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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. [...]
Fish and Shellfish
Don’t be frightened by fish. Not so long back, you might have thought you needed to be a star in the kitchen to be able to handle the slinky creatures of the deep and not so deep. I say baaagh to that. Certainly it is not true to suggest that all fish are the same [...]
Leftover risotto
It’s getting to be a little confusing when the dish you make with the leftovers turns out to be just as attractive as its parent of the day before. But I suppose that’s how the pie’n’sauce came to be. Whenever we cook risotto, we throw enough rice into a pot to feed fifteen people, and [...]
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 [...]
Risotto, the basics
Before I became really keen on risotto, I had always believed it to be about long and tedious and watchful cooking. And it is. And also about richly flavoured stocks adding bite to just-crunchy rice, and it is. But, and this is an important but, it is also rice which does not need hard-working stock [...]
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.
Polenta, any way you like
Polenta is one of those archetypal Italian dishes which conjures up pictures of medieval housewives — sleeves rolled up, stirring and stirring, and stirring and stirring, in front of a massive hearth. Meanwhile, the men folk are lounging at table taking drink and waiting for mum to serve lunch, or afternoon tea, or dinner, or [...]
Couscous, for swells
Life seems to run permanently on the edge. Not enough time for this, not enough time for that, too much time for not much at all. What it means, I guess, is that you’ve got the ball, 20 metres from goal, you can win the game with the last shot, but five opponents are about [...]