Cooking Across 4 Generations

At work we are having a Penfold’s Wine night in early September. My suggestion for the dessert is a Maple and Pecan Bread and Butter Pudding using BRIOCHE instead of normal boring white bread.

Rather than buy the brioche we will be making it. On Friday at work I got a batch started using the recipe from the June issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller. We got busy at work so no time to finish it off. Got the first rise out of the way and after we put everything away and washed the benches down I quickly needed the dough, formed it and put it in the tin. Wrapped it well in Glad Wrap, got out of my chef whites, put it in my backpack and went to catch the bus home.

By the time I got it out of my bag at home it had risen again. Quite surprising really as it was quite cold waiting for the bus and then the bus had only minimal heating on. Turned the oven on, heated it up, cooked my dough and voila 38 minutes later a gorgeous loaf of Brioche.

Of course R wanted some straight away with butter(he loves bread hot from the oven). He wasn’t too keen on it straight from the oven but he loved it Saturday and Sunday lightly toasted with butter and strawberry jam.

I am hoping to try a different recipe at work Wednesday just to compare. Yes I collected a ‘few’ more recipes for brioche. The internet is an amazing resource for recipes.

Will post on how my second attempt turned out later.

V

Our 11th anniversary was on the weekend and choosing a restaurant became hard. Out of the 9 we tried to book at 7 were fully booked and one was closed for the weekend as they were doing a wine night out at Logan winery at Mudgee. So it was to one of favourite(and regular) restaurants we decided to go. Rubyos in Newtown.

Since the last time we went the menu has changed (seasonality rules!!) and they have added a Celebration  Set Menu for $65. Of course we decided to go with it. As Rubyos is BYO we took a bottle of 1999 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon, we reckon it should have had about 3 hours decanting before we drank it. Next year we will try the remaining bottle.

Unfortunately no photos.

Sunday saw a beautiful blue sky for Sydney, so we walked down to The Boathouse on Blackwattle Bay. Haven’t been for over a year but the Maitre d’ remebered us(that is service!!).

Choosing the food was easy, the wine however was another matter. After long deliberation we decided on a glass of Henriot Brut Souverain to be followed with a bottle of  Jean Marc Brocard Chablis Premier Cru.

The champagne went with the oysters. We tried Moonlight En Surface, Sydney Rock from Pambula and Sydney Rock from Port Stephens. Not a big oyster eater but they were all delicious. (Sorry no pics)

I had roast loin and breast of lamb, spiced carrot puree, baby carrots and lentils. Rene had Mirror Dory, cauliflower puree, baby octopus, currants and capers.

No dessert as we had a craving for cheese. On this occasion we had Healey’s Pyengana cheddar(Australia), St Maure Caprifeuille(France) and Roquefort(Roquefort sur Soulzon(France). To go with the cheese we decided to try a glass of Banyuls. Neither of us have tried it before and it was actually the first time we have seen it by the glass in a Sydney restaurant. Smells sweet like port but surprisingly it isn’t overly sweet. Most salubrious!

Here are a few photos from inside and outside The Boathouse….

So a great anniversary weekend with lots of great food, wine and fun!

V

Once again we received the invitation for the MLA grazing Club Lunch. These lunches are held several times throughout the year for chefs to try different cuts that MLA is promoting and educating about. The venue for lunch was  Restaurant Balzac in Randwick. Restaurant Balzac is a 2 Chef Hat restaurant run by Chef/owner Matt Kemp and his partner Lela Radojkovic.

On this occassion MLA were showcasing their Beef Masterpieces. Beef Masterpieces are cuts of meat that for one reason or another have become less popular with beef consumers. They were once referred to as secondary cuts, and are generally cheaper than the more popular cuts(scotch/cube roll, tenderloin, ribs etc). They can be just as tender with the appropriate cooking method and have a whole lot of flavour.

So to the menu and some photos….

The canape on arrival was hot Smoked brisket Pastrami and Pickles Roll. The Pastrami is done in house by Matt and the Bazac kitchen brigade. This came with a specially brewed beer called Prime that was brewed to match perfectly with beef. Unfortunately I don’t drink beer so can not give a personal appraisal on it. But the Boss liked it.

Entree

Corned Bavette with a salad of Brussels Sprouts and Roast Potato

Farago Hill The George Ellis Pinot Gris  Reserve 2008, from Canyonliegh in NSW

Main

Oyster Blade Braised in ale with Jerusalem Artichokes, Field Mushrooms and Baby Carrots

West Cape Howe Shiraz 2007

And Dessert

Spotted Dick ‘Pain Perdu’ with Toffee Apples.

All very delicious and used greatly under utilised cuts of meat, yes even the dessert, which used suet that they render themselves.

I would like to thank MLA for another great Grazing Club Lunch and a big thanks for the fabulous food and service  to Matt Kemp and all the Balzac team !!

V

This blog is a dedication to my Mother, Grandmother and Great Grandmother. All Great cooks.

Several years ago just after my Great Grandmother Evelyn Annie  Hamilton(nee Linger) passed away I was able to get her recipe book. My intention was to write a book using the recipes that she had collected over her lifetime. I then decided that I would write a book using recipes that my grandmother and Mother had also collected. Why not throw myself in as well? I have collected quite a few recipes myself, and not just all hand me downs from Mum, Nan and Nanna.

So my first post will be an introduction to us, the four generations.

Nanna/Evelyn: Nanna was born In St Neots in Cambridgeshire in England at the end of the 19th Century. She moved to Australia with my great grandfather, Roy Hamilton,  in early 1920. My grandmother was born the same year. Nanna and Poppa had a farm just outside of the town of Singleton where they raised their 5 daughters, Joan, Sheila, Pam, Audrey and Betty. In the late 60’s they moved in to town where they enjoyed many years together, and watched the future generations grow. Nanna’s recipes go back approximately 60-70 years.

Nan/Joan: Nan was born in 1920 and raised on the family farm just outside of Singleton. She grew up and became a nurse, married my grandfather Walter Keith Lawson and they had 5 children, Jan, Ian, Robyn, Marilyn and Sue. Nan still lives in the same house after 40 years. One filled with lots of memories, like learning to make marshmallow and then turning it into rabbits for easter, sherbert cones for fetes, gramma pie is still one of my favourites. Nan’s recipe collection covers approximately 50-60 years.

Mum/Robyn: Mum was born in 1950. Mum grew up, met and married my Dad and had three children, myself and my two brothers Nathan and Sefton. Mum and Dad left Singleton and moved to Ballina for 12 years and are now back in the Valley. Mum was a busy working mum. As we got older my brothers and I all learnt to cook to help Mum out and so we knew how to make the things we really loved. Mum’s recipe collection goes back approximately 40 years.

Me/Viktoria: I was born in 1969 in Singleton and spent my early years there. Mum and Nan taught me to cook, and I have many memories of fun times in the kitchen. I grew up moved to Newcastle, moved back, moved to Brisbane, moved back and have now been in Sydney for 17 1/2 years. Married and became a chef. Becoming a chef was what I had wanted to do as a job from when I learnt there was such a job. Unfortunately during work experience in high school I had a reaction to cleaning products used in restaurant kitchen and had to give up that dream. Fast forward to 1993 and I was doing a certificate III in Hospitality(catering)supervision and I found out as a chef you didn’t need to clean. So as soon as I was finished with the course I became an apprentice in 1994 and have been a qualified chef now for 12 years. I still love cooking. My recipe collection goes back around 30 years.

So I will be trolling through the collections of all four of us and talking about the things I have made hopefully with some photos to accompany the text. It is also an interesting way to look at how cooking has changed over the past 80 or so years. A lot of the recipes have been written, some have been cut out and then pasted into exercise type  books . Some are from friends, some are from magazines, others are just the title. The ones from friends often have that persons name in the title eg Jan’s jam drops, Pam’s chocolate cake, Mrs Elms’ Cheesecake(truly delicious and the first cheesecake I learnt to cook).

Anyway that is enough for my first post. Looking forward to getting through the recipes…..What will be first?????