Shoalhaven Foodies: Food that Matters

Food that Matters

Foodies Frances and Christine in Frances' kitchen at Milton

The Foodies recently enjoyed a delightful lunch at Frances' wonderfully arty and inspiring house in the village of beautiful Milton.

The theme of the day was “Food that matters”, which meant each of the Foodies made food to share that had some meaning for them. We were treated to often warm and comforting food, because a lot of the inspiration came from family and early memories of home, or some important event or milestone. We hope you enjoy our photographs and recipes.....

You'll see from some of the photographs how inspiring Frances' house is. The kitchen and colours throughout are warm and inviting and there are her unique touches everywhere. Many of her paintings hang on the walls and her sculptures are often tucked away in surprising places in the garden.

When we had a Tudor dinner some time ago, Frances painted her table and chairs to match the theme. She has retained them and, after a sudden downpour that sent us scampering inside from the outdoor eating area, we were again treated to that artwork as we ate more courses in her dining room.

Kimella's Ploughman's Lunch

KIMELLA

I remember having delicious Ploughman's lunches in many places, but particularly whilst travelling overseas. I've always enjoyed them, so I decided to make a hamper. I trawled the Shoalhaven area looking for local chutneys, pickled onions, gherkins, bread, cheeses, free range eggs and locally brewed boutique beers. The result was a delicious array of food that we all enjoyed immensely.

Chere's Avocado Bisque with Tangerine and Pistachio Mint Creams

CHERE

I decided to make a soup from a very special recipe book I treasure. I found “Yamuna's Table” by Yamuna Devi tucked away in an intriguing little book shop years ago and it has taught me that vegetarian cooking doesn't have to be in the slightest bit boring! The recipes in this book are all vegetarian based, particularly the vegetarian cuisines of India. The result is often elegant and unique food – which I love. Although I'm not a dedicated vegetarian I enjoy vegetarian food and I happily eat any of the recipes in this book. Of course, I often mix things around and add my own touches. Sorry Yamuna, but that's the way I cook!

Chilled Avocado Bisque with Tangerine and Pistachio-Mint Creams

To serve 6:

½ tablespoon avocado oil or unsalted butter (I used pistachio oil)

½ teaspoon coriander seeds

1 jalapeno chili, seeded and chopped

6 trimmed spinach leaves, washed and patted dry

4 cups home made vegetable stock

2 medium-size avocados (local), pelled, seeded and coarsely chopped

1 ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice

salt,

freshly ground white pepper

Tangerine Cream (recipe follows)

Warm the oil or butter in a large saucepan over moderate heat. Add the coriander, jalapeno and spinach and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in the stock and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and add the avocados.

Puree the mixture in a food processor or blender until it is smooth and the coriander seeds are crushed.

Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Cover and chill for several hours.

To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and swirl about 2 tablespoons of Tangerine Cream into each bowl.

Tangerine Cream

Makes about 1 ½ cups:

1 ¼ cups plain nonfat yogurt

¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

3 tablespoons fresh tangerine juice

1 teaspoon grated tanerine zest

2 tablespoons fruit-sweetened apricot jam

(I used Christines orange marmalade because it's so delicious!).

Drain the yoghurt in a fine-mesh sieve for several hours or until reduced to 2/3 cup. Combine all of the ingredients and mix until creamy. (Can be made up to 1 day before use, covered and refrigerated.)

Pistachio-Mint Cream

Makes about 2/3 cup

3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves

3 tablespoons chopped pistachios

3 trimmed spinach leaves, chopped

½ cup plain nonfat yogurt

Combine the mint, pistachios and spinahc in a blender or food processor. Add enough cold water (2 to 4 tablespoons) to moisten the ingredients and make a smooth puree. Force through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing on the solids to exract as much liquid as possible. Just before serving, stir the mint puree into the yogurt.

Add the creams to the soup and add toasted almonds and pomegranate seeds for garnish.

Max's Ruby Grapefruit and Prawn Salad

MAX

Recipe:
Ruby Grapefruit and Prawn Salad
1 kilo prawns
Two ruby grapefruit
Salad leaves – mixture of bitter, acid, sweet, bite, peppery, crunch, warmth, colour etc
Asparagus or snow peas or sugar snap or broadbeans whichever is in season. (Omit if unavailable)
Segment the grapefruit and peel each segment, remove seeds.
Peel prawns, de-vein
Rinse and dry salad leaves
Blanch asparagus or peas for a minute then plunge into cold water to retain green, dry.
Add everything to a large salad bowl and toss.
Just before serving, add dressing and toss again

Dressing
Olive oil,
Lime or lemon juice
3 anchovy fillets,
A very small medium hot red chilli, or only use half - the idea is to add warmth not chilli heat,
A very small clove of garlic or again only half – again this is to add a background complexity.
Ground black pepper and easy on the salt – the anchovies will provide a lot.

In a mortar grind the anchovies, chill and garlic to a paste add the lime or lemon juice then the oil . Add pepper and adjust for any additional salt

Max's Story
My dish combines two things related to “Food that matters”. To me the first thing that matters is that food should be as fresh and as local as possible, if purchased then there should be the minimum of “interference” – avoid fat reduced, skim, de caffeinated, manufactured products such as margarine . I prefer pure full cream un-homogenised milk, cultured butter, grass fed beef where it is possible to get them, and these days it is possible especially via the internet and local knowledge.
So in keeping with the fresh and local criteria, the ruby grapefruit and the greens are from my garden. The greens included mustard greens, rocket, baby cavoloro nero leaves, rapini, radiccio, warrigal greens, dandelion leaves, beach bananas (pig face), mint, parsley and ruby chard. All were picked early that morning, gently rinsed and dried, and I added some Australian asparagus, because it is in season and on special.
The prawns were purchased locally but were from Queensland, which immediately reminds me of my family reunions in Queensland, which invariably involve a number of seafood meals – always starting with prawns. The meals are joint affairs with cooking contributions from everyone but the favourite part is where we all sit round the kitchen table and shell kilos of prawns, which involves a lot of talk and laughter . Though when I say all sit down, anyone who eats more prawns than they add to the communal bowl gets banned and gets the job of preparing the fish for cooking .

www.maxdingleart.com

Christine's Varenyky

CHRISTINE

Varenyky – Ukrainian dumplings

In my family Varenyky were eaten at Christmas time as part of the 12 meatless dishes served at the Christmas Eve dinner (presents were opened afterwards!). Due to the Nativity Feast, no meat, eggs or milk (including cheese) are allowed during the supper. Everyone always looked forward to them as they are a firm favourite of everyone. Any leftover Varenyky were then pan fried the next day and eaten with sour cream and more fried onions.

However, Varenyky could also be eaten during the year, but due to our busy lives and the lengthy preparation time, they were rarely made except at Christmas. However whenever I’m feeling in the mood of a bit of comfort food, especially in winter, I will indulge myself at least once and make a batch.

The Recipe

Hint: Prepare the filling before making the dough to ensure it is cool before use. Also prepare the sautéed onions beforehand to have ready to pour over the cooked varenyky.

Potato, Onion and Cheese Filling:

Boil about two large potatoes under tender. Sauté one finely chopped large onion in olive oil (or butter) until golden brown. Grate some tasty cheese. Mash the potatoes then add the sautéed onion and cheese. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Topping:

About two large onions, chopped finely. Sauté the onion carefully in olive oil until golden. Season with salt and pepper.

The Dough

1½ cups plain flour

¾ teaspoon salt

¾ cup hot water

Directions:

Mix all three ingredients together, and knead briefly as the dough should not be too smooth and quite sticky.

Leave covered (inverted bowl) for at least 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough on a flour sprinkled surface and roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch thickness. Alternatively you could use your pasta machine on the lasagna setting.

Use a drinking glass or an equivalent sized round cookie cutter to cut out round circles.

Place a heaped teaspoon (or more if your circles are large) of filling on each circle, then fold over the dough to form a half moon and seal the edges tightly with your fingers. Make sure the edges are fully sealed otherwise the filling will burst through during the cooking process. At this point you can freeze them.

To cook, have a large pan of salted boiling water ready. The Varenyky will be cooked after they bob up to the surface – about five minutes.

Drain the cooked Varenyky and immediately coat with sautéed onion and olive oil (or butter) mixture to prevent them sticking together. They can then be served immediately or kept warm for later and pan fried until coloured on both sides. Serve with dollops of sour cream and extra friend onions.