James St Cook School - Asian BBQ Quail

What do you get a 27 year old for their birthday? I was really hoping for a new camera lens – the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 (to fill the much needed wide-angle gap for my 400D). What Steph got me instead blew my socks off.

A cooking lesson at the James St Cooking School!

What a night. Three courses were cooked up – Asian BBQ Quail, Duck and Blood Orange Salad and Roasted Moroccan Chicken Breast stuffed with feta, preserved lemon and cous cous. We had hands on tuition with the cooking as well as a brief lesson on de-boning quail, duck and chicken.

So to start with, here is the recipe for the Asian BBQ Quail.

Here’s what you need:
4 tbsp sweet soy sauce (ABC/Kechap Manis)
4 tbsp oyster sauce
2 cloves of crushed garlic
½ stalk of lemon grass – shaved via grater
1 thinly sliced Kaffir lime leaf

(this is enough marinade for 4 quails)

Here’s what you do:
Steph and I went through the delicate task of de-boning the quail. To be honest, it’s probably no problem to cut the bird in half (Asian restaurant style) to cook – it certainly saves a lot of hassle.

Mix the ingredients together in a bowl. Then marinate the quail for 1-2 hours. BBQ or grill the quail for 2-3 minutes on each side and rest in a warm place off the grill for 3-5 minutes. Our quail (pictured) was served on a bed of crispy fried noodles (which you can do very quickly by deep frying a bundle of dried clear-noodles/vermicelli).

Add 30ml of water to the remaining marinade, put into a pan and bring to the boil. Drizzle this over the quail and noodles and serve immediately.

Tips:
When purchasing quails always choose the ‘extra-large’ varieties as these will give you the most meat.

Try not to use ‘jarlic’ – crushed/minced garlic from a jar. The preservatives and additives change the taste of the garlic.

Shrimp, rocket and basil pizza with aioli

I've got a confession to make - I've been having this pizza for lunch for the past three days now... it's so good! The rains from last week were beneficial for our rocket patch which sprung back to new life and has now been decimated again thanks to this pizza recipe. Enough with the drooling, here's what you do...

What you need for the pizza:
1 large pita bread/wrap
1 tbps tomato paste
1 generous tsp aioli
1 cup of cooked and peeled shrimp
1 handful of grated mozzarella cheese
1 cup of basil leaves finely chopped
1 handful of rocket leaves
extra-virgin olive oil to drizzle

What you need for the aioli:
1 egg yolk
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 clove of garlic minced
extra virgin olive oil
squeeze of lemon juice
salt to taste

Here's what you do:
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Firstly make the aioli. Place the egg yolk, mustard and minced garlic into a mixing bowl and whisk together. Slowly add small amounts of olive oil whilst whisking. Don't add it all at once otherwise the mixture will separate. After about a cup of olive oil has been added you can squeeze in the lemon juice and add salt to taste. This mixture can be kept in a jar in the fridge for a few weeks and can be used on fish (with chopped basil mixed in!) or as a simple dip for home made chips!

Once the aioli is made, spoon a generous teaspoon onto the pita bread along with the tomato paste. Spread the mixture evenly across the pizza base. Distribute the shrimp and mozzarella evenly across the pizza and place into the oven for 10-15 minutes (until the cheese has melted and the pita base is crisp).

Remove the pizza from the oven and sprinkle the chopped basil over the top. Pile your rocket in the middle, drizzle with olive oil and enjoy!

Toasted Vienna loaf with Roasted Pepper Pesto, Shrimp and Salad

This has to be a pretty decadent lunch - but in reality it's quite healthy and fantastically delicious!

Here's what you need:
For the Roasted Pepper Pesto:
1/2 cups picked basil leaves
1/2 cup of semi-dried tomatoes
1/2 cup of roasted red capsicum (peppers)
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup roasted cashew nuts
1/4 cup parmesan, grated
1 cup of quality extra virgin olive oil (though you may need more depending on how dry the mixture ends up being)
salt and pepper

Vienna Loaf, thick sliced and toasted
Handful of cooked and peeled shrimp
Whole Egg Mayonnaise
Butter lettuce (or any frill-ice etc - avoid iceberg lettuce!)

Here's what you do:
To make the Roasted Pepper Pesto, combine all the ingredients in a food processor and blend together. Any remaining pesto can be stored in air-tight containers in the fridge for a few months. As with other pestos, ensure a layer of olive oil covers the top to keep the pesto from changing colour. Also keep in mind: this particular pesto tends to expand (for some reason) in the fridge - so do not top up your jars, otherwise you'll find a friendly squirt as you open the lid!

Thickly slice the Vienna Loaf and then toast it. Spread the Roasted Pepper Pesto on the bread, slay some shrimp across it, spread the whole egg mayonnaise and then top off with some lettuce. Dress lightly with some more of the extra virgin olive oil and you've got yourself a fantastic lunch!

Serve with a crisp and fruity white wine.

Try this:
Replace the shrimp with whole cooked, peeled and halved prawns. You could also go the whole hog and replace the prawns with lobster! But I'm too poor for that.

A small squeeze of lemon juice to the seafood can also add some extra zing to the flavours.

Semi-dried Tomato Pesto Pasta with Shrimp

There's a reason it's called 'comfort food'. It's filling, it's delicious, and it's exactly what you need at the end of a hard day (or even, not-so-hard day).

This semi-dried Tomato Pesto Pasta with Shrimp is sure to bring a bit of comfort to those moments when cooking a nice meal is the last thing on your mind.

Here's what you need:
Following on from the Basil pesto base, with a slight twist...
1 1/2 cups picked basil leaves
1/2 cup of semi-dried tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup roasted walnuts
1/4 cup parmesan, grated
1 cup of quality extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

250g Pasta (any long pasta will do, I'm using spaghettini)
2 handfuls of fresh shrimp, shelled and deveined

Here's what you do:
Take your pasta and boil it in salted water until aldente. There is no need to put oil in the water - a common misconception to prevent the pasta from sticking. If you want your pasta to not stick together, keep stirring the pasta in the water during the first five minutes of boiling.

Mix all the pesto ingredients together in a food processor and blend until smooth. Take 2-3 tablespoons and place into a mixing bowl. The rest of the pesto can be refrigerated for a few months - just ensure a layer of olive oil covers the top.

Before the pasta becomes aldente, using a sieve, parboil the shrimp in the boiling water then drain and toss into the mixing bowl with the pesto.

Once the pasta becomes aldente, mix it together in the mixing bowl with the pesto and shrimp. Tip: don't drain the pasta before mixing. Using a pair of tongs, quickly remove the pasta from the water straight into the mixing bowl. The residual water helps make the pasta creamier in texture.

Pluck a few basil leaves and serve with alongside a light and fruity Pinot Noir from New Zealand!

What to do with Basil

It's been a few months now since I've blogged anything new here - but prepare for a flurry of activity! I'm back, and with a few recipes to share.

The rain over the past few months has been excellent for our new garden patch. It has benefited, in particular, our basil plants which have exploded!

With so much basil on offer there was only really one solution - pesto!

With compliments to Chef Kate Lamont of 'Nibblies with Kate', here is a slightly different version of her basil pesto base.

What you need:
3 cups picked basil leaves
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup parmesan, grated
1 cup of quality extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

What you do:
Roast the walnuts in the oven until aromatic and toasted. Crush the garlic into a paste and process all the ingredients together in a blender or food processor.

It's a simple as that! One slight variation, which she suggests, is to reduce the basil to 1/2 cup and add semi-dried tomatoes to the process. The results are stunning to say the least.

The pesto mixes can be refrigerated in a jar for a few months - just ensure a thin layer of olive oil is on top to prevent the pesto from changing colour.

In the next few posts I'll discuss some variations to this basic recipe and what you can do with it.

My favourite photo from our Japan trip

Japanese Maple Leaf

f4.5, 1/50 sec, 97mm
Canon 400D with 28-135mm 3.5-5.6 IS
Saturation increased via Microsoft Office Picture Manager 2003

Does the year really matter?

"I've got a great 2003 Red from South Australia to share tonight..."

"Oh, was that a good year?"

"Hmm..."

It's a common question which doesn't necessarily have a straight forward answer. The answer is really dependant on the region your wine comes from. So a wine from the Barrossa Valley in 2001 will be good, but the same vintage from Western Australia brings a superb wine. There are various factors which help improve a vintage - the weather (how much rain plus the drought) and even bushfires!

If you're hunting down a reasonable guide, here is one from Hardy's chief winemaker, Peter Dawson. Variances in micro climates and other aspects do result in anamolies, so this guide should only be taken as a broad guide to the various regions.

Happy quaffing :)