Being of Italian extraction, pasta is never too far from my thoughts. Whenever I’m not feeling 100%, a good pasta dish always seems to pick me up. That’s why I’ve started wondering if it’s possible that pasta has medicinal qualities? I’m not sure if it does, but for me it seems to…

My medicine of choice is always a good, clean, tomato-based sauce served on a bed of homemade fettucine drizzled with olive oil. Whenever I make sauce – I guess like most of you – I do the normal things. I start with good quality tomatoes, onion, and a super healthy amount of garlic. But the secret of the sauce – for me anyway – is in the veal that I’ve pan-fried earlier. You see I like to cook the veal in the sauce. This brings out a colossal powerhouse of flavor that borders on unbeatable. It also brings something to the veal that is quite special.

The smell of garlic and veal wafting through my house always makes me feel super charged again…

Speaking of being super charged, I recently found a recipe for Pizzoccheri at OrganicFoodee.com. Pizzoccheri is a Northern Italian pasta made from a combination of buckwheat flour and durum wheat. According to Ysanne, the guru of organic cooking and the driving force behind OrganicFoodee.com, it’s easy to roll out using a wooden rolling pin. I’m going to give it a try.

It’s interesting, one of the first books I ever read on organic cooking was by Ysanne Spevack. There isn’t much she doesn’t know about organic food and its preparation, so I might ask Ysanne if pasta can act as a medicine…

Ciao – Tony

You can’t beat good quality fruit bread made with wholesome organic ingredients. Bread that’s lush with plump dried organic fruit and baked to perfection is nearly everyone’s favourite mid-morning snack in my house. When I’m baking, the aroma from this fruit bread permeates every corner of the house and is enough to bring everyone into the kitchen to find out what’s going on. What’s that good smell?

And then of course, “Who’s having the first slice?” plays out. It’s a running joke in my house. Drawing on the famous comedy sketch, “Who’s on first base?”, our very own version takes place just before I cut the first slice of fruit bread. Laughter and mirth follow. But the funniest thing of all is that I don’t even remember what it was, or who it was, that initiated the gag. It doesn’t really matter. Sometimes laughter and just plain nonsense is infectious. You just have to go with it sometimes. No, who’s not having the second slice, who’s having the third slice…

Ingredients

2 teaspoons (7g) dry yeast
¼ cup (55g) caster sugar
2 tablespoons warm water
2/3 cup (160ml) warm milk
1 cup (150g) plain flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons grated orange rind
2 cups (300g) plain flour, extra 1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
100g softened butter
¼ cup (40g) sultanas
¼ cup (40g) raisins
¼ cup (35g) dried currants
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon caster sugar, extra
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method

Grease a 14cm x 21cm loaf pan. Line the base with baking paper. Combine the yeast, 2 teaspoons of the sugar and water in a large bowl. Whisk until the yeast is dissolved. Whisk in the milk and the sifted flour. Cover, stand in a warm place for about 30 minutes or until the mixture is frothy.

Stir in the egg, rind, sifted extra flour, salt, cinnamon and remaining sugar. Stir in the softened butter and fruit.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth. Place the dough into a greased bowl, cover, stand in a warm place for about 1.5 hours or until the dough has roughly doubled in size.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface again. Knead until smooth. Place the dough carefully into a prepared pan. Cover loosely with greased plastic wrap and stand in a warm place for about 30 minutes or until risen slightly. Remove the plastic wrap. Brush the loaf with egg yolk, sprinkle with combined extra sugar and extra cinnamon. Bake in a moderately hot oven for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to moderate and bake for a further 30 minutes. Turn onto a wire rack to cool

If you’re anything like me, chances are you’re constantly in a rush. Let me guess, despite your desire to observe the tenets espoused by the slow food movement, your boss is yet to come to grips with the fact that you’re entitled to a lunch break. Am I right? I thought so. Well, it’s time to slow down. And there’s no better dish to slow you down than a well made chowder combining the freshest seafood and organic produce you can lay your hands on. This one’s not difficult, but it does take a little bit of preparation time. So, pour yourself a nice glass of chardonnay and let’s take time out to make one of my favourite dishes – a delightful seafood chowder incorporating fresh organic produce.

I don’t pretend to know the history of chowder. But I do know that this was always a popular Sunday afternoon lunch in my home growing up. Lots of fun, laughter and lively discussion always accompanied this dish. The entire Milinkovich extended family still loves consuming generous portions of chowder accompanied by toasted pieces of French bread and a good quality wine. But I’m probably not the best person to share this recipe with you. Even though I’ve trained as a chef, I still don’t reckon I can make this as good as my mum! But here goes.

Ingredients

2 cups organic fish stock
250g boneless white fish fillets
250g scallops
2 rashers organic bacon
1 organic onion
3 cloves organic garlic
1 organic celery stalk
2 organic medium potatoes
2 organic tomatoes
2 cups organic cream
1 tablespoon cornflour
1 sprig organic parsley
1 tablespoon organic butter
1 organic French stick
salt and pepper to taste

Method

Prepare by skinning the fish and slicing into large pieces, washing and cleaning the scallops, chopping bacon finely, peeling and dicing the potatoes, and finely chopping the celery, garlic, tomato and onion. Heat fish stock in a large pan and add the fish. Allow to simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the fish is cooked. Add the scallops, cook for an additional minute then drain liquid into a separate container. Cool and dice seafood. Return liquid to pan. Heat butter in a frying pan, add bacon, garlic, onion and celery. Cook until diced onion becomes translucent. Add potato and tomato to the fish liquid and bring it to the boil. Cook until potato begins to soften. Add bacon, onion, garlic, celery to pan. Stir in cream and cornflour. Bring slowly to the boil, simmering for 10 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stir in parsley. Season to taste.

And there you have it. Serve with toasted French bread and a good quality glass of one of New Zealand’s fine organic Chardonnays. Enjoy!

Stuffed mushrooms might be a little bit 80s, but they’re the best way I know of introducing mushrooms to my nieces and nephews without having them turn up their noses. So, if you’re above enjoying a nicely made stuffed mushroom, I suggest you tune out now. If like me you like to have a bit of fun in the kitchen and you don’t take yourself too seriously, hang in there and we’ll whip up a feast of stuffed organic mushrooms that’ll have everybody in the house running in to the kitchen to find out what’s going on.

The thing I love about stuffed mushrooms, apart from the fact that they bring out the fresh flavours in good quality organic produce, is that they seem dull and uninteresting until you start making them. And then everyone wants to get involved in selecting what should go inside. If you’ve got children running around the house, as we often do, get them involved with this recipe. In stark contrast to many adults, who tend to be constrained by their own pre-conceived notions of what foods combine well, children have a natural sense of choosing great flavour combinations. So let them get creative with this one. The results may surprise and delight you.

For the reasons I’ve mentioned above, this recipe – and any recipe for that matter – should serve as a template only. Feel free, in fact feel obligated, to bring in your own sense of style and passion. Okay, who let the kids out? Crank up the AM radio, put on those tight Levi jeans, watch out for Uncle Ivan, and let’s get going.

Ingredients

8 large button or open-cap organic mushrooms
4 tablespoons wholemeal organic breadcrumbs
4 organic spring onions
1 small red chilli
1 large organic tomato
1 clove of fresh organic garlic
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
4 tablespoons of grated mozzarella cheese
2 strips streaky organic bacon
1 sprig of fresh coriander

Method

Remove the stalks from the mushrooms and chop the stalks finely. Grill the bacon for about five minutes until just before it starts to crisp. Prepare the spring onions, tomato and the chilli by chopping finely. Add the chopped mushroom stalks, spring onions, chilli and bacon to the breadcrumb mixture and combine the flavours. Spoon the mixture onto the mushroom caps, piling up and pressing into shape with a spoon, so the mounds hold together. Crush the garlic and combine with the olive oil and lemon juice. Drizzle the olive oil dressing over the top of the mounds. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Place the completed mushrooms on a tray, grill for ten minutes or until the cheese starts to turn a light brown colour. Garnish with fresh parsley or coriander.

Let them cool for about five minutes before letting the kids – old and young – attack these. Enjoy.

This is an old standby. My Uncle Ivan loves Caesar Salad. Consequently, I grew up eating it most evenings during the summer months. Believe me, that’s quite some pedigree. I still love the flavour combinations that pervade a well-made Caesar. And, when fresh organic ingredients are used, there’s no salad that comes close to it. Actually, I lie. There are a few other great salads besides this one. But more about those later. Let’s get into some Caesar action.

But don’t underestimate this dish. Many people do. They feel that, by virtue of the fact that they’ve had it served to them in a decent restaurant on a handful of occasions, they’re adequately prepared to do it justice. Sometimes, they’re not. And the results can be unflattering. Why? In my experience, many people lose it with the dressing. The dressing should be tangy. It needs a little bit of bite to it. So, don’t be too stingy with the lemon juice.

Don’t worry; you’re in good hands. Today’s recipe is my Uncle Ivan’s. And I reckon he’s the King of the Caesar Salad. So, under the watchful eye of Uncle Ivan, let’s get started.

Ingredients

3 or 4 cloves of organic garlic
1/2 cup of organic extra virgin olive oil
3 cups of organic bread cubes
1 to 2 cos organic lettuce
¼ teaspoon of salt
4 tablespoons of organic lemon juice
1/3 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
4 lightly hardboiled organic eggs
½ cup of shaved parmesan cheese
50g of anchovy fillets

Method

Peel the garlic and crush under the weight of a heavy knife. Finely chop two cloves of garlic and mix with about ¼ cup of olive oil. Make sure all of the flavour from the garlic infuses the oil. Brush the garlic infused oil over the bread cubes. Place bread on a baking tray and bake at 160 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes. Make sure the bread turns golden brown before removing. Prepare the lettuce by washing and drying. Tear leaves by hand and place in a large bowl. Chop the remaining two cloves of garlic and add salt. Mix garlic, lemon juice, ¼ cup of olive oil and Worcestershire sauce together. Pour dressing over lettuce. Shell eggs and chop roughly. Sprinkle over parmesan cheese and toss to mix. Cut anchovies into strips and place on top of the salad with croutons.

That’s close to heaven – Uncle Ivan would be proud! Enjoy.