Pulled Brisket with Pan BBQ Sauce

This is almost too easy for the insane result. All things told, about an hour in prep, five hours slow cook, twenty minutes shredding, days drooling.
First time I cooked this we did brioche rolls with a little mayo and some basic slaw. I'm quite certain that is how it will continue into the future.
The meat costs about $30 for 3kg but there is easily 20 servings in it and the sauce that comes from the pan juices is killer. Pay the fine, do the time.

N.B. You will need a really big pan.

I needed a bigger pan...

1 piece brisket about 3kg
Paprika
Cumin seeds
Fennel seeds
Salt and pepper
Oil and butter

Brine:
4 liters water
1 cup salt
125g brown sugar
1 stick celery roughly chopped
1 onion roughly chopped
1/2 handful pepper corns
6 bay leaves
Handful of thyme/parsley/rosemary
1/2 a lemon

Got a bigger pan 2nd time around

1 chilli split

Rough chopped:
2 onions
3 stalks celery
2 carrots
6 garlic cloves
1 thumb ginger
6 mushrooms
3 slices bacon
Stems and roots from 1 bunch coriander
Handful parsley
Fist of thyme
Some sage leaves
10cm of rosemary

6 bay leaves
1 satchell tomato paste
500ml chicken stock
3 tbs brown sugar
2 tbs apple cider vinegar
Salt and pepper
1 tbs chilli flakes
3 tbs tomato sauce
3 tbs barbecue sauce

To finish:
2 spring onions chopped
1 bunch coriander tops topped
Lime juice

Dissolve the sugar and salt in 1 litre of water on the stove top. Combine with the rest of the water and ingredients, bashing the garlic and squeezing the lemon (include the lemon in the brine too). Place brisket in the brine, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Prep all of the veg/bacon/herbs/sauce and have ready to go. Remove the brisket from the brine and pat dry with kitchen towel. Sprinkle a generous amount of paprika, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, salt and pepper with some oil all over the brisket and rub in. Heat a large and deep (at least 30cm in diameter) frying pan or roasting dish to medium high and when to temperature throw in some butter and some oil to stop it from burning. Place the brisket in, fatty side down first and fry until you get some decent colour. Turn the brisket over and repeat. Remove from the pan to a clean plate.
Pour in the chopped veg, garlic, ginger, bacon, herbs, chilli into the frying pan and saute. If necessary add some more oil to prevent it from burning. As you are cooking the veg, scrape all the colour off of the bottom of the pan as you go. After 4 or 5 minutes squeeze in the tomato paste and cook off, stirring through. Add the tomato sauce, BBQ sauce, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar and chicken stock.

Return the brisket to the pan or roasting dish, baste it and cover with a lid or foil. Place in a preheated 140C oven for 5 hours. Remove the foil and place back in the oven raising the temperature to 170C for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and check if it is 'fork tender'. Remove the brisket to a large bowl. Remove as much fat un-rendered fat from the meat and set aside as you can, allowing to cool slightly.

Pour the contents of the pan into a medium sized saucepan and blot away the fat with paper toweling until all removed. Remove the bay leaves, add some salt and pepper then blend the sauce with a hand blender until it is a thick and smooth consistency. Set aside.

Return 3tbs of the fat to the bowl with the meat. Shred the fat and meat with two forks until it is all quite stringy. Mix a few tablespoons of the sauce to the shredded meat adding more if required. To finish, stir through chopped the spring onion, coriander and a decent squeeze of lime.

Pork Belly Porchetta

I lost my mind. The kids lost their minds. Had so much fun cooking this. Steep learning curve though.
To get the briquettes hot enough (I'm an amateur at this) it took the best part of an hour and considerable fanning and rearranging. The cook time was way longer than I anticipated too. I was expecting an hour and a half but it was closer to three hours. If you're going to try this (and you should), give yourself plenty of time and, don't rush to lower the meat down closer to the heat until much toward the end. Otherwise you will burn the outside and it will be raw in the middle and that would suck. As to why it tasted sooooo good? Well apart from the smokiness and rad crackle I think it was the combination of fennel, caraway and lemon rind. You can prep  this well in advance and it probably helps to develop the flavours too.


1 charcoal spit roaster
4kg bag charcoal briquettes
Fire starters
1 piece of pork belly long enough to roll
Kitchen sting
3 cloves garlic
1 handful parsley
1 sprig rosemary
5 or 6 sprigs thyme
1/2 handful of sage leaves
Rind of half a lemon (or so)
Salt and pepper
Caraway seeds
Fennel seeds
Extra virgin olive oil

Mince the herbs, lemon rind and garlic and mix through a little extra virgin to bind. Pat dry your piece of pork belly - make sure it is well scored on the skin side. Lay the pork skin side down, season the meat with salt and pepper then distribute the herb mixture. Sprinkle through a couple of teaspoons each of caraway and fennel seed. Roll the pork and truss with kitchen sting. Watch this video to see how. Drizzle some extra virgin over the rolled meat, season heavily with sea salt and sprinkle over some fennel and caraway seeds. Refrigerate. When needed, spike with the rotisserie spike.
Get the charcoal started. When the charcoal is white and the flames have dropped away place your meat on. Adjust the height of your spit roaster to where about your hand can just handle the heat for for or five seconds. From this point forward, just sit their and drink wine. Its mesmerizing.  After about 2 hours it should start to look like the visible meat has good colour and some crackle  is forming. Drop the height down every ten minutes or so until you reach salty, crackly perfection. Serve it with something - dunno, couldn't remember the veg...

Kale with Bacon, Mushroom and Yoghurt

Wow, my first post this year. I still cook new things regularly but haven't found the time recently to do this. The reason I am sharing this particular recipe is - it rules - heaps. We eat this stacks as a side and as my now favourite kind of sauce for steak. I can't remember why I decided to throw these ingredients together but I am so glad that I did. It ticks most of the boxes; its cheap, quick and healthy. The kids rate this heaps too which is a bonus. Those are duck fat roasted smashed potatoes right there too BTW...

1 rasher bacon diced
1 handful of mushrooms minced
3 cloves garlic minced
3 kale leaves roughly minced with a knife
Dash of white wine (optional)
1 decent slug of chicken stock
1 heaped tbs of natural yoghurt
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Saute the garlic on the extra virgin with the bacon, salt and pepper until soft and fragrant. Saute the mushrooms (add more extra virgin if needed) until cooked through. Throw in the kale and cook until soft and fragrant. Deglaze with the stock (and wine if using) and reduce. When the liquid is mostly gone, mix through the yoghurt. Enjoy the hell out of this salty, smokey mess.

Dukkah Crusted Labne and Lamb Backstrap Pizza

An awesome ex-student of mine gave me some dukkah and lamb herbs for Christmas last year and I finally got around to using them. This was delicious and simple and I can thoroughly recommend giving it a go yourself. Labne is a cheese you make from yoghurt (seriously this only takes 10 minutes). The fiddliest part of this is rolling the cheese into balls and then dusting them but even then, that only takes 15 minutes. I made my own pizza bases here but I would imagine that using toasted Turkish bread or kebab bread would be just as great. The amount of oil used will seem terrifying but its only for marinating and can be re-used as part of a salad dressing, used in pesto (a nod to Tracey), or used in confit (a nod to JP). Next time I use dukkah, I think I am going to make my own. You will need to make the labne three days in advance.

1 kg natural yoghurt
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 tsp salt for the labne
45g packet of dukkah (mine was lemon and herb)
1.5 litres of extra virgin olive oil
1 lamb backstrap
Lamb herbs
Individual pizza bases
Garlic oil
Parmesan cheese
Chopped parsley
Mozzarella
Rocket
Salt and pepper
A little red wine vinegar
Some fresh parsley

Combine the salt and crushed garlic for the labne into the yoghurt. Place a muslin wrap over a bowl doubled over, pour in the yoghurt. Bring the sides of the muslin wrap in and tie around a wooden spoon then hang in a bowl. Place in the fridge for three days re-adjusting the height of the bag if necessary so that the yoghurt is not sitting in the extracted liquid.

Remove the yoghurt from the hanging bag into a clean bowl. Pinch tablespoon sized quantities out and roll into a balls, place onto a clean plate. It helps if from time to time you rinse and dry your hands, the
yoghurt does become sticky. Roll each cheese ball in the labne then place carefully into another clean bowl, throw in a little fresh parsley then cover with the olive oil.

Pre-heat an oven to 180C. Paint the pizza bases with garlic oil, sprinkle on some chopped parsley, grate over some parmesan then top with a little mozzarella. Bake until they have great colour.

Season the lamb fillet with some lamb herbs, salt and pepper. Sear on a barbecue to your liking (mine were rare). Allow the meat to rest for 10 minutes under some foil then slice very thinly. While this is happening dress the rocket in some garlic oil, some more grated parmesan and a little red wine vinegar.

Smear a labne ball on a pizza base, load up some lamb and rocket then tuck in.

Cashew and Macadamia Nut Satay

I watched a TV chef recently smash together a satay sauce in about 2 minutes and I thought well I want to do that too. My recipe differs quite a bit from his but as my research after the fact discovered, it don't matter. I think satay is one of those 'satays are like opinions' scenarios. They can be simple or complicated. In any case, what I have done here is very very good and I can thoroughly recommend trying it. My bother in law who doesn't like satay had two helpings and was kind with his review. There is enough satay to marinade 1 - 2 kg of the meat of your choice, have enough left for being a sauce and, an additional purpose like making satay and coconut milk rice for the kids.


2 handfuls salted cashew/macadamia nuts
2 heaped tbs crunchy peanut butter
Rind of 1 lime
Juice of 2 limes (maybe more)
2 cloves garlic
1 thumb ginger roughly chopped
1/2 bunch coriander, roots and all
200 ml of coconut milk (or to taste)
1 long red chilli
1 tbs palm sugar (or brown)
2 tbs light olive oil or peanut oil
1/2 cup water


Leaving out the water, blitz the lot until it is in a smooth paste. Check for flavours and add more lime juice, coconut milk or sugar until you reach a tasty result (there should be enough salt from the nuts). Aim for a good balance of nut, sweet and importantly, lime. Pour in half of the water, blitz, check the consistency and add the remaining and more if required.

Harrisa Lamb Cutlets with a Corriander Tomato Sauce

I can distinctly remember the first time I ate harissa, it has on a sandwich and it was wonderful - that was almost ten years ago and my wife and I still talk about that sandwich. Since then I have bought harissa a heap of times and they have all been disappointing in comparison. I have been toying with the idea of making my own - until I found this gear - it is amazing. All natural, no preservatives and you can literally taste every single ingredient listed on the side of the bottle. I can honestly say that I have never experienced this phenomenon before. Oh, I should say, if you don't like hot stuff, don't eat harissa. That's an important tip...

Lamb cutlets (3 or 4 per person)
2 heaped tsp harissa paste
1 tsp olive oil
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
2 shallots thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic sliced
A slug of red wine
3 tbs chopped coriander
1/2 bottle tomato passata
Salt
1 tbs sugar

Mix the harissa paste with the olive oil and 1/2 of the coriander then paint onto the lamb cutlets. Set aside until required. When required, barbecue over a very high heat and cook to medium rare - allow to rest covered for 5 or so minutes.
Heat the extra virgin olive oil to medium high and fry the garlic and shallots until fragrant and slightly coloured. Deglaze with the red wine and simmer for a couple of minutes before pouring in the passsata. Pour in the sugar and a little salt and simmer until required. Add in the coriander to the hot sauce a couple of minutes before using. I served this with some fried potato and sweet potato, a little marinated feta and some lettuce. Very nice indeed.

Pistachio Satay

I have a big bag of pistachios that I don't seem to able to make a dint in, no matter how hard I try and I keep thinking of ways to use them. Pistachio pesto springs to mind right now... I am also digging on coriander at the moment - add the two and get this. I researched a heap of recipes for regular satay and every one was different. The only similarity I found was peanuts so I thought I might try and throw together a bunch of things that taste nice with some pistachios and see what happens. It tasted very good - like pistachios - maybe I could have used less coriander but even then, I liked that. Two things, I think the paste was better the second day and, use medium heat so that you don't burn the nuts. I could also see this working with coconut milk/cream. Enjoy.

2 handfuls pistachio nuts

1 tbs sesame oil

1 handful coriander

1 tsp Chinese 5 spice

2 cloves garlic

1 thumb ginger roughly chopped

Juice of 1/2 a lime

1 tbs olive oil

1 tbs fish Sauce

1/2 tbs Kecap Manis

Pound the lot in a big mortar and pestle for 5 minutes or so until it forms a smooth paste.

I used this on prawn skewers and chicken thighs. Happy days.

Oregano, Corriander and Beer Marinated Chicken

I was aiming for a Portugeezer style chicken combo and actually meant to put in some paprika but forgot. Almost no effort for heaps of tasty flavour. I will add photos very soon as I plan on making this again.

1/3 bunch coriander finely minced
4 tbs fresh oregano finely minced
2 tbs garlic oil
Juice of half a lime
Juice of half a lemon
Salt (a fair whack)
Pepper
1/2 cup nice beer
Chicken thighs

Combine well all of the ingredients except the chicken in a large bowl. If you feel it needs more oil to stop from burning, add some olive oil. Add the chicken and allow to marinade at room temperature for 15 minutes. (Marinading for too much longer will make the lemon/lime juice cook the chicken and the salt will extract too much). Preheat a barbecue to medium high and cook until well coloured and just cooked through. Baste during the cooking and finish with an extra squeeze of lemon and lime juice.
I used this on pizza...

Sage and Pimenton Butterflied Chicken

I love sage and when teamed with the smokey-ness of paprika and the barbecue, it just works. 2 minutes prep for the marinade and 5 for butterflying the chicken. I prefer to use smaller chickens for butterflying as I find it is easier to keep moist and ensure it is cooked through.

 

1 butterflied chicken

1 bunch sage finely chopped

1 heaped tsp pimenton (smoked paprika)

Lots of salt and cracked pepper

3 tbs garlic infused oil

Combine the sage, pimenton, salt and pepper and oil. Make some deep cuts into the chicken across the thigh, leg and breast area. Smear the marinade over the chicken rubbing it into every nook and cranny, cover and refrigerate until required. Heat a hooded barbecue (alternatively cover with a large roasting tray) to high. Add the chicken skin side down, reduce the heat to low and pull down the lid. Turn every 5 minutes closing the lid each time, until cooked - about 25 minutes. Poke the thighs and breast with a skewer to check if it is cooked, remove to a clean plate when ready and cover. Rest for 5-10 minutes. Eat.



the one on the right

Coriander, Sesame Oil, Ginger and 5 Spice Marinade

I love it when vague ideas come together. I used this with pork spare ribs one night then made it again for butterflied chicken the next. My daughter loved it in its raw state and kept wanting more 'pesto' so, I imagine this would work with biscuits too. In any case, 5 minutes and use it on anything, keeping some to baste with.

1/2 bunch coriander

2 cloves garlic

1 thumb ginger

Rind and juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 tbs sesame oil

3 tbs olive oil

1 tbs mirrin or so

1 tsp Chinese 5 spice

Lots of salt and cracked pepper

Blend it all together and check for seasoning, rub all over meat and allow it to marinade. Barbecue over a medium heat, baste, rest eat lots of.

the one on the left

Butterflied Leg of Lamb with Chimichurri Marinade

Argentinian goodness. You can use this stuff as a marinade or as a sauce. It is simple and doesn't take long to prepare. As for the lamb leg, run a knife along the bone near the surface then just gently slice the meat away - 5 to 10 minutes. Failing that, get the butcher to do it for you. If you find you enjoy boning lamb legs (it isn't difficult) try the Boned Shoulder of Lamb with Herb Stuffing recipe. This was enough meat for 6 adults easily. The marinade will be better if it is made a couple of days before hand.

1 butterflied leg of lamb

1/2 a bunch of flat leaf parsley

3 tbs fresh oregano

1 tbs of fresh thyme

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp pimenton (smoked paprika)
1 tbs white or red wine vinegar
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and pepper
Chilli flakes
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Chopped basil


Combine the parsley, oregano, thyme, garlic, pimenton, vinegar, half of the lemon juice, plenty of salt and some cracked pepper, chilli flakes and 3 tbs olive oil in a blender. Blitz until it is all combined then check for seasoning adding more lemon juice, olive oil or chilli flakes if necessary. Smear all over the butterflied leg of lamb, cover and refrigerate for a few hours. Preheat a barbecue that has a lid (alternatively use a large roasting tray or some foil) to high. Place on the lamb reduce the heat to medium low and cover with the lid. Turn after 5 minutes, check for flare ups. Turn every 5 to 10 minutes re-closing the lid and keep checking for doneness until it is cooked - about 20 minutes for medium.
Remove to a tray and cover with foil and rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Slice the meat on an angle, arrange on a serving tray, splash over some balsamic and some chopped basil. I served this with smashed potatoes and a green salad.

Butterflied Turkey Leg with Cranberry, Mustard and Yoghurt Marinade

Yoghurt marinades are the absolute business, they tenderise, are creamy and compliment many flavours - European or Asian. To add to that, any marinade you didn't use can be used to either baste or is a ready made sauce for afters. Use some oil in the marinade and cook over a moderately low heat, otherwise your marinade will burn.

As for butterflying turkey legs, its fiddly but worth it, turkey has great flavour and it carried the marinade extremely well. Releasing the bone was very simple - I ran a knife down the length of the bone, gently sliced the meat from around the bone and made a round cut at the base - about 3 minutes. The fiddly part is removing the tendons from the meat - they are slippery and strong. Do what this guy does between minute 2 and 3, I used a knife and it sucked. 

2 turkey legs butterflied

5 heaped tbs yoghurt

2 cloves garlic

3 handfuls dried cranberries

1/2 bunch basil

A good handful of thyme

1 heaped tbs seeded mustard

2 tbs olive oil

2 tsp sesame oil

Salt and cracked pepper

Combine all of the ingredients except the turkey in a blender and blitz until smooth. Cover the butterflied turkey with half of the marinade and refrigerate for a couple of hours. Cook on a preheated medium low barbecue, turning occasionally. If possible use a lid or cover with a baking dish/foil. Should take between 20 and 30 mins but just keep checking. Serve with some of the unused marinade and possibly a squeeze of lemon.

Barbecued Pesto and Prosciutto Chicken Thighs

So easy, so excellent.

1 kg chicken thigh fillets

4 or 5 tbs pesto

10 slices prosciutto

Olive oil

Lemon wedges for serving

Halve each chicken thigh. Halve each slice of prosciutto lengthwise to make long strips (alternatively use whole slices, but you'll need to buy more). Add the chicken slices to a mixing bowl and pour over some oil, add in the pesto and combine with your hands, massaging in the pesto. Wrap a slice of prosciutto around each and set aside until you are ready for them (mine were overnight). Barbecue over a medium heat so that you don't burn the marinade. Finish with a squeeze of lemon.

Garlic and Sesame Beef Kebabs

Well easy, well tasty.

400 gms diced rump

3 or 4 cloves garlic chopped

1 tbs sesame oil

2 tbs sesame seeds

1 tbs chopped rosemary

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

10 button mushrooms

2 spring onions in big chunks

4 slices bacon on large dice

Stripped rosemary sprigs (or skewers)

Horseradish sour cream to serve

Place the garlic on the chopping board with some salt and pull the knife over it repeatedly to turn it into a paste. Combine the garlic, sesame oil, pepper, chopped rosemary, sesame seeds and olive oil in a large bowl. Toss the diced rump through the sesame/garlic mixture. Remove the stems from the mushrooms and quarter them.

Feed the ingredients onto the rosemary skewers - beef, mushroom, bacon, spring onion - repeat.
Barbecue, top with a little horseradish sour cream and eat.

Steak

So rad, so easy to do but, so often killed to death.





Rib on the bone

• The best quality steak you can afford will give you the best result you can afford. I can't afford King Island beef and I can't afford Wagyu. The cuts I buy are rump, rib fillet, t-bone, rib on the bone and eye fillet (I can get it where I live for $18 a kg) and, I prefer meat from the butcher.
• If you can get steak cryovaced, store the meat whole in the fridge for up to three months, it will be more tender, great for when it is on sale.
• Only salt meat just before you cook it. To see why simply get some meat and put some salt on it and watch the blood come out, it only takes a few minutes and you'll see why.
• If you do decide to cook a thick piece (eg rib on the bone or eye fillet), after you have seared it, finish it in a preheated oven (180C) for about 15 minutes. Check it occasionally,
• Resting meat not only makes it more tender by allowing the fibres to relax it also stops the eater from ending up with blood all over the plate and, the resting juice is perfect for adding into sauces or spooning a little back over the top.
• I usually finely chop fresh robust herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme) and rub them on the steak with some olive oil while the meat comes to room temperature.
• Have the cooking surface mingin hot before you start.
• If you are using a barbecue you can achieve the criss-crossed effect by turning the meat anywhere between 45 and 90 degrees after the first minute or so on each side.
• The last 5 points are applicable to any meat suitable for frying.

Steak
Olive oil
Herbs finely chopped (eg rosemary)

Salt and Pepper

Butter (optional)
Porcini salt (optional)

Preheat the barbecue or frying pan to very hot. Take steaks from the fridge and coat lightly in olive oil and chopped herbs and a little fresh cracked pepper. When the meat is close to room temperature add to the cooking surface, turning after a minute or so to 90 degrees. When a few small pools of blood form flip the steak preferably to a fresh hot spot on the barbecue, turning 90 degrees again after a minute or so. When a few small pools of blood come through remove the steak from the barbecue to a plate, cover and put in a warm place to rest for 5 minutes. If you want a medium steak, allow for a few more pools of blood on either side. If you are unsure if it is cooked, poke it with your finger, if it is really soft, its not cooked, if its hard, its way way cooked.

There are three very simple methods of finishing steak without making sauce. One, as soon as it is removed, place a knob of butter on top, the residual heat will melt it. Two, once cooked add some porcini salt. Three, spoon a little of the resting juice back on top again.

Basil'd Chicken

This is a stupidly easy method for getting a fresh, green, basil flavour into chicken. This also works well with steak, bacon or basically just about anything hot. The result is subtle but noticeable. I can see this method also being transferable to other soft herbs and lemon rind, if you were to use a microplane. Two other tips I can offer here are 1) try and always and have meat you are about to cook, close to room temperature and; 2) only add salt to meat just prior to cooking.

Chicken pieces (I prefer thigh fillets)
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Basil leaves
Lemon (optional)

Preheat a barbecue to high. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and coat in olive oil. Line the bottom of a tray with basil leaves. Cook the chicken on the barbecue and when ready remove and place on the prepared tray. Add more leaves to the top of the chicken and either add more chicken on top or cover with foil and rest for a few minutes.

Lemon and Rosemary Barbecued Potato

I imagine this would also work roasted.

Potato
Olive Oil
Stripped rosemary
1 lemon
Salt and Pepper

Slice the potato into rounds about 0.5 cm wide. Slice the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into a bowl with the remaining ingredients. Toss to coat and cook on a preheated barbecue plate, remove when golden on both sides (approx 5 minutes).

Barbecued Balsamic Thyme Chicken

This is one of the few recipes I cook regularly. I often cook this in large batches and freeze either for the kids, quick pastas or open faced sandwiches. Generally though the reason I cook it is for pizza. If you don't have thyme, use fresh rosemary.

1 kg chicken thigh fillets
1 tbs garlic oil
2 tbs fresh thyme sprigs
2 tbs Balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper

Combine the lot and let marinade in the fridge for an hour or so. Barbecue.