Kiwisizzler

Scored yourself a bit of beef? Here’s what to do with one of my favourite cuts – the tail.

Get your butcher to cut the tail into segments, if it’s not already.

Cut up some carrots, onion, leek and celery nice and chunky. This is called mirepoix.

Get together some thyme, bayleaves and parsley stalks. Tie them in a bunch with some string. This is your bouquet garni.

Heat a pan nice and hot. Add a touch of oil and then the oxtail.  Seal the oxtail in small batches until nicely coloured. Put the oxtail into a deep roasting dish.
Once the oxtail is sealed, toss the mirepoix in the pan, ensuring a nice golden colour. Add the vegetables to the oxtail.
Deglaze the pan with a bit of red wine and add that wine to the roasting dish along with the bouquet garni and  a little beef stock. Cover the tray with tin foil.
Place the roasting tray in the oven at 160°C for around 2 1/2 hours, or until the meat falls off the bone.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool. As the meat cools it will absorb the cooking liquor, keeping it nice and moist. Once cool, strain the liquor and reduce to a nice sticky consistency. The juices will contain a massive amount of natural gelatine. Strip the meat from the bones and add to the liquor along with the vegetables. Season to taste and serve with creamy mashed potatoes or even as a risotto. LUSH!

This recipe is fantastic as a starter or even as the main event for a relaxed lunch with friends. Perfect with a fresh rocket and parmigiano reggiano salad, drizzled with aged balsamic and extra virgin olive oil.

For the Red Onion Marmalade:

2 Tbsp olive oil

600g red onion – sliced 3mm thick

2 bay leaves

125g demerara sugar (or better still – dark muscavado)

100ml balsamic vinegar

100ml port

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan over a low heat.
2. Add the onions and bay leaves. Sweat over a low heat, stirring regularly until soft and starting to sweeten. This should take at least 20 minutes.
3. Add the sugar and cook until any liquid is evaporated, around 40 minutes. Stir regularly. You should have only 25% of the original volume of onions at this point.
4. Add the balsamic vinegar, increase the heat and reduce until nice and sticky. Stir regularly.
5. Add the port and reduce until nice and sticky. Stir regularly.
6. Allow to cool until you are ready to use the marmalade.

For the Tart:

350g short pastry

Flour for dusting

Blind-baking beans (I use rice)

Red onion marmalade

100g blue cheese (I used a delicious British cheese called ‘Blacksticks Blue’)

2 large eggs

150ml single cream

Salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 165C.
2. Roll out the pastry on a well-floured bench.
3. Roll the floured pastry around the rolling pin and unroll onto a lightly greased flan tin.
4. Give the pastry lots of slack as it will have stretched during rolling. Make sure the pastry is pressed into the corners of the flan tin.
5. Trim the edges of the pastry but leave around 1cm of excess around the edges. This can be trimmed after cooking.
6. Cover the pastry base with cling film and rice or baking beans. Blind bake the pastry for around 10 minutes, remove the beans or rice and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes until base is set and lightly golden.
7. Cover the base of the pastry with onion marmalade – you may not need all of it. Keep the rest to serve with your favourite pate.
8. Dot the cheese randomly over the onions.
9. Mix the eggs and cream and season with salt and pepper.
10. Pour the egg mix over the onion and cheese.
11. Bake for around 20 minutes or until egg is set and golden.
12. Allow to rest for at least 15 minutes before serving.

The origins of this simple Sicilian staple take us back to around 1000A.D, when the Kalbids ruled Sicily as a Shia Muslim dynasty. At this time Sicily was an important island economically, being the gateway to Europe for Northern Africa, and it was during this period that the muslims introduced lemons, Seville oranges and sugar cane.

Resembling an orange, both in colour and shape, arancine or arancini are distinctly Sicilian. Arancia is Italian for orange with arancici being Italian for little orange. There are other versions such as the supli from Rome which is also made from rice with a filling of mozzarella and tomato sauce and then crumbed and fried. In some parts of Sicily arancine are often cone-shaped.

To keep it simple, we make a slightly undercooked risotto and put a tasty filling in the centre. After that we crumb it and deep-fry. The filling can be practically anything you want. The classics include flavours such as ragu (bolognaise sauce to us plebs), mozzarella and basil or even sauteed wild mushrooms.

1 medium onion or 2 shallots – finely diced

2 Tablespoons olive oil

250g Arborio, carnaroli or vialone nano rice

250ml white wine

350ml chicken or vegetable stock

40g freshly grated parmesan cheeseSalt and pepper to taste

75g ham – shredded

100g buffalo mozzarella – chopped

10g fresh basil – shredded

2 Cups flour

2 eggs

200ml milk

250g breadcrumbs

1. Heat the oil in a wide-bottom pan over a low heat.
2. Add the diced onion and sweat gently without colour, stirring regularly, for around 5 minutes or until onions are soft and starting to sweeten.
3. Add the rice and sauté gently for 1 minute.
4. Add the wine and stir until absorbed.
5. Add the stock and continue stirring over a low until absorbed.
6. Remove from the heat and add the parmesan cheese.
7. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
8. Leave to cool.
9. Mix the ham, mozzarella and basil.
10. Flatten the cooled rice in the palm of one hand.
11. Put 1 tablespoon of the filling in the centre of the rice and form the rice around the filling. Mould the rice into nice ball.
12. Mix the egg and milk.
13. Roll the rice in the flour, then dip into the egg mix, then roll in the breadcrumbs.
14. Deep-fry in hot oil (around 180°C) until nice and golden. Test the core temperature by inserting a sharp knife. If the arancine is not hot to the core, finish in a hot oven.

Whenever I go back to New Zealand one of the first things I do is buy a pie. Not Mrs Macs or even a BP Zip pie. It has to be a pie from the local baker, where mum’s and workmen indulge in an everyday treat.

With Kiwis consuming an average fifteen pies per year (I make every effort to cram my quota into the 3 weeks I’m in NZ!) we know a good pie. In London you are more likely to eat a Cornish pastie than a meat pie as us Kiwis and Aussies know them but we are lucky to have some antipodean alternatives being Jumbucks in Shepherd’s Bush and Square Pie. One of the classic London dishes is ‘pie, mash and liquor’ (along with ‘jellied eels’) but it can be a bit hit and miss – I’ve had a few really good ones and one particularly terrible one from a ‘traditional’ pie shop in the East End.

Fear not, humble expat (and those back home). My mates in London enjoy a good pie, so here’s my recipe.

Enjoy!

This recipe will make as many pies as you like dependant, of course, on your mould. If you use a shallow muffin tin you will get heaps of mini pies, great for parties. You may be lucky enough to have some proper pie moulds – you should get at least 6. I used tin takeaway containers from my local catering supply store since they didn’t have real tins and I got 5 big ones from this recipe. You can also store them in the freezer in these containers. It may look a little daunting but it’s pretty easy – make the filling (a day in advance is a good idea) then make the pie. Sweet as!

Mince and Cheese Pies

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 medium onions

200g carrot

2 sticks celery

1 kg minced meat – beef, lamb, venison…your choice

2 bayleaves

1½ Tbsp tomato paste

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

500ml beef or lamb stock

1 cup frozen peas

2 Tbsp plain flour

Salt and pepper

Some yummy cheese

500g short pastry

500g puff pastry

1 egg and a dash of milk for the eggwash

1. Dice the onions, carrot and celery.
2. Heat the oil in a heavy-based pot.
3. Add the onions, carrot and celery and sauté over a medium-high heat until lightly golden.
4. Add the mince and break up with a wooden spoon. Stir until browned and broken up nice and small.
5. Add the bayleaves, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and stock.
6. Mix well, reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cook for around one hour or so, stirring regularly until tender.
7. Add the peas and sprinkle the flour over the top of the sauce, mixing well.
8. Continue cooking a further 10 minutes until thickened.
9. Taste and season with the salt and pepper.
10. To assemble the pie, make sure the filling has cooled to room temperature.
11. Lightly grease your moulds.
12. Roll out your short pastry on a floured surface (after sprinkling with a bit more flour so the rolling pin doesn’t stick) and cut out slightly larger than your moulds, so you can line the interior right up the sides.
13. Put your filling in but don’t fill it completely. You need space for the cheese!
14. Top with a slice of cheese (Monteray Jack is nice, or maybe a bit of Port Salut).
15. Roll out the puff pastry the same way as the short pastry and cut out to fit the top of your pie.
16. Brush the edges of your top with eggwash and place egg-down over the pie.
17. Seal the edges with a fork dipped in flour (so it doesn’t stick) and trim with a knife.
18. Brush the pie top with eggwash, poke a few hole in the top with a knife to let the steam out when they cook.
19. Cook at 180 degrees celsius for around 20-40 minutes, depending on the size.
20. Eat.

Ever bought a shiny new pasta machine with all the intentions of making your own fresh pasta every week, only to have it sit in a cupboard gathering dust?

Ham & Mozzarella Raviolono, Saffron Broth & Rocket

Fear not! You are not alone. I too have a pasta machine that sees the light of day only once a month at the most but it is nonetheless a task that I get a great deal of enjoyment from. The hardest part is, fortunately, taken care of at the start – making the dough. The rest is pure pleasure. Once the dough is made, you can wrap it in cling-film and leave it in the fridge until you need to roll it, though not longer than a day or 2 – fresh is best. You can also make your filling in advance, whether it be ricotta, spinach & nutmeg, roasted pumpkin & pinenut, or (my favourite) truffled corn-fed chicken.

Raviolo (meaning one; ‘ravioli’ is the plural) are one of the most popular pasta dishes in the world and there are countless varieties which originated from all over the northern part of Italy, as well as new variations being created in kitchens worldwide. ‘Raviolini‘ are the smallest and are best served ‘in brodo’ (in broth) or in a light tomato sauce. ‘Ravioloni’ are the largest and traditionally come dressed in melted butter, sage and freshly grated grana padano.

Making Ravioli

We begin by making the dough. The finished dough can be stored wrapped in clingfilm in the fridge until needed. Just let it come up to room temperature before rolling. The other main component we need is the filling. This is best kept relatively simple.

The Dough

200g ’00′ flour
2 large eggs
a pinch of salt

In a large bowl or on a bench, mix the flour and salt. Add the egg and mix well until combined. Knead the dough until it holds together well. You may need to add a splash of water or flour if the consistency is to dry/wet but bear in mind that the dough should be very firm, not sticky to the touch and does take a bit of hard work to knead to this point. If you have a bench-top mixer, you can use this to make your dough – much easier!

Filling ideas:

- Blanch some spinach in boiling water for 15 seconds to wilt then plunge into very cold water. Once chilled, drain and squeeze the water out. Chop and mix with some ricotta, an egg yolk, grated parmesan, freshly grated nutmeg, salt and pepper.

- Sweat some diced onion or shallot until sweet and soft. Allow to cool. Put in a blender with some diced, raw chicken. Blend until smooth, blend in an egg white and a dash of cream. Season and add a touch of white truffle oil or some freshly chopped herbs.

- Roast some diced pumpkin. Mash and mix with grated grana padano, some sweated onion and garlic and a little sage. Toast some pinenuts and add to the mixture. Season.

- If you have some meat stew left over from another meal, let it cool down and dice it quite fine. It makes a delicious, rich filling.

- Dice some ham with some buffalo mozzarella. Add grated grana padano, an egg yolk and season.

- Sweat some wild mushrooms with shallots and garlic. Add a dash of white wine and reduce. Add a dash of cream (just enough to bind it) and also reduce. Season and allow to cool.

The fillings are only restricted by your imagination. Some will work better than others and will go with cream sauces, fresh sauces (such as tomato) or broths better than others. If you keep the flavours simple I am sure you will have great success!

Rolling Your Dough

Start by clamping your pasta machine to the right-hand side of a long bench. You will need lots of room at the left of the machine for the pasta to be laid on. Lightly dust the bench with a little flour. Flatten your dough by hand or rolling pin to 5-8mm thick. Lightly dust with flour and dust off the excess with a dry pastry brush. With the machine on its widest setting, feed the dough through. Repeat again on the next smaller setting, continuing until you get to the third thinnest setting.

At this early stage, your pasta is not likely to be very smooth. To obtain the smooth texture and to strengthen the pasta, we need to fold it. Laying the pasta on a bench, fold one side to the line 1/3 away from the opposite end, then fold the other end over so you end up with 3 layers of dough 1/3 their original size. Return the machine setting to the thickest setting and repeat the whole sequence 2 more times until you have a silky-smooth sheet of dough. Continue rolling the dough thinner until you reach the thinnest setting. You should be able to faintly see your hand through the dough.

The next stage is to add the fillings. Brush half of the sheet with eggwash (egg and milk), place your fillings on the dough evenly-spaced apart and lay the other half of the dough over them. Most importantly, press any air out of each ravioli. If you don’t do this, the air will expand on cooking which could explode your ravioli filling all through your cooking water.

The final stage in the making of your ravioli is to cut them out. Firstly, I recommend sealing the filling in by pressing a cup or rounded edge of an upside-down pastry-cutter around the filling. Then all you need to do is cut out your ravioli. Easy!

Tips

- Always keep your bench and pasta dough very lightly floured. Brush off any excess flour from the pasta with a dry pastry brush.

- Don’t start rolling your pasta until your filling is made and ready to use.

- KEEP YOUR PASTA MACHINE DRY!!! This means NOT cleaning it in hot soapy water. Simply brush it with your pastry brush after use. Once it gets wet, it will never stop squeaking!

- Don’t let your dough dry out. Work quickly.

- If not using your ravioli immediately, store in a tray with fine semolina underneath and on top. This will absorb any excess moisture and keep them separated.

- Use your ravioli on the day you make them. They dry out overnight and don’t cook as well.

- Cook in LOTS of boiling, salted water. The quantities required rely on the rule of 10′s. For 100g pasta, use 1 litre water and 10g salt. The more water the better so your pasta doesn’t stick.

- Try using the dough for lasagne sheets. It works great! Or cut out squares and cook in water. Serve layered with a bit of bolognaise sauce (sauce ragu) as ‘handkerchief’ pasta.