chapter XXV - mamon wellman cooks 06

what am I? Chopped liver?
This week its mum's liver dish, and today it is Her Majesty's real birthday (many happy returns Liz, hope you got my card and box of Cadbury's Favourites?) A perfect time to relate a little tale of the two great ladies. 

In 1990, I was Chef in Charge when Her Majesty came to Waitangi, N.Z. for the Commonwealth Games and the 150 year 'Celebrations' of the Treaty of Waitangi (signing of a treaty between the Crown and the Maori).  I had spent 6 months plus, as part as part of the team planning the catering for day; Waitangi Day (February 6th) Designing menu's, dishes and recipes that kept bouncing backwards and forwards to the Royal household for approval. Months getting my team security clearance to work for the day (many I might add didn't get it and had to be excused work for the day) and then days and days preparing food for the actual day. Besides the Royal party and all the invited Dignitaries, we fed in the region of 15,000 that day! 

Myself and a brigade of 10 - 15 were in the kitchen prepping from 7am until 10.30pm, we took a wee break of less than 5 hours to get some shut-eye. Then were back in the kitchen at 3am working furiously to be ready on time.

We were ready on time, unfortunately E.R. and Co were late. It was a scorching hot day (30C+) and I had a hot and cold buffet to transport from my kitchen to the function tent. The plan was to be given a 20 minute fore warning of her arrival, load the trucks up, take the food up and set the function up. That happened four times, each time being a false alarm as the Royal Party was being held up by crowds, each time we had to stop and put it all on hold. Eventually we got there and all went off without a hitch

However ....... back to my mother. A staunch Royalist, and ever so proud of her son cooking for the Queen (again) and happy to be there to see it all. Not so happy though, to be stood all but right next to one Ms Perou; a Maori protester who flung a wet, black t-shirt at Her Majesty! The following links has Her Majesty arriving on the jetty of our hotel, while the second one has video footage of the t-shirt incident (mum can briefly be seen in greenish trousers as the police take the protester away)

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/video/33169/queen-elizabeth-ii-at-waitangi-1990

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/video/35936/waitangi-day-incidents

After all my efforts and hard work, guess who's face got plastered all over the international press? What am I? Chopped liver? (=[;-D 


liver, bacon and onions

I'm not sure if it was because mum liked liver, whether it was because it was good for us or whether it was a cheap meat protein, but liver and onions featured prominently in our diet. More often than not served yet again with mashed potatoes, but this time with spinach as I remember. Whatever the reason, I liked it as long as the liver wasn't too overcooked, grey and crumbly in texture. All excellent sources of iron and vitamins it must be said.

Liver can be very harsh in flavour at times. Milk fed, calves liver is the mildest in flavour, followed by chicken liver or lamb's liver. Pigs liver is only only for the strong at heart (pardon the pun) and Ox liver is best left for pates and terrines only. Even if chicken or lamb's liver is too strong for you, try soaking it in milk overnight. The milk extracts that strong bitterness. 

recipe - casseroled liver a la momon

750 gm   lamb liver

004 pc    bacon rashers

002 pc    onions

002 pc    oxo cubes

002 cups water

recipe - method preparation

Cut the liver into pieces and brown in a frying pan in a little oil, remove and place into a casserole dish. Slice and brown the onions and add to the liver. Cut the bacon into strips and add to the liver. Sprinkle over the stock cube and pour over the water. Place on a lid and place in a pre-heated oven (180C) for approximately  45 minutes. Remove from the oven, mix the cornflour with water and pour over. place back into the oven for another 15 to 30 minutes without the lid. 

                                                                                                                                           

recipe - cheffie's liver with a red onion marmalade & bacon 

200 gm  lamb liver 
005gm   cornmeal / polenta 

004 pc  onions

002 tbs  redcurrant jelly

002 tbs  port 

001 tbs  brown sugar 

001 tbs  honey

001 tsp  red food colour

004 pc   streaky bacon rashers 

001 pc   avocado

recipe - method of preparation

Slice the onions very thinly, slicing them with the natural grain (do not slice into half rings or they will all fall apart as they cook), in a large saucepan add a little olive oil and cook the sliced onions over a low heat until they soften but do not colour. Add the jelly, port, sugar and food colour and cook gently over a low heat until it forms a sticky, marmalade texture (approx 90 minutes) 

Grill the bacon rashers until brown and crisp, remove and set aside (do not worry if they go cold, they crispen better as they cool down). Cut the avocado in half, remove the stone, carefully scoop out the flesh or peel and slice thickly. 

Slice the liver into neat 2cm thick (1/2 inch) slices and coat in the polenta. Heat a lightly oiled griddle pan over a medium high heat, when hot, carefully place in liver slices (do not over crowd the pan, cook in batches if need be) and cook for 2 minutes until nicely scored/marked, turn over and cook for another two minutes. The liver should be cooked through but still slightly pink. Remove and serve. Place a good spoonful of the onion marmalade onto a plate, arrange the liver, bacon and avocado slices neatly on top.  

next week - mum's meat pie ....... 

chapter XXV - mamon wellman cooks 04

stew and dumplings

This was one of my mum's winter standards, and one of my least favourite as a child. I never appreciated this dish until much later in life. Mum and my sister's loved it, devoured every drop and savoured each dumpling. So much of a favourite, as I write I have a text from my elder sister requesting my stew and dumplings for dinner when she visits this week. 

Dumplings are a firm favourite all over the world; dim sims of China, ravioli of Italy, pierogi of Poland, mandu of Korea, momo of Nepal, knopfel of Germany and of course the three type of gnocchi of Italy.  

And of course the good ole suet dumpling of the UK. It was this that my mother always made to go with her stew and the only part of the dish I enjoyed and continue to love to this day. So much so, I have eaten all the international dumplings mentioned above and in their countries of origins. The following recipe can also be made up and used to make a savoury cobbler. 

note - suet is the shredded protective fat that surrounds the kidneys 

recipe - dumplings a la mamon

300 gm  self raising flour 

150 gm  suet

recipe - preparation method

Combine the flour and suet and season well with salt and pepper (I love to add plenty of cracked pepper and chopped chives or parsley). Make a well in the centre and gradually add cold water while combining with the fingers until a good form paste is achieved and mixture comes away from the sides of the bowl. With damp hands, form into golf ball sized dumplings (remembering they will double in size when cooked) 

recipe - beef stew a la mamon

001 kg   stewing beef

001 can concentrated tomato soup

002 pc   beef oxo cubes

002 pc   potatoes (large) 

002 pc   carrots

001 pc   onion

              dumpling mix 

recipe - preparation method

Cut the beef into large cubes, place into a pot of cold salted water and bring to a boil, allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes. Drain in a colander and quickly rinse away any scum. Place beef back into a large pot and add all the vegetables; peeled cut into large dice. Empty the soup into a bowl, sprinkle in the stock cubes and thin down with boiled water from the kettle. Pour into the saucepan with the beef and bring to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer gently for at least one hour until all ingredients are almost tender. Taste and season if required. 

Add the dumplings and simmer gently with a lid for a further 30-40 minutes until the dumplings have doubled in size and cooked all the way through. 

                                                                                                                                           

recipe - cheffie's dumplings 

250 gm  self raising flour 

125 gm  suet
002 pc   shallot
001 tbs  chopped chives or parsley

recipe - preparation method

Combine the flour, suet and chopped herb. Season well with Maldon sea salt and freshly milled pepper Make a well in the centre and gradually add sufficient cold water while combining with the fingers until a good form paste is achieved and mixture comes away from the sides of the bowl. With damp hands, form into golf ball sized dumplings (remembering they will double in size when cooked) 

note - depending on their use, I like to mix this recipe up and to the centre of the dumpling add an olive, roasted garlic clove or a small piece of sundried tomato. Or flavour them up with chopped garlic or chilli. 

recipe - cheffie's beef stew cobbler

001 kg   stewing beef
004 tbs  olive oil
002 pc   garlic cloves
002 tbs  flour 
001 tbs  smoked paprika

002 tbs  tomato concentrate/paste
001 lt     beef stock

010 pc   baby onions
002 pc   potatoes (large) 

002 pc   carrots
002 pc   celery stalks

              dumpling mix 

recipe - preparation method

Cut the beef into very large cubes. Heat the olive until almost smoking and brown the meat pieces. Add the chopped garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the flour and paprika and stir to combine through, allow to colour slightly. Stir in the tomato concentrate and cook until it darkens to almost brown. 

Slowly add the stock, while stirring and gently bring to a simmer. 

Peel all the vegetables; leave the onions whole, cut the potatoes into large dice, the carrot in half lengthways and and then on a 45 degree oblique, and the same for the celery. Place into cold salted water and bring to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes, rinse under cold water and add to the stew. Simmer gently for 45 minutes, taste and season if required. 

Transfer to a casserole dish and carefully add the dumplings, evenly spacing them out around the sides. Cover with a lid and bake in a pre-heated oven (170C) for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and cook for a further 30 minutes.

next week - mum's toad in the hole .......