Spicy pork and apple pasties

As previously mentioned, this week the ABC's The Cook & The Chef aired its final episode. My friends and I farewelled the show with champagne and the following pasties, from a recipe by Maggie Beer (the 'cook' of the title).

This was my first time using verjuice - this is a bit of a joke for anyone who's ever watched the tv show or flicked through one of Maggie's cookbooks. She loves verjuice (and quince paste, and olive oil) and will never ever pass up an opportunity to throw it in somewhere. Of course, she does sell the stuff as well. LOL.




1/3 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup verjuice
1/4 cup dried currants
1/3 cup dried apples, chopped
extra virgin olive oil, for cooking
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons honey
500g minced pork
1/4 preserved lemon, flesh removed, rind rinsed and finely chopped
2 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup flatleaf (continental) parsley, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 free-range egg, for brushing pastry (recipe suggests beating with 1 tablespoon pouring cream)
puff pastry


Preheat fan-forced oven to 180 C (350 F). Place pine nuts on baking tray and roast for 5-8 minutes or until golden. Remove and leave to cool.

Place 1/4 cup of verjuice in each of 2 small saucepans. Add currants to one and apples to the other. Heat both pans gently over low heat for a few minutes. Set aside to plump and cool.

Heat olive oil in a small frying pan over low-medium heat. Saute garlic and onion for 10 minutes or until translucent but not coloured. Add ginger and cinnamon and cook for another minute, until spices are fragrant. Remove from heat, stir in honey, and leave to cool.

Put minced pork, pine nuts, cooled onion mixture, currants and apples (including juices), preserved lemon, 2 eggs, parsley, salt and pepper in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Cover and refridgerate until ready to use.

[The original recipe calls for handmade pastry but I used pre-bought puff pastry. I imagine shortcrust pastry (handmade or bought) would work just as well.]

Preheat oven to 230 C (475 F).

Cut puff pastry into 4 squares per sheet and fill with pork mixture. Fold over into triangles and fold over edges to seal. Brush with egg, prick with fork, and place on baking tray lined with paper.

Bake pasties for 20-25 minutes or until golden, then serve.

[The original recipe says this will make 8 - somehow, I made 20. I don't know.]




From Maggie's Kitchen by Maggie Beer

Egg Nets

I first encountered egg nets at upmarket Thai restaurant Longrain in Sydney - it's their signature dish and very impressive, with huge but delicate dinner-plate sized nets encasing sweet, tangy, spicy salad. My interest was piqued again when Longrain chef Martin Boetz recreated the dish for Masterchef Australia (MY FAVE SHOW NO LIE). I've wanted to try them ever since.

This is not the Longrain version - rather, I've gone for a simpler version from beloved but soon to end ABC show The Cook & The Chef, itself adapted from chef David Thompson's recipe. (Thompson is the chef behind Sailors Thai, mentioned in this photo post.) It was still not easy!

An aside: I am so very glad my mother taught me how to shell and devein prawns in my youth. I haven't had to use the skill much - prawns are so much more fun to eat than cook - but you never really forget. Scrunch, crunch, gloop, crack. It's not for the squeamish... then again, not much about omnivorous cooking is.




Ingredients

3 eggs

Paste:
3 coriander roots
4 garlic cloves
10 white peppercorns (I used black ones)
Pinch of salt

Filling:
Oil to fry
50g pork mince
100g green prawn meat, chopped
2 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoon palm sugar (I just subbed the usual sugar)

Garnish:
1 tablespoon lemon grass whites, finely sliced
1 1/2 red shallots, sliced (what are red shallots? I used green!)
1 tablespoon red chilli, julienned
Handful coriander leaves


Method

Whisk the eggs to combine, but do not over beat. Strain eggs through a fine strainer. Chill overnight (or even just an hour or two, as I did).

Prepare paste by pounding the coriander roots, salt, garlic and peppercorns in a mortar and pestle. Set aside.

Bring eggs to room temperature.

Lightly oil a flat frypan and heat to a medium heat.

Dip fork* in the egg mix and wave across the wok/flat frypan so that the egg drizzles in the oil. Move your fork backwards and forwards and from side to side to form a net. Do not move too quickly otherwise the strands will be too fine and will break. Circle the perimeter to form a border. Remove and drain on paper. Repeat until egg mix is finished.



Heat oil in a pan and fry off the paste you prepared earlier, until fragrant and golden.

Add pork, stir and add prawns.

Season with fish sauce and palm sugar and bring it all together.
Set aside and when cool add lemongrass, shallots, chilli and coriander.

Lay out an egg net, spread some mix on the lower third of the net and roll up.


* The original recipe suggests using your hand. This, I discovered, is IMPOSSIBLE. The first ones turned out horrible! The fork-netted ones were much much better.



From The Cook & The Chef, ABC TV Australia

Larb Gai

1.5 cups (10 oz) minced chicken breast
4 shallots, thinly sliced
2 slices of fresh ginger, finely sliced
3 tablespoons of fish sauce
2 tablespoons of lime juice
1 red pepper
1 small red chilli

Combine ingredients and cook until chicken is thoroughly done.

Mix with freshly chopped coriander. Mint or extra lime optional.

Serve with steamed brown rice and vegetables. I had steamed green beans, but the original suggests an assortment of raw vegetabls such as: shredded green or red cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, red pepper, sprouts, or green beans.

Adapted slightly from The Skinny Gourmet