Julie Biuso's Never-ending Summer

BlogLyn

For the last three weekends we have invited friends over for a barbecue but each time the skies were grey and it was drizzling so we had to eat inside. Where can summer be hiding?

Oh well, as the weather is beyond our control we might as well get over it! And if it keeps on raining we’ll just work out other ways to do our entertaining.

This is where Julie Biuso’s new cookbook Never-ending Summer is coming in very handy. She has cleverly hedged her bets both ways and come up with an inside outside recipe book. If the sun’s out you can simply fire up the barbecue, but if the weather packs a surprise she also tells you how to cook the same recipe indoors!

It’s a very good looking cook book which could be left on the coffee table for guests to leaf through as well as on the kitchen shelf. The photographs taken by food photographer Aaron McLean have the soft glow of natural light which makes the food look very inviting.

A nice departure from the usual cookbook is that it gives links to video clips of Julie demonstrating some of her favourite dishes. So if you carry your laptop into your kitchen you could have Julie right beside you as you prepare your meal.

Julie’s aim is to create food that will “tempt, tease, surprise and please.” She has a way with words. Her recipes come with enticing little descriptions and everything is very clearly explained. Every time of the day is catered for. There are light snacks and stacks, sizzling satays and stir-fries, barbecued food and sweet endings.

She has her pulse on what New Zealanders like to eat. The food is quick and easy to prepare and uses fresh and seasonal ingredients. There are plenty of fish and shellfish recipes. And she draws inspiration from different culinary traditions including Mediterranean and Asian.

I especially like her glossary and hint section at the back in which she shares some of her culinary knowledge and expertise. It tells you in detail about the origins and preparation of some ingredients which may be new to many cooks such as kecap manis, sumac, sambal oelek, tamarind pulp and pomegranate syrup/molasses. And it gives handy hints on, for instance, how to cook the perfect hard boiled egg or how to produce golden slices of fried aubergines with a crispy skin (things your mother may not have told you.)

I have already cooked some of her recipes. The first was bruschetta with asparagus and prosciutto. For this a cannellini bean puree spiked with garlic, rosemary and chilies is spread on lightly charred ciabatta bread. Each is then topped with barbecued asparagus spears and a curl of prosciutto.

As the weather was wet I put her emergency plan into action and simply toasted the bread in the toaster and grilled the asparagus in the oven. It looked decorative on small oval plates and the flavours worked very well together, although next time I would whizz the beans for slightly less time to leave a slightly chunkier texture

Another recipe that is proving versatile is the orange and red onion salad. It’s a tasty mixture of oranges, red onions, green olives, and feta in a herby vinaigrette. It makes a tasty light meal with some ham or chicken alongside.

Our favourite so far is the Vietnamese herb salad with fish. It’s the kind of recipe I’ll come back to often. For the fish I chose gurnard. I quickly fried in a little oil and arranged it on a platter. It was covered with a cucumber, mint and coriander salad dressed with a
tasty Vietnamese dressing. It’s the sweet, salty and pungent flavour of the fish sauce which is the secret ingredient which makes this dressing so tasty.

In the dessert section I am looking forward to making her roasted plums with lavender petals. The plums should be ripening soon. And the lemon and elderflower granita sounds exquisite.

There is no shortage of possibilities for Christmas desserts with three different fruity trifles, a velvety smooth coffee semifreddo and berry macaroon creams.

All in all a good book to put on your Christmas present wish list. But it might have to be delivered a little early if you fancy trying your hand at one of those trifles!


Bruschetta with asparagus and prosciutto and accompanying bean puree
Makes 10 slices
Time to prep 20 minutes
Bean purée
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large clove garlic, peeled and crushed
1 Tbsp finely chopped rosemary
3 tiny dried bird’s eye chillies, crushed
1 x 425g can cannellini beans, drained, rinsed and drained
Bruschetta and topping
20 asparagus spears
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive oil for hot plate
10 thickish slices ciabatta bread
2 fat cloves garlic, peeled and halved
10 thin slices prosciutto

To make the bean purée, heat the oil in a small frying pan over medium heat and add the garlic, rosemary and crushed chillies. Sauté for 2–3 minutes and mix in the beans and salt. Transfer to a food processor and blend to a purée; if the purée is very stiff, thin with a little warm water. (If making a day ahead, cool, cover and refrigerate, but serve at room temperature.)

To prepare the topping, snap woody ends off the asparagus spears or trim them with a knife. Wash asparagus under running water and pat dry. Mix lemon zest with 2 tablespoons of oil in a large shallow dish with a few pinches of salt and plenty of black pepper. Add asparagus spears and roll them around the dish to coat. Cook asparagus spears on a preheated oiled barbecue hot plate over medium heat for about 10 minutes, turning often, until golden brown. Remove lemon zest to a side plate as it browns.

Lightly char the slices of bread on both sides on a preheated barbecue grill rack over gentle heat; take care as the bread burns easily. Alternatively, cook it under an oven grill, or in a ridged grill pan. Rub each slice on one side with a cut clove of garlic. Spread with warm bean purée and top with barbecued asparagus spears and curls of prosciutto. Serve immediately. Alternatively, if the weather is foul, cook the bread under the oven grill or simply pop it in a toaster and cook the asparagus in a shallow tin, such as a Swiss roll tin, lined with baking paper in a preheated oven (180°C) until golden.

Vietnamese herb salad with fish
Serves 4
Time to prep 25 minutes
Time to cook 7 minutes

½ large telegraph cucumber
1 bunch spring onions
¹⁄³ cup small mint leaves (if large, tear into small pieces)
½ cup coriander leaves
500g skinned and boned white fish fillets (gurnard, snapper, red mullet or bream)
canola or peanut oil for hot plate
salt
¼ cup dry-roasted peanuts, chopped, optional
Dressing
3 Tbsp fish sauce
5 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp sugar
1 fresh hot red chilli, finely chopped
1 large clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 Tbsp peeled and finely grated ginger

Peel cucumber, cut in half lengthways, scoop out seeds with a pointy teaspoon and cut flesh into half moon shapes. Trim spring onions, discarding most of the greenery and cut into long, thin strips. Put spring onions in a bowl with cucumber, mint and coriander. Cover and chill.

To make the dressing, whisk everything together in a small bowl. Cover and chill.

Rinse fish and pat dry with paper towels. Cook fish on a preheated oiled barbecue hot plate over medium heat until golden. Flip fish over and cook the second side briefly, just to seal. Alternatively, cook fish in a little oil in a large frying pan until lightly browned and barely cooked through or steam it. Transfer to a platter as it is done, cool for 5 minutes, then pour off liquid. When all the fish is ready, season lightly with salt and transfer to bowls for serving.



New Holland Publishers ( NZ) Ltd.