LAMB SHANK WITH POLENTA

Shanks for the memories. Dreadful pun. Lamb shanks are the epitome of comfort food. So is polenta. One classically Australian, one classic Italian. Northern Italian. Polenta was to peasants in the north what pasta was to those in the south - the food on which meals were built. Interesting that it took the Spanish colonisation of the Americas to make it possible. The good conquistadors found a vegetable called corn which was a staple of the natives in what is now Mexico. They took it back to Europe (along with other local goodies like avocado, sweet potato, chocolate and tomato), which eventually resulted in polenta. What I love about polenta is how it can be served soft like a porridge (as it is here) or cooled, sliced and fried or grilled so it becomes a toasted corn bread. Warm days here at this time of year, but cool nights - perfect for something as comfy as lamb shanks & polenta and a rich red wine.

LAMB SHANK WITH POLENTA

SINGAPORE-STYLE CHICKEN CURRY

How many versions of chicken curry must there be? Several from India. From Bangladesh. Pakistan. Sri Lanka. Burma. Vietnam. Thailand. Cambodia. Laos. Various African nations. Mauritius. Sundry Caribbean islands. Fiji. England. Hell, for all I know Iceland might have a version. This is an Indian curry re-imagined in Singapore, executed in Australia. Executed, but not murdered. Its multiculturalism gives it ingredients like curry leaves, coconut milk, tomato and tamarind paste. I think its flavour base comes from frying down finely chopped eschallots, garlic and ginger at the start of the cooking. This sets a rich tone that the following ingredients build on.

SINGAPORE-STYLE CHICKEN CURRY

CHICKEN WITH HUITLACOCHE AND GREEN RICE

I want to write about smut. In Mexico, smut has been elevated to an art form. Everyone loves it. Everyone lusts after it. Mind you, there is a distinct smut season, which means that for several months of the year, Mexican aficionados are denied satisfaction. But when the smut season starts - well, look out world. Huitlacoche is corn. Not just ordinary corn, but infected corn. An airborne fungus attacks the kernels, swelling them to many times their normal size. The yellow flesh turns to a very dark grey or black. The flavour is unique - imagine a cross between truffle, corn and portobello mushrooms. When we returned from our 2 years in Mexico, I contacted various state Departments of Agriculture to see if corn smut existed in in Australia. It does. The trouble is that it is regarded as evil and corn framers will do whatever it takes to eradicate it. If only they knew how extraordinary huitlacoche tastes. It is ironic that in Mexico, infected corn sells for many times the price of healthy corn. In Australia, it is destroyed. Now, about green rice. It gets its colour from a mix of green leaves. In this case, I used rocket, epazote (a Mexican herb we grow at home), baby spinach and peas. You could also use coriander leaves and mild green chillies to get the colour. I cooked the rice using the absorption technique, adding the puree of green herbs at the very end - to preserve the vibrant colour. The chicken is a breast. With skin and with the first wing joint intact. It is sometimes called a Frenched breast. Or a supreme. Or a Frenched Kiev - which is really muddling nationalities.

CHICKEN WITH HUITLACOCHE AND GREEN RICE

MOROCCAN GOAT WITH MOGHRABIEH & OKRA

There must be a more creative name for this dish. And I might think of one. Eventually. Until then, this will have to do. A forequarter of young goat was braised very, very slowly with finely diced onion, garlic, tomatoes, allspice, smoked paprika, bay leaves and lamb stock. If you are yet to experience moghrabieh, think of them as salmon-roe sized pasta balls - because that is what they are. Very large couscous. After boiling and draining, I added fine slices of preserved lemon and olive oil. Okra is an interesting vegetable. Overcooked, it goes slimy and not very pleasant. There are four ways to stop this happening. The obvious one is to avoid overcooking it. The second is to fry it. The third is to use it in a stew (where the viscous slime acts as a binding/thickening agent). The fourth is to skip okra all together and eat frozen peas. But that is a cop-out. The goat was extraordinarily tender and rich. Like a romantic heiress.

MOROCCAN GOAT WITH MOGHRABIEH & OKRA

ROASTED VEGETABLES WITH CHORIZO

There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who make sausages and the other sort. You could say the same about anything. Those who do quilting and those who do not (I tried to type dont but the apostrophe button on my keyboard is on strike), those who tongue-kiss lizards and those who do not. You can add your own. These chorizos have been smoked and then grilled. The vegetables are Jerusalem artichokes, eggplants, Brussels sprouts and spring onions. Brussels sprouts are interestingly named. Unlike other sprouts, these dont (or do not, as my keyboard forces me to write) develop into fully-grown Brussels. Jerusalem artichokes are also interesting. They look nothing like globe artichokes. They do taste a little like their globular namesake. Would they recognise them in Jerusalem?

ROASTED VEGETABLES WITH CHORIZO

LAMB CUTLETS, PARSNIP & POTATO MASH, GARLIC & ONION JAM

Lamb. It doesn't get much more Australian - unless it's from New Zealand. One day we'll beat the Kiwis at Rugby. Politicians will also tell the truth, bottles of wine will never run dry and vodka will come from taps ... on the Big Rock Candy Mountain. Very simple fare for those days when time gets away from you (and in my case, it started to do that the day I was born). The garlic & onion jam is inspired by a garlic jam made by Spoonfed Foods in Sydney.

LAMB CUTLETS, PARSNIP & POTATO MASH, GARLIC & ONION JAM

GOLD BAND SNAPPER, BEETROOT, ALMOND & SHERRY VINEGAR SAUCE

Goldband snapper doesn't look anything like snapper. In some places it's called jobfish. Or gold band jobfish. Or gold-banded jobfish. Or band of gold jobfish. Or sharptooth jobfish. Or toothless jobfish if it's very old. Or sharpfin snapper jobfish. Or sharptooth sharpfin goldband blue-eyed whistling trouser-wearing snapper jobfish. We'll settle for goldband snapper.

Or maybe not. In this case it could be also be called panko-crumbed goldband snapper - because that's what it is dusted in panko crumbs and cooked in ghee. Apart from the panko crumbs (which are Japanese), the meal is inspired by Spain.

The sauce is a Spanish classic, with a texture like tartare sauce or mayonnaise or hummus and a flavour that's a cross between tartare, mayonnaise and hummus. Funny about that.

ALMOND & SHERRY VINEGAR SAUCE

150 GMS BLANCHED ALMONDS
1 SLICE OF STALE SOURDOUGH BREAD 
1 CLOVE OF GARLIC
SALT
1 TABLESPOON OF SHERRY VINEGAR
6-8 TABLESPOONS WATER
1 TABLESPOON OLIVE OIL
1 1/2 TABLESPOONS OF CAPERS 


Grind the almonds finely (I use a coffee grinder I keep for spices and nuts) and place these in a food processor or a canister for blending. Cut the crusts off the bread, tear it into chunks, soak it in cold water, squeeze it dry and add this to the almonds. Peel the garlic and crush this to a paste with the salt. Add this to the almond & bread, along with the vinegar. Add a few tablespoons of water and mix briefly until integrated. Add the rest of the water and the olive oil and blend until smooth (it should be the thickness of mayonnaise. Rinse the capers and finely chop them. Stir these through the sauce and serve. Great on fish, vegetables (like beetroot used here) and chicken.

GOLD BAND SNAPPER, BEETROOT, ALMOND & SHERRY VINEGAR SAUCE

OXTAIL & MUSHROOM PIE

What does a stew become in its next life? A pie. The oxtail that was dinner a few nights ago has returned for an encore - taken off the bone, reduced, with some field mushrooms added for textural interest. I bought a huge bunch of broccolini at the Pyrmont Growers Market in Sydney this morning. Simply steamed with some sensational Colonna Granverde olive oil flavoured with organic lemons. Proper home cooking.

OXTAIL & MUSHROOM PIE

AGAVE-GLAZED PORK CUTLET WITH MEZCAL HERB SALSA

Hands up all of you who've had a bad experience with pork. I'm talking tough, dry, flavourless pork. Don't blame the breed, blame the breeder. Commercial pigs have been cross-bred so there's no fat on the poor animal. Combine that with the old wives' tale that pork has to be well done and what you've got is pointless crap. A wonderful man called Joe Byrne died recently. Joe started the Bangalow Sweet Pork company in protest at what pork had become. Joe got some local farmers (naturally, around Bangalow in northern New South Wales) to go back to some heritage breeds of pig. These were breeds that were in danger of disappearing, their places taken by the new lean breeds. Of course others have now followed in Joe's pioneering footsteps. There are several brands of pork available now throughout Australia from great breeds like Berkshires. The extra fat and the natural sugars in the meat of these animals ensures rich flavour. The sugars caramelise when given some decent heat. The other trick to getting a great outcome is to cook the pork only medium rare - medium at most. It should still be pink and juicy inside. I marinated these Bangalow pork cutlets in agave nectar & mezcal. I made a salsa using coriander leaves, watercress, olive oil, lime juice, a little mezcal and some sugar. Pumpkins from the neighbours' farm. Slow-roasted small tomatoes from the markets.

AGAVE-GLAZED PORK CUTLET WITH MEZCAL HERB SALSA

BRAISED OXTAIL WITH POLENTA

I could have put a photo of some brown meat on yellow porridge here. But I figure you can imagine what braised oxtail looks like. Same goes for polenta. So here's the label of the wine we drank with it - a 1985 Cote Rotie from Guigal. Just magic. The oxtail was pretty good too. Recipe to follow.

BRAISED OXTAIL WITH POLENTA

ZUCCHINI & PANCETTA FRITTATA

Got eggs? Got dinner. If you don't have time to cook something fancy, the answer isn't take-away. You can whip up a frittata in 10 minutes, start to finish. You can put pretty much anything in a frittata. Wet ingredients, like tomatoes, don't work (unless you're using diced deseeded Romas). Here's the recipe for the one I have done here.

6 LARGE ORGANIC EGGS
50 MLS MILK
SALT & PEPPER
2 ZUCCHINI
100 GMS FLAT PANCETTA
2 TABLESPOONS GHEE OR BUTTER
3CM CUBE OF PARMESAN
4-5 SPRIGS PARSLEY

Heat oven grill to 180C. Place a shelf on the second top setting (about 20cms from the top). Whisk the eggs, milk, salt & pepper in a bowl. Heat the ghee in a 25cm non-stick fry pan over medium heat. Quarter the zucchini lengthwise, then cut into 1cm slices. Cook until lightly browned. Meanwhile, dice the pancetta. Add this to the pan and toss so that the zucchini & pancetta are distributed evenly around the pan. Pour in egg mixture. Grate parmesan on top and add finely chopped parsley. After 3-4 minutes, place the pan into the oven until the top puffs up and browns. Check that the middle of the frittata is cooked by pressing lightly on the top. Served here with a mixed lettuce & watercress salad dressed with lemon-infused olive oil and sherry vinegar

ZUCCHINI & PANCETTA FRITTATA

RED CURRY OF BEEF & EGGPLANT

Some rib of beef left over from last night. Some small eggplants from the markets. A batch of curry paste I had made a couple of weeks ago. Voila. A very simple Sunday meal.

RED CURRY OF BEEF & EGGPLANT