Series Two: Part Thirteen - Coquilles St. Jacques a la parisienne & l'espadon a la provencale

Napier - fishing boats

Napier  - the seductive nature of the sea, the plentiful supply of fresh fish, a warm autumnal day... after a morning of  shopping for a ball dress and other life essential items for the daughters it was time to get the necessary ingredients for this weekend's Julia's recipe. Caroline had "THE" book in hand as we had a reflective pause at Pandora pond (Napier) - a magical estuary which includes a walk way and a well utilised swimming spot. Just across the road is  a seafood supply shop where we purchased scallops and swordfish. Before leaving for home we acknowledged the now rested fishing boats in the harbour, which had previously been working hard to capture the goods we now carried back to our abode.

I have fond memories of my first introduction to scallops at my Grandfather's 60th birthday dinner at the "Tennyson restaurant" in Napier. I was quite intrigued with these small squishy like blobs although my young palate didn't appreciate the delights within.

I chose to use Julia's scallops and mushrooms in white wine sauce recipe. The scallops and mushrooms are added to a simmering concoction of wine, shallots, bay leaf and s&p. The scallops and mushrooms are removed after 5 minutes and the liquid is reduced down to one cup. The preparation of the sauce parisienne is followed with the final assembly being a blend of the sauce and scallop and mushroom mix. Imke, who had just emerged from the depths of her study gave it the thumbs up.

The scallops were followed by a return to Provence, with  Swordfish steaks in wine, tomatoes and herbs.The swordfish was firstly marinated in lemon juice and salt before being panned fried in hot olive oil to brown on both sides. A tomato, herb spread was smeared on top of the fish and the dish was allowed to simmer away. The separation of the fish and sauce occurred to allow for some further reduction of the sauce and the addition of tomato paste and parsley. I must admit I consciously made the decision not to add further butter (the scallops had their fair share!) - and voila the dish was served, accompanied with potatoes and vegetables. All family members ate this dish with relish despite the traditional groan from eldest daughter that I had ruined perfectly good fish by adding a sauce! However I had redeemed myself as a mother by having a great day out in Napier!



Caroline with Julia at Pandora pond

Imke sampling the scallops

Swordfish

Series Two: Part Twelve - Ratatouille

Auguste Gusteau claims... "Anyone can cook" ..
(Lewis, B. (producer); Bird, B (director); "Ratatouille" 2007 Walt Disney Studios)




... a great vote of confidence to all. Ratatouille is one of those great Disney films that you can watch multiple times with appeal to all ages. I took particular interest in the serving of the ratatouille dish to compare notes with Julia's recipe. On further investigation the magnificent stack of eggplant, zucchini and tomato that Linguini and Remy the rat serve to the restaurant critic, Anton Ego, is actually a dish referred to as Confit Byaldi.




Ratatouille originated from Provence and is often referred to as peasant food. Julia advises that a really good ratatouille involves cooking the individual elements separately before they are arranged in the casserole to partake of a brief communal simmer. Julia proudly claims that this recipe is the only one she could find where each vegetable retains its own shape and character.


After a frenzy session of slicing and chopping, the pre-salted eggplant and zucchini were sauteed in hot olive oil to brown slightly. Next the onions and peppers were slowly cooked until tender with a couple of cloves of garlic thrown in. This mix was covered in a tomato pulp and cooked until the tomato begun to render their juice.Using a fire proof casserole dish, layer the tomato mix, eggplant, zucchini and parsley and simmer on the stove top over low heat for about 20 minutes.




The completed dish did as Julia predicted - the vegetables maintained their shape and the kitchen was infused with the perfume of essence of Provence. It's a recipe well worth trying... and you don't even need a "little chef" to get a result that you would be happy to serve at Gusteau's restaurant.

Series Two: Part Eleven -Moules a la Provencale & Filets de Poisson Bercy aux Champignons

The continual saga of stove problems meant I had to source a recipe from Julia that did not need the oven baking function. Hmm.. I felt like a sea related theme - the unseasonal warm weather we are having in Hawke's Bay, mixed with good Hawke's Bay wine - the Fish Filets poached in White Wine with Mushrooms - Filets de Poisson Bercy aux Champignons ... ticked the boxes.


The wine used for tonights dinner was a Sileni Pinot Gris 2014. Sileni was a feature winery this weekend. I crossed the finish line of the inaugural HB (half) marathon the day before which was right outside of the welcoming doors of the Sileni Estate winery. Being on call meant that I could only sniff the fumes and had to make do with the sensible option of consuming an electrolyte drink and a banana.


Knowing that alcohol burns off with cooking I used my Sileni wine with relish for both of my Julia's recipies. The entrée was Mussels on the half shell, Grantineed - I steamed open the mussels in wine first. Then they were topped with a mix that included butter (of course), shallots, bread crumbs, garlic and parsley. A little time under the grill (that part of the oven was still working) until the butter was bubbling and the crumbs were browned lightly... then they were ready to eat.


My discerning eldest daughter Caroline, who does not like mussels was quite happy with a French, garlic bread. However she was quite disgusted with the main dish and how I managed to ruin what was perfectly good fish by adding wine, mushrooms, onions and cheese. Luckily I could extract a portion that wasn't too coated with the offending sauce.


Filets de Possion Bercy aux Champignons is one of a selection of famous French dishes involving  filet of fish poached in white wine and coated with a lovely, creamy sauce made from the poaching liquid. The Bercy is the simplest of the white wine fish sauces (that's my level). The poaching liquid is thickened with beurre manie - a flour and butter paste - then enriched with cream.
I must say despite the cream, butter and cheese the sauce complimented the fish very nicely - not being too heavy (despite the calorie count).... and no baking function required.

Back up entrée

Sileni HB Wine

Filets de Poisson Bercy aux Champignons

Series Two: Part Ten - Marrons &Gigor a la Moutarde

Mother'- Day - a day to celebrate being a mother, having a wonderful mother and remembering those mother's gone. I believe my Grandma Olive would have liked Julia Child and her shenanigans in the kitchen. Olive was a Taurus (birthday just a couple of days ago) - she was elegant but feisty, strong, with a little pinch of naughtiness and she lovingly prepared the most wonderful cooked lunch time meals for us. So in memory of Olive, this mother's day lunch was a mix of her favourite lunchtime fare infused with a touch of Julia. 

As a little starter, we roasted some chestnuts - marrons. These were sourced from our neighbours at Mill Stream Gardens (a source of great gifts and magical lotions and potions). This wasn't a particular Julia recipe, although Julia does provide some guidance on how to prepare and cook these little morsels. Chestnuts have an outside shell and a bitter inside skin, both of which must be removed before the chestnuts can be used. Roasting was a quick easy way to prepare, although don't forget to stab the skin with a knife before hand otherwise you may experience grenade like explosions in your oven.

The roast lamb was the stable favourite. Back in the day there use to be quite a distinction between lamb types and in historic French cookery books you will read an array of terms. These include Hothouse Lamb and Milk fed lambs - Agneau de Lait & Agneau de Pauillac, which is very young lamb raised on milk and considered a prime delicacy. Goodness! We were going for a la supermarket lamb today.

I prefer lamb cooked to a rare, rosy and juicy state so adherence to cooking times was essential. For the lamb I used Julia's herbal mustard coating. This is a combination of Dijon mustard, soy sauce, garlic, rosemary, powered ginger and olive oil. You just paint the mixture on the lamb and throw it in a roasting pan to cook. No searing or basting required. Accompaniments to the lamb included roast potatoes and cooked vegetables. Dessert-were non-Julia and included, what is affectionately referred to in the family, as a "scream sponge".

The lunch was had at my parents house, with the chestnuts and lamb being cooked in the barbeque. I should fess up that I didn't actually cook the chestnuts or the lamb ... the menfolk were left holding the cook book and instructed to cook on, whilst the my mother and daughter and self enjoyed a pleasant autumn walk... it was Mother's day after all - I think my Grandmother would have approved!

Marrons

Left holding the cook book

Beautifully roasted lamb

"Scream Sponge"

Series Two: Part Nine - Ris de Veau et Cervelles

Why is it that the thymus gland for digestive purposes is referred to as "sweetbread" but brains just remains brains. No romantic reframing - with brains there is no mistaking what you are eating. Both from the term and also that characteristic convolution of gray matter and the underlying cerebral white matter- it is a give away.
Brains for dinner didn't quite conjure up the excited and can't wait to eat it response from the family. At the best I had two "I'm willinging to try it" and one "You don't expect me to eat that". It was a call out to my parents who I know were open to eating it (as served to me as a child) so that my gourmet dish was not prepared in vain.
I sourced the brains from "Vetreo" a Mediterranean food speciality shop in Napier - $14.80 for 6. The product was prepared in Wairoa at Affco for the French market - seemed very appropriate. I was going to stop at that, however the "Pak n Save" al cheapo supermarket had a special on sweet breads - I couldn't believe my luck.


Julia dedicates a section within Chapter Seven in Mastering the Art of French cooking on "Sweetbreads and Brains". Both pretty much have the same texture and flavour, but brains are more delicate. Both need to be soaked in several hours in cold water before they are cooked to soften the filament patches and to whiten them. There was quite a section explaining soaking and trimming, however the sweetbreads seemed pretty much trimmed and ready and the brains only needed a little snipe off of the opaque bits at the base.


For the sweetbreads the preliminary cooking that Julia recommend was braising. The soaked sweetbreads are cooked in butter to firm them a little, then baked with wine and herbs. For the sauce I chose the "Ris de Veau a la crème" - creamed sweetbreads. This was a successful entrée with even eldest daughter reporting "Sweat breads were quite nice actually despite being from Julia Childs."


The brains were for the main dish ... "Cervelles en Matelote" - Calf brains in red wine with mushrooms and onions". I had lamb brains which Julia reassuringly noted that these were equally as good as calves. The brains were firstly cooked in wine and a herb stock before being sliced and arranged into the serving dish. A sauce which had a tomato base was made and poured over the brains and the prepared mushrooms ( I didn't have any of the small brown braised onions at the ready so I left them out).  I served these with mashed potato and broccili. As an emergency standby I can cheerios at the ready.


All adults readily ate their serving but the girls relied on the cheerios for their dose of protein that night!

The brain's

The sweetbreads

Gourmet taste testers

Eating brains!