Recipes

Renaissance Table

by Christine Salins on December 12, 2011

Madonna And Child

Madonna and Child in a landscape, Titian, c.1507

What an inspired decision by the National Gallery of Australia to produce a cookbook to complement the Renaissance exhibition.

Ten and a Half executive chef James Kidman oversees the company’s various catering contracts, including Dieci e Mezzo in Canberra’s CBD and a number of venues at the Gallery, including the Sculpture Garden restaurant, one of my favourite Canberra venues.

Kidman, formerly of Otto Ristorante in Sydney, produces beautiful Italian-inspired food using top-quality ingredients that are locally sourced wherever possible.

Renaissance TableJames Kidman’s Renaissance Table is a coffee table-quality book with recipes for dishes such as radicchio, pear and hazelnut salad; baby calamari with tomato; veal rib-eye with figs; chestnut pappardelle with rabbit ragu; panettone bread and butter pudding; and classic tiramisu.

Along with Sharyn Cairns’s stunning photos that look almost like still-life artworks, there is an introduction on Italian food, art and history.

The book costs $49.95 and is available at the NGA Shop and selected bookstores. You can also buy it by mail order from the Gallery or online when you book tickets to the exhibition.

Australian pasta company, San Remo – which exports pasta to Italy (how’s that for coals to Newcastle?) – has partnered with the Gallery to help bring the exhibition to Australia.

The partnership will see two very special San Remo Chef and Curator Dinners being held as part of the ACT’s Enlighten Festival on Saturday, March 3, and Saturday, March 10, 2012.

The dinners will include special late night viewings of the exhibition and talks by James Kidman,  Renaissance exhibition curator, Christine Dixon, and San Remo brand ambassador, Adam Swanson.

The Gallery’s Sculpture Garden Restaurant is open for lunch from Wednesday to Sundays with Premium breakfast packages available on weekends.   During summer, you can enjoy Friday evening drinks in the Sculpture Bar.

********James Kidman will run a live cooking presentation at the Capital Region Farmers Market in Canberra this Saturday, December 17. The presentation will highlight recipes from Renaissance Table and will be held in the Market Kitchen, from 8.30am to 9.30am.********

The Poached Prawns recipe here is from James Kidman’s Renaissance Table, but the Panettone Bread and Butter Pudding is a slight variation on the one in the book.

I first tried this dessert at Dieci e Mezzo where it was served with caramel, chestnut and pear icecream. I was bowled over by the dish, and Kidman very kindly gave me the recipe.

POACHED PRAWNS WITH FENNEL

Saint Peter

Saint Peter, Maestro dei Cartellini, c.1458

Serves 4
12 large prawns, shelled, deveined and tail on
1 litre water
75 g salted butter
Semi-dried cherry tomatoes
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
pinch caster sugar
pinch salt
To serve:
Half the fennel puree (recipe below)
50 ml extra virgin olive oil
20 pieces shaved baby fennel
20 snow pea tendrils
1 teaspoon fennel pollen
For the prawns:
Bring the water and butter to a boil then reduce heat to a gentle  simmer. Place the prawns in the water and butter and poach for about 1 minute. Remove the prawns and serve immediately.
For the semi-dried cherry tomatoes:
Preheat oven to 90ºC. Place the cherry tomato halves on an oven tray, skin side down, sprinkle with a little sugar and salt and roast gently until semi dried (about 10 to 15 minutes).
To serve:
Place a few teaspoons of puree on a plate, arrange three prawns on  the plate, place a few fennel shavings, 5 semi-dried tomato halves and snow pea tendrils on top of the prawns. Finish with a drizzle of  extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of fennel pollen.

Saint Paul

Saint Paul, Maestro dei Cartellini, c.1458

FENNEL PUREE
Makes 300 ml
1 fennel bulb, roughly chopped
2 golden eschalots, finely sliced
200 ml cream
200 ml milk
30 ml olive oil
In a medium saucepan, sauté the golden eschalots  in a little olive oil until translucent. Add the fennel  and sauté for a further minute. Cover with milk and cream, cook on medium heat until tender. Remove the fennel from the saucepan and puree in a blender until smooth.

Wine suggestion: An aromatic pinot grigio or ribolla gialla from the north of Italy.
Recipe from James Kidman’s Renaissance Table, published by the National Gallery of Australia.

PANETTONE BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING
1 old (1kg) Panettone
10 eggs
275 grams sugar
1200 ml milk
400ml cream
1 orange, zested
1 cinnamon quill
1 vanilla pod, split and scraped
100 grams of white chocolate buttons
Line a baking tray with silicon paper so the pudding does not stick. Lightly butter the paper. Slice the panettone into 1cm lengths.
Place the milk, cream, sugar, orange zest, cinnamon and vanilla in a pot and bring to a simmer. Place eggs in a bowl, whisk together, add to milk mixture.
Place the slices of bread in the baking tray to cover the bottom. Pour enough egg mixture to moisten the bread. Sprinkle some chocolate over it. Repeat until you have used all the bread, milk mixture and chocolate. Allow to stand for 20 minutes to allow all the liquid to be properly absorbed. Cover with silicon paper and another tray. Bake at 130 degrees C for 45minutes or until the custard has set. Remove from oven, allow to cool and press over night with a little weight.

Recipe from James Kidman, executive chef, Ten and a Half.

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Stumps Café @ International Cricket Hall of Fame

by Christine Salins on December 8, 2011

TwiceBakedSouffle

I have a confession to make. One of the reasons  I accepted the invitation to check out the International Cricket Hall of Fame was that it promised lunch.

I wouldn’t travel just anywhere for lunch, but this one sounded good – … “in the pavilion overlooking Bradman Oval … the very pitch where Sir Donald honed his skills …”

Count me in. Always love a good story told over a glass of wine.

As you’ll see from my post on the Hall of Fame and its new Bradman Gallery, I learnt a thing or two about cricket. But I also learnt how good the local food is, during a lunch prepared by Robin Murray.

Robin is the executive chef at nearby Centennial Vineyards and he and his wife Mandy are now also handling the catering at Stumps Café.

I loved his feather-light soufflé, the recipe for which follows. This twice-baked soufflé was made from feta cheese produced by Small Cow Farm, one of the great regional producers in the Southern Highlands.

It was followed by deliciously moist and juicy spatchcock roasted with thyme and served with a puree of organic parsnip, fricassee of carrot, bacon and locally produced mushrooms, chicken jus, and salsa verde made with herbs from the Stumps Café garden.

RobinMurrayOriginally from the highlands of Scotland (perhaps that’s why he feels so at home in the Southern Highlands), Robin trained in the UK and Europe and has been head chef in some of Australia’s leading restaurants.

He has worked at the Windsor Hotel and the Sofitel Hotel in Melbourne, and at venues at Federation Square, where a young George Calombaris was his apprentice.

He runs a cooking school at Centennial Vineyards and loves sourcing ingredients from local growers and producers. He is something of an expert in charcuterie and his pancetta and prosciutto are apparently second to none (unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to try these).

Robin says the space and facility at the  International Cricket Hall of Fame are cutting edge and he has some exciting plans that include a host of food and beverage events.

TWICE BAKED FETA AND PUMPKIN SOUFFLÉ

425 ml milk
30 grams onion
85 grams butter
85 grams flour
225 grams feta
200 grams cooked pumpkin
6 eggs, separated
1 tablespoon English mustard
300 ml cream
50 grams finely grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C. Butter 8 small ramekins and dust with breadcrumbs. Prepare a bai-marie (a deep baking tray half full of water) already in the oven. Warm the milk with the onion and leave to infuse for 15 minutes. Make a roux by melting the butter in a saucepan and adding flour; cook gently for 2 minutes without colour. Remove the onion from the milk and add milk to the roux a third at a time, stirring continuously. When all the milk is added, cook for another minute. Remove the pan from the heat and add the feta, pumpkin, parsley and mustard.

Season to taste, then add the egg yolks. Transfer the mixture into a large bowl. Whip the egg whites until stiff, fold into mixture. Fill the ramekins two-thirds to allow the soufflé to rise. Place into bain-marie and cook for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove and cool for one hour. Remove from the ramekins and place upside down into ovenproof serving dishes, pour cream over the top and grated parmesan. Bake for about 10 minutes until golden brown and bubbling. Garnish and serve.

To garnish:
1 sliced apple
Handful of toasted walnuts
1 cup of rocket leaves
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Combine all ingredients and season.

Recipe courtesy of Robin Murray.

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Cathy’s Handwritten Treasures

by Christine Salins on December 5, 2011

BerryMuffins1

Our car has been heading up and down the Hume Highway quite a lot lately. But life is too short to miss out on important family events and so we found ourselves once again pointing the car in the direction of Sydney, this time for Aunt Edna’s 80th birthday.

Cousin Cathy is a wonderful hostess, always turning out brilliant feasts with great aplomb and this one was no exception, with skewered prawns grilled on the barbecue, a deliciously light creamy quiche, roast chicken, vegetable lasagne, fried rice and a beautiful leg of ham.

The ham was glazed with maple syrup, honey and spices according to a Valli Little recipe that ran in the December 2010 issue of Delicious magazine. It’s a terrific recipe, and I can’t begin to tell you how sensational the glazed pears served alongside it are.

With Christmas coming up, now’s the time to try it out for yourself, so here’s a link to the recipe on the Taste website.

Still around for the morning after, we were treated to more of Cathy’s hospitality with a leisurely brunch of baked eggs (a gem of a recipe) followed by berry muffins, fresh from the oven.

Cathy is writing out her favourite recipes by hand in two beautiful books, one for savoury dishes, one for sweet, so that she can one day pass them on to her children.

It’s such a lovely idea, bringing back memories of the book my own mum created. I treasure that book because her handwriting provides a tangible link to her, long after her passing.

So, here are the two recipes we enjoyed from Cathy’s collection.

BakedEggsPANCETTA BAKED EGGS
Line 6 x ½ cup muffin tins with 2 to 3 slices of pancetta to cover base and sides. Whisk together 3 eggs, ½ cup cream, 1 tablespoon torn basil leaves, ¼ cup grated Parmesan and black pepper. Pour mixture into prepared tins.

The baked eggs are so simple to make and such a welcome variation from the usual fried or poached eggs. And believe me, they are so yummy they beat brunch in a café any day.

I’m never a great fan of muffins but served fresh from the oven, when they are warm and moist and full of lots of great oven-baked smells, they are something else again.

Use Crème Fraiche instead of the sour cream, if you like, and you could use flaked almonds instead of the hazelnuts.  Cathy used frozen mixed berries instead of the blueberries.

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
2 cups plain flour, siftedBerryMuffins2
1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon sea salt
¾ cup caster sugar
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 cup sour cream
1 ½ cups fresh blueberries
½ cup flaked almonds to garnish
Icing sugar to sprinkle
Preheat oven to 190 degrees C. Grease muffin pan. Combine flour, bicarb soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, whisk sugar, oil, egg and crème fraiche. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, reserving 1 tablespoon of the dry ingredients. Toss this with half the blueberries. With a wooden spoon, combine for 30 seconds and add the remaining blueberries. Divide mixture into the muffin pan. Sprinkle with icing sugar and almond flakes. Bake for 25 minutes.

 

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