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 :)

2005 Hardy’s Nottage Hill Cabernet Sauvignon

In 1850, at the age of 20, Thomas Hardy came to the new colony of South Australia from Devon, England. He established a winery on the banks of Adelaide's River Torrens in 1853. His Bankside winery was the start of an outstanding family wine business that grew to become one of the world's great wine companies. Thomas Hardy was a self-made man, a pioneer of immense character. With a mixture of energy, determination, shrewd judgment, innovation and a touch of daring, he pursued the highest standards in winemaking. At Bankside, and later at his McLaren Vale property Tintara, he focused on quality and craftsmanship. (courtesy of the Hardy’s homepage).

One of the surprising things about this wine is its softness. This isn’t a bad thing, it’s a rather pleasant surprise for this grape variety. Cab Sauvs are usually big and bold. ‘Argh! Look at me, I’m a big red wine!’ But the subtleties of this wine cause me to consider that the black and white labelling suggests this is more genteel.

On the nose there are some complex characteristics. ‘Complex’, of course, usually means that there is so much going on it’s hard to tell exactly what’s there. There are the fruits and the black currents common to Cab Sauvs as well as a hint of chocolate. However the real pleasure begins on the tongue. The tannins are pretty soft with a smooth finish which lingers all afternoon. The complex nose carries over to the flavours, but doesn’t detract from the overall pleasantness of this wine.

A great wine to be served with red meats over dinner.

Avocado Smoothie

One of my favourite summer drinks. And since this Brisbane winter has been rather warm I’ve pulled this one out early.

Here’s what you need:
- 3 ripe medium sized avocados (approx 300g total)
- 5 teaspoons of sugar
- 1 cup of milk
- ½ cup of ice

Here’s what you do:
Place all of the above into a blender and blend until smooth.

You can also try adding a dollop of vanilla ice-cream to give it an even smoother finish.

Be warned, though, this is a pretty fatty drink, so don't have it too often!

Warbun Estate - Gossips 2006 Chardonnay

I was on the hunt for a clean-skin wine. From my understanding there are two reasons why clean skins exist. The first reason is due to the current wine glut - wine producers in Australia have produced excess for the current market, so some wine is rebadged as a 'clean skin' primarily to get rid of the excess stock. This means that you can be purchasing a quality wine for nearly a quarter of the price.

The second reason why clean skins exists is because some wineries experiment with various wines and release them as clean skins to gauge the market response.

Either way, they are a relatively cheap and quality alternative for use primarily in cooking.

So when I was in the bottle shop and noticed this Warburn Estate wine on sale for $6 I figured it was just about as cheap as a clean-skin yet was branded.

Tonight we opened it to along with the steamed fish and I was very pleasantly surprised.

The aroma was fruity and pleasant, though subtle. The palate was refreshingly crisp and fruity for a Chardonnay. No lingering buttery taste was found at all. Not much else to say aside from the fact that it was very pleasant considering it's low cost.

A little ray of Sunshine - French Cheesecake yoghurt with Passionfruit and Mandarin

Ok, so it may be too simple to put on here, but you gotta start somewhere (right DT?).

Here's what you need:
- 1/2 cup of French Cheesecake yoghurt, if you can't find that vanilla will suffice (but just make sure that it's French Vanilla)
- 1 peeled mandarin
- 1 passionfruit

Here's what you do:
Peel the mandarin. Spoon the yoghurt in the centre. Top off with the passionfruit.

That's it :)

Steamed Ginger Silver Perch

This is one of my all-time favourite ways to have fish. Steamed to lock in the juices which make the fish tender and oh so mouth watering. Delicious!

It's also relatively simple to cook :)

Here's what you need (to serve 4):
- 1kg whole fish - I've used Silver Perch for this but it will work just as well with Snapper or any other firm white fish.
- 1/4 cup vegetable stock
- small bunch of spring onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup of coarsely chopped coriander
- 40g ginger, thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup of light soy sauce
- 1 tbps sesame oil
- salt and pepper

Here's what you do:
Peel the ginger and thinly slice - julienne style (ie - like match sticks).

Score the fish on both sides. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on each side making sure to get some into the grooves. Place half the coriander, chopped spring onion and ginger into the belly cavity (I'm assuming, of course, that the fish has been cleaned out :P).

Place the fish on oiled foil and sprinkle some more of the coriander, spring onion and ginger. Fold the foil to create a well and place half the stock and soy sauce over the fish. Place the wrapped fish into a bamboo steamer and steam for about 40 minutes or until cooked - a sharp knife should slide easily into the thickest part of the fish).

Once cooked transfer the fish to a serving dish. Pour the rest of the stock and soy sauce over the fish and sprinkle the rest of the coriander, ginger and spring onion. Drizzle the oil over the top and serve with steaming hot rice!

Morton Estate 2004 White Label Sauvignon Blanc

I didn't quite know what to expect with this wine. Again, I'm not an overly big fan of Sauvignon Blanc for it's acidity. But seeing as this wine is an award winner - the label reads 'Silver Medal at the Royal Hobart International 2005 Wine Show' - it held promise.

It was not to be.

Again, as with the Montana Sauvignon Blanc there was a strong scent of lemon on the nose. The palate seemed like your average Sauvignon Blanc with it's rounded taste and crisp finish. I'm just not a fan of this grape variety and this wine didn't really impress or change my mind... a shame.

Maple, Mustard and Soy Salmon with Cauliflower Bake

Earlier tonight Steph wanted to cook dinner. So I let her :P I was mightily impressed with the finished outcome.

Here's what you need (to serve 2):
For the Salmon:

• 2 salmon steaks
• 2tbs Maple syrup
• 2tbs Dark soy sauce
• 1tbs Dijon mustard

For the Cauliflower:

• One head of cauliflower
• 1tbs Plain flour
• 50g salted butter
• 1 handful of grated cheese
  
• 3/4 cup of milk

Here's what you do:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Chop the cauliflower into bite sized pieces and drop in some boiling water for about 1-2 minutes until soft depending on size. You want the cauliflower to be cooked yet still be firm. In a saucepan melt the butter and mix in the flour until it is lump free. Pour about half the milk in and stir the mixture till smooth. Then add the grated cheese and continue stirring. Add the rest of the milk and if the sauce is still too thick then add a little more.

Pour the sauce onto the cauliflower into an oven proof dish and bake for around 10-15 minutes or until the golden brown.

For the Salmon marinade mix the maple syrup, dark soy sauce and Dijon mustard. Heat a non-stick fry pan and sear one side of the salmon. Brush the marinade on the top of the salmon steak and then turn over, brushing the seared side. Fry each side for about 2-3 minutes, the middle should be medium rare.

Serve together and enjoy :)

Editing Photos via Picasa2

Picasa2 is a very good picture edited created by Google. Though it's only in it's second edition I look forward to seeing what extra features will appear in future. Plus the program is free to download, so with that consideration it's a pretty good program!

Whilst at J&J's house warming I took a number of photos. Below (on the left) is one photo I took which I altered slightly (result on right). If you've ever wondered why some people take really good photos it's probably because they've altered the shot afterwards. It's not cheating as such - composition in the original photo is still important. But as you can see below, there is a world of difference after some tweaking ;)

Mash Potatoes

The humble mash potatoes can sound quite boring, but with a few variations it can be a stunning side dish (even DT should be able to cook this one!).

Here's what you need:
- 1 kg of Desiree potatoes
- 1 cup of thickened cream
- 125g butter
- salt and pepper to taste

Here's what you do:
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil (large enough to fit all the potatoes in and enough water to just cover them). Peel and dice the potatoes to about 2.5cm chunks/cubes.

When the water is boiling put the potatoes in. A trick to avoid splashing is to make sure that the point of entry is low. Bring the pot down to a gentle simmer and leave for approx 20 minutes or until the potatoes soft (check with a sharp knife).

Drain the potatoes and begin the mashing process. Once half mashed add the cream and butter. Continue mashing until a smooth consistency is reached. If the mash is too dry add some more cream or milk (if you're wanting it to be a bit lighter in calories!).

Suggested variations:
Now here's the fun bit! Mash potatoes now come into a world of their own once they have been varied slightly. Here are my two favourite variations.

Herbed (pictured above) - add some rosemary and dried parsley to the mix. This will give the mash a nice little boost and this is great with steaks and other red meats.

Multi-coloured mash (pictured below) - get some cherry tomatoes (the 'grape' varieties are also great for this variation) and baby spinach leaves. Prick the cherry tomatoes and drop them in boiling water for 20 seconds. Peel the tomatoes and slice them in half. Rip up the baby spinach and together with the peeled tomatoes add them to the mash to make a stunning side dish for any meal.

Have a go and let me know how it turns out!

The tomato mash served with Kangaroo steaks and salad.

Herbed Salmon with Potato Gratin and Beans

One of my favourite dishes that I've been cooking up for a while has been salmon. Steph and I visited the Sirromet Winery a few years ago and had dinner at the adjoining restaurant - Restaurant Lurleens. It's an excellent place to enjoy some fine dining. Anyway, on our first trip I tried the salmon which, whilst being slightly small in portion sizing, was the best fish I had ever tasted.

So, in my usual way, I have tried to emulate that experience.

What you need (to serve 2):
For the Salmon
- 2 Salmon steaks (it's preferable to get the steak fillet rather than the cross section as pictured - but the cross section will do) preferably with the skin on
- 2Tbsp Fresh parsley and rosemary
- 2Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
- White wine (I used a Sauvignon Blanc - see below)
- salt and pepper

Sides - Potato Gratin and Green Beans
- 4-5 medium sized white potatoes
- half cup cream
- half cup of shredded cheese (I used mozzarella because we had that in the fridge, but I'd recommend a blend of parmesan and mozzarella)
- 1 minced garlic cloves
- salt and pepper to taste

Here's what you do:
Work the parsley, rosemary, olive oil in a mortar and pestle. The idea is to bruise the herbs and help release their own flavours and oils to mix with the olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spread the Salmon with the herb and oil mix. Place in a shallow dish and pour some white wine into the dish until the steaks are half covered. Refrigerate for an hour.

Whilst you're waiting for the Salmon to marinate, peel the potatoes and then put them in boiling water for about 10 minutes. This will help to soften them slightly. Rinse them out in cool water and slice into then chips about 5mm thick. Layer them in an oven proof dish and with each layer spread some garlic, add some cream, cheese and salt and pepper. Keep doing this until the spuds are used up. Then add a final layer of cream and cheese on top. Place into a preheated oven at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes can be pierced easily with a sharp knife.

With the green beans remove their ends and pop them into salted boiling water for 5 minutes.

In a very hot non-stick pan fry the salmon steaks skin side down first. This will give your salmon a crispy skin. I think Salmon should be best served medium rare - the middle slightly under done and still fleshy, not flaky. Note: you will not need to add oil to the pan as the Salmon is already quite fatty and will produce a fair amount of oil.

Serve together with some more white wine!

Montana 2005 Sauvignon Blanc

This wine I used in part of my marinate with the Salmon recipe above. I'm not generally a fan of Sauvignon Blanc for it's acidity, but this one was quite a treat.

On the nose I could pick up a strong scent of lemon, but it was also very fruity and full. It has been one of the more pleasing wines on my nose in quite a while.

To taste I expected a crisp clean finish with some acidic tones (kinda like biting into fresh capsicum). I tasted what I expected - since Sauvignon Blanc is renowned for these sorts of flavours. It was very fruity and had that crisp finish I was waiting for. Also very light with the aromas not lingering longer than they needed too - in this regard it had a short, but punchy finish to the taste.

The Marlborough region in New Zealand (the northern end of the South Island) is a world class area for producing Sauvignon Blanc. This Montana wine tasted like it.

Woodstock 2001 Shiraz Cabernet

I received this excellent wine as a present back in Christmas '05 and have been saving it for quite a while. A friend at work said that anything 2001 from South Australia was going to be a very good drop - the main reason: bush fires. During 2001 South Australia suffered from many bush fires, the result being that the grapes in the wine regions were going to be very sweet and the wines excellent. Lesson for today: the year of a wine will be important to some degree, and you can tell if one year is better than the other sometimes from seemingly irrelevant reasons (such as a bush fire!).

So it comes as no surprise that when I did open up the bottle, to coincide with our wedding anniversary, the wine was brilliant. I have learned that one of the best reasons for keeping wine is to allow it to mellow out. However, wine can not be kept forever. This particular wine has a cellaring potential of anywhere from 5-8 years. I've opened it at the 6 year mark.

And after 6 years this wine has matured quite well. Whist I expected it to be quite strong, I was also quite surprised at how relatively mellow flavouring was. So I referred to the notes to compare what I was tasting stacked up to the winemaker's opinion...

Herbal anise and cloves spice with pencil shavings, cedar, coconut and complex bacon aromas.

Don't know about the complex bacon aromas, but there was a hint of coconut and a hint of wood. I thought I picked up the scent of tobacco but that could also be a by product of oaking. A 'complex nose' sounds rather pompish, but it simply means that there's so much going on with the aromas that it's hard to pick - as it is with this wine.

That said, it was a very nice wine to drink from a very respectable wine maker.

My new weapon of mass production

I've been waiting for this for a long time. Ever since I purchased my little Sony DSC-W5 18-months ago I've been wanting to upgrade to a DSLR to further expand on this new hobby.

So without further ado, here is my newest camera - the Canon EOS 400D




Given that photography itself can be a relatively expensive hobby I've decided to limit myself in the add-ons that I could obtain. The primary purpose of these add-ons will be to improve the immediate photography experience - so I ask any brothers or sisters out there to keep me accountable in this regard!

The main additions I wish to include at this stage are:

• A new lens - I've been investigating the Canon EF 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens. It seems to be a relatively affordable and useful general purpose lens for my needs.
• A medium sized tripod
• A flash with diffuser

Outside of this is relatively unnecessary for my current needs. Please keep reminding me of this in case I start looking for macro lenses and what not :P