Dory in Butter and Parsley Sauce

Posted on October 9, 2011 by DemeterG

John Dory is sometimes a little hard to find here, but well worth grabbing when you spot it. This basic sauce is just perfect for this fish but any white flesh fish can be used. I served it with new Pink Eye potatoes and snow peas.

This recipe is from Pete Evans, we have three of his cookbooks now and I have favourite recipes from each of them.

Ingredients:  serves 2

plain (all-purpose) flour for coating

Salt & Pepper for seasoning
2 x Dory fillets
50g butter
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
juice of ½ lemon
lemon wedges to serve

Method:

Put the flour in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Lightly coat the fish in the seasoned flour.

Heat fry pan to meduim and cook the fish for about 2 minutes on each side. Remove the fish and keep warm

Turn the heat up to high and add the butter and cook on high heat for a few minutes, until it just starts to brown. Immediately add the parsley (be careful as it will pop and spit). Allow the butter to colour further for a minute or so. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and allow the butter to foam. Spoon the butter sauce over the fish (and new potatoes) and serve with lemon wedges.

Posted in Quick Week-night Cook, Recipes, Seafood | 2 Comments

Smoked Chicken Fettuccine

Posted on October 3, 2011 by DemeterG

This was my first attempt (in a  very long time) at making pasta. The sauce recipe was one I basically made up from scratch and was absolutely delicious…. if I don’t say so myself 🙂

Serves 3

 

Ingredients:

2 serves of basic pasta fettuccine
250g smoked chicken, sliced
75g diced bacon
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 shallots, finely chopped
½ red capsicum, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 large handful baby spinach leaves
100ml cream
pinch Italian herbs
salt and pepper to taste
shaved Parmesan to serve

Method:

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, ready to cook the fettuccine.

While waiting for the water to boil, heat the oil in a frypan over medium to high heat. Cook the onion and garlic for a few moments until translucent, then add the bacon. Cook for 2 minutes or until starting to brown. Lower the heat to medium and add the capsicum.

Once the vegetables are softened, add the chicken until it has warmed through. Add the spinach and turn the heat down to medium low and let the spinach wilt while you cook the pasta.

Add the fettuccini to the boiling water and cook until al dente, stirring gently as fresh pasta is more fragile than store bought pasta.

Add the cream to the sauce, along with the herbs and salt and pepper to taste.

Drain the pasta and stir gently through the sauce. Serve with shaved parmesan.

Posted in Chicken, Favourite Recipe, Pasta, Quick Week-night Cook, Recipes | Leave a comment

Duck Ragu with Rag Pasta

Posted on October 1, 2011 by DemeterG

I love a good ragu, and as I was having a play making some homemade pasta, I couldn’t resist giving this recipe a go. Although it took over three hours from start to finish, it was well worth the effort. This recipe comes from Matt Moran in the MasterChef Magazine Issue 13. You can find the original recipe there, I changed it a little due to the availability of the cut of meat and the number of serves. I used Duck breast with skin on (found at Coles) instead of the recommended duck marylands and changed a few little things in the preparation. Also, I am not usually a big fan of olives, but in this case they went beautifully with the ragu, so give them a go.

Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 30 minutes (plus extra if making pasta by hand)
Cooking Time: 2 hours

 

Ingredients: 

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra to serve
2 duck breasts
50g hot pancetta, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 onion, finely chopped
1 small stalk celery grated
1 small carrot grated
1 cup red wine
1 cup chicken stock
1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1 cinnamon quill
1 star anise
40g Sicilian green olives, flesh sliced from pits and chopped
2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
Egg Yolk rag pasta or torn fresh lasagna sheets, to serve

Method:

Heat the oil in a casserole over medium to high heat. Cook the duck, skin side down, for 8 minutes or until dark golden. Turn over and cook for another 2 minutes or until light golden. Remove the duck and drain all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan.

Heat the pan over medium heat. Add the pancetta, garlic, onions and vegetables. Sit for 8 minutes or until vegetables are softened. Return duck to the pan and add the wine, stock, tomatoes, herbs and spices. Bring to the boil, cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 1 ¼ hours, or until the duck is tender.

Using a slotted spoon or tongs, remove the duck breast and set aside until it is cool enough to handle. Meanwhile, bring the sauce back to a boil and cook for a further 10 minutes or until it has thickened slightly. Finely shred the duck meat, discarding the skin (and any bones if using a different cut). Stir meat, olives and parsley into the sauce.

To serve, toss pasta with extra oil. Divide among bowls with the duck ragu.

Posted in Duck, Italian, Recipes | Leave a comment

Pasta – Homemade

Posted on September 25, 2011 by DemeterG

I made two types of homemade pasts this week using two slightly different recipes.

First up was a basic pasta that I made into fettuccine and then an egg yolk pasta for the rag pasta that went with the duck ragu.

BASIC PASTA:

This recipe can be catered to any quantity as long as you keep the ratio of 1 egg to 100g flour.

Ingredients:  serves 3

200g OO flour
2 eggs

Method:

Place flour in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the eggs and using a fork, whisk lightly, bringing the flour into the centre until the dough comes together and the flour is combined. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 3 – 4 minutes or until the dough is smooth. Wrap in cling wrap and place int he fridge for 30 minutes to rest.

Divide the dough into 2 equal (approx. 150g) portions. Set the pasta machine to position 1 and pass one portion of dough through he machine. Repeat 6 times, folding the dough onto itself each time. Dust with extra flour if necessary.

Set the pasta machine to position 2 and pass the dough through once. Repeat on each setting until the machine has reached setting 5.

Depending on what you want to use the pasta for, either continue to pass through the machine while changing the setting until as thin as desired, or attach the desired cutting roller and pass the pasta sheets through.

Hang the cut pasta over a suspended wooden spoon for 30 – 60 minutes.

Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water for 3 – 5 minutes until al dente.

 

 

EGG YOLK PASTA:

Ingredients:  serves 2

100g OO flour
4 egg yolks
½ teaspoon olive oil
pinch salt

Method:

Process all ingredients in a food processor until the mixture resembles damp breadcrumbs. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 3 – 4 minutes or until smooth; the dough should feel quite smooth and neither dry nor wet.

Cut dough into two portions and wrap half in cling wrap to prevent it drying out. Follow the process above after dividing the dough.

I used this dough for rag pasta and ran it through the pasta machine until setting 8 and then cut the pasta into approximately 4cm squares. Drop into salted boiling water and cook for 1 – 2 minutes and then drain immediately.

Posted in Basics, Pasta, Recipes | Leave a comment

Busy week of cooking

Posted on September 25, 2011 by DemeterG

As promised I did cook up a storm this week….. I even remembered to photograph everything before I started eating. So stay tuned for;
Smoked Chicken Fettuccine
Haloumi Crumbed cutlets with Mango citrus salad
Dory in Parsley Butter Sauce
Duck Ragu with Rag pasta
Pear, Almond and Chocolate Puddings
Brandy Roast Chicken with Mushrooms and Pearl Barley
and a Malaysian Curry cooked by DB (Darling Boyfriend)

Phew….. what a week!

Posted in Ramblings | Leave a comment