Reservoir Chefs

A couple of cooking enthusiasts based in Reservoir, Victoria, trying to eat less meat and remember what the hell they cooked yesterday

[reservoirchefs]

Polpette with cannellini beans

Recipe from delicous.com.au

Delicious literally.  Generously spread fresh basil leaves on top to wilt once it’s taken out of the oven.  

Needs a veg accompanyment such as peas.  

[reservoirchefs]

Beef and broccoli stir-fry

Recipe and photo credit by chef Adam Liaw.  

Double the marinade quantity.  I usually steam the broccoli, then stirfry the beef in small batches, thenstirfry the onion and garlic then put it all together.  Use plenty of onion, ginger optional.  

[reservoirchefs]

Spiced honey fondant parsnips and carrots

Delicous depth of flavour and super simple. 

Recipe and photo credit from Delicous magazine.  

[reservoirchefs]

Chicken, lentil and kale soup

Curly kale is a hit in this hearty grain filled soup.  

Recipe and photo by gourmettraveller.com.au

[reservoirchefs]

Chocolate cupcakes/cake x2

1. Dark chocolate cupcake recipe - good rich bitter choc flavour for adults.  The ganache did split when I made it which had to be corrected by rewarming and using a stick blender.  The ganache was too runny to use for a while after making it, but evidently set very firm overnight, so wait till the right time to ice them.  

2. Alternative general purpose recipe which is very adaptable to whatever’s in the pantry.  

[reservoirchefs]

Thai Chicken Glass Noodle Salad

Recipe from Nine.  Photo credit

Delicious but a bit of work cutting the veg into matchsticks, which is only marginally easier but nice and uniform on a mandolin slicer.  

[reservoirchefs]

Miso tahaini salad dressing

Dressing recipe.  

There’s many similar variations on it.  Any sort of miso will do, but add slightly less than this recipe suggests (e.g. 2.5 tbsp).  

Use on any salad ingredients you like.

[reservoirchefs]

Village salad

Recipe by Miguel Maestre.  Photo credit Network Ten.

Another hearty salad due to the grains and very tasty with so many herbs in it.  

[reservoirchefs]

Cypriot Grain Salad

Delicious hearty salad due to the grains and nuts.  

Recipe from the George Calombaris restaurants.  Photo credit: Goodfood.com.au

[reservoirchefs]

Mediterranean Salad

Recipe from Buzzfeed (incl. video instructions)

When I cooked the chicken, I just seasoned it with oil, salt and pepper, fried it on both sides to get a bit of a crust and then topped the fillets with the garlic, lemon juice and dill and put the whole frying pan in the oven (180 degrees) to finish cooking them through. I found that the sauce made a sufficient amount for 3 servings. The other salad quantities are probably a bit unreliable/overly generous.

[reservoirchefs]

American Burger Sauce

Mayo, Tomato Sauce, American Mustard. 

1:2:4 ratio then to taste. (+ Tomato, lettuce, dill pickles, slices of cheese melted on top immediately after flipping patty.)

[reservoirchefs]

Sticky Beef Short Ribs Sauce

Recipe from JamieOliver.com

Makes about double the sauce required, even after boiling it down before using it.  

Photo credit

[reservoirchefs]

Pork and Horseradish Burgers with Apple Slaw

Recipe by Donna Hay

So quick to prepare!

[reservoirchefs]

Quiche Lorraine

Ingredients

Pastry for a one-crust nine-inch pie (see pastry recipe)

4 strips bacon

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 cup Gruyère or Swiss cheese, cubed

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

4 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups heavy cream or 1 cup each milk and cream

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Tabasco sauce to taste

Method

Preheat the oven to 205 degrees.

Line a nine-inch pie plate with the pastry. By all means build a rim with the pastry and flute it. This is essential for the amount of custard indicated in this recipe.

Cover the bottom of the pastry with a round of parchment paper and add enough dried beans or peas to partly fill the shell. Bake 10 minutes.

Reduce the oven heat to 190 degrees. Remove and discard the beans and parchment paper and set the pastry-lined pie plate aside.

Cook the bacon until crisp and remove it from skillet. Pour off all but one tablespoon of the fat remaining in the skillet. Cook the onion in the remaining fat until the onion is transparent.

Crumble the bacon and sprinkle the bacon, onion and cheeses over the inside of the partly baked pastry.

Combine the eggs, cream, nutmeg, salt, pepper and Tabasco sauce to taste. Strain the mixture over the onion-cheese mixture. Slide the pie onto a baking sheet.

Bake the pie until a knife inserted one inch from the pastry edge comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Remove to a wire rack. Let stand five or 10 minutes before serving.

[reservoirchefs]

Bun salad bowl

Ingredients

4 tablespoons Demerara or granulated light brown sugar

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

4 tablespoons lime juice, from 2 large limes

4 tablespoons best quality fish sauce, such as Red Boat

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 1-inch length ginger, peeled and minced

1 medium-hot red chile, such as Fresno, chopped

1 hot red or green bird chile, thinly sliced

Marian’s kitchen Sweet Ginger Chicken marinade

Chicken thigh (how much depends on how many serves)

Rice noodles (how much depends on how many serves)

Lettuce

Bean shoots

Capsicum

Daikon

Radish

Cucumber

Method

Cook rice noodles.

Mix chicken with marinade. Let it sit for 10 minutes.

Slice other ingredients for salad.

Cook chicken in wok. Once chicken is cooked, layer remaining ingredients in bowls and place chicken on top.

[reservoirchefs]

Lasagne

Ingredients

Ragu 1 tbsp olive oil 1 onion 1 medium carrot 1 rib / stick celery 2 garlic cloves 1 kg beef mince 800g whole tomatoes 3 tbsp tomato paste 1 cup red wine 3 beef boullion cubes 2 bay leaves 1/2 tsp each oregano and thyme 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce 1-2 tsp sugar (if needed - see note 3) 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper

Cheese sauce 60 g / 4 tbsp butter 1/2 cup / 75 g flour 1 L / 4 cups milk 220 g shredded cheese (colby, gruyere, etc) A pinch freshly ground nutmeg Salt and pepper Lasagne 350 g lasagne sheets 1 1/2 cups / 150 g fresh mozzarella cheese, grated Parsley or basil for garnish

Instructions

Ragu

Cook onion, garlic, carrot and celery in olive oil. They should not turn brown. If they do, turn heat down. 

Add beef to pan. Turn heat up, separating as you go. 

 Once the beef has turned brown, add the remaining ragu ingredients, EXCEPT THE SUGAR.

Once the ingredients have reached the boil, turn heat down to low for 1.5-2 hours. Remove the lid and simmer for a further 30 minutes.

Your sauce is ready once the meat is tender and the texture has thickened and is rich. Adjust salt and pepper to taste and at this point add sugar if required. 

Cheese sauce

 Warm milk. This will do nothing other than make the sauce cook quicker.

Add butter to pan. Melt it then mix in flour.

Once butter and flour are mixed, add 1 cup of milk and whisk in. Whisk out all lumps.

Add remaining milk slowly, whisking carefully to make it lump free.

Stir constantly for 5-8 minutes, slowly thickening. Once it coats the back of a spoon, you can take it off the heat and add cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Assemble

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. 

Use a 33 x 22 x 7 cm baking dish.

Smear a bit of ragu on the bottom of the dish. Place a lasagne sheet on top.

Layer 1/3 ragu sauce with 1/3 cheese sauce and a lasagne sheet.

Repeat 3 times, finishing with the mozzarella, then bake for 25 minutes, until mozzarella is bubbling. Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes. In this time, obtain some parsley from the garden to use as a garnish.

Notes

Use a mixture of pork and beef mince to make the sauce richer.

Use a bold red like cab sav for this recipe.

Use sugar only if your sauce is a little sour (doesn’t usually happen).

Cheese: use any cheese you want but avoid mozzarella because it doesn’t have much flavour. Also, the author of this recipe has discovered that some tasty cheeses do not melt well in bechamel sauce so avoid those.

[reservoirchefs]

Lemon Leaf Cordial

Makes about 600ml of concentrate. Requires 15 minutes active time, but requires several days to make.

Ingredients

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 cup raw sugar 1/4 cup lemon rind Skins from 3-4 lemons 8-12 lemon tree leaves

Method

Put lemon rinds and leaves into a container with a tight fitting light and cover with 1.5 cups of cold water. Steep for at least 24 but preferably up to 72 hours. The longer the water is steeped, the better the final flavour of the cordial. 

Add sugar and 1 cup of lemon water to a small saucepan and stir over high heat until sugar is completely dissolved. Bring to boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and rind. Pour into steralised jar or bottle. 

Serve with chilled water or sparkling water and slices of fresh lemon. 

Notes

For best results, the lemon juice should be squeezed fresh on the day the cordial is made. However, if you won’t otherwise have lemon skins to steep, you can juice the lemons first and keep the juice in the fridge while the skins steep. If following this method, ensure the juice is refrigerated straight away and kept in the coldest part of the fridge to retain flavour and prevent the growth of bacteria.

The easiest way to steralise jars/bottles is to put them in a 120 degree oven for 15 minutes. Alternatively, you can put them through the dishwasher on its hottest setting or soak in boiling hot water for 10 minutes, and air dry.