Whilst attending a Southern Italian cooking class at Carrick, I was introduced to a mussel recipe of Southern Italian origin by Antonio Ruggerino, chef and owner of Verde Restaurant+Bar.

The recipe is so quick & effortless to prepare, and yet, tasted so nice that it almost beggars belief.

This is a great recipe for quick entree, or if you want something a little fancy during the week when there isn’t a lot of time for cooking available.

Before we get to that though, imagine if you will the following scenario.

[Begin Scenario]

You arrive home from work, wound up with pent up stress from the day’s stupidities. You feel you deserve something nice but you can’t be bothered spending a lot of time in the kitchen.

Perhaps you happen to have a dozen or so fresh mussels left over from the weekend, or have picked some up on the way home.

You gather a few ingredients together. Nothing fancy.

Half a tomato and a slice off the side of a lemon, both of which are diced roughly. Grab a sprig of parsley, breaking it down into shorter lengths, stalks and all. Mince up a clove of garlic. All of that gets thrown into a small pot.

Pour a glass of white wine for yourself. Since you feel the need to indulge a little to help unwind, you select a decent white from the stash. Pour a glass for yourself and add a splash into the pot for good measure.

Follow up with a dose of your best extra virgin olive oil and a few grinds of black pepper.

Your hand goes into the pot, squeezing every last drop of juice and essential oils out of the ingredients to form a stock. Between the wine and the pulverisation of the ingredients, the pent up stress starts to surface.

With the stock done, you grab the mussels and head to the sink. Hands are rinsed of oils and juices. With a clean set of pliers, you set your sites on the mussels.

The beards are wrenched away with some force; the shells are scrubbed vigorously under running water, all the while muttering curses.

Stupid… Son of a… Mother…

You may even project the annoyances of your day onto the mussels. Imagining that you’re using the pliers to tear off the annoying bum fluff that arrogant bastard thinks is fashionable, or scrubbing the cold sore crusted sneer off the face of that rude tramp. Get some cream!

The mussels, once cleaned, are unceremoniously dumped into the pot, lid on, and the heat set to hell-raiser high.

With a bout of therapeutic aggression over with, you ease into a relaxed state. Wine is slowly slipped as the mussels steam away; their lips gape open in a silent cry for help. A futile effort, as all that awaits them is their pending demise deliciousness.

A quick, simple salad is tossed together, and a few slices of bread are gathered as you wait.

After about a couple of minutes, the mussels are done. The stock’s volume has increased with the briny fluids of the mussels, contributing their wonderful flavour.

Total prep and cooking time: approx. 10 minutes.

You could go through the effort of plating up the mussels, but really, why bother? It’ll just create extra dishes to wash and there isn’t anyone around that you need to impress.

Mussels straight from the pot. Salad out of the mixing bowl. Bread for soaking up the juice. Perhaps a top up of the wine. Otherwise, you’re pretty much done.

There’s no real need to reach for any utensils. The mussel shells take care of that themselves. Perfect for scraping away the mussel meat, and scooping up the light, fragrant broth.

Ok, maybe a fork for the salad. Sure, there’s no one to impress but that doesn’t mean you should do away with all manners.

Sooner than you could have thought possible, you sitting down to wonderful light, healthy dinner with the stresses of the day all but melted away.

There isn’t even the looming stress of the post dinner clean up. If you played your cards right, there won’t be all that much to wash up.

[End Scenario]

Ok, when it comes time to preparing this meal yourself, your specific circumstances may differ. However, hopefully this scenario illustrates how quick and easy this dish can be.

Several minutes prep, a couple of minutes cooking time and you’re done. You could conceivably spend less than 30 mins on the whole process. From prep, to eating, to post-meal clean up.

With such a simple recipe, the potential for adding your own creative touches are nigh on endless.

Use a little butter instead of the oil, added right at the end monter au beurre, for some richness. Fry up some bacon in the pan at the beginning and omit the olive oil once more to add a smoky, meaty quality. Add some additional herbs such as dill; or lemongrass & coriander for an Asian touch.

Feeling hungry? No worries. You can easily double the amount of mussels without changing the amount of underlying ingredients. I found that the end result still tastes great!

Whichever way you decide to go with this dish, use the best, freshest ingredients you have. Especially with the wine.

It’s amazing how stark the difference is between a nice light white wine vs. say, a cheap bottle of supermarket sherry that may be the only thing lying around because you forgot to buy some white on the way home.

You know, just saying.

Hope you enjoy this recipe!

Mussels Calabrian (Serves 1)

Adapted from a recipe by Chef Antonio Riggerino from Verde Restaurant+Bar, a Southern Italian restaurant located in East Sydney.

Total time: approx. 10 minutes

Ingredients

• Mussels, approx. 12 for entree; 24 for main.
• 1/2 ripe tomato
• 2 Tbsp diced celery
• 1/4 medium lemon
• 1 sprig of parsley
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1-2 Tbsp white wine
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Black pepper to taste

Method

1. Debeard mussels with fingers or clean set of pliers, and scrub down to remove any muck adhered to the shells. Place to one side.
   • Further reading on mussel preparation & storage.
2. Roughly dice up the tomatoes, celery & lemon. Break down the parsley, stalks and all, into short lengths. Mince the garlic.
3. Add all of the above ingredients into a small pot, along with approx. 1 Tbsp each of white wine and extra virgin olive oil, and pepper to taste.
   • Use the best tasting wine and olive oil you have available, as it will greatly impact the final result.
4. Roughly squeeze the ingredients with your hand in the pot to extract all the juices & essential oils.
   • There should be at least 3mm of liquid at the bottom of the pot as there needs to be enough liquid to steam the mussels. Add a little extra white wine, if necessary.
5. Place the cleaned mussels into the pot and cook on high with the lid on. Once the mussels open, cook for another 30 sec to 1 minute.
   • The cooking time for an entree sized portion is around 2 minutes.
6. Seasoning shouldn’t be required as the mussels are salt-water creatures. However, once mussels have finished cooking, season broth to taste if necessary.

Serve

Plate and serve with thick slices of bread to mop up all the flavourful broth. Alternately, serve straight out of the pot for a more rustic approach.

Broth can be strained, if necessary. The ingredients have given their all and would likely not be consumed, especially the lemon rinds!

Download this recipe – Mussels Calabrian (PDF)

When it comes to chef’s knives, I tend to prefer the heavier, European knives, mostly because it’s what I’m use to. I have a similar mindset to knives as Boris the Blade does with hand guns (a character from the movie Snatch, if you’re wondering).

“Heavy is good. Heavy is reliable. If it doesn’t work, you can always hit him with it”.

Ok, maybe not that last part…

A number of food bloggers and other media types were invited to Carrick to not only test drive some European style knives from Wenger, but also to learn to cook some Southern Italian food from Antonio Ruggerino, owner & head chef of Verde Restaurant+Bar.

After a meet & greet and some welcome beverages, we man our prep stations on long, industrial steel counters. The kitchen is setup as a commercial cooking school, with equipment that you would find in a commercial kitchen. There’s even a rack stacked with loads of Kitchen Aid mixers! (no photo, unfortunately).

At each station, there are brand new boxes containing a chef knife and paring knife from Wenger. It’s a brand that has relatively recently entered the Australian market, as least where kitchen knives are concerned.

Chef Antonio Ruggerino, along with an assistant chef, work the class through a Calabrian one-pot mussel dish. It a dish from his family’s native region of Calabria, located at the southern most end of Italy. The toe end of “The Boot“, if you will.

The mussel dish is very simple and very quick to prepare. The Wenger chefs knife was ultra sharp, making short work of the mise en place for this dish.

If, according to Boris the Blade once again, “weight is a sign of reliability“, these forged knifes have it is spades, as they’re quite hefty blades.

If you’re more into lighter knives, they also have a set of lighter stamped blades, which we were able to play around with as well. Though just as sharp, it felt toy-like in my hands. As I said, I’m use to heavier knives.

After about a minute of prep and a couple of minutes on the stove…

…we end up with a superb mussel entree for one.

It’s amazing how little time, and even less effort, went into a dish that produced such fresh flavours. This is a dish that I’ll certainly be adding to my mid-week dinner repertoire.

If you’re interested in the recipe, I’ll look to write it up in a subsequent post.

With a dish of this nature, there’s no way that I’d pass up an opportunity to mop up all the juices with some fresh bread, and there was plenty to go around.

The class was also given a quick run through regarding the prep of another dish, a winter classic known as osso buco, which we would be having as dinner soon afterwards.

We forgo the process of making this dish through to the end, which would take too long due to the amount of time required to slow cook the osso buco. Instead we stick just to the prep of the mise en place.

It’s really just an excuse to play around with the knives some more and practice our knife skills, or in my case, lack thereof. No complaints here in any case.

Once we’re done playing- er… I mean prep for the osso buco, we step away from the kitchen and take our places at dining tables setup in what would otherwise be the foyer area of the cooking school. A three course Southern Italian meal awaits our consumption.

Stuffed zucchini flower was a wonderful way to start off the meal, with its crisp batter, creamy cheese filling and shaved Parmesan to add a contrasting bite.

The main, osso buco, is simple with its presentation, & what one might refer to as honest with its flavours. There isn’t anything complicated or contrived with regards to the dish. The meat is tender, the sauce is light and the generous serve of smooth mash potatoes tastes just like potatoes, devoid of the richness that cream and butter often bring.

Despite the fancy table setting, the dim mood lighting cast by candles & sitting amongst strangers (for the most part), it felt very much like a home cooked meal.

We finish off the evening with a dessert of Limoncello panna cotta, served with a crunchy wafer of almond biscotti.

Limoncello, a lemon liqueur of Southern Italian origin (surprise, surprise), gives a subtle citrus tang to the creamy, velvety smooth panna cotta that has barely set. A light finish to a wonderful meal.

As we began to head off, to make our way out into the cold winter’s night for the journey home, we were presented with the very knives that we’d used earlier during the cooking class, cleaned and reboxed, as a parting gift. A pleasant and unexpected surprised. Thanks Wenger!

the heart of food was invited to attend courtesy of Mark Communications. Thanks to all the people involved with this event.

Verde Restaurant+Bar
115 Riley St, East Sydney (cnr of Riley St & Stanley St)
P: 02 9380 8877

Hours:
Tues, Sat: 6pm – 12am
Wed – Fri: 12pm – 12am

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Wenger (Australia)
Wenger knives are available from all King of Knives stores, as well as other selected retailers. For more information, check out their website or contact page.

Carrick (Verde Cooking Classes)
For information regarding Verde cooking courses call 1300 364 383, or check out their website.

What sort of restaurant comes to mind when you see the above image? With a wood grained paneled interior such as this, the first thing that comes to mind for me is a steakhouse, with all the meaty, smokey goodness that lies within. In this case, it’s the Outback Steakhouse.

It’s the sort of place where manly men hang out with other manly men, or as the manly head of their family, to eat manly meals that are of man-sized portions.

So it’s kind of odd to admit that two men walked into this establishment to share a single entree, a single main and, for a moment, contemplated sharing a dessert. One of those men may have been me.

Steakhouses have never really attracted me as a diner. After all how much skill & effort does it take to pick a good cut of meat, throw it down onto frying pan (or charcoal BBQ if you want to get fancy) wait til it’s done just right, build a pan sauce from the fond as the meat rests (if appropriate) and then eat?

That’s not to say they don’t serve great food. Some do. I’m just not attracted to that sort of food when looking for a place to dine out.

However, we weren’t here for the steaks anyways.

The reason why an old school friend and the person that may have been me found our way into a local Outback Steakhouse was for this.

Chookaburra Wings ($12.95). To everyone outside of the Outback Steakhouse’s marketing department, these are what most people refer to as Buffalo wings; that simple, yet wonderful combination of spicy & buttery, with the typical accompaniments of a cooling blue cheese dipping sauce and celery sticks.

I pity the poor tourist who misreads this menu item and thinks they’re eating some exotic Australian fauna.

These wings are quite nice. Available in mild, medium and hot, to suit all tastes. However, for those of us that love the fiery heat of chili, order hot but expect medium.

The blue cheese dipping sauce is also great, and pairs well with either the wings or the celery. I could easily see myself ordering the dip and celery on its own, were it available on the menu, and were it manly to do so.

Razorback Ribs ($35.95). A full kilo of BBQ pork ribs conceal a pile of chips beneath. An awesome sight to behold in person as a kilo of ribs is certainly more than enough for one, or in this case two. Though there is a lot of bone, a kilo of ribs still amounts to an impressive amount of meat.

As impressive as it was visually, taste wise it was only fair. Meat was a tad on the dry side, as was the sauce glaze. The chips weren’t too bad. A little lacking in the crunch department but that may have something to do with being encased in what would effectively be a meaty steam chamber.

Chocolate Thunder ($10.95) is probably the most man-sized dessert that I’ve seen in a restaurant, especially at that price. A large slab of freshly baked chocolate pecan brownie sits in a pool of warm chocolate sauce. Stacked on top of this foundation of rich chocolatey goodness are scoops of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream, capped off with a chocolate twirl.

It’s an awesome dessert too. Not in that fine dining, nuanced textures and complex flavours kind of way. It’s more primal with its awesome. Hot & fudgey contrasts nicely with cold and smooth, with loads of rich sweetness to go around.

Though two individual Chocolate Thunder desserts were ordered, with the amount of struggle required to finish it, we could have done with sharing only one. Though, we’d never admit that to the staff at the Outback Steakhouse, or each other.

Even though many man cards were lost during this dining experience at the Outback Steakhouse, I could certainly see myself coming back for the wings and dessert. Though next time, I think I’ll come up with some story about how I ate at the Japanese place down the road and left unsatisfied.

Or rather, the person that may be me may do so.

Outback Steakhouse (North Strathfield)
Level 1, 3 George Street, North Strathfield
+61 2 8756 5741

Hours:
Mon-Thurs: 5pm – 10pm
Friday: 5pm – 11pm
Saturday: Noon – 11pm
Sunday: Noon – 10pm

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All-you-can-eat ribs. It’s such a beautiful concept that it almost makes me tear up at the thought.

Tender, succulent crescents of meat that slips effortlessly off the bone. The finger licking goodness of the slightly sticky sweetness of the flavourful sauce. As much as your stomach will allow, and then a little more.

I’ve been hankering for these all-I-can-eat ribs from Cafe Ish, ever since I’d first heard about them while on a holiday in Malaysia.

It’s odd to have a craving for such a thing in a country that is known for its depth and breadth of excellent food, but I did. So once a Sydney food blogger outing was organised by Richard, there was no question that I would jump at the chance.

I was the first of our party of ten food bloggers to arrive at their Campbell St restaurant. Having been directed to our table, I sat down and waited with eager anticipation for the rest of the party to arrive, as well as what lay ahead.

Cafe Ish is not only an embodiment of their owner/operator couple of Ai & Josh, but there’s a certain element of yin and yang that seems apparent to me. Not so much in polar opposites exactly but with regards to contrasting elements in union, often in harmony with each other.

For instance, Ai and Josh are of Japanese and Australian heritage respectively. Their food incorporates elements from the rugged Australian outback with the refined cuisine of the Japanese, and vice versa. Though their individual character are as distinct as night and day, their service is complementary.

The rest of the party arrive and we commence with pre-dinner drinks.

Oz Geisha is an elegant looking cocktail that’s an original recipe of Ai’s.

Summer Time Ale, a wonderful beer selected by Josh, is served in the bottle with a stubby holder. I imagine this was his idea as well.

A stubby holder, for those that are unaware, is an insulating sheath (often neoprene) that keeps the beer from exchanging heat with hands or the surrounding environment.

You could almost be forgiven for passing on the side dishes and going straight for the all you can eat ribs. There are certain rules of thumb of making the most out of your all you can eat dining experience (one of which is to skip the filler, especially if it costs you extra) which exists for a reason.

However, were you to do so, you’d be missing out on some rather nice starters and accompaniments. Take for instance the Cabbage ($5), served with a wattleseed miso mayo.

Yeah, that’s right. Cabbage. If you’ve just cocked an eyebrow, I know. I thought the same thing when I’d heard a few people from our dining party speak so highly of it. However, once you try it out for yourself, you’ll understand.

Firstly, it works as a stand-alone dish. The fresh, crisp leaves of cabbage works so well with the umami packed flavour & saltiness of the miso mayo. It also serves as a textural contrast, as well as something of a palate cleanser, to help balance out the rich sweetness of the ribs.

Other sides such as the Chili Edamame Beans ($6), and Fries ($6) served with wasabi mayo, are worth due consideration as they’re both great as well.

The commendable warm up act takes its leave and slide towards the wings as they make way for the main act to takes centre stage.

There are two sets of ribs on offer, both of which are prepared in the same fashion. Blue gum smoked, braised in a marinade of soy, sake, mirin & ginger, & finished with a garnish of fresh coriander, chilis, sesame seeds & shallots.

The Pork Ribs are really good, with the sweetness of the meat really coming through. They’re up there with some of the best I’ve had in Sydney. However, they pale in comparison to the beef ribs.

The Beef Ribs are for me, and will likely be for many others, the reason that you not only come for the all-you-can-eat-ribs the first time around, but the reason you keep coming back for more.

These ribs are incredible! To say that the beef ribs are moreish is something of an understatement. They almost demand gluttony. Why?

A high degree of meat-bone-ratio so there’s more meat for less effort. The flavour, though made in the same way as the pork ribs, is more savoury and has more apparent flavour to it, as if it absorbed more of the braising marinade.

While on flavour, the beef ribs remind me very much of the Korean dish jang-jorim, beef braised in a flavourful soy-based broth. As such, I very much felt the need for a bowl of white rice and miss its presence from the menu.

I’m not the only one, as a number of people on the table felt the same way. Though to be fair, they, like I, were all Asian.

As much as I wax lyrical about these ribs in the key of gluttony, a measure of judgement should be exercised. Not only to save yourself from eating your way to nausea or perhaps worse, but for those that are fiscally sensitive, there is a charge of $50/Kg for excessive waste if your demand far exceeds your capacity.

We take a little breather after our rib rampage to allow our stomachs to settle enough to fit in a bite or two of dessert. Unfortunately, I’d not noted prices so apologies for that. A web presence with a menu would have helped though *hint* *hint*.

Lemon Delicious, served with a scoop of ice cream, is the embodiment of truth in advertising as it is, as its name implies, both lemony and delicious.

The soft, pudding-like consistency with its slightly sour taste and delightful citrus aroma is so moreish that you can’t help but keep coming back for more.

The Chocolate Gateau, served with a scoop of wattleseed ice cream and a smear of umeboshi, a salty sour preserved plum of Japanese origin is nice. Ai presented the dish with some pride, and it’s something she should be proud of.

The umeboshi smear on the other hand I could have done without. I’m appreciative that it was presented separate to the cake as it would have lessened the experience for me otherwise. Never been a fan of umeboshi.

The Wattleseed Creme Brulee, served with anko sweet red beans on the side, is almost a fantastic dessert.

The creme brulee is an excellent execution of this dish. The burned sugar crust actually has some substance to it, shattering into shards when its surface is breached. The wattleseed custard beneath is barely set and is somewhat like silken tofu. I much prefer it this way over firmer interpretations of this dish.

However, the red beans on the side feel to me as either a lack of confidence in its acceptance by not incorporating it into the creme brulee itself, or something of an afterthought.

I would have much preferred it either be added as a paste/sauce at the bottom of the creme brulee or left off the dish entirely. It otherwise detracts from the greatness of the creme brulee, which is able to stand on its own merits.

All in all, a fantastic dinner and one of the best all-you-can-eat experiences I’ve had in quite a while.

All you can eat ribs are $35 per person, available only on Wednesday evenings. There is a time limit of 90 mins from when the first bowl of ribs hits the table. A charge of $50/Kg applies for excessive waste of ribs. All drinks, side dishes and desserts are charged separately. They are neither all-you-can-eat, nor inclusive of the $35 charge.

Cafe Ish
82 Campbell St, Surry Hills.
(02) 9281 1688

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Note: Cafe Ish is no longer located on Albion St, Surry Hills.

I’d like to introduce you all to the heart of photography, a photo blog that is something of a companion to food blog the heart of food.

the heart of photography was born initially out of the requirement for a place to show off images that weren’t able to make it into a food blog post.

The idea started off as a gallery page. However, as the concept matured, it developed into more of a photo blog, that’ll encompass images beyond the scope of food photography.

the heart of photography isn’t a true photo blog per se, nor is it really a portfolio, as I’m not just putting up the best of the best that illustrates my style (if I have one).

It’s more a scrapbook of images that I like aspects of, even if the rest of the image is flawed.

It’s also a place where I may, from time to time, express my interest in the general field of photography, whether it be through posts about experiences, learning new techniques, thing that are interesting and so forth.

Please check out the new blog, subscribe to the RSS feed, and leave a comment to let me know what you think.

For more information regarding the heart of photography, check out the first post “Introducing the heart of photography“.