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« February 2006 | Main | April 2006 »
A quick word to say many thanks to all the producers and visitors who called in at our stall to pick up a magazine and for all the positive comments. We were up against some stiff competition for attention with the fantastic local food and beverages on offer. Three faves out of the many were the Spencer's Brook Farm organic pork, the Gascoyne Tropical Fruit mango chutney, and the Oranje Tractor's Spark Plug Riesling.
Serves 6
650 g shortcrust pastry
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp garlic, crushed
50 g butter
4 tbs Madeira, or a medium dry sherry
salt and freshly ground black pepper
150g Roquefort cheese crumbled
1 cup cream
3 eggs
half cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
Line 10 cm tart moulds with pastry and bake them blind in a 180°C oven for about fifteen minutes until cooked through. Sweat onion and garlic in butter, add Madeira, season and cook a further minute. Cool. Line the base of the tart with onion mix and sprinkle over the crumbled Roquefort cheese. Whisk eggs and cream together, season well, add chopped parsley and pour into tarts.
Cook in a 140°C oven for about twenty five minutes or until the centre stops wobbling. Serve with the Caramelised Fig, Walnut and Frisée Salad.
Caramelised fig, walnut and frisée salad
Serves 6-8
3 ripe figs, sliced into 8 wedges
1 tbs soft brown sugar
30 ml walnut oil
60 ml extra virgin olive oil
30 ml red wine vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
250 g frisée lettuce, picked and washed
60 g walnuts, roasted and roughly crushed
Caramelise figs by sprinkling with brown sugar and placing under a very hot grill until sugar melts and bubbles. Whisk together the oils, vinegar and seasoning for the dressing. Toss frisee and walnuts together with dressing and figs and serve on top of the tarts.
"On Sunday, 26 March, by the sparkling Swan River at Claisebrook Cove, the East Perth Redevelopment Authority (EPRA) will present Feast Perth 2006 – a free, community event, celebrating gastronomy at all its stages."
Feast Perth is on this Sunday and amidst a bevy of food related treats and activities will be us of Spice. Stop in and say hello, we're quite nice, really.
Amano in Cottesloe will be hosting chef Kylie Kwong during her visit to Perth. She'll be there to say hello to and sign her latest book Simple Chinese Cooking while you enjoy a glass of champagne and a 'sweet treat'.
11am, Tuesday April 11th.
Limited spaces so please call Catriona on 9384 0378
A few years ago I attended a session at the then Gingin Olive Festival run by the incomparable Stan Kailis and the waters divided. I then combined his pickling method for kalamata olives with wonderful fruit from the eternally energetic olive grower and promoter Maggie Edmonds and finally I had some sensational fruit. I even pulled my husband Rob from a meeting to tell him of my success. As I told him ‘they taste like perfect kalamata olives’. These are now the main olives I cure.
Curing Olives
2 kg ripe kalamata fruit
water
200 g rock or other pure salt
400 ml red wine vinegar
olive oil
Rinse the olives in tap water and then slit them down one side with a sharp knife. Place them into a container with a plate on top of the olives to keep them submerged and cover them with water. Every two days change the water over the period of a week. If they are still bitter-taste them, then leave for another two days. Then drain them off and pack them into storage jars. Make up a brine with the rock salt and the red wine vinegar and enough water to make up to two litres. Pour this over the olives. There should be enough to cover. Then pour over some extra virgin olive oil to give good coverage. Seal the container and leave for about four weeks for the curing to complete. Then marinate them in your favourite mixture to serve.
Olives & Persian Feta
This dish, which is more than just a marinade, makes an ideal small starter, especially when teamed with some good crusty bread. When olives are warmed they take on a special richness. I use the Yarra Valley Persian Feta because I think it is the best
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp garlic, crushed
1 tsp ginger, cut into fine strips
2 kaffir lime leaves, left whole
1 lime, cut into eight chunks
2 red chillies, split in half
400 g plump kalamata olives
sprinkle salt
1 cup Persian feta, broken into rough pieces
coriander leaves
Place all of the ingredients, except for the feta and coriander, in a medium pan or wok. Gently heat them through until just warm and perfumed. Turn everything onto an attractive plate. Scatter over the feta and a few coriander leaves.
Recipe courtesy of Daniel Lichtensteiger, chef and owner of the Grass Tree restaurant in Kalbarri. His recipe for Kalbarri Crayfish with ginger and spring onion can be found on page 45 of the Autumn edition of our mag
2 WA crayfish 400-500g each
25 ml regular olive oil
50 g chopped garlic
60 ml whisky
100 ml fish cream sauce
100 ml cream
½ bundle dill
2 portions steamed Jasmine rice
sea-salt & black pepper for seasoning
Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil, then drop in the crayfish. Boil for a minute, then drain and cool under running water. When you are able to handle them twist the heads off and crack the tail with a big knife from the small to the thick part on a chopping board in half. Then simply pull the meat out of the shell. Dice each half tail in five equal pieces.
Heat olive oil in frying pan and, when really hot, sauté the crayfish for a minute or two, add chopped garlic stir occasionally. Deglaze with the whisky, add the cream and fish cream sauce, simmer for 2-3 minute, and check the seasoning. To finish the dish add some sliced dill.
For serving, place a serving of jasmine rice in the middle of the plate, place the crayfish pieces around, froth the sauce with a bamix (keep the sauce in light and creamy) and pour over the meat, decorate with a sprig of dill or serve with green asparagus.
[serves 2]
Last weekend people in Great Southern were treated to a Taste sensation. Charmaine Solomon was caught quaffing the local drop between giving master classes with the able assistance of her husband Rueben. SPICE contributing writer, Sophie Zalokar, was found keeping the debate local and fresh at the Bookcafé in Albany. Must Winebar executive chef Russell Blaikie could be found at work with John Walsh at Forest Hill Winery or solo at the Oranje Tractor Winery. But at the end of the day it was the local producers and farmers who deserve the praise, they were the reason for the success of TASTE. People like Zak Launay (Wilson Inlet Seafood), Dr. Goodness Organic Pork, Box Organics, Howard Shapland (Woodgate Farm), Edengate Blueberry Farm, Torbay Raspberries, Denmark Farmhouse clotted cream, True Blue Smoked Fish and many more.
Out now!