BEEF AND BARLEY SOUP a la Eugenius

Serves 8

olive oil, a shaky pour

500g gravy beef ripped apart

1 large onion, finely chopped

3 teaspoons sweet paprika

3 carrots diced

2 swede, peeled, and diced

2 sticks celery slivered

4 cups chicken stock

4 cups beef stock

1 pack pearl barley soaked overnight

Heat oil in a large, deep saucepan over medium-high heat. Add a third of the beef and brown. Add remaining oil and onion to pan. Cook until tender. Add paprika. Add carrots, swede, celery, stock, red wine, barley and beef. Bring to the boil. Skim scum. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for 1 1/2 hours

RUSSIAN SALAD

Originally developed in Moscow in 1863 by a chef call Olivier, his so-called Russian Salad is nothing like ours. Whereas his featured grouse and other expensive game, ours contains no meat at all. And where his was based around diced potatoes, ours is based on diced beetroot. Ours has a lovely purple colour derived from the beetroot and other purple ingredients. Olivier's, mositened by mayonnaise is cream in colour. The beauty of the eugenius' version is not only the taste but teh colour and combination of textures. You get tghe crunch of the corn, combined with the squish of the peas, the slide of the hard-boiled egg, and the snap of celery and raw carrot. The key in making this salad as in all salads is SALAD TOPOLOGY. This is the subject for a separate post (which will come later) but in essence it means that a salad needs to be comprised of elements all of which are roughly the same size and shape. Corn and peas go together for instance, but not corn and julienned carrot, so you would never put corn in a coleslaw, and if you were to combine corn with peas and carrot therefore, the carrot needs to be cubed. By teh same token, if you are making a coleslaw and want to put beetroot in it then slice the beetroot into the same size sticks as your carrot or cabbage.
So basically your Russian salad comprises small balls (corn, peas) and small cubes (carrot, cucumber, potato, beetroot, spring onions) roughly in equal proportions. The dressing melds the ingredients into a homogeneous whole. Ill give away the dressing secrets in my next blog
eugenius

MUFFIN FLAVOURS

So what to put into your muffin? At Eugenius, customers are under the impression that muffins are healthy(wwll, besides the sugar content they do contain quite a lot of yoghurt) so to maintain the illusion we do not use any obviously fattening fillings such as chocolate. Fruit filled muffins are what we are all about and a three fruit combo is the most popular. Hard to say but easy to digest is our current hit - pear, persimmon and pomegranate. Rhubarb, apple and blackcurrant is another popular choice. Use fruit of the season and for mouth pleasure combine crisp textures such as pear with smoother ones such as rhubarb. Don't peel your apples or pears as the skin adds to the visual appeal. Cut hard fruit in small sticks rather than little cubes, and for added visual attraction dot the muffin with seeds such as pomegranate or small berries. happy muffin-making!

MUFFINS

Muffinsa are everywhere and they're pretty horrible usually. Made the day before they weigh down the counter at cafes like lead weights. Eating into them is an unpleasant experience akin to biting into dentist amalgam. Cold, heavy and sickly sweet, most muffins are bricks in fancy dress. On the other hand, a good muffin, moist and full of fruit can be a wonderful experience. Here is the recipe from Eugenius:-
EUGENIUS MUFFIN INGREDIENTS (makes 4 or 5 muffins):
  One cup self-raing flour
  Half cup sugar (or less if you are using jam or marmalade)
  Half cup yoghurt
  One 700g egg
  Three-quarter cup of fruit chopped or stewed - spoon of marmalade or jam optional *
 EUGENIUS MUFFIN DIRECTIONS
 Pre-heat oven to 185C
Mix all ingredients LIGHLTY together
Fork into greased muffin tray. DO NOT PRESS OR PUSH THE MXTURE HARD. Level of mix should be above tray.
 Bake for 20 minutes. remove from oven and let cool before lifting from tray.

* In another blog we'll talk about what fruit combos work well.

TARRAGON CREAM DRESSING

A simple dressing that will make your reputation as a masterchef. Spoon dressing with cherries added into a lettuce leaf and serve with cold roast chicken. Delicious!
1 egg
2 rounded tablespoons castor sugar
3 rounded tablespoons tarragon vinegar
Salt & pepper
250 – 300ml double cream
500g stoned red cherries
Break egg into bowl and beat with a fork. Add castor sugar then gradually add tarragon vinegar. Stand bowl in a pan of boiling water and stir mixture until it begins to thicken. Draw off heat and continue stirring. When mixture has consistency of thick cream, remove from pan and stir for a few seconds longer. Season lightly and leave until cold. Partially whip double cream; fold this into cold dressing and season to taste, (This recipe can be made in larger quantities – omitting the cream – and stored in a screw-top jar in refrigerator for up to 3 weeks, then add whipped cream just before serving). Gently fold in the pitted cherries just before serving.
Isobel Negri

HOLLANDAISE SAUCE

Everybody reckons they can do this but not many do it right. Follow Eugenius' recipe below and u'll be ok.
This is a very simple recipe for a delcious Hollandaise. For a classic Eggs Benedikt, toast an English muffin, then top it with a layer of warm shaved ham, a poached egg, then add the Hollandaise sauce over the white of the egg. As the sauce is the same colour as the yolk, the top of the muffin will appear a seamless golden colour.

Juice of one lemon
4 egg yolks
3/4 - 1 cup hot melted butter
salt and pepper

Blend lemon juice and egg yolks for a couple of seconds to combine. While machine is running, add the melted butter slowly, gradually increasing the flow as the mixture starts to thicken. Add salt and pepper to taste.

CHICKEN WITH POLENTA

Another recipe from Sergio. Terrific on a cold day. Imagine sitting round an open fire with Sophia Loren, Umberto Eco, Gina Lollobrigida and Marcello Mastrionni dining on this bold rustic food while guzzling a flinty Sangiovese. We'll live Silvio Berlusconi outside. No bunga bunga here, just good wholesome fun!

CHICKEN WITH POLENTA

Finely chop 2 onions
Finely chop 3 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup white wine

Add the above to a large casserole dish and cook 3 to 4 mins until the onion is soft.

Add the chicken pieces (ask your butcher to cut up the whole chicken into about 10 pieces)
Also add 1-2 carrots, chopped finely
Add celery stick, chopped finely
Add torn basil leaves and rosemary leaves
Add more white wine (about ½ cup)
Add 5-6 fresh tomatoes or you can use good quality canned whole peeled tomatoes. If you are using fresh tomatoes, don’t bother to peel and seed them.

Also add potatoes cut into large pieces

You may also add more water if you want lots of sauce.

Cook all of the above in the casserole on top of the stove for approx 45 mins to 1 hour depending on the quantities used.

Once the chicken is cooked, serve the chicken in a wide bowl and add a large tablespoon or two of polenta on top of the chicken and serve.

Some people at this stage add white wine vinegar
Grated parmesan cheese
Black pepper
Chopped fresh chilli

menu dinner tonight

Dinner this week

2 courses $30 : 3 courses $35

Includes glass of wine.

ENTREE

Choose from:

Beef and barley soup,

Russian tuna salad,

Frittata & relish

MAIN

Choose from:

Chicken Makhani reposing on a bed of Moroccan rice

Tender roast veal cuddled by mushrooms and Paris butter

SIDES: Potato and eggplant gratin

Roasted vegetables with tahini

 DESSERT

Warm plum cake with clotted cream

SPAGHETTINI with Anchovy, Parsley, Olive Oil and Parmesan

In winter I like a good pasta and nothing beats the following recipe realted to Eugenius by Sergio di Pieri, organist and chef. You may have heard of his younger brotehr who has a Gondola on the Murray.
Sergio cooks from the heart. His passion for food and overall joie de vivre infused with a joyous spirit.

His recipes derive from his childhood in Treviso. The son of a poor farming family, Sergio is animated about the simple dishes of polenta and beans his mamma used to prepare. Many of the dishes he enjoys have now become staples in fancy restaurants, but according to Sergio, not many are done right - pastas are over-cooked; risottos are soggy; sauces lack flavour...

Essentially, he says, one needs fresh produce and good quality ingredients to produce sensational food. Fancy cuts of meat, and complex saucing do not make a better tasting dish...

So to Spaghettini..

In a frypan warm the olive oil over a low heat, add

2-3 cloves of finely chopped garlic
small tin of anchovies
chopped parsley (including stalks)
few fresh chillies
green or black olives cut into 4
lemon zest

As the oil warms, move the ingredients around in the frypan, and when the garlic is cooked, remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, cook the spaghettini in plenty of salted boiling water. When al dente, drain pasta, mix with all other ingredients and add parmesan cheese and serve.

This method is also excellent with fresh tomatoes, finely chopped garlic, olive oil, a little chilli, salt and pepper and fresh basil leaves. The secret is to cook the ingredients slowly and do not cook either of the above for a long time. It only takes about 5 mins to cook each recipe.

PARIS BUTTER

This is one of the staples the kitchen at Eugenius Cafe. Sometimes called Cafe de Paris, Paris Butter, gives a certain je ne sais quoi to eggs, omlettes, mushrooms and soups. When grilling mushrooms for instance lavishy spread Paris butter for a simple yet effective way of imparting flavour. In an omelette, Paris Butter gives a rich feel and a delightful look with the the speckles of green herbs mingling happily with the golden hue of the softly beaten eggs. Use Paris Butter in fact on any savoury dish that calls for butter. It is preferable to oil in a Bolognese sauce. So here it is. oohlahlah!
CAFE DE PARIS

1 kg butter left outside the fridge so as to be soft.
Heinz tomato sauce, two swigs
Dijon mustard, two dollops
capers (in brine), 10 off or 4 large caperberries
Brown shallots, 3 off
Fresh curly parsley, a large snap
Fresh garlic chives, 10 off
Dried marjoram, a pinch
Fresh dill, a pinch
Fresh thyme, a pinch
Fresh French tarragon, a pinch and a half
Ground rosemary, a pinch
Garlic, 2 cloves chopped very finely
Anchovies, contents of a small bottle including the oil
Brandy, a slurp
Madeira, a slurp
Worcestershire sauce, a splash
Ground sweet paprika, a few shakes of the bottle
Keens curry powder, a generous spill
Cayenne, a pinch maybe two
Green peppercorns, 8 off
Lemon, juice of one
Zest of ½ lemon
Zest of ¼ orange
Salt, a shake


Mix all ingredients with the exception of butter in a glass bowl and leave to its own devices for a day, then purée the mixture in a blender and push through a strainer to isolate teh chewy bits. Foam the butter and mix with the purée. Form the butter into a log, freeze it and cut off slices as you need them. Teoretically, it keeps for several weeks but it won't last you that long.

BEEF STOCK

 Making BEEF STOCK at Eugnius, is a weekly affair

It's perfectly acceptable to show some contempt for your stock but I hope you never become so world-weary as to give up making it and use store-bought stock cubes instead.

Beef bones, 1kg
Swede,
Turnip
Potato
Carrot
Celery
Onion
Garlic
Red wine - a given. I oftentimes also pour in a cup of black tea.
Herbs-rosemary, thyme, oregano are nice but you can add anything really.

So simmer it for an hour and a half while doing sodoku and attempting maybe a cryptic crossword. They are both a terrible wate of time but if you are cooking at the same time, you don't feel as guilty.

FRENCH ONION SOUP

We love a good soup at eugenius cafe almost as much as we like a good drink, so we really love our French onion soup because it's laced with booze. Here's the recipe!
FRENCH ONION SOUP

Beef stock (see below) 1 litre
onions 8 off
sugar, a pinch
cafe de paris, 30g (recipe see separate listing) baguette 8 slices
gruyere cheese 100g shaved
red wine glass for soup, rest of bottle for the chef
whisky, a swig
tokay, another swig


Slice fine cross-sectional half rings of onion, while lapping on the red wine as commiseration for the tears the onions bring to your eyes. Fry the onions ion a hot pan with the sugar and cafe de paris, until they turn golden and translucent. Meanwhile simmer the stock. Add a glass of red wine - after all, why shouldn't the onions have some fun? Add a swig of tokay for sweetness and a swig of whisky (not to impugn the cockmanship of the French male, but whisky, not cognac, gives this onion soup its manly thrust). Slice the onions into the broth and simmer for thirty minutes. When ready to serve, add some slivers of cheese to the soup and stir. For the crouton on top, put some more gruyere cheese on a 1cm slice of baguette and grill. Serves 4.

Beef and Barley Soup

Winter is upon us and our insides need warming. What could be better than a hearty soup? Our Beef and Barley soup is a sure-fire winner. It sells a beaudy at the cafe. here is teh recipe:-
BEEF AND BARLEY SOUP (serves 8)

olive oil, a shaky pour

500g gravy beef ripped apart

1 large onion, finely chopped

3 teaspoons sweet paprika

3 carrots diced

2 swede, peeled, and diced

2 sticks celery slivered

4 cups chicken stock

4 cups beef stock

1 pack pearl barley soaked overnight

Heat oil in a large, deep saucepan over medium-high heat. Add a third of the beef and brown. Add remaining oil and onion to pan. Cook until tender. Add paprika. Add carrots, swede, celery, stock, red wine, barley and beef. Bring to the boil. Skim scum. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for 1 1/2 hours