Coming soon (flying as of 1 December 2009) to a Qantas premium cabin menus is Spanner Crab Omelette with Oyster Sauce.

This omelette, in its’ wok fried version, is a Rockpool classic and appeared on the restaurant menu for many years.   The texture of the crab, egg and bean sprouts, and the perfume of the sesame oil make this a truly wonderful taste and texture treat. The crispy exterior, melting interior, and the crunchiness of the bean sprouts all work so well together.  Make sure the oil is very hot and smoking so that the eggs do not soak up the oil.  

It is served with steamed fragrant rice, bok choy and a spoonful of oyster sauce. This recipe is enough to feed one but is best served as part of a banquet style meal. 

SPANNER CRAB OMELETTE WITH OYSTER SAUCE
 
Vegetable oil
3 small free range eggs, gently whisked
100g steamed spanner crab meat, free from any shell
100g bean sprouts
50g snowpea sprouts
6 no. Chinese yellow chives, washed & cut in 5cm lengths
Broth (see recipe below)
Steamed Jasmine rice, to serve
Bok choy, to serve
Oyster sauce, to serve

Preparation
Heat vegetable oil (about 6-8cm deep) in a wok. When oil begins to smoke, add egg. The egg will puff up and bubble immediately, hit the egg bubbles with an egg slice to knock out the air, cook for 10-15 seconds or until base of omelette is golden.

Remove from heat then drain excess oil from wok. Spoon crab along centre of omelette and top with sprouts and chives. Roll one side over filling and roll omelette over to form a cigar shape. Pour in broth and place wok back onto heat. Allow to simmer for a minute to heat through crab and soften vegetables.
Remove the omelette from the wok with an egg lifter and place on a board.  Trim off the ends.

BROTH
2/3 cup fresh chicken stock
1 teaspoon light palm sugar, grated
2 table spoons yellow bean sauce|
Two drops of sesame oil

Preparation
To make the broth, combine all ingredients except sesame oil in a pot. Bring to boil, ensure sugar has melted and remove from heat. Check balance of seasoning then add sesame oil. 

To serve:
Serve with freshly steamed Jasmine rice and bok choy. Place omelette in a large deep bowl, pour over the hot broth and top with oyster sauce.

An article by Kate Barker – Menu Planer, Rockpool Consulting

The menus we write for International First and Business Class aren’t done in quite the same way as a restaurant. There is a lot more forward planning involved to get each dish onto the plate. It’s actually quite an amazing process that can begin up to twelve months in advance of the menu flying. I am just in the middle of drafting up the next lot of menus which will start flying from September next year; I write eighteen First Class menus and forty-five Business Class menus which change four times a year, with each new season. 

The first part of this process is research. We scour through pages of magazines, from Australia and other countries, check out what our four restaurants are doing, as well as other restaurants in Sydney and overseas and review any new food books on the scene. Neil has the most amazing cookbook collection I have ever seen. I chat to Neil, Khan and Catherine (from RPB&G Sydney), Phil and Dave (from RP) and lots of other people in the Rockpool family to get a sense of what is inspiring everyone at the moment. My job is to try to reflect that passion in our First and Business Class menus. We also spend time with our suppliers to find out about any new products we might be interested in using as well as constantly be on the lookout for new and interesting suppliers. 

I will be recipe testing through December all the new dishes and ideas I have for the drafted menus. These dishes are presented to Neil and the Rockpool Consulting Team to assess the flavour profile as well as the look of the dish and if it’s appropriate for our in-flight menus. There are some dishes that for various reasons will just never work!

The next few months before testing is what we call ‘presentation season’. Twice a year either myself or Roger, another Rockpool Consultant, head to Los Angeles, London, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Singapore. During this time all of the new menus and recipes are presented to us for quality purposes. We need to make sure they have followed our recipes correctly and that premium products are being used. It also gives us a chance to see what’s happening in the local food scene with visits to food markets, restaurants and other suppliers. In-flight, we also have a chance to speak to crew and check on how the food is going. It’s such a wonderful experience to see the crew plating up a beautiful dish which was created up to twelve months earlier!

Our Spring menus from Australia have been running a month now and are getting fabulous feedback. Our First Class menus from Sydney and Melbourne include amazing Australian produce such as Italian salami made from free range pork from Quattro Stelle; sustainable Spencer Gulf King Prawns managed by the South Australian Research and Development Institute; Barossa Valley chicken which is free range and fed on a vegetarian corn based diet; and Rangers Valley dry aged beef which has been grain fed for 300 days with no growth hormones or antibiotics used. All other these products reflect Neil’s passion for food and the belief that the cornerstone of good cooking is great produce. Many of these products are used in his restaurants and are generally regarded by industry professionals as brands that support good methods of manufacturing which is better for the product and also for the environment.

 Here is a quick and easy recipe you can try at home this Spring as the weather warms up and the days start to get longer.

SPENCER GULF KING PRAWN AND GREEN PAWPAW SALAD WITH NAM JIM DRESSING

Plump King Prawns from the Spencer Gulf on Australia’s South Eastern coastline are served as part of a simple Thai inspired salad.  Green pawpaw, cucumber, coriander, Vietnamese mint and shallots, dressed with a Thai style dressing. The dressing has a thick consistency and includes finely chopped garlic, fresh coriander, fish sauce, palm sugar and red and green chillies.

The world’s largest known population of western king prawns is in Spencer Gulf. The South Australian Research and Development Institute together with local fisheries in the area have worked together to become one of the leading groups for managing sustainability of seafood stocks within Spencer Gulf and major technological advances have been made in the way the catch is handled. The prawns themselves are snap-frozen at minus 32 degrees Celsius within minutes of coming out of the water, locking in the freshness resulting in a firm and flavoursome product.

We recommend Healthy Boy or Squid brand fish sauce for this recipe.

NAM JIM DRESSING
3 no. fresh peeled garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 no. fresh coriander root, finely chopped
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons light palm sugar, crumbled
2 tablespoons fish sauce
½ deseeded fresh long red chilli, finely chopped
½ deseeded fresh long green chilli, finely chopped
2-3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, approximately 

Preparation
Place garlic, coriander root and sea salt in a mortar and pound with pestle. Do not reduce to a paste. Remove and place in bowl. Dissolve palm sugar with fish sauce in mortar with the pestle ensuring there are no lumps of sugar. Add garlic and coriander mix back in along with chopped red and green chilli and stir well to combine. Add in lime juice.

Taste and adjust if necessary, to ensure there is a balance of sweet, sour and saltiness. 

GREEN PAWPAW SALAD
12-16 no. cooked Spencer Gulf king prawns, peeled, de-veined and tails intact
2 cups green pawpaw, julienne
½ deseeded Lebanese cucumber, julienne
½ a punnet cherry tomatoes, cut in half or quarters if large
1 no. peeled small eschalots, very finely sliced
A small handful of fresh coriander leaves
A small handful of fresh Thai basil leaves
A small handful of fresh mint leaves, roughly torn
About 6 leaves of Vietnamese mint, roughly torn (if available)
nam jim dressing (see recipe above)

Preparation
Mix dry ingredients together. Add enough dressing to wet the salad well and mix through thoroughly. Share between four plates and finish with prawns on top. Serve immediately. 

With all the exciting goings on at Rockpool, Spice Temple and Rockpool Bar &  Grill, Sydney and Melbourne, we’ve not really given Qantas any blog space of late.

Fear not, beautiful meals designed by Neil Perry and the Rockpool Consulting team are still flying Qantas First and Business Class and as Winter draws near we thought it high time we shared a recipe with you, a deliciously warming soup currently flying Ex Sydney and Melbourne.  When you eat this creamy, earthy chestnut soup think of crisp Winter days bathed in pale golden light – food for the soul.

Cream of Chestnut Soup with Thyme
 40g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely sliced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
2 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 cup good quality Chardonnay
800g double peeled chestnuts *(see note at end of page)
4 medium Desiree potatoes, peeled and diced
2 litres fresh chicken stock
2 bay leaves
2/3 cup single (pouring) cream
Freshly ground white pepper, to taste
Garlic croutons, to serve (recipe below)
Extra chopped fresh thyme leaves, to serve

In a large, heavy-based saucepan, over a low heat, melt the butter in the oil.  Add the garlic, onion, celery, thyme and salt and cook for 10 minutes until softened.  Increase heat, add wine and simmer for 1 minute.
Add chestnuts, potatoes, stock and bay leaves and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes until potatoes and chestnuts are very soft and start breaking up.
Remove bay leaves, add cream and puree contents of pot until very smooth.  If necessary, add more chicken stock to achieve desired consistency.
Add pepper, check seasoning and adjust as necessary.

Garlic Croutons
3 slices day old sourdough bread
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Trim crusts from sourdough and chop bread into 1cm cubes.  Scatter bread over baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, add garlic, season with sea salt and pepper then toss to combine.  Bake croutons at 200C, tossing occasionally, until crisp and golden; remove from oven and set aside to cool.

To Serve
Ladle piping hot chestnut soup into your favourite soup bowls.  To each bowl add a handful of golden garlic croutons and finish with a sprinkle of chopped fresh thyme leaves.

Chestnut Soup with Garlic Croutons and Thyme

A recipe straight from the Spice Temple menu, also featuring in our March 2009 newsletter.

Shredded Lamb with Salted Chilli at Spice Temple

SHREDDED LAMB WITH SALTED CHILLIES
Serves 4 as part of a shared banquet.

Master Stock:
650ml Chinese cooking wine (Shaoxing)
225g rock sugar
315ml light soy sauce
3 litres water
50g ginger, chopped
15g garlic, sliced
15g green shallots, chopped

Bring all ingredients to the boil.

Lamb:
Trim the lamb shoulder of excess fat and place into the boiling master stock.  Braise the lamb until it is very tender, remove the pot from the heat and allow the lamb to cool in the stock.  Remove the lamb when cool and shred roughly with your fingers.

Shredded Lamb with Salted Chillies:
10g salted red chillies
30ml peanut oil
5ml sesame oil
30ml chicken stock
10ml light soy sauce
5g white sugar
5ml rice wine vinegar
3 green shallots, sliced into rounds

Place 100g of shredded lamb onto a plate and mix all other ingredients together.  Pour this mixture over the lamb and serve.

This delicious butter is ever-popular on the Rockpool Bar & Grill Melbourne menu, make it at home and serve it on your favourite steak.

Steak with Cafe de Paris Butter

CAFE DE PARIS BUTTER

125g unsalted butter, softened
15ml vegetable oil
1/4 white onion, finely diced
10g Indian style curry powder
1 small handful parsley leaves
1 clove garlic
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
3 anchovy fillets
1/2 teaspoon baby capers, rinsed
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1 small handful basil leaves
1 small handful thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 egg yolk

To make the butter, heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the onion and curry powder over low heat until soft and fragrant.  Set aside to cool.
Process all ingredients until just combined.  Adjust the seasoning if necessary.  Roll butter into a 4cm diameter log, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm.
Any unused butter can be frozen if it is not going to be used within a week or so.

XO Chilli Sauce

One of the really great things about going to Hong Kong is the XO chilli sauces made by fine-dining Chinese restaurants there.  All the chefs are showing off, of course – it is their want to become the king of  XO chilli sauce, so it has become a challenge as to who makes the very best.  XO chilli sauce is simply the top shelf of sauces, named after XO Cognac.  In other words, the house speciality, and the very best the house can offer.  I have never once had an XO sauce I thought not worthy of dipping a dumpling into.  These sauces may not even be that hot, but what they all have in common is a marvellous blending of the most exotic dried ingredients and seasoning.  XO is great with seafood, as a dipping sauce, through stir-fries or dolloped on steamed seafoods.  One of my favourite Hong Kong meals is XO chilli with egg noodles and lobster.  Here is my XO sauce recipe for you to try:

XO SAUCE

4 dried scallops, soaked in warm water for 2 hours and drained
50g dried shrimp, soaked in warm water for 2 hours and drained
200g long red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
50g ginger, peeled and finely chopped
50g garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 teaspoons sugar
300ml vegetable oil
3 spring onions (scallions), finely sliced

Put the scallops on a plate and put the plate in a bamboo steamer over a pot or a wok of rapidly boiling water, cover with the lid and steam for 10 minutes.  Remove the scallops from the steamer and, while still warm, shred with your fingers, separating all the fibres.
Pound the shrimp until finely ground in a mortar with a pestle, or grind in a spice grinder.
Put all the ingredients, except for the spring onions, in a large heavy-based pot and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes, or until the sauce loses its raw edge and turns deep red.  Remove from the heat and let cool, then stir in the spring onions.

Spicy Beef Salad from Balance & Harmony

This Thai classic is so easy to put together.  Look for balance with the Nam Jim dressing, if you like it really hot, dial up the other flavours so you get the heat with the complexity.  Most importantly, keep this very fresh tasting.

200g beef fillet
1 Spanish onion, finely sliced
1 small handful coriander (cilantro) leaves
1 small butter lettuce, leaves separated
a pinch of ground roast rice (lightly toasted Jasmine rice, ground in a mortar with a pestle)
freshly ground black pepper
1 handful Thai basil leaves, finely shredded

Marinade for beef:
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon palm sugar (jaggery)
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Dressing:
1 lemongrass stalk, tough outer leaves removed, chopped
1 long red chilli, deseeded and chopped
2 small wild green chillies, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon caster (superfine) sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
juice 3 limes

Method:
To make the marinade, mix together the oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar and sesame oil.  Add the beef and refrigerate overnight to marinate.  Remove from the fridge 2 hours before cooking.

To make the dressing, pound the lemongrass, chillies, garlic and sugar in a mortar with a pestle to form a fine paste.  Mix the fish sauce and lime juice together and taste for balance.

Heat a grill or barbecue to hot, and cook the beef for about 2 minutes on each side until it forms a good even crust.  Remove from the heat and rest in a warm place for 10 minutes.  Slice the beef thickly across the grain.  Toss the beef, onion and coriander leaves with some of the dressing.

Arrange the lettuce and beef on a serving plate and drizzle with any remaining dressing.  Sprinkle with the ground roast rice, give it a good grind of black pepper and top with shredded Thai basil.

Neil Perry and Annie Feolde

To celebrate an amazing 50 years of Vittoria Coffee (www.vittoriacoffee.com.au), Les Schirato has brought the extraordinary Annie Feolde to Australia.  Born in France, Annie herself is  celebrating 47 years with her restaurant in Florence – Enoteca Pinchiorri (www.enotecapinchiorri.com).

Annie is the first female chef in Italy to be awarded 3 Michelin stars.  And she is not only a great chef, but a truly beautiful person. 

This morning we cooked up a storm over the wok (not her usual cooking receptacle) for 9am with David and Kim… “stir fried chopped duck with coriander and black vinegar” – a very simple recipe.  There was a raised eyebrow or two at the amount of chilli going into the wok, but I noticed Annie came back for seconds!  It was great to cook with her. 

The recipe is below if you’d like to raise a few eyebrows of your own!

STIR FRIED CHOPPED DUCK WITH CORIANDER AND BLACK VINEGAR

200g minced duck thigh
5g sesame oil
7g ginger, smashed
7g garlic, smashed
85g Spanish onion, sliced
12g sun dried chilli
10g roasted and crushed peanuts
10g shaoxing (Chinese cooking wine)
10g light soy sauce
5g white vinegar
5g black vinegar
22g coriander stem, cut into batons.

Stir fry the duck mince until it’s just cooked and remove from the wok.  Stir fry the ginger and garlic until fragrant, then add the onion, sun dried chilli and peanuts.  Deglaze wok with shaoxing, then add soy, sugar and black vinegar.  Return the duck to the wok and add the coriander stem, combine well and serve.
* All ingredients can be found in your local Chinatown supermarkets.

Serves 4 as an entrée

A traditional remoulade is a classic French sauce made using fresh mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, parsley, capers and celeriac.  Our remoulade is served with a beautiful salad of plump King prawns, watercress leaves and fresh herbs such as chervil, dill and chives with the addition of crisp baby cornichons. Cornichons is the French word for gherkins, they are crisp, tart pickles made from tiny gherkin cucumbers.
Celeriac is a root vegetable, sometimes called ‘knob celery’. It has a delicious white flesh that tastes like a cross between a strong celery and parsley.

500g cooked King prawns, peeled and de-veined
200g peeled celeriac
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon fresh flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon salted baby capers, thoroughly rinsed, roughly chopped
3 no. baby cornichons, thoroughly rinsed, finely sliced
fresh lemon juice, to taste
sea salt and freshly ground white pepper, to taste
1 cup fresh watercress sprigs
2 tablespoons fresh chervil leaves
1/3 bunch fresh chives, cut into 1cm lengths
1 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh dill leaves
good quality extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
freshly ground white pepper

Cut prawns into 1cm pieces and set aside.
Cut celeriac into julienne using a mandolin. Celeriac tends to discolour quickly so hold in acidulated water until finished cutting. Blanch celeriac in boiling salted water for 30 seconds. Refresh immediately in iced water. Do not allow celeriac to sit in water for too long. Drain thoroughly. Mix together the mayonnaise, mustard, parsley, capers, cornichons and lemon juice in a bowl to create a dressing and season to taste. Gently mix dressing with drained celeriac.
Gently mix watercress and herbs together.

To serve
Place an equal amount of the celeriac mix in the centre of four plates. Gently toss prawns with herb mix and scatter around the celeriac. Finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and good crack of fresh white pepper. Serve immediately.

At Rockpool Bar & Grill in Melbourne, we have our own meat ageing room. We choose only the finest cattle that have been grass fed and only finished on grain if drought conditions make it necessary. Grass fed beef differs from lot fed beef in that it has a more natural beef flavour and has a much better Omega 3 to Omega 6 ratio. This makes it better for you, and the cow enjoys a much healthier life. The beef then goes through a dry ageing process on the bone for between 28 and 40 days. This method allows the enzymes in the meat to do their handywork. The beef hangs in a special cool room at close to 0 degrees with very low humidity. In this state, the beef ages perfectly and becomes incredibly tender and much more flavoursome. It is, in reality, the only way to age beef to improve the flavour and it gives an incredibly juicy result. This was once the time honoured way to look after meat. The quick fixes of today, wet ageing in cryovac, have all but seen this superior but more expensive method disappear. In reality, wet ageing is about giving the beef more shelf life, not about improving the flavour or texture of the meat.

AGED BEEF RIBS BARBECUED WITH ANCHOVY BUTTER
Serves 4

I love slow-roasted beef ribs, but they are equally good when charred on the outside on a hot barbecue and melting in the middle. The rib has quite a large amount of connective tissue and fat, which is why it has so much flavour, and is also why I like to eat it more medium rare than rare — all the tough bits will have turned to jelly. The anchovy butter is a classic with any kind of barbecued meat or poultry, so try it on lamb or chicken as well. It is really delicious. You can make the butter the night before cooking and roll it in foil into a log shape. The next day cut neat circles to put on the beef. That is how it would be done in a restaurant, but I like to make it in a mortar and pestle just before cooking the steak and have it at room temperature. I just put a spoonful on top when the steak is served.

4 x 260 g aged beef ribs
Sea salt
Extra virgin olive oil
4 slices or spoonfuls of anchovy butter
Freshly ground pepper
For the butter:
8 large anchovy fillets
Sea salt
1 lemon, juiced
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
Freshly ground pepper

To make the anchovy butter, Prepare the anchovy butter. Place the anchovies and a little salt in a mortar and pound with a pestle until they start to break up. Add the lemon juice and butter then plenty of ground pepper. Mix completely. Put to the side until ready to plate the steaks.

Remove the steaks from the refrigerator 2 hours before cooking and season with sea salt.  Preheat the barbecue to hot and make sure the grill bars are clean. Drizzle the steaks with a little extra virgin olive oil and shake off any excess. Put the steaks on the grill at a 45 degree angle to the grill bars. When halfway through cooking that side, turn the steaks 45 degrees in the opposite direction. When done, turn them over and cook the other side. Put the steaks on a plate, cover with foil and keep them near the barbecue in a warm spot to rest. You can use a meat thermometer to test for doneness if you like but the residual heat does have quite an impact when cooking small cuts of meat at a high heat, so the other theory and one used by chefs is the touch test. A rare steak will be soft to the touch and will spring back when pressed. As it cooks, the steak will become firmer and firmer to touch. If you see the juices come to the surface as red droplets, your steak will be medium rare, probably heading to medium after resting, and if the juices are pink to clear you have a well done steak.
To serve, place one steak on each of four plates. Pour the juices that collected on the resting plate over the steaks and add a spoonful of the anchovy butter. Add a grind of fresh pepper and serve immediately.