Cracking the code

Hayden Quinn has handy tips for making sure family mealtimes are fifight free, writes Dan Stock

Hayden Quinn is the cheeky chap whose winning smile and infectious enthusiasm have seen him travel Australia and the world cooking up a storm.

“I’ve travelled lots, spent time around many family restaurants, whether here in Australia or around the world,” he says. “It’s given me an appreciation as to how special family time is, how special family food is.”

And it’s family food that Hayden is now in charge of putting to the test, as one of the judges tasked with finding “Australia’s number one food family”. Leading the quest is acclaimed chef and restaurateur Matt Moran, with punky pastry princess Anna Polyviou and UK food critic Tom Parker Bowles also joining the judging table for the new show, Family Food Fight.

In the show, six families, including the Melbourne-based Greek-Cypriot Panayides family, cook in a series of challenges that showcases a range of family staples and all- time favourite feasts. At the show’s core is a celebration of the food families around the country enjoy when they sit down to dinner.

“When I was growing up, we always had a great variety of food, but the staple I vividly remember was lamb chops, mashed potato, broccoli, peas, and that was a normal family meal,” Hayden says.

These days, dinnertime staples are just as likely to include a Thai stir fry or Indian curry as the meat-and-three of days past.

We’ve posed the question to the judges: what would you do to common family staples mince, eggs, chickpeas, chicken and potatoes, to turn them into a family feast that’s all peace, not war?

MAKE MINCE MARVELLOUS

The thing to remember with mince, Matt says, is that “fat is flavour”. Pork and beef mince can be used to make meatballs, which can be turned into a sub sandwich or tossed through any type of pasta.

“Every kid loves meatballs,” he says. Brown them in a pan, then add a good passata sauce, top with fresh herbs and it’s a winner.

“You can’t beat a good meatball!”

Anna suggests using it to make stuffed capsicums and zucchini. Simply brown off the mince with onion and season to taste. Add rice, crushed tomatoes and stock, and reduce. Use this mixture to stuff halved and hollowed zucchini and capsicums, and bake in the oven until the veg is tender.

Serve with a fresh tomato salad and Greek yoghurt.

Like Matt, Hayden says families can’t go wrong with meatballs.

“Keep it simple, flavour with some fennel seeds, salt, pepper. A few herbs, some parsley to cut through,” he says. Roll them into tight balls, and firm in the fridge for 20 minutes before cooking in a pan until they are “all brown caramelised loveliness on the outside”.

These then can be added into a passata that Hayden says is just as easy to make yourself as buy in a jar. Olive oil, lots of onion and garlic cooked until aromatic and soft. Add tomatoes, with basil and a touch of brown sugar. Finish with extra fresh basil.

EGG’S ELEVEN

“When I think about eggs, I think about mum and her resourcefulness,” Hayden says, who credits his home economist mum as the biggest source of his cooking inspiration.

“And a frittata, so resourceful! Imagine you’ve had roast dinner on Sunday night and on Monday you can’t be bothered thinking, there’s heaps of roast vegies left over. Chop them up, make a frittata.

“Eggs, goat’s cheese over the top. BOOM!”

Matt’s also a fan of pan-eggs for dinner, putting a Spanish tortilla twist on the classic by adding boiled and sliced potatoes to the pan, along with bacon, shallots and garlic.

“The most important thing with eggs is seasoning, they need lots of salt and pepper,” he says, adding that potatoes are great to add weight to the dish.

“This is great as an easy dinner.”

“The most important thing with eggs is seasoning, they need lots of salt and pepper” MAT T MORAN C R AC K S THE EGG CODE

Anna, on the other hand, whips up egg whites until they are light and fluffy, adding “whatever’s in the fridge — spinach, cherry tomatoes, goat’s cheese feta” to them and finishing in the oven.

“It’s like a mini savoury souffle, in a pan!”

CHICKPEAS IN A POD

All three reckon the best thing to do with a couple of cans of chickpeas is to pop them in a blender with olive oil, lemon juice, tahini, and blitz until smooth. Your homemade hummus can be used as a snack before dinner, as a dressing for lamb chops on the barbie, or served with a capsicum and green salad with barbecued haloumi.

Matt likes to soak chickpeas in a classic vinaigrette — chardonnay vinegar, mustard, grape seed oil — which gives them acidic bite, then toss these through a fresh tomato and cucumber salad with mint, parsley and feta. “For me, adding chickpeas is a textural thing,” he says.

With a bit of salt, cumin and smoked paprika, Hayden turns chickpeas into a crunchy, salty snack by roasting them in the oven. “They make a great alternative to crisps, and are especially good with a beer,” he says.

For a more substantial meal, he says chickpeas can be used to bulk up a Middle Eastern tagine take on that ’70s classic, apricot chicken. Turn it into a dish for today by browning off chicken thighs and adding to a pan that has onion cooked down with cumin, coriander, ground ginger and chilli and chicken stock. Add dried apricots with half a cup of orange juice, chickpeas, pop a lid on and cook through.

Serve with harissa paste on the side, yoghurt and coriander over the top.

THIGH HIGH

“I love chicken thighs,” Anna says. “I use them in so many different things. If people are coming over, I just pop them on the barbecue with olive oil, lemon, oregano, so beautiful and simple.” When cooking bone-in thighs on the barbecue, Anna suggests cutting into each thigh so they cook through evenly.

Or make a classic honey, soy and ginger marinade for thighs that are then oven roasted for another easy weeknight win.

Hayden says every family should have a favourite curry that can be turned to.

“For me, thighs are great for a curry as they have a lot of flavour and aren’t going to dry out. It’s no problem buying a packet/jar curry to get the flavours going,” he says.

To make your own, soften onion, garlic and ginger in coconut oil and cook down with Indian-style spices such as mustard seeds and cardamom. “They might seem exotic but they are great to have on hand,” Hayden says. “Get the smells going, add a spoonful of curry powder and add your chicken, coat each piece and finally add coconut cream. Cook until the oil separates.” Serve with rice, pappadums and mango chutney.

Matt suggests a homemade treat of buttermilk fried chicken is a great way to ensure the only fight at the table is who gets the last piece.

Soak the bone-in thighs in buttermilk, which adds flavour and helps tenderise the chook. Make a spiced mix of plain flour, onion powder and paprika. For each piece, dip into egg wash, then into the spice mix — “double dip it if you want!” — then fry in a pan until golden.

SUPER SPUDS

“This was always a fond one for me growing up: mashed potatoes with salmon makes a really nice fish cake,” Hayden says. “It’s tasty and cost effective.”

Boil the potatoes until they can be pierced with a skewer, drain and allow to steam dry. Mash them, adding a can of goodquality salmon to the mix, along with breadcrumbs to achieve a sticky consistency. Stir through chopped dill and form into patties. Dip in egg, breadcrumbs, and fry in the pan until golden. Serve with a simple green salad and yoghurt with dill and cucumber chopped through. “Nice and easy, with two everyday ingredients,” Hayden says.

Matt likes to use potatoes as the base for a tomatoey vegetarian curry, while Anna uses them to create dessert dumplings she calls “bombas”. Steam-dried potatoes smashed with flour,our, sugar, milk and yeast. Let the dough prove and then pipe into the fryer. Serve dusted in sugar with sugar syrup flavoured with cinnamon, star anise and cloves.

“Everyone knows loukoumades (Greek doughnuts), these are more like churros,” Anna says.

“They are crunchy and so yummy!” WATCH THIS FAMILY FOOD FIGHT PREMIERES MONDAY, OCT 30 AT 7.30PM ON CHANNEL NINE