Wild At Heart Delicious dishes inspired by nature’s bounty

Chef Analiese Gregory’s cooking is inspired by the rugged landscapes of her current home, Tasmania, and that in her native New Zealand. For more, turn the page.

Living

Wild atheart

YOUNG VEGETABLES WITH CASHEW MISO CREAM

Having learned her trade in some of the world’s best restaurants, New Zealand-born chef Analiese Gregory is now based in Tasmania, where she forages, fishes and grows her own produce. Her new book celebrates the slow-food life.

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“One day I returned home to find a friend sitting on my lawn, holding a crayfish, with the intention of staying for dinner. All I had to hand were potatoes and eggs in the kitchen and lovage in the garden. And so the crayfish cocktail was born.”

CRAYFISH COCKTAIL

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Analiese has embraced life in the remote landscape of the Huon Valley in southern Tasmania, where she immerses herself in gathering wild ingredients, including catching fresh fish in icy waters. The rugged terrain requires a vehicle to match. Analiese helps harvest vegetables from James Hutchinson at Longley Organic Farm at Longley, south of Hobart.

POTATO GALETTE

Serves 4 125g clarified butter 900g (about 7 medium) waxy potatoes 10g sea salt flakes

1 Preheat oven to 180˚C (160˚C fan). Line the base of a 22cm-diameter ovenproof frypan with baking paper. 2 Melt clarified butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Meanwhile, scrub potatoes and slice very thinly, about 2mm thick (use a mandoline if you have one). Place potato slices, melted butter and salt in a bowl and toss until completely coated. 3 Starting in the centre of the pan, lay potato in concentric circles, each new slice overlapping the previous one by about two-thirds. Continue to layer potato slices, overlapping slightly, until pan is full and all potato is used. Place another sheet of baking paper on top, then weight with a plate or similarly sized tray to compress slightly. Bake in oven for 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted in the centre meets no resistance. 4 Once cooked, place on stove or under grill to brown. For the stove method, place the pan on the stove over low heat until done to your liking, checking periodically. For the grill method, turn galette onto a plate, slide back into same pan, drizzle with olive oil and grill until browned to your liking. Serve immediately.

TIPS

● To make ahead, prepare steps 1-3 as above, then weight and refrigerate overnight. The next day, turn the galette out, cut into portions and warm in the oven or a pan. ● Potato galette is great as a side dish with any main course or as a vegetarian dish on its own. Serve with garlic yoghurt, goats’ curd, crème fraîche, whipped cod roe, salsa verde, chutney or gravy.

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“This is one of my all-time favourite potato dishes.”

LEFT Fresh-baked mulberry clafoutis: “Pretty much any stone fruit or berry is great in this dessert,” says Analiese. ABOVE AND BELOW LEFT Analiese at her farm in the Huon Valley, a place of winding country roads and mystical skies.

Analiese’s story is a window into the joys of travel, freedom and the search for meaning as much as it is about cooking...

HUNGRY FOR MORE? This is an edited extract from How Wild Things Are by Analiese Gregory with photography by Adam Gibson ($45, Hardie Grant Books).

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MULBERRY CLAFOUTIS

Serves 6 100g sugar 60g (about 4) egg yolks 120g (about 2) whole eggs 1 cup (250ml) cream Heaped 1/2 cup (70g) almond meal Heaped 1/2 tbsp (10g) plain flour, sifted 150g fresh mulberries Mascarpone, to serve (optional) Honeycomb, to serve (optional)

1 Preheat oven to 200˚C (180˚C fan). line a 20-25cm metal cake pan or tart dish with baking paper. 2 Place sugar, yolks and whole eggs in a bowl and gently whisk to combine without creating any foam. Add cream and whisk to incorporate. Add the almond meal and flour and whisk gently until smooth. 3 Pour batter into prepared tin. Scatter fruit on top and bake 40 minutes or until golden on top but still slightly wobbly in the centre. Serve warm or cold, with mascarpone and honeycomb, if you like.

CRAYFISH COCKTAIL

Serves 2–4 500g live crayfish 350g waxy new potatoes 2 tbsp (50g) sour cream 1 shallot, finely diced 10 lovage leaves, finely shredded 2 baby gem lettuce 1 lemon

Mayonnaise

1 clove garlic, minced 2 egg yolks 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 tbsp white-wine vinegar 1 tbsp dijon mustard 1/2 cup (125ml) olive oil 1/2 cup (125ml) grapeseed oil

1 To prepare crayfish, place in freezer or a bath of ice water. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to the boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer, then add crayfish, ensuring it is fully submerged in water. Cook for 7 minutes (monitor to ensure water does not return to a rolling boil). Remove crayfish, drain, then stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. 2 Meanwhile, scrub potatoes and place in a large saucepan of cold salted water. Bring to the boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until tender but not falling apart. Remove from heat and leave to cool in the water. When cool enough to handle, drain and dice potatoes into rough 2cm cubes and set aside to cool to room temperature. 3 To make mayonnaise, combine garlic, egg yolks, lemon juice, vinegar and mustard in a blender and blend until smooth. Combine oils in a small jug and, with the blender still running, slowly drizzle into egg yolk mixture until emulsified. Season with sea salt to taste and refrigerate until needed. 4 Holding the head of the crayfish in one hand and the tail in the other, twist the tail away from the head. next, use hands to gently crack and peel away the shell or, using scissors, cut either side of the soft carapace underneath, then remove this piece and the tail from the shell. Once shell and flesh are separated, use a sharp knife to cut the tail down the centre lengthways and remove the vein that runs the length of the tail. Slice meat into 1cm medallions and reserve. 5 Place potatoes in a bowl with the mayonnaise, sour cream, shallot and lovage and mix to combine. 6 To serve, trim lettuce and arrange as a bed on a platter. Top with the medallions of crayfish, a squeeze of lemon, cracked black pepper and the dressed potato.

YOUNG VEGETABLES WITH CASHEW MISO CREAM

Serves 4 1/2 baby romanesco 1 baby cucumber 1 baby gem lettuce 4 yellow butter beans 2 baby carrots 2 zucchini flowers 2 purple carrots 2 hakurei turnips 1 baby candy-stripe beetroot, leaves on 1 pink turnip 6 amaranth leaves 6 blueberries 4 purple basil leaves 4 shiso leaves 4 Greek basil tips Olive oil, to serve

Cashew miso cream

250g raw cashews 2 tbsp (50g) chickpea miso (available from

Harris Farm or health food stores)

1 To make cashew miso cream, soak cashews in cold water at least 2 hours, preferably overnight. Drain, then place in a food processor with 220ml water, miso paste and 1/4 tsp salt and blend on high speed until smooth (it may take a while). 2 Meanwhile, clean and slice all vegetables, keeping edible leaves on where possible. All vegetables in this dish are served raw, left whole, broken into florets or sliced thinly, as you would for crudités. 3 To assemble, dress a plate with some of the cashew miso cream and arrange the vegetables on top. Dress with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. #