Snapshots: Weeknight Cooking for Friends

For most of us, Mondays aren't usually welcomed with a smile. That's why it's good to do something special once in a while so you can look forward to the start of the week instead of spurning it. That's what I did this week and it certainly helped beat the Monday blues.

Shae, Dave, and their son Flynn came over for dinner and a touch of wine (Flynn's experience was sans wine, of course!) I decided took make two dishes I had been craving from the A16 cookbook, a favourite in this house: braised cannellini beans with garlic, marjoram and oregano; and pasta with homemade oven-dried tomatoes, garlic, and chili. Although I have to admit that, in retrospect, I probably should have served the beans first, followed by the pasta, and it would have been wise to include a salad of some sort. But hey, this was Monday. Surely I can be forgiven for serving two ridiculously filling dishes together...

Going in the oven for six hours

Love this Nero d'Avola

The tomatoes could have stayed in longer, but they turned out nicely and we all decided it was better they were still a bit juicy.

My toughest critic.

Flynn gave his seal of approval.

French Onion Soup With Homemade Chicken Stock

With the temperature dropping, albeit ever so slightly (after all, this is Brisbane not Melbourne!), a warmer meal seemed just the thing to welcome Autumn into our kitchen. Although Peter and I successfully used our turkey carcass to make a super rich French Onion Soup after Christmas last year, I decided to try out chicken this time. 

I made the stock alla Alice Waters, that is, by throwing the whole chicken into a large pot of water then removing the poached breasts an hour or so later for use in another dish. Use this method and you'll have a delicious, full-bodied broth. 

French Onion Soup with Homemade Chicken Stock

serves 4-6

For the stock:

1 whole free-range chicken (around 1.5 kilos), preferably organic

5 1/2 litres cold water, or thereabouts

2 garlic cloves

1 carrot, peeled and cut in half

1 celery stalk

1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

3-4 springs flat parsley

For the soup:

3 cups brown onion, thinly sliced

1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons flour

5 cups chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon brown sugar

1/4 cup dry white wine

1-2 tablespoons brandy

3-4 slices sourdough bread, cut into medium sized cubes

1-1 1/2 cups gruyere cheese, grated

salt and pepper to taste

To make the stock:

*Remember: After an hour or so of simmering pull the chicken out of the pot, remove the breasts, and return it back to the pot. You can use the breasts in another dish.*

Place the chicken in a large pot and pour in the cold water until the chicken is submerged. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Drop the heat immediately to low and gently simmer, making sure to skim off the foam, if any should rise to the surface. Don't let it boil for long or it will make the stock cloudy.

Add the carrot, celery, garlic, pepper, and flat leaf parsley to the pot.

Simmer uncovered for around 4 to 5 hours, remove the chicken, then strain and add salt to taste. Put the 5 cups needed for the soup aside and refrigerate or freeze the rest.

To make the soup:

1. Melt the butter with the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the sliced onion and cook slowly for around 15 minutes.

2. Add the brown sugar and salt and cook, covered, for around 30 minutes. Stir occasionally and keep an eye on them. You want the onions to caramelise and to become golden and soft.

3. Add the flour and stir the pot for a few minutes.

4. Pour in the broth and cook, stirring for another couple of minutes. Add the wine, then the salt and pepper to taste. Simmer, partially covered, for a further 30 minutes. Skim if needed. The soup should thicken a bit during this process. 

5. Add a tablespoon of brandy. Taste and add more accordingly. Cook for another minute.

6. Place a few cubes of bread into bowls and ladle the soup on top.

7. Sprinkle on the gruyere, and place under a broiler and brown until you get a golden, crispy layer on top. 

Just writing about this makes me crave it again. Enjoy!

Snapshots: Playing Catch Up

Well hello there, strangers. After neglecting my poor blog the last two weeks I figured I'd return with a photo-heavy post featuring snapshots taken since I last wrote. A lot has been happening lately, what with wedding preparations, my birthday, and a slew of other developments. It seems to have settled down a bit, which should mean I'll be back writing more regularly.

Now, on to the photos! 

These were taken during a recent visit to a very special restaurant in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland.

Deconstructed Black Forest Cake

Outside the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) along the Brisbane river. 

Peter, my friend Sasha, and I went along to Matisse Up Late where we sipped bubbly while attempting to draw live models (they succeeded, I did not) and wandered through the incredible Matisse exhibition.

Matisse was followed by Japanese at Sake

Gardening took up a lot of my time over the last couple weeks. Here's one of two gorgeous little magnolias blooming in front of our house.

Spider Lilies in our front garden

Over the holidays and the rain-filled month of January I let my garden get taken over by weeds. Up until this point I had been on top of it, keeping it pretty and respectable. But come February it was a jungle out there. Something just had to be done. 

I weeded, bought some sugar cane mulch, and got to work. I wish I had a before photo, that would make for a dramatic makeover effect, but alas, I only have the after shots.

Here's me getting my mulch on.

And voila! A complete success.

The rosemary is still going strong.

But I'm hoping to bring my marjoram and chives back from near death.

Peter's mother made a delicious lunch on my birthday...

which was followed by a yogurt and lemon cake

Later that evening Peter took me to Ortiga.

The jamón was super flavourful, a highlight of the night.

And here's Gustav Klimt's Judith I, a superb Valentine's Day gift.

Happy Presidents Day!

Spoon or No Spoon? How to Eat Pasta

When it comes to pasta, most of us still struggle to eat it with dignity. No matter how hard we try to twirl our pappardelle with ease and grace, it's inevitable that from time to time strands will dangle from our mouth to either be slurped up or spilled out. I don't see myself ever winning this battle with pasta, but at least I can succeed in using the right utensil(s) in my attempt.

So how are we to eat this Italian favourite? Spoon or no spoon?

I can't recall ever using a spoon to eat pasta until I went to a restaurant in London and was served one with my linguine. At 18, I just assumed I'd been doing it wrong all my life; using a fork against the dish was incorrect, it turned out. (Perhaps I had been served one back home at some point, but this was the first time I ever took note.) After my London experience I could take the spoon or leave it. If I was served one I'd use it, if not I never requested one. Of course, for many Americans, using a spoon with spaghetti is the norm. Why I wasn't taught this from my family, I'm not sure.

But, as it turns out, I should thank them. After conducting a bit of entertaining research, I discovered they were right. Perhaps I'm the last one to know the verdict on this one (and it goes without saying that this is a purely subjective debate), but proper etiquette dictates that using a spoon to eat one's pasta is a major faux pas (except in some very special situations, which I will get to later.)

A 1982 New York Times article carries my favourite quote about this debate. Three of Manhattan's top Italian restaurant owners met to discuss the dos and don'ts of eating pasta. And although there were some disagreements, their opinions on the matter of the spoon were one and the same.

"As to the use of a fork plus a spoon for eating pasta, all those at the table were adamant. Spoons are for children, amateurs and people with bad table manners in general." 

No beating around the bush here. Talk about a harsh, albeit hilarious, conclusion. The sheer frankness of this sentiment is to be admired.

Judith Martin (aka Miss Manners)

Etiquette guru Miss Manners has also weighed in. In response to a reader who asked about the proper way to eat pasta, Miss Manners offers this:

"Gentle Reader,
Properly speaking, pasta is twirled on the fork against the bottom of the plate, not against a spoon. But if the people to whom you refer really know manners, Miss Manners assures you that they would have been too polite -- or too intent on their own pasta -- to notice."

Nice answer, Miss Manners. She does a wonderful job of teaching good etiquette without passing judgement.

But for the reference with the most currency we go back to 16th century Italy when Giovanni Della Casa wrote the book (literally) on etiquette. Casa wrote a treatise on "politeness and delicacy of manners" in the 1550s, called Il Galateo (The Etiquette). In it he states the proper way to eat spaghetti is by twirling the fork to wrap the pasta around it (à la Miss Manners), without using a spoon. So there you go. 

But that's not the only rule he laid out for us. Here are a few other gems on proper decorum from Mr. Casa's book of rules, which are sure to trigger a laugh or two:

"It is also an inelegant custom, for anyone to apply his nose, by way of smelling, to a glass of wine, which another person is to drink... Since there is a possibility, at least, that his nose may drop upon it."

"When the table is cleared, to carry about your tooth-pick in your mouth , like a bird going to build his nest, or to stick it behind your ear, as a barber does his comb, is no very genteel custom."

"The habit of which some people have got of thrusting their hands into their bosoms, or handling any other part of their persons which is usually covered, is an obvious instance of indelicacy, and very improper."

So, if you've ever wondered why it's uncouth to put you hands down your pants in the presence of company, there you have it.

Back to the matter of the spoon, some people are so passionate about their hatred of spoons with pasta they started a Facebook group called the Anti-spoon Spaghetti Liberation Front. Seriously.

Still, there are some circumstances where a spoon is tolerated. "If your sauce is very liquid - a juicy primavera, a clam sauce - you might use a spoon to prevent splattering," acknowledges Luigi Nanni in the Times article.

On the other side of the debate is a blogger named Matty who loves pasta so much he writes a blog called pasta-blog.com. His take on using a spoon with pasta is somewhat different from the Times' sources. 

". . . let me tell you this: in Matty-world, there is only one way to eat long pasta, and that is with a fork and spoon. 

Thanks Matty, but I think I'll go with the experts (and the creators of pasta) on this one. Although, I should disclose that the writer of the Times article says at the end, "P.S. My own preferred technique for eating pasta? With fork and spoon. I won't be reconstructed."

Well, he was writing in the 1980s...

I guess the lesson learned is this: While it may be ruled that using a spoon is poor manners, I say that as long as you refrain from slurping (by far the most egregious behavior of them all), eat it however you wish. After all, if the choice is between using a spoon or wildly slurping up (and inevitably splattering) your bucatini, the former is far less offensive and embarrassing. 

And remember, however hard it may be, try, as best you can, to refrain from thrusting your hand into your bosom.

Snapshots: Australia Day

As requested in my previous post, the rain that was saturating Brisbane obeyed my order and went away. Weather reports claimed the city would be drenched through the weekend, which caused the cancelling of a number of Australia Day celebrations. But despite the meteorologists' predictions, yesterday was rain-free. I foolishly forgot to bring my camera to a friend's daytime Aussie barbecue, but remembered to snap a few at our place later in the evening. We threw an Australia-Day-Tennis-Watching-American-Pork-Rib-Eating get together at our place, for eight adults and three kids. As usual I neglected my camera most of the night, but still managed to take a few. 

From top to bottom:

1. The spicy and tangy marinade simmering away on the stove. We used half to marinate the ribs, and saved the rest so people could slather on more should they feel like it. (They did.)

2. Peter coating the pork ribs with the marinade. Select ingredients include honey, hoisin, worcestershire, onion, dijon, and chili.

3.  Dishing up the coleslaw, which was seasoned with whole-grain mustard, molasses, apple cider vinegar, and honey.  

4. The final product: coleslaw, pork ribs, and spicy barbecue beans with red kidney beans and bacon.

5. Some chilled Rose to go with my meal.

6. From top left to right: Shae, Flynn, Dave, Frances, Ben, and me