Aaron Harvie

This May in Australia saw the return of one of the worlds most incredible artists, the Purple One…. Prince.

Every time he graces our shores he plays a myriad of sold out concerts, performs secret shows that wow the lucky few that get to attend and reminds us all why he has endured year after year as one of the most popular artists on the planet.

There is one record for me that defines Prince… the 1984 masterpiece Purple Rain.

I was 11 years old when this album was released.

Now I already had a healthy appreciation for music at this point, but there was something about this record, maybe the fact that to me it was a complete album, every track as good as the next and all fitting together like a musical jigsaw.

What can you say about Purple Rain… the music, the songs and the attitude… so cool and so timeless… a musician at the peak of his craft, placing every single element where it needed to be.

I remember very clearly the day I first saw the video for “When Doves Cry” on Countdown…  or my parents taking me to the Drive In to see “Purple Rain” the movie…. the first day I got my grubby little hands on that vinyl.

I spent months pouring over this record. I knew every word, tried (very badly I might add) to play every lick on my guitar at home and discovered the joy of the total abandonment that only music can truly bring.

I hope that my take on this classic dish pays homage to this amazing record, song, movie and artist… but lets face it… it could never compare!

PURPLE RAIN – Beetroot Risotto with Thyme, White Truffle Pecorino and Marscapone

Serves 4 Music Fans

Ingredients

4 Beetroot
2 Sprigs of Thyme
½ Cinnamon Stick
1 Bay Leaf
1 cup Carnaroli Rice
4 tablespoons Mascarpone
1 Small Onion
2 Cloves Garlic
125 ml White Wine
1 litre Chicken or Vegetable stock (the vegetarian option)
100 g grated White Truffle Pecorino or Parmesan
Splash of good quality Olive Oil
Few tablespoons of finely chopped parsley
2 Tablespoons Butter
Good Splash of Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Pepper

Method

1. Peel and roughly chop Beetroot… does not have to be perfect so don’t spend to much time on this…
2. Bring Chicken Stock to boil in saucepan
3. Add Beetroot, Bay Leaf, Cinnamon and Thyme to the stock and cook beetroot till it’s tender. I am not going to give a time, just test it with a fork.
4. When Beetroot is tender remove the Thyme, Cinnamon and Bay leaf.
5. COOL STOCK. I cannot emphasize this enough… if you don’t this next step is going to re-paint your walls purple. You can either just turn off the heat and leave it to cool, put it in the fridge or for those of you in a rush place saucepan in an ice bath… up to you!
6. Add cooled stock to blender and blend for 10 -15 seconds creating a vortex. If your stock has not been cooled you will notice that your walls and quite likely yourself is covered in a purple, volcanically hot liquid. Use a rubber spatula to clean down the sides and pulse blender until it is all pureed.
7. Put back on heat and bring to a gentle simmer.
8. Chop onions to the size of rice grains.
9. Chop garlic
10. Add a generous splash of Olive oil to a large saucepan over a medium heat and sweat onions & garlic until soft.
11. Add rice and stir gently in pan.
12. Cook Rice until translucent and deglaze pan with white wine. It is perfectly reasonable to start drinking the rest of the bottle at this point… you have a lot of stirring to do!
13. Once wine has been absorbed by rice add a ladle of stock and continue to stir until absorbed. Repeat until rice is al dente’. This should take about 20 or so minutes, it should be firm to the bite… not crunchy but not mushy.

Okay, okay… stop here… I know what some of you are saying out there… I prefer to cook my risotto stirring… I prefer to just agitate the pan… I like to just leave mine…
I am not going to get into this debate; I value my personal safety way too much.

I have seen it done many different ways, this is the way I like…. Please use your beloved method if that’s what rocks your boat!

14. Turn of the heat and stir in butter and cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
15. To serve place risotto in large flat bottom plate. Tap gently under the plate to spread the risotto. Garnish with a teaspoon of Mascarpone, chopped parsley, grated Pecorino and a drizzle of Olive oil.

I suggest cooking this meal and eating it to the album… if it takes you two runs through until you get to eat, well hey, at least it is an album worthy of a double play!

Putting aside the slightly misogynist title of this dish (which before I get complaints, I will point out was actually suggested by my wife) this is a story about one mans search for soul food and the ridiculous lengths I will go to when it comes to eating fried chicken.

I first heard about this dish while watching the 1997 Quentin Tarantino movie Jackie Brown. In the scene where Samuel L Jackson’s character, Ordell, is trying to convince his soon to be dead associate, Beaumont, to get into the trunk, he coaxes him with the following promise…

“When we get through fucking with these Koreans… me and you go to Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles on me…Think about it now…That ‘Scoe’s Special, smothered in gravy and onions…side of red beans and rice, some greens…That’s some good eatin’…”

Good eatin’ indeed.

Now while Beaumont never gets to take Ordell up on his offer as he is shot to death moments later, the idea of Chicken and Waffles was one that haunted me.

For years I would go to sleep at night and dream of this dish; crispy Fried Chicken on a bed of piping hot waffles, butter melting and oozing, the syrup pooling on the bottom of the plate. They start calling me, taunting me … and then I wake up with a start, drenched in a cold sweat like a war vet, clutching an imaginary knife and fork and screaming an order of Chicken and Waffles to an imaginary waitress.

I needed to know more, I needed to taste it. But first I needed to know, what the hell it was.

Do you have Chicken and Waffles for Breakfast or Dinner? Waffles do lend themselves to a morning meal, but then again it could be a dessert. I realised I could eat fried chicken for breakfast, no problem. In fact, thinking about it, why wasn’t I eating fried chicken for breakfast? But this was only getting me more sidetracked and confused so I decided to research it further.

The origins of the dish are unclear and shrouded in finger lickin’ mystery. Some claim it was introduced when Thomas Jefferson bought a Waffle Iron to the States in 1790, others say it came from the Pennsylvania Dutch dish of Steamed Chicken with Waffles and Gravy. Others yet say it was born at the end of the Jazz era in 1938 at Wells Supper Club in Harlem where late night diners could not decide between breakfast and dinner. But like most Soul Food recipes it was probably handed down from generation to generation verbally and born from necessity…. which lets face it is the mother of all invention.

Continuing my search I found the most famous purveyors of the dish, Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles established in 1975 in Long Beach California. Looking at the website and scanning through their menu it became clear to me that there was a whole world of food I was missing out on, and it seemed like everybody but me already knew about it. The more I looked into the dish, I found celebrities throughout the States were talking about it; Snoop Dog took David Beckham to eat it on his show Fatherhood, Gladys Knight owns her own Chicken and Waffles restaurant in Atlanta, Notorious B.I.G mentions it in his version of ‘Goin Back to Cali’, it’s in the film ‘Swingers’, hell even 30 Rock has a scene at M&G Soul Food Café in New York where they eat it.

And here I am, stuck in Australia, alone and Chicken and Waffle-less…

Dejected I knew that I would have to cross the great Pacific Ocean to sink my teeth into this, the Holy Grail of all Fried Chicken dishes.

But then, when all hope was lost and I had resigned myself to a world of healthy eating, a couple of friends asked me to join them for lunch at Sydney restaurant ‘Jazz City Diner’.

As I opened the menu my hands began to quiver. There, on the first page it sat… “Southern Fried Chicken with Waffles and Maple Syrup”.

I looked up toward the Chef, my eyes blinded by tears and said “I’ll have the Chicken and Waffles please”.

In honor of that day I give you my humble attempt at Soul Food….

Southern Fried Chicken with Buttermilk Waffles and Maple Syrup

Ingredients
For the Waffles
500g Flour
2 Tsp Bicarbonate Soda
4 Tsp Baking Powder
2 Tsp Salt
40g Caster Sugar
150g Melted Butter
5 Eggs Beaten
750 ml Buttermilk
Waffle Iron

For the Southern Fried Chicken
Assorted Chicken Pieces (this one is up to you, Legs, Thighs, Wings, Breasts… they all taste good to me)
Enough Buttermilk to cover the chicken
500g Flour for dredging
Salt
Pepper
Peanut Oil amount depends on how you are cooking the chicken… we will get into that a little later.
Celery Stick (optional)
Butter
Maple Syrup

Method

1. First thing you need to do is prick the chicken pieces all over with a fork to ensure the buttermilk is penetrating the bird… if you have a large piece you can make an incision with a knife to the bone to make sure it cooks through. Once done place all the chicken in a dish and cover it in Buttermilk. Cover and place in the fridge overnight.
2. In a large bowl place flour with a good whack of salt and pepper. You can add other spices if you like. Personally I like the simplicity of the buttermilk batter… but I will leave that up to you. Dredge the chicken pieces well in the flour to ensure an even coating and leave out on a rack for 15 min or so to dry.
3. Now this is where the variants for frying chicken come into play, there are so many different ways to do this. I personally use a deep fryer at 180 degrees Celsius until golden brown but if you don’t have one you can shallow fry in a large pan… Cast Iron if you want to go old school. Anyhow if you are cooking this in a pan add enough oil for a shallow fry and heat to a medium temp. Now the temperature is the key, make sure pan does not get too hot or you will burn the outside and have raw chicken in the centre. You can even add some celery to the pan for extra flavour if you want… Anyway add the chicken to the pan and cook until golden brown, turn with a pair of tongs and repeat until cooked through. Just make sure that there in no pink in the chicken. Pierce a piece to make sure and ensure the juices run clear.
4. Once finished place chicken on wax paper or a rack to drain… don’t cover as they will loose their crispy goodness!
5. Now it’s time for the waffles. In a medium bowl mix flour, bicarbonate soda, baking powder, salt and caster sugar.
6. Add the eggs, butter and buttermilk and mix into a batter… if it has a couple of lumps don’t worry… it will still taste good.
7. Heat your waffle iron, brush with oil lightly and add mixture evenly over the iron.
8. Cook for 5-6 minutes so the waffles are crisp and golden.
9. Place the waffles on a plate with some butter; add the chicken and coat the whole dish with some Maple Syrup… heaven is only a mouthful away!

I was originally going to write about my love of old school hip-hop music when I thought about this blog.

But the more I thought about this I realized my love of ribs started way before my love of music in general and if I was going to write about anything it had to be the ribs themselves.

I remember being a little boy and seeing an episode of MASH (boy, I am really showing my age here!) In it, Hawkeye was losing the plot about Adams Ribs from his hometown, Crab Apple Cove in Maine… I remember thinking… why? What could be so incredible to eat that you would fly them from the other side of the world? It would be quite a few years before I got my answer, but the question was always with me.

Years later my Father took me to an all you can eat rib night at a local restaurant in Brisbane… I can still remember my first taste. I realize now, they might not have been the best ribs in the world, but like your first kiss… you never forget it! From then on I was hooked.

Over the years, no matter what region they were from or how they were prepared, Ribs have always been one of my favorite things to eat… but I was forever changed when I spent a little time in some of the Southern American states and got to eat their ribs first hand… AMAZING!

My wife and I had a White Trash Xmas Party a few years ago for all of our friends that could not be with their families. Everyone had to dress up in their best  White trash outfits, big hair, short skits and cowboy boots was the price of admission!

I think I wore a mullet wig, sleeveless Skynard Shirt, many fake tattoos (to go with the ones I already had) and cowboy boots over skin tight acid washed jeans … We even bought a dead Christmas Tree for the occasion and decorated it with a few pieces of shitty tinsel… it was one of the funniest Xmas Days I have ever had.

For Christmas dinner I cooked Southern Fried Chicken, Ribs, Cornbread & Mash. Personally it was one of my favorite Xmas dinners ever!

Over the years I have tried to come up with the ultimate rib recipe… still not there yet and maybe I never will be, but this is the one I cooked for our White Trash Christmas…

Hope you enjoy how it turned out….

Baby Back Pork Ribs with a Green Apple & Fennel Slaw and a side of Horseradish infused Potato Mash

Ingredients

For the Ribs
1.5 kg Baby Back Pork Ribs
½ Onion
6 Red Chillies Seeded
2 Cloves of Garlic
1 Cup Ketchup
1 Tbsp Molasses
1 Cup of Guinness or Dark Beer
½ Cup Apple Juice
¼ Cup Brown Sugar
2 tsp White Vinegar
2 tsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Chipotle or Smoked Paprika Powder
Salt
Pepper
For The Apple and Fennel Slaw
1 Green Apple
½ Bulb Baby Fennel
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
½ Handful Continental Parsley Leaves Roughly Chopped
50g Finely Grated Parmesan
For the Horseradish infused Potato Mash
2 Potatoes
1 tbsp Unsalted Butter
250ml Double Cream
2 Tbsp Horseradish
Salt

Method
1. In a large food processor combine Onion, Chillies, Garlic, Ketchup, Molasses, Guinness, Apple Juice, Sugar, Vinegar, Soy Sauce, Chipotle/Paprika and blend well. Have a little taste, balance the flavours and season.
2. Break up ribs in sections following the bone… should be about 4 ribs per piece… or bigger if you want a Flintstones size serve!
3. Heat a large pan and add the sauce and the ribs. Make sure the ribs are all submerged in the sauce.
4. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low (barley a simmer) and cover.
5. Cook for one hour checking every 15 minutes to ensure sauce in not burning. Turn the ribs to ensure even cooking
6. While the ribs are cooking get started on the Green Apple Slaw. Cut the Apple into wafer thin slice using a mandolin of sharp   knife… the thinner the better. Once you have cut the apple to the core stack the pieces and cut into batons.
7. Repeat the same process with the Fennel and add to the Apple.
8. Combine Lemon juice and Olive Oil in a bowl with a pinch of salt and pour over the Apples & Fennel.
9. Add Chopped Parsley and grated Parmesan. Stir together well and reserve
10. Add peeled and chopped Potatoes to boiling water and cook until soft. Drain, mash lightly and then pass through a sieve to ensure we have no lumps. Stir is Butter, Cream and Horseradish and season to taste…
11. By Now our Ribs are done… cook for approx 5 min uncovered to thicken the sauce if needed. The meat should be nice and soft… heat up a BBQ and remove the ribs from the sauce.
12. Add the ribs to BBQ and cook for a few minutes on each side basting with some of the sauce.
13. Remove ribs from the BBQ and arrange on serving platter. If you want, pour the remaining rib sauce into bowl and serve for those who need a little extra!
14. Serve with the Slaw and Potatoes… and let the feeding frenzy begin!

Side note… Bibs may be needed… finger bowls with a little water and lemon is a good idea as well!