New Christmas Cooking Classes 2008

Towards an Australian Christmas

From November 10 all our Monday classes will be focussed on Christmas cooking with menus that hopefully give the cooks, as well as the guests time to relax, monster the relatives and generally not get too many knickers into too many twists.

The classes will cover planning the shopping and spreading the preparation time over a few days to minimise any anxiety that the cooks may have.

Cooks seem to get into such a dither about food at Christmas. In the last few years during Diane’s and my “civilian period” it’s been yabbies from the top dam or crayfish from Apollo Bay.

When I say top dam, I have to explain the top dam was where all the yabbies that survived the restaurant Sunday lunches were released over the years with a view to seeding this dam for later.
We forgot about them till the following Christmas time and of course they had bred up and grown to a rather good size. For many years they provided a simple solution to the focus of the Christmas feast.
This year there is hardly any water in the dams so any yabbies that may have dug-in for the dry will be spared.

Planning a Christmas lunch involves capturing the spirit of the occasion with dishes suited to our climate. Victoria with its Mediterranean climate and seasons reversed means that care has to be taken with some traditional English Christmas dishes. But with some clever planning a great spread can be enjoyed that both encapsulates the cultural background of your family while paying respect to the season, the market and the garden.

A worry free day can be achieved with good planning, and a few early market visits early to get acquainted with availability is essential.
Many suppliers are taking orders now especially if specialty poultry is involved. A good list of suppliers will also be available.
Each class will cover a multi course banquet that captures the sense of occasion in great style with a minimum of stress for all the participants.

Dates Christmas Cooking Classes
Mondays on November 10 November 17 November 24
December 8 and December 15
Times 9.30 for 10 am start finish about 3.30
$110 per person $100 per person for groups of 4 or more Bookings 03 52362276

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Magic Robot Replies Again

Magic Robot Replies Again

To Anna C in Adelaide.

Robot opens oysters from the side towards the front not near the hinge. I find easier entry and more leverage this way. As to keeping the liquid Robot strongly advises you discard the water in the oyster but do not rinse. You will notice after about 5 minutes the shell will again be half full of what is called the second water.
The first water is great if you are eating them straight off the rocks but the water in commercially sold oysters may be over a week old and not that fresh, and you know what the oyster has been doing in his shell don’t you! So as Chairman Kaga says: Always discard the first water.


To David from Bambra

Robot’s irony meter is going off the scale. Recipe for the New Age Sausage roll is a secret. But ingredients are Dried bean curd skins, tapioca balls and Taiwanese layered biscuits. In answer to your reallyseriousbigquestion Robot is happy to report that very soon branded proprietary packaged ingredients will be duh-rigueur for any self respecting post modern restaurant pantry. And yes Robots will rule.
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To Deborah from Tasmania yes now is the time to plant Tomatillos. Most good seed companies have them.

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To Mathew in Sydney: Yes marsh samphire grows all along the coast here, the photo shows Marsh Samphire on the left, Purslane in the middle [plant now] and the one on the right is the one you had here in your oyster soup Rock Samphire from our garden.

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To Rahid from Melbourne the secret to not letting your lemon tart separate into 2 layers is to heat the filling to about body temperature before you pour it into the blind baked shell. You know it makes sense that’s why the Roo boys left it out of the otherwise brilliant recipe.

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To Margaret from the Peninsula
The seared ocean trout is just like a gravadlax but instead of dill we use sweet smoked paprika and sear it on the base of the wood oven or you can use a very hot dry pan.

Robot must recharge the batteries so keep the questions coming. All questions answered but only those that are cleared for general consumption will be published.

Kids in the Kitchen

Kids in the Kitchen

As part of Kitchen Garden Week we had a visit from Teesdale primary school. The school has been involved with the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program for about a year and already the these young children were comfortable with many foods that some children could find intimidating. There were no oo’s and ah’s when olive oil, garlic, goats cheese anchovies and many other ingredients were tasted.

Some families come to the restaurant and insist that their children won’t eat anything but say a pasta with tomato sauce.

I am always saddened by such requests, not because pasta with tomato sauce is not good, but because the children must be so alienated from the food of their parents that mealtimes at home would present quite a challenge and put barriers between them that could last a long time.
Quite often as the parents are tucking into the menu

I notice that the kids are asking for tastes from the normal food so at least we can inspire these youngsters by osmosis.

These children today from Teesdale Primary genuinely looked forward to making salads and eating all good green garden fare so the kitchen garden project and the practical cooking that goes with the scheme at their school has already broken down many prejudices.
Admittedly the menu Pizza, salad and ice cream could easily be provided from commercial sources. One of the things I wanted to demonstrate was how real pizza tastes when it’s made from simple fresh ingredients in a wood oven.

The salads were also freshly picked from whatever was in the garden. We had cauliflower, broccoli, radicchio, cos lettuce, green garlic, edible succulents [these were quite a hit] and a heritage red celery.

Needless to say vanilla and chocolate ice cream were to be certain favourites, but the chocolate was not sweet and still presented no obstacles to these young people.

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No amount of rhetoric will convince a young child to eat anything that does not taste good, but if alternative home made choices are offered for food that is often bought from mass commercial sources the flavours will stay with them for when the time comes to make choices for their own families.

With good appetite they tucked in and a very good time was had by all.

This is a great project that would not be possible without the many volunteers that always drive such initiatives.