Paul Mercurio Online

As cooked with some degree of chaos live on the morning program on channel 7:

1 cup of self raising flour
300 mils of warm milk
5 Lipton quality black tea bags
2 tablespoons of honey
1 free range egg
1 teaspoon of unsalted butter
1 300 mil container King Island pure cream
1 250 mil container of Raspberry coulis

Put flour in a large mixing bowl. In a glass measuring jug pour in 300 mils of milk and then zap it in a micro wave for one minute so that it is quite warm but not really hot. Put the tea bags in and jiggle them for a minute then let them steep for another five minutes. Add the honey and stir to dissolve. Jiggle the bags some more then squeeze them out so as to collect all the milk and flavour and then discard. Crack the egg into the milky tea and beat. Using a whisk slowly add the milk to the flour and mix to form a batter.

Heat a non stick fry pan over medium heat and add the butter when it has melted swirl the pan so as to coat the bottom with the butter. Spoon in some of the mixture and allow to cook. When bubbles form on the top turn the pancake over with an egg flip and cook the other side. Remove cooked pancake to a plate and continue with the remaining mixture.

Put the cream into a bowl and add three or so tablespoons of the coulis to the cream and gently mix through. You can use more or less of the coulis depending on how much raspberry flavour you want to come through. The raspberry’s really complement the tannins in the tea.

Stack one, two or three pancakes on a plate spoon over some of the raspberry cream and enjoy.

Makes about 12 pancakes

2 – 3 cups of plain flour or bread flour
2 teaspoons of dried yeast
2 teaspoons of sugar – raw or white
1 tablespoon of butter- unsalted or salted – softened
½ cup of milk
½ cup of water – hot
4 teaspoons of bi carb
4 cups of water
Baking paper
Salt flakes – Murray river salt or Maldon
Preheat oven to 230°c or 210 fan forced
Combine the milk and the hot water into a glass jug, the mixture should be warm but not hot. Add the sugar, yeast and the butter to the warm milk /water mixture and give it a stir then set aside. After about 5 – 10 minutes the yeast should be active and you will see lots of yeasty froth sitting on top of the liquid.
Using a cake mixer with a dough hook put 2 cups of flour into the mixing bowl and turn the mixer on. Give the yeast mixture a stir and then slowly add it to the flour and mix. The flour will come together but will be quite wet still so add some of the extra flour a handful at a time until the dough begins to form a ball. You do not want this dough to be too dry or stiff, it is very soft and slightly sticky dough. Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and give it a knead for about 5 or so minutes until the dough texture changes to a more silky character. Put the dough into a floured glass bowl – I usually spray some oil around the inside of the bowl and then sprinkle flour around it as this stops the dough from sticking to the glass. Cover and set aside for an hour or two or until the dough has at least doubled in size.
Once it has doubled turn the dough out of the bowl onto a floured surface and shape it into a log. Cut this log in half and then each half in to three pieces. Roll each piece out to be about 30 cm long how ever there is a trick to this and that is – leave a fatter bit in the middle. Imagine a snake has swallowed a football (or an oblong shape) and that shape is sitting in the middle of this 30cm long snake. This fatter section is probably about 6 cm long. As this dough is quite soft you probably won’t be able to roll it on the bench so the easiest way to roll it is to pick it up and hold it between your hands – palms together thumbs pointing to the roof, and make like you are rubbing your hands together to warm them. Allow the dough to hang down and as you rub your hands together the dough will slowly fall down towards the bench as you stretch it out with the rolling action. This all makes perfect sense when you DO it. Let the dough drop to the bench and then repeat the process starting from the other end of the dough. In order to get the fatter bit in the middle start the rolling motion 4cm past the centre of the dough and when you turn the dough and do the other side start that 4 cm past the middle section and voilà you will end up with a 30cm long piece of dough with a fat section in the middle. With practice comes perfection!
To make a pretzel shape have your rolled ‘snake’ lying on the bench in front of you. Pick up either end and hold it above the bench so it forms a big “U” shape now cross your hands in a circular motion so that the “u” swings, turns and twists around itself and then lay it flat on the bench still holding on to the ends. Place one end on top and to the side of the fat middle section and the other end on the other side. Wet your finger and dab where the two ends rest on the fat section to seal them down.
In a fry pan bring the four cups of water and the Bi-Carb to the boil and then dunk a pretzel into the boiling water for about 10 seconds before turning it over and letting it sit for another 10 seconds. Remove from the boiling water and place on an oven tray that has a sheet of baking paper on it. Repeat with the other pretzels. Sprinkle the pretzels generously with the salt and put in to the preheated oven. Cook for about 8 to 10 minutes or until pretzels are a dark golden brown.
Remove and try and wait until they are a little cooler before you devour them. Of course eat with your favourite beer.
Makes six

You could use a Porter for this if the Porter had lots of coffee overtones and a nice bitterness. Some porters are quite chocolatey which for this recipe means you might lose them in amongst all the chocolate in the recipe. The Stout stands out because it adds another complexity to the Brownies. I wanted to put chili in this recipe also but my kids didnt want me to. They love the Brownie as is – although I still reckon an addition of Mexican chili powder of Chipotle powder would be awesome! If any one tries it with chili let me know.
125g of unsalted butter – diced
155g of good quality milk chocolate
100g of good quality dark chocolate 75%
125g/ ¾ cup plain flour
½ cup of brown sugar
3 eggs – 55g cracked weight each
¼ cup of Coopers Best Extra Stout
2 tbls of Cocoa powder
½ cup of chopped Macadamia nuts
½ cup Nestle white chocolate chips
Pre heat you oven at 160°
Chop the milk and dark chocolates and put in a glass bowl along with the chopped butter. Place the glass bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water – making sure the water does not touch the bottom of the glass bowl. Stir gently until all ingredients melt and combine. Remove from heat and set aside to cool while you beat the eggs.
Using an electric mixer beat the eggs and sugar together until light and fluffy approx 10 – 15 minutes. Then add the beer and mix again. While the eggs and sugar are being beaten combine the plain flour and the cocoa powder in a bowl then set aside.
Once the chocolate mix has cooled for about ten minutes add it into the bowl with the sugar, eggs and stout and mix thoroughly. Remove the bowl from the electric mixer and sift in the flour and cocoa mix and fold through the wet mix until well combined. Add in the macadamia nuts and the white chocolate buttons and mix through.
Grease a brownie tin or shallow baking tin that is about 18cm wide by 30 cm long and 3 cm deep and line with baking paper. Pour the brownie mix into the tin and spread evenly. Bake in the preheated oven at 160° for about 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Scotch Ale and Ricotta Cheese Muffins
2 cups of self raising flour
80g butter melted
8 tbls of brown sugar
2 eggs
3 tsp of chopped fresh rosemary
1 cup of ricotta cheese
1 cup of Red Hill Scotch Ale
Pinch of salt
In a bowl mix the flour and chopped rosemary together. In another bowl add the eggs, cheese, sugar, beer and melted butter and give this a really good mix to combine all the ingredients. Tip the wet mix in to the bowl with the flour and fold through until combined – do not over mix.
Dived mixture evenly in to a 12 cup muffin tray that has been either oiled or has large paper pans inserted in to the muffin holes. Bake in a pre heated oven at 160° for about 15 – 20 minutes.
Note – the Red Hill Scotch Ale is a malt driven dark ale with quite a sweet character and carries 5.8% alc. Not many breweries in Australia are making a Scotch Ale.
Substitute beers: Porter, Amber Ale, Stout.
Makes 12

From Ep 4 Food Trail Tasmania
(goes great with the mussels)
600g of flour
1 tsp salt
350 mls of warm water
2 tsp dried yeast powder
Pinch of sugar
1 tblsp Olive oil
Peeled potatoes sliced very thinly
Sea Salt
Crushed garlic
Rosemary sprigs
Olive oil
Method: add a pinch of sugar to the 350 mils of warm water along with the olive oil and 2 tsp of dried yeast. Give it a stir and let sit for a few minutes. Add the salt to the flour and mix through then either in a bowl or on a work bench make a well in the centre of the flour. Gradually add the yeasty water to the flour and incorporate until you have a ball of dough. You may not need all the water or you may need to add a little more. Once you have a ball of dough give it a good knead on a floured work surface for about 5 minutes or so. Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and loosely cover with Cling wrap and leave in a warm area until the dough doubles in size. Turn out of the bowl again onto a floured work surface and roll into a long sausage. Cut this into six equal portions, roll into balls and there you have the bases for 6 pizzas!
Roll out your dough and place on an oiled pizza tray. Cover the pizza dough base with a layer of over lapping thin potato slices, sprinkle with salt, crushed garlic, fresh rosemary sprigs and drizzle a little of the olive oil over it. Put in a hot oven until it is cooked.

From Ep 4 Food Trail Tasmania
Olive oil
Garlic finely chopped
Red Capsicum finely sliced
Paprika powder
Red chili finely sliced

From Ep 4 Food Trail Tasmania
1 kilo mussels
1 red chili finely chopped
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
Olive oil
Butter
1 leek washed and finely sliced
1 baby fennel finely sliced
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 bottle of stout
Parsley to garnish
Wash and de-beard the mussels if need be. Heat a small amount of oil and butter in large pot and gently fry some of the garlic and chili. Throw the cleaned mussels into the pot turn up the heat and add a generous splash of the stout. Cover with a lid and cook until mussels open giving the pan a shake every now and then. Once all the mussels have opened tip them into a colander and strain the juice into a bowl and reserve.
Add some more oil and butter to the pot and gently fry a little more garlic and chili adding in also the fennel and the leeks. Cook until translucent and then add the tomatoes, the stock from the mussels and a little more beer. Simmer for a few minutes to combine all the flavours and check for seasoning. Return the mussels to the pot to warm through and then serve in big bowls garnished with chopped parsley and some warm crusty bread.

From Ep 4 Food Trail Tasmania
250g extra fresh scallops
2 tbls Mayonnaise
Good squeeze of Wasabi paste
1 tsp finely diced Pickled ginger
mixed soft lettuce leaf
chilli oil
salmon roe
Roughly chop the scallops into a fine dice. Mix wasabi and pickled ginger into the mayonnaise. This is a to