Behind The Burners

KING PRAWN LAKSA

2012-03-10T20:05:00.000+11:00

I know, I know, I know ... laksa is supposed to be wetter than this. But the bean sprouts were so fresh and the Hokkien noodles so plump and the king prawns so big that I just kept adding more. Trust me, there is soup in there.

BREAST OF GRIMAUD DUCK WITH BORLOTTI, GRILLED FIGS AND BALSAMIC GLAZE

2012-03-06T17:25:00.000+11:00

The duck breast were cooked twice. First, sous vide to produce a juicy tender meat. Then seared skin-side down until crisped. More of the great fresh borlotti from the local markets, along with some black figs sprinkled with brown sugar and quickly grilled. And a drizzle of balsamic glaze ... sweet, earthy, gamey, soft and crisp.

YELLOWFIN TUNA RISSOLES WITH SALSA

2012-03-06T16:58:00.000+11:00

Things to do with scraps of tuna. Number 1: The rissole. Tuna, mashed potato, parsley, egg, salt and pepper. Dipped in panko crumbs and sautéed in ghee. A deeply satisfying charred tomato salsa. Proper family food.

RICE NOODLES WITH KING PRAWNS & FRIED PORK SKIN

2012-03-06T08:16:00.001+11:00

Is there anything as sexy as the sensual slipperiness of fresh rice noodles? Classic south east Asian fast food - peanut oil, chilli paste, noodles, garlic and big fat king prawns, with some crisp fried pork skin to serve.

YELLOWFIN TUNA WITH BORLOTTI, TOMATO & ROSEMARY

2012-03-03T22:01:00.000+11:00

I'd forgotten how good fresh borlotti beans are. I shouldn't be surprised ... I've forgotten lots of things. I haven't forgotten where I live, but that can't be far away. I bought these at the local farmers market and cooked them with some olive oil and rosemary before adding diced tomato (also from the market). The tuna was rubbed with ground chipotle chilli and seared.

BEEF CHEEK WITH POLENTA AND ZUCCHINI

2012-03-03T20:40:00.000+11:00

Not much to describe here. Beef cheeks slowly braised in a well recycled beef stock, soft polenta (cooked with home made chicken stock) and small zucchini from the markets sautéed with a little garlic. Heaven doesn't get much more comfortable than this.

LINGUINE WITH SMOKED SALMON, PRESERVED LEMON AND SALMON ROE

2012-02-21T20:33:00.000+11:00

Good brass-extruded pasta from Italy, salmon from Tasmania, salmon roe from the Yarra Valley, home-preserved home-grown lemons and Colonna lemon-infused extra virgin olive oil. Happiness.

RED CURRY OF MAHI MAHI

2012-02-20T08:40:00.000+11:00

Or should this be yellow curry? Come to think of it, why are Australia's Yellow Cabs orange? This curry paste is more yellow than red thanks to the inclusion of fresh turmeric. A complex paste of chillies, coriander root, turmeric root, galangal (a ginger) root, garlic, eschallots, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fish paste, palm sugar, salt, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass. But a very simple curry - peanut oil, curry paste, kaffir lime leaves, coconut cream, eschallots and mahi mahi.

SALAD OF HOT SMOKED SALMON, CUCUMBER, SHAVED COCONUT AND FRIED PORK SKIN

2012-02-19T20:58:00.000+11:00

It's all going on here - smokiness, crunchiness, sweetness ... cool, hot, salty, tangy ... a great salad for a hot tropical summer day.

MAHI MAHI WITH BUDIN DE ELOTE AND GRILLED TOMATO SALSA

2012-02-19T20:40:00.000+11:00

The fishmonger at the local markets operates a boat out of Southport, about 30kms north of here. At the moment mahi mahi and yellowfin tuna are off the coast. I bought some corn from another stall at the markets to make this budín - a classic Mexican corn pudding (puréed corn, milk, egg, sugar and salt). I blistered the skin of a few ripe tomatoes over a naked gas flame, then puréed these with serrano chillies, garlic and salt.

PUMPKIN RISOTTO

2012-02-15T19:59:00.000+11:00

I am pretty certain I have posted pumpkin risotto before. Mind you, I have also been pretty certain about lots of things in the past that proved to be mere figments of my imagination. So here it is ... again ... or maybe for the first time. Pumpkin from our neighbours' farm. Montes Alpha chardonnay. Carnaroli rice from Italy. Saffron from Spain. Home made chicken stock. 3 year old parmigiana Reggiano.

SALMON WITH SUGARLOAF CABBAGE AND ROE

2012-02-15T19:48:00.000+11:00

If I were a poet - or even just a ham menu writer - I'd find an enticing way to describe this so it sounded as good as it tasted. As it is, you'll just have to take my word. The cabbage macerated in a dressing of garlic, anchovy, olive oil, sherry vinegar and salt. The salmon simply sautéed and some salmon roe to pop in the mouth with each mouthful. Simple and tasty ... tastier than it sounds. Trust me.

LINGUINE WITH MORTON BAY BUGS

2012-02-14T09:47:00.000+11:00

Morton Bay bugs (or the similar Balmain bugs) are slipper lobsters. If you aren't familiar with them, you're missing out on something special. The flesh is MUCH sweeter than rock lobster or crayfish - but not as sweet as mud crab, blue swimmer crab or scampi. I removed the flesh from these bugs and sautéed this in olive oil with a little garlic and chilli. A squeeze of lemon juice, tossed with spelt linguine and that was that.

BREAST OF CHICKEN WITH LAKSA REDUCTION

2012-02-14T09:24:00.003+11:00

But wait! That can't be a breast! It's got a leg! I guess for a lot of people, a chicken breast is a lump of pale pink flesh with no skin, no bone and no flavour that goes white and dry when cooked. This is a breast cut off the whole chicken. Half wing intact. Skin attached. Brushed with a little chilli oil before roasting. Served on a reduced sauce of laksa paste, coconut milk, palm sugar and lime juice.

CHARCOAL ROASTED PORK NECK ON TOASTED ORGANIC TURKISH BREAD

2012-02-07T21:15:00.001+11:00

Café food? Yep. On Sunday I roasted a pork neck over charcoal in our kamado. We've all become so used to the virtually instant heat of gas barbecues that going back to charcoal takes a bit of extra effort. For starters, you have to build a fire with fire starters, kindling and finally charcoal. Then you have to do this at least an hour before you want to start cooking, so the charcoal has died down to a rolling, glowing, intense but gentle heat. This pork then had about 3 1/2 hours at a low temperature, during which the outside becomes lightly crisp and that unmistakable charcoal smokiness penetrates deep into the meat. Today I paid slices of this pork on toasted organic Turkish bread, then spread some Punjabi green mango chutney on top, slices of super ripe local tomatoes and wild rocket from the valley. If only more cafés served café food like this.

TERIAKI MACKEREL WITH CUCUMBER SALAD

2012-02-06T20:39:00.000+11:00

You can buy teriaki marinade ready made. Then again, making your own takes just five minutes. Combine 7 tablespoons sake, 7 tablespoons mirin, 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce and 1 tablespoon sugar in a small saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved. I then marinated these thick fillets of mackerel in a few tablespoons of teriaki marinade before sautéing in grapeseed oil. I macerated fine slices of Lebanese cucumber in a mix of sushi vinegar and sugar for 15 minutes and steamed some jasmine rice.

KOKODA

2012-02-04T20:16:00.001+11:00

I was at the local market at 7 this morning (or 6, since the market's across the border in Queensland, which is in a different time zone). The fish monger there had some spanish mackerel that was caught in the early hours of this morning - yes, even earlier than 6. I decided to use half of it to make kokoda, the Fijian dish of fish marinated in lime juice. There are a few differences between kokoda and ceviche (which is one of my fave Mexican ways with fish). The main one is that the Fijians add coconut cream to kokoda. The end result is light, zingy and unreasonably good for you. I sealed the other half in cryovac to use Monday night - with some shiitake and enoki I also bought at the markets.

CHORIZO SALAD

2012-02-02T20:49:00.000+11:00

Those of you who've been suffering these posts for a while will know that it's not all fine dining chez nous. Every now and then there's a post that's bordering on pedestrian. This is one of these. It's kind of Spanish, but not authentic - like Manuel in Faulty Towers. There's potato (after artichokes, I think this must be Spain's next most popular vegetable), black beans, red capsicum, tomato and cucumber, along with slices of grilled chorizo.

GAZPACHO WITH SCHOOL PRAWNS

2012-01-30T20:09:00.001+11:00

Either this is a VERY large bowl of soup or they are VERY small prawns. And the answer is the latter. These local school prawns are about 5cm from end to end (and half that when shelled). You wouldn't want to be shelling a lot of them, because they're fiddly little critters. But you WOULD want to be eating a lot of them because they are SO sweet.

STIR FRIED PRAWNS WITH CHOY SUM

2012-01-30T09:42:00.000+11:00

A stir fry is about as simple as food gets. And this is about as simple as a stir fry gets. Prawns sautéed in peanut oil with crispy prawn chilli paste (from most Asian grocers), garlic and ginger. Steamed choy sum and light soy sauce added at the end and that's it.

MEZCAL CURED SALMON SALAD

2012-01-28T20:40:00.001+11:00

I didn't do medicine. One reason is that I didn't do well enough to get into the Faculty of Medicine. I did get into architecture - but as far as I know, nobody has ever been cured by a building. I thought of this tonight because this is about the only curing I'm capable of now. I bought a salmon tail on Thursday and cured it in mezcal, sugar, salt and coriander seeds. Tonight I composed this salad (and a salad is all the composing I'm capable of, despite 6 years of piano lessons and a stint in the school choir). Black beans, Lebanese cucumber, baby roma tomatoes and baby spinach. Healthy, colourful ... but hardly enough to cure someone.

HOR MOK PLA

2012-01-28T14:20:00.000+11:00

In Thailand, this steamed fish curry would be prepared in banana leaf cups. Our neighbours have a banana plantation and I can get banana leaves whenever I need them. However, we've had a bit of rain around here these past couple of days - enough to cause local flooding - and I wasn't in the mood for traipsing around in the mud to cut a leaf, so I made do with glass bowls. If you haven't had this at a Thai restaurant or cooked it yourself, give it a go. It's really quite simple. Ten minutes prep and 30 minutes cooking. It's a mix of finely sliced fish (I used barramundi), lime juice, fish sauce, palm sugar, red chilli paste, coconut milk and egg. I lined the base of the cooking vessels with Thai basil leaves, spooned in the mixture and steamed. That's kaffir lime and chilli on top.

BARRAMUNDI WITH MISO & GOMADARE SAUCE AND STEAMED BOK CHOY

2012-01-27T16:13:00.000+11:00

I can't imagine any food more appropriate on Australia Day than something Asian.

OCEAN TROUT WITH TOMATO AND BASIL SALSA

2012-01-27T15:33:00.000+11:00

There's a local fisherman at the weekly markets. He sells fish caught just off the coast here. He usually supplements his catch with a few other species from boats up and down the coast. For the past few weeks he has had ocean trout - maybe my favourite fish. Nothing complicated about the way I've done this. Simply pan fried in a little grapeseed oil and a salsa of deliciously sweet local tomatoes and shredded basil.

DUCK CONFIT WITH ROAST KUMERA MASH AND SPICED BEETROOT

2012-01-23T14:01:00.000+11:00

Ever made duck confit? Once you have located the duck fat you need, the dish is quite simple. I did the first stage (slow cooking the duck in a bath of fat) on Saturday. The final stage (heating and crisping the skin) takes 30 minutes. I also roasted the kumera in a slow oven (about 130C) until it was soft, then added butter, salt and pecan oil and puréed. The roasting intensifies the flavour of the kumera. The same technique works equally well with pumpkin, parsnip, carrots, Swedes, turnips or white sweet potato. I roasted the beetroots in foil, peeled, diced and mixed with hazelnut oil, beetroot vinegar and coarsely crushed hazelnuts.