Carter Earl - Neil Perrys Good Cooking

To Margaret Perry
19272015

An amazing matriarch to a large family,
you are sorely missed. Rest in peace, my love. xx

Neil Perry AM is one of Australias leading and most influential chefs. He has managed several award-winning restaurants in Australia and today concentrates on his flagship brand, the Rockpool Group, which includes Rockpool Bar & Grill, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth; Eleven Bridge, Sydney; Spice Temple, Sydney and Melbourne; Rosetta Ristorante, Melbourne; and various Burger Project venues across Australia. Neil has been creating menus for Qantas since 1997, continually redefining their dining and service, and is the author of Rockpool , Simply Asian , Good Food , Balance & Harmony , Rockpool Bar & Grill , Easy Weekends , Simply Good Food , The Food I Love and Spice Temple . He has also been a major television presenter for a number of series on the LifeStyle Channel.

If you own any of my cookbooks then you have my permission to glaze over now, as you are going to hear the same story again. I see no reason to change my modus operandi it has, since the time I started cooking, been about one thing, and that is the quality of the produce, always driven by seasonality.

Good living is tied to good shopping and cooking. You dont need diets, you need a balanced diet. Eat plenty of fresh seasonal food, exercise by getting out in the world and, of course, drink responsibly have a day or two off a week and dont drink to excess. (Health nuts might tell you not to drink wine at all, but then, how would life be worth living? I dont want to live to 100 and not enjoy myself.)

Try eating a good balance of dairy, nuts, vegetables, grains, poultry, meat and fish. Dont go for fad diets and I promise you will be able to maintain a healthy weight and not have to deprive yourself of anything. Just eat the naughty things in moderation.

My father taught me to live and eat with the seasons. I didnt realise it at the time, but boy was I lucky that he drummed it into me all those years ago: eating with him every day, helping in the garden and watching it grow, feeding the chooks and going on fishing trips with him. (Of course, the fact that he was a butcher, and a very good one, meant the meat we ate was always first class.) Eating food in season also gives you better value for money, as seasonal produce is generally cheaper.

Im a truly multicultural cook, so here youll find recipes from all around the globe I love Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, Moroccan, Vietnamese and Thai food just as much as I love Italian, French, Spanish and whatever is Modern Australian food. Once you stock your pantry with the common ingredients that are used most in these cuisines, youll be able to cook anything have some fun with it.

Use the recipes as a guide, by all means its great to be inspired when cooking, not enslaved. Make sure you take note of the outcome and try to cook a little better each time. Cooking is a learned craft that you can improve if you wish.

I say this all the time: relax, and really love cooking for your family and friends. We have to eat to survive, so best to turn it into a joy, or life can be a real drag. Have fun and, most importantly, push yourself along at your own pace. There isnt a recipe in this book that cant be accomplished by someone who wants to put their mind to it.

Happy cooking I believe through that, a happy and healthy life can be achieved.

Cheers,
Neil x

Kick off your day in style with one of the indulgent breakfasts that start on .

I usually start the day with a simple breakfast of bircher muesli and fresh juice. However, on weekends, when Im feeling a little decadent and need spoiling, I like something a bit more substantial. Thats when these delicious dishes hit the spot.

Baked eggs with spicy sausage

Serves 4

A perfect dish for Sunday brunch; a truly delicious and decadent way to start the day. You can use ready-made harissa paste or you can make your own (see ), which gives a subtler flavour to the dish. Ready-made harissa can be seriously hot, so make sure you taste it before you add it.

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

teaspoon caraway seeds

1 spicy chorizo sausage

125 ml (4 fl oz/ cup) extra virgin olive oil

1 red onion, sliced

3 garlic cloves, chopped

sea salt

2 red capsicums (peppers), diced

1 teaspoon thyme leaves, chopped

1 tablespoon flat-leaf (Italian) parsley leaves, chopped

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

harissa, to taste

2 tablespoons tomato paste (concentrated pure)

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons honey

2 x 400 g (14 oz) tins diced Italian tomatoes

8 free-range eggs

140 g (5 oz/ cup) labna, at room temperature

1 small handful coriander (cilantro) leaves, chopped

crusty bread, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).

Heat a large, wide, ovenproof frying pan over medium heat. Dry-fry the cumin and caraway seeds until fragrant. Remove and set aside.

Slice the chorizo lengthways into quarters, then cut into chunks. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil to the pan and fry the chorizo until golden. Remove and set aside with the spices.

Heat the remaining olive oil in the pan over low heat, then add the onion, garlic and sea salt and cook for 5 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and add the capsicums, thyme and parsley. Cook until the mixture is starting to get a good colour. Add the paprika, then return the chorizo and spices to the pan and stir for about 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the harissa and tomato paste and stir until the pastes are slightly coloured. Stir in the red wine vinegar, honey and tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook for 1215 minutes. The sauce should have a great flavour and be slightly thickened but not too thick as you still need to cook the eggs in it. Add a little water if needed.

Take the pan off the heat and make eight wells in the sauce. Crack an egg into each well and use a fork to mingle the whites with the sauce without breaking the yolks. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake, checking regularly, for about 1015 minutes or until the eggs are done to your liking.

As soon as the pan is out of the oven, dot spoonfuls of labna over the eggs and sauce, sprinkle with the chopped coriander and serve with lots of crusty bread.