I'm like a baracuda with ADHD

Yes, I KNOW I said I was on a Middle Eastern thang, but seriously,sometimes all someone has to do is wave something bright and shiny in front of me and KAPOW.... my tangential brain skewers off in a random and new direction.

Middle East Mindy cooking which WAS on the hob for dinner last night, got put on the..err... back burner because the very delicious Jules from Stone Soup and the equally moorish Kathryn from Limes & Lycopene tempted me via a random tweet.

I intercepted a tweet about salt and vinegar potatoes. Not chips, potatoes.

Now my love for all things crunchy and salty and starchy is well known. But add vinegar into the mix and you had me at white/malt/apple/cider.

I was one of those weird kids who drank vinegar out of the bottle. One of my favorite smells is a slow boiling pot of balsamic vinegar, with maybe a star anise and a cinnamon quill.

So, as much as I was planning practicing my Mandi smoking technique, I had no option but to be culinarily kidnapped by these two enablers and just HAD to try the recipe.

Please note, my camera in in transit, on its way to Dubai, as we speak, so this is an old stock photo. But last night's end result was almost identical to the header pic for this post. But the smell, oh god.. the glorious, GLORIOUS SMELL! Go out and buy a packet of Kettle Chip Slow Cooked Sea Salt and Balsamic Vinegar Chips. Sit in front of this post, open on your computer. Close your eyes. Put the bag of chips close to your face. Open the packet, stick your schnozz in the bag, inhale deeply and open your eyes.

THAT"S what they tasted like.

Cut 8 waxy potatoes into slices. I used tiny Dutch Creams, almost chat size, and cut them not into slices, but into chucks.

Place them in a medium saucepan and cover fully with vinegar. I used a small bottle of white wine vinegar and some mirin to add a touch of sweetness.

Bring to the boil and cook for 5 mins, until JUST fork-tender.

Allow to cool in the vinegar.

Remove from liquid and dry on a clean tea towel.

Place in a single layer in a baking dish, liberally dotted with duck fat.

Place in a hot over (200c) and cook for 5 mins until the duck fat has melted. Toss potatoes until covered in duck fat.. you want them nice and glossy. Sprinkle liberally with flaky salt and fresh pepper. Return to oven and cook for a further 20 mins, shaking the pan frequently.

Potatoes should be nicely browned all over, with luscious crunchy bottoms.

Serve with a roasted free range chook with a handful of thyme and an orange up its bum.

A few of my favourite things... #1

Potatoes roasted in duck fat.

Mezze recipes

Dolmades:

Ingredients:
1 packet grape leaves
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 onion (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
750g lean ground beef (or lamb)
1/2 cup Arborio rice
1/4 cup tomato puree
1/2 cup feta (crumbled)
1 lemon (zest)
1 bunch of green onions (sliced)
1/4 cup dill (chopped)
1/4 cup mint (chopped)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
* chicken stock
2 eggs
1 lemon (juice)

Directions:
1. Separate the grape leaves and place them in a large bowl.
2. Cover the grape leaves in boiling water and let soak for 20 minutes.
3. Drain the water and rinse the leaves a few times.
4. Heat the oil in a pan.
5. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
6. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
7. Mix the onions, garlic, ground beef, rice, tomato puree, feta, lemon zest, green onions, dill, mint salt and pepper in a large bowl.
8. Place a grape leaf on a flat surface with the vein side up.
9. Place a tablespoon of filling in the middle of the leaf and fold the sides over the filling and roll the leaf up. Repeat until all of the filling is used up.
10. Place stuffed grape leaves into a baking dish in layers and just cover with chicken stock.
11. Bake in a175C oven for about 1 hour.
12. Whisk the eggs in bowl over a small pan of simmering water until frothy, about 3 minutes.
13. Slowly pour in the lemon juice while whisking.
14. Add some of the liquid from the baking dish and continue whisking until it thickens.
15. Mix most of the avgolemeno sauce into the dish with the dolmades reserving some for garnish.
16. Serve the dolmades garnished with the reserved avgolemeno sauce and some chopped dill and or mint.

(Courtesy of my old mate, Dimple Dots, in Canadia (sic))

Pide recipe:

Mix 250g of Self Raising flour and 200g of natural yoghurt. knead until elastic. Place in a bowl, cover and allow to sit for 30 mins.

Divide into rounds, roll out until 3-4mm thick and dry fry in a cast iron pan, or on a BBQ grill.

Ginger glazed shallots:

500g shallots, peeled and left whole.

Bring a pot of water to the boil, Turn off as soon as it hits boiling point and throw your shallots in. Leave for 4-5 mins, drain and run under cold water to refresh. Allow to drain well.

In a wok, bring 4 tablespoons of sunflower oil to smoking point. Add the shallots, Fry for 3 mins, or until golden.

Add a grated 2inch knob of ginger and 4 tablespoons of honey. Continue tossing in wok for another minute or so, until shallots are glazed with thickened mixture.

Allow to cool to room temp before serving.


Roasted Lemon Potatoes:

8 med Coliban potatoes (approx) halved
I cup water
Half cup olive oil
Half cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbs oregano
Salt and pepper to flavour

(I also add a clove of garlic, minced and some paprika for colour)

Preheat oven to 220c
Add all ingredients to potatoes and mix well
Bake approx 45-50 min (turn potatoes over half way through)
Add more water if needed

A cold snap...

We're nearly at the end of Winter, but an unseasonable cold snap here in Melbourne, has had me reaching for some old faves, and this Sunday past, after a jaunt to Gippsland, I felt like some old fashioned bangers and tatties.

Of course, while packing for said jaunt, I forgot the camera, but what we came home with was a Jindi brie full wheel for $21!!

The stuff they sell at Slaveway for $41,639.72 a gm, was a whole $21 a FULL ROUND!

In Rosedale, I picked up Maffra Red Cheese with Dargo walnuts, Maffra extra tasty with lemon myrtle and some local olive oil and some local white wine vinegar. Furry talked me out of the Tetsuya's truffle salt at $36 for 50g.



Into my $500 post (called so because Furry found it while we were cleaning out a friend's father's house, after he was placed in a Nursing Home, and we found $500 secreted away in it!), I put my sliced Thorpdale potatoes,some yellow capsicums from this weeks Aussie Farmer's delivery, some grated Maffra tasty, some red onions from the Yarragon Farmer's Market, mixed with sour cream, some milk and 4 eggs. I covered the top with dots of butter and some Burramine Blue, the cheese that won the DIAA Victorian Dairy Product Silver medal this year, that I picked aup at the Jells Park Farmer's market.




I like to slow cook my bangers. I got these from my local butcher.. Beef and Burgundy snags, made on the premises, from Cardinia beef. I am blessed to have a cast-iron pan, that I have used religiously for the past 23 years, and it is perfectly seasoned. A quick spray with some Canola oil, and I whack the bangers in and set the gas ring to the lowest setting. Every so often I give the pan a shake, so the bangers don't stick and voila! about 35-40 min later, perfectly browned snags! Serve with the baked tattie dish, and a good hearty red, and all is right with the world, on a cold Sunday night!

Brudda from anudder Muddah?

I know women who work together can be "in sinc", but bloggers??
Twice this past week, I have been thinking about recipes, only to find that the delightful
g o b b l e r has been there before me.

Firstly with his treatise on the humble, yet amazing Quince (of which I dreamed about last night) and then again with his recipe for Gratin Dauphinoise. Even his suggestions of paring it with a rib eye steak was a little freaky.

I'd guess it is because both gobbler and I both proudly and loudly advocate eating fresh IN SEASON local produce, so the chances of us both blogging about the same ingredients are not too bad.

But twice in a week??

I'd like to thing that the Universal Energy that binds (and sometimes blinds) all food bloggers has been working its majik through us.

Here's the recipe for the Gratin Dauphinoise. As for my steak, I took them out of their cryovac bags, and removed the weird little bone condoms (What the hell ARE those things, BTW?) and let them come to room temp.

My tips on the perfectly cooked steak can be found here.

I seared all sides in a cast iron pan, setting off the smoke alarms, and then because they were so incredibly thick, I whacked the in the oven next to the Gratin Dauphinoise. Furry's for 10 minutes, and mine for 5.

They were perfect!!

2008 is the Year Of The Potato (apparently), and this dish is unbelievably easy and fabulous for these cooooool Autumn nights.

Enjoy!

Bah.. Just realised that I have left my camera uploady cord thingy at home. Pics later today.