Pork hock, cannellini bean and sauerkraut soup

28.07.20

Pork hock, cannellini bean and sauerkraut soup 

This is the perfect soup to share with family while snuggling up on the couch in this chilly weather! 

1⁄4 cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil 

40g unsalted butter

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 brown onion, thinly sliced

2 stalks celery, finely chopped 

1 carrot, trimmed and finely chopped

1⁄4 bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

1 tbsp each finely chopped rosemary & sage

2 bay leaves

1 (1.2kg) smoked ham hock 

400g tin cherry tomatoes

1 parmesan rind

200g sauerkraut, drained 

400g can cannellini beans, drained 

Heat the oil and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion, celery, carrot and herbs and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5-6 minutes or until vegetables have softened. Add the ham hock, tomato, parmesan rind, sauerkraut and enough water to cover the hock and bring to the simmer. Reduce the heat to low-medium, cover partially with a lid and simmer for 2 ½ hours. Add the beans and cook for a further 30 minutes or until meat falls easily from the ham hock. Remove the ham hock, taking care of the heat and pick into small chunks. Discard skin and bones. Return the meat to the soup, season with pepper and stir to combine.

Serves 8.

Image and Styling: Kirsten Jenkins

Middle Eastern Lamb Salad

29.06.20

Middle Eastern Lamb Salad

“This recipe is inspired by everyone’s favourite food writer; Ottelenghi. When I first encountered the flavours of the middle east as a kid I wondered whether I might have been adopted from there, obviously that was ruled out with my incredible likeness to the rest of my family, but I have spent the rest of my eating life up to this point being pulled to those flavours especially when writing recipes. This is a great dish to put in the middle of the table and share with friends, using pita bread as your eating utensils.”

 

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tsp smoked paprika

½ tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

2 tsps Baharat spice

500g (1 lb 1 oz) lamb neck, finely chopped

¼ cup (60ml) extra-virgin olive oil, extra for drizzling

½ (130g/4 ½ oz) brown onion, thinly sliced

3 (200g/7 oz) silverbeet stems, trimmed, stems and leaves shredded

2 tbsps currants

440g (15 ½ oz) store bought hummus

2 tbsps lemon juice

1 cup flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped

½ cup mint leaves, chopped

½ cup (100g/3 ½ oz) tinned butter beans

2 (40g/1 oz) watermelon radishes, thinly sliced (optional)

 

Place the garlic, paprika, chilli flakes, cumin, coriander, Baharat and lamb in a bowl, season with salt and pepper and toss well to coat. Set aside.

 

Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over high heat, cook the lamb, in batches, for 3 minutes or until just browned. Remove from the pan and set aside.

 

Add the remaining oil to the pan, reduce heat to medium-low, cook the onion and chopped silverbeet stems, stirring occasionally, for 16 minutes or until golden brown and softened.

 

Add the silverbeet leaves and currants, cook for a further 4 minutes or until all the liquid has cooked off. Return the lamb back to the pan and stir to combine, until warmed through.

 

Spread the hummus over a serving platter and top with the lamb mixture. Combine the lemon juice, parsley, mint and beans and sprinkle over the top. Drizzle with extra olive oil and top with radish if using. Serve with warm pita bread.

 

Serves 4-6.

Dairy Free Recipe

You can order the full e-book at the following link : Kirsten Jenkins “One Leaf at a Time” 

 

Image and Styling: Kirsten Jenkins

Whole mandarin and white chocolate cake

09.06.20

Whole mandarin and white chocolate cake

We visited the picturesque Wiseman’s Ferry area on the weekend for Mandarin picking at https://fordsfarm.com.au/. As you may know, fruit picking is one of my favourite pastimes and eating and cooking with seasonal fruits seems not only right but everything tastes so much better. The orchard was full of mandarins, lemons, limes and cumquats of which we collected multiple buckets (not only to eat ourselves but also to share with family and friends). The produce was so tasty and the drive and scenery so beautiful. Now what to do with all this fruit – see below for one recipe idea with the mandarins!

 

3 large (600g) seedless mandarins, unpeeled

180g white chocolate, chopped

6 eggs

1 ¾ cup (385g) caster sugar

1 ½ cups (175g) almond meal

½ cup (75g) self-raising flour

Thickened cream, to serve

 

To remove the bitterness form the mandarin peel, place whole mandarins in a saucepan. Cover with cold water. Bring to boil over high heat. Drain and repeat.

Place the mandarins back into pan and cover with water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 30-35 minutes or until very tender. Drain, reserving 1 cup (250ml) of the poaching liquid and set aside with the mandarins.

 

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line the base and side of a 22cm round springform pan.

Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmer water, being careful the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water, until melted. Remove from the heat.

 

Place the cooled mandarins in a food processor and process until smooth. Place the eggs and 1 cup (220g) of sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whisk for 6-8 minutes or until mixture is pale and doubles in size. Carefully fold through the mandarin puree, almond meal and flour until just combined. Fold through the chocolate and pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 50-60 mins or until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean.

 

Meanwhile, place the remaining ¾ cup (165g) of caster sugar in a small saucepan with the 1 reserved mandarin water over low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high, bring to the boil and cook for 3-4 minutes or until thickens slightly. Pour the syrup over the cake and allow to cool completely before removing from the pan and serving with cream.

 

Serves 6-8.

 

Image and Styling: Kirsten Jenkins

Beef and rice noodle herb salad with Thai basil pesto

17.03.20

Beef and Rice Noodle Herb Salad with Thai Basil Pesto

This creation came about after bringing an ‘Asian pesto’ back from a shoot years ago. It morphed into this recipe and I have cooked it time and time again since then. The pesto is really versatile and works spooned along side a grilled piece of fish and just with the steak on it’s own.

 

200g (7 oz) flat rice stick noodles

2 eshallots, peeled and thinly sliced

The juice of 1 lime

400g (14 oz) skirt steak, room temperature

½ tbsp rice bran oil

1 (130g/4 ½ oz) Lebanese cucumber, thinly sliced

½ cup each of coriander, mint & Thai basil leaves

salted roasted peanuts and black sesame seeds, to serve

Thai basil pesto

1 cup each Thai basil & coriander leaves

1/3 cup (50g/1 ½ oz) unsalted roasted peanuts

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 tbsps sesame oil

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce

¼ cup rice wine vinegar

 

Cook the noodles in a saucepan of boiling water for 6-8 minutes or until just tender. Drain, reserving ½ cup of cooking water. Combine the eshallots and lime juice in a bowl and set aside for 20 minutes to pickle.

 

Meanwhile, to make the Thai basil pesto, place all ingredients in a bowl of a food processor and process until roughly combined. Set aside.

 

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over high heat. Drizzle the steak with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 3-4 minutes each side for medium or until cooked to your liking. Transfer to a plate and loosely cover with foil. Set aside for 10 minutes to rest.

 

Place the noodles in a bowl with the pesto (add as much or as little pesto as you like, depending on your taste you may have some pesto left over) and add some of the cooking water to loosen the pesto slightly. The rice noodles absorb a lot of water so continue to add some of the water if you need to loosen further.

 

Divide the noodles between serving plates and top with the eshallots, cucumber and herbs. Slice the steak and place on top and finish with the peanuts and sesame seeds.

 

Serves 4.

Dairy Free Recipe

You can order the full e-book at the following link : Kirsten Jenkins “One Leaf at a Time” 

 

Image and Styling: Kirsten Jenkins