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Campion & Curtis Newsletter - April 2006
Welcome to the April edition of the Campion and Curtis newsletter. It seems that autumn on the SE coast has been and gone in a flash and we're into the start of
a long winter. Not that food lovers have any problems settling into cooler weather as it brings with it the opportunity to enjoy a multitude of dishes which are
just don't fit into summer. We've dedicated our recipes to the food and dishes which fit perfectly into this time of year. Also in this edition we continue
our exploration of Melbourne as started in the March 2006 edition for the Commonwealth Games. These are our look at the best food stores and food experiences as we write about in our
annual Foodies Guide to Melbourne. We had a great response to this last month so are continuing with some of our favourite Asian grocers, and the usual round-up of food news.
Enjoy, Allan and Michele.
Visit the Campion and Curtis website
Autumn produce
April is a terrific time to shop and cook in. Market stalls are laden with so many great seasonal ingredients it's difficult to know where to start and what to cook
first. Pumpkin is great at present, as is the last of the corn on the cob, these are perfect combined with carrot, celery, onion and potato to create beautiful
soups. A few sprigs of thyme and fresh bay leaves will add terrific flavours. We're also very keen on pumpkin soup enhanced with Thai paste and coconut milk. Fresh peas are beautiful at present also and are terrific cooked with fresh mint then
gently crushed with the best butter and salt to create an accompaniment for pan fried salmon or grilled lamb cutlets. For sweeter dishes then check out rhubarb,
apples, cumquats, grapes. pears, nuts, plums and quinces. Many of these ingredients are excellent in crumbles, steamed puddings, tarts, cakes and muffins. We've
included a number of recipes at the end of this newsletter to showcase a few of our favourite puddings and desserts using these great ingredients.
The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation
While we're on the subject of seasonal produce the news has just been released of a new Kitchen Garden Program at Nunawading Primary School in Melbourne. Over 50
submissions were received by
the foundation to become the second school in this program along with Collingwood College. The program at Nunawading Primary School will see each child in grades 3 -6
spending one period each week in the garden learning about soil, planting, propagating and harvesting. Once the garden is producing fresh, seasonal food each child
will spend 1.5 hours every week in the kitchen preparing meals using the produce from the garden. They will then spend time together sharing the meal and learning to
engage with others around the table. The program is aimed at teaching young children how to grow and eat good food, every day of their lives.
Stephanie says "There is considerable work to be done in establishing the garden and building a kitchen and meal sharing area and it is hoped that the work and associated costs will
be supported by the parents, the local community and some corporate sponsors." This is a world leading program and we recommend all readers to have a look at the associated website and see how
you could support this excellent practical program. Find out more on the kitchen garden page at www.stephaniealexander.com.au/.
The great Peking duck search
We receive many emails from other food lovers, some looking for recipes, other ingredients and then there are those on a quest for a particular foodie experience.
'David K' has emailed us to say he has a few ex-pat Aussie cousins returning to Melbourne and they have a craving for Peking Duck! We've passed on a few of our own
ideas but are keen to get a further recommendations for David. We're also keen to get recommendations from cities further afield and to hear why your favourite Peking
duck dish is so good. Send us an email and we'll pass them onto David and other C&C newsletter readers.
allan@campionandcurtis.com.
Food blogs
These has been an explosion in the number of food blogs in recent years and many of them provide great recipes, foodie discussions, dining recommendations and much more.
Janet C (a.k.a The Old Foodie) is a C&C newsletter reader who has taken the plunge into cyberspace with a food history blog. Several months ago she
started writing 400 words each weekday on a food history topic related to the specific day, and adding a historic recipe. Like most blogs she initially started it
partly for fun and partly for the writing discipline. She is keen to get feedback from fellow foodies Janet's blog can be found
here. We think it's great, so have a look and let her know what you think!
Divine news
Andrew Wood of Divine magazine has just announced a four city tour of tastings of the Huntington Estate wines from Mudgee in NSW. Their semillon, cabernet and shiraz
are very highly regarded and equally difficult to source unless you get to the cellar door or are on the mailing list and get an allocation. With this tasting all those
in attendance can try the Huntington Estate semillon, cabernet and shiraz for themselves. Wines will be sourced from the cellar to create a vertical tasting of
eight vintages each of Huntington Unwooded Semillon, Reserve Cabernet and Reserve Shiraz as well as four vintages of Abercorn Reserve Shiraz
(to highlight how individual each house style is). Never before has such a line-up been offered. Prepaid bookings are essential as numbers are strictly limited.
To book phone 03) 5433 5317 or go to Divine on line . Cost $60 (including GST).
Sydney - Wednesday 26 April, commencing 6pm sharp till 9pm, at the Royal Automobile Club, 89 Macquarie Street, Sydney. Brisbane - Tuesday 2 May, commencing 6pm sharp
till 9pm, at the Rendezvous Hotel, 255 Ann Street, Brisbane. Melbourne - Wednesday 3 May, commencing 6pm sharp till 9pm, at the Sir William Angliss Centre, Level 5,
555 Latrobe Street (Cnr King St), Melbourne. Canberra - Thursday 4 May, commencing 6pm sharp till 9pm, at the Old Parliament House, Members Dining Room,
Victoria Terrace, Parkes (via the back entrance - next to Ginger Room).
Cooks Books
Kylie Kwong is currently gracing our screens (well at least those who have pay TV) with more of her modern Chinese recipes. A new release from Kylie Kwong
called Simple Chinese Cooking which, (as the title suggests) is an interesting look at good Chinese food for beginners. It begins with a good overview of utensils and
ingredients required for Chinese food and continues with recipes for stocks, soups, stir-fries and omelettes. What's also great to see here are excellent
recipes for tofu, vegetables, salads and vegetarian dishes. There are even instructions for eating Chinese-style and menu planning.
Published by Penguin Lantern $59.95.
Top Melbourne Food Stores
For those of you who love Chinese cooking (or are going to get Kylie's new book) here are some of our five of our
favourite Asian grocers from The Foodies' Guide to Melbourne.
AKK Supermarket
Shop 18-21, Springvale Central Shopping Centre, 268-274 Springvale Road Springvale 9540 3618 Melway 79 K9 Daily 8 am-7 pm
Springvale Central offers a huge number of shops when shopping for
Asian ingredients. AKK is one of our favourite stops here as the range is
fantastic and we can always find the right ingredients. It stocks fresh
fruit, vegetables and aromatic herbs plus the usual array of noodles, both
fresh and dried, bean curd in its many forms, pastry items and wrappers
for cooking at home. A selection of ready-to-cook foods is on hand too,
including dumplings and dim sims. The helpful service also makes a
difference to the shopping experience, especially if you're unsure about
which brand to choose.
Box Hill Asian Food Centre
562 Station Street Box Hill 9898 7029 Melway 47 D10 Mon-Thurs 9.30 am-6.30 pm; Fri 9.30 am-8 pm; Sat-Sun 10 am-5.30 pm
This shop has a brilliant array of products on offer. Naturally enough you
can pick up every known brand of chilli, soy and fish sauce, plus various
types of coconut milk and cream, sesame, peanut and vegetable oil,
preserved vegetables, fresh bean curd and noodles in every shape and
colour. Rice is available as basmati, long grain and glutinous. Fresh
products include a range of meats and fish as well as Asian greens and
herbs. If you're in need of any cooking equipment you'll find a selection of
electric rice cookers, woks and bamboo steamers here.
Great Eastern Food Centre
185 Russell Street City 9663 3716 Melway 1A Q4 Daily 10 am-10 pm
The Great Eastern Food Centre may be outside the official Chinatown
strip of Little Bourke Street, but it's still one of the better grocers in the
area. The high turnover means the fresh greens, aromatics, fruit and
vegetables are always fresh. Long aisles ensure you get access to a huge
variety of noodles, rice, sauces, coconut milk and other dry goods. You can
pick up bottles of rice wine vinegar, hot bean paste, mirin, dried
mushrooms, Asian spices, curry pastes and vinegars. There are also fresh
and frozen soy products, pastry, dim sims, wontons and spring rolls.
Minh Phat
125-127 Therry Street City 9328 3156 Melway 2B C12
Daily 9 am-4 pm
Minh Phat has been one of our regular haunts for years now. Its location,
close to the Queen Victoria Market, means we are in the area fairly often,
but it's the range of products and friendly welcome which also draw us in.
Minh Phat has a dozen different varieties of rice for starters, 10 varieties of
fish sauce and just as many of soy. The refrigerators are stocked with
excellent tofu products and noodles in all shapes and sizes. They also have
shelves devoted to Japanese foods, with everything from miso and
mayonnaise to nori, wasabi and seven spice. * Also at 178 Victoria Street Richmond 9429 4028 Melway 44 F7
Nan Yang
307-313 Springvale Road Springvale 9546 9756 Melway 79 K9 Daily 9 am-6 pm
Nan Yang is without a doubt one of the biggest Asian grocers you're likely
to come across. Luckily the owners have used the space wisely and not
just filled every bit of it with stock. This results in spacious aisles in which
to wander and choose groceries at your leisure. All the classic ingredients are on hand
including an extensive collection of spices, soy, oils, sauces, noodles and
pastes, drawing on Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese and Thai cuisines.
There's an extensive selection of bowls, plates and serving dishes as well
as woks, steamers and claypots. All in all, it's quite a place.
Cheers until next month, Allan and Michele
Asian-inspired pumpkin soup
This soup came about when we got totally fed up with regular pumpkin soup. All we've done is add some Thai paste for flavour and coconut milk for creaminess. Now, it's anything but boring.
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp Thai curry paste
1 onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 tomato, chopped
1 kg (2 lb) pumpkin, peeled and diced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 litre vegetable or chicken stock
400 ml coconut milk
Coriander leaves to garnish
Heat a large heavy-based saucepan over medium heat.
Add oil and Thai paste and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often until fragrant.
Add onion, celery, tomato, pumpkin and salt.
Reduce heat and cook for 15 minutes, stirring often.
Add stock to the saucepan, raise the heat and bring to the boil.
Reduce to a simmer, cover saucepan and cook for 20 minutes, or until pumpkin is tender.
Puree soup and strain into a clean saucepan.
Return soup to the boil, whisk in the coconut milk and adjust seasoning.
Serve with coriander leaves on top.
Serves 6-8.
Pan-fried salmon with minty pea crush and lemon butter sauce
Salmon is a popular choice for dinner nowadays, and is beautiful with this minty pea crush and simple lemon sauce.
1 sprig fresh mint
600 g podded peas
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp butter
Olive oil for cooking
150-180 g salmon fillets
Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil.
Add mint and peas and cook until tender, approx 3-4 minutes, drain, remove mint and season with salt and pepper.
Add butter and mash roughly.
Heat a large heavy-based frypan, add a splash of olive oil and cook salmon on each side for 3-4 minutes.
This will cook the fish to medium-rage, cook longer if preferred.
Divide peas between plates, arrange a salmon fillet on top of peas. Drizzle with lemon butter sauce.
Lemon Butter Sauce
This sauce can be made up to 1 hour in advance and keep warm on the side of the stove. Take care not to let it get too hot otherwise it may curdle.
60 ml (1/4 cup) white wine
100 g soft butter, diced
2 tbsp (40 ml) lemon juice
Place white wine in a small saucepan and allow to reduce by half.
Reduce heat and whisk butter in piece by piece.
Finally, add lemon juice, season and keep sauce warm on the side of the stove.
Sweetcrust pastry
300 g plain flour
150 g soft butter, diced
Pinch of salt
1 medium egg
50 g (1 3/4 oz) caster sugar
Place flour, butter and salt in a bowl and rub together until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Break egg into a separate bowl, add sugar and mix lightly. Add to flour mixture and mix until pastry comes together.
Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F).
Roll pastry on a lightly floured board to 3 mm (1/8 in) thickness and line a greased 25 cm (10 in) flan tin.
Work fingers around the side of the tin, pushing pastry down into corners. Trim any excess off the top using a small knife.
Prick base with a fork and rest for 30 minutes.
Line pastry with greaseproof paper, then baking beans or rice and bake blind for 15 minutes in preheated oven.
Remove paper and beans, bake for a further 5 minutes to crisp pastry.
Almond pear tart
This tart has quarters of poached pear topped with a creamy almond and ricotta filling. Resistance is useless.
1 quantity sweetcrust pastry
220 g caster sugar (for fruit)
200 ml water
3 pears
3 medium eggs
110 g caster sugar (for filling)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
100 g ground almonds
250 g ricotta
Pure cream to serve
Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F).
Place sugar and water in small saucepan and dissolve sugar over low heat.
Bring to the boil, then simmer for 5 minutes.
Peel, quarter and core pears and poach in sugar syrup until soft, 5-10 minutes.
Remove pears from the syrup, drain and set aside.
Beat eggs, sugar, vanilla, almonds and ricotta until combined.
Place pear quarters in pastry shell and spoon almond mixture over.
Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and set.
Serve warm with pure cream.
Serves 8.
Recipe from Every Day in the Kitchen by Allan Campion and Michele Curtis - (Hardie Grant Books RRP $29.95).