I think all I can say is Winter = Pork Belly!!!

Braised Pork with Chillies

I love anything with pork belly in it. The good thing about it is if you give it a really good fry first, that will render out a lot of the fat, so I guess in a way it is a little healthy… who am I kidding? It just tastes good! 

Serves 4

Ingredients

1kg pork belly, cut into 5 x 8cm pieces
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Olive oil
Sea salt
5 dried long red chillies
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 bay leaves, fresh if available
1 piece orange rind

 Method

Melt the butter and a splash of oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Put the pork belly into the pan in a single layer and season with sea salt. Cook the pork slowly, for about 30 minutes, turning occasionally, until the meat is golden brown and most of the fat has been rendered. Pour off and discard most of the fat.

Meanwhile, put the chillies in a bowl with 500ml boiling water and allow to soak for about 30 minutes. Remove the chillies, reserving the water, and chop roughly. Blend or process the chillies, garlic, cumin and the chilli water until smooth.

Add the chilli sauce, bay leaves and orange rind to the pork and stir with a wooden spoon, scraping any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Reduce the heat to low, cover and braise the meat for about 1 ½ hours, or until it is very tender and the sauce has thickened. Remove the bay leaves and orange rind and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Divide the pork among four large bowls and serve with steamed jasmine rice.

From “Good Food” by Neil Perry, Murdoch Books

The Rocks Foodies Market occurs every Friday between 10am and 4pm on the corner of Argyle and George Streets, The Rocks. Each week it attracts people from all over the city who come down to shop and eat. Finding somewhere good to pick up lunch in this city is golden – and personally I hate food courts (except this one). With the risk of sounding a bit too negative, I’m starting to get over the term ‘foodie’ as well… does anyone else feel the same way?!!

So, lucky for us that the Rocks Foodies Market is just around the corner from us here at Rockpool and puts together a pretty darn good selection for lunch. I thought I’d give you a taste (pun intended) of what you get down here, and what you’re missing out on if you haven’t been…

10am and not much action at the markets. Don’t worry, this doesn’t last long…

Action Farm – great farm fresh produce

Hosanna Bonsai – something to spruce up your office a bit, perhaps?

Cool bonsai, I’ve never wanted one more… except after I saw Karate Kid for the first time…

Pukara Estate – for all your oil and vinegar needs. Their products are made up in the Hunter Valley so we like that.

Pureblends – fantastic range of spices and blends.

Turkish Ceramics. Nice plates… not sure if you would eat off them though. But still, nice plates…

Nuttyland. Ok, so perhaps we’re a tiny bit addicted to these.. But chilli cashews – c’mon, who wouldn’t eat be eating these by the handful!

Brasserie Bread – every type of bread you could imagine under one stall.

The Fine Food Store does a good barbecue, only $9 for a steak sanga? Bargain.

I think this is a creative use for a mug holder.. Besides a giant pretzel, the Lowenbrau also puts on a great bratwurst ‘hot dog’ with mustard and sauerkraut… yum!

Mini Monet Cupcakes – what is the fascination with mini cupcakes these days? Does it mean that you can have more of them, and have a sort of ‘cupcake degustation’? I can’t work this one out… They are delicious though!

Ok – this is what we’re really addicted to… Gozleme. Just about every chef and apprentice that walks through the door on Friday’s walks through with one of these little doozy’s in their hands. I know what you’re thinking – these guys are at every market nowadays, what’s so special about that? Well, there’s a good reason for their popularity - spinach and fetta, wrapped in dough and grilled until crisp and golden – what’s not to like.

And here is the crowd. Hungry office workers flood into the markets at lunch time. If you’re going out for Gozleme, you’d better be prepared to queue..

So if you work in Sydney city and haven’t tried the rocks markets out yet, you’re missing out on some good food. And good bonsai.

If you know about a great city lunch venue that you want to share, let us know!

Fiskebaren is the brainchild of Anders Selmer who previously worked under Rene Redzepi at Noma. It is all about the quality of the fish and shellfish, and I love it.

He has created a wonderfully relaxed restaurant in the old meat packing district where you can enjoy great seafood and wine. However don’t worry – you can still see the sea from the car park as well as flocks of seagulls, making the ‘fish restaurant’ seem to fit in fine.

The white tiles and exposed brickwork make for a clean palate. A wonderful centre bar bekcons for a very relaxed dinner, or sit at the many tables dotted throughout the restaurant. Water features and a circular fish tank give the room interest, as does the oyster shucking station at the end near the kitchen.

Fiskebaren provides the most superb seafood that Copenhagen has to offer.

We started with a loaf of light rye and some sweet butter; this came in very handy for mopping up the mussel juices later on.

Our starter of snow crab with celeriac was fresh and bursting with flavour, the delicate crab perfect with the light taste of the celery root.

White Burgundy was the perfect start to our dinner, the minerality of the wine was spot on with the crab and mussels.

Mussels cooked in cider with herbs and potato was so delicious, the sauce laced with the intense saltiness of the sea… a perfect dish to split between the two of us.

The famous fish and chips are fantastic. Slightly smoked haddock is breaded and deep fried, served with crisp chips and remoulade in rolled newspaper. The crisp fish was so succulent, the smokiness of the haddock pairing perfectly with the remoulade.

The skate wing was so perfectly cooked, with a little drawn butter and cooked lettuce. The low temperature cooking on this fish was perfect; a more moist and unctuous piece of fish you will not find.

The cheese names escape me (after our second bottle!), but they were all Danish and all bloody delicious. A perfect way to finish off our first night in Copenhagen.

This is the last instalment of the great photos taken by Khan and Catherine (RB&G Group Head Chef and Head Pastry Chef respectively) of their recent holiday in Italy.. Part three wraps up their trip by taking us to Rome where the indulgence continues!

If you missed them, you can check out part one, the Sorrentine Peninsula; and part two, Naples…

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And finally, to Roma…

Roma time is gelato time… anytime! Ciampini’schestnut gelato

Bar Alberto Pica – wild strawberry, rose and some cream. The rice and cinnamon gelato was eaten before we could get a photo of it!

One of three Caravaggio’s in the French church

Canapes at Enoteca al Parlamento.. a vast selection of wines, over 10,000 labels

The queue to the Vatican Museum was scary so some pizza a taglio with beer was in order

As one tray empties it is replaced by something even more enticing. Do you have it caldo or freddo? Caldo is good for the base, freddo is better for some of the toppings.. dilemma, confusion follow…

On the right: pizza – caldo. On the left: beer – freddo!

00100- the Roma postcode. Trappizzino are wedges of – I want to say foccacia but they aren’t really – filled with Roman classics such as Polpetti, oxtail, tripe..

And Chicken Cacciatore… Happiness, excuse me!

This is not Khan fishing on the Tiber..!

And then it was time to go home.

These are but a small selection of what we consumed.. Some things were consumed way to quickly to get a photo of, like the amazing ricotta tart from Zi Boccione in the Jewish Quarter in Rome, with its black crust and sweet soft ricotta and tangy cherry jam filling; or the piece with the specks of bitter dark chocolate through it instead of cherry. Or the pizza margarita at Da Michele in Naples, it would be hard to top that.

So, if you find yourself anywhere near any of these places we highly recommend you pop in for something to eat, as we hope that this is not the first and last time we have the pleasure of visiting these places.

Lo Scoglio www.hotelloscoglio.com

Lo Stuzzichino www.ristorantelostuzzichino.it

Don Alfonso www.donalfonso.com

La Torre, piazza Annunziata, 7 I – 80061 Santa Maria Annunziata

Le Zendraglie E Fiorezane Tripperia www.lezendraglie.it

Pasticceria Angelo Carbone, Largo Regina Coeli 4-5, Naples

Da Dora, Vie Ferdinando Palasciano 30, Naples

Da Michele, Via Cesare Sersale 1/3, Naples

Osteria di San Cesario www.osteriadisancesario.it

Ciampini www.ciampini.net

Bar Alberto Pica, via della Seggiola, Rome

Enoteca Al Parlamento www.enotecaalparlamento.it

Pizzarium www.gabrielebonci.com

00100 www.00100pizza.com

Zi Boccione, via del Portico d’Ottavia, 1, Rome

Big big big congratulations to Neil for winning the Maggie Beer Award for Outstanding Contribution to Australian Food last night at the delicious. 2011 Produce awards!!

“I was so excited last night to win the Maggie Beer award for outstanding contribution to Australian food.
It was an honour to be presented the award by Maggie, a living food legend, and in front of all my heroes – the producers. These are the people that have been the backbone of my restaurants of all these years.
My life’s work has been championing Australian producers so to me this was a special moment in my life…” – Neil

Now in their sixth year, the delicious. magazine awards were held this year at Guillaume at Bennelong. The produce awards are held to recognise and reward Australian producers in a number of categories, acknowleging their commitment to consistently producing the highest quality produce. Judges for the top awards were: Matt Moran, Philip Johnson, Cheong Liew, Alla Wolf-Tasker, and Maggie Beer – patron of the Produce Awards. A not-too-shabby list of judges at all, really!

Other winers from the evening were:

From the Sea: Petit Bouchot Mussels, Kinkawooka Shellfish Co. (SA)
From the Dairy: Gundowring Finest Ice Cream (Vic)
From the Earth: Shima Wasabi Fresh Wasabi Stem & Leaves (Tas)
From the Paddock: White Rocks Veal (WA)
Artisan: Pacdon Park Haggis (NSW)
Producer of the Year: Kinkawooka Shellfish Co. (SA)
Best New Product: Snowy River Station Samphire (Vic)
Outstanding Use of a Regional Product by a Chef: David Moyle, The Stackings at Peppermint Bay (Tas)
Heritage Award: Fiona Chambers, Fernleigh Farms (Vic)
The Regional Award: Huon Valley (Tas)
Outstanding Providore: Ian and Liz Hemphill, Herbie’s Spices
Oustanding Farmers Market: Eveleigh Farmer’s Market (NSW)
Maggie Beer Award for Outstanding Contribution to Australian Food: Neil Perry, Chef/Restauranteur, Rockpool

Congrats to all winners and medallists, full story will be in the August issue of delicious. magazine out tomorrow July 27.

Slow-Roasted Shoulder of Lamb

Serves 4-6

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2 lamb shoulders on the bone (about 1.25kg – 1.5kg each)
½ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground fennel
½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 star anise, ground
¼ tsp ground cardamom
2 tsp sea salt
¼ tsp freshly ground white pepper
¼ cup olive oil, plus extra
Lemon wedges

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The night before, trim the excess fat from the edges of the lamb shoulders. Mix the spices, sea salt, ¼ tsp white pepper and ¼ cup olive oil together, and rub over the lamb. Place the lamb in a container, loosely cover with plastic wrap then refrigerate overnight.
The next day, remove the lamb from the refrigerator 2 hours before cooking.
Preheat the oven to 130°C.
Place the lamb in a roasting dish large enough to fit both shoulders and drizzle with a little olive oil. Add ¼ cup water. Use 2 sheets of foil joined together to make a tent over the lamb, then cook for 2½ – 3 hours.
Reduce the oven temperature to 110°C and cook for a further 4 hours. When ready, the meat will be very well done and falling from the bone.
Allow the lamb to rest for 20 minutes, then shred the meat from the bone. Place on a platter or divide among plates and serve with lemon and freshly ground pepper.

This recipe appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald Good Weekend, 23rd July 2011

So, I don’t know what the weather has been like in your part of the world in the past week, but here in Sydney it has been horrendous. Rain, cold, rain, wind, and more rain. Then it rains some more..

So, how’s about a warming soup for the weekend? Soup and duck – they were meant to be together during winter. This is a fairly easy soup recipe to prepare, you will just have to make a trip to your nearest Asian grocer and BBQ shop for the duck. You can easily substitute any Asian greens for the asparagus…

Roast Duck, Asparagus and Rice Noodle Soup

This soup is very easy to make, as most of the ingredients can be bought ready-cooked from Chinatown. If you don’t have a Chinatown nearby it will take longer, but this soup is so delicious it’s worth the effort. To make you soup more authentically Chinese, don’t remove the duck meat from the bones – just have the Chinese barbecue shop chop it up for you and chew on the bones. The aromatics are quite similar to those used in wonton soup with noodles, but the hoi sin sauce and duck produce a much richer soup. Barbecued pork, or master stock chicken, can easily be substituted for the duck.

Ingredients

½ roast duck
6 spears asparagus
4 cups fresh chicken stock
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons hoi sin sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 slices ginger, cut into julienne
250g fresh rice noodle sheets, cut into 1cm sheets
1 shallot, sliced into fine rounds
Pinch of ground white pepper
¼ teaspoon sesame oil

Method

Remove the duck meat from the bone and slice. Have a pot of water boiling on the stove. Blanch the asparagus, refresh under cold running water and cut diagonally into 3-cm lengths. In a second large pot, bring the chicken stock to the boil, add the oyster sauce, hoi sin sauce, fish sauce and the ginger and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the noodles and asparagus to the boiling water and heat through. Drain and put into a large deep bowl. Drop the duck meat into the stock and heat through without boiling, then pour into the bowl.

Serve

Sprinkle the soup with the shallots and pepper, and drizzle with the sesame oil. Ladle into deep individual bowls.

From ‘Simply Asian’ by Neil Perry, Penguin Viking Books.

We love this video… Take that you pesky Kiwis!!

We also recommend checking out George Calombaris making the Kiwi’s crumble… Classic!

Our ‘hipstamatic’ shot of the grill at B&G Sydney

We love our grill. And who wouldn’t?! For those of you out there that love to barbecue but have never cooked over a wood or charcoal burning grill, you can add one more thing to your bucket list. Yeah, sure it’s easier to just light the pilot and turn the grill on – but there is something so satisfying about building the fire, letting it slow down a bit to get the heat juuust right, and then grilling a big fat t-bone to a perfect medium-rare on it. It speaks to your primal instincts, kind of a ‘when man first harnessed fire’ moment meets dry-aged/grass-fed…

Just let me check the heat for you chef… yep, pretty hot…

Our grill was commissioned by Neil himself and made by Beech Ovens in Brisbane. Neil wanted an open space to for cooking steaks that would also allow us to cook joints of meat and poultry over the rotisserie.

The 2 metre long wood fire pit is the centrepiece of the Bar & Grill menu; we grill and smoke all sorts of vegetables over it, as well as cook some of the best roasts on the rotisserie. And most importantly, for grilling meat, a wood fire grill is unsurpassed.

We use ironbark to fuel our grill, from century-old fallen trees. They need this long to dry out and be perfect for the intense slow burning heat.   

Before

After!

To say that the grill gets a work out is a bit of an understatement… we cook upward of 350 steaks a day on the grill here in Sydney, not including everything that comes off the rotisserie. And that also doesn’t take into consideration burger sales.

So, to the building of the fire. The grill is lit at 9.30am every morning and it burns through till midnight. When the guys arrive in the morning it is still hot from the night before, so the pit itself is never cold.

After being swept out from the previous night’s fire, the new wood is set up inside the pit.

The wood is stored in drawers underneath the grill to make it easy to load during service.

A little bit of ignition and you’ve got yourself a fire. Yes, we reckon Bear Grylls would be happy with this one too..

The bars are finally placed on top and the grill is ready for service. The bars are able to be slid along sideways to allow wood to be added anywhere along the pit during service.

So, now that we know a little bit about this awesome piece of cooking equipment, let’s see how you can put it into best use?? How about a lesson from the man himself cooking on the grill at B&G Melbourne. Vegetarians, you may want look away now…

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 So if there are any other Rockpool secrets that you would like us to unlock for you, let us know in our blog comments…

Over the next two weeks we’ll be sharing more of the great photos taken by Khan and Catherine (RB&G Group Head Chef and Head Pastry Chef respectively) of their recent holiday in Italy..

Part two takes us to Naples and on to the outskirts of  Rome to the Osteria di San Cesario to taste the food of legendary chef Anna Dente… If you missed part one on the Sorrentine Peninsula check it out here…

A quick ferry ride takes us to Naples. First stop is fried pizza made with lard and filled with fresh ricotta that is so sweet and milky.

We then head here for lunch – Le Zendraglie E. Fiorenzano Tripperia.

Lunch is fried salt cod, friarielli (local greens), and tripe. Honestly, the tripe was a bit confronting – unbleached, all sorts of bits and bobs, and pretty strong. It was tasty, but eating a whole plate was not for us lightweights! The cod and greens were great.

And God was looking down upon us…

Is TV reception an issue in Naples?!

Ah, Angelo Carbone, best coffee, great pastries…

Savoury Sfogliatelle – not sure if that is unholy, but these are so good.

Babas, a personal favourite.. what a breakfast!

The kitchen of Da Dora, a seafood institution in Naples. We were told that if you are lucky the senora lets rip with a song or two.. It was late when we were there, and I think everyone was tired so no singing… Shame.

This leads us to San Cesario, approx. 20 miles outside of Rome, where we are lead to believe that the greatest cook in the Lazio region resides. And we have to concur.

There she is, Anna Dente, making the capaletti that are going to go in our soup.

And here they are!

Anna is now making the Gnocchetti a coda de soreca for our Matriciana.

Traslated as: the tails of the rats la matriciana. Yum!

Sweetbreads with porcini.

And the best lamb ever… Sorry Mum, sorry New Zealand..!