Lucky Lupitas

Adelaide's South Just Got Lucky

While it is easy in Adelaide, and even more so in the southern suburbs, to get excited about any vaguely edible Mexican food, Lucky Lupitas is sure to please even the most discerning eaters.  Despite my limited experience and expertise in the field of Mexican and South American cuisine, I do know when I'm eating something good, and last night, I was eating something good.

This tiny eatery has become very busy in the couple of months it has been open and as they don't take bookings, an available table can be hard to come by (I arrived to pick up my takeaway just after 6pm and there were only a couple of tables free).  My first piece of advice would be to get there early, but failing that, I suppose you need to be prepared to wait.  The difficulty with waiting is that there aren't any nearby bars to go have a drink at, so you pretty much have to sit on a bench out front which might be a bit of a challenge when winter truly kicks in (although according to their Facebook page they are getting outdoor heaters soon, and you can sip on a Prickly Pear Margarita while you wait, which certainly eases the pain). If your aesthetic sensibilities appreciate the beauty of shabby chic, the interior of Lucky Lupitas, with its festive and eclectic wall decorations, mismatched glassware, homely rickety furniture, makeshift fixtures and open kitchen, makes the wait for a table worthwhile.

When ordering, don't expect to see a menu that resembles Old El Paso's supermarket range; there is (and they proudly advertise this fact) not a Burito or bowl of Chile con Carne in sight. And while I don't necessarily subscribe to the notion that authenticity automatically equates to good food (I'm not above hoovering a burito at the conclusion of a night out, and spaghetti carbonara and chicken tikka masala are both positive developments in my book) I was encouraged to see Lucky Lupitas choosing a menu that distinguishes it from Adelaide's current offerings.


I chose to start with some street food; empanadas and quesadilla.  The Smoked Chicken Empanadas were freshly cooked and the filling was succulent.  For me the 'smokiness' of the filling was a bit much, tasting burnt, but I admit that, in general, I am not a massive fan of this kind of strong charred flavouring. The Quesadilla de Polo y Championes (chicken and mushroom quesadilla), with its tasty chicken, spinach, a generous amount of mushrooms and oozing cheese was absolutely delicious.  For main course, I ordered Chilaqulies con Pollo (Chicken Nachos) which looked unprepossessing, but were not only full of flavour, they were exceedingly fun to eat (I love getting involved with my food).  My takeaway package included a container each of sour cream, and house made tomato salsa and guacamole and I got to work dipping, scooping and pouring as I made my way through the pile of spice encrusted totopos interspersed with seasoned pieces of chicken and beans, and covered in a layer of cheese and guacamole. In terms of serving size, the dishes ranged from sensible to generous and the above comfortably fed me and my husband.***

Overall I was highly impressed with Lucky Lupitas.  Management have made a strong commitment to fresh food and authentic flavours and they have created an eatery with a convivial atmosphere and casual class, ensuring that you leave feeling full and tummy happy with thoughts of 'next time...'.

***At this point in writing the review I was possessed with an unfightable urge for more Lucky Lupitas.  This time, we ate in and found the service friendly and attentive. It is worth noting that the tables are squeezed in quite close together, which is great for making friends with nearby diners, but perhaps a little confronting if you like space and privacy.  My husband had a Hamburguesa Hogao which consisted of a succulent burger and tasty sauce with the prominent flavours of onion and cumin. I had the Lucky Ribs, smoky, slow cooked beef ribs which were so tender, a loving nudge with my fork saw the meat flake off the bone.  Anticipating a rich, greasy meat, I ordered them with Chimichurri Salsa which certainly provided vinegary freshness, but the ribs didn't actually necessitate a piquant counterbalance; next time I plan to have the chipotle bbq sauce.

Where?
Lucky Lupitas
1/4 Rupert Ave, Bedford Park, 5042
82774004

Lazy Lentil Soup

It's not so much the lentils that are lazy, as me.  Ordinarily, you'd put lentils in water in the morning to soak during the day so that they would be ready to cook with at tea time, but if you decide on soup at the last minute, concessions have to be made.  Not only is this soup simplicity itself, it is also healthy, hearty and cheap to make.  Don't be put off by the long list of ingredients, they're all things that regularly lurk in your fridge or cupboard.


Ingredients
1 onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 large carrot, finely diced
1 stick cellery, finely diced
1 large potato, cut into small cubes
5 rashers short cut bacon, chopped
1 tin lentils
1 tin crushed tomatoes
1 cup small pasta suitable for soup

1 litre mushroom or vegetable stock

olive oil


Method
In a large saucepan, heat some olive oil and fry the vegetables and bacon on low heat until onion is translucent, bacon is cooked, and vegetables are softened. 

Add the tin of tomatoes, the lentils and the stock.  Bring to the boil.  When all ingredients are fully cooked, add the pasta.  Continue cooking until pasta is cooked.

To serve, top with a drizzle of olive oil and parmesan cheese.  Serve with crusty bread.

Serves 4

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Easter Rice Cake

So easy and so delicious, this Easter rice cake is my recreation of the one Nanna used to make. On searching for recipes, I realised that Nanna's rice cake was much simpler (perfectly so, I think) than other regional variations, containing little beyond the rice itself.  I don't know whether hers was a typical Campania recipe, or one of her own, but I am quite proud of how closely mine resembles it.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1 litre full cream milk
Zest of 2 lemons, finely grated
2 medium eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
4 tbsp Strega or vanilla Galliano
3 tbsp unsalted butter

Method
Line a springform tin (mine is 23cm diameter, but I don't think it really matters) with baking paper.  Preheat oven to 190 degrees centigrade.

In a medium-large saucepan, bring milk to the boil then add the rice.  Turn down heat to a simmer.  Stir continuously until rice is cooked (I really do mean continuously, or the rice will stick to the bottom).  Towards the end of the cooking time, you may need to add a little water if the milk is evaporating too quickly.

Remove from the heat.  Stir in zest, sugar, butter and Strega/Galliano and vanilla essence. Taste and add additional liquor, vanilla, zest or sugar to taste.

When the mixture is sufficiently cool (so that you don't end up with scrambled eggs), stir in the eggs.

Pour mixture into your prepared tin and cook for 20-25 minutes, or until top is firm and golden.

Variation
If you prefer English-style rice pudding to rice cake, you can omit the eggs and baking stage and serve the mixture as a kind of luscious, sweet risotto.

Duck Ragu

This recipe is inspired by one I read about in Italian Food Safari, but simplified. The original recipe involved making a duck stock from scratch which would form the liquid base for the ragu, but as I was cooking a three course dinner for 9 people and couldn't be bothered with the deboning of ducks and the stock simmering fandango, I substituted this stage with some mushroom stock and the result was very pleasing. 

I have said to use 1.8-2kg of duck meat and indicated that this would serve 8-10.  The reason for this lack of specificity is that it depends on the ratio of leg to breast meat; obviously, a weight in legs (what with the bones) yields less meat than breast.  My preference is for a majority of leg meat (say, a ratio of 3 parts leg to 1 part breast) because it is tastier, and in this instance, 1.8kg of meat would serve 8, 2kg would serve 10.

Ingredients
1.8- 2 kg duck meat (combination of leg and breast)
4 tins crushed tomatoes, or equivalent fresh tomatoes
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 bay leaves
A handful of fresh basil and parsley, roughly chopped
A few springs of thyme and rosemary
1 litre mushroom stock (can substitute chicken or vegetable stock)- stock can be enhanced by simmering together with small quantities of celery, carrot, parsley, thyme, tarragon, rosemary and sage.
Olive oil

Method
Heat olive oil in a large pot. Brown the duck meat in batches and remove to a plate.

Slowly fry onion and garlic until soft then add tomatoes and herbs and cook for approximately half an hour, adding enough of the mushroom stock to keep the sauce loose.

Add duck meat back to sauce and simmer for a further hour or until the duck meat is beginning to fall off the bone. Remove any bones and return meat to the sauce. Throughout the cooking process, add mushroom stock to keep the sauce from reducing too much and sticking on the bottom.  Towards the end of cooking time allow the sauce to reduce to desired consistency.

Serve the ragu on pappardelle and top with grated pecorino.

Serves 8-10

Puttanesca Sauce

While not strictly a Puttanesca in terms of its ingredients, the circumstances of this sauce's creation were certainly in keeping with the spirit of the original.  No, not the puttana thing (one school of thought argues that the name 'Puttanesca' derives from the italian word for whore, the sauce supposedly thrown together from common larder ingredients by busy Neapolitan prostitutes.  It begs the question what the clients thought of all these garlic and anchovy eating working girls...) rather, the alternate account, that of the restaurant owner who was about to close for the day but was asked by some late and very hungry customers to Facci una puttanata qualsiasi- basically meaning cook us any old thing. 

Similarly faced with a nearly empty cupboard and a late-night dinner, I too, embarked on throwing what I had hanging about into the pasta sauce.  A jar of anchovy-stuffed green olives in the fridge served as the inspiration for a puttanesca-style dish, but having no anchovies themselves, I fishied up the flavour with a tin of tuna.  The result:

Ingredients
95g tin of tuna in olive oil
1/2 an onion, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, crushed
2/3 tin crushed tomatoes, or equivalent fresh tomatoes
Handful of olives (preferably anchovy-stuffed but any kind will do)
Dried chili flakes, add according to taste
Salt and Pepper
Olive oil
Chopped, fresh parsley, to serve (optional)
Squeeze lemon juice, to serve (optional)

Method
Fry the onion and garlic in some olive oil until softened.  Add tin of tuna and stir until amalgamated. 

Add tomato and chili and simmer for about 10 minutes.  Add olives and continue cooking until heated through.

Serve with spaghetti and scatter over some chopped, fresh parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Serves 1

My Not-So-Secret Love Affair with Mushroom Stock

Yes, mushroom stock.  It is the secret ingredient to many of my dishes, subtly enriching my soups, stews, ragus and risottos with its earthy savouriness.  I'm pretty sure these stock cubes would be a welcome addition in any kitchen, regardless of your level of enthusiasm for mushrooms themselves, although, being a diehard fan, I can't vouch for this myself.  The stock is delightfully mushroomy, being made of the intensely flavoured porcini mushrooms, and is suberb even as the star of the show as a broth or simple soup. 

There's one catch: availability.  For months after the sad demise of the Star brand Porcini Bouillion cubes which were widely available at good supermarkets and Italian specialty stores, I had to (I suppose had to is a bit strong, it's not really life and death after all) resort to the expensive solution of using large quantities of dried porcini mushrooms reconsitituted in water to get even a pale imitation of the flavour of the cubes.  I almost wept with joy when I found an equivalent product:  Knorr brand mushroom stock cubes. They are available at Krakus Continental Deli at O'Halloran Hill and cost $3 for 6 bouillion cubes (makes 3L of stock), not a bad price, especially considering the cost of actual mushrooms. I haven't seen these for sale anywhere else, but I'm hoping that other stores eventually cotton on. I'll keep you posted if I see them elsewhere.

From South to South to South to South

The 'Southern' in the title of my blog has four dimensions.  My dad's family is from near Benevento in Southern Italy and when they emigrated in the 1950s, they came to Adelaide, South Australia.  I live in the Southern suburbs of Adelaide, which has the benefit of being near the coast and within easy driving distance to the wine and olive oil producing region of McLaren Vale, but also not too far from the city centre.

So, from Southern Italy, to the Southern Hemisphere, to Southern Australia, to Adelaide's Southern suburbs, the recipes, reviews and ramblings on this blog are a story of the South.

Although my 'cucina'   (a word meaning both 'kitchen' and 'cooking' in Italian) is strongly influenced by the cucina povera of Campania, it also reflects the variety found in my family background and culinary interests.  An English Grandma, a Lithuanian grandfather, a francophile mother, an Australian upbringing, and an obsession with reading cookbooks have all left their mark.   The recipes you see here are a combination of family recipes, my own inventions and classic Italian cuisine. And while I hope that my recipes retain the spirit of the traditional dishes upon which they are based, I have unapologetically added my own touches to even the most well loved of favourites.

Enjoy the blog and Buon Appetito!

Meatballs

I love meatballs.  They are a hearty meal, a canape, they can be flattened into burger patties, eaten with pasta or crusty fresh bread... what's not to like? 

As with any of my recipes, there are a number of ingredient substitutions you could make according to your taste.  I have made these with both beef mince and pork/veal mince (my local Woolworths sells pork and veal mince already combined which is convenient) and both options work well.  I suppose you could even make it a three-way beef/pork/veal split.  Leave most of the fat on the bacon to ensure a succulent meatball, but if you are feeling particularly diet conscious, as I sometimes do, you can use shortcut bacon- just add another rasher in to compensate for the smaller size of each slice. You'll notice that I specify 'pre-fried' onion to add to the other ingredients- this is purely personal taste as I dislike onions with any crunch left in (and they usually retain a bit of rawness, even after the meatballs are cooked).  If you don't mind a bit of tanginess to your onion pieces, by all means, don't pre-fry them, and if you are completely lazy, just use onion powder instead, half a teaspoon should do it. When I want to use this recipe to make burger patties (or, God forbid, rissoles), I sometimes also add a squeeze of tomato paste to the mixture.

When it comes to serving the meatballs, you can serve them as a meat component (rather than a sauce topping for pasta) with, say, mashed potato and veggies, and reserve the now-flavoured sauce for the next night's pasta.  I find that used in this way, the quantities in this recipe will serve 2 as a meat course with a few leftover meatballs to return to the sauce for tomorrow.  As a pasta sauce, this recipe will serve 4.

Ingredients
500 grams beef or pork/veal mince
5 rashers bacon, minced or chopped very finely
big handful of parsley, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 onion, chopped finely and pre-fried
1 small egg, beaten briefly
1 tbsp parmesan cheese
salt, pepper
olive oil
500g Napolitana sauce, sugo or passata.

Method
Combine all ingredients apart from the tomato sauce and olive oil together into a mixing bowl.  Sometimes, when I can be bothered, I heat up the frypan at this stage and cook a small piece of the mixture to check for salt and flavour, and adjust the ingredients accordingly.

Roll the mixture into balls of a uniform size (but whether small or large is up to you).  In a large, relatively high-sided frypan, heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and fry the meatballs until browned on the outside. 

Add tomato sauce to pan, and simmer on a low heat until the meatballs are cooked all the way through.

My Bolognese Sauce

I suppose purists will give one hundred and one reasons why this is not a real bolognese.  Whatever.  Call it 'Tomato based pasta sauce with mince in it' if it makes you feel better. In any case, I rate it.

Ingredients

500g mince (I actually prefer turkey, but beef, or a pork/veal mix is nice too)
3 rashers bacon (some fat trimmed), chopped
2 tins crushed tinned tomatoes or equivalent fresh tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, chopped
1 small carrot, finely diced
1 stick celery, finely diced
1 cup mushroom stock or dried porcini mushrooms reconstituted in 1 cup of water
splash of red wine
dried basil and oregano
olive oil
salt (optional)


Method

Heat a glug of olive oil in a medium sized saucepan and fry the onion, garlic, celery and carrot over a low heat until soft.

Add bacon and mince and fry until brown.  Add wine, herbs, tomatoes and stock.

Simmer for at least half an hour, adding a little water as you go if it appears to be reducing too quickly.  As always, the longer you can bear leaving it simmer away, the better it will be. What with the bacon and the stock you probably won't need to add more salt, but check anyway just to be sure.  Serve with grated parmesan or pecorino.

Serves 2 generously

Concerning Tomato Sauce

It is necessary, I think, to begin with a word on this most fundamental element. Of course, there is no getting around the fact that the best tomato sauce is made by your nonna. Sauce made by nonnas (or by assorted friends and relations under the direct supervision of nonnas) is sweet and fresh, full flavoured and satisfying yet relatively runny.  The trick is the tomatoes.  "Tomato Day" occurs in late summer as vine ripened tomatoes are at their juiciest and most flavoursome; even uncooked they have a natural sweetness that is almost impossible to find in commercial products.  To ensure maximum flavour, after completing her yearly pilgrimage to the glasshouses of Murray Bridge, my own Nanna would even set the crates of tomatoes outside in the warmth to ripen further.

The problem is, not everybody has a nonna but everybody appreciates good tomato sauce, and tomato-based dishes, regardless of how well cooked, are very difficult to rescue if inferior tomatoes have been used. So, here is my guide to tomato sauce, both how to make your own and which commercial products are the most satisfying.

Making Your Own 'Napolitana' Tomato Sauce

Here I refer to the plain tomato sauce that you would use either on its own with pasta, or as the base for pasta sauces like bolognese, ragus and casseroles, or pizza sauce. I give no specific quantities for ingredients, just use your common sense on how much sauce you would like to end up with (as a guide, a small quantity of sauce for 2 servings of pasta would need about 500-600g tomatoes). I make my own sauce in the height of summer when beautiful ripe tomatoes are cheap and plentiful.  You can still make it at other times of the year by using vine ripened or truss tomatoes, but these can be quite pricey out of season.  In winter, or when pressed for time and/or energy, I usually replace the fresh tomatoes with good quality tinned tomatoes.

Napolitana Sauce

Ingredients
Vine ripened tomatoes (whatever kind), ripe to the point of overripe
Olive oil
A few cloves of garlic, halved
Basil leaves
Salt
Sugar (optional- use if dubious about the sweetness of your tomatoes)

Method
If, when you buy your tomatoes, they feel a little firm or are too pale, leave them out of the fridge for a few days until they are the desired ripeness. To peel the tomatoes, cut an 'x' on both ends of each tomato and plunge into boiling water for a minute, then remove to a bowl of cold water.  When cool enough to handle, peel the skin away. Cut each tomato in half and scoop out the seeds.  Chop roughly.

In a saucepan heat a generous glug of olive oil on low-medium heat then add the tomatoes, a sprinkle of sugar, garlic, basil leaves and a conservative amount of salt.  Simmer until tomatoes have turned to a relatively uniform pulp and have reached the consistency you want (runny if you are going to cook it further as part of a meat sauce or ragu, loose but not watery if you plan to use it straightaway on pasta, or quite thick for use on pizza).  Fish out the garlic pieces, taste for salt and add more if necessary.

My theory is that the longer you cook sauce, the more mellow it is, so I always simmer my sauce for as long as I can be bothered with, adding water from time to time to keep it runny until I am satisfied with the flavour, then I let it reduce down.

Sugo

A sugo is still a basic tomato sauce, but it contains a few extra ingredients, making it more flavoursome as a stand alone sauce for pasta (although there's nothing to say it couldn't be the base for further culinary elaboration).  The ingredients and method are the same as for the Napolitana Sauce but with some additions.  The quantities given are approximately what I would use for 500-600g tomatoes.

Ingredients
Ingredients from Napolitana Sauce
1 small carrot, diced
1 small stick celery, diced
1 small onion, diced
oregano

Method
Remove skins, de-seed and chop the tomatoes as described above.  Heat the olive oil on a low-medium heat and slowly fry the carrot, celery and onion.  Instead of halving it, crush or finely chop the garlic and add to vegetables once they are soft.  Add a few pinches of dried oregano and the rest of the Napolitana ingredients.  Continue as instructed above.

Tinned tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, pulp and passata

As mentioned above, when good fresh tomatoes are scarce, expensive or too much hard work, I use tinned tomatoes.  Also, you need plenty of quality tinned tomato products on hand to add to whatever soups, stews, casseroles or other concoctions you have going on.

For general sauce needs, I often use crushed tomatoes (aka chopped or pulp) as they don't need much cooking and squishing to produce a sauce.  My favourite brand is Mutti 'polpa'.  The tin claims 'you've never seen pulp like this' and while this may be slightly hyperbolic, it is a good product.  Val Verde 'Gourmet Italian Tomatoes' are also a good alternative.

As far as whole tomatoes go, however, you cannot go past San Marzano tomatoes. They are special regional product and are sweeter and more flavoursome than regular tomatoes.  Val Verde and Napoletana brand San Marzano tinned tomatoes are available in supermarkets here.


When in need of a thicker, already reduced sauce, go for a passata (aka tomato puree).  I use passata when I want a richer sauce, or where there is already a lot of liquid involved in the dish and I don't want to add more watery tomatoes (for example, if I am making a stew and have already included stock, a passata will add some thickness and richness). Don Antonio, Star and Mutti brands make my favourite passatas.

Store-bought Sauce

It would be inaccurate to say that I only use store bought sauce when too busy to make my own.  To be honest, there are some excellent ready made sauces that I love to use, either on their own, or to make other dishes with.  I, of course, am not referring to the generic, widely available supermarket brands like those advertised by cultural stereotype puppets. You know the ones. Instead, let me draw your attention to some delicious alternatives.

Many gourmet Italian stores will stock their own range of sauces;  Sfera's and Lucia's are good examples, and Mercato makes its own casalinga sauce.  In addition, the two Foodland stores that I frequent (Pasadena and Romeo's at Mitcham) now have 'gourmet' sections and the latter in particular has a good variety of sauces. I have sampled and enjoyed Giuseppe's, La Conserve della Nonna, Cassina Rosso and Simon Johnson. Of all the brands I've tried, however, my favourite is far and away Don Antonio's.  Not only do the paper and red twine topped bottles look pretty as a picture lined up in your pantry, but the product itself is everything I look for in a sauce: sweet and rich and full flavoured.  At $5 a bottle (slightly less for the plain passata) they are a bit expensive, but well worth it, at the very least for special occasions.

Make a Commitment to Sauce

I cannot see a new sauce without wanting to taste it (that explains the picture below) and perhaps that's the ultimate lesson here. While I may have, from time to time, befouled perfectly good pasta with tinny, sour and bitter failed sauces, it is a small price to pay for discovering the delicious ones. If you see something new, particularly if it looks a little bit interesting and fancy, try it. And tell me about it too; in case you haven't cottoned on, I love to talk sauce.