One of the classic errors we see in amateur cooking contests on TV (yes, we do watch a bunch of those. The Australian ones are mostly viewed with a ghoulish, train-wreck sense of anticipation, but the British MasterChef is really about the cooking and we do get good ideas from it) is doing dishes that the cook has never done before. "I really felt I needed to do something special", they say. Yeah, special like "I have no idea what I'm doing" special. What kind of nit would cook something completely for the first time in public?
So, having test driven the tomato water once, and making the sweet corn brulee for the first time on the basis of cursory Googling extensive research, we went on to a dish for which I could not find any precedent at all and that we had never done before. Three brand new dishes in one dinner? We're just warming up.
When I composed the menu for this dinner, I made the list of dishes that I wanted to do, and realised they were all strong-flavoured, largely cream-, egg-, and cheese-based dishes that needed to be small for balance's sake. I wanted something with lovely carbs, no cream- egg- cheese-base, and with flavours that did not clash and ideally did not replicate those of the other dishes to round out the menu. About two days before the dinner beetroot occurred to me - I don't know why, but it did.
There are lots of pasta and beetroot dishes, mostly with boiled or roasted beetroot that is then chopped and mixed with the pasta, often with (sour) cream. But as far as cursory Googling extensive research could tell me, there's nothing about sauteeing it. So this recipe is original as far as I can tell. Woo-oo!
Sauteed Beetroot with Fettucini
Serves eight as a small course
Bring to the boil water (3 or 4L or so) to cook 500g fettucini. Egg pasta would be good for this for that particular soft texture it has, but our local supermarket is a bit lame and didn't have it, and we weren't going to walk eight blocks just to get some, so we used plain durum wheat pasta.
Dry-saute in a non-stick pan 1 tablespoon each of roughly crushed caraway and cumin seed until popping and aromatic. Reserve the spices, start a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in the pan to heat, then add the beetroot and half the spices (to meld the flavours in) and cook over a medium heat until soft and slightly wilted. This will take 15-20 min on medium heat. Don't go hot, because beetroot is easy to burn.
Put the pasta on at an appropriate point depending on whether it's egg or whole wheat. Aim to drain the pasta at the same time the beetroot is done.
When the pasta and the beetroot are done, mix together in a large bowl, taste and season with salt and pepper, add the reserved spices (for freshness) and a squeeze of lemon juice (for zing). Serve, garnished with something green and light - we like chives. If you're doing this as part of a menu of dishes not overloaded with cream and cheese then you could add some fresh grated Parmesan.
Notes
As the beetroot gets hot and shrivelled, it will get close to burning. Watch the heat carefully and don't be afraid to add some olive oil to avoid unsightly clumping.
I really am not sure where my ideas for this dish came from. Like I said, there are a lot of pasta and beetroot recipes out there; I think the sauteed beetroot component vaguely came from the Donna Hay beetroot & kumara fritter recipe that I've referenced before. The caraway came from borscht. The cumin? Who knows? Whimsy.
I did this with the caraway and cumin seeds whole, aiming for a rustic set of textures. K called me on that and said they were too rustic and coarse, and I had to agree. So the requirement to crush and dry-roast the seeds is built in to the recipe now.
Fig and Goat Cheese Tart
The recipe for this is also a Donna Hay one (Issue 43, Feb/Mar 2009). We've done the dish before, not sure about blogging it though. If you want the recipe do please follow the link to the owners' site.
It's a good recipe. The fig is very sweet, the goat cheese can be between somewhat tart and very sharp depending on what type you use (I suggest starting with medium the first time and taking it from there), and the custard and pastry provide smooth and crumbly filler to be highlighted by the other flavours. Try and get a little of each on each bite.
Other notes : I used store-bought shortcrust pastry here. It didn't cause any problems.
I used goat's cheese instead of goat's curd which the recipe calls for. The cheese is a bit dryer, firmer and sharper than the curd. They both work fine in the dish in slightly different ways. It's just that I only know one deli at the Vic Market that stocks curd, and I forgot to buy it that day.
Only do this if you can get ripe, soft figs, because if they aren't soft and sweet the dish will be insipid. I did make it once with halved Roma tomatoes roasted in the oven for a couple of hours on about 100 C until they were thoroughly dried. That was a pretty acceptable substitute but not as good as figs in season.
Peach Tartlets with Peach Sauce
Remember how I said it was a top time for stone fruit? The Periguexse made a dessert adapted from the mango tarts in Philip Johnson's book of desert recipes "Decadence". But we are not so fond of mangoes, and the rum caramel sauce the recipe called for seemed a little heavy for summer (probably okay in Mr Johnson's Brisbane haunts, where mango and cool winter weather can coexist). So we subbed peaches and a peach sauce.
I used goat's cheese instead of goat's curd which the recipe calls for. The cheese is a bit dryer, firmer and sharper than the curd. They both work fine in the dish in slightly different ways. It's just that I only know one deli at the Vic Market that stocks curd, and I forgot to buy it that day.
Only do this if you can get ripe, soft figs, because if they aren't soft and sweet the dish will be insipid. I did make it once with halved Roma tomatoes roasted in the oven for a couple of hours on about 100 C until they were thoroughly dried. That was a pretty acceptable substitute but not as good as figs in season.
Peach Tartlets with Peach Sauce
Remember how I said it was a top time for stone fruit? The Periguexse made a dessert adapted from the mango tarts in Philip Johnson's book of desert recipes "Decadence". But we are not so fond of mangoes, and the rum caramel sauce the recipe called for seemed a little heavy for summer (probably okay in Mr Johnson's Brisbane haunts, where mango and cool winter weather can coexist). So we subbed peaches and a peach sauce.
- blind bake sweet shortcrust pastry cases
- make a vanilla flavoured custard, touched up a bit with a suitable liqueur - Mr J (is it okay if I call him that?) uses Grand Marnier with the mangoes, we used peach schnapps with the peaches
- bake the custard in the shells until set then let cool
- arrange thin slices of peach on top (we blanched and peeled them), top with icing sugar and brulee slightly (as per photo above with your mighty blowtorch. A grill would work too I guess).
- make a peach sauce to go with by chopping peaches, cook in a simple syrup until very soft, puree and push through a sieve. Ice cream would by nice too but there was a lot of dairy in our meal already. A fruit sauce seemed the thing.
The final course was a ringer brought by Cardinal Jay (he of the chawanmushi - that lad is versatile). He brought around a flourless chocolate cake, with the twist that the chocolate used was Lindt Orange Intense, giving a gentle orange perfume to the whole thing. We were full as at that stage but could not pass up a chance for cake. Or, apparently, the chance for ice cream. Darn! I'd been so good up until then. It was a lovely cake; slightly crisp on the outside, moist rich and heavy on the inside, with complex flavours of almond and good chocolate. I want to try one made from chili chocolate now.
So there you go, a salute to the produce of late summer and to round food. The round food thing wasn't planned, it just so happened that all the dishes we wanted to do were round.
No greens I hear you say? There was meant to be a salad of sorrel and orange (the unused orange is looking at me from the fruit bowl as I write), but remember the hailstorm the previous day? K's whole sorrel crop was dashed to the ground. She brought in some capsicums as evidence of the storm's force, and they looked like someone had been whacking them with a very narrow headed hammer. Ahhh, summer in Melbourne. I love this town.
Happy eating,
Ecumer
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