sneff's New Writeups

Beer battered sardines with tomato, preserved lemon and caper salsa (thing)

2005-04-25T22:31:14Z

Up until a few years ago, I would never have shared a recipe for sardines. Perhaps the wags and jokers amongst you may be silently thinking to yourselves; "...Yeah, because sardines make great tucker for cats..." and if so, I have a little surprise for you. You are absolutely right on the money. Until recently, I simply hated sardines. Today it's a very different matter. I love their punchy, forthright, salt-tang sea flavour, and cook them up any chance I get. So what was it that changed over the last few years? Surprisingly, it wasn't me - it was the fishies themselves.

You see, back in the day, there were two types of sardines available in Australia. Sardines in the can and fresh, whole sardines that were unceremoniously piled atop one another at the local fish shop. The latter were generally labelled 'pilchards', sold for a dollar or two a kilo, and were invariably destined to finish up on the end of an amatuer angler's fishing line. These days, with the…

Fig, Cinnamon and Pistachio Ice Cream (thing)

2005-04-02T01:38:42Z

Step by step images to accompany this recipe can be found at
http://www.deviantart.com/view/16761866/

I could forgive you for thinking that I am burdened with an unhealthy fascination for all things ice cream. Really I could. Running a quick count through my write-ups, it seems that I have added something in the order of 14 iced confection recipes to the database... and this one rounds it out to an even fifteen. On these stats alone, I can plainly see why you would assume that I'm an incorrigible ice cream nut. Strangely enough, my appetite for ice creams is nothing remarkable... tell you the God's honest? I would normally prefer a glass of good sticky dessert wine over ice cream to finish a meal any day.

So what is the impetus behind this ice cream fascination that they take close to a 5% share of my overall write ups? Well, of late I can lay the blame squarely with my boss who seems to have gone more than a little…

Dried Cranberry and Stoli Ice Cream (thing)

2005-02-04T21:11:55Z

Step by step photos to accompany this recipe can be found at...

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/15397836/

Man I needed a break. I dread summer for a plethora of reasons - not least of which is the oppressive and relentless heat. However, the thing that really makes me fear the balmy season is the fact that it coincides with the Christmas - New Year party season down here. It is always a bone-crunchingly physical and emotionally sapping time. Frighteningly, the silly season of 2004/2005 was even worse than any I have survived before.

12 months ago we had 3 chefs slaving to get 6 weeks of never-ending feasts cooked and plated. The year before that we had 4.This year, I was one of two unfortunate bastards who really had no choice but to un-emotively wander into the Maelstrom and hope for mercy or a miracle. We got neither. December 2004 was a month of record takings for the business, and on the face of it…

Almond and cassia shortcake with strawberries simmered in Crème de Fraise (thing)

2004-10-22T21:16:33Z

A photo of this recipe can
be found at

http://www.deviantart.com/view/14657739/

For around the last month or so, I have been mucking around in the sticky part of the kitchen, trying to come up with fresh ideas for our dessert menu. Sadly, my inspiration lately has been less than stellar, so anything I came up with was either too damn fiddly and intricate to be bothered with, or just outright boring.

I hate dealing with a barren well-spring of ideas, but hell, it happens to me often enough, so I really should by now be used to the cyclical nature of my inspiration by now. Sort of like a creative El Nino effect if you will. To make matters worse, the time of year is rapidly approaching that places limitations on exactly what type of dessert I should be serving. I'm not talking seasonal availability of produce here, although that does play a part. More importantly, it is heading toward Christmas – the silly season. This is a time of…

Golden beetroot soup with feta and green garlic croutons (thing)

2004-09-15T20:08:55Z

Near enough to 10 years ago now I started out with my first real kitchen job. The place was pretty small, and to cut costs the owner insisted that we drive out to the produce markets at Flemington, about 30 minutes drive west of Sydney's CBD. Flemington markets are the central fruit and vegetable market for Sydney's wholesale trade, so in the main it is restaurants, grocery stores and supermarkets that do their shopping here. Sure you can rock up on the weekend and buy a small bag of potatoes if you wish, but during the week this place is pure business, and to do business with these wiry, wily traders, you need to keep their hours – very rude hours indeed.

The knock at my door came at 4:30am. The restaurant's owner was sadly on time, and as we piled into his van I bleerily and silently cursed myself for not hitting the hay until midnight the night before. The drive out was virtually wordless. All this changed once we rolled through the gates to what can only be described as a self…

Quick roast chicken with sage, bacon and hazelnuts (thing)

2004-07-31T02:28:31Z

Next time you enjoy a night out at a restaurant, take a minute to examine the menu a little closer than you perhaps normally would. Ever heard of a safety net dish? This little number is the item on a menu specifically devised for timorous and unadventurous diners. Can you spot the safety dish on a menu? If you are having a bit of trouble, then here is the big hint – look for chicken. Devising chicken dishes for a menu can be a bit of a minefield at times. On one hand, plenty of diners tend to ignore chicken when they are out because they cook so much of it at home - and when you are out, well... you want to try something you wouldn't normally make yourself. Conversely, there are some diners who automatically opt for chicken because they see it as safe and low risk. Daunting surprises are not normally found in a chicken dinner. This means it is a brave menu writer indeed that leaves chicken off the list.

This particular dish strikes the perfect balance between these two extremes, on several…