Behind The Burners

WAGYU EYE FILLET WITH AIOLI AND HEIRLOOM CARROTS

2015-01-09T11:29:00.001+11:00

In 2015 I am going to be eating less meat. But not lesser meat. I see people buying meat I wouldn't feed our dogs (but then, they do have a love of wagyu so that's not a good guide). Anyway, I might eat less, but when I choose to eat meat I will choose the best available.

So here's wagyu fillet, simply grilled, served with roast garlic aïoli and heirloom carrots from the local farmers market. Pretty basic, but pretty tasty.

STIR FRIED CHAR SIEW AND VEGETABLES

2014-11-04T12:22:00.002+11:00

I love Chinese barbeque shops with their racks of glazed ducks, deep red char siew, links of lap cheong and crisp-skinned roast pork. There's one at Mermaid Beach that has the fattest, tastiest lap cheong, but it was the their char siew that caught my eye on this visit.

Here it is with tatsoi, baby bok choy, beans sprouts and green chilli.

RED CURRY OF PRAWN AND PUMPKIN

2014-10-21T09:19:00.001+11:00

What staples do you always have in your refrigerator? I always have home made chicken stock, pizza dough, master stock, yum cha dumplings and bolognese sauce in my freezer. There's always a number of chilli sauces, red and green curry pastes, lard, jams and Lurpak butter in the fridge.

Tonight, the red curry paste got a run.

PEARL PERCH WITH HERB SAUCE AND SALAD OF FARRO, BEET LEAVES, BEANS AND BASIL

2014-10-20T09:52:00.002+11:00

Pearl perch has a short season. It happened last Saturday and lasted almost until Sunday. It's short.

There are some people who reckon it's the best eating fish in the sea. The fisherman at the weekly markets is one of these people.

So here it is with a fresh herb sauce on a bed of farro grains, baby beetroot leaves, beans and basil.

WARM POTATO SALAD WITH SMOKED OCEAN TROUT AND QUARK

2014-10-20T09:43:00.000+11:00

Warm salads are what you eat on schizoid days of Autumn and Spring - warm enough to tease you into thinking it's Summer, but cool enough to not stay in your board shorts after sunset (if you were wearing them when the sun was up).

So here's organic Dutch cream potatoes with Tasmanian smoked ocean trout, organic quark, Sicilian extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and fried shallots.

ROASTED BERKSHIRE PORK BELLY WITH FRESH HERB SAUCE

2014-10-10T08:42:00.004+11:00

Another slab of wonderful pork from just down the coast. These Berkshire pigs are raised in the Byron Bay hinterland. They're incredibly tasty - soft, sweet, succulent and unctuous.

A very simple herb sauce of basil, baby kale and parsley, garlic, organic cider vinegar.

YELLOW FIN TUNA WITH CHIPOTLE SALSA, BLACK BEANS AND MICROHERBS

2014-10-09T14:44:00.001+11:00

We don't always think of seafood when we think of Mexican food. However, with 3000 miles of coastline, fish is an important part of the local diet. Here's seared yellow fin tuna rubbed with salt and Yucatecan oregano on a salad of black beans and goat fetta (which is close to the flavour of a popular Mexican cheese) - with a chipotle salsa and microherbs.

BARBEQUED RUMP CAP WITH FRIED POLENTA AND PUY LENTILS

2014-10-09T14:33:00.003+11:00

Nothing restrained, delicate or nouvelle about this. Rump cap has a blunt, unsubtle manliness about it. Two simple syllables, each terminated by a p which sounds disdainful, distasteful, dismissive.

Lentils are French peasant food. Polenta is northern Italian peasant food.

There was a microherb salad off camera. To include it in the photo would have compromised the brutal lowliness of the other ingredients. So too the roast garlic aïoli (although this too might pass for peasant food).

PRAWN PIZZA

2014-10-07T08:51:00.001+11:00

Making dough is satisfying, but messy. I don't have a solution for the messiness. All I can do is reduce the frequency by making a big batch, portioning and freezing it until I get the urge to make a pizza.

I got that urge the other night. Here's a really simple one with prawns and Spanish onion.

STIR FRIED CHICKEN WITH LOMBOK AND BOK CHOY

2014-10-06T13:24:00.001+11:00

There's something about stir fries that makes me think of those speed dating events. You have a bunch of ingredients that haven't met. They get thrown into the wok, given barely enough time to say hello and a moment later they're unceremoniously scooped out onto a plate.

The positive of this is that the flavour of each ingredient is clear, pure, untainted. The negative is that if each flavour - and the combination of flavours - isn't right when raw, it won't be when cooked.

WHITING FILLETS WITH SALSA VERDE AND DUTCH CREAM POTATO WEDGES

2014-10-01T17:19:00.002+10:00

I'm a big believer in healthy food. I eat a lot of it.

I am also a big believer in balance. I have balanced the healthy fish, salsa verde and kale with potato wedges baked in goose fat.

That should keep all the gods happy.

MASTER STOCK PORK BELLY WITH BABY BOK CHOY

2014-10-01T09:04:00.002+10:00

I started this master stock about 12 years ago. I have topped it up quite a few times since then. It just keeps getting better and better. I use it, strain it, refrigerate it, remove any new fat and freeze the stock until I need it again.

This time I used it to braise a piece of Berkshire pork belly from the Byron Bay hinterland about 50 kms from here.

SEARED PETUNA OCEAN TROUT WITH THAI HERB SALAD

2014-09-26T09:22:00.004+10:00

One of my favourite fish species. Rich, subtle, gorgeously coloured. I can feel it doing me good.

This was quickly seared, skin side only, in coconut oil.

A tangle of Asian microherbs on top, dressed with macadamia oil, rice vinegar, lime juice and a couple of drops of sesame oil.

CHICKEN CHOP WITH EGGPLANT GRATIN, SALSA VERDE AND CARAMELISED BABY TOMATOES

2014-09-26T09:14:00.001+10:00

Our local butcher gets chickens every Tuesday. During the afternoon, the birds are broken down into breast fillets, thigh fillets, wings, drumsticks and thigh sections. These are left on the bone, with the skin on. The butcher calls them chicken chops - and that's fine by me.

So here they are with a dusting of sea salt, dried chilli and rosemary. Small eggplants interleaved with tomato and with panko crumbs on top went into the oven until soft and golden. Amoroso tomatoes caramelised until dark, sticky and concentrated. Tangy salsa verde to liven things up.

SALMON ADOBADO WITH BLACK BEAN, AVOCADO & FETTA SALAD

2014-09-15T09:00:00.001+10:00

Simple Mexican fare. Salmon rubbed with a dry adobo of smoked paprika, cumin & chipotle. The salad is one of classic Mexican ingredients - except the fetta. However a sheep's milk fetta isn't a bad substitute for one of the traditional cheeses used in México.

What great culinary gifts México gave us with avocado, tomato and black beans. Come to think of it, we could add chocolate and corn to the list.

RICE NOODLES WITH CHICKEN AND LAP CHEONG

2014-09-14T14:18:00.003+10:00

I like to have rice noodles once a week. I'm not addicted. I don't have a physiological need for them. I just like them, the slippery smoothness of them, the way the slither down my gullet. More often than not I'll cook them with either chicken or prawns. Sometimes both. Sometimes with the addition of another meat. In this case, fine slices of Chinese sausage.

The usual suspects as far as flavourings - garlic, soy sauce, chilli bean paste, ginger, fried eschalot, fish sauce, sugar, fresh chilli, coriander leaves and ground roasted rice.

MOROCCAN LAMB WITH HARISSA, CHICKPEAS AND SPICED ROASTED

2014-09-11T20:40:00.001+10:00

It's not really Moroccan lamb. It's Australian - just given some Moroccan spices. Come to think of it, it mightn't be Australian lamb. Well, it was raised here, but it's probably Dorper, which is an African breed. So multicultural lamb - which is suitably Australian.

Home made harissa, pumpkin from our neighbours' farm and organic chickpeas cooked in chicken stock (home made). All this home-made start-from-scratch stuff makes me feel kind of Amish.

WILD BARRAMUNDI WITH QUINOA & KALE SALAD

2014-09-05T09:00:00.001+10:00

In my mind there are three grades of barramundi. Farmed is grey and dull when raw, and tastes that way when cooked - even a little muddy. Wild is bright and white, sometimes with a bluish tinge and with flashes of red. The best is wild line-caught, with the brightest, clearest colour and cleanest taste of all.

Nothing but fish flavour here. Pan seared, a squeeze of lemon juice, a sprinkle of sea salt.

QUAIL WITH STREAKY BACON, PUY LENTILS AND POLENTA

2014-09-04T08:56:00.002+10:00

There used to be a restaurant near Picton, south of Sydney. The French owner raised quail, pigeon, guinea fowl and pheasant on a nearby farm. It was a great place for a long Sunday lunch. Unfortunately, random breath testing killed the idea of long Sunday lunches - especially ones that required a fair drive. Luckily, the game farm continues to this day and these quail come from there.

The streaky bacon comes from a family of Italian immigrants. It's not too salty and lightly smoked - just perfect. Remarkably (or encouragingly), both of these products come from supermarkets - not a place I normally shop for food.

Continuing the Franco-Italian theme, there are Puy lentils and polenta, both cooked using home-made quail stock.

LAMB SHANK WITH CELERIAC MASH

2014-09-01T08:48:00.000+10:00

Nothing delicate about this dish. A Flintstones plate of food. Chunk of meat on a bone, admittedly tasty lamb gently braised in red wine with star anise, bay leaves, garlic etc. And I suppose I'd have to confess that celeriac, which looks like a weapon when whole, cooks into a genteel subtle bed for the shank. Still, it's a bone and a bulb.

HOLMBRAE CHICKEN WITH ROASTED FENNEL, CHOKO AND DUTCH CREAM POTATO

2014-08-29T09:17:00.002+10:00

Ever since returning to Australia after a couple of years in México, I have searched for a chicken with the real chicken flavour the Mexican chooks have. I had tried all the likely contenders from the Barossa, Mudgee, Alstonville, Kangaroo Island. They are good, but none had the taste I remember from childhood - and had forgotten until the memory was rekindled in México.

Well, I think these Holmbrae chooks from the NSW Southern Highlands come closer than any other Australian chicken. This one was rubbed with rosemary salt (from Salt, Meats, Cheese) and simply roasted, along with wedges of choko, baby fennel and Dutch cream potatoes.

FENNEL RISOTTO

2014-08-28T07:45:00.000+10:00

If you live in the north of Italy, this is comfort food. Soft, gentle, subtle risotto. Home made chicken stock, fennel bulb, a touch of Pernod, Lurpak butter, parmigiana reggiano.

CHICKEN THIGH WITH TWO SALADS

2014-08-28T07:35:00.000+10:00

This is simple school night food. I could have described each salad in detail, but writing 'two salads' is simpler - and it's a simple school night dinner, after all.

So, chicken thigh with two salads it is.

BRAISED WAGYU RUMP CAP WITH BABY KALE, RED CABBAGE & AIOLI

2014-08-24T09:27:00.000+10:00

Australia produces some great wagyu (Kobe) beef. A lot of what's labelled wagyu here is a cross - usually wagyu and black Angus. The best pure wagyu gets shipped to Japan or snapped up by top-end restaurants. The big demand is for the premium cuts - porterhouse, eye fillet, rib fillet, rib. The rump cap is one of the unloved bits. Treated with love, it produces deliciously satisfying meals.

The piece I bought (about 1.25 kg) was braised whole in red wine, veal stock, with garlic, bay etc. It had about 6 hours cooking at 130C. Braised red cabbage underneath with baby kale leaves tossed in a tablespoon of walnut oil and a little red wine vinegar. Roasted garlic aïoli. Heaven.

BARBEQUED LAMB SHOULDER WITH CAPSICUM JAM

2014-08-24T09:06:00.000+10:00

I love lamb shoulder. It needs & deserves long slow cooking. This one was rubbed with rosemary, mint and garlic. I roasted it at 140C for 3 hours, then finished it on the BBQ.

Red capsicum jam is delicious, easy and versatile - gently braised in olive oil, with smoked paprika, cumin seeds and red wine vinegar. Then palm sugar added to caramelise.

Maple glazed heirloom carrots from the weekly farmers markets are so packed with flavour.