Newcastle Food Month is all about enjoying the city’s rich and diverse culinary offerings. In case you want to test your own prowess in the kitchen, we have asked three of Newcastle’s leading chefs to share one of their favourite recipes.
If you’d rather have them do the hard yakka for you: check out their Food Month feature events.
| Lamb backstrap Serves 4 Recipe by Cooper Hague, Head Chef at The Edwards |
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| INGREDIENTS | |
| White onion soubise 100 ml canola oil 8 large white onions, peeled, sliced as thin as possible. 350ml cream Salt 1/10th tsp xanthan gum Confit Eggplant 5 baby Japanese eggplants, peeled 1 bay leaf Peppercorns, salt to taste Olive oil | WARRIGAL GREENS VERDE 2 bunches parsley 1 bunch mint 2 bunches coriander 150 g warrigal greens, picked, washed 1 tbsp capers 1 tbsp dijon mustard Juice of ½ lemon, grape seed oil Lamb 2 lamb backstraps, about 350 g each, heavily seasoned with salt and pepper Salt and pepper, olive oil, butter Hard herbs for seasoning 400 ml of lamb or beef stock |
| METHOD | ||
| White onion soubise > Heat oil in a large rondel, add onions and turn pan to mid-low heat, stir every 5 minutes making sure nothing is catching on the bottom. Onions shouldn’t colour too quickly. > Once evenly browned and liquid is reduced, add a small amount of water to the pan for even caramelization as you deglaze and pull the caught sugars off the bottom of the pan. > Add the cream and season with salt, reduce again on a low heat until sticky and thick. > Blend in a vitamix and use a tiny pinch of xanthum gum to emulsify. | Warrigal Greens Verde and confit eggplant > Pick, wash and dry all herbs, discard stems or add to other stocks or sauces. > Put herbs, capers, mustard and lemon juice in a blender, add grape seed oil until just covered. Don’t add too much oil, less is more. > Blend quickly on high speed. Add to a bowl and fold in seasoning to taste. > Heat oven to 160ºC, put eggplants on a tray, add bay leaf, peppercorns, salt and lightly cover in olive oil, braise until tender. | Lamb > Heat a saucepan with a small amount of oil until it’s smoking. > Add room temperature lamb, quickly sear on all sides, then mount with butter and hard herbs (about four minutes). Remove from pan onto a resting rack (for medium rare). > Deglaze hot pan with stock, reduce until jus consistency, set aside. > Rest lamb for half the time you cooked it for. Once lamb is rested, add two spoons of each sauce on the plate, add sliced lamb and eggplant confit. If desired garnish with lightly dressed endive in olive oil and red vinegar and a small amount of finishing salt. |
More recipes from Newcastle Food Month chefs in the Autumn Edition of Hunter & Coastal Lifestyle Magazine or subscribe here.
