About That Curried Scallop Pie.....

You may recall that last week, I bought a Curried Scallop Pie at the Wednesday Farmer's Markets. It was my 'kick up my heels' treat on State of Origin night. Following the directions to the letter (not always easy for me, as you know), I popped the pie into the oven to heat.

Whilst I was waiting, I enjoyed the very last of my Fig Balsamic Vinegar, which I must confess, I have had so long (since visiting the USA in Nov 2004) that it had caramelised. I added those last few precious drops to some Macadamia Oil and used the slice of Fig & Pistachio Bread that Gabe had offered me from our market adventure, to mop it up. Delicious!

The pie on the other hand….Disappointing. It was certainly fresh and crisped well enough in the oven but it was just a bit of a let down. To begin with, the curry flavouring overwhelmed the delicate scallops. Not only was it too strong in flavour, it was quite intense in it's heat. There were certainly discernible scallops and roe in the pie as well as a few non descript vegetables but at six bucks as pop, I thought there should be a lot more scallops and a lot less sauce. I imagined I would be tucking into a pie chock full of scallops in a delicately spiced sauce but, alas, not.

So overall, a mixed bag last Wednesday night. The Fig & Pistachio Bread was a great find and I'll be off to buy some this week. I won't be spending another $6 on a pie though.

Fiona Channels Maggie Channels Elizabeth

Before we talk about the great recipe below, a word about the Cook and the Chef. You may have fallen out of love with it, started to find it a bit pedestrian or come to rely on it being there. Watch Out! This is the last season for Simon Bryant and Maggie Beer. Whilst Simon is sometimes a little too cute and Maggie's plates always look like they are from a grade 8 home economics class (though they taste nice), we'll no doubt look back with regret when they leave our TV screens at the end of the year. Now is a great time to re-connect as the major focus of this season is people who shaped what we eat today. The key theme is Australia but others creep in too. Lot's of fantastic 1960's - 1980's footage of people such as Maggie, Stephanie Alexander, Don Dunstan (!), Cheong Liew, Tetsuya, Gay & Tony Bilson and my personal fave, Charmaine Solomon.

Having said that, Maggie made a great dish a few weeks ago that I recently re-created because Anthony commented 'That looks nice'. I think he was more impressed by the height of the tart shell rather than the filling. Based on an Elizabeth David recipe (Tarte A' L 'Oignon - French Provincial Cooking and/or South Wind in the Kitchen), Maggie adapted slightly, using her Sour Cream Pastry and adding crispy bacon on top. I adapted by leaving out the bacon and using (gasp!) store bought shortcrust pastry as part of my 'it's all got to go as she cleans out the pantry before going O/S' push and including spinach. As someone who probably buys sour cream twice a year and cream once a year, this was certainly a big dose of lusciousness.

Recipe:
double quantity Sour Cream Pastry or other shortcrust
100g butter (I halved this and used a glug of oil)
750g brown onions
2 tablespoons chopped lemon thyme (omitted)
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
250ml cream
250ml crème fraiche (sour cream for me)
¼ cup chopped flat leaf parsley (substituted spinach)
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg (didn't have any so I didn't bother)

Preheat oven to 200C.
Line a 24cm spring-form pan with sour cream pastry and line with baking paper. Fill with beans or rice and blind bake for 10-15 minutes and remove beans. Bake for a further 5 minutes. Remove from oven.

Finely slice the onions and heat some butter in a heavy based pan. Cook the onions slowly in the butter until soft and slightly caramelized. I left these on for much longer than the specified 15 minutes as I wanted them to be highly caramelised (and I added a pinch of brown sugar for good luck). Cool and add the parsley (or spinach and the thyme if your using it)

Beat the eggs and egg yolks together then beat in the crème fraiche, cream, and nutmeg together. Add the onions to the bottom of the pastry case and pour the egg mixture over the top.

Bake for about 25 minutes at 190C. Cool for at least two hours, out of the fridge, before serving.
If you need to serve within half an hour of taking it from the oven, push the cooking time to around 35 minutes, then rest for 20-30 minutes.

It turned out very well indeed and my goodness, it was rich! If I was making it again, I would actually stir the onions through the custard before baking. They were fine on the bottom but there was no real reason not to have them mixed through to distribute the caramelised flavour. A little of this goes a long way so I'd suggest this would easily serve 6 at a dinner party (and you can pre-prepare).

Now - make sure you pencil in The Cook & The Chef for next Wednesday evening, 6.30pm.

Brisbane City Farmer's Market on Wednesdays

For a while now, I have been trying to visit the Farmer's Market that has sprung up in the CBD, but it seems there has always been something to thwart me. Often, I am not in Brisbane on a Wednesday and then there was the time it rained a month's worth in one day. A few weeks ago I accidentally ventured into the market as I was at that end of town but it was blowing a gale and stall holders had to make the difficult choice between holding their stalls down or accepting money from potential customers (they could let go of the stall to accept the money but this may have resulted in the whole stall blowing away).

Today, I slipped up the Mall with a couple of friends and did a full reconnaissance. Many of the stalls also sell at Jan Power's Farmers Market at the Powerhouse on Saturdays but it's been so long since I've ventured there that this is a very convenient substitute. Lots of fruit and veg options as well as the usual chutneys, sauces etc. A couple of good looking specialist meat stalls (Pork, Lamb, Venison) as well as some Qld caught seafood.

This week's goodie bag included:

• 3 limes for $1 - big and juicy and starting to yellow (when they are at their best)
• a small bag of baby organic capsicums for $2.50 - good for the solo capsicum eater in the house
• 300gm of small egg tomatoes for $3 - bigger than the small grape toms but smaller than the usual Roma toms. Again, good for the solo tomato eater in the house
• 2 olive & thyme small ciabatta for $4

The piece de resistance was my 'State of Origin' widow treat - a Curried Scallop Pie for $6. I was almost going to buy a Rabbit & Veg pie but the thoughts of succulent scallops in flaky pastry was just too much to resist. Not that I need a reason to buy good food, not that I'm even vaguely disappointed about having a Wednesday evening to myself. I'll be interested to see how this pie competes with the famous Scallop Pies from Tasmania......stay tuned.

Last time I bought some local bananas and a delicious bag of passionfruit as well as some incredibly fresh beans that are picked by volunteers with all profits going to the Fred Hollows Foundation. Whilst the market isn't huge and you may not be able to buy everything you want, if you are up that way, it's worth a look.

Jan Power's City Farmers Markets
every Wednesday 11am - 6pm
Reddacliffe Place (top of the Mall near the BCC building)
Queen St Mall, Brisbane

Dinner in Wooloowin

Yes - every weekend is busy and this one has been no exception. Last night we went to dinner at Robert & Bronlynn's, with Josie. It was a great night with lots of wining and dining. They were surprised when I pulled out the camera to take a shot of each of the courses as they did not think they were 'blog worthy'. Wrong! This blog is not just about the food I make or restaurants I visit - it's about all good food and last night's meal was very good.

After nibbles and champagne, it was on to the main that Robert had cooked - slow cooked lamb in a lemon sauce thickened with almonds. Finished off with olives, flat leaf parsley and couscous, it was very tasty indeed. It has been cooked in the Emile Henry Tagine and made the house smell absolutely delicious, when we arrived. A recipe from a card picked up in a supermarket apparently.....I thought the presentation looked great too.

Bronlynn followed up with a warm, rich sour cherry chocolate cake. She was a little disappointed as she thought it was too gooey in the middle and could have done with a few more minutes in the oven. Perhaps...but it was neither here nor there as the soft chocolate 'sauce' with the choc/cherry combination cake with the ice cream was wonderful. I wolfed mine down. A recipe from 'Who' magazine this time - they certainly use novel sources for their dinner party recipes. Again, the camera came out.

Finally, coffee, cheese and petit fours. In my ongoing endeavour to strip the pantry before going overseas, I melted a small amount of chocolate into some mini muffin tins and topped the discs with cranberry/pistachio and almond/apricot combinations. They looked pretty good if I do say so myself.

Great to go to dinner at someone else's house and sit around eating and enjoying lots of good wine, whilst some else does the hard yards. I'm hoping for more invitations from you all soon!

Fit For A Queen's Birthday

After a leisurely weekend of camping at Wivenhoe Dam, I came home with far too much food that should have been consumed over the weekend but wasn't - due to Bronlynn's and my reputation for never knowingly under catering. I had more than a few items that had been exposed to minimal refrigeration and were starting to show distress after being carted back and forth. The best option was to whip up some multi purpose muffins -I always use the recipe from the Family Circle Recipe Encyopedia as it's quick and relatively low in fat. (recipe below)

As per usual, I strayed rapidly from the recipe. In the end, to the basic mix I added an extra portion of 'fat' in the form of a glug of oil, a grated zucchini, a handful of chopped olives, a small tin of drained corn niblets, a handful of leftover feta cheese and a pinch of sumac + cheese on top. I decided to cook it as a loaf rather than muffins so the cooking time was around 40mins. It could have done with a little longer as it's slightly on the moist side but I know it will toast well over the next few days, to have with soup at lunch time (the weather has taken on a decided chill over the past 24hrs). I've already had 2 pieces and it's delicious with a great, cheesy crunch on top!

Basic Muffin Mix:

• 1 & 3/4 cups of SR Flr
• 1tspn baking powder
• 1tspn salt
  
• 1 egg
• 50gm butter melted
• 3/4 cup milk

Melt butter (in the microwave), add milk and mix to cool, add egg and mix again. Add to sifted dry ingredients. This is you basic muffin mix - but ready to be amped up by lovely sweet or savoury additions. Bake at 200c for 20 - 25 mins (makes 12)