Whipped ricotta,blueberry,fried rosemary and black pepper
In a food processor,blend together some ricotta and a pinch of salt,then,with the blades spinning on high speed,drizzle in some olive oil and blitz until the ricotta is smooth and creamy,about two minutes. Spread or pipe this goodness onto your toasts,top with a scatter of blueberries,a sprinkle of crisp-fried rosemary,an extra slug of olive oil and quite a bit of freshly cracked black pepper.
Anchovies on toast
Quite possibly the greatest toast of all time – a version of the Spanish tosta matrimonio. Take your toast,still warm from the grill,and spread it with a good layer of egg butter (see below). Have you heard the term “teeth butter”? It’s when you take a bite and your teeth leave a cast in the butter;that’s what I mean by a good layer:lots. On top,lay one salted anchovy and one boqueron,the white pickled anchovy,side by side in wedded harmony,then do it again. Season with a sprinkle of freshly cracked black pepper and a rasp of lemon zest and cut it into two fingers to serve.
𝄒Nduja and honeycomb
Drizzle a little olive oil over the top of your toast,then spread it with a thick layer of𝄒nduja (spicy,spreadable pork sausage from Italy) or sobrasada (cured sausage from Spain) that you’ve brought to room temperature. Spoon a teaspoon of fresh honeycomb on top of your spicy pork,right in the centre,letting the honey run where it pleases. Top with a few sprigs of crisp-fried rosemary leaves and a little turn of fresh black pepper.
Prawn,harissa and lardo
Spread your toast with some bagna cauda butter (see below),add a little dab of fermented chilli (see below),or more than a dab if you’re feeling it. Line up three cooked school prawns (preferably still warm from being gently grilled over a fire,but poached works here too) per piece of toast. Cover them with a veil of thinly sliced lardo (Italian cured pork fat) – the heat radiating from the prawns and the toast should be enough to just warm the lardo,rendering it a little transparent and seasoning the other ingredients sufficiently.
Tomatoes
Toast is at its finest under a slice of tomato at the peak of ripeness,warm from the sun,with nothing else needed beyond some peppery olive oil,flaky sea salt and loads of freshly cracked black pepper.
Crab toast
This is the perfect thing for any leftover salt-baked crabmeat (see below). Bring some egg butter (see below) to room temperature if you have some on hand,otherwise aioli is just as agreeable. Gently fold it into your crabmeat with a whisper of grated lemon zest,a suggestion of chilli flakes and some chives or parsley if you have some,then spread this thickly on warm toast.
Egg salad
Prepare one eight-minute boiled egg per toast. Peel the egg,then cut it in half. Take the yolk out and mash it in a bowl with a fork,then mix in a tablespoon of onion aioli (see below),stirring it thoroughly to a smooth,creamy consistency. Now add the white of the egg and rough it up with the fork,but don’t pulverise it – some texture is a plus. Fold in a little more of the aioli and mix it all together until you’re satisfied with the consistency. Season with salt and,for me,an aggressive amount of black pepper. How you go from here is up to you. I like hot sauce or chilli flakes,and am rather partial to a few soft herbs. Mustard is great,as is some very thinly sliced raw white onion. Or give it some capers and some chopped-up cornichons and turn it into a gribiche of sorts. You might even want to introduce some avocado,but I can’t in good conscience recommend it.
Grilled tongue and green sauce
Lamb’s tongue is a particular favourite for this one. Take a tongue that has been simmered gently to tenderness,then peeled and cooled. Cut it lengthways from the throat end to the tip into fairly thick slices – about four slices per tongue. Pan-fry the slices on their flat sides until they’re nicely coloured,then mount them on toast spread thickly with aioli and spoon some green sauce (see below) on top. Some salted capers that have been rinsed then deep-fried to a crisp are a possibly unnecessary,yet not entirely unwelcome,addition.
Chocolate,olive oil and sea salt
An inspired toast born from Catalan ingenuity,and just as relevant at breakfast as it is after dinner. Melt some excellent bittersweet dark chocolate over a double boiler (or give it a blast in the microwave) and spread it over your toast,then give it a light drizzle of a fruity extra-virgin olive oil and a reasonable sprinkling of flaky sea salt.
Peanut butter and sesame-seed sambal
Kind of like a satay peanut butter and jelly. Sounds weird but works exceedingly well. Spread a nice layer of butter on your toast,and just as the butter is melting,add a tablespoon of sesame-seed sambal (see below) and spread it,mixing it into the butter. Top with a layer of crunchy peanut butter – about twice as much as the sambal. Nice with a little sprinkle of flaky sea salt.
Grilled leeks and labne
Take half a leek (cooked as for the burnt leeks and sesame-seed sauce,see below) per piece of toast and rough it up a little with your knife. You just want to break it up a little but leave yourself with something to chew on. In a bowl,season the leek well with flaky sea salt,black pepper,some flakes of Aleppo pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice,then lubricate it with a slug of a nice extra virgin olive oil. (Some orange juice also works well here if it’s not too sweet.) Spread the toast with a strategically thick layer of well-seasoned labne,then pile on the leeks and some of their dressing,spreading it out to the edges.
Pear,black radish and parmesan
Season some butter with a healthy amount of freshly cracked black pepper. Spread this on your waiting toast. Top with a few thin slices of ripe,juicy pear. Follow this with an equal amount of thinly sliced radish,seasoned with salt. The black-skinned Spanish radish works best here,but all you really need is a crisp radish that has a bit of punch to it. Avoid daikon,though – I find it too juicy for this union. Top with a few vegetable-peeler shavings of parmigiano reggiano and a little spill of peppery olive oil.
The correct amount of Vegemite
Just to set the record straight on this. To my mind,people who say they don’t like Vegemite,Australia’s popular yeast-based savoury spread,have usually been introduced to it in an aggressive manner,perhaps even as the victim of a practical joke,the bread buried under eye-watering amounts of the spread. It’s best to think of Vegemite as a seasoning for your bread and butter. You need warm toast,lots of butter,and just a scraping of the good stuff – no more than half a teaspoon per slice. And definitely,definitely no avocado.
A real bagna cauda is the “hot bath” of Piemontese tradition,served with crudites. This is not that. It’s more of an anchovy butter by another name.
INGREDIENTS
METHOD
Confit garlic and its oil
Makes 300g
Beef tartare makes a dignified start to a meal and doesn’t require much more than a trustworthy butcher and a very sharp knife. Use a lean cut of the best-quality meat you can find,ideally from a grass-fed beast,hopefully one that has lived well,soaking up sunlight and fresh air.
Serves4 as a snack or 2 as a starter
A preparation yielding both a fragrant butter that can be spread on a multitude of things as well as crisped leaves for topping curries or dhal.
Melt100g unsalted butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When the butter starts to foam,add a large handful offresh curry leaves and cook for 2 minutes or until the butter has browned and the curry leaves have darkened and are crisp. Strain the butter through a fine sieve,keeping both the flavoured brown butter and the crisp leaves.
Makes100g
If you’re used to making stock in the Western way – by cooking bones for a very long time – then making dashi,the stock that is central to Japanese cooking,can be a revelation. The keys here are buying good kombu and not letting it boil – when kombu gets too hot it becomes bitter.
Makes close to 2 litres (8 cups)
Salt,fat,acid,heat. This particular preparation has found many uses in my kitchen,and I am confident you will come upon many more on your own. I find it particularly apt in any matter involving toast.
Makes 500g
The heat of chilli peppers varies from batch to batch,so have a little nibble (courage!) before committing. If you want to tone it down,remove some of the seeds and the white membrane they’re attached to (the hottest part) from a portion of the chillies before you proceed. It might be an idea to wear gloves while you do this.
Makes500g
More of a direction than a recipe,and very adaptable. The number,measure and combinations of ingredients in a salsa verde such as this are dictated by your personality,what you have on hand and the sauce’s intended target. The only rule is in the name:it should be green.
Use very fresh,clean,dry herbs. My preference is to include:
Conveniently enough,the best thing to cook the inside of a leek in is the outside of a leek. Leeks also love fire – cook them till the outsides are really well blackened and starting to split. Erring on the side of more cooked is what we want here.
Leek ash
Serves 4
Sesame-seed sauce
Having half the sesame seeds raw and half toasted balances out the flavour. If they’re all raw,the flavour is flat and,to me,a little dusty,whereas toasting them all makes the sauce too rich. This makes a lot,but it’s tough to blend in smaller quantities,so the best result comes from making a large batch.
Makes 500ml (2 cups)
Makes 4 litres
This sauce is slightly more subtle than the classic aioli:a little sweeter from the onion oil,and hot enough from the garlic,which enhances without overpowering.
Makes250ml (1 cup)
Confit onion
Makesjust over 250ml (1 cup),plus oil
This is my favourite way to cook and eat crab. By adding only salt and heat,we amplify the natural brininess and bring out the sweetness in the flesh.
Serves 2
As a young cook I would regularly make the two-hour trip to the Blue Mountains to eat at Vulcans,a little restaurant set in a retired bakery in the town of Blackheath. The menu,built around a hulking 19th-century wood-red Scotch oven,was small,but the cooking was thoughtful and generous. Textured,fragrant soups,duck-neck sausages,oyster blades of beef cooked slow and whole,the platonic ideal of roast potato. With an abundance of character and little pretence,this was where the spark for my own wood-red restaurant was ignited.
This recipe is a straight-up attempt at recreating the sambal that chef Phillip Searle made at Vulcans. I can’t claim to have captured that same magic,exactly,but I think the result is still quite delicious.
If you have the chance,cook this slowly in the dying heat of a wood-fired oven. This may seem like it makes a lot of sambal,but it’s worth the investment (it can take up to 12 hours to cook,after all). It also keeps for up to three months in the fridge,and makes a perfect gift.
Makes 2 litres (8 cups)
This is an edited extract fromEster by Mat Lindsay with Pat Nourse,Murdoch Books,RRP $55. Photography:Patricia Niven.Buy now
Continue thisseries
Put your leftover vegies,bolognese,smoked fish or fresh curds to delicious work with these versatile snacks,which can be served for dinner,breakfast or all on their own.
Chocolate and pumpkin seed biscuits,giant shells with eggplant,curry and mie goreng. Cook along with the kids and expand both of your recipe repertoires.
Plus a killer bacon sandwich,the chef’s favourite cookies and a caramelised roasted mango with the texture of condensed creme brulee.
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