AN ITALIAN SPRING MENU – the food dept.'s food story with Luca's recipes.

This month we take inspiration from Italy with some fresh new Spring recipes from Milanese chef and friend Luca Ciano.  Luca's enthusiasm for food and people is contagious and loves to share beautiful recipes, stories and tips for creating authentic Italian meals. If you have ever wanted to learn how to cook like an Italian, Luca often travels around Australia and Asia doing cooking classes and demonstrations. Contact Luca through his website for details. 

For now please enjoy the food dept.'s food story with Luca's recipes.

Orecchiette pasta with spicy n’duja with asparagus and fresh ricotta

This is an easy pasta to make mid week for your family. N’duja is a spicy, soft, spreadable salami available from good Italian delis. You can substitute this salami for any salami of your liking.

PREP 20min COOKING TIME 5min SERVES 4-6

• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

• 3 spring onion, cut into 3cm lengths

• 3 garlic cloves, bruised with skin on

• 2 bunches of asparagus, cut into 1cm lengths (tips kept separate)

• salt and pepper, for seasoning

• 350g Orecchiette pasta

• 1 punnet ripe, grape tomatoes, halved

• 100g n’duja (salami), broken into 1cm pieces

• 10 leaves, fresh oregano

• 150g fresh ricotta

• 50g dry salted ricotta

1. Bring plenty of salted water to the boil (about 7g salt to 1 Litre water)

2. Heat oil in a large frying pan, then add spring onions and cook for 3 minutes, then add garlic and cook for 2 minutes, then add asparagus (not the tips) and cook for further 2 minutes, add salt and pepper.

3. Drop pasta in the water and cook accordingly to packet’s instruction and 2 minutes before draining add the asparagus tips into the pasta water.

4. Meanwhile, add tomatoes to the sauce and cook for 3 minutes, then add n’duja and cook for 2 minutes.

5. Drain pasta and asparagus tips when al dente, reserving ½ cup of cooking water, and toss with the sauce for 1 minute. Add a little cooking water if needed to loosen the pasta.

6. Remove from the heat and add oregano and fresh ricotta, stir to combine.

7. Serve with a sprinkle of salted ricotta, cracked pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.

Steamed zucchini flower with ricotta, zucchini pesto and toasted almonds

Is there an Italian restaurant that doesn't serve zucchini flowers? Stay in and cook your own, this recipes is wonderfully light and delicious.
PREP 20min COOKING TIME 5min SERVES 4

• 300g fresh ricotta

• 4 anchovies in oil, drained, finely chopped

• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

• salt and pepper, for seasoning

• 12 small zucchini, flowers attached

• 10 large basil leaves

• 1 tablespoon pine nuts

• ½ garlic clove

• ½ cup grated grana Padano or other Parmigiano Reggiano

• juice of ½ lemon

• 1/3 cup flaked almonds, toasted

1. Mix together ricotta, anchovies and 1 tablespoon of oil until smooth. Season.

2. Remove flowers from zucchini. Split open one side of flowers and, using fingertips, gently remove stamens. Fill flowers with ricotta mixture and gently twist ends to enclose.

3. Chop zucchini and place in a food processor with basil, pine nuts and garlic. Pulse until finely chopped. Add remaining oil and process until smooth. Add Grana Padano and lemon juice and pulse to combine. Season.

4. Lay filled zucchini flowers in a bamboo steamer. Steam, covered, over a pan of gently simmering water for 2-3 mins, until filling is firm.

5. Place 2-3 tablespoons of zucchini pesto onto each serving plate. Top with zucchini flowers and scatter with toasted almonds.

Tuscan panzanella with rosemary marinated prawns and pancetta

PREP 20min, plus overnight COOKING TIME 5min SERVES 4

• 16 medium green prawns, med size, peeled, leaving tails intact and de-veined

• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped

• pepper, for seasoning

• 1 spring of rosemary

• ½ punnet cherry tomatoes, squashed to release juices

• ½ telegraph cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced

• ¼ red onion, diced

• 1/3 cup black olives, torn in half and pitted

• 2 slices of stale bread, 1cm diced and ‘soaked’ in water for 1 second

• 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar or white wine vinegar

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

• extra, 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

• sea salt, for seasoning

• ½ cup of white wine

• 100gr store bought Basil Pesto Genovese

1. Marinate the prawns with 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, garlic, pepper, and rosemary overnight.

2. In a large bowl combine tomatoes and the juices, cucumber, red onion, olives and bread. Add remaining oil and vinegar and season. Stir very well till all ingredients blend nicely together.

3. In a large frying pan, heat the butter and the extra 1 tablespoon of oil, cook the marinated prawns for 2-3 minutes, add salt then add wine and let evaporate.

Remove from heat.

4. Divide the panzanella into 4 plates, garnish with 4 prawns in each plate and drizzle a little Basil Pesto Genovese

Ricotta and saffron fritters with watercress and asparagus salad

PREP 20min COOKING TIME 5min SERVES 4-6

• 400g fresh ricotta

• 100g plain flour

• 2 truss tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus 1/3 cup extra for dressing

• 0.5 gr saffron threads, soaked in 1 teaspoon water

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• pinch of ground nutmeg

• salt and pepper, for seasoning

• 2 bunches asparagus, ends trimmed

• 1 bunch watercress, sprigs picked

• finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon

• 1 litre frying oil

1. Mix together ricotta, flour, tomato, egg, olive oil, saffron and water, baking powder and nutmeg. Season. Cover and chill for 15 mins.

2. Meanwhile, using a vegetable peeler, shave the asparagus into ribbons. Place in a bowl with watercress. Whisk together lemon juice and extra olive oil and season. Add dressing to the salad and toss to combine.

3. Heat vegetable oil in a large shallow pan until 180C or until a cube of bread sizzles on contact. Spoon 3 heaped tablespoons of ricotta mixture around edge of pan. Shallow-fry for 3-4 mins, until cooked through. Drain. Repeat to make 18 fritters, reheating oil between batches.

4. Place the fritter on the watercress and asparagus salad, serve.

Thank you! We would like to thank Luca Ciano for his generosity and for creating these wonderful recipes for the food dept. Thanks for hanging out with us on the shoot day, you have been a dream to work with. We hope you love the pics!

AN ALL AMERICAN DINER DESSERT - the food dept. have photographed and produced a recipe developed escpecially for us by mega food blogger Naomi Robinson from Baker's Royale

the food dept. and Baker's Royale join forces to create this food feature
This post is super exciting for the food dept. and a first for us! So who is Baker's Royale you ask? Baker's Royale is an American food blogger Naomi Robinson, who recipe develops, styles and photographs her beautiful baked treats on her blog Bakers Royale. She is also a working Mum and wife, so she really is an inspiration to everyone. This little baker didn't eat a real cupcake until she was a teenage, grew up on Jiffy’s blueberry muffin mix and doesn't like perfume. Yet Naomi bakes fragrant cakes such as lavender honey cupcakes, and rose cupcakes so go figure. This duplicity, her everyday musings, and breath taking food photography, make her blog totally addictive and clearly very successful.

For the food dept.'s American diner food feature, Naomi has developed a melt-in-your-mouth banana split whoopie pie recipe. We wanted an all American dessert recipe for our diner story and we have all admired Naomi's blog for some time, so she seemed the perfect fit. Lucky for us, she said yes! Check out her awesome 8 layer, Coconut and mango cake, (she also likes to smash things a little). Her tuxedo cake is super cute as well, for its name, and the sweet image. 

For anyone who aspires to be a food blogger or make their blog better, Naomi has generously written for the food dept. some cool tips and tricks to making your food blog a success.

Bakers Royale Top 5 blogging tips:
1. Find your voice and style, while this may not happen immediately, it will happen more quickly the more you blog. There are a lot of excellent food blogs, with crazy good recipes and awesome pictures, but the ones that have me coming back regularly are the ones that have a distinct voice and photography style.
2. Hone your craft, and take measured risks to grow. By measured I mean, know why you are doing something different, rather than just trying to be different. I tend to gravitate to blogs that take risks with their craft and switch things up, especially their photography. 
3. This is a philosophy that I blog by and live by, “Take your work and craft seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously.”
4. Embrace the food blogging community and use social media as much as you can. It’s a great place to connect, make friends and learn from your peers.
5. Know your ability and measure your success to it. I know this is common sense, but it’s something I forget sometimes and it causes me undue frustration.

For more cool tips.

Banana split whoopie pies

I know it seems long but there are essentially 3 components to making this recipe. Firstly the whoopie cake then the 2 fillings, the banana pastry cream and Swiss meringue buttercream and lastly the chocolate glaze. For image

Whoopie cake
• 245g all-purpose flour (2 ¼ cup flour)
• 75 g light brown sugar (1/2 cup, lightly packed)
• 5g baking powder (1 teaspoon)
• 105g sour cream (1/2 cup)
• 5g baking soda (1 teaspoon)
• 45g egg (1 large egg)
• 5g vanilla extract (1 teaspoon)
• 95ml vegetable oil (1/2 cup)

• 85ml carbonated water (1/2cup)

1. Sift flour, brown sugar and baking powder in a bowl; set aside.
2. In second bowl fold baking soda and sour cream until combined; set aside.
3. Place egg, vanilla extract and vegetable oil in a bowl and whisk until well
combined and mixture is slightly emulsified. Add in sour cream mixture and
whisk until combined. Add carbonated water and whisk until combined.
4. Combine flour mixture with wet mixture fold to combine.
5. Transfer mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a round tip and pipe onto a
parchment line bake sheet.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Banana pastry cream
• ½ cup plus 1 ½ cup of whole milk
• ½ cup cornstarch
• 1 large egg
• 3 large egg yolks
• ¾ cups of banana, mashed (about two medium bananas)
• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoon sugar
• pinch of salt

• 4 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoon vanilla
Whipped cream
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ½ cup confectioner sugar

1. Combine ½ cup milk and cornstarch stir to dissolve. Add in whole egg, egg yolks and bananas and beat until well combined; set aside. Prepare an ice bath; set aside.
2. Combine remaining milk with sugar and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove saucepan from heat and transfer mixture to a new pan to reduce any residual heat. Set aside and cool milk mixture for 5 minutes.
3. Slowly add egg mixture into cooked milk mixture, stirring constantly so the eggs do not curdle..  Return mixture to stovetop and stir vigorously until mixture comes to a boil. Continue to stir until the whisk leaves a trail in the pastry cream, about 5-7 minutes. Once pastry cream reaches this stage, remove saucepan from heat and stir in butter and vanilla extract. Transfer the saucepan to the ice bath. Stir occasionally until pastry cream is cool about 30 minutes.
4. Place heavy cream and confectioner sugar in a chilled stainless bowl. Using a hand mixer beat until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
5. Once banana pastry cream has cooled, combine 1 part whipped cream to 2 parts banana pastry cream.

Bakers Royale note: The filling is a diplomat crème—a combination of pastry cream and whipped cream. You can skip the whipped cream and just use the banana pastry cream. But keep in mind the banana cream will have a greyish tint to it. Making the filling as a diplomat creme will help to lighten the color, since adding any yellow food coloring to banana pastry cream seems to give it a mustard color.
Frosting (Swiss meringue buttercream)
Can be made up in advance and kept refrigerated until ready for use. Place on counter to bring to room temperature (do not mircorwave)

• 5 large egg whites
• 11/2 cup sugar
• 4 sticks unsalted butter, sliced and softened
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Combine egg whites and sugar in a stand mixer bowl and place it over (not on) simmering water. Heat mixture to 160 degrees F while whisking constantly.
2. Transfer mixer bowl to stand mixer, fitted with a whisk attachment and beat on medium high speed (speed 8 on a KitchenAid stand mixer) until mixture cools, doubles in volume and forms stiff peaks; about 10-12 minutes.
3. Add butter in one piece at a time, mixing to incorporate after each addition. The mixture may appear clumpy and almost curdled looking at first—this is normal. Keep mixing and it will become even and smooth again.

Chocolate glaze
Can be made up in advance and kept refrigerated until ready for use. Reheat to pouring consistency

• 7 oz. chocolate, 65% cacao
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 10 tablespoons powdered sugar, sifted
• 4-5 tablespoons water, warm

1. Place chocolate and heavy cream in a bowl over simmering water. Let chocolate and cream sit for 2-3 minutes to melt without stirring. Then stir mixture to combine. Add confectioner sugar and mix to combine, mixture will clumpy. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing after each addition until pouring consistency is reached. Push mixture through a sieve to avoid any clumps
Set aside and let sauce cool to warm.
Assembly
2. Place frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a round tip. Pipe frosting along the bottomside
perimeter of one whoopie cake. Fill center with banana filling. Place a second whoopie cake
bottomside down on top of filling.
3. Place assembled whoopie pie on a grated rack with a bowl fitted underneath (to catch excess chocolate). Drizzle chocolate glaze on top. Dust top with sprinkles. Place a small dollop of frosting on and garnish with a maraschino cherry. 

TAKE A BOOTH SEAT at the food dept.'s American diner. A beef burger, cherry cola float and would you like fries with that?

The Food Dept.'s Beef Burger with Spicy Ketchup and Mustard Mayonnaise

This is our take on what you might find in an American diner. Nothing beats a beaut burger! Of course if you want to make it more Aussie you could add beetroot, pineapple and fried egg…

Makes 8 burgers.

• 1 kg freshly minced chuck steak

• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped continental parsley
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning
• 8 rashers of streaky bacon
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 8 slices Colby cheese
• ½ cup whole egg mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons American mustard
• 8 seeded burger buns, split in half
• 8 oak leaf lettuce leaves, washed
• 2 large vine ripened tomatoes, thickly sliced
• ½ cup Homemade spicy ketchup

1. Combine the mince, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and parsley in a bowl. Using your hands mince the ingredients together and divide onto 8.
2. Gently pass the balls of mince from hand to hand until they form a firm ball. Push the balls down to 2cm thick, season both sides of the patties with salt and pepper and set aside.
3. Heat a bbq plate or large frying pan and cook the rashers of bacon until browned and crispy, set aside and keep warm.
4. Add oil to the bbq or pan and cook the burger patties for approximately 5 minutes on each side for medium. Turn and cook for 5 minutes on the other side. Remove and put onto a plate, place a slice of cheese on each patty and lightly cover with foil. Allow to rest in a warm place for five minutes.
5. While the burgers are resting combine the mayonnaise and mustard in a small mixing bowl, set aside.
6. Toast the inside of the hamburger buns until golden. Spread the inside of the buns with mustard mayonnaise.
7. Top the bun base with lettuce, slices of tomato and then the beef patty. Top with a rasher of bacon and Homemade spicy ketchup. Serve immediately.

food dept. fact: You can make your own chuck steak mince if you like. Trim any sinew from the chuck steak, leaving the fat. The fat will keep the patties juicy, tender and full of flavour. Cut into 2 cm cubes and freeze for 30 minutes. Pulse in your food processor until coarsely minced. More or less depending on how you like your burgers.

Spicy Homemade Ketchup

This makes a delicious spicy ketchup with smokey flavours from the paprika, but you can also use your favourite  store bought ketchup too.

Makes 800ml.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• ½ teaspoon smokey paprika
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 x 400g cans tomatoes
• 1 large red chilli, seeded and chopped (optional)
• 1 x 140g tub tomato paste
• ½ cup brown sugar

• ¼ cup cider vinegar

• 1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
• 1 bay leaf

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over and medium heat and sauté the onion and garlic  until transparent but not browned.
2. Add the ground spices and sauté for 1-2 minutes or until the spices become fragrant.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer, cook for 15 minutes or until thickened to a spoonable consistency, remove the bay leaf and discard.
4. Using a stick blender, blend the ketchup until smooth.  Pour into sterialzed jars and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.

The Food Dept.'s Chips Cooked Three Times with Chipotle, Coriander, and Lime Salt

These tasty chips may not be the traditional diner frogs legs or French fries, but they are definately mighty fine!
Serves 6-8.

• 2 tablespoons salt flakes

• finely grated rind, 1 lime

• 2 tablespoons coriander leaves

• 1 dried chipotle chilli, or more, to taste

• 1 kg desiree or bintji potatoes

• 1 litre vegetable oil

1. To make the flavoured salt, preheat the oven to 150°C (300F)  Combine the salt flakes, lime rind, coriander leaves and chipotle chilli on a lined baking tray.

2. Bake in the oven for 15 minute, turn off the oven and allow to stand in the warm oven until cool.

3. Remove and discard the stem from the chipotle chilli and place the chilli into a small food processor. Process until finely ground, add the salt, lime and coriander leaves and process until all ingredients are ground together.

4. Store in a jar until ready to use, keeps for up to 6 months.

5. To make the fries, peel the potatoes and cut them lengthways into 1½ cm chips.  Rinse well in cold water to remove any excess starch, drain and dry with a clean tea towel.

6. Steam the chips for 15 minutes until the chips are partially cooked. Remove from the steamer, spread onto a lined tray until cool and dry.

7. Heat oil in a wok or large saucepan until 170°C (325F) and fry the chips for 5 minutes, they should not have any colour at this stage. Drain on paper towel.

8. Just before serving reheat the oil to 190°C (375F). Fry the chips in batches until golden brown, drain on paper towel and sprinkle with the chipotle, lime and coriander salt. Serve immediately.


Reuben Sandwich with Spicy Russian Mayonnaise and Garlic and Dill Pickles

Makes 8 Reuben sandwiches.

• 1 x 1.2kg piece corned beef

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

• 2 tablespoons malt vinegar

• 1 onion, halved

• 1 bay leaf

• 8 peppercorns

• 1 whole orange

• ½ cup whole egg mayonnaise

• 1 tablespoon chili sauce (vary the quantity to suit your taste and the strength of chilli sauce you have)

• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion

• 16 slices rye bread, for serving

• butter, for spreading

• 1 packet or 400g can sauerkraut, rinsed and well drained

• 8 slices Swiss cheese

• 1 quantity Dill and garlic pickles

1. Rinse the piece of corned beef and pat dry with paper towel. Place the meat into a large pot with the brown sugar, malt vinegar, onion, bay leaf , peppercorns and orange. Add enough water to just cover the meat and bring to the boil over a high heat. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 1¼ to 1½ hours or until the meat is tender when tested. Remove form the heat and allow the meat to cool in the cooking liquid.

2. Make the Russian mayonnaise by combining the whole egg mayonnaise with the chilli sauce, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and onion, set aside.

3. Drain the meat, pat dry and remove any fat. Cut the meat into 3-4mm thick slices, set aside.

4. Spread the rye bread slices with butter on one side. Place half of the bread slices butter side down onto a board and spread with the Russian mayonnaise. Divide the meat slices evenly between the sandwiches top with sauerkraut and Swiss cheese. Spread Russian mayonnaise on the inside of the remaining bread slices and top the sandwiches, butter side out.

5. Heat a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and place the sandwiches into the pan.

6. Cook for 7-10 minutes each side or until the rye bread has toasted and the filling is hot. Serve with Dill and garlic pickles.

the food dept. fact: Cook the meat the day before to save time. It is also best to have all of the sandwich fillings at room temperature before assembling, this will make sure that you have a piping hot centre in your Reuben sandwich when its cooked.

Garlic and Dill Pickles

Makes 2 x 500g jars.

• 2 x 250g packets baby cucumber

• iced water

• 2 cloves garlic, sliced

• ½ cup dill sprigs

• 2 cups water

• 2 tablespoons salt flakes

• ¼ cup white vinegar

• 2 tablespoons sugar

1. Place the baby cucumbers into a large bowl filled with iced water. Allow the cucumbers to stand for an hour to crisp them so that you get a crunchy pickle.

2. Drain the cucumbers and pack into sterilized jars with garlic slices and dill sprigs.

3. Combine the 2 cups water, salt , vinegar and sugar in a large jug, stir until the salt and sugar have dissolved.

4. Pour into the jars until the cucumbers are covered.

5. Seal the jars and store in the refrigerator for 1-2 days before eating and then they will keep for 2 weeks in the refrigerator

The Food Dept.'s Cherry Vodka Cola Float

Dessert as a drink! What a great way to end a fun ‘diner’ meal.

• 300g fresh or frozen cherries

• 300ml good quality vodka

• vanilla ice cream

• cola

1. Place the frozen cherries into a sterilized jar and pour over the vodka. If the cherries are icey you can give them a quick rinse under cold water to remove any excess ice - you don’t want to water down the vodka.

2. Pour over the vodka and seal the jar, allow to stand in a cool dark place for at least a week, giving the jar a gentle shake every few days.

3. Once the vodka has had a chance to stand for at least a week it is ready to use. Place 2 tablespoons cherry vodka and a few of the cherries into a tall serving glass, add a scoop of ice cream then top with as little or as much cola as you like, we recommend ½ cup.

4. Give it a gentle stir and serve immediately.

the food dept. fact: We used frozen cherries for this recipe because they are available all year but you can of course use fresh cherries when in season. Pit the cherries or leave them whole and just split them down the side, if you leave the pit in, it will give the vodka a slightly bitter, nutty flavour.

Recipe: Sally Courtney.

SHARE DESSERT - One more recipe for you to share with friends this weekend

Baked rhubarb served with macadamia crumble and vanilla ice cream

Serves 8

• 3 bunches rhubarb (approximately 1.5kg), trimmed and cut on the diagonal into 10cm pieces

• 1 cup raw sugar

• 1 cup apple juice

• 1 vanilla pod, scraped

• 1 cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped

• 1 cup shredded coconut

• ½ cup brown sugar

• 40 g butter, room temperature

• ½ cup plain flour

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• vanilla ice cream, for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 180C (360F). Spread the rhubarb pieces evenly over the base of 2 large baking dishes, sprinkle the raw sugar and apple juice evenly between the 2 trays. Add half of the vanilla pod and seeds to each tray and give them a gentle stir.

2. Loosely cover with foil and set aside.

3. To make the crumble, combine the nuts, coconut, brown sugar, butter, flour and cinnamon in a medium mixing bowl, rub together gently with your finger tips and then sprinkle over a lined baking tray.

4. Place the rhubarb and crumble trays into the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes. The rhubarb should be tender but not falling apart and the crumble should be golden brown.

5. Serve the rhubarb and its syrup piled into a serving dish, the crumble on the side and a tub of the best quality vanilla ice cream. Let your guests assemble their own deconstructed rhubarb crumble with ice cream.

food dept. fact: Any left over crumble can be stored in an airtight container in the pantry for up to a month. Why not try stirring it through softened ice cream and serve with caramelized apples for another great winter dessert.

Recipes: Sally Courtney.

A SHARED TABLE - the food dept. take inspiration from the farmers market to create a gorgeous menu for your family and friends to share.

 

Great food starts with good fresh produce. Here at the food dept., we are committed to using the best produce we can find locally, often, it comes from a farmers market. Avid market goers, Sally and Anne Marie, are regulars at the Lane cove farmers market, so when Lisa from your local markets approached the food dept. to collaborate, we simple had to do a food feature on winter vegetables.

Shopping at a local food market is one of life's simple pleasures, the colour, the aroma, the buzz of the markets are absolutley addictive and buying food directly from a grower is terribly satisfying. It is also an inexpensive way to experiment with a seasonal vegetable, fruit or herb you may not have tried before. With a box of amazing fresh vegies, Sally set about creating a lunch menu for you to simple plate up and put on a table to share with your family and friends. This weekend why not head to your local market, have a chat to a stall holder, find our more about what you are buying and enjoy cooking with the food dept.

the food dept.'s
Shared table menu 

•

Spinach soup with crispy prosciutto and toasted sourdough crumbs

•

Roasted spiced pumpkin with tahini lemon dressing 

• 

Slow roasted balsamic lamb shanks with cauliflower puree 

•  

Winter leaf and apple salad with crispy quinoa and cider vinegar Dijon dressing

Spinach soup with crispy prosciutto and toasted sourdough crumbs

This recipe is a mean green fighting machine! 
Serves 6-8

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 150g thinly sliced prosciutto, roughly torn
• 40g butter
• 2 leeks, trimmed, cleaned and thinly sliced
• 1 brown onion, finely diced
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 large bunches (approximately 750g) English spinach, trim off roots and rinse
• 1 litre chicken stock
• 1 cup pouring cream
• 1 quantity Toasted sourdough crumbs

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and fry the pieces of prosciutto until brown and crispy, drain on paper towel and set aside for serving.
2. Add the butter to the pan and sweat down the leeks, onion and garlic over a low heat  for 10 minutes or until very soft.
3. Add the spinach and stock and bring to the boil. Cook for 5 minutes until the spinach has wilted down and is cooked.
4. Using a stick blender, blend the spinach into a puree and add the cream.
5. Season to taste and bring back to a simmer before serving topped with the crispy prosciutto and Toasted sourdough crumbs.

Toasted sourdough crumb
• 1 clove garlic

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 slices wholegrain sour dough
• salt flakes, to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Place the peeled garlic clove in the bowl of a processor and blitz until finely chopped.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and blitz until the bread is a rough crumb.
3. Spread onto a baking tray and bake for 5-7 minutes or until golden and crisp. Use as required.

Thank you: KitchenAid supplied us with a hand blender which we used to prepare this soup.

Spiced Roasted Pumpkin with Tahini Lemon Dressing

This is a warming winter vegetable accompaniment or try it served on a bed of greens to turn a salad into a meal or see the food dept. tip below and use it to top a pizza.

Serves 8.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 cloves garlic, peeled

• 1 teaspoon salt flakes

• 2 teaspoons coriander seeds

• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds

• 1 teaspoon chilli flakes, or to taste

• 1 teaspoon sumac

• 1 kg winter pumpkins any variety you like, cut into uniform wedges, seeds removed

• ¾ cup natural yogurt

• 2 tablespoons unhulled tahini

• juice 1 lemon

• 2 teaspoons honey

• salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

• 1 -2 tablespoons water

• ½ cup coriander sprigs

  

1. Preheat the oven to 190C (375F). Combine the olive oil, garlic, salt and spices in a food processor and process until spices are crushed and garlic is chopped.

2. Spread the oil and spice mix evenly over the wedges of pumpkin and arrange in a single layer in a large baking dish.

3. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender when tested.

4. While the pumpkin is baking combine the yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, honey and salt and pepper in a bowl, whisk to combine. The tahini may thicken the yogurt, use the water to thin to a drizzling consistency.

5. Once the pumpkin is cooked arrange on a serving platter and drizzle with the tahini dressing, sprinkle over the coriander sprigs. Serve warm or at room temperature.

food dept. fact: Sally had some of this divine pumpkin left over – hard to believe! So she made pizza by sprinkling a pizza base with small chunks of pumpkin, some goats feta and a drizzle with olive oil. Bake in a hot oven and once cooked spoon on some of the tahini dressing and top with coriander!

Slow Roasted Balsamic Lamb Shanks with Cauliflower Puree

Serves 8.

• ¼ cup seasoned plain flour

• 8 lamb shanks, French trimmed

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 20g butter

• 16 eschallots, peeled

• 2 bunches fresh garlic bulbs, trim the stems and halve horizontally

• 2 cups red wine

• ¾ cup balsamic vinegar

• 1 cup beef stock

• ¼ cup tomato paste

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

• 6 sprigs rosemary

• 1 qty Cauliflower puree

1. Preheat the oven to 150C (300F). Place the seasoned flour on a plate and coat the lamb shanks.

2. Heat the oil in a large, shallow, oven proof, casserole dish over a medium heat and brown the lamb shanks a few at a time until they are evenly browned. Set aside.

3. Reduce the heat and add the butter to the casserole dish. Once the butter has melted add the eschallots and cook for 5 minutes until they have a little colour and begin to soften.

4. Add the lamb shanks back to the casserole and add the garlic bulbs. Pour over the red wine, balsamic vinegar and beef stock.

5. Gently stir through the tomato paste, brown sugar and rosemary sprigs.

Bring to the boil over a high heat. Once boiling, remove from the heat and cover the casserole with the lid. Place in the oven and cook for 1 hour, remove from the oven and turn the lamb shanks, return to the oven and cook for another 1 hour or until the lamb is tender.

6. Once the lamb is cooked check the consistency of the sauce, if it’s too thin, remove the lamb and eschallots, keep warm, then simmer the sauce over a medium heat until  it reduces to the desired consistency.

Serve with Cauliflower puree.

food dept. fact: Any left over lamb can be pulled from the bone, shredded and tossed with the sauce through some torn fresh pasta sheets or pappadelle.

Cauliflower puree

• 1 head cauliflower, approximately 1kg, cut into even size flowerets, 3-4cm

• 1/3 -1/2 cup cream

• 20g butter

• 1 teaspoon salt flakes

1. Steam the cauliflower for 20 minutes or until very tender.

2. Place into a blender with 1/3 cup cream, butter and salt.  Carefully blend the cauliflower until very smooth, being careful with blender as the cauliflower will be hot and can cause the lid of the blender to pop off and hot cauliflower to spray everywhere. To avoid this let it cool slightly and then hold the lid of the blender on with a tea towel and turn it from low to high very slowly.

3. Adjust the thickness of the puree with extra cream if needed, it should the consistency of mashed potato.

Winter Leaf and Apple Salad with Crispy Quinoa and Cider Vinegar Dijon Dressing

This salad looks beautiful served on one large platter or try serving individual bowls of salad in a selection of  pretty side dishes.

Serves 8.

• ½ cup multi coloured quinoa

• ¾ cup water

• pinch salt

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

• ¼ cup cider vinegar

• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

• 1 teaspoon honey

• salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

• 3 witlof, broken into individual leaves

• 1 small radicchio, broken into pieces

• 2 handfuls wild rocket

• 2 gala apples or any other red winter apples

• ½ bunch continental parsley, broken into springs

1. Place the quinoa, water and salt in a saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes. Drain any excess water from the quinoa. (see The Food Dept. tip below)

2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium high heat and fry the quinoa for 7-8 minutes until golden brown and crispy, it will crackle as it cooks. Remove from the frying pan and allow to cool.

3. Combine the extra virgin olive oil, cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey and salt and pepper in a jar and shake to combine the dressing, set aside.

4. Arrange the winter greens – witlof, radicchio and rocket, on a serving platter.

5. Core the apples and cut into slices toss with 1 tablespoon of the dressing to prevent browning and then arrange over the greens. Sprinkle over the quinoa and top with a scattering parsley sprigs and a drizzle of the dressing, serve immediately.

food dept. fact: When cooking quinoa to fry, use much less water than you normally would to cook it, that way it dries out more quickly when you fry it and becomes crispy – Yum!

Thank you to Lisa from your local markets for being so wonderfully helpful and delightful to work with.

Most of our beautiful produce came from one of the Lane cove market stallholders Rita’s Farm Fresh Produce. Rita and her family have a farm in Kemp's creek and every Sunday they deliver and sell wonderful fresh organic produce to the market. Anne Marie has watched their produce grow and change with the seasons, but one thing is for sure, their kale is always available and is fresh and beautiful every week.

Rita’s Farm Fresh Produce