Category: Sauces

Thomas Straker’s Roast Chicken, Butter Bean & Salsa Verde

.Reading time 6 minutes.

Serves: 4

Thomas Straker is our sort of chef.

He takes a theme and dials it up to 11: excessive use of butter; the demand that you make your own stock; pure comfort. Effort that delivers real culinary return.

Foams and tweezers Thomas Straker does not do. Think ragu or burnt butter instead.

His famous chicken leek and bacon pie is just extraordinary. This gnocchi is outrageous.

And this roast chicken from his book ‘Food You Want to Eat’ is just wonderful: a brilliantly warming and absolutely smile-earning dish perfect for a late summer lunch.

Nat and I have been on a roast chicken tear of late. It’s become a go-to Sunday lunch favourite: open a Champagne, set the kids up for the afternoon; enjoy a few hours together, with a guarantee of great chicken sandwiches for the next few days at work.

This recipe dials it up a whole new level: it looks the part, tastes the part and is the part. The salsa verde just tops it off: flavour sensation and completes the part.

Add a salad of leaves and a bottle of cold white or a chilled Pinot and this is what I am talking about.

Ingredients

For the butter beans

250gm dried butter beans (or use 500gm of canned beans)
50ml extra virgin olive oil, plus more to finish
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp tomato purée
Chilli flakes
Fine sea salt

For the chicken

1 large, whole (free range) chicken – 1.8kg
1/2 shallot
1/2 unwaxed lemon
1/2 small bunch of thyme
3 garlic cloves, unpeeled and bashed with the side of a blade
100ml olive oil
400gm cherry tomatoes

Salsa Verde

60gm parsley leaves
30gm mint leaves
30gm basil leaves
1 garlic clove, finely grated
1 tbsp capers, drained
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon
120ml extra virgin olive oil, plus more to seal
Sea salt flakes

Method

Salsa Verde

  1. Start with the salsa verde: put the picked herbs in a food processor with the garlic and capers and pulse-blend until roughly chopped. Add the mustard, lemon zest and juice, olive oil and a pinch of salt, then blend again until combined but still slightly coarse in texture.
  2. Season with more salt if needed: will store for a week in the fridge covered with a little more olive oil to seal.

Chicken

  1. If using dried beans, soak in a large bowl of water overnight. The next day, drain them and tip into a saucepan with fresh water.Place over a high heat and bring to the boil., reduce the heat, simmer gently until soft, then drain. Whether using dried or ready-cooked beans, season with salt and add the olive oil.
  2. Take the chicken out of the fridge at least 1 hour before you cook it. Remove the wishbone: lift the skin at the front of the breast and insert a thin, sharp knife around both sides of the wishbone to help pull it out. Replace the flap of skin and tuck it into the cavity. Put the shallot, lemon, thyme and garlic cloves in the cavity.
  3. Preheat the oven to 250c/230c fan or its highest setting. Rub the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle generously all over the skin with fine salt. Place in a large roasting tin in the middle of the oven and roast for 20 – 25 minutes until well coloured, basting after 10 minutes.
  4. Reduce the oven to 120c/100c fan, add the cherry tomatoes to the tin and return to the oven for a further 20 – 25 minutes, until the juices run clear when the bird is pierced at the thickest part of the thigh with a sharp knife. If you have a temperature probe, the breast should reach about 60c. Remove from the oven and rest for 20 minutes.
  5. To finish the beans, place a large saucepan over a medium heat with a glug of olive oil. Add the shallots and a generous pinch of salt and cook for 3 -4 minutes until soft, then add the garlic for a further minute. Add the tomato purée an cook out for 2 minutes then add a good pinch of chilli flakes. Pour in the cherry tomatoes, beans and the resting juices from the chicken with salt to taste.
  6. Carve the chicken first removing the whole breasts and then the legs, splitting them into thigh and drumstick portions. Serve on a large warmed platter, with the butter beans and salsa verde.
  7. (And leaves, Pinot and the kids asleep.)

Bordelaise Sauce with Mushrooms

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 8

A few years ago, I typed up this absolutely brilliant and iconic Thomas Keller dish, the “Yabba Dabba Do“. It is served with a classic Bordelaise sauce and this really is the finest of the juses.

One of our favourite dishes at what was an excellent, local French restaurant – before it closed – was a rib eye, bone-in served smothered with braised mushrooms.

So why not combine the two?

I adjusted this recipe to separate the mushrooms from the Bordelaise sauce and then to reduce the sauce, ready to serve at the side.

My mother joined us from a wonder, late-Autumn French lunch and the tomahawk I cooked over charcoal, with these mushrooms and the Bordelaise sauce was an absolute highlight.

For the rare occasions we do eat beef, this is unquestionably a recipe we will return to.

So rich. So satisfying. Classy!

Ingredients

1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp shallot, minced
1 tsp minced garlic
3 tbsp butter
2 cups, sliced assorted mushrooms
1 c beef broth
1/3 c red wine
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp chopped fresh thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp cold water

Method

  1. Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a skillet over a medium heat. Stir in the garlic and shallot and cook until the shallot has softened and turned translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining 3 tbsp of butter, then stir in the mushrooms once the butter has melted. Cook and stir the mushrooms until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
  2. Pour in the beef broth, wine and Worcestershire sauce; season with the bay leaf and thyme, and bring to a simmer over a medium-high heat. Once simmering, season to taste, reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook, uncovered until the sauce reduces slightly, about 30 minutes.
  3. Strain the mushrooms and solids, and set aside, retaining the sauce.
  4. Continuing on a medium-low heat, continue to simmer the sauce for another few minutes. Dissolve the cornstarch in the cold waer and stir into the simmering sauce until thickened.
  5. Serve the mushrooms along the Bordelaise sauce, ready to pour.

Courtney Kynoch’s Pomegranate Vinaigrette

.Reading time 1 minute.

Dresses: a large salad

I love a good vinaigrette and I’m pretty well known in the family for them. I have a reasonable repertoire, often asking restaurants to share theirs. (Something that has never been denied.)

I’ve said it before, though salad just completes a meal for me.

It mops up meat. It finishes a great pasta. It says we are done, time to decant another red and starting talk of when to plate dessert.

And so when my sister in-law of cookie fame rocked up with this vinaigrette for an Anzac Day lunch earlier this year, I had to ask the restaurant for the recipe which was duly texted the next day.

The key here is the additional zing you get from the fruit. A wonderful freshness that reaches over the traditional vinaigrette underlying it.

A small, though important addition and one that earns it a solid type-up.

Oh, the kids love so make a triple batch and there is salad all week.

Ingredients

Seeds from half a Pomegranate
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4 c olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
Squeeze of lime
Salt and pepper

Method

  1. Pulse all of the ingredients in a small food processor or blender until complete smooth, adding a small amount of water if the consistency is too thick.
  2. Serve with green leaves and so forth.

Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Sauce

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 4

There was furious debate after I served this sauce and pasta in a pasta cook off with Nat.

Nat served the wonderful spinach ravioli and certainly, taking into account effort, presentation and overall yum factors, it nailed the brief and took out the day.

Except that it was a reluctant and technical tie.

Because the absolutely classic Marcella Hazan tomato sauce is simply so simple and classic, it is pretty much impossible not to give it the nod for doing so much more with so much less.

With a sprinkling of Parmesan. What on earth is not to love. It’s just not fair.

P.S. I did give the nod to Nat because hey, it’s 2022 and not 1962. Though Marcela sauce is no lemon at a knife fight.

Ingredients

2 cans of tomatoes and their juices
5 tbsp butter*
1 onion, peeled and cut in half
Salt
Pasta and Parmesan to serve

Method

  1. Combine the tomatoes, their juices, the butter and the onion halves in a saucepan. Add a pinch or two of salt.
  2. Place over the medium heat and bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, for about 45 minutes. Stir occasionally, mashing any large pieces of tomato with a spoon. Add salt as needed.
  3. Discard the onion before tossing the sauce with the pasta. Toasts through 500gm of cooked pasta and serve with Parmesan.

* Use a great butter like CopperTree Farms.

Ricky’s Herb Vinaigrette

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 4

A few weeks ago, we spent a weekend in Noosa – sans kids – and it was just marvellous.

Day after day of late lunches, lying on the beach, reading, walking it off. Some very memorable dinners too.

When in Noosa, the beach is a must… before lunch. (And a diet after all these lunches!)
Nat. Beautiful. Just beautiful.

A good mate recommended Rickys which really was a highlight.

If in Noosa, Rickys is a must.

It is a beautiful restaurant on the river. A modern, relaxed interior of wood and glass, opening onto the water.

Friendly, incredibly professional service. A wonderful wine list. The ferry pulling alongside every half hour or so.

It was just a great lunch, though perhaps ironically, it was the greens and herby salad that stood out for me.

And thankyou to the kind chef who jotted down the recipe for me, which I have adapted below:

Because we have recently been chasing the best vinaigrettes to serve with leaves: convinced that after a beautiful piece of steak, pork, chicken or fish, a wonderfully simple salad of greens just mops it up.

This is one of the best, for three reasons: it is so simple, it hero’s herbs, a key signature of Neil Perry’s brilliant vinaigrette and finally, it isn’t sweet.

Not that there is anything wrong with a sweet vinaigrette, though the muted flavour of the canola oil and white balsamic (substitute white wine vinegar) really does blunt the whole thing down to almost the best, simplest paring you could ask.

Safely back in Sydney, we did a wonderfully simple seafood lunch, accompanied by this excellent Iceberg’s pea and farro salad as well as the Ricky’s salad:

How good is a seared tuna. And only a seared tuna.

It had 1-hat genius written all over it.

Try this vinaigrette. It is the best of all the vinaigrette worlds we have been trying.

Ingredients

100ml canola oil
50ml white balsamic (or white wine vinegar)
A handful of basil leaves
A handful of tarragon leaves
A handful of Italian parsley leaves
Salt
Green leaves

Method

  1. Combine all the ingredients except the green leaves in a blender until well emulsified.
  2. Stir well through the greens and serve immediately.

Kathryne Taylor’s Cheater’s Aioli

.Reading time 1 minute.

Yields: 1/2 cup

Sure, nothing beats an original mayonnaise (and therefore, aioli).

Though surely, nothing beats avoiding egg yolks and salt and garlic and two oils and food processors (or god forbid, whisks) and sometimes, a null result.

This cheater’s aioli is the real deal.

Just make sure you have a great egg mayonnaise to start.

Ingredients

5 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp lemon juice
Sprinkle of sea salt
1/2 c good quality mayonnaise
Optional: 1/4 tsp Dijon mustard

Method

  1. In a small, non-reactive bowl, combined minced garlic and lemon juice. Stir to combine and spread into an even layer. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Let the mixture rest for 10 minutes.
  2. Place a fine mesh strainer over another bowl. Using a spatula, strain the garlic mixture to get as much of the juice as possible. Discard the garlic.
  3. Stir the garlic juice into the mayonnaise, adding the Dijon optionally. Add a little more lemon juice to taste.

Mint Sauce

.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Serves: 1 cup+

There is more to mint sauce than mint.

Ingredients

1 c full fat yoghurt
1/4 c coriander leaves
1/4 c mint leaves
1 green chilli
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/4 – 1/2 tsp sugar
Salt to taste

Method

  1. Place coriander leaves, mint leaves and green chilli in a blender and process until smooth, adding 1 – 2 tbsp water to bring it together.
  2. In a small mixing bowl, spoon in the yoghurt.
  3. Now add the green herbs mixture, salt, sugar, cumin, garam masala and lemon juice to the yoghurt. Whisk together until well combined, cover and chill until needed.

Matt Preston’s Pineapple Ketchup

.Reading time 1 minute.

Makes: 300ml

Oliver Dog (14) made this sauce for a Matt Preston burger and its a very good sauce.

I reckon with a toasted cheese, it would be amazing.

Definitely give it a go. When I say it’s not going to win awards, it actually probably could.

Ingredients

50gm sultanas
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves
1/3 c tomato paste
3/4 c cider vinegar
1/3 c brown sugar
2 tsp sea salt
Pinch of cayenne pepper
8 canned pineapple rings
2 tsp ground coffee (or a shot of espresso)
2 whole cloves
1 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/3 c honey

Method

  1. Blitz the sultanas, onion, garlic and tomato paste in a food processor until smooth. Scrape into a large heavy-based saucepan and stir in 3/4 c water along with the vinegar, brown sugar, salt and a pinch of cayenne pepper.
  2. Bring the mixture to the boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently for 1 hour, uncovered, stirring regularly.
  3. Purée the pineapple rings in the food processor. Add to the pan along with the coffee, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg and honey. Simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring regularly.
  4. When the ketchup is thick, sieve and return to a thick pan. Bring to a simmer, season, adjust cider and honey and reduce until thickened.

Neil Perry’s Barbecued Coral Trout with Sauce Vierge

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 4

Neil credits this recipe to Roger Vergé, one of the greatest chefs of all time; the recipe first appeared in Roger Vergé’s first cookbook, Cuisine of the Sun (1979). (This Roger Vergé recipe is one of the greatest beef recipes I have had and after you have had this dish for lunch, line this beef up for dinner.)

Paired with coral trout – my absolute favourite fish – this is a sublime dish. The texture is just wonderful.

You could be in the South of France.

Do yourself a favour and whilst the sun is still out, do this as part of a lazy lunch.

Ingredients

4 x 180gm coral trout fillets
Sea salt
Extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground pepper

For the sauce vierge (makes 500ml)

3 vine-ripened tomatoes, peels, deseeded and cut into a 2cm dice.
2 garlic cloves, unpeeled and halved
2 tbsp chopped chervil
2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tbsp chopped tarragon
8 coriander seeds, crushed
250ml extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt an freshly ground pepper

Method

  1. Mix the diced tomatoes with all the other ingredients in a bowl, then set aside for 1 – 2 hours to mature.
  2. Preheat the barbecue to hot an make sure the grill bars are clean. Liberally sprinkle the fillets with sea salt an brush with the oil. Cook on one side for 4 minutes, and then flip and cook for another 3 minutes. Rest in a warm place for 3 minutes.
  3. Plate, spooning over the sauce, twist of pepper and serve.

Blender Bearnaise

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 10

Last weekend, I cooked a tomahawk over charcoal and it was tremendous.

350c, 6 minutes over direct heat and then 10 minutes over indirect heat. Rested for 25 mins.

Perfect, medium rare. As one person put it online when looking up the cooking technique and target internal temperature: you could cut it with your tongue and indeed, you almost could.

The king of the cuts?
Indirect heat before the grill was on.
Started with lobsters because why not?
My goodness.
Perfect.

Nat wanted a bearnaise at the side: which I agreed with on one hand, though what a pain. Double broiling, frantically whisking eggs, fearful of the sauce splitting.

At the same time of course, when I am walking the tight rope of cooking a tomahawk.

For years my mother has said to use the blender method, though I had only ever done so for hollandaise.

The time had come. (And to cut a long story short, I’m never going back.)

FTW.

Ingredients

1/4 c white wine vinegar
1/4 c white wine
2 tbsp shallots, minced
3 tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped and divided
1 1/4 tsp salt, divided
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
3 large egg yolks
1 c unsalted butter, melted

Method

  1. Combine the vinegar, wine, shallots, 1 tbsp of the tarragon, 1/4 tsp salt and the pepper in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes until the mixture is reduced to a few tbsp. Cool slightly.
  2. Transfer the cooled mixture, along with the egg yolks and 1 tsp salt into a blender. Blend for 30 seconds.
  3. With the blender running, slowly pour hot butter through opening in the lid. Add remaining 2 tbsp tarragon and blend for a second.