies onto each breast, anoint with olive oil, coarse sea salt and coarsely crushed pepper.

Preheat the oven to 220C. Place the chicken in the middle of the oven and turn the heat down to 160C. After 20 minutes switch to the grill setting, turn up the heat to 180C and raise the tray to about 15 cms from the heat source and cook another 5 minutes max to add colour to the skin.

I served this with tomato kasaundi and a salad of watercress, asparagus and avocado.

BREAST OF CHICKEN WITH PRESERVED LEMON & TOMATO KASAUNDI

STIR-FRIED PORK WITH BEANS AND GREEN PEPPERCORNS

OMG, what an assault on the taste buds! How come the best Thai chef is Australian? Never mind. David Thompson is a genius. OK, the original recipe would have been boar, but this Bangalow pork loin sure is more civilised. Cannot believe the intensity of flavour from a relatively modest number of ingredients. Lots of tiny dried prawns and quite potent dried chillies in the paste. More big slabs of fresh chilli, squeaky beans, soft pork and crunchy pea eggplants (not in the original recipe). Plus L-A-R-D. A lot of people recoil in fear at its mere mention. I love it. Lard does things to food that other fats can only dream of. If fats dream. Maybe they do. I must dig out my old Introduction to Applied Psychology textbook to see if Freud or Jung or David Hume covered the dreams of shortening. If you do not possess this cookbook, do so immediately. You have to love a cookbook that runs to 150 pages before the first recipe - and then gives you, oh I am guessing, maybe 1,000! AND it is covered in hot pink Thai silk. Pure decadence.

STIR-FRIED PORK WITH BEANS AND GREEN PEPPERCORNS

PRAWNS WITH EGGPLANT, BAMBOO AND GREEN PEPPERCORNS

Tonight Thai is my favourite cuisine. Tomorrow it might be Italian. Or Mexican. Or French. Or Chinese. Or that cuisine without a country that has the adjective Modern in front of it. Modern Australian. Or Modern American. Or Pacific Rim. Or Asian Fusion. Or Con Fusion. Anyway, for tonight I am happy to nominate plain Thai as my fave. Great crunchy Thai eggplants, pungent fresh peppercorns, lots of basil, big fat local prawns, kaffir lime leaves from the garden, home made green curry paste and slices of bamboo shoot. I think it might be a summer of Thai tastes. Looking forward to mango season getting into full swing and coming home from the weekly markets with a tray of decadence.

PRAWNS WITH EGGPLANT, BAMBOO AND GREEN PEPPERCORNS

RED EMPEROR WITH A COMPOTE OF VEGETABLES AND SALSA VERDE

Red emperor is a species found along most of the Queensland, Northern Territory and the upper half of the West Australian coastline. As the fish grow they tend to move into deeper water, but they will return to shallower water during winter. They are caught all year. They have gently-flavoured white flesh. I pan fried parsnip, leeks and fennel over low heat, then added some steamed and peeled broad beans just before serving. the fish was also pan fried after being rolled in panko crumbs.

RED EMPEROR WITH A COMPOTE OF VEGETABLES AND SALSA VERDE

TUNA ADOBADO WITH ROASTED CORN SALSA & CHIPOTLE CREMA

Yellowfin tuna. Fun to catch. More fun to eat. Really beautiful fish, maybe cut a little thinner than I would like but at 6.30 the fishmonger was closing up and hosing down for the day, so I took what I could get. A dry adobo rub and then pan fried over ferocious heat to sear the outside whilst keeping the centre raw but warm. A warm salsa of roosted corn, orange capsicum, agave nectar, lime juice and coriander. Crema blended with chipotle chillies. Proper modern Mexican food - and very simple to prepare.

TUNA ADOBADO WITH ROASTED CORN SALSA & CHIPOTLE CREMA

SHOULDER OF LAMB WITH ROOT VEGETABLES

Winter. It reminds me of Colombo. Just when you thought he was about to leave the room, he would turn and come back with a penetrating question. A wet and cool day here. Good thing I was equipped with something to fight off the cold - a shoulder of lamb. Slow braised with carrot, parsnip, Spring onion & bintje potatoes (plus lamb stock, garlic, thyme and bay).

SHOULDER OF LAMB WITH ROOT VEGETABLES

REEF COD, PRAWN & FENNEL STEW

It is magic what can be done with some fish stock, saffron, tomatoes, onion, garlic, some seafood and some diced fennel. Reef cod seemed to be the right fish for this since it keeps its shape through the cooking process. Blue eye would have worked. Ling too. But not barramundi.

REEF COD, PRAWN & FENNEL STEW

KINGFISH WITH FRIED LEEKS, SNOWPEA SHOOTS & ESCHALLOT SESAME VINAIGRETTE

Kingfish is a summer fish, but like lots of species, it is available before and after its main season. Maybe global warming is responsible. Maybe not. Anyway, here we are in early spring and kingfish is being caught off the coast. This has been given a vaguely Asian treatment, with fried leeks, snowpea shoots dressed with eschallot vinaigrette and a little Japanese sesame sauce over the top after plating up.

KINGFISH WITH FRIED LEEKS, SNOWPEA SHOOTS & ESCHALLOT SESAME VINAIGRETTE

FLATHEAD WITH ASPARAGUS, ZUCCHINI, BROCCOLINI & TAPENADE

In a couple of weeks there will be an influx of fisher folk from around the country. They will come to the Gold Coast to participate in a two-day fishing competition, the Flathead Classic. It is not a good time to be a flathead. Dozens of anglers will be out, drawing on their fishing skills to entice fish to bite at their lures. It must be disconcerting to a fish to have a meal fight back. The fish see something tasty, gulp it down, then instead of being allowed to digest their meal in peace, they get hoisted out of the water, laid on a plank marked in centimetres to indicate their length, photographed and then deposited back in the sea. I can just imagine the stories those fish have to tell as they sit around the front bar of their local watering hole. Anyway, this is a long way of saying that flathead are around at the moment. My brother, who manufactures many of the lures used in the Flathead Classic (find his lures at www.bozos.com.au), caught a lot of them last week. Some also found there way to our local fishmonger - and from there to our dining table. Three green vegetables under the fish and a black one on top - the tapenade made from kalamata olives.

FLATHEAD WITH ASPARAGUS, ZUCCHINI, BROCCOLINI & TAPENADE

CHICKEN WITH REFRIED BEANS & TOMATO SALSA

Simple Mexican. I really do miss the chicken flavour of the chicken in Mexico. Sad that it has become so bland here in Australia. At least it helps to buy chicken on the bone and with skin, so at least it has a fighting chance. A fresh tomato salsa with serrano chilli from the garden. Refried pinto beans with crumbled fetta (because it is about as close to the cheese that would be used in Mexico). Served with a salad of watercress and avocado with a macadamia oil & white balsamic vinegar dressing.

CHICKEN WITH REFRIED BEANS & TOMATO SALSA

SPAGHETTI WITH SALMON

Leftovers. Some tea-smoked salmon from yesterday has been reincarnated in this simple pasta dish. Slow roasted cherry tomatoes, fried capers, orange capsicum and a spoon of crema before plating. On the subject of crema, you see great dollops of sour cream on top of plates of Tex-Mex food. In Mexico proper, if they serve anything like sour cream (and they do not use it nearly as much as in Tex-Mex cooking), it will be crema. Crema is a very mild soured cream. It is dead simple to make at home - a tub of good thick cream mixed with a couple of tablespoons of buttermilk or plain yoghurt. Leave it somewhere warm for 12-24 hours (depends on the warmth of your room) for the cultures in the buttermilk or yoghurt to work their magic on the cream. Once it has thickened and has a gentle sourness, it can be refrigerated. If it is still not ready, leave it for several more hours.

SPAGHETTI WITH SALMON

SALAD OF TEA SMOKED SALMON, KUMERA & CAPERBERRIES WITH CARAMELISED GARLIC VINAIGRETTE

Have I mentioned I love smoky flavours? For smoking things like legs of lamb, whole chickens etc I use a large smoker. For small jobs I use a wok. Here is a simple way to smoke salmon fillets, roe (for making taramasalata), chicken breast fillets etc)

TEA-SMOKED SALMON

SALMON FILLETS
1 CUP RICE GRAINS
1/2 CUP TEA LEAVES
2 TABLESPOONS SUGAR

WOK
TWO SHEETS ALUMINIUM FOIL
BAMBOO STEAMER
ONE PIECE OF BAKING PAPER
TWO CLEAN TEA TOWELS

Line the wok with foil (take the 2 pieces of foil, place one on top of the other and fold along one long side several times to create a join). Place rice, tea leaves and sugar on top of the foil. Cut a circle of baking paper to line the base of the steamer. Place salmon in steamer, place this on the wok and fill the gap between the steamer and the wok with wet tea towels. Place over medium/high flame until the rice mixture starts smoking, turn down slightly (to about 1/3 heat) and smoke for about 15 minutes. That is it.

SALAD OF TEA SMOKED SALMON, KUMERA & CAPERBERRIES WITH CARAMELISED GARLIC VINAIGRETTE

SALAD OF SMOKED DUCK, KUMERA, BROAD BEANS & PECANS WITH POMEGRANATE VINAIGRETTE

I love smoky flavours in food. Smoked lamb, smoked chillies, smoked eel, smoked pork, smoked salmon, smoked duck, smoked smoke. With a side dish of smoke. Smoked duck works really well with sweet flavours. Like kumera - sweet potato. Like beetroot. Like pomegranate molasses. No beetroot in this dish, but the other ingredients are here, along with local pecans and broad beans from the garden. A dressing of pomegranate molasses, olive oil, soy sauce, sesame oil and vin cotto.

SALAD OF SMOKED DUCK, KUMERA, BROAD BEANS & PECANS WITH POMEGRANATE VINAIGRETTE

PORK RISSOLES ON ROASTED CORN SALSA WITH CAPSICUM JAM

Been in Brisbane all day - which does not leave a lot of time for food prep. Never mind. These rissoles were simple and tasty. Pork, fennel seeds, garlic, smoked paprika, finely diced zucchini, egg, salt & pepper. Dusted with polenta and pan fried in ghee. Corn and capsicum pan roasted with a little corn oil, then maple syrup to finish. Red capsicum marmalade. Home cooking 101.

PORK RISSOLES ON ROASTED CORN SALSA WITH CAPSICUM JAM

UDON NOODLE SOUP WITH BEEF & ENOKI MUSHROOMS

On the 1 to 10 Slurp Scale, Udon noodles rate a 10. There is something about the fat fleshiness, the pliability and the soft rice texture that does things in the mouth. In this case they lie in a dashi & miso broth with enoki, wafer-thin beef, choy sum and Japanese sesame sauce.

UDON NOODLE SOUP WITH BEEF & ENOKI MUSHROOMS

PORK & FENNEL SAUSAGES, CABBAGE SALAD, MASH & TOMATO KASAUNDI

Italy meets England meets India meets Argentina. My minimalist midweek multicultural meal. Italian bangers on a potato & parsnip mash with a cabbage salad and a dollop of the tomato kasaundi I made on the weekend. I might post a recipe for this. A very useful condiment.

PORK & FENNEL SAUSAGES, CABBAGE SALAD, MASH & TOMATO KASAUNDI

WAGYU RIB FILLET, ROASTED VEGETABLES AND TAPENADE

A simple meal of quality beef, roasted pumpkin, baby carrots and eggplants and a dollop of tapenade (recipe below).

TAPENADE

250 GMS PITTED KALAMATA OLIVES
1 TABLESPOON OF FINELY DICED ONION
3 CHOPPED ANCHOVY FILLETS
2 TEASPOONS OF CHOPPED GARLIC
1 TABLESPOON OF RINSED CAPERS
LEAVES FROM 2-3 THYME STEMS
PINCH OF CHILLI POWDER
50 MLS EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
SQUEEZE OF LEMON JUICE

Pulse the olives, onion, anchovies, garlic, capers, thyme and chilli in a food processor - just once or twice to produce a rough mixture. With the motor now running constantly, drizzle in the olive oil. You might need to stop and scrape down the sides once or twice. Some people like to blend until very smooth. I prefer a little texture. Add a very small amount of lemon juice - less than half a teaspoon and stir through. This will keep for several weeks in the fridge.

WAGYU RIB FILLET, ROASTED VEGETABLES AND TAPENADE

YELLOWFIN TUNA WITH TOMATO MASALA SAUCE

A bit of rain around today, which made it a perfect day for reading, working, listening to music and cooking - tapenade, tomato kasaundi, green masala paste, naan and this meal (using some of the tomato kasaundi and green masala paste in the sauce). The naan had the right flavour, but the wrong texture. A bit crumbly. Bread is a bugger to get right. Sourdough is probably the hardest of all. A sourdough starter is a demanding child requiring constant attention. Odd that it is called the mother. The tuna was flash seared so it was still raw but warm inside.

YELLOWFIN TUNA WITH TOMATO MASALA SAUCE

PRAWN TAMALES WITH SALSA RANCHERA

Tamales. Ever tried them? Until we moved to Mexico, I had only read about them. Their origin can be traced back to around 5,000 BC. There are hundreds of different recipes from around Mexico. In many parts the tamales are wrapped in corn husks. In Oaxaca, they are more commonly wrapped in banana leaves. The recipe for these comes from a book by Mark Miller, Stephen Pyles and John Sedlar. The addition of chillies and coriander in the dough is a modern touch. The salsa is pure tradition. In the cook book, the recipe uses olive oil. I stuck with tradition again and used lard, which is what they would use in Mexico. There is only one kind of music to listen to whilst eating these - musica ranchera. 

PRAWN TAMALES WITH SALSA RANCHERA

RICE VERMICELLI WITH SCALLOPS, WOOD FUNGUS & XO SAUCE

The fishmonger got some scallops from Tasmania. No big deal, I hear you say. Or think. Usually they have scallops from China or Chile. I have nothing against either country - but their scallops are not great. Well they are no doubt great when fresh back home, but not once they have been frozen, shipped across the ocean, trucked from the port to the fish markets and then trucked again to the retailer. These guys still had to travel from Tassie, but they flew. And they did not get frozen, which meant that they did not bleed water when cooked. So they could be pan-fried without poaching in their own liquid. The XO sauce was made using dried scallops, so it seemed like a natural partner. Ditto the shiitake mushrooms and black wood fungus.

RICE VERMICELLI WITH SCALLOPS, WOOD FUNGUS & XO SAUCE