SALMON WITH WOK-TOSSED AMARANTH AND GARLIC MARMALADE

An enlightening chat with my good mate Stan last night. Stan just about convinced me to create another Facebook-centric food site that would be a basic cooking course for everyone who wants to impress in the kitchen without aspiring to a Michelin rating. One of the things we talked about was how some people do not achieve results like a restaurant does with fish because most of us are afraid to use the intensity of heat that would be used in a commercial kitchen. This is a good example of how a home cook and a chef differ. At home, most of us use a heat setting too low. The result is that the fish stews in its own liquid. In this case I did two things that few people do at home. I set the oven to 200C. I heated a little ghee in a pan over the wok burner (set at about 3/4 heat). I let the ghee get hot enough that wisps of smoke just started to rise. I then put in the salmon, skinned side down. I gave it 60 seconds over the wok burner, then put the pan into the oven. I then cooked the amaranth leaves in peanut oil, light soy sauce and garlic in a wok over high heat, tossing constantly until wilted. I turned the wok burner off and took the salmon out of the oven - it had been in there four minutes tops. Some amaranth went on the plate first, salmon (flipped over so the crisp side was uppermost), garlic jam and a little salmon roe. That is it. Dead easy.

SALMON WITH WOK-TOSSED AMARANTH AND GARLIC MARMALADE

OCEAN TROUT ON MUSHROOM & BLACK BEAN RAGOUT

Mmm, ocean trout. Could it be my favourite fish? Possibly. A Euro/Mexican thing going on here. I had some black bean stock reserved from cooking black beans a few days ago. I reduced this with a little olive oil and garlic, then added a mix of mushrooms - chestnut, Swiss brown, shimeji and king oyster. Some vibrantly fresh asparagus from the markets and that is dinner sorted.

OCEAN TROUT ON MUSHROOM & BLACK BEAN RAGOUT

TUNA WITH BABY HEIRLOOM TOMATOES & FLOWERS

OK, so I played sous chef tonight. The intention was a nice lunch after returning from Melbourne, but a fog rearranged plans. Returned three hours late - but not too late to buy some great tuna at Ferry Road Market, along with baby heirloom tomatoes, Yarra Valley unpasteurised salmon roe and assorted edible flowers - all of which found their way onto the plate thanks to Sharon.

TUNA WITH BABY HEIRLOOM TOMATOES & FLOWERS

CRAB & COCONUT CAKES WITH TOMATO SALSA

Mexico meets Asia - which it did when the Spanish started trading with China from Acapulco. Via the Philippines. They took chillies to Asia and brought back things like coriander - which is now as much a part of Mexican cuisine as it is in Thailand. The fishmonger had some sand crabs (also called blue swimmer crabs) from Hervey Bay, a couple of hours north of here. Mixed with an egg, coconut, serrano chilli jam, fish sauce, onion, coriander and rice flour. A simple salsa cruda for accompaniment.

CRAB & COCONUT CAKES WITH TOMATO SALSA

HUACHINANGO EN PIPIAN VERDE

It is believed that the squash was first domesticated in Mesoamerica somewhere between 8,000 and 6,000 BC. Along with corn and various beans, these were the foundation of the local diet. The Maya ate every part of the squash, including the plant itself. What they loved most were the seeds. They used to toast them and add them to tamales. They would make spreads for tortillas - like the Yucatan’s  sikil p’aak. This sauce is most frequently served with chicken - and in fact the chicken is partly or sometimes completely cooked in the sauce. There are many recipes for pipian verde. Most have a combination of hulled pumpkin seeds, fresh coriander, green chillies, ground oregano or marjoram and stock. I also used epazote leaves and a few leaves of cos lettuce in this version. Here I have pan-fried red snapper (huachinango) and spooned the pipian on top. Having used pumpkin seeds in the sauce, it seemed natural to serve roasted pumpkin with this.

HUACHINANGO EN PIPIAN VERDE

COCHINITA PIBIL

In the Yucatan countryside, cochinita pibil would be traditionally cooked in a pit. Peoples from all over the world employ a similar style of cooking - the Hawaiian luau, the Maori umu, the Fijian lovo. It gets its name from the Mayan word for pit, pib. In Oaxaca, they use a similar pit to cook the cores (or pineapples) of agave to make mezcal. We are lucky to have neighbours with a banana plantation so we can easily get leaves in which to wrap the pork. We also have an avocado tree in our garden and these leaves are also great wrappers. The pork is covered in a paste made from annato seeds, cinnamon, cloves, oregano, cumin, garlic, coconut vinegar and  Seville orange juice (or a mix of navel or Valencia orange juice and lime juice). In the absence of a pit (and for those of you living in apartments, pits are extremely difficult), this works just fine in a Dutch oven (lined first with foil, then banana leaves and topped with more leaves and sealed with foil. I used pork neck for this. Ideally cooked for about 4 hours at 140C. But it can be done in 3 hours at about 170C. A perfect condiment is finely slice red onion left for half an hour in a gentle vinegar (coconut, for example).

COCHINITA PIBIL

REEF COD WITH SMOKED CAPSICUM ESCABECHE AND BLACK BEANS

What is a food lover with a conscience to do? We are told to eat less beef because beef production accounts for a disproportionate amount of greenhouse gases. We are told to eat fish because it is good for us. But we are told that the ocean is being raped and fish stocks depleted. Do we go vegan? Some do. But I cannot. I love vegetables and will often eat a meal without flesh. But I do like a great piece of beef, a great roasted chicken, a fresh fish. So, reef cod ... enjoy it while you can. Not a strong-flavoured fish. Nice big flakes. I crumbed it in panko and cooked it in ghee. The capsicums were lightly smoked then gently cooked in a little corn oil with white balsamic and sugar. Some shredded epazote from the garden. If you are not from Mexico, you might not be familiar with epazote. According to your attitude, it is a herb - or an edible weed. It certainly grows profusely here. I found some at a local nursery and planted it in pots. Now in its fourth season, it pops up amongst the gravel between pavers and I have harvested thousands of seeds from last season which I will plant when I have enough land to grow a commercial crop. A wholesaler in Sydney will buy 50 kilos of dried leaves if I can supply them - and if you know epazote, you would know that 50 kilos of dried leaves means planting tens of thousands of plants.

REEF COD WITH SMOKED CAPSICUM ESCABECHE AND BLACK BEANS

SALAD OF CHICKEN, HERBS & PEANUTS

I do like Thai flavours. I like to be assaulted. Not that I cannot also appreciate subtle food. I have a soft spot for that too. But give me a robust combination of chillies, tang of lime juice and fish sauce, some sweetness from palm sugar, the freshness of herbs, pungency of eschallots, comfort of roasted peanuts ... well you get the drift.

This is not a recipe, but more a list of basic ingredients. I figure you can work out what to do from this list.

So, in this salad is - two sliced roasted chicken cutlets (thighs with bone and skin), a couple of tablespoons of coarsely ground roasted peanuts, a bunch of mint, a couple of handfuls of coriander leaves, a sliced Lebanese cucumber, a teaspoon of ground roasted rice, some sliced lemongrass. The dressing is a mix of palm sugar, lime juice, fish sauce, coconut vinegar, peanut oil, sesame oil and a teaspoon of potent chilli paste from David Thompson - page 298 of his Thai Cooking book.

SALAD OF CHICKEN, HERBS & PEANUTS

CHICKEN WITH CAVOLO NERO AND CANNELLINI

Three classics of Italian cooking. Chicken with chilli. Cavolo nero. Cannellini. Between the cavolo nero and the cannellini, we are getting healthy doses of beta carotene, vitamin C, vitamin K, lutein (great for your eyes), zaexanthin (another carotenoid that helps reduce the incidence of macula degeneration), iron, magnesium and folate. From two veg! Not bad. I figure I can afford to do something not so screamingly healthy with two stars like these. So the skin is left on the chicken because that is where the flavour is. Served with kalamata olive tapenade. Green, white and black - could be the Afghanistan flag.

CHICKEN WITH CAVOLO NERO AND CANNELLINI

CONFIT OF OCEAN TROUT WITH BABY BEETROOT AND RED QUINOA

Everyone is talking about cooking sous vide. I overheard a couple of kids talking about it in the shopping mall yesterday. Today it was a gaggle of pensioners at the poker machines. Tonight I think I heard a couple of rugby league forwards discussing it. I cannot be sure on this last one. One was either giving the other some tips about cooking sous vide or threatening to  rip his testicles off. So this is a sort of half sous vide, half confit technique. A mangle of French. Gorgeous ocean trout from the markets sealed in bags with goose fat flavoured with lemon zest and other goodies, air removed, then placed in a water bath and roasted at 90C for a couple of hours. Quinoa is something else people are talking about. A super food, it is a member of the goosefoot family (which might make it a distant relative of the goose fat used above, but probably not). It is close to being the complete protein food.

CONFIT OF OCEAN TROUT WITH BABY BEETROOT AND RED QUINOA

BEEF CHEEKS WITH MASH & GARLIC BEANS

If you have never bought or cooked beef cheeks, you are missing something. Extraordinary flavour and melt in the mouth tenderness. And they are cheap. Well, cheapish. They would be cheaper if top chefs had not discovered them. I reckon restaurants would account for the majority of beef cheek sales in Australia. Anyway, they are brilliant braised very, very slowly in a warm oven (about 140C). Maybe 4 to 5 hours with red wine and other goodies. A very light, fluffy mash made with King Edward potatoes. Proper home cooking.

BEEF CHEEKS WITH MASH & GARLIC BEANS

CAJUN TUNA WITH BLACK BEAN SALSA & CHIPOTLE CREMA

What is it about chipotle chillies? We tend to measure chillies by degree of heat. Scoville units were invented specifically for this task. But there is no science to adequately describe the flavour of chipotle chillies. Yes, there is heat. But this can vary from chilli to chilli. There is also the strong smokiness from the mesquite wood over which they were smoked. And there is a fruitiness that is hard to define. Depending on the variety of chilli smoked, they can be a glossy deep red, like an impenetrable wine. Or they can be a matte leather brown. I think I have described crema in a previous post. A mixture of double cream and buttermilk or plain yoghurt is left somewhere warm until it sours. It is not as strong as sour cream. The green under the fish is kale - bought at the local markets from the Clarke family in Crystal Creek - who happen to also sell brilliantly rich deep orange-yolked eggs.

CAJUN TUNA WITH BLACK BEAN SALSA & CHIPOTLE CREMA