A taste of things to come

Fried eggs with fresh baked beans and harissa. Photos by Fiona Andersen.
Fried eggs with fresh baked beans and harissa. Photos by Fiona Andersen.
Salad of roast free-range chicken, cavolo nero, parmesan, sourdough croutons and soft-poached egg.
Salad of roast free-range chicken, cavolo nero, parmesan, sourdough croutons and soft-poached egg.
Sticky venison ribs with plum sauce.
Sticky venison ribs with plum sauce.

For those who have been hanging out for our long-awaited third cookbook, I can tell you the wait is almost over.

After taking a break to enjoy the last couple of summers with the family and lap up some sunshine, Riverstone Kitchen - Another Helping is now complete and is at the editors.

It is due in early November, but we are pretty excited and thought we would give you a sneak peek to keep you going until then.

Included, this month, are three of our favourites to stand you in good stead over the coming cooler months.

When we need some comfort food to give us a bit of a lift, this is what we turn to.

Real baked beans are steadying, satisfying and a world apart from their tinned cousins.

A meal in themselves, any time. Our free-range chicken salad is a modern take on the classic Caesar salad, just with more crunch, flavour and fun.

With the thin-sliced sourdough croutons and cavolo nero, it makes for the perfect lunch.

Finally, few can resist sticky ribs and venison ribs are particularly good, especially at this time of year.

Smaller and more tender than traditional beef and lashed with plum sauce.

Who could care less what the weather is doing outside.

Happy cooking!

• Bevan and Monique Smith own Riverstone Kitchen, runner-up Best Regional Restaurant in the 2014 Cuisine Good Food Awards. He is also author of Riverstone Kitchen: recipes from a chef's garden and Riverstone Kitchen Simple. Situated on SH1 in North Otago, just south of the Waitaki bridge, they are open Thursday-Monday from 9am-5pm, and also from 6pm Thursday to Sunday, but closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

 


Fried eggs with fresh baked beans and harissa
Serves 4

Ingredients

150g bacon, rind removed and roughly chopped
40ml olive oil
1 medium brown onion, peeled and roughly chopped
½ small carrot, peeled and chopped
½ stick celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
2 pinches chilli flakes
1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 tsp sugar
400g can chopped tinned tomatoes
400g can butter beans, drained and rinsed
½ cup water
sea salt and pepper
8 large free-range eggs
30ml canola oil
8 slices toasted ciabatta
¼ cup harissa
Barbecue sauce (optional. We use Glass-eye Creek Wild Meat Sauce)

 

Method 

Preheat oven to 200degC. Place bacon and olive oil in a medium-sized heavy-based saucepan and cook over a medium heat until bacon starts to crisp up.

Add vegetables and cook without colour for 6 to10 minutes or until soft, reducing heat if necessary. Add spices, thyme and sugar and cook for 30 seconds before adding tinned tomatoes. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes before adding beans and water.

Simmer for a further 5 minutes and season with a little salt and pepper. Remove from heat and keep warm.

Heat canola oil in a large heavy-based ovenproof frying pan over a medium to high heat. Carefully crack eggs into the hot oil, then place pan in the oven for 2 minutes or until cooked as you like them. Remove eggs from oven and set aside.

Divide toast between 4 plates, top with beans, eggs and a generous drizzle of harissa. Finish with a little barbecue sauce, if desired, and serve immediately.

 


Salad of roast free-range chicken, cavolo nero, parmesan, sourdough croutons and soft-poached egg
Serves 2

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts, skin on
sea salt and pepper
30ml olive oil
4-5 good quality anchovy fillets, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
¼ cup mayonnaise
6 large cavolo nero leaves, stem removed, roughly chopped
¼ red onion, finely sliced
2 spring onions, finely sliced
½ cup Italian parsley, picked
¼ cup ground parmesan
2 cups finely sliced sourdough croutons, toasted
2 soft-poached free-range eggs
extra ground parmesan
extra virgin olive oil

 

Ingredients 

Preheat oven to 200degC. Season chicken with a little salt and pepper and place, skin side down, in a hot, heavy-based ovenproof frying pan with olive oil. Fry until skin is nicely coloured, then place in oven and roast for 5 to 6 minutes or until the chicken is almost cooked.

Remove from oven, turn chicken breasts over and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes. (The heat remaining in the frying pan will complete the cooking process.)In a large bowl, mix anchovies, garlic and mayonnaise. Add cavolo nero, red onion, spring onions, parsley, parmesan and sourdough croutons to the bowl and toss to combine. Divide between 2 plates.

Place eggs in a small pot of boiling water to bring back up to temperature before draining and placing on top of the salad. Sprinkle with a little extra ground parmesan and a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Serve immediately.

 

 


Sticky venison ribs with plum sauce
Serves 4

Ingredients

2kg venison short ribs
3 spring onions, finely chopped
½ small red onion, finely sliced
2 cups coriander, picked
1 cup mint leaves, picked
3 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)
3 cups cooked jasmine rice to serve

Plum sauce
Makes 1.5L

50ml vegetable oil
1 red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
2 red chillies, roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled
5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
4 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
½ cup soft brown sugar
1½ kg ripe red plums, halved and stoned
1½ cups sweet soy sauce (we use Kekap Manis)
½ cup hoisin sauce
½ cup oyster sauce
4 cloves garlic, crushed
4cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated or finely chopped

 

Method 

Preheat oven to 200degC. Place ribs in a large bowl with one third of the plum sauce and toss well to coat ribs evenly. Place ribs in a large roasting dish with half a cup of water and cover with a sheet of baking paper. Place a sheet of aluminium foil over the baking paper and seal tightly around the roasting dish.

Place ribs in oven and cook for 30 minutes before reducing the temperature to 160degC and cooking for a further 2½ to 3 hours or until meat is very tender and coming away from the bone easily.

Remove and discard foil and baking paper. Increase temperature to 200degC and smother ribs in remaining plum sauce. Return ribs to oven and continue to roast, basting ribs often with sauce until they become very sticky and sauce is reduced and quite thick.

Remove ribs from oven, divide between 4 plates and spoon spare sauce generously over the top. Scatter salad greens and sesame seeds over the top and serve with warmed jasmine rice on the side.

NB: If you can't source venison ribs, simply substitute with pork or beef short ribs

Plum sauce

Heat vegetable oil in a large heavy-based pot over a medium heat and sweat onions, chillies, garlic, ginger, star anise and cinnamon, without colour, for 5 minutes. Add sugar and continue to cook until sugar begins to caramelise. Add plums and bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until sauce is thick. Remove from heat and pass through a mouli or a coarse sieve. Place passed sauce back into a clean bowl and add soy sauce, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, crushed garlic, grated ginger and stir well to combine. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.


 

 

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