A recent dinner and masterclass with Peter Gilmore at Quay involved a few quail, the odd pork cheek or two, 17 happy participants and not a vacuum cleaner in sight.

To celebrate the new merger of Peter Gilmore (of famed restaurant ‘Quay’ in Sydney’s ‘The Rocks’ precinct) with Electrolux, I was invited to a fantastic evening  which included a cooking demonstration and 5 course tasting menu, to which  believe it or not, I jumped at the chance of attending.

We were initially treated to a cooking class with Peter demonstrating a couple of his signature dishes, made all the more easier by the use of his brand new Electrolux kitchen that now forms a special part of The Green room,  his upstairs private dining room.  Peter tells us that he has always been a fan of Electrolux and is thrilled to be working with their innovative and forward thinking appliances. On display and  in use in his new Electrolux kitchen is an induction cooktop and compact steam oven, to which he’s most interested in demonstrating as he sees cooking with steam a growing trend in professional kitchens.

With the cream coloured sails of the Sydney Opera House at our backs, we watched as Peter skillfully demonstrated his style of cooking that has gained his restaurant ranking in the San Pellegrino Top 50 restaurants around the world for the third year in a row. A mean feet of consistency and expertise, evident in his seductive style he describes as “nature-based cuisine”

Once seated at a long table elegantly set for dinner in crisp white linen, we were fortunate to be joined by the owner of Quay and hospitality personality John Fink, who regaled us with tales of Peter’s cooking prowess with its magical abilities to render diners into submission.

I could  certainly see John’s point as any attempt to resist was futile as wave after wave of beautifully balanced and carefully thought out dishes were presented to us with minimal fuss for maximum enjoyment.

One dish that still floats blissfully in my memory was the Berkshire Pork Jowl. Imagine the sensation of cracking through the sugar crust of delicately prepared creme brulee, now take that sensation and instead of breaking through to soft pillow like custard, you break through to creamy pork fat, which just oozes at the possibility of you eating it.

I’m not sure if it was the perfumed prune kernel oil, Pear Cider from the Coromandel valley or Mr Finks aftershave that had me light headed by the end of the meal, but it was a glorious night made all the more special by a humble and rare talent that is Peter Gilmore.

What to do when the Duck Fat hits the Fan.

You can either blame it on the boogie or in this case blame it on the duck fat roasted potatoes.

The calmness and serenity of the evenings meal turned to anarchy once the duck fat roasted potatoes were taste tested. The duck fat hit the fan so to speak.

” Oh My Goodness!”

” Are you for real?”

“These are crazy, superb!”

“Is there anymore left?”

“Can I eat yours?”

Well, you get the picture. Class and decorum were thrown out the window with just one taste of what could be the perfect accompaniment for many dishes. We had our duck fat potatoes or Pomme De Terre a la Sarladaise with  spiced pork loin cooked till golden in a searing hot skillet.

Other proteins that would work well with these crispy crunchy cubes of heaven would be a glorious thick rib eye steak, sunny side up free range organic chicken or duck eggs, tender roasted chicken breast, or a thick fillet of steamed white fish.

Ingredients:

2kg  potatoes ~ choose a floury variety like russet  which will produce a better crispy exterior when roasted.

300g of duck fat

6-10 sprigs of thyme ~ stripped and roughly chopped

Sea salt flakes and lots of freshly ground black pepper

Methodology:

• Preheat the oven to 200C on fan bake and heat a large cast iron roasting tray in the oven as well
• Peel and cut the potatoes into smaller chunks about 4-5cm in length . For even cooking make sure the chunks are  of similar size.
• Place the potatoes into pot and just cover with lightly salted water.
• Bring the potatoes to the boil and cook for 5 minutes. Whilst the potatoes are boiling, carefully add the duck fat to the cast iron roasting tray and allow the fat to melt and sizzle in the hot oven.
• Drain the potatoes in a colander and shake vigorously to fluff up the outer exterior of the potato. This will add to the crisping whilst roasting.
• Remove the cast iron roasting dish from the oven and very carefully place the potatoes into the duck fat. Turn them carefully in the fat and sprinkle over the thyme and season well with salt and pepper.
• Continue to gently turn the potatoes over until you are confident that the potatoes are well coated in duck fat, fresh thyme and seasoning.
• Place in the oven and roast for 30 minutes, turning occasionally to make sure all the potatoes crisp up evenly
• Serve immediately for optimum crunch! If serving them in a separate dish, avoid covering them as they will go soggy.

Kitchen tip:

All the that glorious duck fat need not be thrown out. Once its cooled slightly, strain the fat through fine sieve and pour into a jar or heavy duty plastic container. The duck fat can be stored in the fridge for several weeks or in the freezer for several months.

The beloved pork has suffered harshly in the last few years ~ with the terror that surrounded the Swine flu, and peoples  assumption that you could “catch” the swine flu from eating pork meat… False on all accounts! Pork has taken a hammering.

I grew up eating pork. It was a part of my weekly diet and came in abundant forms of thick juicy pork sausages, pork hock soup, bacon bone boil-ups and tender pork roasts. Pork crackling was always a treat fought fiercely over by me and my siblings.

One question I am frequently asked when doing cooking classes and demonstrations is how to achieve sensational pork crackling on the Sunday roast ~ to which I now have the definitive answer!

photo by gurms

I was fortunate enough to have recently spent time in the test kitchen of Electrolux Australia, where we probed the question of how to attain crackling success.

4 pork roasts, 4 pieces of pork fat and 4 different ovens later ~ the answer to the age old question of good crack is as follows.

Tip number 1

When choosing your pork for roasting, do so from a reputable meat supplier. The more in-depth knowledge that your butcher has over the beast they are selling, the better. Why? The best cracking comes from a female pig ~ so you want to secure your pork roast from a sow.

The female pig meat tends  to be sweeter than her male counterpart and also  have more fat under the skin ~ which is perfect for crackling!

Tip number 2

When choosing your pork roast, avoid purchasing meat that comes from intense farmed piggeries, but rather choose free- range and if possible organic. The meat will be more tender and relaxed and level of fat will be higher. Due to public demand, the pig breeder has been breeding pigs with less and less fat, so the meat is less tender and forgiving and the crackling harder to get right.

Tip number 3

Choose a pork roast with a good amount of rind still attached, and preferably start the following recipe the day before you intend to dine.

Pork Crack~ling

DAY ONE ~ preparation

Lay the pork roast on a chopping board, skin side facing you. Taking a sharp knife, make 5mm incisions in the pork fat ~ slicing down lengths ways. Cut the slices as close together as possible.

Lay the pork loin on a wire rack, skin side still facing upwards and pour 3 cups of boiling water mixed with 1/2 cup of glucose syrup over the fat. Pat the pork dry with a paper towel, and leave uncovered in your refrigerator overnight, as close to the fridge’s fan as possible to help the pork to dry out.

DAY TWO ~ time to roast

Remove the roast from the fridge at least 2 hours before you intend to cook it so it comes up to room temperature. Massage vegetable oil into the rind before seasoning  well with sea salt flakes, rubbing  the coarse salt into ALL the grooves you had previously sliced into the meat.  Try and get as much salt as you can into the grooves.

Preheat the oven on Fan Bake to 240 C/ 460F

Place the pork onto a wire rack with a  roasting tray underneath to collect  any drips and cook the pork  on 240C/ 460F  for 20 minutes before turning the oven down to 220C/ 430F and roasting  further.  The amount of time needed for roasting is dependent on the size of the roast and whether the roast has bones or not.

The rule of thumb is to allow 40-60 minutes per kilo, but a better way to determine when the roast is ready is when it has an internal core temperature of 71C / 160F and the crackling is good and CRISP! If you haven’t got a meat thermometer ~ it would be a worthwhile investment!

Allow the pork to rest on a wire rack, covered with aluminum foil for 20 minutes before slicing.

Enjoy!

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With this episode of the 10min Foodie, I show you how you too can become a gourmet chef in under ten minutes.

Lemon Aioli
Like most things handmade, this great tasting aioli is well worth the extra effort.
250 mls of oil (use a non flavoured vegetable oil like sunflower, grapeseed or canola)
2 large egg yolks
2-4 teaspoons of lemon juice
2 roasted garlic cloves crushed ( optional, but recommened!)
2 raw garlic cloves crushed and finely chopped
Sea salt flakes
Freshly ground black pepper

Into a thoroughly clean bowl, place the egg yolks and 2 teaspoons of the lemon juice and whisk until well combined.
With great patience and a steady hand, slowly add the oil to the bowl, drip by drip whisking continuously. The process is call making an emmulsification which is necessary to produce a smooth thick dressing. Its also a great workout for the arms!
Once all the oil has been incorporated, add the garlic and whisk through. I recommend that you use a combination of roasted and raw garlic in the aioli as the roast garlic helps to balance out the flavour of the aioli without making it to spicy by using just raw garlic.
Season the aioli well with slat and pepper, tasting to see if you need to correct the flavour with more lemon juice or salt and pepper to taste.
Can be store covered in the fridge for 2-3 days.