Nice guy Simon Gault takes us into the family kitchen

Simon Gault strikes me as being one of the really nice guys out there in the sometimes vicious world of professional chefs. I have never met him but feel as if I know him from seeing him occasionally in the distance at Euro and so often in the media, especially of course the first three series of NZ Masterchef and his 2011 programme Chef on a Mission.

This morning in my Post Office box I found my review copy of his new book, published this week,  SIMON GAULT - homemade, and as a result I have "lost" four hours reading the book from cover to cover, drooling over the recipes, enjoying Kieran Scott's fine photography, and particularly enjoying Gault's obvious affection for his parents and the way they introduced him to interesting food from a young age resulting in him wanting to become a chef from about the age of eight.
This enormously appealing book is all about family food and family cooking. Quite a number of the recipes are from Simon's Mum and several from his Dad, dishes that were favourites when he was growing up and remain so today. He has given some of them a tweek to incorporate foods that were not around earlier.
I have already marked seven dishes I want to make in the next week or so but it is my plan to try and make every dish in the book during the course of this year.

Here are those dishes I have on my priority shortlist:

Mussel salad
Marinated snapper salad
Venetian style prawns
Vegetable Clafoutis
Coq au vin on risotto
Whisky & marmalade Chicken
Dad's sage chicken

More about this book shortly but right now I have to get back to my Barbara Vine novel (The Child's Child).

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It’s the Sugar, Folks

By MARK BITTMAN - The New York Times

Mark Bittman on food and all things related.

Sugar is indeed toxic. It may not be the only problem with the Standard American Diet, but it’s fast becoming clear that it’s the major one.

A study published in the Feb. 27 issue of the journal PLoS One links increased consumption of sugar with increased rates of diabetes by examining the data on sugar availability and the rate of diabetes in 175 countries over the past decade. And after accounting for many other factors, the researchers found that increased sugar in a population’s food supply was linked to higher diabetes rates independent of rates of obesity.

In other words, according to this study, it’s not just obesity that can cause diabetes: sugar can cause it, too, irrespective of obesity. And obesity does not always lead to diabetes.
The study demonstrates this with the same level of confidence that linked cigarettes and lung cancer in the 1960s. As Rob Lustig, one of the study’s authors and a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of California, San Francisco, said to me, “You could not enact a real-world study that would be more conclusive than this one.”

The study controlled for poverty, urbanization, aging, obesity and physical activity. It controlled for other foods and total calories. In short, it controlled for everything controllable, and it satisfied the longstanding “Bradford Hill” criteria for what’s called medical inference of causation by linking dose (the more sugar that’s available, the more occurrences of diabetes); duration (if sugar is available longer, the prevalence of diabetes increases); directionality (not only does diabetes increase with more sugar, it decreases with less sugar); and precedence (diabetics don’t start consuming more sugar; people who consume more sugar are more likely to become diabetics).

Full article

BAFTA tribute for Delia Smith

04.03.13 | Benedicte Page - The Bookseller

Cookery writer Delia Smith is to receive a BAFTA Special Award at a tribute event on 30th April.

The award will celebrate her body of work in television cookery over the last 40 years, and comes shortly after Smith launched the Delia Online Cookery School, criticising television for becoming too focused on cooking as entertainment.
Andrea Newman, chair of BAFTA's Television Committee, said that Delia Smith had paved the way for Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson, plus hits like "The Great British Bake-Off" and "Masterchef".

"Delia Smith is one of the most influential voices in television cookery and has played an important role in not only pioneering the genre in television but also shaping the perception of cooking in the nation's consciousness," she said.

Smith's new book, Delia's Cakes (Hodder & Stoughton), published last week, is an updated reissue of one of her first titles, Delia's Book of Cakes, dating from 1977.
  

Join Amber Rose at Nosh for morning tea and launch of her new cookbook

More at http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/2013/amber-rose/auckland/mt-eden

Pork chops with grilled peach, sage & garlic sauce - From Chelsea Winter's Facebook page

March 03, 2013

Pork chops with grilled peach, sage & garlic sauce

Pork and fruit go so well together, so don’t be put off by this seemingly strange combination – I promise you it’s simply scrumptious. I love the vibrant colour of golden peaches, and when they’re grilled and served like this in a tasty, savoury sauce, it’s a real zingy treat for the tastebuds – the tartness of the peach balances the richness of the pork chops. Cutting into the cracking and rendering it down before you cook the chops also means you get a crispier edge and you won’t overcook the meat. I always try and buy free-range pork – it’s available at specialty foodstores such as Farro Fresh, Nosh, Moore Wilson’s and good butcheries like Neat Meat.
Serves 4

Ingredients

4-6 pork loin chops
3-4 golden peaches, halved
1 tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic
8-9 sage leaves
¼ cup dry white wine
1 cup salt-reduced chicken stock
Salt and freshly cracked pepper

Method

With a sharp knife, make a line of cuts right along each side of the skin of the pork crackling, so it looks a little like tyre tread. Cut through the skin down and into the fat, but not the actual flesh. This helps the fat render out and the skin will crisp up better.
Pat the pork chops dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper. Heat a large frying pan over high heat. Place the chops in the pan skin/crackling edge down, standing upright – you may have to hold them there, or try leaning them against the side of the pan. Fry for about around 7-10 minutes until the skin is golden and crispy. Place the chops flesh-side down in the pan and cook for a few minutes each side, until golden brown on the outside and medium-well in the centre. Remove from the pan, cover with foil and set aside to rest.
Add the peach slices to the pan and fry for a couple of minutes until golden brown on each side. Remove and set aside.
Tip the excess fat from the pan and wipe with a paper towel (leave the little browned and stuck on bits of meat there – they will add colour and flavour to the sauce). Place the pan back over medium heat, add the butter, garlic and sage, and cook for a few minutes until soft. Add the white wine, turn up the heat and let it bubble for 30 seconds. Add the stock and peaches and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until the sauce enough had reduced to a sauce suitable for pouring over the chops. Add the juices from the rested pork before serving and simmer for another minute or two.
To serve, place one or two chops on a plate, top with a couple of peach halves and drizzle with the sage sauce. This meal is lovely with green beans and garlic pita bread or perla potatoes.

About the Author

MasterChef New Zealand Season 3 Winner. Lover of good food. Gangly blonde.

Watch out for Chelsea's new book, At My Table,  being published by Random House on 5 April - $55.00

Bangers to Bacon scoops prize at Gourmand World Cookbook Awards

Author, Jeremy Schmid, has won third place in the Best Single Subject category with his book, Bangers to Bacon, at the highly acclaimed Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2012 in Paris.

In Bangers to Bacon: A New Zealand guide to making, cooking and using sausages and cured meat, chef, restaurateur and first-time author Jeremy Schmid (below) shares his passion for sausage-making, with a step-by-step process for the home cook, honouring age-old traditions and natural ways of preparing meat using the freshest New Zealand ingredients.

New Holland’s Managing Director, Belinda Cooke, said of the win; “We’re immensely proud of Jeremy and thrilled to have his book sit alongside offerings from heavyweights of the culinary world, Japan and Italy. Thousands of titles are entered in these prestigious awards each year, and both New Holland and New Zealand have consistently achieved success, which speaks volumes for the quality of the cookbooks we are producing in this country. Bangers to Bacon had already been attracting interest from potential overseas co-edition publishers and this recognition can only assist us in those pursuits.”

With photography by Devin Hart and food styling by food writer and stylist Laura Faire, the talented young trio have produced something special, according to food writers:

“Jeremy Schmid has turned making sausages and cured meats into a simple step-by-step process, with delicious recipes to boot….His calm, clear instructions and step-by-step photographs makes all this seem do-able...” Catherine Smith, New Zealand Herald

“He includes comprehensive instructions for creating your own sausages, with step-by step photographs showing how to achieve that professional look. He also has easily achievable recipes from his restaurant menu that are bound to be family favourites. This exciting book is beautifully illustrated with photography by Devin Hart.” Lauraine Jacobs, NZ Listener

“This fabulous book from Two Fifteen chef-owner Jeremy Schmid covers the basics of sausage making, complete with step-by-step instructions and photos. Schmid has strong credentials – he attended the charcuterie course at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America.” Ginny Grant, Cuisine

Bangers to Bacon: A New Zealand guide to making, cooking and using sausages and cured meat

By Jeremy Schmid, photography by Devin Hart, food styling by Laura Faire

270 mm x 215 mm – Extent: 160 pages – Binding: Paperback, RRP $45.00

Published August 2012