RECIPES FROM SAUCES CLASS - SATURDAY 8 JUNE 2013

THE MOTHER SAUCES

Classic Tomato Sauce

100gm pancetta or 100ml EVO
1 onion chopped
2 carrots chopped
3 stick celery chopped
1 clove garlic chopped
2 cans tomatoes
500ml chicken stock
1 bay leaf
4 stems parsley
Bunch fresh thyme
8-10 peppercorns

Preheat the oven to 140C. In an oven proof dish melt down the pancetta to release the fat or add the EVO, add the vegetables and sauté till softened but with no colour. Add the bouquet garni of herbs, tomatoes and stock and the peppercorns. Put a lid on the dish and put in the oven for 2 hours to simmer and develop. Remove from the oven, take out the bouquet garni and puree in a blender.

Roux Base

Equal quantities of butter and flour cooked together in a saucepan before liquid is added and further cooked. For 1 Litre of sauce use up to 75gm each of butter and flour.

White - roux base with milk, used to make béchamel, parsley or cheese sauce

Veloute - blonde roux base with fish chicken or vegetable stock, used to make mushroom or tarragon sauce

Brown - brown roux base with caramelised tomato paste and beef, or venison stock, used for demi glaze.

Jus

This term translates to juice and is essentially a sauce capturing the pan juices after meat has been roasted or seared in a pan.

For pan jus simply deglaze the pan with red wine or verjuice and reduce by half then add beef stock and reduce the volume again by half - strain and serve

For roast jus pour off any liquid after removing the roast and the bed of vegetables, deglaze with red wine or verjuice and reduce by half ensuring that all the bits have come off the bottom of the pan. Add the liquid and additional stock if required and again reduce by half - strain and serve.

Emulsion Sauces

Two liquids (one fatty and one acidic) are whisked together to keep them in a suspension with an emulsifier or bonding ingredient.

Mayonnaise

2 egg yolks
pinch salt
1Tbsp vinegar or lemon juice
1 tsp mustard (optional)
1 1/4 C olive or grapeseed oil
Whisk together the egg yolks, salt, vinegar and mustard to combine. While whisking pour in a thin stream of oil - this should take about 2-5 minutes.

Hollandaise

2 egg yolks
2 Tbsp water
salt
200gm clarified butter
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Whisk together yolks, water and salt over a bain marie till light and fluffy then whisk in the butter very slowly while continuing to whisk - finish with the lemon juice. If it splits whisk in 1 Tbsp cold water.

Beurre Blanc

1/2 cup white wine, 1/4 cup wine vinegar
1/2 shallot finely chopped
250gm Lewis Road butter, cubed and chilled
Put the wine, vinegar and shallots into a saucepan and reduce until almost gone. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter cube by cube to achieve a fluid sauce, a little cream can be added to maintain the suspension.

DESSERT SAUCES

Caramel Sauce

1C sugar
6 Tbsp water
4 Tbsp butter, cubed
1/4 C cream
Maldon salt flakes

Put the sugar and water in a sauté pan and heat gently to dissolve the sugar. Increase the heat and allow the sugar to caramelise. Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter and cream - take care as it will bubble up a lot. Stir in the Maldon to taste.

Creme Anglaise

6 egg yolks
1/2 C sugar
2 C milk
1/2 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract

Put the vanilla bean into the milk and bring to a simmer to infuse. In a large bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar till pale and fluffy. Whisk on the hot milk gradually. Return the mixture to a clean sauce pan and cook gently till it thickens and coats the back of the spoon. May be served hot or cold and flavour with numerous options, cocoa for chocolate, cinnamon, ginger, coffee extract - for a liqueur sauce add 1 Tbsp of chosen liqueur when the sauce is cold.

RECIPES FROM PASTA CLASS - SATURDAY 15 JUNE

Fresh Pasta

Use 1 whole egg per 100g of Divella 00 flour

Pile the flour up on the bench and make a well in the centre, break the eggs in and using a fork whisk the eggs together and gradually draw in the flour. You should end up with a mass of slightly moist dough. Knead a little to combine and rest for 30 minutes before rolling by hand or through a pasta machine working from the thickest setting to the thinnest before cutting into the required shapes.

Short Pasta with Roasted Pumpkin and Vincotto

Serves 6 Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 12 minutes

500g orecchiette, orzo, cavatelli or torchiette
400gm pumpkin cut into 4mm wedges
1 tsp La Chinata smoked paprika
2 Tbsp EVO
100gm snow peas or baby spinach leaves
Orange vincotto
Elementi or Rouge walnut oil
Salt and pepper

Toss the pumpkin with the smoked paprika and EVO and roast in the oven till cooked. Cook the short pasta to the directions on the packet in plenty of salted boiling water. Blanch the snow peas or spinach and refresh.
When the pumpkin comes out of the oven combine it together in a large bowl with the pasta and greens and drizzle liberally with orange vincotto and walnut oil, season and stir to marry the flavours together then serve.

Easy Cannelloni

Serves 4 Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 40 minutes

EVO
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
100gm pancetta or streaky bacon
1 bunch swiss chard (silver beet)
1 handful wild rocket leaves
salt and pepper
250g Zany Zeus classic feta
Zest of lemon
Freshly grated nutmeg
Montebello Cannelloni tubes
500ml Foundation Foods Chicken stock
Parmigiano reggiano
Colonna Granverde oil

Method
Heat a little EVO in a large pan and sauté the onion and garlic. Cut the white part from the swiss chard and finely chop then add to the onion. Blanch the green leaves in boiling water and refresh under cold water. Finely chop the leaves and add to the onion mix, season with salt and cook off excess moisture. Remove from the heat and allow to cool before adding lemon zest, nutmeg and crumbled feta. Put the mix into a piping bag and fill the cannelloni tubes. Arrange in a tray and pour over the chicken stock, cover with a liberal grating of parmigiano cheese. Cover the dish and bake in the oven for 30 mins. To serve spoon onto a plate and drizzle with Colonna lemon oil.

Aglio Oilio e Peperoncino

Serves 4 Prep time: 10 minutes

150 ml EVO
300g SJ organic linguine
4 cloves garlic
2 Spice trader dried chiles
1 bunch parsley
Parmigiano reggiano

Method
Bring a 3 lt of water to the boil in a large pot, season liberally with salt and then add the linguine and make sure the water comes back to a rolling boil. Pasta will take 10 minutes to cook.

In a blender chop the garlic, chiles and parsley together. Warm the EVO in a saute pan and add the minced garlic mix. Saute to release the flavours and then when the pasta is cooked using a pasta server put the linguine into the sauce and toss together. Serve on warmed plates with freshly grated Parmigiano.

Other simple long pasta ideas are - using any long thin pasta
- Anchovy fillets and broccoli florets
- Sauted mushrooms finished with truffle oil
- Chopped sundried tomates and pitted olives
- Any of the infused olive oils, fresh lemon zest and capers
- Sabato pesto range

The trick here is to celebrate the flavour of the pasta by liberally dressing in an infused or flavoured olive oil.

Pasta with Tomato Sugo

Serves 6 Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 12 minutes

500g Rustichella penne or fusilli
1 jar Sabato pasta sauce
1 bunch winter greens, spinach, kale or cavalo nero
1 tsp Sicilian wild oregano
1 lemon
50g butter

Bring 5lt of water to the boil and blanch the winter greens, remove them and refresh under cold water. Keep the water boiling and season well with salt before adding the penne, stir and bring back to the boil and cook for 10-12 minutes.

In a saute pan melt the butter and add the Sicilian oregano. Roughly chop the winter greens and add to the pan, increase the heat and saute till the greens are well cooked, add the zest and juice from the lemon and the jar of pasta sauce. Simmer to marry flavours. Drain the penne through a colander and tip the pasta into the sauce. Stir well and serve on pre warmed plates.