FOOD WITH MIGUEL MAESTRE

FOOD WITH MIGUEL MAESTRE

SOURDOUGH WITH GARY MEHIGAN In search of Melbourne s best sourdough, Miguel meets up with the MasterChef himself, Gary Mehigan. At the famous Covent Bakery, where the wood fired oven has been glowing for over 100 years, they learn the secrets of this ancient bread with Artisan Baker, Dominic. After kneading their own bread and baking it, our two amigos to roll out their inspired sour dough dishes a warm vegetable salad with sourdough croutons and a Sourdough French Toast to die for. THE CONVENT BAKERY ABOUT: The Convent Bakery is located at the Abbotsford Convent within the Kitchen Wing. The Convent Annexe served as a central place for the preparation and baking of all food once served at the Convent. The bakery produces a small artisan range of wood fired bread, which is available daily. All bread is baked in the wood fired masonry ovens used by the nuns since 1901. Convent Bakery Bread can also be found in a selected number of stores in Melbourne. All of their sourdough breads are made naturally, without improvers or commercial yeast. The Cafe offers a full breakfast & lunch menu as well as a wide variety of rustic sandwiches, pastries, pies, croissants, quiches, tarts and cookies. Freshly squeezed juices are also available from the Boiler Room as well as certified Fair Trade & Organic coffee that is roasted in house at the Abbotsford Convent. The Convent Bakery provide customized catering off-site, and can organize functions on site at the Bakery.

WORKSHOPS: Workshops are a fun and entertaining day of baking where artisan bakers guide you through the simple steps for making basic sourdough bread, pizza dough, calzone and scones. Workshops include morning tea, walk around the Convent, pizza for lunch, your own Convent Bakery embroidered bakers apron, 1 kilo of organic flour to take home and all products baked on the day. COSTS: Beginner s Workshop - $190 CONTACT INFORMATION: Open: Where: Enquiries: Open 7 days from 7am to 5pm The Boiler Room is open daily 11am late The Kitchen Annex The Abbotsford Convent 1 St Heliers St Abbotsford Vic 3067 1300 447 697 admin@conventbakery.com www.conventbakery.com

SOURDOUGH BREAD ABOUT: A sourdough is a stable symbiotic culture of lactic acid bacteria and yeast in a mixture of flour and water. The bread is made by a long fermentation of dough utilizing naturally occurring yeasts and lactobacilli. Sourdough has a mildly sour taste compared with other breads due to the lactic acid produced by the lactobacilli. ABBOTSFORD CONVENT The Abbotsford Convent is made up of eleven historic buildings, gardens and carpark spread across 6.8ha. Situated approximately 4 kilometers from the Melbourne CBD, the site was occupied by one of the largest convents in Victoria during the 19th and 20th centuries. Today the site is an arts and cultural hub, occupied by a host of artisans including a community classical music radio station, live music performances, a gallery, theater, markets, bakery, bar, cafe and an organic pay-as-you-feel restaurant. The site also hosts a range of community and cultural events. Open Times: The Convent site is open every day of the year from 7.30am - 10pm. The various food and beverage outlets, WellBeing practitioners and arts & cultural activities operate varying times throughout the year. Contact Information: Address: Abbotsford Convent Foundation 1 St. Heliers Street Abbotsford, VIC, 3067 Contact: Email: (03) 9415 3600 info@abbotsfordconvent.com.au For more information please visit: http://www.abbotsfordconvent.com.au/

GARY MEHIGAN ABOUT: Gary was born and grew up in the UK. He moved to Australia in 1991 where he worked at Burhnam Beeches, Browns Restaurant and Sofitel Melbourne before venturing into business at the age of 31. Fenix Restaurant & Events is now 15 years old, gained a hat in its first year and has enjoyed several renovations and incarnations. The events business has been at the core of Fenix's continued success and reflects Gary's generous and honest approach to great food. Gary opened the Maribyrnong Boathouse in 2007 and now employs 80 plus staff between the two venues. TELEVISION CAREER: Gary s media career began with editorial in local newspapers, demonstrations, cooking classes, food festivals and contributing recipes to magazines. TV appearances over the years have included regular spots on Good Morning Australia with Bert Newton, What s Cooking and Fresh in the early days, then the first series of Ready Steady Cook, and the Circle on Channel 10. Gary s first stand-alone TV series was Good Chef Bad Chef which aired for two seasons. He considers this to be the turning point in his TV career, along with Boys Weekend, with some familiar and equally successful cohorts. Gary has been presenting the Logie Award winning MasterChef Australia for 9 series. MasterChef is the highest rating show on Australian television of all time and more importantly, has inspired a new generation of young cooks to embrace food and cooking. For more information please visit: www.garymehigan.com

RECIPES Roasted Beetroot & Onion Salad With Ricotta, Walnuts & Watercress Serves: 4 Ingredients: 1 Sourdough baguette 2 bunches of baby beetroots 1 b/c to be baby yellow 3 small Spanish onions, peeled & quartered 75ml ml extra virgin olive oil 100g goat s cheese ½ cup walnuts 1/2 bunch watercress, picked 80ml extra virgin olive oil 20ml walnut oil 1tsp Dijon mustard 4tbsp white balsamic vinegar 1tsp Honey Flaked salt & pepper Method: Preheat the oven to 180 C. Place a piece of aluminum foil into a roasting tray. Trim the baby beetroots of the stems, wash well, dry and place into the tray along with the Spanish onions season with salt and pepper and drizzle with a little olive oil. Pop into the oven for 40 minutes. Remove and allow too cool. Meanwhile slice the sour dough baguette into thin rounds and set aside. Put a good nonstick pan over a medium heat and add a good dash of olive oil, place the croutons into the pan and toast until golden on one side then turn over and repeat for the other side. Remove from the pan, place onto a piece of kitchen towel and allow to cool. To make the vinaigrette mix the mustard, horseradish, salt, pepper, honey and vinegar in a small bowl, when it s creamy and emulsified add the olive and walnut oils and stir to incorporate. Cut the beetroots in half and place into a salad bowl with the slow roasted onions. Spread the goat s cheese onto the croutons and place in and around the beetroots, sprinkle the walnuts into the salad and scatter with the cress leaves. Drizzle with the dressing and serve.

Pain Perdu (French Toast) With Caramelized Summer Fruits Ingredients: 70g castor sugar 4 plums, remove stones & quartered 4 nectarines, remove stones & quartered 2 apricots, remove stones & quartered 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut in cubes 2 sprigs lemon thyme 2 vanilla pods, de-seeded icing sugar 4 large eggs, beaten 70ml milk 70ml double cream 1tbsp pure cream 4 slices soft sourdough, Vienna style pinch cinammon fresh nutmeg, garnish Method: In a large non-stick pan, heat half of the sugar, lemon thyme and one vanilla pod. When it begins to caramlise add summer fruits. Then add the rest of the sugar and when the sugar starts to become caramel add 1 tbsp butter. Cook until caramalised. Remove from heat and set aside. Whisk eggs, milk, double cream, pure cream, 2 tbsp icing sugar, 1 vanilla pod and cinnamon until combined. Dip sourdough into the egg mixture and fry with remaining butter in a nonstick pan until golden on each side. Serve 1 slice of pain perdu with caramalised summer fruits. Garnish with nutmeg and icing sugar. WEBLINKS http://www.conventbakery.com/ http://www.abbotsfordconvent.com.au/ www.garymehigan.com