Food is a journey and this is one I would love to share with you.
I heard this particular story a few times in my later life from a very special person, my father. Most of his stories were told at the kitchen table over a cup of tea.
My father was the backbone of my family. He supported us in every decision we made, whether it was right or wrong, he knew it would be a learning curve for us. If we fell, he was always there to help us back on our feet and move forward.
He has passed now and I feel it fitting to share one of his stories with you.
It was World War 2 and most men in Australia had joined the armed services to fight and protect our country.
My father was average height, with dark slightly curly hair and solid build. He joined the Australian Army and became a Signalman. His job as signalman was to lay the lines for communications.
The story began when he was in an Australian Army camp in Borneo. He did not tell me how long they had been there, my guess is it wasn't very long.
Borneo is a island to the north of Australia.
One morning, the Sargent in charge told him he would have to lay a cable to a camp not far away. I never asked how far it was because I never wanted to interrupt him. He did say he packed enough rations in his kit for a couple of days.
He set out with his rifle, kit, the line to lay and map. The weather was hot and humid. As he made his way, he did not go through the jungle but followed the clearing along side it.
At times he heard noises and wondered if it was Japanese soldiers. He kept moving and made his way to the destination unscathed.
His destination was an American Camp. The officer in charge told him that they were grateful to have the communication line laid. My father intended to head back to his camp, but the American officer wouldn't have it. "You must be tired, sit down and I will have lunch brought to us."
The officer outranked my father, but he wanted to have lunch and this was overlooked.
Never one to turn down a meal, my father took him up on the offer and had lunch. It was turkey with trimmings. Not sure what the trimmings were!
While eating, my father commented how nice it was to have something other than bully beef. The officer could not believe what he was hearing, "Did you say beef?" The description of bully beef is it came in a can like spam, but they say it was like a salted- beef cured product more like corned beef.
I am not sure if it was the first trade negotiations my father made, but one was made!
The Americans were tired of turkey and the Australians tired of bully beef. An agreement was settled and somehow a couple of cartons of bully beef was swapped for a couple cartons of turkey.
On his return to the Australian camp he visited the the cooks tent and told them of his wonderful news. Yes, the cook was happy to swap.
They Australian's ate the turkey and loved it.......Never heard how the Americans liked the bully beef!
I always told him to write his stories for people to read. Sadly, my father never did. I wish he had, there were so many to tell.
I will share another with you soon.
This is not beef or turkey, but a delicious lamb dish.
Braised lamb with red wine and prunes
Ingredients
1 Kilo or 2.2lbs of lamb shoulder
Half a cup of plain flour
1 cup of pitted prunes
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
1 chopped onion
A quarter of a teaspoon of ground cinnamon
Half a teaspoon of minced ginger
1 and half cups of red wine
Half a cup of beef stock
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Method
Cut lamb into cubes and coat with flour. In a large fry pan on low heat put in half olive oil and cubed lamb. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, stirring until meat browns. Remove from stove, take out lamb and put to one side.
Return fry pan to stove and put in remaining olive oil, onions, garlic, prunes, ginger and cinnamon. Stir until well combined for a few minutes. Add wine, stock, lamb and simmer on a low heat for about 2 hours until tender. You can add water if the gravy starts to dry out.
I like to serve with mashed potato and steamed green beans.
Enjoy!
Paris is well known for being the city of romance. I would like to share a story with you that has a bit of history with a modern twist!
There is a pedestrian bridge called the Pont des Arts, or Passerelle des Arts, which crosses the River Seine.
It is said that in 1802 Napoleon had a nine-arch metallic bridge constructed for pedestrians. It is believed to be the first metal bridge in Paris. The engineers were Louis-Alexandre de Cessart and Jacques Dillon.
On 17th March 1975, the French Ministry of Culture listed the bridge as a national historic monument.
In 1976, the Inspector of Bridges and Causeways reported several deficiencies on the bridge. He noted damage caused by two aerial bombardments sustained in World War 1 and World War 2, as well as multiple boat collisions over the years. He closed the bridge in 1977 and in 1979, a barge rammed into it causing a 60 meter collapse.
The present bridge was completed in 1984 and was meant to be identical of Louis Arretche. The only difference was they reduced the number of arches from nine to seven.This would allow the look of the old bridge to be preserved while realigning the new structure with the Pont Neuf. On the 27th June 1984, the newly constructed bridge was inaugurated by Jacques Chirac, then Mayor of Paris.
The modern twist is something for the romantics. Since 2008 it is believed the romance between not only the people of Paris but the world and this bridge took a different turn.
It started when a tourist with a padlock wrote the initials, or name, of their loved one on the lock and then placed it on the the side of the bridge, locked it and tossed the key into the Seine. It is meant to represent their love for each other.
Over the years people came from every part of the world to pledge a love lock. Unfortunately the locks grew and grew until the bridge could not stand the weight. Part of the grate came away with all the locks. On the 1st June 2015 the locks had to be removed as they thought it would be a danger. They say over a million locks were removed weighing 45 tons!
Caramelized Onion and Bacon Tart
Ingredients
Pastry
One and a third cups of plain flour
125grams of cold unsalted butter, cubed
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon of iced water
pinch of salt
Filling
4 slices of bacon cut into half inch pieces
4 small onions peeled and thickly sliced
One teaspoon of dried thyme
Salt & Pepper
1 cup of ricotta
1 egg yolk
Half a cup of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Method
Pastry
Put the flour, butter and salt in a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Whisk egg and water in a bowl until combined. Slowly add the egg mixture to the flour in the food processor until the mixture forms a ball.
Turn pastry out on to a work surface and gently knead it. Form a disc shape for a round tart or log shape for a rectangular tart. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for two hours.
After two hours take pastry out of fridge and roll out. Make sure your tart tin is greased and lightly floured.
Place the rolled pastry into the tin and gently press into shape, with a fork prick the pastry on the base. Place baking paper over the pastry and then top with dry beans. This stops the pastry from rising too high.
Place in a moderate oven and bake for about 20 minutes. Take out of oven and remove paper and beans. Return to the oven for about 10 minutes until lightly golden.
Take out of oven and put to one side to cool while you make filling.
Filling
Cook the bacon in a fry pan on a medium heat until the fat is rendered and the bacon is crisp around the edges. Don't over cook the bacon as it will need further cooking later. Drain on paper towels and set aside.
Place the onions to the pan and cook over medium heat until they start to golden brown, about 8 minutes. Turn the heat to low, add half the thyme and a pinch of salt. Cook until the onions are meltingly soft and deep golden brown, about 20 minutes.
In a bowl combine ricotta and egg yolk, a quarter of a teaspoon of salt, pepper to taste, the remaining thyme and a quarter of a cup of the Parmigiano. Make sure it is stirred well. Spread the ricotta mixture over the pastry evenly, then arrange the onion mixture over the top of that. Sprinkle the remaining quarter of cup of Parmigiano and the bacon over the top.
Place back in the oven and bake for a further 30 to 40 minutes, until the bacon is crispy and the ricotta filling is puffed and set.
Serve at room temperature with a fresh garden salad on the side
Enjoy!
Food is a journey and this is one I would love to share with you.
He set out with his rifle, kit, the line to lay and map. The weather was hot and humid. As he made his way, he did not go through the jungle but followed the clearing along side it.
1 Kilo or 2.2lbs of lamb shoulder
