An article about Kitchen Jazz was published in the July 2010 edition of Sydney Observor:

Click here for Sydney Observor Article

Yes, it's spanking new..... we have put together some promotional material as an overview of what we do here at Kitchen Jazz. You will find a link on the Home Page. Have a look and let me know what you think!

Kitchen Jazz now has its own Facebook Page which you can access through your personal Facebook account or simply click here. I would love you to visit and post comments on discussion topics. It is a great way of interacting with other foodies, sharing thoughts and ideas and inspiration.

Aaaah Winter Wonderland. These are a few of my favourite flavours in winter. With snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes....

Slow cooked lamb shanks, gently bubbling with sweet potatoes, thyme and preserved tomatoes.
Soups filling the soul with leeks, zucchini, celeriac and parsnips.
Braised succulent beef cheeks sitting on velvety pureed potatoes and served with spiced roasted pumpkin and peas.
Home made pies crusty and tasty on the outside, deliciously oozing with creamy chicken, mushrooms and parsley inside.
Stewed rhubarb tart with warm orange custard.

Yes, these are a few of my favourite things. ..... Let us embrace the beauty of seasonal produce. Let’s get excited about our seasons. No matter how blurry the changes of season are, we should still grow, cook, buy and serve what is growing here and now. Bring excitement back into family kitchens with produce that you haven’t used since last winter.

Go on...... be creative with fennel (roast it with pancetta and serve with chicken), cauliflower (spice it up in a curry), Jerusalem artichokes (peel nd pan fry with chorizo, eggs and herbs), quince (poach and make a cordial) and Cavolo Nero (black Tuscan cabbage – delicious with roast pork).

Go organic – take it home in a brown paper package tied up with string................ (one of my favourite things!)

Ok, ok, so we had a glorious time with summer fruits and yes, the mango juice dribbled down our chins, etc. etc, and it’s about to end...but every month is a good one. There is always something fabulous waiting for us at the market. As I write this mid Feb, I am blown away by NSW raspberries - cheap, juicy, colourful and plump. I love that special feeling of treating people with extra raspberries – it seems so extravagant. It is at this time of year that I convert my home made strawberry ripple ice cream to raspberry ripple (See below for Strawberry Ripple Ice Cream recipe).

I know that figs are in season as they are growing in my back yard (thank you, Christine!) and I know that eggplant are in season because they are also growing like crazy. Eggplant is a versatile veg. I like to cook it with only a little olive oil and grilled. Once cooled, I add it to moussaka , vegetable lasagna, salads, Moroccan dips, curries or salads. Figs - I have enjoyed using them this summer – simply segmented and served with slices of beef on a bed of rocket and a drizzle of balsamic ...and oh yes... garnished with soft folds of freshly sliced prosciutto and shards of aged Parmesan cheese.

Unfortunately tomatoes had a rough season with scorching temperatures followed by torrents of rain. It wasn’t the best summer for tomatoes and thank goodness for the new designer baby tomatoes grown in Victoria which have been sweet and full of flavour and also the rosso tomatoes (kumatoes) which are dark in colour and oh so delicious.

What else is good? Mmmmm white nectarines, Tasmanian black cherries, cucumbers and green beans.

Keep it fresh......

Mara

Strawberry Ripple Ice Cream – Makes 2 litres (Serves 8-10 people – or two piggies!)

2 litres vanilla ice cream
¼ cup water (60mls)
1 heaped tablespoon brown sugar (25g)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Pinch of ground cinnamon
½ punnet strawberries (125g)

Wash and hull the strawberries (remove the green stalks) and chop them roughly.

Into a small saucepan, place the water, sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon and cook on medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

Add the strawberries and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 5 minutes without a lid.

Turn off the heat and allow to cool. Place into a bowl and chill in the fridge. When cool and thick, mash with a potato masher or fork until you have a puree with a few small chunks.

Soften the ice cream at room temperature for 15-20 minutes and place into a large mixing bowl. Pour over the strawberry sauce and gently fold through with a large spoon. Do not over mix or you will lose the ripple effect.

Freeze for 1-2 hours before serving.


Strawberries can be substituted with fresh raspberries, apricots or plums, cooked the same way as the strawberries.

The strawberry syrup is delicious served with pancakes or with whipped cream and sponge cake.

Spring into Lamb! That was the catch phrase for a lamb promotion that I was involved with at Eastern Road Quality Meats in Turramurra. The spring lamb is fresher and more delicate at this time of year and lends itself it so many different styles of dishes. At the presentation last Saturday (where I saw many people that have been to my classes!), I demonstrated 2 completely different dishes using lamb fillets. One was a Thai Lamb Salad with fresh zingy flavours served on rice noodles and the other was a Lamb Bruschetta which was seared lamb back strap, sliced on toasted bread with mustard and chive mayo and topped with spring in a bowl – a salsa of diced tomatoes, cucumbers, feta, red onion and lemon. Serve Spring lamb with other spring produce – fresh garden peas, broad beans, spinach, parsley, chives and artichokes. The beautiful hues of green to depict the end of winter.

Blood oranges are in full swing. Use them as you would the standard oranges and where you can dramatise a dish! The ruby red juice is stunning in jellies, drinks and salad dressings. And Perfect for a Campari and Orange!

The celery in my veggie patch is growing like crazy showing off its seasonality. Just calling out to be eaten in salads or lightly braised in a little butter and chicken stock with fresh peas ,tarragon and lettuce hearts to be served with chicken.

All the Asian greens are in abundance. Our tour to Cabramatta showcases freshly picked generous bunches of bok choy, Gai Lan (Chinese broccoli) and water spinach. Don’t overcook them to keep their colour, texture and goodness. A friend of mine invited us to lunch last Sunday and after a huge bowl of chilli black bean crab to share, we were treated with an individual plate of freshly steamed mustard greens drizzled with a little sweet soy sauce. It was divine with just the right amount of bitterness of the mustard stalk to balance the sweetness of the soy.

And aren’t the leeks fabulous ? So thick and white and fleshy and truly at their best. I have been using them in soups and sauces , cooking them in some stock and wine, adding a little cream and whirring it up with a stick blender to serve with roast lamb. I’m getting hungry again! Must go....have fun with spring.

Oh Baby, It’s cold outside....... It’s flu season and all the more reason to keep up the Vitamin C intake with winter citrus fruits. I look out of my office window and see a mass of fresh winter colour. Shiny green citrus trees brimming with plump yellow grapefruit , bright yellow lemons and orange mandarins. Looking through my backyard is always the best way to feel the seasons. If you don’t have a mandarin tree at home, you should be able to pick them up cheaply at your local greengrocer. Use them as a substitute for oranges– delicious not only as drinking juice, but also for jellies, sauces and puddings. When squeezing citrus fruits, press down on the fruit while rolling to and fro. This will help release the liquid from the pulp before juicing.

A winter vegetable which has been growing rampant in my veggie patch is Cavolo Nero – Tuscan black cabbage/kale. All cabbages love winter and this one is hardy and seems to be less prone to insects. It actually prospers with frost! I pick the lower outer leaves as it continues to grow upwards. Unlike other cabbage leaves, cavolo nero keeps its colour and texture when cooked, making it perfect to shred and fry, to include in braises or to cook in soups. The Tuscans love to use it for Ribollita which is a vegetable soup (minestrone) that is reheated the next day with cavolo nero and bread.

The leeks are particularly good at the moment. Look for solid white stems and lots of fresh roots at the base to ensure freshness. Discard the roots and the dark green part of the stem and use in dishes where you would normally use onions. I love to make a creamed leek base for chicken, fish or potatoes: Sweat leek slices in a little butter, add a dash of white wine and cook gently for a minute. Add a little chicken stock and cream, season with salt and pepper and cook for 15 minutes until tender. If desired, you can puree this mixture to a cream and use as an accompaniment to roast meats. Oh, and now is the perfect time to make leek and potato soup.

Also in season – cauliflower (go on, make some soup!!! And sprinkle with some crispy sourdough croutons and pancetta), rhubarb, Queensland strawberries and green shallots.

Feeling cold? Turn on the oven, put on a little music and fill the house with wafts of soup and baked fruits.

Oh, and if anyone has a favourite recipe for grapefruit, please let me know!

Happy Cooking,
Mara

June 2009 - It has been a week since returning from Morocco and some of my fellow travellers are still overseas, continuing their travels through Egypt and Italy. My first Moroccan Culinary Tour was a delight for me as I observed my group savouring delicious moments in exotic Morocco. Was it all a dream? No....it was real, and it was exciting, and it was colourful.... a land of contrasts in the true sense. Our eyes danced, noses bloomed and palates sang as we experienced the joys of aromatic spices, pretty pink rose petals, cool orange sand in the Sahara Desert at sunrise, arrays of sumptuous Moroccan salads, dizzying mosaics accented by enormous brass doors, Berber couscous piled high with plump vegetables and dried fruits, kilometres of fresh organic summer fruits and vivid pickled vegetables, Moroccan lanterns flickering in cosy peaceful courtyards..yes, we experienced so many wondrous things.

Thank you to Jane, Fran, Ros, Keith and Marg for being such delightful travel companions. I hope that you will always be inspired by your learnings of the Moroccan culture - their generosity, friendliness and traditions of cuisine.

To those of you reading this article and smacking themselves for not coming with us, don't despair. I plan to conduct another Moroccan Culinary Tour and all you have to do is contact me to express interest so that plans can commence.

Check out photos of the tour on the Gallery Page to see some of our adventures.

Have you noticed the number of red produce in season at the moment? Red fruit and vegetables contain phytochemicals and antioxidants which help ease arthritis and urinary tract infections, help keep your brain agile and help guard against heart disease and cancer. Look for plums, apples, pomegranates, figs, rhubarb, capsicum, eggplant, grapes and berries. When buying figs, bear in mind that they do not continue to ripen after picking and also don’t have a long shelf life, so select ones that are plump and unbruised and eat them soon after. The simplicity of serving fresh figs, prosciutto and fluffy ricotta drizzled with balsamic vinegar or honey will be rewarded.

Red seedless grapes are very good this season and are quite versatile. They can be frozen individually and served as fun ice cubes, baked into a tart or cooked into a sauce as I demonstrated in the Sicilian class a couple of years ago(see recipe below). Keep them crunchy by washing and drying them , then storing them covered in the fridge. I like to cut them into small bunches for a healthy snack on the run. Now is the perfect time to make a red fruit salad for a dessert before winter sets in. Combine loose red grapes, diced watermelon and chopped strawberries in a bowl and sprinkle with a little sugar to release the juices. Serve under a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream or with greek yoghurt or an almond granita. Yummy.

Chestnuts are visiting us very soon. Plan to use them this Autumn in soups, or roast and braise them with meats or stuff a roast chicken with them together with mushrooms. Do something different!

Fires and floods will be affecting our supply and price of various fruits and vegetables this winter. Have you considered planting your own? Or purchasing local products from farmer growers’ markets?

Have fun with red....just like I said.......

Red Grape Sauce:

500g red seedless grapes, washed and still wet
1 teaspoon sugar
Juice of ½ a lemon

Pluck the grapes from their stems and place into a saucepan with the sugar and 2 tablespoons of water. Cook on medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

Simmer, covered, for 5 minutes. Using a potato masher, squash the grapes to release their juices and continue simmering for another 10 minutes. Add extra water if it dries out too quickly. This will avoid you having an end result of grape jam.

Cool slightly and process in a blender. Add lemon juice to taste. This sauce will keep in the fridge for a few days and is delicious served with Cassatta Pudding or an Almond Granita and simply on its own.

Well, did I have fun with the Salad Days classes in November! Travelling to the Flinders Ranges desert in October inspired me with colours, textures and excitement at the thought of freshness in the middle of nowhere! The contrast of a prickly pear set against the red soil and the stunning outback sunset as a backdrop to kilometres of rocky outcrops. Upon the return to my kitchen, I created recipes for colourful salads to be used throughout the summer months, using peas, lettuces, radishes, baby cucumbers, fennel, watermelon and tomatoes. These salad vegetables were contrasted with waves of rainbow using feta, chive oil, avocado, herbs, the deep pink flesh of lightly seared salmon and the delicate pale flesh of lightly poached banana prawns. All of these items are still in season now.

To add to that!......we have a symphony of summer fruits. We can now dribble sweet peach juice down our chin - and smilingly embrace a juicy ripe white nectarine.... and look forward to the height of cherry season coming soon. Decorate your Christmas table with a large stemmed glass filled with cherries ensuring a 'spilleth over' effect. Using a foam cone, cover with foil and attach strawberries and Ferrero Rocher chocolates with toothpicks to create a tower of colour and after dinner treats. Berries are fab at the moment - set them in jelly and serve in martini glasses topped with spiced mascarpone. Make cordial from fruit puree (passionfruit, mango or rockmelon) mixed with sugar syrup and citrus juice - this becomes a handy base for cocktails, frozen daquiris or a jug of punch. Don't you just LOVE summer?!