Roast Beetroot & Blue Cheese Salad
22 September 2011

Serves: 2
Preparation time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 medium carrots (peeled)
  • 2  whole beetroot
  • 20ml red wine vinegar
  • 20g caster sugar
  • sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 2tbsp Unit extra virgin olive oil
  • 100g blue cheese
  • 1 tsp grated ginger

Instructions

Bring a pot of boiling salted water to the boil and gently simmer the carrots until just cooked.
Roast the beetroots with their skin on in a medium oven for about 40 minutes or until they are soft enough to skewer with ease.

Allow to cool then peel and cut into wedges. In a bowl, mix the beetroot and carrots.
Dress the vegetables with extra virgin olive oil and about 1/3 the amount of red wine vinegar.
Season with the salt and pepper, then add the blue cheese and grated ginger.
Gently mix to ensure the vinegar and oil coat all ingredients.

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Five minute fish
17 September 2011

Serves: 4
Preparation time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 shallots, trimmed, pale section thinly sliced diagonally, green section cut into thin strips
  • 4 white fish fillets
  • 4cm-piece fresh ginger, cut into thin strips
  • 1 tbs soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sesame oil

Instructions

Preheat oven to 200°C. Place shallot strips in a bowl of iced water in the fridge for 15 minutes. Drain.
 
Meanwhile, cut four 40cm squares of baking paper and four 40cm squares of foil.
 
Place 1 paper square on top of 1 foil square. Top with 1 fish fillet. Repeat with remaining paper, foil and fish.
 
Divide the sliced shallot, ginger, soy sauce and oil among fish. Fold up to enclose filling.
 
Bake in 2 baking trays for 15 minutes or until just cooked through.
 
Open the parcels, serve with rice. 

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Japanese daikon beef salad
17 September 2011

Serves: 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 700g-piece lean beef eye fillet, trimmed of excess fat and sinew
  • 2 tbs mirin
  • 1 tbs dark soy sauce
  • 1 small daikon (400g), peeled, shaved into ribbons using a vegetable peeler
  • 1 Lebanese cucumber, halved lengthways, thickly sliced on the diagonal
  • 2/3 cup mint leaves
  • 2 cups mizuna or wild rocket leaves
Japanese dressing
  • 2 tbs light soy sauce
  • 2 tbs rice vinegar
  • 1 tsp mirin*
  • 1 tsp sesame oil

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Halve the beef fillet lengthways, pierce all over with a knife and place in a bowl. Add the mirin and dark soy sauce, and turn to coat.
 
Place beef on a rack over a roasting pan and roast for 18-20 minutes for rare or until cooked to your liking. Remove from oven and set aside for 5 minutes to rest.
 
Meanwhile, for the dressing, place all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.
 
Divide daikon among plates. Thinly slice beef and place in a bowl with cucumber, mint and mizuna or rocket. Add dressing, reserving some to drizzle, and toss.
 
Top daikon with beef salad and drizzle with extra dressing.

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Apple and Mango Crumble with Cranberries
09 September 2011

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • The base
  • 1 mango, peeled and diced
  • 5 Apples, peeled and diced, enough to fill the baking dish
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp Chinese five spice powder (optional)
  • 1 tbsp flour
  • For the topping
  • •1/4 cup butter
  • •1/2 cup brown sugar
  • •1/2 cup flour
  • Lemon whipped cream
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1/2 pint heavy whipping cream, cold.

 Instructions

The base
Toss the apples and mango with the other ingredients except flour, and pack tightly in a 2" deep buttered pie dish. Bake at 180 degrees for 30 minutes.

Stir the fruit, and check for sweetness and juice. If the mango is not very ripe, it will require longer baking.

Sprinkle the fruit with the flour, and stir to thicken the juices. When both the mango and apple start to soften, prepare the topping.

The topping
Blend the brown sugar with the butter. Add the flour to the mixture and sprinkle on top of the fruit. The topping will be crumbly. Bake an additional 30 minutes, or until the topping is browned. Serve with lemon whipped cream.

The cream
Stir the sugar and lemon together, heat in a pan to dissolve sugar. Refrigerate until cool. Whip the cream until peaks form, and slowly whip the lemon sugar mixture into the cream. Refrigerate until needed.

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Cured flounder with Spanish onion
09 September 2011

Serves: 4-6
Preparation time: 15 minutes (24hrs curing)

Ingredients

  • 4 flounder or sole fillets
  • 2 tablespoons Lemon Juice
  • 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons Salt
  • 2 teaspoons Sugar
  • 1 small Spanish Onion
  • ¼ teaspoon Cayenne pepper
  • 2 ripe Tomatoes blanched
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Parsley
  • cracked Black pepper

Instructions

Lay fish flat down in a bowl as evenly as possible.
 
Into a second bowl add lemon juice, white wine vinegar, salt and sugar.
 
Slice onion into rings – not too thick.
 
Add onion to marinade and leave for a few minutes.
 
Sprinkle fish with cayenne pepper then lay onions over fish.
 
Slice tomatoes.
 
Dip them in marinade and place them on top, pour liquid over fish then cover.
 
Refrigerate for 24 hours.
 
Remove from fridge at least an hour beore serving to allow flavours to come out.
 
To serve, place two fillets with some onion and tomato on a plate, and finish with chopped parsley, oil, salt and pepper.
 
Great served with some crusty bread.

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