Julie and Julia, and boeuf bourguignon

Any self respecting food blogger knows all about the ones that 'come good'; the bloggers that go on to write about their love of food and actually get paid for the passion.


I've have books by Clotilde, David, Adam and Pim (and Steve, though not strictly a food blogger), I read the mainstream media articles written by local bloggers and cheer on our community's victorious moments at regular get togethers.

So it's with the same interest that I keenly accepted an invitation to the latest instalment of these victories; a food bloggers story being made into a book, that then gets made into a movie...

No doubt, I am the marketing trifecta when it comes to the Julie and Julia movie.
Chick - check.
Foodie - check.
Blogger - check.

So I guess I was destined to love it and I did... well actually I loved it more when I, as a good blogger, (not one of those naughty, unresearching ones that all the boring people talk about) did my due diligence looking at examples of both Julie and Julia's work. Initially, watching Meryl Streep play Julia Child all I could see was a frumpy version of the Devil not wearing Prada, and then that thought morphed into an annoying drunk drag queen that likes to grunt. I was disappointed by her strange acting...UNTIL I watched this and this and this. Now I think Meryl is a genius, close to the god like status Dan Aykroyd has in his interpretation but you'll need to see the film for that clip!

I was fortunate enough to watch the film in the luxury of a big fat lazyboy style arm chair while eating Julia Childs recipe for boeuf bourguignon with creamy mash and sipping Red Claw Shiraz. You can to with a special deal at Victoria Village Gold Class, check it out here.

If you are even half as keen as me when it comes to foodie things, I know you will enjoy it immensely. I think I need to see it again just to pull out all my favourite quotes and scenes... who doesn't remember with excitement their first comment?

This little piggy - the challenge. Six ingredients, simple tools and 30 minutes – COOK!

I wrote this the week after my brush with reality tv, the program airing this week may put all the pieces together...

I’m not very good, at not being very good at something.

So much so, that as I lay in the recovery position (okay catching up on sleep) in my bed after the craziests of weeks, I could not help but think (okay dream) about how poorly I did at my one chance… it wasn’t that hard. Use these ingredients with this equipment and make something delicious.
My self imposed restrictions were to also make something different to the rest of the crowd and make sure I represent myself well by making my food look ‘hot’… well that’s were I stuffed up, you no doubt would say it was fine, if it makes it to tv but it definitely was not inspired.

So with a couple of hours of self prescribed therapy, I reproduced the challenge (nearly) and put myself back to the test.
Could I do it again but better, in a better time, with a better result and a better looking finished dish?

Following the same thought processes of the day I recreated the same dish but here dear readers you get to see how it should have looked, should I not have plated it in 10 seconds (oh god I know; a food stylist plating their food in 10 seconds, what was I thinking??... “Must cut all the pith from my lemon zest”… oh, so we learn!)

So here are the ingredients and equipment (please note, I used a normal stove not a camp stove and am not sponsored by scanpan or global so my Circulon and Mundials will have to do!)

The six ingredients (unnecessary ones not used...), the basic equipment and my 30 minute count down timer

Whipping a mayonnaise (egg yolk, salt, lemon juice, olive oil) with a fork. In the challenge I also boiled an egg as a backup dressing in case the mayo split

Marinating the pork chop

Prepared salad components; cabbage, apple, lemon zest, parsley to be mixed with the mayo, just before serving

Cooking the chop

Resting the cooked chop

The finished dish.
Lemon zest pork loin (well rested and cooked properly this time), apple and cabbage 'remoulade' (well that was a mistake... I'll explain if its aired...), pretty dressed apple bits and a lemon cheek (lets not bring that up either...)

The finished dish with 5 minutes still on the clock. And yes I took all my own photos at the same time!

I think I then ate it in the remaining count down...

Three minutes to go...

One minute to go...

Finished and the chewed bone, that I had cut the loin off.
Wonder what would have happened if I served this? Perhaps I would have actually made it onto the tv.
On reflection I should have eaten it, as we were not served lunch until nearly dinner time.

Roast goose in Hong Kong

A friend is heading off to Hong Kong soon and I was ranting wax-lyrical about of food places that must be visited.

The friend politely retorted but "I didn't read about this on your blog..., or did I miss it?" Well I was put in my place, yes, caught out in my own blog back log.

So in an effort to validate my recommendations - and thinking about this I really should post a list of Paris and Barcelona, so I don't have to keep writing it out - please may I share with you roast goose in Hong Kong.

We made a fleeting visit to Yung Kee in Central just before we jumped a ferry to Macau. It was meant to be a more relaxed affair with the opportunity to savour more of their menu over an extended meal but courtesy of Qantas we drank free champagne instead.

Yung Kee is a bustling multi-level building in the expats section of Hong Kong, lots of very steep hills and roads, but lots of spots to stop in for a drink and snack to refuel.

We were served these century eggs and pickled ginger as a complementary appetiser, a generous offering, that no doubt many tourists would waste.

The yolk was softer and I had seen in century eggs before and had a green tinge to the charcoal grey colour. They may look scary but the firm jelly texture and the thick, rich, creamy yolk are just to die for. The ginger perfectly cuts this richness, if its all a bit too much.

I love the idea of the techniques involved in this... image discovering it for the first time, what a game person it was to try eating it! But I guess there are lot of foods like that, the percebes I ate in Spain a couple of years back were hilarious, especially when you read through the comments of the post... we ate some bits we shouldn't have.

But I am getting off track, we were here for the roast goose and here it is.

Texturally the flesh was quite firm with glossy lacquered skin on top of a little layer of viscous fat. The exciting thing about roast goose in comparison to roast duck, is that you get so much more breast meat on the larger bird, a definite thick fillet of flesh between the skin and rib cage.

I've eaten goose many times before but cooked in a French method, so I was not surprised at the coarseness but increased flavour of the meat, but did think that the skin could have been a little more blistered and crispy.

Next time in Hong Kong, I'd perhaps seek out a less touristy goose destination but was none the less, pleased to be able to squeeze this experience into our trip. I should also note that the staff worked the space like clockwork, friendly and professional and extremely unhindered by our request to mind a mountain of luggage while we ate. Thank you!


Next backdated post is the best cheese of my life, at Atelier Joel Robuchon. Oh, I can just taste it now!
And perhaps even my yum cha round up, three days, three experiences and not even close to my benchmark experience 3 years ago... in Vietnam.

What to serve with New Zealand roast lamb leg

Roast lamb whether in Australia or not, makes me think of lots of root vegetables cooked in the same roasting pan with peas, gravy and even maybe mint jelly.

If I've eaten it (and swooned over it) a thousand times, no doubt our kiwi friends across the ditch are as equally drained of inspiration. So cooking a family dinner a couple of nights ago in Christchurch New Zealand, PDC and I challenged the idea with a rustic pissaladière along side all the vegies!
Pissaladière is an onion based tart originating from Nice in France, the key components are caramelised onions, anchovies and local olives - all fantastic flavours with lamb - and served on a bread or pastry base.

The books tell me that tomato is only used occasionally on this tart but every version I had either across the country or in Provence had a slight smear of fresh tomato sauce. Hence my addition as you can see.


Pissaladière wedges

I used a bread base, made from a basic recipe in a bread machine (seems like a commonly found addition to a kiwi kitchen that unlike in Aussie kitchens, actually gets used!)
The dough was spread over a tray with olive oil and par-baked and cooled before topping. You could also try a plain supermarket pizza base or a shortcrust pastry, again make sure you partially cook it first.

5 large onions
A handful thyme - picked
3 bay leaves
4 very ripe tomatoes
2 cloves garlic - crushed
pinch brown sugar
olive oil
butter
anchovies, at least 12 fillets
black olives- niçoise or kalamata are best*, pitted
Par-baked bread base
S+P

Make the caramelised onions ahead of time
Finely slice the onions and very slowly cook in a little olive oil with the thyme the bay leaves
Keep the temperature very low to avoid browning, after about 1.5 hours the onions will pulp down to a thick paste
Finish with a teaspoon of butter, and allow to cool

Very simple tomato sauce
Roughly chop the tomatoes and gently simmer in a splash of olive oil with the garlic, salt and pepper and brown sugar
Reduce until fully broken down, about 15 minutes

To make the tart
Smear the tomato sauce on the bread base, all the way to the edges
Top with the caramelised onion, the trick is to add what you think is enough and then double it, the onion is the best bit, you will need all the recipe
Criss-cross the anchovies, using as many as you think your guests can handle, to make large diamonds
Add the olives to the center of the diamonds
Bake until golden brown and the bottom is crisp, cut into triangular wedges and serve along side your lamb roast


We also had a bit of a treat, some potatoes that were dug up from my in-laws cottage in the country. Maori potatoes they are called locally, but I thought they looked like what I'd call pontiac potatoes and purple congos. This had been out of the ground for less than a day when we cooked them, and I thought these ones were fresh!

The local potatoes were roasted with some kumara (of course) and baby parsnips, all unpeeled for ease of preparation and to retain the vitamins under the skin.
I had purchased out of interest some yams the day before, that I wanted to get more of but there was none left, no wonder they roasted up as sweet as candy, with hot pink skin and a caramel coloured flesh.

The lamb was studded with slivers of garlic and small pieces of rosemary. Initially I didn't think the tart would be that popular, yet there was no pissaladière or roast vegies left, or meat on the bones... obviously a success.

*Olives can be a confusing purchase, don't go near those sliced ones that you may see on cheap pizzas. You're best to get whole black olives from a local market or deli and squeeze the pit out

A question I didn't have the balls for...

During my European holiday last year I visited markets all over France, Spain and the UK.

Market images make up a huge component of my holiday flicks (luckily there were a few of PDC and I together - probably at a market...).
Some of these images made it to Eating with Jack, some didn't because they were boring, and some others didn't because I couldn't torture you with them; they were a bit gory on reflection.

But one in particular, I have always wanted to post, as I didn't know what it was and I hoped you may be able to help. The thing is, I now know the answer and it actually quite funny so look away if you need to...

Some time after my holiday, I labeled this image "what is it", the answer I have just discovered is... wait for it... testicles.
The Guardians blog had a funny piece and identifying image of them a couple of days ago.

If only I knew the answer at the time it would have set the pace all day for ball-sy jokes!

Now that I have shared a rather grisly image from my files and I'm sure the vegetarians have already clicked over to Michael and Cindy, here is my favourite holiday market image.

Also fabulously entitled, "toothy smiles".

Poor little buggers I know, but I bet they make great Greek lamb soup or something like that.

The thing about these images, that is not funny, is how removed we are from the raw ingredients in Australia. Rarely would you see such large displays of offal and obvious bits - such as heads - that remind us of the real source of our food. Perhaps if it was more common, we would be more discriminating, respectful and mindful of our decision to eat it.

Don't get me wrong, I couldn't give up meat, but I am becoming more and more aware of the sources of my food and the effects of what I put in my body.
What about the idea that if you were to increase your fruit and vegetable intake by 20% you are likely to lose weight... I can't remember the source, but I know its true for me.
After my holiday this year and a strict diet of 3 meals a day, stuffed to the gills just enough to go and lay back on the beach, I actually lost weight I believe, because of all the vegetables, fruit and seafood. Not breads, meats and dairy, I consumed.
I'm not a nutritionist, but I know that if I am stuffed full of fresh, fantastic veggies and fruit then I don't even think of the other stuff that weights me down and requires more hours at the gym.

It's a good thing that I like my veggies and like the idea of eating more of them, as there are some pretty dramatic lifestyle changes, likely to force themselves upon us with increasing food costs in the future. Some of the ideas are old fashioned yet very embraceable - I planted my little vegetable patch today, rocket again, tomatoes, cavolo nero, and silver beet - others ideas perhaps will take a little getting use to.

Take a moment and read this piece by David Chang (the chef owner, of that impossible to get a reservation at 12 seater in NY, Momofuku Ko) found it incredibly inspiring.

Steamed winter goodness

Another bargain for $3, is the steamed pork bun from Ming Tan II on Victoria St Richmond.

I have been a fan of these for a while but did not realise my obsession until I kept driving out of my way to just 'pop' in and grab one as a rich and wonderful winter lunch. I think I can justify them so easily, because I usually also get a sticky rice snow ball as well - as a treat - and because they are so cheap that it seems like a waste of a trip not to.
The steamed buns are available hot, for immediate consumption or from the chilled display for tomorrow.

The thing I love about this bun is the consistency of the fillings; there is always a soft yoke quails egg, a slice of roast pork belly with crackling, vermicelli noodles, cloud ear mushrooms, a couple of pieces of Chinese sausage and the subtlety of ginger.
In my mind, this is the Chinese version of the Aussie 'mystery bag' (as my Dad lovingly calls meat pies!), but the beauty is you can actually see and taste the individual flavours.

Australia Day, some things never change

And others can surprise you...

Things that never change
-our sense of national righteousness about having a barbeque on Australia Day - or on the public holiday at least
-my relief that it didn't end up like the last - a fire engine squiring water up onto our third floor balcony to put out the barbeque and gas bottle on fire. We laugh now but are still a little (correction, a lot) paranoid with the barbie
-that if you offer a pavlova, you will not have left overs

Shhh, the resting pav...

All dressed up and ready to go

Things that surprise me

-we also served kangaroo fillet, marinated and seared on the barbeque, it went so fast I felt like a bad host for stashing a marinated fillet for later (thinking that the consensus would be 'no thanks').
I have been eating kangaroo meat for years, and apart from loving the gamey earthy flavour, its inexpensive, really good for you - high protein vs low fat, and sustainably produced in our environment.

So we ate from the coat of arms... but if only I had invited Anna from Morels and Musings with her emu dish from earlier in the month and we would have completed the pair!

Pavlova
A fun dessert in my house, were Kiwi and Aussie rivalry is already alive and well, we don't need to make it worse reminding them that it really is an Australian dessert.
In case you care... created in Perth by a German chef called Herbert Sachse at Hotel Espanade in 1935. He named it after Anna Pavlova the ballerina. The tricky part is that Herbert is like all good chefs, he reads lots of cook books and was 'inspired' from the equivalent to the Womens Weekly and used a recipe sent in by a kiwi reader. So yes a meringue, cream, fruit thing was made in NZ first but Australia owns the Pav (the kiwis can keep the lollie cake though... don't ask if you don't know!)

The even funnier thing is that PDC the kiwi of the house made this perfect pavlova, from an Aussie recipe -Thanks Stephanie.

Stephanie Alexanders Pavlova recipe
4 egg whites at room temperature
pinch of salt
250g castor sugar
2 teaspoons of cornflour
1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar
a few drops of pure vanilla (we didn't have any)

Preheat oven to 180C
Line a tray with baking paper
Beat egg whites and salt until 'satiny' (not sure what this means!) peaks form
Beat in sugar a third at a time until meringue is stiff and shiny
Sprinkle over cornflower, vinegar and vanilla and fold in
Mound onto paper lined tray about 20cm round with a smooth top and sides
Place in oven and immediately reduce the heat to 150C and cook for 1 1/4 hours (ours took a little longer until golden)
Turn off oven and leave pavlova in it to cool completely.

Stephanie flips her pav but ours was served crunchy side up with whipped cream (no sugar) and heaps of very sweet passionfruit - the especially purchased mango and peaches stayed on the shelf...

Hope yours is as successful as PDC's

Jack

Christmas with Jack

I had a quiet Christmas at home this year, PDC had been working like crazy, so I decided to prepare a modern Aussie style Christmas lunch for the two of us.

One of the difficult things about working out what to serve is that a lot of otherwise beautiful produce is usually so over demanded at this time of the year, that what is available is generally of poor quality. Take seafood for example, there are only so many fish/prawns/oysters etc to be caught and sold over that period so the chances of getting good produce over the other thousands at the market (no matter what you are prepared to pay) is slim, as the retailers will stretch themselves (and their prices - why were raspberries $6.50 a punnet last weekend, yet $4.00 the one prior, when the season is actually getting better?) to supply as much as they can sell.

Therefore my mission was to create a special, 'Christmas feeling' lunch without using the produce that everyone else wanted and would be easy to 'finish' on Christmas day and partially prepare the day before.

Therefore, the menu...

Entree
San Daniele prosciutto and seared scallops with saffron and manzanilla braised leek, peas and their tendrils

Main
Rare venison fillet and quince sauce with anchovy and asparagus stuffed zucchini flowers and taleggio polenta chips

Cheese
Chaource with pecans and bread to dip (actually on the menu but postponed until dinner...)

Dessert
Black cherry and almond clafoutis with eggnog crush

So the entree (scallops, fitted my requirements as some of the best ones comes frozen from Canada or Japan) - served on a glass plate that you can't see here!

The San Daniele ham is my new favourite thing, I can't believe I have been getting by eating the plastic Australian stuff for years. After eating in Spain earlier this year and my new palate for Spanish jamon, I can confidently tell you this is truly up there!
The entree was matched beautifully by PDC with a fancy white burgundy, 1996 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne.

You can tell its summer when the zucchini flowers are at the market.

I (or PDC actually) stuffed the flowers with a very quick combination of a finely sliced asparagus spear, a couple of chopped anchovies, a blob of goats curd, lemon and S+P. The flowers were panfried and then finished in the oven, the stuffing leaked a little when i turned them but still offered a powerful flavour punch that you could not miss.

Pre cooked and set buckwheat polenta, cut into 'chips' to be seasoned and panfried.


The cherries before the batter... (and during PDC's nap - hence time for a few extra photos)

They were large cherries, but not plum sized as they look here... And then...

Baked... yes trust me it tasted as delicious as it looks here (I was very proud!)

We ate this with what I ended up calling eggnog crush, essentially my recipe for eggnog that I froze some of this year, in the hope of turning into a rough ice cream, yet as I discovered my taste for booze in the eggnog also stops it freezing hard, so we ended up with s slushy consistency for the 'crush', but the flavour combination was outrageously good.
The incredibly interesting thing about the clafoutis was that if I had not cooked it myself, I would have argued about the fact that I could DEFINITELY tell that the cherries had been soaked in Amaretto. But since you can tell from the first photo there was no soaking just beautifully plump, fresh, fat cherries, the flavour had come from the seeds, the exact reason why they are traditionally left in this dish. I love it, and love the way the best understanding of something comes from doing it yourself.

I hope you also had a very merry christmas
Jack

Good karma 2

Yesterdays good karma salad seems a bit fancy... it's not always that fancy eating with jack, it just needs to be delicious and satisfying.

Such as this pasta base that also includes some of the good karma salad ingredients; the last of the boudin blanc, the last of the white zucchini and some black russian tomatoes that were looking worse for wear.
With some fresh garlic, EVOO and probably too much butter (to make it worthwhile going to the gym earlier) this was tossed with some spaghettini.
A glass of rose - also good karma, as I opened it last night.
I now just wonder what is to be done with the lentils from last night in the fridge and the watercress that is already probably beyond recovery. If only I didn't have an interesting reservation and dinner date tomorrow night.
Jack

Good food karma salad

This salad means a different kind of good food karma to me, than the topical SOLE food concept. It means that I have found a way to make a satisfying dinner from bits that may well have died in my fridge in the next few days. Now for some this can be easy or this can be hard, for me it's easy and hard in the same breath, unfortunately for me, I'm a bit fussier than the next...

Tonight's dinner started with some wild mushroom and chicken liver pate that was left over from dinner with PDC last night, he laughed when I decided to keep the small wedge. So the challenge was set!

What else was on hand to use up?
Watercress that was already picked and washed, just waiting for me to use it
Boudin Blanc, one of the highlights also from dinner last night

Next, I knew that these bits needed a sweet component, I instantly dreamt of figs, yet they are still a while out of season so fig vincotto would have to do.

I decided to play around with a way to incorporate these bits, so the base of the salad became the smeared pate, napped with the fig vincotto.

On top got piled the salad, and then after a quick couple of shots in the daylight saving twilight I devoured my rich and somewhat French inspired salad while still slightly warm.

Truffled boudin blanc, mushroom pate and fig vincotto salad
Boudin blanc, blanched
Mushroom and chicken liver pate
Baby pink eye potatoes
White zucchini
Watercress, washed and picked
Sugar snap peas
Du Puy style lentils, cooked in chicken stock until soft
Pullet free range eggs, soft boiled and peeled

Dressing
1/4 extra virgin olive oil
Dash white truffle oil
1/4 fig vincotto
1/2 verjus
S+P

Boil the baby potatoes and remove when just cooked, in the same water blanch the sugar snaps and then drain well.
Cut the zucchini into half moons and pan fry until golden, keep warm in the oven.
Build into a mixing bowl; watercress, warm zucchini, halved baby potatoes, quartered eggs, sugar snaps and some lentils. Add dressing components and toss gently.

Pan fry some slices of boudin blanc until golden on both sides.

Smear the plate with the pate and drizzle some more fig vincotto, top with the warm salad and then the hot boudin blanc.

Enjoy with good karma...
Jack

Roast goat

I was inspired by the sticky roast goat that I ate as my last meal in San Sebastian, Spain, when I saw the suckling goat signs at Prahran market. Enquiring about the different cuts, I brought the shoulder and then came home to work out how to cook it...
After referencing several sources and being surprised at the lack of listings for goat or kid in others, I settled on a slow, wet cooking method with hot dry heat at the end. To be honest essentially I was making up, but knew that if it worked, I was really(!!!!) on to something.

Roughly the recipe for my roast goat is
~1.5 kg of goat shoulder
~3 carrots
~half a celery
~a leek
~garlic
~lots of rosemary and thyme
~light stock (I used chicken)
~dry white wine

Dust the shoulder in well seasoned flour and then brown all over in extra virgin olive oil, in the roasting dish you intend to bake it in.
Remove the goat and add the roughly chopped vegetables and lightly caramelise
Position the goat on top of the roast vegetables and with half stock half wine cover the bottom of the pan up to where the goat sits on top of the vegies.
Cover tightly with aluminium foil
Bake in a 180C oven, turning every 40 minutes until the meat is tender enough to feel loose on the bone when you wiggle it with the tongs, mine took about 2.5 hours.
Remove the foil, heavily salt the skin of the meat and turn up the heat and on the oven fan if you have one.
Brown until it looks dark golden brown and is tender to touch.
Rest the meat.

During the final stages, I cooked some truffled polenta that was served quite wet and sauteed some asparagus and peas as a little side dish (you can see it below, in the background).

The meat was flaked off the bone and plated with the polenta and drizzled with a little of the reduced goat cooking broth.

I know I am biased but this was one of the most interestly, simple yet divinely sophisticated meals that I have cooked at home in a long time.

I usually struggle with eating left overs, but these where eagerly treasured...even better than the first time around.

Jack

Spring chicken

I cook a lot at home, yet I usually blog about restaurants I dine at... enough... here comes the food I love to cook...

Lemon zest grilled spatchcock with Spring vegetable gnocchi

Spatchcock, it's one of those restauranty words that you rarely see at the market, that's because it is actually the preparation of the chicken, or any poultry. I believe, the term comes from the shortening of 'dispatch cock', where essentially the backbone is removed so that the bird can be cooked quicker. I figure that if I'm going to get a chopping board dirty to do this, I may as well take the ribcage out as well and make it easier to eat, just like in a restaurant. Last night when I prepared this, I used baby chickens or poussins (size 5 birds are a perfect size for a main course).

Lemon zest grilled spatchcock

Rub lemon zest and a generous amount of salt and pepper over an olive oiled spatchcock. Leave to marinate for an hour or two.

Spring vegetable gnocchi

For me its all about what looks best at the market, what I brought yesterday was:

~Asparagus with gorgeous purple tips

~Broadbeans

~Peas

~Baby fennel

~bocconcini

~gnocchi (mine was Alligator pasta from Per Tutti in Prahran)

My garden pesto

I wouldn't usually put parsley in pesto but it's going crazy in the garden so PDC gave it a 'trim'

~Basil

~Parsley

~Pinenuts

~Parmesan (not the plastic Australian fake)

~Garlic (Australian, not the bleached Chinese stuff)

~Extra virgin olive oil

~Salt (I love the pink Murray river flakes)

Pound together a large handful of basil and some parsley if you want, with a couple of cloves of garlic and salt. Once broken down, add a sprinkling of pinenuts and parmesan shavings and pound again with a little olive oil.

I like it a bit rough looking, so stop here, otherwise keep pounding until you have a dark green paste, if the paste looks creamy you have probably gone a bit crazy with the nuts or cheese, but don't worry it will still taste great.

To cook the spatchcocks, I popped them skin side down on a smoking hot barbeque, until the the skin caramelised, then I finished them skin side up in the oven with some extra salt to keep the skin crunchy. When the gnoochi was ready to go, I squeezed on some lemon juice while they rested.

Gnocchi cooks best in a huge pot of boiling salty water, once it floats work fast otherwise you will get squishy watery mash potato balls.

I pre-blanched all the vegetables so they could just be tossed with the gnocchi, pesto and bocconcini while the spatchcock was resting and the plates heating. I also added the liquid that dropped from the chicken as it rested, no point wasting flavour. Be generous with the olive oil here (and even perhaps a bit of butter) as this is what stops it all sticking together.

To eat

On to some warm plates I served the gnocchi, vegetable, bocconcini and pesto combo and then shaved over some fennel.

I cut the baby spatchcocks down the center so I could stack them on the diagonal on the plate, and drizzled with any extra chicken/lemon pan juices, and some more extra virgin olive oil.

My 'Quince Caramel'

I had to share this photo of our cheese, the feature being my accidentally amazing 'quince caramel' as I have christened it.

It's the translucent pink blob on the right and was made from the left over poaching juices form some very long cooked quinces. I couldn't bring myself to through the left over syrup down the sink so I tried reducing it to make a jam and ended up with this headingly strong 'quince caramel'. The texture is like a firm stretchy caramel yet it is perfectly clear and florially fragrant still from the quince. I am really savouring this concoction as I doubt I can ever make it again... Oh yeah, it was perfect with the Saint Vernier cheese and pistachio nuts.

Jack

Some beautiful food photos from France and Spain

Hope you enjoy some of these beautiful food related photos from my recent trip.

Striped heirloom tomatoes from a Paris market.

I've titled this 'blushing salad', one of the 15 courses I ate at Mugaritz a few weeks ago. It was a pretty little herb and blossom salad on top of a emmentel cheese broth. As I gently moved the leaves to begin eating, the baby vegetables hiding underneath, namely the beetroot moved and tinted the broth this pretty colour. (All the Mugaritz experience to come)

These picture perfect ceps were just sitting on the bar in San Sebastian, Spain.

Fruit jellies in Lyon, France.

This one is for PDC, I think we took more photos of this hill than at the Louvre.

Some jamon with prices in Euros at the La Boqueria market, Barcelona.

Pimms in London...

Wild Strawberries at Cal Pep, Barcelona, just before they were put in the bottom of one of the 'foams'.

Perhaps not a beautiful photo, but a beautiful dish at Gandarias, San Sebastian, Spain. The leg of a suckling pig that was roasted until the skin was crispy and the flesh soft and falling from the bone. Simple delicious food.

Hope you enjoyed them.

Jack

Comme

On Tuesday evening PDC and I enjoyed one of the best meals in Melbourne that we have had in a while, at Comme.
We had selected Comme having dined there just after it opened and loving it then, so it was a perfect choice before the long flight ahead of us. I had some shucked to order, as fresh as they come Tasmanian oysters with the cutiest mergeux sausages the size of your pinky. Followed by a rare fillet of venison with cherries, parsnip puree and fondant potato (photo to come...)
To make the experience even more special our waitress 'Gabby' was from Paris and helped us by making a reservation in a regarded bistro for our arrival the next evening. Fantastic.
**Extended review to come**
Jack

Eating at Jack's... and PDC's

In anticipation of the much awaited trip, permanent dining companion (PDC) and I have been cooking up a European storm.
Dishes have included, steak tartare- raw hand minced organic eye fillet, mixed with raw egg, tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, capers, shallots, cornichons... I forget the rest. Its PDC’s favourite to make, hence the insistance of the kiwi beer in the background of this photo.

We then had duck confit. I admit it; we cheated and brought the prepared duck legs from Parisienne Pates on Lygon Street.

I often buy bits and pieces from there; pate, terrine, sausages and cheese. It’s easy dinner party food for the time poor and fussy like me. We had the duck legs with braised du puy lentils and some caramelised Brussels sprouts and bacon (as if there wasn’t enough saturated fat in the pan!).

Though it seems fancy, this was quite an easy, delicious dinner and importantly not too much to clean up after!
Jack