The Interview

Drum roll please ladies and gentlemen. I've got a job! Yep, this lady of leisure is very soon going to be cooking for a family out in the Hamptons for the Summer and occasionally in their West Village apartment in Manhattan. The interview process was extensive but great. Why was it extensive, well, it is only the second time in my cooking life I have been asked to cook for someone as part of the interview process.

The first time being for a yacht chef agency run by the brilliant Beverley Grant, owner and director of Culinary Fusion in Miami. That time I had to cook a three course meal for four guests and Beverley threw a curve ball by announcing five minutes before I started cooking that she wasn't able to get everything on my list - a very common reality when cooking on yachts in remote locations.

This time, it was again a three course meal for four, sans the curve balls. Instructions were as follows: a salad, followed by a protein, followed by a light dessert. That was the long and the short of it all. This is what I prepared:

Baby Vegetable Salad with Persian Feta, Shimeji Mushrooms and Hazelnut Dressing
Red Braised Lamb Shank with Roast Tomatoes and Garlic
Rolled Pavlova with Fresh Raspberries and Pistachio Praline

I start this Saturday and I can't wait! I'll keep you updated with all the lovely things I will cook. I've never been to the Hamptons and if their kitchen in Manhattan is anything to go by, I am going to be in kitchen heaven and there's also the beach!

Here's the recipe for the lamb shanks. It is adapted from the brilliant Kylie Kwong "Heart and Soul" cookbook. I love lamb shanks. My Dad's Mum who was an extraordinary cook used to make the best lamb shanks. She told me once that when she was a little girl, she grew up on a sheep station in South Western Queensland they used to throw the lamb shanks to the dogs. I'm mighty glad things have changed. This is a true marriage of East and West. You will often see the red braising stock referred to as a master stock in other cook books.

2 lb (1kg) lamb shank
1 quantity of red braising stock
3 garlic bulbs, unpeeled
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
12 campari vine ripened tomatoes
1/4 bunch basil
1 teaspoon ea slat
pinch of cracked pepper
2 tablespoons of sherry vinegar

Red Braising Stock
6 quarts cold water
3 cups Shao hsing (Chinese cooking wine)
2 cups dark soy sauce
1 cup light soy sauce
1 cup soft dark brown sugar
12 garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup sliced ginger
8 scallion (spring onion) stems, trimmed
10 whole star anise
4 cinnamon quills
1 piece of dried orange peel

Place all the ingredients for the red braising stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to infuse.


Skim any impurities like you see here from the stock with a ladle.

The stock is now ready to used, or can be set aside to cool and then refrigerated for up to 3 days. It lasts in the freezer for about 2-3 months.

Trim the lamb shanks of fat if necessary. Place the shanks in the already simmering red braising stock. Make sure they are all submerged, cover and let simmer for 2-3 hours until they are soft and almost falling from the bone. Allow them to cool in the stock, this gives them a beautiful deep red color.

Set your oven to 300 F or 150 C. In two separate roasting tins place the garlic bulbs drizzled with olive oil and cover with foil. Place the tomatoes in another drizzle with oil and basil, salt and pepper and roast both for about an hour.



The tomatoes will collapse and be soft and the garlic, soft and caramelized.



Cut the garlic in half cross ways and squeeze out the pulp into the bowl. Add 2 teaspoons of the red braising stock.

Take the pan juices from the tomatoes and add to the vinegar.

I served this with a shallot and celeriac root puree.

To serve:
A good helping of the shallot and celeriac root puree, with one lamb shank topped with a tomato and spoonful of roasted garlic with a drizzle of the vinegar dressing. I also ladled a little braising liquid around the bowl.