Ocean trout escalopes with walnut-pomegranate salsa
p106
I’ve learned a lot of handy kitchen hacks since I started working at
Gourmet Traveller. After a summer spent at home entertaining, my Negronis are getting decent reviews, I feel I’m close to mastering the pavlova and I’ve embarked on a kombucha experiment with reasonable success.
This month, however, things got a little less practical and a little more philosophical as I got a lesson in the Australian chef’s elastic understanding of time.
This issue is dedicated to dishes you can create quickly. The brief: secretweapon midweek meals, easy weekend brunches and quick desserts. The goal: getting it done in 30 minutes. Less time in the kitchen, more time at the table.
The obvious complement to this line-up was a series of time-saving tips from some of the country’s best chefs. Some responses were swift and honest: “I never cook at home – that’s my tip. Have others cook for you. It’s fast, certainly easy and a great hack,” said David Thompson. Hard to disagree with that.
Later, though, when a suggestion for a 12-hour lamb and a recipe for miso ice-cream bounced into my inbox, it occurred to me that perhaps I’d been a little naive. It seemed there might be minimal crossover between what our best cooks and us home cooks deem as “fast” food.
“Maybe you should have asked sous-chefs,” our food director belatedly noted. “They’re very time-focused.” Sage advice. After the fact.
The upshot, of course, is that this issue is full of recipes and very sound advice for every skill level. So if you can manage focaccia, say, in 30 minutes (bravo, by the way), or if a simple pasta is more your speed, we have you covered.
Enjoy the extra time at the dinner table!