{"id":407,"date":"2010-04-26T10:00:28","date_gmt":"2010-04-26T00:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/?p=407"},"modified":"2010-04-28T15:39:30","modified_gmt":"2010-04-28T05:39:30","slug":"belly-radio-show-april-26-war-and-food-special-and-cooking-with-taurus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/?p=407","title":{"rendered":"belly radio show April 26 – war and food special and cooking with Taurus"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

a housewife takes aim - wall image from the Imperial War Museum, London, Ministry of Food exhibition<\/p><\/div>\n

TOPICS <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Lilith is cooking with the stars – this week : Taurus<\/p>\n

Anzac day war and food special : internees, soldiers’ rations, rationing in Australia and UK, Napoleon’s favourite battle snack, spam sushi, victory gardens, expensive cooks and the downfall of the Roman Empire<\/p>\n

GUEST<\/span><\/strong> : Lilith, belly astrogourmet and hula queen
\n
\nGUEST RECIPE<\/strong> :\u00a0 by Lilith<\/p>\n

BEEF WELLINGTON WITH MADEIRA AND BLACK TRUFFLE JUS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

This special occasion dish was named for Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of
\nWellington, created to satisfy his love of beef, truffles, mushrooms,
\nMadeira wine, and p\u00e2t\u00e9 – its time consuming, but most of it can be prepared
\nin advance.<\/p>\n

INGREDIENTS <\/strong>to serve 8<\/p>\n

1.35 kg of beef tenderloin fillet
\n2 tablespoons olive oil
\n30g unsalted butter
\n175g foie gras or whatever pate
\nyou can afford
\n1 beaten egg
\n450g puff pastry<\/p>\n

Mushroom Stuffing
\n55g unsalted butter
\nsmall onion, finely chopped
\n220g flat black mushrooms,
\nfinely chopped
\n3 tablespoons heavy double cream
\n1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley<\/p>\n

Madeira and truffle jus
\n3\/4 cup Madeira wine – you can use red if that’s what
\nyou have
\n3\/4 cup beef stock, knob of unsalted butter
\n2 tablespoons finely chopped black truffles (optional)
\nwatercress to garnish<\/p>\n

METHOD<\/strong><\/p>\n

First the stuffing: Heat butter in a frying pan, and saute chopped onion a
\nfew minutes till soft and golden.\u00a0 Add chopped mushrooms and saut\u00e9 till
\nmoisture evaporates.\u00a0 Add cream, season with salt and fresh black pepper,
\ncook over a low heat till reduced to a thick pure\u00e9.\u00a0 Remove from heat, mix
\nin chopped parsley, allow to cool and refrigerate till needed.<\/p>\n

Then the beef:\u00a0 Heat olive oil and butter in a large pan. Season beef with
\nsalt and black pepper, brown on all sides over a high heat for a few
\nminutes. Remove from pan and let it cool, reserving any juices.\u00a0 On a
\nfloured surface, roll out the puff pastry 3mm thick to an oblong big enough
\nto fit your piece of beef.\u00a0 Spread the p\u00e2t\u00e9 across centre of the pastry,
\nsame width as the beef.\u00a0 Spread the mushroom stuffing over the p\u00e2t\u00e9.
\nPlace the beef on top of the stuffing and gently settle it into the mix. Cut
\naway the middle of the pastry ends and brush all edges with beaten egg.
\nCarefully fold the pastry up to completely envelope the beef, tucking in the
\nends and very carefully turn the parcel over onto a large buttered baking
\ntray. With a sharp knife make a few small incisions in the pastry, decorate
\nthe top with pastry leaves cut out of the leftovers and refrigerate
\nuncovered for half an hour.<\/p>\n

Preheat the oven to 450F\/230C\/gas mark 8.\u00a0 Brush wellington all over with
\nbeaten egg and bake at high heat for 10 minutes. Then turn it down to
\n375F\/190C\/gas mark 5 for a further 20-25 minutes till pastry\u00b9s golden brown.
\nRemove from the oven and let it rest uncovered for 10 minutes.<\/p>\n

While its baking, do the jus. Simmer reserved juices from the beef pan with
\nthe wine and beef stock till reduced by half.\u00a0 Add finely chopped truffles
\n(if using them), and simmer another 2 minutes.\u00a0 Take pan off the heat, add a
\nknob of butter, let it melt to give a shine to the sauce and season to
\ntaste.
\n
\nTO SERVE<\/strong>:\u00a0 Cut wellington into thick slices and arrange on warm plates. Pour
\nover some Jus, garnish with fresh watercress.<\/p>\n

This is a very rich complex recipe, so keep accompaniments simple: new
\npotatoes, green beans, an orange and watercress salad.<\/p>\n

If this all sounds a bit too gouty, our local chef Nadine Abensur has a
\ngorgeous recipe for Mushroom Wellington which I personally prefer.
\n
\nCOOKING WITH TAURUS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Taurans, the earthiest earth sign, are often described as touchy, feely,
\nhungry and horny and it’s true they engage with life through their senses.
\nThis is not the sign of dieting, lean cuisine, small portions or fussy
\nlittle canapes.\u00a0\u00a0 Taurans like big servings, especially smorgasbords where
\nthey can graze at leisure and heap up their plates with their favorite nosh:
\nwhich tends to be solid, satisfying and usually fleshy.\u00a0 Apologies to any
\nTauran vegetarians out there, but a salad just won’t cut it for these hearty
\neaters who love nothing better than a no-nonsense roast followed by a good
\npud all washed down with a full-bodied red.<\/p>\n

Tauran favourites may include the\u00a0 Bullshot – beef consomme, tabasco, lemon juice, ice and vodka from the freezer, and robust, uncomplicated flavours like steak and kidney pie with garlic mash,roast beef with carrot and parsnip puree,and mixed grills with crumbed brains and spicy sausages.<\/p>\n

SOME TAURUS CHEFS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Matt Moran of ARIA, one of Sydney’s premier restaurants overlooking the Opera House \u00ad a country boy from Tamworth who was told by a teacher he was a loser who’d never amount to anything, Matt left school at 15 to become an apprentice chef.\u00a0 A true Tauran, he describes his kitchen style as hands on.<\/p>\n

Gary Rhodes, English celebrity chef who\u00a0 became famous reviving
\nBritish classics like braised oxtails, bread and butter pudding and faggots
\n–\u00a0 meatballs made from leftovers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

these are faggots - photo taken by sister T at the Brixton farmers market, London<\/p><\/div>\n

Anthony Worral-Thompson, whose godfather was Richard Burton, had his recipe for Snickers Pie nominated by an independent
\nfood watchdog as one of the most unhealthy recipes ever invented – being
\nSnickers bars, marscapone, sugar and eggs in puff pastry, and weighing in at
\n1,250 calories a slice, its no mystery why the ever-charming Gordon Ramsay
\nonce called Worral the Teletubby chef.\u00a0 [in Adelaide right now for Taste Australia]<\/p>\n

Epitomizing Taurans’ love of the good life, the Dean of American Cuisine
\nJames Beard was a great big man of large appetites – an endearing teacher
\nwho loved people, loved gossip, loved food and loved a good time.
\nBedridden with malaria\u00a0 at the age of three, he grew to love the food prepared by his mother and their Chinese cook, resulting in a life time mission to defend good cooking with fresh
\ningredients against, quoting James: the assault of the Jell-O-mold and
\ndomestic scientists. Expelled from college for being gay, Beard started his
\nown gourmet catering business and became star of the first American TV
\ncooking show titled, with typical Tauran subtlety: I Love To Eat. His legacy
\nlives on in twenty books, the Citymeals On Wheels he founded to feed New
\nYork’s home-bound elderly and The James Beard Foundation which provides
\nscholarships, champions American fine dining and honours industry
\nprofessionals with annual awards for best chefs, restaurants, journalists
\nand cookbook authors.<\/p>\n

Alice Louise Waters is another American restaurateur whose edible education
\nideas have been introduced into the Berkeley school system to try and combat
\nthe current crisis in childhood obesity.\u00a0 Waters advocates seasonal local
\nproduce, believing the international shipment of mass-produced food harms
\nthe environment and gives consumers an inferior product.<\/p>\n

In case I make them sound too boofy, Taurans are ruled by Venus so they’re
\nlovers of beauty and Taurus wild boy of art Salvador Dali published the
\nextraordinary cookbook Les Diners de Gala \u00ad a sumptuously illustrated
\ngastro-aethetic feast for eyes, mind and palate featuring exotic recipes for
\nfrogs, snails and aphrodisiacs \u00ad things like ” Pierced Heart” and “Ox Snouts
\nin Pastry Shells” – all lavish, fattening and expensive, though to be fair
\nhe does kick off with the Tauran warning: “Do not look for dietetic formulas
\nhere.”\u00a0 It’s a collector’s item now, but I once owned it and remember
\nattempting the Eels in Tequila recipe (what was I thinking).<\/p>\n

Lilith
\n
\nFROM THE BELLY LAB<\/strong><\/span> :<\/p>\n

CHICKEN MARENGO <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

adapted from the many versions of this historical recipe by sister Tess<\/p>\n

Napoleon definitely won the battle of Marengo, a place in Italy near my grandmother’s hometown of Alessandria in southern Piemonte, Italy.\u00a0 He beat the Austrian army and then he was hungry, so he ate a chicken dish which is said to have become a great favourite of his because either it reminded him of the victory, or he was like a sportsperson who always wears the lucky underpants on the day of a big match – it was his lucky dish.<\/p>\n

He was separated from his food wagons (for a great fictional account of being Nap’s cook, read Jeannette Winterson’s “The Passion”), and either his French chef stole some chickens and a few bits and pieces to rustle up a quick meal (say the French texts), or they went to a simple local restaurant and ordered the cook to snap to it (say many Italian versions).\u00a0 The only thing that is definitely in chicken Marengo is chicken – there may also be fried eggs, mushrooms, freshwater prawns, croutons, brandy, tomatoes, wine – or not.\u00a0 I have translated and adapted one of the simplest versions, in an Italian cookbook that is well over 100 years old, by Pellegrino Artusi, called “Science in the Kitchen and the art of eating well”.<\/p>\n

for 4 people (or 2 x 2)<\/p>\n

1 small young free-range chicken, about 1kg or the smallest you can find – I used a size 13, which is a 1.3 Kg chook<\/p>\n

flour
\n100 mL\/1 glass white wine
\nflat leaf parsley, chopped, about 1\/2 cup
\nstock (chicken or veg)
\nstale good bread, sliced
\n1 lemon
\nbutter, olive oil
\nsalt, pepper, nutmeg
\nopt. – 2-3 mushrooms per person<\/p>\n

Rinse, dry and cut the chicken into large pieces, about 8-12 depending on size.\u00a0 Dust with flour.
\nLightly brown in a little oil and butter, a few pieces at a time, seasoning with salt, pepper and nutmeg as you go.\u00a0 When all the chicken pieces are browned, put them together and add the wine, when it is absorbed add 1-2 cups of stock and cover to finish cooking over a gentle heat.\u00a0 If you find that you’ve added too much stock, just leave the cover off towards the end.
\nJust before serving, brush the mushrooms with olive oil and cook in a dry pan.\u00a0 Keep warm while you add a little more oil to the pan to toast the slices of bread.
\nAdd the parsley to the chicken, and lemon juice to taste, stir and turn the heat off.
\nServe surrounded by mushrooms and toast.<\/p>\n

You could go the full I-just-conquered-another-great-big-piece-of-the-map and fry an egg each in oil, steam a few prawns in the white wine, and serve those too.<\/p>\n

I tried making a thin plain omelette and serving it cut in strips with the chicken.\u00a0 It was ok, but it didn’t really add anything.\u00a0 But the chook\/toast\/mushroom combo was delicious and very simple to make.<\/p>\n

We were only two eating this, so the next day I added fresh peeled, seeded, chopped tomatoes to the chicken while it was re-heating, as most recipes for chicken Marengo include tomato.\u00a0 It was ok, but there are much better recipes for tomatoey chicken around, and probably not what Napoleon ate, as it took a long time for tomatoes to conquer Europe after they came from America.<\/p>\n


\nEDIBLE QUOTE<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Today’s quote is by the Roman historian Livy, he was writing about Roman soldiers in the days when Romans were rough and tough and simple people, going off to conquer the Greeks and other softer and more civilised people in Asia, and coming home with souvenirs and bad habits<\/p>\n

“The beginnings of foreign luxury were brought to Rome by the army of Asia. .. Harp girls and other festive amusements became features of dinner parties. The feasts themselves began to be arranged with greater meticulousness and expense. The cook,cheapest and most despised of slaves in our fore father’s times, increased in price. His work, once seen as servile, was now considered an Art. These, scarcely noticed by contemporaries, were the seeds of corruption”\u00a0 Livy writing about a time around 200 bc – and all downhill from there<\/p>\n

THE MINISTRY OF FOOD EXHIBITION AT THE IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM, LONDON<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

In the kitchen a housewife checks the size of a slice of bread against a chart supplied by the Wartime Social Survey, a government fact-finding organisation set up in April 1940. There was no bread rationing during the war, but it had to be introduced on 21st July 1946. It remained in force for exactly two years. \u00a9 Imperial War Museum<\/p><\/div>\n

I’ve got a sticker that says “make chocolate not war” on the car.\u00a0 Us bellysisters are peace loving, sybaritic souls.\u00a0 So I don’t normally visit museums dedicated to guns and co.\u00a0 But I thoroughly enjoyed the current exhibition at the IWM.\u00a0 It’s quite amazing how many of the preoccupations of wartime Britain are again very topical.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

We Want Your Kitchen Waste, John M Gilroy, IWM PST 14742 \u00a9 Imperial War Museum<\/p><\/div>\n

From eat more veggies to grow your own, to avoiding food that needs long range transport (because of German subs not food miles), to recycling and using underused land for small scale food production.\u00a0 The reasons may be different, but the messages are the same.\u00a0 And often these days we are told to look to wartime methods and values to avoid environmental catastrophy, or just to have access to better, healthier food.\u00a0 The first major Slow Food event in San Francisco last year, for example, included a temporary but very lush “Victory Garden” in the centre of the city.<\/p>\n

So it makes sense to go along and see how the British Government, and people, very successfully not only increased\u00a0 domestic food production war, but ended up with a healthier, better fed population – in the middle of a war!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Grow Your Own Food, Abram Games, 1942, IWM PST 2893 \u00a9 Imperial War Museum<\/p><\/div>\n

There are propaganda videos, songs and radio programs, lots of posters and<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Use Spades Not Ships \u0080 Grow Your Own Food and Supply Your Own Cookhouse, Abram Games, IWM PST 2916 \u00a9 Imperial War Museum<\/p><\/div>\n

photos, and recreations of a kitchen, shop and greenhouse.\u00a0 Design students would get a lot out of it too, such great posters they used to do.<\/p>\n

And all sorts of media were used to communicate techniques and tips on all sorts of subjects from nutrition to cooking methods to gardening.<\/p>\n

I particularly like this way of telling a good bug from a bad bug.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And while most of us are probably aware that rationing existed, this show explains some of the less obvious aspects.
\nRationing was meant to ensure that both rich and poor had access to scarce food, and that as much as possible was left for the troops.\u00a0 There was a big supply web between Britain and us colonials.\u00a0 Many merchant sailors died transporting food, and many people in Australia endured rationing to supply food to Britain and the various armed forces.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

IWM cafe food<\/p><\/div>\n

The one thing that is really hard to take is the supposed recreation of wartime cooking in the Museum cafe.\u00a0 One of the sponsors is responsible for this, and the whole museum smells pretty unappetising.\u00a0 As one of the people serving it up said to me : “I think they had better food during the war”.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a>

\u00a8Food Chart Eat Something From Each Group Every Day, \u00a9 Imperial War Museum In 1944, the Ministry of Food Public Relations Division spent \u00a3600,000 on posters and other forms of publicity.<\/p><\/div>\n

However, see this wartime nutrition chart – we are all familiar with eating from all the food groups.\u00a0 If you could get hold of them, you could follow this dietary advice by eating just butter, cheese, and potatoes.\u00a0 Ahh, those were the days.\u00a0 But then you could work it all off digging and dancing.<\/p>\n

If you can’t get to London, check out the videos available on the net – I posted a list below.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Carrots Keep You Healthy and Help You See in the Blackout, IWM PST 6015 \u00a9 Imperial War Museum<\/p><\/div>\n

LINKS<\/strong><\/span> :<\/p>\n

The Kitchen Sisters story<\/a> on US public radio, about American Japanese internees during WW2 – anyone with 1\/16th of Japanese blood – and the odd new foods they learned to love, like spam – recipes and audio, including that fab spam sushi recipe<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=c_aldlRKzvQ&feature=related<\/a> – the BBC US army ration story<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=VKyO84pYy0c&feature=related<\/a> – this one is silent, so not in the radio show, but lovely historical images of soldiers with those ever-present tins!<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.6thcorpsmusic.us\/ <\/a>– lots more music like the tracks I played on the show, thanks to the US IV Army Corps Combat Engineers<\/p>\n

give us this day <\/a>– the full version of the Australian rationing ad – this website is a wonderful archive of Australian film<\/p>\n

http:\/\/london.iwm.org.uk\/server\/show\/conEvent.3167<\/a> – the Ministry of Food exhibition at the Imperial War Museum, London<\/p>\n

Dig for Victory<\/a> ad<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Dig For Victory, 1942, IWM PST 0059 \u00a9 Imperial War Museum The Dig For Victory campaign was launched in October 1939 by the Minister of Agriculture Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith.<\/p><\/div>\n

this<\/a> is the one I call “Mrs White sees the Minister” – love a talking chicken!<\/p>\n

and a couple of rationing films that I didn’t have time to play:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TcaSJCtmt7c&feature=related<\/a> – the announcement of rationing in the UK<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2evv45stEHw&feature=related – 2 cooks and a cabbage<\/a><\/p>\n

but there are so many more great wartime clips on youtube! we just don’t do propaganda like we used to.\u00a0 If you follow the links above you will find many more, including a whole heap of soldiers just opening up and heating army rations, to show exactly what they look like – no words usually, just preserved food bubbling away on camp stoves – very odd.<\/p>\n

and for a dark, distopian and disturbingly\u00a0 likely future of rationing, National Meat loaf and veggie gardens, read Fay Weldon’s 2009 novel “Chalcot Crescent”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TOPICS Lilith is cooking with the stars – this week : Taurus Anzac day war and food special : internees, soldiers’ rations, rationing in Australia and UK, Napoleon’s favourite battle snack, spam sushi, victory gardens, expensive cooks and the downfall of the Roman Empire GUEST : Lilith, belly astrogourmet and hula queen GUEST RECIPE :\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,21,6,4,7,33],"tags":[87,91,44,93,92,94],"class_list":["post-407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-beef-roo","category-chooks-co","category-cooking-with-the-stars","category-edible-quotes","category-from-the-belly-lab","category-radio-show-posts","tag-beef","tag-chicken","tag-lilith","tag-mushrooms","tag-taurus","tag-wartime-food"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=407"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":411,"href":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407\/revisions\/411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}