Which recipe is the best from The Great Australian Cookbook?
Yesterday we roadtested some recipes from an excellent new cookbook: The Great Australian Cookbook. Four of our staff selected recipes and two of our staff acted as judges in a bid to find the best one. Here are the results.
Stella Charls made Pierre Khodja’s Couscous with Peas & Mint (pg. 210)
I’m pretty besotted with this cookbook. I think the range of contributors is incredibly impressive, and their recipes feel so personal. I especially love the handwritten comments from each cook. In fact, the book is so good that I couldn’t just pick one dish. Instead, I settled for two that looked particularly simple.
The first was from Pierre Khodja – Couscous with Peas & Mint. The couscous took about 10 minutes to prepare, and included both peas and asparagus (which are some of my favourite greens). The end result was fresh and the pearl couscous provided an unusual texture.
I think this salad would go well paired with plenty of other foods, right through the warmer months.
Judges’ comments: A refreshing and bright salad with personality and peas. Light yet satisfying, it’s likely to become a summer favourite, especially for those catering for multiple dietary requirements. Doubters be warned: despite being vegetarian, as well as dairy and gluten free, this salad wants for nothing.
Stella Charls also made Phillippa Grogan’s Chocolate Raspberry Brownie (pg. 82)
The second dish I picked was Phillippa Grogan’s Chocolate Raspberry Brownie.
While still relatively simple, this recipe was an opposite of the couscous salad in that it felt WICKEDLY decadent. The brownies tasted incredible, probably because of the insane quantities of melted chocolate, butter and sugar that went into them. I added both raspberries and walnuts, because Phillippa recommends that you do and of course she is completely right. These additions were delicious, proving what we already knew: Phillippa is the Queen of Baking.
Judges’ comments: A little too easy on the eye and pallet, this brownie recipe is the new office favourite. The walnuts and raspberries make a superb addition to a perfect chocolately core.
Bronte Coates made Sean McConnell’s Black Barley & Wild Rice Salad (pg. 86)
I’m no stranger to substitutions in recipes – some might even consider me an expert of this kind of kitchen maneuvering – which is lucky because I found myself facing a dilemma of this kind more than once with this recipe. By the time I’d gathered all my ingredients together, I’d had to replace black barley with pearl barley, dried barberries with currants, shankleesh with feta and just plain forget about the addition of the rose petals.
All this aside, the recipe was very straight-forward to actually make and I personally thought the end result was delicious – even with all my changes.
Judges’ comments: This salad has it all: texture, flavour, variety, intrigue, beauty – the list goes on. A stand-out among these delicious dishes, this salad could easily hold its own as a meal in its own right. Exquisite to look at and even better to eat.
Jan Lockwood made Jon Healey’s Cheesy Chive Scones (pg. 342)
Jon Healey said this recipe was easy and he was right. Only a few ingredients (flour, cheese, dried chives, cream, soda water) and then a bit of mixing, kneading, rolling out, cutting, and these scones are ready for the oven. I halved the quantity of all the ingredients because I didn’t need 48 scones – all except the cheese that is, because I believe a scone can’t be too cheesy. I didn’t manage to get Pyengana cheddar (from Tassie) so I used a “vintage” cheddar that wasn’t overly sharp.
I may have over done the mixing, kneading and rolling out in the excitement, because my scones turned out a little dense, but they were still tasty. I reckon they are best eaten straight from the oven, or warmed up, with lots of butter.
Judges’ comments: These cheesy morsels were everything that a scone should be and a treat for any hour of the day or night. There was a rumour that the chef added extra cheese to this batch but there were no complaints from the judges on this matter.
Chris Gordon made Frank Camorra’s Salmorejo (Chilled tomato and bread soup) (pg. 28)
Twas the night before the staff meal and all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
That was because it so bloody hot. I really didn’t want to add to the repressively warm night by turning on the stove or the oven and so I choose to make this tomato and bread soup, served chilled with sliced boiled eggs on top, for our impending great shared meal. The recipe says that this will take you 15 minutes, and I can confirm this is correct.
This really is a terrific easy recipe and one that looks magnificent. When I turn on my food processor to make this again, I do intend to halve the bread usage though and let more of that sweet fresh tomato taste through.
Judges’ comments: This soup packed a punch. Chilled soup makes some people nervous, but this smooth recipe, with its pretty and purposeful egg garnish, was bound to please.
