Oh, Fig!

In terms of complexity, this is dessert is pretty simple, really. But when has this blog been about making things that are difficult?  Never!

Did you ever take Sewing at school? Do they even teach that anymore? Well, I remember back in my day, when we had to make a 4-gore skirt, or a pair of trousers (in gabardine!) or a t-shirt (in stretch fabric!), and we would spend hours poring over the pattern books at the local fabric store (do they even have pattern books anymore?). I would always make sure that the pattern I chose had ‘Easy/Facile’ printed on it because there was no way I could handle anything that wasn’t Facile. 

My rudimentary sewing skills meant that my patterns were always from Butterick or Simplicity – no fancy schmancy Vogue patterns for me, no siree! Of course, there was no guarantee that I wouldn’t sew my own finger to the trousers I was attempting to stitch together, but there was definitely less risk with a Butterick pattern. No matter that everything I made had to be taken apart and sewn back together again (properly) by my mother, who was a trained dressmaker – what a disappointment I turned out to be to her...

Anyway, here is a très facile fig dessert that would also be perfect for breakfast, just substitute the biscotti for granola or muesli.  Hope you give it a go and enjoy (which is more than can be said for my gabardine trousers).

Layered Figs

serves 1

Ingredients

2 slices biscotti, roughly crushed

3 tblsp Greek yoghurt

3 tblsp honey

1 or 2 ripe figs, sliced

Method

1.  Place some of the crushed biscotti in the bottom of a glass.

2. Top with a spoonful of yoghurt

3. Drizzle some honey on the yoghurt

4. Top with a couple of slices of fig

5. Repeat the tiers, finishing with a layer of fig.

6. Serve

Fresh figs - they do not ripen once picked, so get good ones to start with.

A couple of pretty layers, and it's done.

Risotto variations

It has taken a while (a couple of years, to be exact), but I've finally found a basic technique for risotto that I can make without referring to a recipe. You see, I've always wanted to be able to throw a couple of ingredients together in a pot, give it a quick stir, then arrange it attractively on a plate with a cheerful garnish of parsley. But my inherent worrying nature kicks in whenever I try something new, and I have to constantly keep looking up the recipe in case I've left out a step - even when all it says is 'put the ingredients in a pot and stir'.

Not only is this basic risotto really simple, the standing around for 17-20 minutes, stirring, is not such a big deal, either. You can spend the time checking your Instagram feed, or daydreaming, or shooing away the cat who is always nosying around whenever there is food.  Oh, and to make things even easier, I've discovered that stock cubes are not so bad after all. I use Massel chicken stock cubes (contains no flavour enhancers and no meat/chicken), and it provides a taste that is better than the packaged stock that I used to use.

Basic Risotto
serves 2

Ingredients
25g butter
1 tsp olive oil
3/4 cups arborio rice
¼ cup white wine (optional)
450ml hot chicken stock (or 1 ½ chicken stock cubes dissolved in 450ml boiling water)

Method
1. Melt the butter and olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add the rice and stir for 30 seconds, to coat the grains in the butter/oil.
3. Add the white wine, if using, and stir until the wine evaporates, about 1 minute.
4. Add a ¼ cup of the hot stock, stirring until the liquid evaporates. Repeat until all the stock is used. It should take about 17-20 minutes for the stock to evaporate, and the rice should be cooked but not too soft, and ready to serve.

Variations

Porcini and mushroom: Soften a handful of dried porcini mushrooms in hot water for 15 minutes, then drain and chop. Add porcini and sliced button mushrooms to the rice about halfway through cooking. Top with crisp prosciutto before serving.

Leek, asparagus and parmesan: Soften some chopped leek in the melted butter and oil (4 minutes)  before adding the rice. Cook as per basic recipe, adding a couple of stalks of chopped asparagus during the second-last ¼ cup of chicken stock. Allow risotto to stand for a minute before serving with grated parmesan cheese.

Mushroom, bacon, onion, spinach: Cook finely chopped onion in the melted butter and oil for 3 minutes before adding the rice. Cook as per basic recipe, then add mushrooms and spinach during final ¼ cup of chicken stock. Top with crisp bacon to serve.

 

Yes, yes, I use 'chicken' stock cubes. It does taste good, but.

 Porcini mushrooms give a rich flavour to this risotto. So does the crispy prosciutto.

Green and mean, this leek and asparagus version ticks the vegetarian boxes.

This risotto is pretty much a 'throw all your leftover bits and pieces in' version. 

Again, very flavoursome and easy to make.

Chiswick, Woollahra

Here's a writeup of a dinner at Chiswick restaurant we had on Saturday. There haven't been many Restaurant posts here recently, not because we haven't eaten out that much, but mainly because they haven't been worth writing about!

Chiswick (the restaurant) is set in Chiswick Gardens, which is just a smallish public park at the front of the restaurant. We were quite early in arriving to our 6pm reservation, so we spent some time wandering around the neighbouring streets, admiring the gorgeous houses (lots of French-provincial style) and many consular residences in the area. If I could afford it, I'd very much like to live in Woollahra...

Bentwood chairs and wooden tables in the dining area of the restaurant. There is also a bar in front of the open kitchen, plus the lovely little herb and vegetable garden adjacent to the main restaurant.

Although our booking was for the 6-8pm sitting, the restaurant was quickly filled by 6.30pm.

Onto the food...(we were here on the weekend, hence the weekend prices, which are a couple of dollars higher, per dish, than the non-weekend).

Crab slider ($9.50) - small and perfectly formed - "I could eat another one of these".

Kingfish sashimi ($21) - with avocado, radish, nashi pear and citrus curd. Light and fresh and tangy.

Chicken liver parfait ($19) - with hazelnuts, figs and bread. The pate was oh-so-fluffy, and there were about 6 blobs of it on the plate, so excellent value all up.

Wood-roasted Moran family Lamb to share ($65) - with olive tapenade and fennel salad. This was to share between 2, and we had enough tasty leftovers to take home.

Very appropriate for Australia Day, this lamb had been roasted for 8 hours and was falling off the bone. There were some dry bits, though, that even the mint sauce on top couldn't compensate for. It would have been good if there was some gravy to go with this. It does say on the menu that when the Moran-family beef and lamb isn't available, they use meat from Victor Churchill, that prestige butcher in Woollahra.

Hand-cut chips ($9)  - with lemon thyme aioli. Very nice chips, and smooth, mild aioli.

Dimbula (Sri Lankan English breakfast-style) tea ($5.50) - served with Chiswick chocolates. I must end my meal with a cup of tea, and this was a great one. Love the tea set, too - mismatched china from Nanna's country kitchen, complete with Ned Kelly Glenrowan souvenir teaspoon.

Chocolate praline slice ($17) - this was a dessert special. Cherries in chocolate mousse on chocolate praline and well-tempered chocolate, with vanilla ice cream.

Mango and vanilla bombe Alaska ($17) - sticky Italian meringue encases the mango ice cream, decorated with a smear of mango and some redcurrants.

Overall: A lovely meal. The setting is fantastic, particularly on a summer's evening (it would also be perfect for lunch). It does get noisy as the place gets filled during the night with glossy young people having a smart-casual night out.

  The service was a bit hit-and-miss, with the waitstaff not quite attentive enough when you needed them (to get some mustard and the bill), but the food came out of the kitchen without too long a wait between courses. Also, after paying $200 for the meal (we also drank soft drink and beers), it would have been nice to be farewelled at the door, but that wasn't to be tonight.

Chiswick Restaurant is at 65 Ocean Street, Woollahra, NSW

ph: 02 8388 8688

website: http://www.chiswickrestaurant.com.au

Aussie Jackaroo Pie

Australia Day is this Saturday (26th January), so I thought something suitably patriotic needed to be cooked. What to make?

Lamingtons were high on my list until I remembered my last attempt at sponge cake (which is the basis of lamingtons) –a disaster of many eggs and a flat-as-a-pancake sponge. Then I bought the February issue of delicious magazine and my prayers were answered. For it is the Annual Australian Issue, and it’s bursting with Aussie-style good eats. In fact, even as an avowed digital enthusiast, this issue warrants a hard-copy so that I can plaster all those fabulous recipe ideas with little sticky flags.

delicious (feb 2013)

Here’s a Jackaroo Pie, from Masterchef Australia judge, Matt Preston. Yeah, he is English, and the pie is like shepherd’s pie, which is British, but there’s Vegemite in it, and you can’t get more Aussie than that (just ignore that Vegemite is now owned by an American company).

A word on the pie, though. I followed the recipe precisely, and my pie looks nothing like the luscious, rich and meaty Matt Preston-model in the magazine. It could be the 2 cups of stock in the recipe that never gets a chance to reduce, but my pie was so overflowing with liquid that the mashed potato on top started soaking into it, and I had to use a slotted spoon to serve a ‘slice’ of it. But the taste was magnificent, full of sweet, abundant umami flavour. It was even better the next day, after allowing the flavours to develop further.

Jackaroo Pie
serves 4

Ingredients
3 tblsp olive oil
500g lamb mince
2 tsp Vegemite
1 brown onion, finely chopped
6 spring onions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated
1 ¼ cups frozen peas
2 tbs tomato sauce or ketchup
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 cups chicken stock
½ cup grated parmesan
20g butter, cubed

Mashed potato:
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
½ cup warm milk
20g butter, cubed

Method
1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the lamb mince and break up any lumps with a wooden spoon. Cook for 5 minutes, until browned. Stir in the Vegemite until well combined, then set aside the lamb mixture.

2. Reduce heat under the pan to medium. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan and then add the onion and white part of the spring onions. Cook for 3-4 minutes until softened. Thoroughly mix in the peas, tomato sauce and Worcestershire sauce.

3. Return the lamb to the pan and add the stock. Stir to combine and season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and pour lamb mixture into a medium (8-cup capacity) pie dish or shallow casserole dish.

4. For the mashed potato (can be made beforehand): Put the cubed potato into a saucepan and cover with cold water. Add a large pinch of salt. Bring the water to a boil for 7 minutes, until the potatoes are soft but not falling apart. Drain the potatoes well and allow to sit in the warm pan until the remaining water evaporates. Add the butter, then use a potato masher to crush the potatoes. Add the milk and continue mashing until smooth (you may not need all of the milk). Stir the green part of the spring onions through the mashed potato. Spread mashed potato on top of the lamb and sprinkle with parmesan and dot with cubes of butter.

5. Bake for 20 minutes in a preheated 180C/360F oven or until top is golden. Serve.

Recipe adapted from delicious (February 2013)

Any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Remove any excess liquid and allow to cool slightly before refrigerating. Reheat in microwave, or in the oven.

The Vegemite label is so classically retro.

A spoonful of Vegemite adds a real fullness to the flavour of meat-based dishes.
And Vegemite is a yeast-extract spread, it doesn't actually contain any vegetables or mites.

Cooked lamb mince (with Vegemite), onion and green onions.

The lamb filling is topped with green onion-studded mashed potato, parmesan and butter.

Happy Australia Day, mate!