cook
WITH BERN THE CHEF
www.bernthechef.com.au
My Grandma’s Irish Stew
Bern the Chef One Pot Cooking, enough for 6. Irish Stew doesn’t
have bebeen heavy or Lane fiddly, here’s proof. is a local caterer whotohas in the Cove areathe for over 15 years. She has worke in many corporate catering positions as well as operating a small business. Bern love catering and the freedom YOU NEED: that clients give her to do what she does best. Cooking is her forte and Bern loves the classics as well as keeping up to date with the latest foo • 100 mls of dripping/olive oil trends. www.bernthechef.com.au • 3 large brown onions, peeled & thickly sliced • 3 medium carrots, sliced in thick rounds of 1 to 2 cms • 1.5 kilo of lamb neck or shoulder, bone in • 1.5 kilo of peeled & thickly sliced potatoes - look for King Edward, Coliban or Sebago varieties • 1 bunch of parsley, roughly chopped, 1 bay leaf, salt & ground white pepper BY BERNADETTE KENNEALY. • 1 litre of water
Bern the Chefbliss on simple, Autumn There’s nothing quite like walking into a warm home with aromas comfort cooking of baked puddings and a roast dinner. With more time spent inside, the change of season provides the perfect excuse to try new recipes.
Brisk mornings make me crave porridge with golden syrup. The chill is on the way, and we have a month before daylight pushes us inside earlier (April 4 it be therapy; to crack open that great red wine; or to grab a bunch of Cooking is savings great for so many reasons, whether if you are counting). I’m a purist, so my oats are soaked friends on a weekend afternoon for nourishment, a laugh and a bowl of comfort. with hot water in the morning with a pinch of sea salt, Walking pastand theabutcher’s dailyIt’s offerings, are there meat cuts you wish you knew how to use? Perhaps skirt steak, pork a drizzle of syrup little cold milk. familiar and comforting. cheeks or chicken Maryland? Pork cheeks are one of my favourites and my ears prick up every time I hear of a new recipe.
TO SERVE: The version wouldmybedaily delicious rice noodles and broth and is best made the morning of, or even the day before. I’m making a pointbelow of keeping diet aswith comforting Steamed & as possible because it’s keeping me grounded in these chaotic times. I want all the joy the hearty dishes can buttered white give me. cabbage and or
Mandarin and Ginger Pork Cheeks
Chicken Maryland with
green peas and Polenta Bacon
• Oil for frying
• Spice rub
• 3 onions, finely chopped • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped • 2 carrots, roughly chopped.
• 1 tblspn sea salt • 1 tblspn smoked paprika METHOD: • 1 tblspn ground cumin • 4oven springs fresh thyme leaves • Preheat the to 160 degrees.
• 6 pork cheeks - approx 1 kilo • Place a heavy-based casserole dish • 1 tspn dry mustard powder (or substitute with beef cheeks) on the stove and heat thewhite dripping to melt. • 1 tspn ground pepper • 2 inches ginger, peel and slice• Add the lamb neck or shoulder and on medium heat, browning all over till dark golden. • 1/2 cup light soy sauce
• Remove from the pan, and add the sliced onions, stirring Any meat cooked on the bone has more flavour. Although it does often to a golden brown colour. • 1/4 cup Shaoxing wine take longer to cook, the flavour intensity is worth it! • Once the onions are cooked, add the lamb back to the pot This recipe is based on feeding 6 people. Work on one Maryland mandarin peel • 3 pieces Aside from porridge, I adore the simplicity ofdried egg soldiers. with the parsley, bay leaf, carrots & potatoes. per person, skin on. (Asian grocer) My Sunday nights are calmed with every swipe of butter • S eason well with 2 teaspoons of cooking salt and 1 on toast, waiting to be stripped and• dipped 2 wholeinto starsoft anise teaspoon of ground white pepper. boiled eggs. Eggs are nuggets of nutrition, and I feel like • 2 dried red chillies (or to taste) • Add the water and bring the pot to a simmer. I am treating myself every time. Maybe because I double Mix all spice ingredients together in a bowl. Slash the • 2 cinnamon sticks up on the butter. • Cover the casserole dish and place in the oven for 2 hours. chicken legs, place a couple of slashes on the thigh and then • 1 tspn • Remove the lidthe for spices the lastinto 30 minutes, stir gently, and let Place onto a March 17 is the Feast of St Patrick. The Irishwhite knowpeppercorns all rub all the nooks and crannies. the top potatoes bake to a crust. about plain eating with potatoes, slow cooked stews and • 2 tblspn dark soy sauce tray in a single layer and refrigerate for a couple of hours. maybe even a shamrock Irish coffee whisky • The lamb should be veryoftender off onions, the bone. • 2with tblspn brown sugar Add a couple wedgeand cutfalling Spanish 4 smashed whole or baileys. • L adle steaming into large bowls with steamed or boiled garlic cloves, 1 punnet of cherry tomatoes (whole), and one • 6 mandarins, whole cabbage with plenty butter or buttered green orange cutofinto quarters. Drizzle withpeas. olive oil and place • 500mls chicken stock
May your troubles be small, • Cabbage can baked in hot the oven oven (160 with degrees). a little chicken intobe a medium and your worries be few, one whole spice, not garlic), cut into Sauté onions in a heavy based pot with oil for 4-5 minutes stock and Roast for 30clove to 40(the minutes. and may good luck be with you until translucent. Add the trimmed pork cheeks and brownlarge chunks, cover, and cook for at least an hour for a very whatever you do. Asthe that is roasting, silky melt in mouth dish. sauté a couple of chopped bacon rashers
on each side. Add the ginger, carrot and aromatic spices and cook stirring for another 3 minutes until the whole pot is 22 TVO fragrant. Add the stock and Shaoxing wine, transfer into an oven dish, cover and slow cook on 140 degrees for 2 hours. Add the whole mandarins, the dark soy and brown sugar,
in a heavy based pot. Add 2 cups of polenta and 1 litre of chicken stock, working quickly until a soft porridge consistency. Turn the heat off and cover. Leave for 5 minutes to absorb and soften, add 100gms butter, freshly chopped
