Say Cheese…..

In today’s digital world, do people still remember to say “cheese” just before the flash goes off?  With analogue/film cameras , we only had one shot at getting the picture right, so, “cheese” was said, to ensure everyone struck the right pose that perfectly captured the moment for posterity.

 Saying cheese is about capturing the moment before change occurs… we all know that life is about change.

Say “Cheese” ….. Erebi’s cheese platter and knives

 There’s so much change occurring each with its own ‘say cheese” moments…. most noticeable are my dear sister’s new additions to her life (I pray for abundant blessings, joy and laughter), the friends who’ve recently moved away from Perth (to Brisbane, Qatar, etc), the one who recently got married ( but chose not to give me the details), ……….

For every one of these people, I can only advice them like Haw did in “Who Moved My Cheese?” by Spencer Johnson:

• They Keep Moving The Cheese (Change Happens)
• Get Ready For The Cheese To Move (Anticipate Change)
• Smell The Cheese Often So You Know When It Is Getting Old (Monitor Change)
• The Quicker You Let Go Of Old Cheese, The Sooner You Can Enjoy New Cheese (Adapt To Change Quickly)
• Move With The Cheese (Change)
• Savor The Adventure And Enjoy The Taste Of New Cheese! (Enjoy Change!)
• They Keep Moving The Cheese (Be Ready To Change Quickly And Enjoy It Again)

 If you get the chance, you should read “Who Moved My Cheese?” by Spencer Johnson. It aptly captures the need to expect and adapt to change.

 Here are two of my cheese dishes:

Brie in Proscuitto Parcels

I made these brie in proscuitto parcels tied with chive “strings” as an entree on my friend’s last night in Perth before heading for her new life in Brisbane.

Fried Camembert

Nothing tastes quite like fried camembert with a scoop of simple vanilla ice cream and apricot conserve…….decadently creamy….

To Autumn…

How quickly the seasons go by! Autumn in Perth ends in May, so I keep reminding myself to make the most of the warm sunny days and cool nights.

John Keats’ poem “To Autumn” describes the key aspects of the season…the fruitfulness and labour that heralds winter:

“Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;

To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.” —- John Keats, 1820

 With autumn comes the urge for casseroles. I made this Lamb and Apricot casserole

 

Lamb and Apricot Casserole

Lamb and Apricot Casserole
¼ cup Peanut oil
6 Lamb Chops
1 Spanish Onion (diced)

6 Fresh Apricots (stoned & halved) or 500g Can Apricot Halves in syrup

1 tbsp Brown Sugar

1 tbsp Tomato Paste

¼ tsp all spice

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Rosemary
1 tbsp White Wine Vinegar
½ cup Vegetable stock

Salt & Pepper to taste

Ingredients for the lamb and apricot casserole

Method: Heat a casserole or French oven with the olive oil until hot. Brown the lamb chops to seal in the flavours.

Brown the lamb

Remove lamb from pan and set aside.

In the same pan, sauté onions and add all spice, tomato paste, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce and vinegar.

Sauteeing

Stirring over high heat, add stock. Allow to simmer for 3 minutes.

Add lamb chops and apricot followed by rosemary, salt and pepper.

Lamb and Apricot Casserole simmering

Stir, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes or until chops are tender.

Fresh in Freo Market

Fremantle is Perth’s port city. Most Western Australians refer to it as Freo, in the typical Australian way of creating diminutives for familiar words. A number of Australian food  diminutives come to mind, such as brekkie ( breakfast), sarnie (sandwich), bickies (biscuits), chook (chicken), barbie (barbeque), pressies (presents), ….

Back to Freo…..  there’s so much to see and do because it is a historic port city. I went to the markets.

Freo Markets

There’s a food section… The Kitchen Shed , where you get sauces, dips, preserves, beverages, etc.

The Kitchen Shed in Freo

Everything’s fresh in Freo….

Fresh veggies

Fresh Apples

Fresh Mandarins

Then there’s the baked goods as well….. I got some freshly made pretzels

Freshly made pretzels

and bread…

Fresh? Is it the bread or the collapsible bowl?

freshly ground coffee beans …..

Coffee beans

Freshly made sauces and dips

Fresh sauce in progress

Freshly made sauces and dips

Then there’s the lady in the corner stall making freshly ground spices and herbs

Freshly ground herbs and spices

on a different note, there are other “fresh” aspects to the Kitchen Shed at Freo markets…There’s a beautifully dressed lady selling fresh flowers…

Fresh flowers

and the fresh faced busker

Fresh music from a fresh faced busker

and finally, for those people who need a different kind of “freshness”…

A "Fresh" experience in Freo....

Perth, The Pinnacles and Pineapples

There’s really no real correlation between Perth, The Pinnacles and pineapples besides the fact that over the weekend, I made a day trip from Perth to the Pinnacles and made a lovely Pineapple with Caramelised Lime syrup.

Perth is the world’s most remote capital city. The weather is wonderful, beaches are beautiful, parklands pristine and people are laid back.  In the 3 years that I’ve been away, the city has become more cosmopolitan, thanks to the mining boom.

Perth Skyline ( from King's Park)

The Pinnacles is an made up of spire like outcrops, located in Nambung  National Park, about 400km north of Perth. It is the gateway to the outback.

The Pinnacles

Pineapples – I read somewhere that in the late 18^th century / early 19^th century, pineapples were associated with a prosperous voyage and symbolized warm welcome and hospitality.

Pineapple with Caramelised Lime Syrup

Pineapples with Caramelised Lime Syrup

Peel and core the pineapple

Peel, core and slice the pineapple

Slice pineapples into thin quarters and arrange on a plate.

Caramelise 3 tbsp. of sugar until dark brown (almost burnt) and stir in the juice of 1 lime.

Caramelise the sugar until dark brown.

Drizzle the syrup over the pineapple slices.

Grate the lime zest and sprinkle over the pineapple.

Grated lime zest

Be sure to choose a ripe pineapple. The texture of pineapples is complemented by the syrup and the tanginess of the lime balances the sweetness of the pineapple.

Fish Without a Bicycle

Last Thursday (8 March 2012) was International Women’s day. A day to celebrate the vital role women play in the economic security for their families, communities and countries. The day also recognizes that significant barriers still prevent women from achieving economic security.

Being a happily single woman, I am sick and tired of people trying to define my life by the men (or lack there of). Every conversation inevitably ends up there…. Everyone imagines that surely (???) I must be looking to be married and my life should be defined by the search for a partner (or victim???).

This brings to mind Gloria Steinem’s quote:

 “ A woman without a man, is like a fish without a bicycle”.

I fished out my fishiest photo.

Whole Bream Stuffed with Onion and Chilli

And some bicycles I saw on the waterfront in Paraty, Brazil.

I’ll put aside my feminist tendencies and focus on the women who have, against all odds gone on to ensure that the people they care for are fed and secure. I laud these women who are providers (economic and emotional) because statistics have shown that a number of these women are single women who have been let down by the men in their lives.

Remember, when you feed a woman, you feed a nation.

Go Figure

This Sunday’s culinary activity was centered around fresh figs. Pure coincidence but there is some symbolism about figs on Sunday …. Figs were mentioned several times in the bible. It symbolizes wealth, prosperity, fruitfulness and abundance. For instance, Fig production was a sign of wealth and accomplishment during King Solomon’s reign.

Figs were one of the fruits produced in the Promised Land; “It’s a land of wheat and barley, of vines and figs and pomegranates, of olives, oil, and honey. It’s land where you’ll never go hungry—always food on the table and a roof over your head” — Deuteronomy 8: 6-9

Fresh figs, what to do?  The first thing is to figure out what flavors complement figs. There’s the obvious, like cheese, prosciutto /ham, raspberries or sugar. Instead, I took a cur from the bible and figured out that my fresh figs would go well with something sweet and zesty i.e. honey and lemon liquor with some wheat i.e. a pastry base, so I made these Fresh Fig Tartlets.

 

Fresh Fig Tartlets

Fresh Fig Tartlet

12 mini tart cases

6 Fresh Figs

4 tbsp Honey

2 tbsp Lemon Liquor (e.g. Limoncello)

1 Vanilla Pod

Juice of half a Lemon

200ml Crème Fraiche

2 tbsp Caster Sugar

 

Method:

Make sweet short crust pastry and use a fluted pastry cutter to cut out small rounds, slightly bigger than the holes in your tin….. or if you’re like me, you ‘ll bring your store bought sweet pastry cases to room temperature. http://www.pampas.com.au/products/products.php?cat_id=5

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C . Bake the tartlet caese for 10-15mins and allow to cool.

Bake tartlet caes blind

Cut each fig into quarters and place in a bowl.

Figs ... quartered.

In a small bowl, combine honey, limoncello, half the scraped seeds from the vanilla pod, and lemon juice.

Honey, Limoncello, ..........

Drizzle the honey mixture over the figs, making sure that all the figs are covered with the liquid. Allow to macerate for about 10 mins.

Macerated figs

Using a tong to carefully pick each fig, arrange three figs on each pastry case.

Fresh figs on a tartlet

Whisk the crème fraiche, sugar and remaining scraped vanilla seeds in a bowl.

Whisked creme fraiche

{Aside: I like using Bulla Crème Fraiche (http://bullafoodservice.com.au/chilled-range/creme-fraiche.html) because the specifically say it can be “dolloped”.  Obviously, they know what they are talking about…. Dollopable crème is welcome in my kitchen anytime.}

Spoon a dollop of the crème fraiche on each fig tartlet and serve.

Talking without speaking

It may come as a surprise to you that our food talks to us without speaking… we just need to sit still and listen. When we listen to our food, we know what combinations of ingredients are in tune with each other and what cooking techniques work best; hence we are better able to create beautiful dishes.

I know I sound like I’m losing my mind but wait, let me explain…

Each dish we create is made up of some key characteristics by which we can immediately define it:

Texture and Mouth Feel – such as coarse, smooth, soft, hard, brittle, crunchy, crispy, etc can be felt with our fingers, tongue and teeth. Mouth feel goes further to tell us more about the food when we eat it such as moisture release, heaviness, richness, creaminess, etc.

Taste and Aroma – Sweet, sour, salty or bitter

Perception (visual, emotional, and mental). -

I believe our food speaks to through these media. As with regular speech, our food speaks to us at different volumes/pitches as well. For instance, I would describe pears as quiet while peppers are loud.

There are sounds to food silence…. Shhhhh…. Listen….

Camembert with bread and fruit

Soft texture of the camembert goes well with the crusty bread. The acidic sweetness of the grapes contrast the creaminess of the cheese and the water melon balances it all out nicely.   This dish is saying ” come and be sated”…. The volume is moderate.

Tomato with mozzarella and basil canape

Now this dish brings together the tomato’s sweet taste and medium volume with the basil’s light liveliness and moderate volume. The basil changes what the tomato is saying without contrasting it. This is completed by the coolness of the mazzarella.

Peaches

Peaches (and most other stone fruit like mangoes and nectarines) are easy to understand. Besides their aroma, they are sweet  with a moderate volume. It is easy to complement with creamy acidity ( e.g. creme fraiche) or rich round flavours like vanilla or honey.

My challenge for 2012 is to develop the ability to capture what a dish is saying through photography…. My new concept is Food Narrative…..Wish me luck