Caramelised onion

Speck and mushy peas

Posted by Gary

I need to clean out my freezer and refrigerator of bits and pieces.

I had some speck, some baby green peas, some onions, mushrooms, and a handful of cherry tomatoes on the cusp of blooming some mould.

Speck with caramelised onions and mushrooms with mushy peas and cherry tomatoes

Speck is smokey bacon and sold as a block rather than rashers. I had an open packet after I’d used some speck a few weeks ago for some other dish.

I also have some frozen baby green peas in the freezer because frozen peas are so versatile. When I make mushy peas, I use sour cream, and I had a little left after having it with avocado during the week.

Because I ate a sweet lunch on Friday rather than my usual caramelised onion and mushrooms on Italian bread I had some brown mushrooms getting a little dry in a paper bag in the refrigerator.

Speck with caramelised onions and mushrooms with mushy peas and cherry tomatoes

Ingredients

  • Speck
  • Onion
  • Cloves
  • Chicken stock
  • Baby green peas
  • Sour cream
  • Butter
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Onions
  • Mushrooms
  • Claire’s whiskey Seville marmalade
  • Olive oil
  • Balsamic vinegar
  • Golden syrup
Speck with caramelised onions and mushrooms with mushy peas and cherry tomatoes

Instructions

Speck and caramelised onions

  1. Cut the speck into thick slices. When I write thick, I’m thinking, at least 1 cm thick. You want to be able to bite into the smoked bacon and experience the smokiness as your teeth cut through and the fatty meat juices burst from the moist, tender flesh over your tongue. 
  2. Quarter a brown onion with a sharp knife. I use a Chinese-style meat cleaver which I like to hone with a cook’s steel each time I use it. I love the sound of iron on iron.
  3. Put the speck, onions and some cloves into a saucepan and pour over enough chicken stock to cover the meat.
  4. Bring the chicken stock to a simmering boil and cook for about 40 minutes.
  5. The idea is to get the speck soft and floppy.
  6. After 40 minutes, take the saucepan off the hob and allow it to rest off the heat.
  7. With a mandolin, slice a couple of white onions and remove the stalks from the mushrooms.
  8. Begin to caramelise the onions in some olive oil over low, slow heat. Add in the mushroom caps and stalks and put a lid on the frying pan.
  9. When the onions and mushrooms soften and begin to take some colour, add in a little balsamic vinegar and continue to cook slowly. For some extra kick add a dessert spoon of Claire’s whiskey Seville marmalade. Watch the onions and mushrooms because you want them caramelised and not burnt.
  10. Towards the end, add in some golden syrup for a little extra sweetness. Adding the golden syrup is an optional step.
  11. When the onions and mushrooms are ready, take the frying pan off the heat and transfer the caramelised onion and mushrooms to a bowl.
  12. Remove the pieces of speck from the saucepan. Dry the surfaces of the meat and fat with a towel.
  13. In the frying pan used for the onions and mushrooms, fry off the speck along with the cherry tomatoes. Fry the meat until it takes on some colour and a little crispiness.
Speck with caramelised onions and mushrooms with mushy peas and cherry tomatoes

Mushy peas

  1. Put the frozen baby green peas into a silicon mixing jug with a little water and cook using microwave radiation. Cook the peas until they just become soft.
  2. Drain out the excess water and add in a nudge of butter and a dessert spoon of sour cream.
  3. Blend with a stick blender.
  4. The sour cream keeps the peas bright and green.
Speck with caramelised onions and mushrooms with mushy peas and cherry tomatoes

Serve the food

  1. Put everything on a dinner plate.
  2. Shoot a photograph.
  3. Sit down and eat with a knife and fork.
Speck with caramelised onions and mushrooms with mushy peas and cherry tomatoes

What have I done this week?

I’ve been out twice. I know, right? What a gadabout. I like the description of gadabout in the British Engish Thesaurus (see below).

On Monday evening I went out with some pathologists (specialist microbiologists, as a colony) to XO in Narabundah and we enjoyed the Christmas menu.

On Wednesday evening, I went out with some work friends to Tipsy Bull in Braddon and enjoyed a collection of vegetarian tasting plates.

What have I watched this week?

I watched the food show Ugly Delicious produced and starring US-based celebrity chef, David Chang. David is of Korean heritage, and this is important to know when watching the program.

David spent the series highlighting the differences between the sophisticated Italian and French cuisines against the messy and ugly south-east Asian and Indian cuisines. The premise being there is inherent racism because Asian food is quick and looks sloppy, and the service is often curt. In contrast, Italian and French food is refined and sophisticated with the food elements and plating being elegant, and the service is polite and courteous.

I could see his perspective, but I don’t see it as racism. Eating at a fine dining restaurant with attractive looking food and courteous service is enjoyable with the right company. Likewise going for cheap eats in an Asian restaurant with cheap tables and chairs, newspaper for table covering, and disposable chopsticks can be just as enjoyable with the same company.

Final thoughts

Have a good week. Let me know what you think in the comments section.

British English Thesaurus

gadabout: gallivanter, pleasure-seeker; wanderer, rover, rambler, drifter, bird of passage; traveller, journeyer, explorer, globetrotter.

Natural yoghurt with no added sugar and Kensington Pride mango

Roast pumpkin, spiced pecans and duck breast

Posted by Gary

Introduction

During the week, I was reading Karen’s Back Road Journal, and she had a post about a harvest salad with roasted butternut squash and red onion.

Part of the recipe included spiced pecans. This post piqued my interest because I like the idea of spiced pecans with pumpkin.

Last week I made a roast pumpkin and caramelised onion dish courtesy of Not Quite Nigella (Lorraine Elliott). That recipe used toasted pecans. I thought spiced pecans might add a bit of extra oomph to the recipe.

Back Road Journal

I think Karen was one of the first bloggers I followed when I started blogging a little over ten years ago.

Karen and her husband live in the USA and travel extensively, especially throughout Europe with an emphasis on Italy judging by the number of posts about that beautiful country.

If you like to travel and eat good food, I recommend following Karen and the adventures she and her husband enjoy.

Roast pumpkin, spiced pecans and duck breast

Recipe

Ingredients

Spiced pecans

  • 50 g butter
  • 25 g dark brown sugar
  • 5 mL of water
  • 5 g five-spice powder
  • 1 g cumin
  • 1 g white pepper
  • 1 g cayenne pepper
  • ½ cup pecan halves
  • salt to taste
Butter, pecan nuts, brown sugar, and spices

Roast pumpkin and caramelised onion

  • Butternut pumpkin diced
  • Brown onion sliced
  • Brown sugar
  • Olive oil
  • Five-spice powder
  • Baby rocket

Duck breast

  • Duck breast
  • Iodised salt
  • Black pepper
  • Queensland nut oil

Instructions

Spiced pecans

  1. Heat the oven to 200 °C.
  2. Melt the butter in a small pan.
  3. Add the brown sugar and water and mix in with the melted butter.
  4. Add in the spices and mix through as the butter and sugar bubble.
  5. Thoroughly coat the pecans in the sweet, spicy, sticky, gooey and hot buttery goodness.
  6. Make sure each piece is covered.
  7. Spread the coated pecan pieces onto a lined baking tray.
  8. Toast for five minutes.
  9. Allow the spiced pecans to cool.
Spiced pecans before the oven
Spiced pecans ready for the oven
Spiced pecans out of the oven

Roast pumpkin and caramelised onion

  1. Heat the oven to 200 °C.
  2. Dice the pumpkin and slice the onion.
  3. Put the pumpkin and onion in a mixing bowl and rub with the brown sugar and olive oil.
  4. Layout the pumpkin and onion onto a lined baking tray and sprinkle over some five-spice powder.
  5. Cook the pumpkin and onion for at least 35 minutes or until the onion and pumpkin have taken on good caramelisation. Some people may suggest the black bits represent burnt food. I beg to differ unless it tastes acrid, it’s all good.
  6. Remove the cooked pumpkin and onion from the oven and place the baking tray on a bench so the pumpkin and onion can cool.
  7. When the pumpkin and onion are tepid, put them into a mixing bowl and toss in some rocket leaves and toss the salad.
  8. Just before serving the meal, add in the spiced pecans and toss the salad.

Duck breast

  1. Season the duck breast with iodised salt and black pepper.
  2. Seal the breast in a vacuum bag.
  3. Cook for 1 hour at 55 °C in a water bath.
  4. After the hour, remove the bag and place it on a plate and refrigerate for about 15 minutes. This step ensures the temperature of the breast meat dips below 55 °C so you can sear the skin in a hot skillet until it is golden brown.
  5. Remove the duck breast from the refrigerator and open the bag.
  6. Pat the breast dry with kitchen paper and with a sharp knife, score the skin.
  7. Heat a cast-iron skillet until it is smoking hot.
  8. Rub some Queensland nut oil on the surface of the duck breast and sear the skin hard like there’s no tomorrow!
  9. Allow the breast to relax and rest for a few minutes before slicing.
Roast pumpkin, spiced pecans and duck breast

Plating options

You could add the sliced breast to the pumpkin and onion salad and make a big bowl of goodness which only needs a fork for eating.

The alternative is to serve the duck next to the pumpkin and onion salad.

Roast pumpkin, spiced pecans and duck breast

How did the spiced pecans taste in the meal?

I was pretty impressed. Pecans added a nice kick of flavour. I think next time I’d use more cayenne pepper and maybe more five-spice. I was surprised the pecans weren’t too sweet and not too sticky.

What else has been happening?

Blogging

I haven’t been feeling the need to blog as much lately. I haven’t written in my diary blog for months, and I think I might retire it. I’ll probably focus blogging here at Yummy Lummy.

I still read a few blogs every day, and I pretty much always photograph my meals and share the images.

We’ll see how I go for now.

Life is pretty good at the moment. My days are busy, and I’ve been spending time contemplating some changes.

It’s been a harrowing year for so many people, yet for me, I’ve enjoyed working. Praise God; I’ve been blessed this year in so many ways. I’ve made new friends, got to know myself better, and I’ve worked with brilliant people. I think we all see on TV the big named people, but I’m thinking of the quiet achievers behind the scenes. The public servants whose thoughtful and intelligent advice has ensured we have the policy settings to respond with vigorously and with agility. These are the people who have assured Australia is in a good place right now.

Bodyweight maintenance

I’m pretty keen to avoid getting too heavy again. I don’t want to deprive myself of good food, but I’m conscious that to reach a so-called normal BMI, I need to get down below 72 kilograms. But, that’s the upper limit of normal. It means I need to aim for about 70 kilograms. I don’t know if I can do that.

You’ll see in this year’s weight chart; I recently had a sudden dip. I had a few days of feeling out of sorts and didn’t have much appetite. Since then, I’ve reduced my portion sizes a little without feeling deprived.

2020-11-21 Weight chart

We’ll see how this goes. With Christmas coming up, it’ll be a little more challenging to keep losing weight so mentally I’m not going to get too focussed on numbers.

What’s next?

See you when I see you next.