Katriina Mueller, Author at Finding Feasts

Chai Spiced Cherry Compote in Port Syrup

Chai Spiced Cherry Compote in Port Syrup… Tis’ the season to be cherry!

Thanks to Bella’s parents, who went cherry picking near Orange over the weekend, we have mounds of these glorious red baubles. This means you will be seeing quite a few cherry recipes this year.

Using my Chai Whole Spice Mix (see below) I have made a delicious Chai Spiced Cherry Compote in Port Syrup that can be used in numerous ways. Have it drizzled over ice-cream, you can puree it and make it as a filling to use in your biscuits (use it instead of the prune jam in the Finnish Tarts – Joulutorttu) or put a couple of cherries with some syrup in the bottom of your champagne glass… it’s limitless!

Cheers… Blondie

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Whole Spice Chai Mix

Whole Spice Chai Mix… Although Chai is traditionally a Hindu spiced tea recipe, centuries old, it translates so well to being a Christmas flavour.

I used this Whole Spice Chai Mix recipe for my Cherry Compote… it’s just so Christmassy and beautiful.

Enjoy… Blondie

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Wild Rabbit and Mushroom Pie

Wild Rabbit Mushroom Pie — Click image for recipe

Yes, another pie… but how good are they?! If every dish could be put into pie form then I would be a very happy person.

My first proper memory of rabbit was back in Finland where, when staying with family at their summer house, we had freshly caught rabbit for dinner. What made it memorable for me was that my piece still had the bullet in it. Kind of a thrill when you’re a kid

This Wild Rabbit and Mushroom Pie is an easy, slow cooked dish and made even easier by keeping the rabbit whole, which I prefer when doing rabbit as a shredded meat as you have less chance of getting splintered bone into the meat – Rabbit is notorious for it’s bones splintering into the tiniest of shards if not cut properly and cleanly. Just be mindful of the leg bones, best to wash the legs and make sure there are no loose splinters around there.

If you’ve never tried rabbit before I highly recommend you giving it a go. It’s a great tasting, very lean meat that works well braised… and makes a nice change from chicken.

Blondie

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Braised Beef Cheek and Mushroom Pie

Braised Beek Cheek and Mushroom Pie — Click image for recipe

Well, with Frost Fest 2013 now done and dusted, I have to say that for Bella and myself, for our first restaurant service, we kicked ass! Rave reviews for our mushroom dishes from everyone who dined at the vineyard and now an eagerness to get ourselves out at the markets before Christmas… what a thrill it was, so a massive thank you to Jonathan, Jess and Valerie of Stockman’s Ridge Wines for having faith in us to compliment their wines with our dishes… a much appreciated learning experience.

With that said, here is one of Saturday’s sellout dishes, Individual Braised Beef Cheek and Mushroom Pies. The original pie recipe I had planned for was a Rabbit and Mushroom Pie, but with a complete lack of rabbits in Orange at that particular time I needed to change it. So after a discussion with the butcher I left with 2kg of beef cheeks and 7kg of chicken carcasses (for the rich chicken stock). With the luxurious texture of the beef cheek and silkiness of the gravy teamed with the mixed mushroom topping, it was sure to be hit! I was completely inspired by a recipe I came across at Grazing At Large‘s food blog, the changes are only due to substituting ingredients that I didn’t have available, that and punching up the mushroom quota and intensity.

The beef cheeks were sourced through M&J Butchers in Orange, NSW and what a treat they were too. Already trimmed of fat and ready to go, and the flavour was outstanding!

The greatest thing about this dish is if you are having a group of people for a dinner party, the three different elements can be pre prepared and then assembled and reheated when needed. Serve with a walnut salad on the side with a mustard and balsamic dressing and you are sure to wow your guests with such a flavoursome dish.

Cheers and enjoy!

Blondie

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Beef and Mushroom Cottage Pie

Beef and Mushroom Cottage Pie… What’s more warming on a cool winter’s evening than a pie, and not just any pie, a cottage pie… The beautiful full flavours of the meat and mushroom mixture blanketed with a thick layer of soft, fluffy mashed potatoes. This is the meal that you make a big batch of so you can freeze the leftovers in easy single meal versions and can just pull out of the freezer when you need an embracing food hug.

If you can, try to get organic, pasture fed beef. The difference in flavour is outstanding and when you are cooking something as homely as cottage pie, the flavours of each component are particularly important – that, and it’s nice to use meat from happy animals. The beef I have chosen for this pie is from Greenhill Farm and if you are lucky enough to live in Sydney or Canberra you can place your orders for pick up.

bellissimo! Blondie 🙂

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Ham and Pea Pie Floater with Mash Potato

Ham and Pea Pie Floater with Mash Potato… I have gone through, well you don’t need numbers, let’s just say a lifetime without ever having a pie floater. It never really appealed to me, but for some unknown reason the pie floater has been playing on my mind for the past week. The craving for ham and pea soup along with the desire to have a pie and all of a sudden the pie floater made perfect sense!

Looking into the history of this dish I discovered that it is uniquely Australian. Although it’s now labeled a South Australian Heritage Icon by the National Trust of Australia it became popular through Sydney’s Harry’s Cafe De Wheels (which is a must for visiting travellers) Harry’s is a food truck situated at the old graving docks down at Wooloomooloo, which are now the Australian Naval Dockyards.

Back in the Great Depression between 1929-1932 (although it did start a little earlier here in Australia) unemployed workers could go to the local soup kitchens who would serve them the soup of the day (this could be potato, pea or even strawberry soup) with the leftover pie scraps donated from the pie manufacturers in the area. They were able to get a cheap, if not free, nutritious and warming meal for themselves and their family to help sustain them till their next meal, which may not have been for days at a time.

Just looking into the history of this one particular dish you really get to see the extraordinary hardship people/families, for four decades, worldwide went through. It was one event after the other… it’s truly unimaginable. They would only just recover from one event then another one happens to slap you in the face.

WWI : 1914-1918

The Great Depression : 1929-1932

WWII : 1939-1945

It’s really is no wonder that the ‘plastic fantastic’ era of the fifties was embraced – they were given the convenience of gadgets and an easy ‘disposable’ lifestyle, and after all they had been through it’s no surprised that easy living gained such momentum.

…Blondie

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Smoked Salmon Gratin with a Dry Salsa Verde

Smoked Salmon Gratin with a Dry Salsa Verde… This mouth-watering dish is adapted from Annabel Langbein‘s salmon and egg gratin. Originally made by one of Bella’s family members and served for lunch one beautiful summers day while in New Zealand, it was then made by Bella for one of our dinners over Easter away this year and now it is made by me for you…

Like Chinese whispers the original dish has altered a little, Bella included the potato wedges on top and it works so well to help mop up all of the white sauce and to pad it out for a more filling meal. I have added a dry salsa verde (once you make it you will see why I call it a dry salsa verde), which adds another complimentary layer of flavour.

There is actually quite a bit of white sauce for this recipe and you don’t need to use it all, but do make it to the recipe as it’s so handy to have on hand. Freeze the leftover to make mac’n’cheese at a later date – simply reheat, add parmesan or tasty cheese and mix with cooked pasta.

Smoked Salmon Gratin with a Dry Salsa Verde is luxurious dish and is one of only a handful of meals that hubby goes back to for seconds.

Truly scrumptious… Blondie

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