Matt Stone - The Natural Cook

Meet Matt Stone

The Natural Cook

Enjoying the best of both worlds, Matt Stone is one of those lucky people who lives in Melbourne but works in the Yarra Valley – at Oakridge Winery nonetheless, where he’s not only head chef in their busy restaurant but is living his sustainability dream on their expansive grounds.

Matt’s philosophy of ‘eat well and you live well’ is a theory we would all do well to live by. But he also encourages us to understand the effects the food we eat (and waste!) has on the environment.

Apart from sustainability, Matt’s food philosophy is one of knowledge in where our food comes from and having an appreciation of the work that goes into growing the food we eat.

‘I guess the biggest thing for me in the last few years has been realising the whole loop of food. Watching farmers and understanding how they grow food and the challenges they face, like getting a fair price – that’s a real challenge in Australia,' he said.

‘And then looking at things further than that... So obviously I want the most delicious food that I can get, but if that comes to me in a polystyrene box is it really good for the world? I don't think so!

So I look at the whole system of food; how it’s grown and produced, how it’s transported, how far it’s come, the actual deliciousness of the produce, and then also the after effects - the wastage or emissions that come along with that.’

It’s something he writes about in his new book, The Natural Cook, along with the impact of food waste. And his book is full of great ideas to avoid said waste.

It features techniques and recipes for fermenting and pickling, and even making herb and fruit dust! And you don’t even need a dehydrator! Matt runs through all the tricks of making them in your home oven – strawberry dust for your next pavlova anyone?

Matt’s spent the last few years slowly convincing the people around him that a sustainable life is the way we need to live, but he’s also found that change takes time. He set up a rudimentary aquaponics system at home, which now resides at Oakridge Winery, growing enough watercress to sustain the restaurant. He grows herbs and vegetables in his small Fitzroy garden and, on a much larger scale, in the Oakridge grounds.

‘Some people question the sustainability of a winery, which is fair enough, but we grow lots of food, and we operate a busy restaurant, and I feel that we do it in the most ethical way we can, so it’s all going really well.’

Images from The Natural Cook by Matt Stone (Murdoch Books) Photography by Mark Roper

RRP $39.99 available now in all good bookstores and online.

Article from Vanilla Magazine - Spring 2016

Read the entire issue here;

https://issuu.com/vanilla_magazine/docs/vanilla_magazine_issue_20

Recipe's from The Natural Cook

Here's a brilliant little summer drink for those hot Australian summer days...

Fermented Raspberries

Too often berries go off in the fridge before we get round to eating them. They cost far too much to waste or compost, so I made this recipe to avoid that situation.

This fermented purée makes a great summer drink with a big splash of sparkling wine or soda water or both. It’s also great to dress up a fruit salad or to finish a sauce for game meats.

Use an old 300 ml (10½ fl oz) jam jar

Ingredients

250 g (9 oz/2 cups) raspberries

1 tablespoon raw (demerara) sugar

1 tablespoon water

Note: You can use any type of berry here, not just raspberries.

Methods

Put all the ingredients into a bowl and smash together into a big, bright mess. Pour into a sterilised jam jar, cover with
muslin (cheesecloth) or a clean kitchen cloth held in place with a rubber band or string, and leave for 2–3 days out of direct sunlight until bubbly and fermented, giving it a mix each day.

Store the purée in the fridge in an airtight container where it will keep for 2 weeks.

CHICKEN soup WITH KALE & SWEETCORN

Chicken and corn soup is a comfort-food favourite, but this has more zing than the version you might remember from your childhood. I’ve added kale for both nutrition and flavour. The leafy green gets a lot of press these days for its health benefits, but the thing people forget to mention is that it’s bloody delicious!

Ingredients

SERVES 4

2 litres (70 fl oz/8 cups) Chicken Broth (see opposite) or more or less depending on your appetite

½ bunch kale, thinly sliced, stalks and all

1 sweetcorn cob, kernels removed

1 carrot, thinly shredded

1 small zucchini (courgette), thinly shredded

1 teaspoon raw (demerara) sugar

3 tablespoons fish sauce (or to taste)

meat from ½ poached chicken (or thereabouts), see opposite

coriander (cilantro) leaves, to serve

Fermented Chilli Paste (see page 48), to serve, optional

Method

Bring the broth to a boil in a large saucepan over medium heat and add the vegetables. Leave to simmer for about 5 minutes then turn off the heat. Add the sugar and fish sauce to taste.

Place equal amounts of poached chicken into your favourite serving bowls. Divide the hot broth and vegetable mix equally among the bowls. The broth will be hot enough to warm the chicken through. Chop some coriander and sprinkle over the top to serve (parsley or chives can be used instead if coriander isn’t your bag). If you like, spoon in some fermented chilli paste for an extra flavour kick.

Any remaining soup will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days – a mug of the leftover soup is a great afternoon snack.

CHICKEN BROTH

An excellent source of vitamins, this broth will help you stay fit and healthy and more resistant to viral nasties. It also smells and tastes amazing.

Ingredients

Makes about 4 litres (140 fl oz/16 cups)

6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

6 spring onions (scallions), top green halves only

5 cm (2 inch) piece ginger, scrubbed and chopped

1 teaspoon salt

30 ml (1 fl oz) apple cider vinegar, ideally with a live ‘mother’ (see page 49)

1 x 1.2 kg (2 lb 10 oz) chicken

Method

Pour 5 litres (175 fl oz/20 cups) of water into a large saucepan or stockpot and bring to the boil. Add the garlic, spring onion, ginger, salt and vinegar. Let it simmer for 2 minutes to start the flavours infusing, then add the chicken. Bring the water back up to a low simmer and put a lid on. Leave on a low simmer for 20 minutes, then turn off the heat and leave for a further 40 minutes, still with the lid on.

Once 40 minutes has passed, take the lid off and gently remove the chicken, making sure to pour out any liquid from inside its cavity and drain well. Leave the chook to rest and cool on a small tray. Leave the ‘started’ broth to sit until the chicken is cool enough to handle. Now is a good time to water the garden or listen to an album that goes for about half an hour.

When the chicken is cool and rested, pick off all the meat and store it in the fridge. You can use it for soups, sandwiches, anything. Return the bones and resting juices to the pan, turn the heat up high and bring up to a boil.

Set up a ladle and a bowl on the side of the stove. Skim any foamy and fatty bits off the top of the broth as it comes up to boil. Repeat this process regularly, about every 10 minutes for the first half an hour. Once the broth threatens to boil angrily, lower the heat so it simmers down. A few rolling bubbles here and there is a good heat.

After the first half an hour of simmering, most of the impurities should have come out of the broth and you can pop the lid back
on. Keep simmering – the broth will be tasty and ready to eat after about 4 hours but to extract the maximum amount of nutrients the broth can cook for up to 24 hours. For extended cooks like this, it’s important to leave the lid on to stop the broth evaporating.

Once the broth is cooked, turn off the heat and leave to cool to a safe temperature. Pour the broth through a fine sieve. Discard the bones and vegetables. Chicken broth will keep for about 5 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer.

Fermented chilli paste

A handy staple to keep in the fridge, this delicious chilli paste is great with stir-fries or noodles or served on the side with barbecued chicken.

Ingredients

Use a 1 litre (35 fl oz/4 cup) jar

500 g (1 lb 2 oz) large red chillies

1½ tablespoons salt

½ teaspoon raw
(demerara) sugar

Methods

Wash the chillies and slice the stems off. Give them a rough chop and mix with the salt and sugar in a bowl. Leave them to cure for about 1 hour and then blend into a fine purée.

Transfer the mix to a sterilised jar. It will only fill the jar a third of the way, but it needs plenty of room to breathe. Cover with muslin (cheesecloth) or a clean kitchen cloth held in place by a rubber band or string, and leave on a shelf out of direct sunlight for 4 days. The juice will separate from the purée, so give it a mix each day.

Once ready, transfer to a smaller airtight jar and refrigerate. It will keep for at least a month.