Dinner 4 - Marmalade

Marmalade. Not just for toast, as this week's recipes will attest.

The recipes this week include: a duck confit with marmalade, quince and brandy; roasted pork belly with verjuice and marmalade glaze; and a three course marmalade extravaganza of sour cherry bread with marmalade and Gorgonzola; roasted duck fillets with marmalade and chilli glaze; and chocolate roulade with marmalade ice-cream. So, 2-4-6-8 tuck in, don't wait.

First the dish from Brisbane:

Duck confit with marmalade, quince & brandy sauce

Ingredients:
Makes 6
6 duck marylands
4 thyme sprigs, leaves picked
3 rosemary sprigs, leaves picked
300g sea salt flakes
2 garlic cloves
1-1.5kg Duck or Goose fat
1 orange
1tbsp Seville orange marmalade
1tsp quince paste
1tbsp Brandy

Method:
• Place thyme, rosemary, salt and garlic in a mortar and pestle and pound until it forms a paste. Rub the herb paste into the duck marylands and place them in a bowl. Cover the bowl and chill for at least 6 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 120C. Rinse the herb paste off the duck with cool water, then pat the duck dry with a paper towel.
• Heat the duck fat over medium heat until it is melted and warm. Place the duck marylands in a single layer at the bottom of a roasting pan. Pour over the duck fat making sure the duck is completely submerged in the fat.
• Cover the roasting pan with foil and place in the oven for 2 hours.
• Remove the roasting pan from the oven and allow it to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until you are ready to serve.
• Preheat the oven to 180C. Remove the duck legs from the fat and scrape of any excess fat. Heat a large ovenproof frypan over medium heat. Place the duck in the pan skin side down, then immediately transfer the pan into the oven for 10-15 minutes, turning once.
• Combine juice of one orange, marmalade and quince paste over medium heat. Allow to reduce a little. Add brandy and remove from heat. Drizzle over the duck. Serve with a salad of rocket and orange segments with a red wine vinegarette made with a little of the marmalade.


Another trio of dishes from Sydney.

Sour cherry loaf with marmalade and Gorgonzola

Ingredients:
Sour cherry loaf
Hank's rick orange marmalade
Cambazola Gorgonzola

Method:
• Slice bread.
• Serve on platter with cambazola gorgonzola and heaped spoon of marmalade.

Roasted duck fillets with marmalade & chilli glaze

Ingredients:
Serves 2
1 tsp sherry vinegar
2 free range duck breast fillets
1 orange
4 tbsp saville orange marmalade
pinch of dried red chilli flakes
rocket leaves

Method:
• Preheat oven to 190 degrees. Cut the orange in half and squeeze the juice from one half into a small bowl. Cut the remainder into four wedges.
• To make the glaze, combine the marmalade, chilli flakes and sherry vinegar with the orange juice and season lightly.
• Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place the duck fillets in the tray and score the flesh in a criss-cross pattern, then spread the glaze liberally over the top of each one. Arrange the orange wedges around the duck and place in the oven for 30-35 minutes. Baste the duck and the orange wedges with the glaze a couple of times during the cooking time.
• Transfer the duck and orange wedges on to two plates, drizzle with the glaze and serve with lightly steamed greens.

Chocolate roulade with marmalade ice-cream

Ingredients:
5 eggs, seperated.
100g caster sugar, plus 4 tbsp extra
55g icing sugar, sifted
55g cocoa powder
120g plain flour
500ml vanilla ice-cream, softened
200g marmalade
1 orange, segmented

Method:
• Preheat oven to fan-forced 175C
• Beat egg yolks and caster sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until thick and pale.
• Whisk egg whites in a separate bowl until soft peaks form, add icing sugar and beat until firm.
• Sift combined cocoa and flour into a separate bowl.
• Add half the flour mixture to the egg-yolk mix and combine well.
• Add one quarter of the egg whites to yolk mixture, then add remaining flour mixture.
• Fold in remaining egg-white mixture.
• Line an oven tray with baking paper, leaving a little hanging over edge.
• Grease and lightly dust tray with 1 tbsp caster sugar.
• Spread mixture over tray to form a rectange about 35 x 28 centimetres.
• Sprinkle mixture with 2 tbsp sugar and bake for 8-12 minutes.
• Remove from tray and cool.
• Peel paper from sponge and transfer to a clean sheet of baking paper that has been lightly dusted with remaining sugar.
• In a bowl, combine softened ice-cream with half the marmalade and spread evenly over sponge.
• Carefully roll up sponge, then wrap in baking paper and freeze for 1 hour or until firm.
• Heat remaining marmalade with 50ml water over low heat and stir well.
• To serve, cut sponge into 10 slices and spoon marmalade sauce over. Scatter with orange segments.


And finally the meal from Hong Kong.

Roasted pork belly with verjuice and marmalade glaze

Ingredients:
Serves 15
2kg. pork belly skin removed but not the fat
2T ginger finely chopped
1T garlic crushed and chopped
1/2 cup of marmalade
2/3T verjuice
2T olive oil
Black pepper and salt(not for us)

Method
• Score the pork belly liberally. Grate black pepper (and salt) and rub into fat and score marks.
• Mix the ginger, garlic, marmalade, verjuice and olive oil in a small bowl. Place meat in roasting pan and pour glaze over. Gently press glaze to cover the meat and press into score marks.
• Cook uncovered for two hours on 120 C and then reduce to 90 C for a further 2 hours.
• Serve with Baby Carrots with verjuice, ginger and sultanas and Mum's bread salad (from last week).

Dinner 3 - Bread

This week we had some modern variations on one of the oldest prepared foods. Bread.

According to that font of all knowledge, Wikipedia, bread dates back to the Neolithic era. Tonight plain, old, ordinary bread, will be turned into: bread salad with fennel bulb and blue cheese; an autumnal warm bread salad; and a three course bread extravaganza of sourdough with olive oil, bread and jamon salad with blue eye trevalla, and scotch fillet sandwich with tomato and wasabi butter.


First up, the dish from Hong Kong:

Bread Salad with Fennel Bulb and Blue Cheese

Ingredients :
Serves 4 to 6
1/3 x crusty whole wheat French bread stick cut into cubes,(about 4 cups bread cubes)
20 x cherry tomatoes cut in halves
3/4 cup coarsely-chopped Italian parsley
1/2 x sweet onion cut into 1/2" pieces
1/2 sm fennel bulb trimmed, and cut into small pieces
1 cup raw young corn kernels
1/3 cup crumbled mild blue cheese
3 tbl extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbl white balsamic vinegar
Freshly-ground black pepper to taste

Method :
• Place bread, tomato, parsley, onion, fennel, corn and blue cheese in large bowl. Toss until mixed. Add oil and toss again. Add vinegar and toss. Taste and add pepper. Serve immediately.
• Comments: Use just enough vinegar and oil to flavor and moisten the vegetables and bread, avoiding a soggy mixture. Substitute vegetables as they appeal to you at the market; you'll need a total of 3 1/2 to 4 cups diced vegetables for this salad.


With the evenings starting to cool off just a little in Brisbane, a warm salad seemed to be just the ticket.

Autumn warm bread salad

Ingredients:
Serves 6 to 8
1 Spanish onion, cut into thin wedges
400g small Jap pumpkin, cut into thin wedges
450g kipfler potatoes
2 bunches Dutch carrots, trimmed and halved lengthwise
1 head of garlic, separated
125ml extra virgin olive oil
45ml red wine vinegar
1/2 a loaf of unsliced rye bread, roughly torn (a sourdough rye with onion and caraway was used for this recipe)
1 head of radicchio, leaves separated and coarsely torn

Method:
• Preheat oven to 180C. Combine onion, pumpkin, potato, garlic, 40ml olive oil and 1tsp vinegar in a large bowl. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• Scatter the vegetables over the base of a large roasting pan and roast for 45 minutes or until cooked and golden.
• Put the bread pieces in a single layer over a separate roasting pan. Drizzle with 2 tbsp of olive oil. Ten minutes before the vegetables are done, place the bread in the oven until golden and toasted.
• Combine the vegetables and bread and add the radicchio. Combine the remaining olive oil and vinegar and drizzle over the salad and toss to combine. Serve immediately.
• Comment: This salad is great with a steak or roast.


This week, Sydney has provided three courses of bread. Each with a matched wine...yes, we know he's just showing off.

Starter - Sourdough and olive oil
Wine Match - Piper Hiedsick Brut Champagne
Ingredients:
Soy and linseed sourdough
Extra virgin olive oil

Method:
• Slice bread
• Serve with olive oil

Entree - Bread and jamon salad with Blue Eye Trevalla
Wine Match - Helm 2006 Riesling (Canberra region)
Ingredients:
Small fillet Blue Eye Trevalla
8 sliced baby roma tomatoes; seasoned
1 lebanese cucumber; sliced
1 small red chilli; de-seeded
handful of parsley
handful of torn basil
6 red oak lettuce leaves
2 slices soy and linseed sourdough; toasted
15g butter
extra virgin olive oil
balsamic vinegar
2 slices jamon iberico

Method:
• Line bowl with red oak lettuce
• Combine roma tomatoes, cucumber, parsley, basil and place in center of bowl.
• Tear toasted sourdough and scatter
• Tear proscuitto and scatter
• Melt butter in pan
• Panfry blue eye trevalla; skin side first; basted in butter and juice
• Serve on top of salad
• In remaining butter, sautee chilli
• Serve on top of blue eye trevalla
• Drizzle salad with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Main - Scotch fillet sandwich with tomato and wasabi butter
Wine Match - Shaw Vineyard Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
Ingredients
Scotch fillet steak
2 slice soy and linseed sourdough
50g unsalted butter
3 semi-dried tomatoes
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon
2 teaspoons of wasabi
green beans; steamed

Method:
• Combine butter, semi-dried tomatoes, tarragon and wasabi.
• Mix with a blender to form a paste
• Roll mixture in glad wrap to form a log; refrigerate until solid
• Season and grill steak medium-rare
• Toast sourdough slices
• Layer steak on sourdough
• Slice tomato butter; serve on steak
• Serve with steamed green beans.

Dinner 2 - Dill

After a false start with an out of season theme ingredient, the theme ingredient for this week, courtesy of the Hong Kong contingent, is dill.

On the menu tonight: from Sydney, a Crab, dill & chive linguine with zucchini flowers; from Brisbane, Spiced calamari with a watercress and dill salad; and from Hong Kong, Fish and asparagus with dill and horseradish sauce. Enjoy.

Crab, dill & chive linguine with zucchini flowers

Wine Match - Un-oaked Chardonnay
Ingredients:
1 cup loosely packed Dill
1 bunch chives; 2cm slices
1 lemon; rind
500g Linguini
300g cooked crab meat
1 clove of garlic
1 small red chilli; de-seeded
6 zucchini flowers; sliced
olive oil

Method:
• Cook linguine in boiling salted water till al dente
• Drain and keep warm
• Brown garlic in a pan for 30 seconds
• Add chilli and lemon rind; cook for a further minute
• Add zucchini flowers; cook till soft
• Mix in crab meat; stir till warmed through
• Add linguine, dill and chives; mix well
• Serve and drizzle with olive oil
• Season to taste

Spicy calamari with watercress & dill salad

Ingredients:
Serves 4
1kg calamari - preferably small, cleaned

Marinade:
1 clove garlic
4 coriander roots and stems (keep the leaves for the salad), well washed
1 tbsp cumin
1/2 tbsp paprika
4 tbsp olive oil

Salad:
half a bunch watercress
2 tbsp chopped dill
1 cup mint leaves, roughly chopped
1/3 cup coriander leaves
half a red onion, finely sliced
juice of 1 lemon
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Method:
• Cut the body of the calamari into small pieces and score the flesh lightly. Cut the legs into manageable lengths.
• Pound the garlic and coriander in a mortar and pestle until it is a paste. Mix in the cumin, paprika and oil and rub into the calamari. Marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• Combine the watercress with the herbs and onion and set aside.
• Grill the calamari either on a barbecue or grill plate until just cooked (2-3 minutes on both sides).
• Season calamari with salt and squeeze over the juice of half a lemon.
• Season the salad and dress with remaining lemon juice and olive oil.

Fish and asparagus with dill & horseradish sauce

Ingredients:
Serves 4
4 small potatoes (480g unpeeled)
4x 220g fish fillets
3 cups milk
3 cups water
500g asparagus (trimmed)
175g dill/watercress (trimmed)
1 small red onion (100g sliced thinly)
Creamy horseradish dressing:
1 egg
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
2 teaspoons honey
2/3 cup olive oil

Method:
• Microwave potatoes until tender. When cool, slice thickly.
• Place fish in frying pan. Cover with milk and water. Bring to boil, reduce heat. Simmer 5 minutes. Discard cooking liquid.
• Make creamy horseradish dressing. (Blend egg, horseradish and honey until combined. Slowly add oil until dressing thickens slightly).
• Microwave asparagus until tender. Drain. Rinse under cold water.
• Divide asparagus, onion, potato and fish among serving plates. Drizzle with dressing and garnish with dill/watercress.