Raw sardines and a story of life
I can’t go past a fish shop without grabbing a handful of sardines. Some of that has to do with the fact you can get a feed of these little lovelies for not much more than half a dollar; most of it has to do with the absolutely stupendous flavour of the bright-eyed little fellows. [...]
Risotto for whisky lovers
Now for a dish for swells, or for those who have come into luck. It seems a remarkable mix — rice and whisky and crayfish —but it works wonderfully. The whisky seems to add guts to the crayfish, while surviving on its own; and yet it doesn’t affect the glories of the risotto. I pinched it from Bill Marchetti, the chef of Melbourne’s most popular Italian restaurant, the Latin. Marchetti, born in Germany of German-Italian parents, first saw this combination in the middle of Italy, liked it, filed it away, and serves it occasionally — usually to rave reviews.
Risotto with sardines
This is not absolutely faithful to classical risotto making, but more a case of me seeking as many ways as possible to utilise the unique qualities of this very under-rated and always cheap fish. The difference is that you cook the fish separately, fillet it yourself at the table, and toss it through the traditionally cooked risotto. It makes for a wonderful, hands on, hands in, community dish, and that’s the best part of eating anyway.
Old flavours: risotto with cauliflower
Cauliflower has made a comeback. For most of Australia’s history, it was a heavily cooked holder of very thick, very rich white sauces given a final kick along with nutmeg. Nothing wrong with that, and nothing better to serve at a dinner party, especially if the guests are thirty-forty-fifty-sixty-something. There’s another way to give them [...]
My favourite, risotto with pumpkin
The microwave opened a new door to the wonders of baked pumpkin, freeing us from the agony of slicing it and the danger of skinning it. Baked in the microwave, pumpkin reduces to a marvellous melting consistency, easily, relatively quickly, and you can peel the skin away as if it is a new season’s mandarin. Worked through pasta with a little cream, pepper and herbs, it makes for a quick and delicious dish. Worked similarly through risotto, it stands as the most cooked dish in my kitchen.
Goat’s cheese and spinach ravioli
There was a time when I thought you couldn’t make ravioli unless you had one of those extraordinary instruments that attach somehow to the top of those extra useful, tried and trusted, hand-powered pasta machines. The ravioli extra is something like a laundry shute, as seen in forties hotel movies. Two strips of pasta approach each other from opposite sides and a highly flavoured mixture is gobbled up as the strips rush through the machine. At least that’s what happens in the literature.
Pesto, by hand
I could eat pesto until my hair turned green. It has everything that good eating should have – the freshness of the season, through the basil, the pungency of the garlic, the twists and depths of flavour of the olive oil and the Parmesan, the chunky texture of the nuts, and the romance of thousands of years and millions of hands making it, loving it.
Cheating with scallops
I remember when scallops were so plentiful you would buy them in batter from your local fish’n'chippery; when they used bulldozers to get into the piles of them at the market (now they use tongs); when they were the cheapest of cheap. They were the affordable shellfish. Not any more.
Spirals of pasta with red peppers and chorizo sausage
Red peppers are not red peppers until they have been roasted and had their blistered skins removed. Then they are as different from the unskinned version as autumn apples are from those of spring – ‘fresh’ from the cool store.
The roasting process concentrates the flavours marvellously, compressing what is already something pretty special into something [...]
Hot dogs, given new life with pappardelle
The thick tomato sauce from the previous recipe has plenty of uses, especially if you don’t drown the pasta with it. Just let it hold on to the ribbons or curls or whatever. I have found it particularly attractive when faced with leftover hot dogs or frankfurters after one of the kids’ birthday parties. It’s [...]