The Real Food Companion

Roasted prosciutto-wrapped trout with sage burnt butter & pine nuts

IN “THE REAL FOOD COMPANION”, RENOWNED FOOD WRITER MATTHEW EVANS SHOWS US HOW TO ETHICALLY SOURCE, COOK AND EAT REAL FOOD. WRITTEN WITH GUSTO AND FILLED TO BURSTING WITH INFORMATION TO INSPIRE AND RECIPES TO NURTURE THE SOUL AND FAMILY, “THE REAL FOOD COMPANION” OUTLINES EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO NAVIGATE TODAY’S COMPLEX FOOD WORLD. IT’S THE FARMER, BUTCHER, FISHMONGER AND BAKER BY YOUR SIDE.

This definitive cookbook includes more than 200 recipes, with photography by Matthew’s long-time friend and collaborator, Alan Benson. It is the result of Matthew’s four decades as a writer, chef and farmer, and multiple years’ research, featuring a back-to-basics approach to buying and cooking food, containing tried and tested recipes including how to make your own ricotta and clotted cream.

Images and text from The Real Food Companion by Matthew Evans. Original photography by Murdoch Books, additional photography by Alan Benson. Murdoch Books RRP $65.00

INGREDIENTS

SERVES 2

• 8 thin slices prosciutto or jamón • 2 x 250g whole, fresh rainbow trout, scaled and gutted • 60g butter • 2 tablespoons pine nuts • 20 sage leaves • 2 teaspoons lemon juice, strained

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 200ºC.

Lay four slices of prosciutto next to each other on a clean work surface so that the long edges are slightly overlapping. Lay the trout across the prosciutto to cover the length of the fish, except the head and tail, and wrap the prosciutto around to enclose. Repeat with the remaining prosciutto and trout.

Melt 20g of the butter and brush onto the trout. Place the trout in a shallow roasting tin and roast in the oven for about 8–10 minutes, or until cooked through. Place on a serving plate.

Heat the remaining butter in a frying pan over a medium–high heat, add the pine nuts and toss to brown slightly. When the butter turns a nut brown colour, add the sage leaves and remove from the heat. Keep tossing and add the lemon juice. It will fizz and froth, so just keep shaking the pan to stop it burning.

Pour this butter mixture over the trout and devour immediately. I’d probably drink a semillon with it. As the wine flows, you can tell everyone about the D’Meure chardonnay — the one you’ve heard others on the river talk about, but have never actually seen.

Macadamia and honey tart

INGREDIENTS

SERVES 12

• 12 sheets filo pastry • 80g butter, melted, plus 150g butter, extra • 40g sugar • 2 tablespoons honey • 60ml pouring (whipping) cream (35% fat) • 3 tablespoons finely grated mandarin or orange zest • 250g unsalted macadamia nuts • 200g slivered almonds

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Grease a 27cm round loose-based flan (tart) tin. Line the base and side of the tin with layers of filo pastry, brush each layer with a little of the melted butter before adding the next. Trim the edges. Put the extra butter, sugar, honey and cream in a large saucepan over high heat then reduce the heat and simmer for 3 minutes.

Add the mandarin zest and simmer for 1 minute more. Fold through the macadamia nuts and almonds and spread evenly over the prepared pastry case.

Bake in the oven for 25–35 minutes, or until the top is a nice caramel colour. Cool for 30 minutes in the tin before removing. Store the tart in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a couple of days at most, but serve at room temperature.

Rabbit rillettes

INGREDIENTS

SERVES 10

• 2–3 tablespoons duck fat or lard • 1 leek, white part only, rinsed and chopped • 4 garlic cloves, chopped • 1.5–2kg whole rabbit or duck • 2 x 4cm strips mandarin or orange peel • 1 cinnamon stick • 1–2 whole star anise • 20 whole black peppercorns • 1 teaspoon salt lard or butter, for sealing

METHOD

Heat 1 tablespoon of the duck fat in a heavybased saucepan over low heat and gently fry the leek and garlic for 5 minutes, or until soft. Remove with a slotted spoon. Joint the rabbit or duck into 10 pieces (see note), pulling away any loose fat and discarding any liver or kidneys for another use. Fry the loose fat in the same pan you cooked the leek, for a couple of minutes. Add the meat in two batches and fry over a medium heat until well browned. Return the first batch to the pan. Return the leek and garlic to the pan. Add the mandarin peel, spices, salt and 500ml water. Cover, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook for 2–3 hours, or until the meat is falling off the bone, adding more water if it starts to dry out, and checking the meat isn’t sticking to the bottom. (You can also cook it in a low oven or a pressure cooker.) Remove the meat with tongs and allow to cool. Pour the cooking liquid through a fine sieve, discarding the solids. Shred the meat finely with your fingertips, checking very carefully for bones. If you have a mortar and pestle, pound it in small amounts, just until it starts to clump together. (You can pulse it in a food processor if you prefer.) Place the meat with the strained cooking liquid in a saucepan and simmer to form a dryish paste. Stir through the remaining duck fat and taste for salt and freshly milled black pepper. Press into 250ml ceramic dishes. If you want to keep it for a few days, melt some lard or butter and pour over to seal.

NOTE

You can cut the rabbit roughly into pieces to help them brown. Avoid the hard leg bones though, or get your butcher to do it.