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!

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

There are many recipes out there for Bolognese sauce, and we all have our own favorite. There are master combinations of pork/veal/beef mince, blend of vegetables to make a killer sofritto, cooking time that goes on for hours and hours… which produces divine results. But for all those times where we just want to prepare a simple meal that’s loved by all, with the same heartwarming effect but half the work, I’ve put this recipe together for you… with a little secret ingredient that really lifts the flavours.

Ingredients:
450g Beef mince
1 jar Barilla Arrabiata sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 brown onion, finely diced
1/2 bunch sage, roughly chopped
1 packet of mushrooms, sliced
1/4 Organic butternut squash, grated
1 packet Barilla Integrale spaghetti n.5
1/2 bottle of good red wine
Parmigiano Reggiano to serve

We want to start of by softening the garlic and onions with a good amount of olive oil in a saucepan. When the onion turns clear and the aroma starts to rise, tear the sage leaves into the hot oil and let the perfume infuse into the oil.

Pour in the mince and brown the meat in the saucepan, making sure everything is cooked through and there are no lumps. Add in the mushrooms along with a little extra drizzle of olive oil, stir it through, and then tip the entire jar of Arrabiata sauce in. I chose the arrabiata because of the extra heat from the chilli’s, and also reduces overall cooking time. And now for the fun part, empty just under half a bottle of red wine into the saucepan – and saving the other half for dinner time.

It’s time to add the secret ingredient. Grate a few slices of a butternut squash with a microplane and add it to the sauce. The sweetness of the butternut really adds to the flavour of the sauce and I’ve always been reluctant to add sugar to cooking. It will all melt into the sauce, and you won’t actually taste the butternut, but only the rich sweetness that is left behind.

Give it a good stir, cover and simmer on low heat for one hour. During that hour, I’ve always found that it’s a great time to work out, because there’s a lot of carbs coming your way!

After an hour, the sauce would have reduced into a much thicker consistency. Cook the pasta according to packet instructions. I chose a semolina flour Spaghetti n5 and cook it just 2 minutes under the instructions for a good al dente texture. This is something that was taught to me by Chef Massimo Bianchi, you have to account for the time when you stir the pasta into the saucepan because it continues to cook.

Stir the pasta into the sauce, grate some parmigiano reggiano to serve and bon apetito!

Sydney seems to be catching up with this new seafood trend, as I noticeably received a lot less “ewww” from fellow Aussies when I talk about uni. Coming from a time when most Australians found the concept of raw fish and dried seaweed revolting, their willingness to try new things have dramatically increased.

”I’ve sold more sea urchin in the past 12 months than I have in the past four years,” says Wayne Hulme from Christie’s Seafood.

Fresh high quality sea urchin flesh is delicate and just firm enough to hold itself together, and just like pudding, it quickly melts in your mouth. Unfortunately, the taste is initially funky and reminiscent of pungent seawater, and that’s when the unadventurous start to gag. However, just like smoking your first cigarette, after a few more puffs, you start to acquire the taste. Sea urchin flesh is delicious: subtle, sweet, creamy, and sea-salty bitter rather than fishy – If an oyster made love to custard.

You can buy fresh washed urchin roe in pre-packaged trays from the fish markets.

Ingredients: (serves 4)

500g dry spaghettini

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, more for drizzling

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red chili flakes

1 punnet grape tomatoes, halved, ripe and room temperature

Sea salt & black pepper

1 tray of sea urchin

I packet of Muji urchin cream pasta sauce

Shredded dried nori (also available in most Asian grocery stores) for garnish

1. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, in a skillet large enough to hold pasta later on, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic, reduce heat to low, and tip the skillet to submerge the garlic in olive oil, brown it on all sides so it flavors the oil.

2. Raise heat under skillet to medium, add chili flakes and simmer for around a minute. Add tomatoes, face down, cook until just until wilted and stir gently.

3. When water boils, add a couple of tablespoons of salt and cook pasta according to packet instructions, minus 2 minutes. Stir well and bring back to boil. When pasta is cooked through but still firm, drain, reserving 1 cup cooking water (this water contains starch and is useful later for the sauce)

4. Turn heat under skillet to low. Add pasta sauce (optional: just replace with butter otherwise). Add about 3/4 of the tray of sea urchin to skillet with a sprinkle of salt and a splash of pasta cooking water to your favored consistency. I like it quite thick and creamy. Add pasta to skillet and toss thoroughly but gently over low heat, adding pasta cooking water and more oil to taste if mixture is dry. Don’t forget to season!

Serve hot, decorating each serving with remaining sea urchin and top with dried shredded seaweed.

The sweetness of the grape tomatoes compliments beautifully with the flavor of the urchin roe.

This is my version of the “Truffled Lasagna from Umbria” (source)- using store bought lasagna sheets instead of making them from scratch. Total prep & cooking time: 1 hour.

truffle porn 
  

For the truffled béchamel:

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted French butter
½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
4 cups (1 quart) whole milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
15g fresh black truffle

For the filling:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound button mushrooms, chopped
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
store bought eggplant slices
Prosciutto parma – very thinly sliced and torn
unsalted butter for greasing the baking dish
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound fresh gruyere, freshly grated
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Make the truffled béchamel:
  
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed pot. Sift in the flour, stirring with a wooden spoon. Cook for 5 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Do not allow the flour to take on any color.
Heat the milk in a separate pot until it is nearly boiling.
Pour the hot milk into the butter-flour mixture, beating vigorously with a wire whisk to prevent lumps.
Bring to a boil, still whisking; cook over medium-high heat, whisking often, until thick, about 10 minutes.
Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. If needed, strain through a fine sieve to eliminate lumps.
Stir in the truffle slices.

Prepare the mushrooms & eggplant:
  
Heat the olive oil in a 12-inch skillet. Sauté the mushrooms (adding some white prosciutto fat along the way for extra flavor) over medium heat until they are soft and any liquid they let out in the skillet has evaporated, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper. Heat up the eggplant slices in the same pan. Transfer both to a food processor. Chop coarsely.

To layer:
   
Preheat the oven to 325°F.

Butter a rectangle baking dish – I used the new oven proof silicone molds (usually for pound cake) – so much easier to flip over when it is done. Line with enough lasagna to cover, arranging the lasagna very flat in the baking dish and cutting them as needed to fit. Spoon on some truffled bechamel, top with some mushrooms and eggplant, add some shredded prosciutto, and sprinkle with some gruyere and Parmigiano.
Make a second and third layer, but wrinkle the lasagna for the next two layers; they should not be flat like the first layer (this helps give the lasagna an airy, light texture). Do not sprinkle Parmigiano on the top layer (it will brown too much in the oven). 
Bake in the preheated oven 30 minutes. Turn off the oven and let the lasagna rest in the oven for 10 minutes to dry out.

Place a flat plate on top, and flip the whole thing upside down. Slice into two (or three) pieces, plate, and sprinkle the top with Reggiano, shave some fresh truffle. Serve hot.

NB: The lasagna in the photos is much smaller than the recipe’s. It is normally square (double the size), so I had a lot of truffle bechamel left.

Tip: If you buy any whole truffles, store them in an airtight container with some eggs. The aroma infuses through porous egg shells in a few days for an amazing truffled scrambled eggs on Sunday morning.

CIRA (The Council Of Italian Restaurants In Australia) was started by 12 Italian-Australian restaurateurs for cultural and educational purposes, to promote the values of Italian food in Australia. Fortunately for us, CIRA has a cooking school with the best Italian chefs offering courses to the general public and specialized courses for students and the industry.

Massimo (ex Buon Ricordo, and about to open Uccello at Ivy) gave a very personal cooking course at the kitchen of Casa Barilla, next to a long communal dining table. The format was perfect – we learn one course, we sit down and enjoy it with wine, and then we move onto the next. One of the founding members Armando Percuoco (Buon Ricordo) was also there to offer his advice on truly authentic Italian cooking.

Fettuccine with prosciutto, pomodorini and pecorino

There is a common misconception that pasta can be cooked as soon as the water starts to boil. The water has to be violently boiling – and you can heavily salt it, not just a pinch, but enough so you can actually taste the salt in the water. Drain the pasta about a minute or two less than the packet instructions (if you taste it, it’s still slightly raw in the middle) because when you pour it back into the pan with sauce, it will keep cooking. Save a cup of the pasta water (as it is “starchier” than normal water) for the sauce later if it becomes too dry. But in Rome, the sauce can never be watery, it has to stick to the pasta and be as dry as possible.

Scottadito d’abbacchio alla Romana (Scottadito means ‘by the finger’; d’abbacchio is young lamb – lamb chops you can eat with your fingers)

True Italian cooking only requires you to slightly crush garlic bulbs with your palms. Brown them in olive oil until they’re almost burnt (dark brown) and remove them from the oil. There is no need to chop it up as the flavour in the oil is enough. Garlic that is cooked through also makes the food taste less heavy, compared to say, French food. The same goes for the Rosemary – put the entire sprig in the pan, cook, and then remove. Keep the pan at high heat at all times so the lamb doesn’t end up broiled.

When the lamb chops are ready, the remaining fat can be made into a beautiful creamy sauce (without the help of cream or butter) by reducing with some anchovies, wine and vinegar.

La Ricotta

Ricotta cheese – made into a pattie, dusted with flour, covered in egg wash and deep fried in Strutto/sugna (pure pig’s fat) until golden brown. Dusted with cinnamon and sugar, cholesterol never tasted so good. Served warm.

This is truly sinful - but it tastes somewhat light.

If anyone is interested in the recipes I can scan them (with my notes included) for you to download.

The complimentary focaccia is pulled from a copper pan and sliced as you sit down. It’s accompanied by a terracotta saucer filled with chilli-infused olive oil. Such small details give A Tavola (meaning “to the table”) its warmth.

The small printed menu is short – two olive spuntini (snacks), three entrees, three pasta, three salads. It’s supplemented by a daily blackboard, mostly inspired by the pasta made that morning, although it may also include impossibly tender pork fillet ($38) fanned over caramelised fennel wedges with agrodolce (sweet and sharp) braised red cabbage and a generous dollop of superb salsa verde. If you’re lucky, the blackboard might begin with calamari fritti ($19) to rival Fratelli Paradiso’s legendary Sant’Andrea version. This bowl of lightly dusted squid is crisp yet supple, salty yet sweet, with nothing more than roasted garlic aioli and a lemon slice to squeeze over the tiny rings. (source)

The chef makes three fresh pasta daily but also uses a trio of dried Italian pasta for some dishes. From our table we can see the freshly made papparadelle hanging on a wooden rod across the front of the kitchen, waiting to be cooked.

The waitress explains to me that the risotto of the day is hand made fresh daily, and takes over 25 minutes of constant stirring over heat before it is served. Serving two (even though the three of us still could not finish it) it has a rich, aromatic sauce of different slippery wild mushrooms which compliments the al dente texture of the risotto. Topped with Saltimbocca – which is a pancetta wrapped pork cooked in butter, is so tender it melts in the mouth. Highly recommended, though I was told that you have to be very lucky to see it appear on the blackboard.

I think this one is a winner – we were too full to sample the desserts, but there is definitely more opportunities to come. HIGHLY recommended!

348 Victoria St, Darlinghurst, NSW (02) 9331 7871, www.atavola.com.au Dinner Mon-Sat, lunch Fri. Licensed and BYO.

Dammit I can’t believe I’ll be working on Saturday and cannot attend:

Ultimo Wine Centre Annual Champagne Tasting 2007

 

Always the best Champagne tasting in Sydney!

 

Saturday 1st December – 12 midday until 5pm

Billecart-Salmon, Taittinger, Bollinger, Laurent Perrier, Devaux, Delamotte, Gosset, Louis Roederer, Brice, Phillipponet & more…

Tags: A tavola, cabbage, carpaccio, Champagne, dessert, dinner, italian, mushroom, NSW, pasta, salad, salmon, snacks, sydney
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I ordered on Sunday, still in bed with my hair frazzled, and it was delivered fresh to my door on Monday night afterwork. They even gave me a free loaf of Sonoma olive sourdough. And the delivery charge was free!

The Dutch Cream potatoes were freshly plucked from the soil that morning – it took so long to scrub, but I’m sure it will be well worth the effort. I also bought Red cabbage, Daikon, Bok Choy, organic soy sauce, eggs and dark chocolate. For meats I bought some pork ribs, breakfast sausages, and osso buco. They were sold out of the White perch fillets that day (which would’ve been awesome in my congee). I also bought a jar of organic tomato paste, which looks very homemade in a glass jar, so I can use that in a pasta whenever I’m feeling lazy.

So a plug for a father-son (Pete & Geoff?) owned small business: great service, friendly and freshness guarenteed.

Doorstep Organics: www.doorstep.com.au delivers Sydney-wide. Big props from me, and I don’t even know them personally!

I’m not sure whether they had started using Australian truffles to save money; or perhaps the eggs weren’t infused for long enough, but this time around, the pasta was a lot less aromatic compared to before. Also, the waiter had verbaled the night’s specials to us, an enticing scallop entree – which I had selected for my main. It wasn’t until 30 minutes after my first course, did he realize that they had sold out of the scallops! Then he proceeded to recommend me, instead of the scallops, the Zuppa di Pesce (Scampi, mussels, clams, calamari, octopus, cuttlefish and rock cod cooked with tomato) as my main course. We didn’t find out until afterwards that it was more than double the price of the scallops at $47.50. Through the glass kitchen we could see that he was being verbally abused by Armando and the rest of the chefs… and probably because of the stress that they caused him, he spilt the finger bowl in front of me as well.

When things like this happen I would normally at least offer a free drink, or a free dessert… well the dessert of Sfogliatella (Baked Neapolitan pastry filled with ricotta and candied fruit) was disappointing, however I did enjoy the side of coffee gelato.

Sadly, it doesn’t matter how good his reviews are… I don’t think I will be going back again. Although the Fettuccine al tartufovo is STILL worth mentioning. If they had used Italian truffles it would still be a most amazing dish.

mmm… coronary…

~ Henry David Thoreau