Spoil-her Series: Simple recipes for men.

Under 5 ingredients, Under 20 bucks. Maximum brownie points.

Ingredients:

• 1 dozen fresh unshucked oysters (Normally around $1 each)
• Lemon
• Tomato juice / Clamato
• Various condiments to your liking

Directions:

Rinse oysters to remove debris from outside shells

Place oysters in freezer for an hour

Using an oyster knife or screw driver, insert the tip into a small crack or weak point, usually at the base of the oyster shell, and slowly pry open.

Cut off the connecting muscle from the shell and the oyster, on both the top and the bottom

Reserve the oyster brine as it contains good flavours.

Get creative with your condiments! I recommend Yuzu, Mirin, Soy, Worcestershire, Cocktail sauce, hot sauce, Horseradish, and a squeeze of lemon juice.

For the bloody mary oyster shots – combine Clamato (50% full), pinch of horseradish, a few drops Worcestershire sauce, a few drops of hot sauce, lemon juice, and then topped with cold vodka.

End

Spoil-her Series: Simple recipes for men.

Under 5 ingredients, Under 20 bucks. Maximum brownie points.

Ingredients:

• 4-6 Scallops
• 2 small cloves of garlic, very thinly sliced
• 1 bunch chopped Italian parsley
• 1/2 cup white wine
• Angel hair pasta – enough for 2 people.

Directions:

Bring a pot of water to a violent boil, and heavily salt the water.

Cook the pasta, minus 2 minutes from cooking instructions on the packet.

Drain the pasta and store in ice water for safe keeping

Heat a pan with some olive oil or butter (or both) and once it’s hot, grill the scallops for about 45seconds on each side for a golden brown finish.

Season with chopped parsley, salt and pepper. Add sliced garlic, then add the white wine and evaporate it.

Set scallops aside, and add some breadcrumbs to the remaining sauce in the pan.

Add the pasta (without the ice water) into the sauce and toss for a minute or two, drizzle with extra olive oil and extra parsley.

Serve on a plate, with the scallops on top!

Spoil-her Series: Simple recipes for men.

Under 5 ingredients, Under 20 bucks. Maximum brownie points.

Ingredients:

• Sashimi grade tuna, 1 fillet
• onion (white onion and green onion)
• ginger and garlic
• condiments – Soy sauce¹, sesame oil and chilli
• Optional: seasame seeds, avocado, jalapeños

Directions:

Finely dice white onion, green onion, ginger and garlic. If you do not want to use a knife, you can use a grater (I recommend a microplane.

Cut the tuna, against the grain, into 2cm cubes.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

Add 2 teaspoons of soy sauce, 2 teaspoons of sesame oil.

If you would like to add a twist to your poke dish, toast a few teaspoons of sesame seeds for that extra crunch.

To pack some heat, add chilli sauce, chilli flakes or jalapeños.

Mix well and serve! It also compliments nicely with crackers or tortilla chips as a nice appetizer.

¹Use tamari instead of regular soy sauce for the gluten free version.

Spoil-her Series: Simple recipes for men.
Under 5 ingredients, Under 20 bucks. Maximum brownie points.

Ingredients:

• 1 packet of milk chocolate morsels (I used Nestle)
• 1 punnet of strawberries
• Long bamboo skewers / satay sticks

Directions:

Melt chocolate according to packet instructions in a microwave safe bowl.

Slowly stir the warm chocolate until it’s smooth, as the choc chips tend to retain its shape out of the microwave.

Attach a strawberry to the end of a skewer and dip it in the melted chocolate bowl.

Rotate the strawberry for even coverage, and rest on wax paper for chocolate to solidify. It will only take a few minutes.

Do not leave these in the fridge, as it will cause the strawberries to condensate under the chocolate

Arrange them in a vase for maximum wooing.

Spoil-her Series: Simple recipes for men.
Under 5 ingredients, Under 20 bucks. Maximum brownie points.

Ingredients
2 x  Beef Fillet Mignon, Center-Cut (1.5″ – 2″ thick)
6 oz Portobello Mushroom Caps, Packaged
Bottle of red wine
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Start the steaks at room temperature by leaving them out 2 hours before cooking.

Using an oven safe pan or griddle (do not use anything with a rubber handle!), place inside hot oven at 500F to for pre-heating. Around 30 minutes should get it nice and hot.

Roughly chop mushrooms, and open your bottle of wine.

When pan is hot enough, using oven mitts (please be careful), place the pan on your stove top and place the steaks on your pan. The pan is so hot at this point, you won’t need to turn the stove on.

Sear steaks, one minute each side. While they’re searing, turn the oven off.

Place the entire pan (both steaks seared on both sides) into the oven for an additional 4 minutes.

Take the pan out, and remove the steaks from the hot pan. Salt them to taste. Rest them on a plate elsewhere, covered.

Using the remaining beef fat on the pan, place it on the stove on medium heat and cook the mushrooms. You can add olive oil to this if it gets a bit dry.

Sautee the mushrooms until they’re soft and glossy, season with salt and pepper.

Serve the mushrooms with your steak, with any leftover pan juices.
This is the most perfect, tender steak you’ll ever make!

Spoil-her Series: Simple recipes for men.
Under 5 ingredients, Under 20 bucks. Maximum brownie points.

Ingredients

1lb pack of Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella
3 Tomatoes
1 bunch Basil
Extra Virgin olive oil (drizzle)
Balsamic Vinegar (drizzle)
Salt and Pepper to taste

What to do:

Slice tomatoes.

Slice Mozzarella to a similar thickness as the tomatoes

Pick the basil leaves off the stalk.

Assemble on plate, first with the tomato, then a slice of mozzarella, then topped with a basil leaf.

Season with salt and pepper, then drizzle olive oil all over.

Lightly finish with balsamic vinegar, less than half the amount of oil.

The class I recently attended was hosted by celebrity chef Darren Simpson of recently opened La Scala on Jersey, (and previously at Barenjoey and La Sala). The Irish, “regional neutral Italian chef” talks Italian cuisine in this hands on cooking, sharing some delightful recipes and tips for preparing easy but impressive recipes at home.

Chef explains that Italian cooking is about respect to fresh and good quality produce – there is no point preparing a beautiful pasta, only to mask the quality with a store bought sauce.

We learnt 3 simple dishes:
Deep fried Globe Artichokes

Spaghetti alla Vongole

Risotto with Pine Mushrooms, Thyme, Garlic, Vermouth and Parsley

Each recipe begins with a demonstration, followed by our own hands on cooking afterwards. Each cooking station holds groups of 4 people.

Darren was attentive with every cooking station, with personal tips and answers to any questions we had.

If you are interested in other Italian cooking classes by CIRA, you can contact them with the details below:

Casa Barilla
4 Annandale St
Annandale, 2038
Telephone 02 8585 3900
www.cira.com.au

Fuchsia Dunlop presents a short segment on the various techniques Yu Bo uses that are very common in fine Chinese cooking.

The one thing that stands out most is probably Dai Shuang’s (Yu Bo’s wife) porcupine buns, where each spike is carefully cut out of the dough using small metal shears.

Watch how intricate the preparation of such a delicate dim sum can be! Each bean paste filled bun is then steamed and served individually in lacquered bowls.

Another small highlight was Yu Bo’s demonstration on the “lucky shaped” potatoes in one of his appetizers:

The potatoes are then deep fried and arranged on a small plate.

Yu Bo does not cook with a fancy set of chef’s knives. They all use the standard meat cleavers in all their preparation and his skills to manipulate the one knife versatilely is quite impressive.

Other dishes that sparked interest included:

Braided “hair pin” garlic shoots, Knotted gourd slivers, and fanned broccoli steams

“Anyone can make a delicacy out of lobster of abalone. But I like to show it can be done with the most common ingredients” – Yu Bo

I was very glad that people in Sydney could be exposed to the a side of Chinese food that was unknown. There are years and years of culinary history that are still undiscovered and unexplored with the Western palate, and it’s only a matter of time before everyone realizes that it’s just not all about Golden Century! The Chinese eating culture is incredibly refined, but a lot of the techniques and rituals have yet to travel into Western countries.

(Excuse that horrible shot of Matt Preston) Inside the blue and white jar is filled with what appears to be Chinese calligraphy brushes, but the bristles at the end of the bamboo handles are actually made from a fine flaky pastry with hair like folds that conceal a minced beef filling. You dip one into the “ink dish” of sauce, and eat the “brush” part. Yu said he chose a red sauce as the “ink” because only in the old days, only the Emperor was allowed to write with red ink.

Dai Shuang, Matt Preston, Yu Bo

Matt Preston: tender enough for Yu Bo to braise and devour

Ranking seventh in the 2009 S. Pellegrino Top 50 Restaurants list, Bras’s restaurant is arguably the most highly regarded in France. Nestled deep in the heart of southern France, the Bras’s celebration of nature, as found in the Laguiole district and surrounding Aubrac plateau, is celebrated with joy and gusto, causing one Fortune magazine critic to declare the famous dish, gargouillou de jeunes legumes, one of the five meals worth flying for.

Sebastien’s famous father Michel (of Michel Bras) keeps a garden 15km away from their restaurant in Aubrac to grow his own vegetables and herbs, which is the very essence of this signature dish. During the demonstration (and this is the reduced version) the dish took around 45 minutes of preparation where each piece of vegetable is carefully selected, cleaned, trimmed, and some of them quickly blanched for 15 seconds, then pat dried. Some ingredients were lightly warmed with jamon and butter before serving.

Considered the best vegetable dish in the world by many – I definitely wanted to learn the history and techniques behind it before I got the opportunity to taste such a beautiful and “alive” creation.

gargouillou de jeunes legumes

Bras says this dish has been around for almost 30 years. It was originally created by his father but the recipe changes all the time depending on the ingredients. It is three dimensional, and it is “alive” – accompanied with several L’niac s – a Niac is described as the detail that makes the dish, such as the addition of wasabi in sushi. He incorporates 6 or 7 niacs to keep his food interesting and your palate refreshed.

“For one night only, a group of Sydney diners will be privy to an intimate evening of rare synergy: Sebastien Bras and Peter Gilmore sharing a passion for the glories of nature.” More to come after my dinner tonight!

On the weekend Adria, 46, held spellbound a sell-out audience of 1500 chefs and foodies at Hamer Hall, lecturing about his approach — part bowerbird, part boffin — and presenting videos of elBulli’s methods and food.

Dishes included flexible meringues that look like timber, astonishing replica fruit, leaf-like crackers, and sponge cakes prepared with a soda siphon and cooked in the microwave.

Adria walked on stage with a baguette and explained that the science that goes into creating bread — or, indeed, making water boil — is as mind-bending as anything that springs from his kitchen.

“Much of my food is simple,” he says. “But it’s new and that’s unsettling.”

We saw many of his “new” methods on screen, cooking with nitrous oxide, liquid nitrogen, dehydrators – it was phenomenal.

My new signed book:

I’ve emailed through my reservation request for 2009. Fingers crossed… (they say it takes around two to three years normally)
Perhaps I can plan for an extravagant 30th birthday celebration at the rate I’m going!

I booked for a table of four. Who will be the lucky people to join me if I get the table? Oh the suspense!

p.s. it’s pronounced “El Buu-ee”

Edit: Epic fail

From: Restaurante EL Bulli [mailto:bulli@elbulli.com]
Sent: Friday, 31 October 2008 1:32 AM
Subject: RE: Reservations – visitors from sydney

The demand that we have received at the first moment has again surpassed our limited possibilities for one season and we regret not to be able to full fill more reservation requests.

We thank you sincerely for all your interest and we will be at your disposal if you wish to revise the situation during the season, near your available dates as we must confirm all the reservations 10 days in advance.

Tel. +34 972 15 04 57 (during the season – after 3.00 p.m.)

2009 Season - Open from June 16^th   to December 20^th  

Only dinner service 7.30 – 9.30 p.m. except on some Saturdays of September-October-November and December that we will be open for lunch (1.00 – 2.30 p.m.) and closed for dinner.

normally Monday and Tuesday closed

SEE EXCEPTIONS OF OUR 2009 CALENDAR AT www.elbulli.com  (see reservations)

2010 RESERVATIONS

We do not have information about 2010 season at this moment but we never start the management until we have finished the season before.

You will find information at www.elbulli.com see reservations) in December 2009.

Sincerely yours,

Luis Garcia

ElBullirestaurant

Cala Montjoi - 17480 Roses

Tel.  +34 972 15 04 57 

Fax. +34 972 15 07 17

E-mail: bulli@elbulli.com

Web:   www.elbulli.com