Recent Dining Experiences of Note

I had better start writing down some of the fabulous dishes I've had recently in case I start forgetting!  In no particular order:

• Money Order Office, Postal Lane, Melbourne: Duck breast with mushrooms and various other ingredients I can't remember - wonderfully earthy winter dish.  Also oysters with shallots and sherry, yum.
• Kazbah, Balmain, Sydney: Breakfast tagine with huge chunks of the most beautifully cooked pumpkin I've ever tasted with spinach, roasted capsicum, caramelised onions, roasted tomatoes and feta, baked eggs nestled in between and generous serves of toasted turkish and lebanese bread. 
• Adriano Zumbo, Balmain, Sydney: passionfruit macaroons and a lemon meringue pie-inspired dessert.

Me with Zumbo's latest creation!

Tastes like summer

I went to the Tast of Melbourne festival last weekend (which will be the subject of a future post) and discovered pear cider... mmm... pears are one of my favourite fruits and this stuff is dangerous as it barely tastes alcoholic (it's 5.5%).  Note to my brother: if you are considering making your own pear cider I will definitely be willing to assist with "quality control" at any time!  Note to Belinda: if the homebrewing doesn't work out, look for this one made by Yarra Valley's Napoleone and Co!

Last of the winter dinner parties

I really hope that during my week in Fiji (we fly out next weekend, can't wait!!!), Melbourne will magically transition into warm springtime weather and that it will be time to swap winter comfort food for light sunny fare.  To this end I held what I am hoping is the last of my winter dinner parties on Saturday.  It was all very last minute and I was lucky that all my invitees were free.  I was also lucky that it was indeed possible to fit six people into my small apartment!  So I finally cooked poultry for the first time ever and made a Duck Ragu with Parpadelle.  It was actually pretty confronting having to debone something; I certainly have moved on from vegetarianism now.  We had my "signature dish" of 42 Below Feijoa vodka-cured salmon on sweet potato rosti for an entree (as I couldn't find any kumara at the market this week).  Below is a photo of all the fabulous fresh (mostly) organic ingredients, : ) I love shopping for dinner parties at Queen Vic.  And the other photo is of the cool table setting Liz created (she also helped me prep, cook and clean up, thank you my friend!!!).

Duck Ragu with Parpadelle

Serves 6.  If you can't be bothered deboning the meat, you could always use duck breasts instead. 

120ml olive oil
1 small brown onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
Sea salt
750g duck (3 Marylands, which have the thigh and bone attached), bones removed and set aside, and the flesh and skin cut into 2.5cm pieces
50g tomato paste
2 sprigs rosemary, stripped
500ml red wine
20ml sherry vinegar
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
Pepper
Pecorino or parmesan
Handful of parsley, roughly chopped

1) Heat a large heavy-based saucepan over medium heat and add half of the olive olive oil. Add the celery, carrot, onion, garlic and some sea salt, stir and sauté over low heat for 15 minutes until translucent. Add the bones from the duck and cook until the remaining meat on the bones starts to brown.

2) Add the tomato paste and cook for a minute.  Add the wine and vinegar and reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes, or until reduced by half.

3) Heat the rest of the oil in a separate pan, then add the stripped rosemary, the duck meat and a pinch of salt, and sauté until the meat is lightly browned.

4) Remove the bones from the sauce, add the duck meat, rosemary and chopped tomatoes, and simmer slowly for 1.5 to 2 hours.  You may want to leave the lid on for the first half hour or so, and then remove it to allow the sauce to thicken.

5) Cook the parpadelle pasta, toss some olive oil through it, and serve with the ragu topped with the 3 Ps: pepper, pecorino and parsley.