Frenchie, Food and my weekend of Free cooking lessons

Late last year I took a trip to France. It was a much anticipated trip, as I had only briefly visited Paris on a stop-over to England a few years ago. During my travels in Paris, I met a local foodie, P. P is a friendly and quirky Parisian around my age who lives and breathes food. I was excited to find out that P was in the process of relocating to Sydney. There is never enough foodie friends in the world, I was cheering.

With the blink of an eye, my month-long vacation to foodie heaven was over. The trip has inspired my quest to learn more about the rich culture (food and otherwise) France hides behind her 21^st century veil. 3 months after my epic trip, P landed down-under to start a new life. I invited P to spend a weekend in my ‘hood’ and cook together. 

I had been operating  under the assumption that I already know enough about French food to feel good about myself. Unsurprisingly, P, being as out-spoken as he is, challenged THAT assumption, and promised to teach me how to make ‘real’ French crepes to start my French cooking education 101. While my initial thought was “surely I know how to make crepes, who doesn’t?”, I suspected that there might be something P knows that I don’t. P laid out the list of ingredients on my kitchen bench, and I was slightly baffled by the presence of a potato, sliced in half. What on earth would you  need a potato for? To test the temperature of the pan? To add to the crepe batter? It turns out that the potato half is traditionally used to evenly spread the cooking oil in the pan! How ingenious! P combined plain flour, sunflower oil, eggs, milk, cooking rum and vanilla sugar (caster sugar infused with vanilla bean pods) to create a runny crepe batter and left it on the bench to ‘rest’ for an hour. When the batter is well rested and slightly thickened, P used the potato to spread some sunflower oil evenly in a non-stick pan. I was intrigued like a kid in a science class – watching P cook brings me back to the Christmas markets on the Avenue of Champs Elysees in Paris, where food markets stretch out for miles, and cooks and food producers proudly showcase their specialty. There are various kinds of foods on display, from donuts, crepes, churros and sausage sandwiches, to foie gras, pates, salami sticks, etc – every stall is a heavenly mouth-watering experience.  Just as I was off with the food fairies, dreaming and drooling over Paris, P tapped on my shoulder to inform me that crepes were ready. I AM THERE! On my plate sat a delicate crepe filled with a rich dark chocolate and banana mixture.  Being a greedy person that I am, I felt compelled to add strawberries, cream, icing sugar, sugar syrup, and whatever delicious things I can find to stuff into the crepe. Luckily, P stopped me in due course before I turned the crepe into a 3-course dinner, and advised me to learn to appreciate simple flavours as they are. Initially unconvinced, I rolled my eyes and took my first bite into the chocolate and banana-filled crepe. Hmmm…the soft crepe with a hint of rum, and dark chocolate and banana filling, is a marriage made in heaven. It might be a marriage of a couple of simple ingredients, but that, in no shape or form, discounts the quality of the union. It was simple but heavenly. They might just be crepes, and there might just be chocolate and banana, but they taught me a valuable lesson in cooking (and life in general): do not always try to overload your crepe, learn to appreciate the simple things, as they are beautiful…

Poor men eat better - smokey BBQ pork ribs

As a food enthusiastic, I have eaten all kinds of things at all kinds of places. One important lesson I have learnt is: poor men eat better! While a large juicy sirloin or wagyu steak does get my blood pumping, NOTHING beats the likes of spicy buffalo chicken wings or smokey BBQ pork ribs. As a matter of fact, I find cheaper cuts of meat more tantalising, probably because the bone keeps the meat moist. One of my favourite ‘cheap’ cuts is American-style pork ribs, and here is one of my favourite pork ribs recipes:

Ingredients (for 4 hungry adults):

·         4 full racks of American-style pork ribs

For the spice rub:

·        Chinese five spice (if you are unable to find the Chinese five spice ‘blend’, use ground cinnamon, fennel, cloves, star aniseed and black pepper, as these are the five spices that make up the blend)

·        Salt and black pepper

·        Cayenne pepper

·        Olive oil

·        Light soy sauce

For the smokey BBQ sauce:

·         Melted honey (or brown sugar, although honey works better as it blends in better)

·         Tomato ketchup

·         Worcestershire sauce

·         Smoked paprika and/or liquid smoke (I bought my natural hickory smoke online. If you are unable to find this ingredient, just use smoked paprika instead)

·         Salt and black pepper

·         Light soy sauce

Method:

1. In a mixing bowl, add one tablespoon of the five spice blend and cayenne pepper, a generous dash of light soy sauce, a sprinkle of salt and pepper (to taste) and olive oil. Mix well to create a ‘wet rub’. NOTE: you can adjust the ratios of the ingredients to your taste
2. Trim the fat off the pork ribs and poke holes in the meat with a fork. Place in a large tray
3. Pour the wet spice rub over the ribs and give them a good massage. Marinate for at least 1 hour (the longer the better)
4. Pre-heat the oven to 150C
5. Place the marinated ribs on an oven rack and pour some water in the tray underneath. The idea is to NOT let the meat be exposed to direct heat. Bake the marinated ribs at 150C till tender. NOTE: this should take approximately 1.5 hours, however, time depends on the thickness of the meat and oven quality. If you wish to speed up the cooking process, cut the full rack into half racks
6. In the meantime, make the smokey BBQ sauce by combining all the ingredients. The best method is ‘trial and error’: try combining 1 tablespoon of honey, 1 tablespoon of ketchup, 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce, and a couple of drops of liquid smoke (OR 1 tablespoon of smoked paprika) and a sprinkle of salt and pepper to begin with, and adjust to taste. The BBQ sauce should be sweet, savoury and slightly tangy, but the flavour profile should suit individual taste. If you wish to make more sauce, just increase the quantity of each part. Combine well and set aside
7. When the ribs are baked to tender in the oven, take them out and smoother them with the BBQ sauce. Leave some to brush over them. Turn the oven to 200C and put ribs back in. NOTE: alternatively you could grill the ribs on a barbecue to achieve better results. Continue to ‘base’ the ribs with the BBQ sauce and cook on both sides until caramelised. If the grill/oven gets too hot, turn the heat down to avoid burning
8. When both sides of the ribs are coated with the sauce and nicely caramelised, take off the heat and rest for 10-15 minutes before serving. Before you devour them all, make sure to wear a bib or at least change into a black shirt! 

Crispy-skin salmon with chorizo and red pepper stew, served with baby potatoes, and a caramelized balsamic sauce

This is a quick and easy recipe that follows the formula of: simple ingredients+common sense=deliciousness. The rule of thumb is: you do not need to be precise to the ounce, but you do need to understand ratios and flavour combinations to cook well. This recipe is an example of the universal fish+tangy flavour combo: fish and TANG belong together: fish and lime, fish and lemon, or fish and vinegar, you may have noticed acidity is applied to many fish dishes, no matter where the cuisine comes from. The smokey chorizo sausage improves the flavour profile of the dish, taking it up a notch.

Ingredients (for 4 hungry adults):
- 4 salmon fillets, with skin on. The skin gives an extra 'dimension' to the texture of the dish, when crisped up
- 1 large smoked chorizo sausage, sliced thinly
- 16 baby potatoes, washed and skin on (or however many you feel like, really)
- 4-5 red capsicums (for this recipe, red capsicums work better than green ones, as they are sweeter)
- A handful of rocket leaves for garnish
- 1 large leek, finely chopped
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- Olive oil (standard virgin olive oil for cooking, and extra virgin olive oil to dress the dish at the end)

- 2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed (we do not want the garlic to overtake, so it is better to just 'crush' the garlic cloves)
- Caramelized balsamic vinegar (I got a bottle of 'Little Fish Cafe' caramelized balsamic vinegar from a friend who brought it back from Port Macquarie in Northern NSW. If you do not have it, just use balsamic vinegar, but a little less of it, or it would be a bit more acidic).

Method:

1. Rub salt and pepper on the salmon fillets. NOTE: ensure the skin side is salted. Leave on kitchen bench for a few minutes to allow the seasoning to penetrate. Pat dry the fillets with kitchen towel. These steps ensure that excess moisture in the skin is drawn out, so it becomes crispy when pan-fried
2. Wash the potatoes, and cut them in half. Wash and cut the capsicums into thin strips. Wash and cut the leek into fine pieces. Crush the garlic cloves
3. Heat a good quality non-stick pan on low to medium heat, and add sliced chorizo. Render the fat off the sausage and cook until crispy. Set aside the cooked sausage and leave the fat in the pan
4. Rub a little olive oil on the fish fillets to prevent sticking. Fry the salmon fillets skin-side down in the chorizo fat. Add a little olive oil if needed. NOTE: do not overcrowd the pan so the fish 'fries'. Cook until the skin becomes crispy and golden brown. Turn over to cook the other side. NOTE: the best way to check if fish is cooked on the inside is to poke a bamboo stick in the fillet, and if the white 'protein foam' comes out, then the inside is cooked
5. Boil the potatoes to 90% done. To check, poke a knife in the potatoes, there should be some 'resistance'. This way, when the potatoes are cooked again in the pan, they retain their 'structural integrity'. Drain well
6. Set the cooked fish aside. 'De-glaze' with leek, crushed garlic and capsicum strips. Season with salt and pepper to draw the moisture out of the vegetables and speed up the cooking process. Cook the vegetables until soft and tender. Drizzle a generous amount of caramelized balsamic vinegar over the vegetable mixture and toss in the baby potatoes. Mix well to coat the potatoes. Cook for a couple of minutes, or until the potatoes are 100% tender. Toss the cooked chorizo back into the pan. Check for seasoning
7. Garnish with rocket leaves and drizzle a little virgin olive oil over the top. Serve and enjoy the more-ish crispy-skin salmon on a bed of tender baby potatoes, creamy leek and sweet stewed capsicum, topped with the crispy, sweet and smokey chorizo. The vegetables are well integrated into the slightly smokey, sweet and tangy sauce, and the rocket adds a peppery twist. I don't know about you, but I sure am starving!