Cooking for the Bajajses! Citrussy Sichuan pork, garlic and green peppercorn lamb chops, charrred portabellas, sweetcorn with finger lime chilli butter and figs with pepper chesse and caramel

The fabulous meal!

Mohit, Neha’s adorable husband and my darling brother in law planned to take us to dinner at one of his favourite steak restaurants that night but after my shopping trip on Chapel street, I just had to get in the kitchen and cook. So I wheedled him out of going out to dinner and eating in instead. It worked! And we made our way home via a trip to Coles, the local supermarket. 

One of my favourite things to do when I visit Melbourne is to shop for everyday things at the local markets and supermarkets and then cook fabulous meals with them. This trip also turned out to be an eye opener for Neha and Mohit, as I pointed out tons of products and ideas for what they could do with them, thereby widening their daily meal options! I must say, that I was extremely well behaved with my shopping that day though! 

Once we got home I made a beeline for the kitchen, with Neha playing my sous chef while Mohit settled in front of his computer, exclaiming at the aromas coming out of the kitchen and occasionally bestirring himself to come and take pictures of the food. 

Here is what I cooked! We ate it all with crusty bread and washed it down with a robust local Australian wine called Mr Frog!


Zingy Citrusy Pork Chops – featuring Sichuan Peppercorns
Because of its pleasant, mild flavor, pork is versatile enough to go with everything from sweet to stronger flavors like vinegar, chiles, garlic, soy and ginger and pairs well with tons of flavours but Nehas had grapefruit lying around that she wanted me to use up and since  I am partial to pork with sweet citrusy accents AND since I had picked up Sichuan peppercorns from Neha’s favourite Asian grocer on Chapel street, I decided to do this recipe.

Also a quick note on Sichuan Peppercorns (although i will do an elaborate post later) Sichuan Peppercorns, also spelled Szechwan and Szechuan, are native to northern China. They are completely unrelated to black pepper or any other pepper. They were the source of heat in Chinese cuisine before Asian cultures were introduced to chillies. Intensely aromatic with citrusy notes they create a riot of numbing, tingling sensations in the mouth and were ideal to add zing to the Pork and cut through its sweet notes. If you cannot get Sichuan peppercorns, use Indian Triphala the spice (not the medicine) that is available in Goa and along the Konkan coast. It is very different from Sichuan peppercorns in appearance but it lends the same flavour.

Ingredients

4 pork loin boneless chops, about 1 1/2 in. thick1/2 cup zest of orange or more of milder citrus.

1/2 c fresh citrus juice (I used grapefruit but orange will also work

4-6 red chillies chopped coarsely

1 1/2 tbsp sichuan peppercorns

Coarse salt

Method

Toast the Sichuan peppercorns in a pan briefly and leave to cool. Pound coarsely in mortar and pestle. Combine crushed sichuan peppercorns, citrus zest, juice, chillies and salt and coat both sides of the chops. Place the chops in a resealable freezer bag and refrigerate up to 4 hours. Heat gas grill or grill pan, to medium hot and place chops on grill ensuring lots of the chunky marinade gets under them. Cook the chops until nicely browned, about 2-3 minutes on one side, then turn ensuring bits of the marinade get on other side as well and grill 2-3 minutes more. Ensure you baste chops regularly with leftover marinade on both sides. Grill, until the chops are just cooked through, about 10-15 minutes more, depending on desired doneness basting regularly. Serve hot.  

Lamb Chops with Green Peppercorn and Garlic


This one I did because I spotted green peppercorns at the Asian store and i wanted to show Neha how to use them.

Ingredients:

4 lean lamb chops

5 tsp green peppercorns in brine

1 head of garlic chopped coarsely

1/2 tsp coarse salt

1 tablespoon oil

Juice of 1 lime

Method

Trim away any excess fat from the lamb chops. Crush the green peppercorns and mix them with the salt and garlic and lime. Pour over lamb chops and press well onto both sides of the lamb chops. Brush the lamb with oil and then place on the grill for about 10 minutes on each side or until the meat is cooked to your liking.

Sweet Corn in Finger lime and green chilli butter featuring Australian Finger Limes
About Finger Limes. I had never heard of Finger Limes before and only stopped to look at them out of my passion for all things citrus. You can’t blame me really, these Australian native citrus are unlike any other citrus  I had ever seen. They have none of the voluptuousness of other limes, and actually look more like gherkins or parvals elongated with a thin skin that can range light shiny green to the most typical purplish or greenish black to rusty red. Basically they can be quite ugly! BUT it was lust at first sight once I saw their insides! Finger limes are also called citrus caviar, and appropriately so. On being cut open one finds what can only be described "citrus pop rocks"! Unlike tear-drop shaped juice sacs in other citrus Finger Lime pulp is made of hundreds of tiny bead like balls of juice. I could not resist cutting one in half and tasting the psychedelic caviar. The beads are round and firm and pop between the teeth just like caviar and they are pucker inducing sour at first but their flavour is a combination of lemon and lime with distinctly green. I wanted to keep the beads intact so I decided to stick to a simple recipe that would not do too much damage.

Ingredients

 4 ears fresh corn, husked

100g butter, room temperature

1-2 tsp spicy green chillies, minced

2 garlic cloves minced

Pulp of 1 finger lime

Salt to taste

Method

Cut corn cobs into 2-3 chunks each and boil in salt water or roast. While the corn is cooking, combine butter with the chilli, garlic, finger lime pulp and salt. Mix gently so the lime 'caviar' does not burst. When corn is done, toss gently with butter. Serve hot!

Grilled Portabella Mushrooms

Is there anything better than a big, fat, juicy cooked mushroom? And you CANNNOT get bigger than those sexy portabellas we bought from Damian Pikes stall at Prahran market.Mushroom s being so full of flavour r and meatiness, I rarely mess with them too much, preferring to grill them with EVOO, rock salt and pepper. 

Ingredients

8 portabella mushrooms

6-8 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp black pepper freshly ground

Olive oil to drizzle

Method

Rinse mushrooms and pat dry, then cut off and chop the stems. Mix chopped stems garlic and pepper. Reserve. Place mushrooms on grill and cook till done. Deglaze pan with some wine and transfer to a small saucepan. Add mushrooms stems and simmer till reduced to half. Drizzle over mushrooms and serve.

Figs with Pepper Cheddar and Caramel sauce

Fresh Figs were in season and this spicy-sweet-salty combination of flavours seemed the perfect marriage of flavours.Sweet juicy figs, salty cheese and caramel flavours left a lingering aftertaste with a pleasant back of the throat warmth!


6 fresh plump figs, halved
2 tbsp pepper cheddar shavings
4 tbsp Caramel sauce

To make spicy Caramel sauce, heat premade carmel sauce in a pan. Stir in green chilli paste and mix well. Spoon 1 tbsp each onto two indiidual dessrt plates. Arrange three figs each on the plates. Srinkls with chdder flakes. Drizzle with remaining sauce and serve.

Sichuan peppercorns!

The Pork

The marinade - grapfruit juice and zest, redchillies and toasted crushed peppercorns

Love the colors!

The marinade for the lamb - green peppercorns adn garlic in olive oil and lime juice!

Green peppercorns in brine

On the pan!

Australian Finger Lime

Finger lime butter!

the Portabellas go on the grill!

chopped stems for sauce!

deglazing the pan

Food shopping on Melbourne's Chapel street with Neha

There is a sense of unreality to having your baby sister grow up and get married. But that sense of unreality of it is more so when she makes a life for herself with her new husband on the other side of the world. My plan for my trip to Australia was that I would spend the first 2-3 days with my sister Neha and then move to my other sister Himanshi’s to prepare for the SBS food journey culinary demonstrations. Neha had been waiting for me to come to Australia for AGES because she wanted to show me around her life. So on my second day there she took the day off to stroll around Chapel street, where she lives. And I understood why I get SOOOO many messages from her about how she saw this and thought of me or ate that and missed me.

We met my other sister Himanshi that morning, to stock up on whatever I would need for my cooking demonstrations and then after a quick sushi lunch over which we caught up on gossip, Himanshi went off to a meeting and Neha and I set off on an exploration of Chapel street.

Chapel St Precinct, Melbourne's premier dining and entertainment district is open until late and rivals Melbourne's central business district as both a shopping and a foodie destination, named after the first chapel in Prahran, located on the east side, 100m south of Malvern Road, this is a place known for the good things in life- fashion, food, entertainment and style. With a reputation for its “diversity and nightlife” the area is peppered with a range of fabulous businesses including some of the best dining in Melbourne, late night bars, nightclubs the bustling Prahran Market and other specialised businesses such as music, fashion, homewares and specialty food shops. And there really could not have been a better address for my bling loving foodie fashionista sister!

We began with The Prahran Market on Commercial Road, one of Melbourne's premier fresh food markets and is a must for food lovers. Reminiscent of the traditional produce markets of Europe, it has existed for over 100 years and has a great variety of stalls and shops offering fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, fish, deli foods, cafes, variety shops, and clothing.

Known as "the food lovers market" because of the quality and range of the food available here Prahran Market is a community in itself as my sister told me, having worked here for a long time. Its traders and other tenants, together with the staff of the Market Office, are a vibrant group of people passionately dedicated to the Market, its past, present and future. Vociferous, excitable, often in agreement, occassionally at odds, with an enormous and diverse range of talents and skills, the community of Prahran Market is as much a part of its cultural heritage as the wonderful produce it sells.

We began with the Damian Pike’s specialist stall that showcases the astonishing diversity of mushrooms now available in Australia. Damian Pike was one of the first to import that highly-prized prince of edible fungi, the truffle into Australia and he is referred to as the mushroom specialist of Melbourne. His stall is where you will find every possible mushroom that is in season, plus some others in dried and frozen forms. He also carries fabulous specialist vegetables as well. I picked up Potabella mushrooms, Australian Finger limes (a variety of citrus/limes native to the rainforest regions of Australia also called citrus caviar) and Fermented Black Garlic. We stopped by the potato stall, where an innumerable selection of potatoes were on display, including a purple potato. And we went on to the
Pasta stall overflowing with fresh handmade pasta.

Leaving Prahran Market we headed to Rocky’s fruit and veg, after a quick detour to Neha’s favourite Asian grocery to order the makings of Thai curry paste (she wanted me to make some she could freeze) and pick up some Asian spices. Rockys is one of my favourite shops, I discovered it on my first trip to Melbourne 5 years ago. Attracted by the ristras of chillies and garlic, I had walked in to have a look and left with a kilo of the best sund dried tomatoes I had ever eaten! They lasted a good long time too. This time, Neha had very sweetly picked up ristras of chilli and garlic and put them up in her kitchen to welcome me. But we just had to do a little walk through!

Chapel street is full of things to see and do and means lots of walking, so after a rather productive afternoon we needed a pick me up so we made our way to Ganache a chocolate lounge. Situated in a heritage building full of character the ambiance at Gânache Chocolate Lounge is all about exposed brickwork, metal ceilings, and old world charm and offers a unique European style chocolate experience with and extensive selection of beautiful chocolates, handmade on the premises, boutique patisserie offerings, impeccable service, all in a European ambience.

The beautifully presented counter overflowing with exquisite hand-made chocolates, and all sorts of decadent sweet treats was just what we needed on our girls day out. We sank into the soft leather cushions of a couple of wrought iron chairs and began to pore over the menu. Did we want to try one of a variety of speciality hot chocolates or sample one of the multitude of decadent sweet treats on offer; pralines, gelato, gateaux, macarons and of course chocolate were all on offer.... we settled on coffee for Neha, Chilli hot chocolate for me and a Macaron each Pistachio for me and Lavender for Neha. I was worried that the chilli in my hot chocolate would not be spicy enough for me but it was actually perfect and my, thick, hot chocolate with that perfect glow of chilli at the back of the throat was gone all too soon. The pistachio Macaron was good but the Lavender one was sublime!

The scent of the lavender and its lovely flavour really came through. Unforgettable!
I could not help thinking that it was the perfect not on which to end that part of the day as we made our way to the corner where Neha’s husband Mohit was coming to pick us up from. He thought he was taking us out to a fancy dinner. What neither he nor Neha knew then was that plans had changed - I was going to be cooking up a storm for the Bajaj’s that night! But that is for another post! Watch this space!

Fresh Shitake Mushrooms

Australian Finger Limes

Also called Citrus Caviar - Not without reason!

Fermented Black Garlic

Everything Neha in one shot, fancy bag, fashionista 'sunnys', bling phone and the most fashionable food things this year Macarons!

Most beautiful chocolate I ever saw - strawberries and white chocolate!

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GYAn and links
Chapel Street Precinct, The Prahran Market, Gânache Chocolate.

If you are in the mood for some summer recipes, try these ones I created for the SBS Food Journey at the Melbourne Food and Wine festival.  

I used Maharashtrian Mirchi Thencha http://bit.ly/e8nUxM to make simple Chilli #Potatoes http://bit.ly/e8nUxM You can also watch the video at http://bit.ly/eevVft. 

I used garlic tempered buttermilk http://bit.ly/hN8Di3 to make garlicky Butermilk braised chicken http://bit.ly/flCYL8 for Watch that video at http://bit.ly/eZoY8K

More to come!