Corn and Goats Cheese Feta Puree

 The first time I ever ate in a fancy restaurant as a young pup I ordered a crispy skin chicken breast which came with a corn puree. It was great and so is this. Cheap, quick, limited ingredients. The goats cheese feta I use for this recipe is amazing - usually I cannot stand goats cheese but this stuff is rad. When you are finished with the cheese, keep the jar in the fridge and use the left over oil is salad dressings etc.

Two cobs of corn, kernels sliced off

3 cloves garlic minced

1/2 an onion in fine dice (or 1 shallot)

1 tbs butter

Splash of white wine

1/4 cup chicken stock

Couple of sprigs of thyme

2 or 3 cubes of Meredith Dairy Marinated Goats Cheese

Salt and pepper

Squeeze of lemon

When slicing off the corn kernels, use a small pairing knife and cut the kernels into a bowl with high sides so that they don't go fanging all over the place. Sauté the onion with a pinch of salt and thyme sprigs in the butter over a low heat until soft - try not to get colour on them. When soft add in the garlic and corn. Sauté this until soft. Splash in some white wine and cook down. Add in the chicken stock and bring up to a simmer. Remove the sprigs of thyme, add in the goats cheese feta and blend with a stick blender until smooth. Season with cracked pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice. If you want it thinner, add more stock and blend again. So good

I serve this with whole chicken breast which I have brined, pan fried mushrooms, snow peas and roast potatoes

Polpette and Spaghetti with Two Pasta Sauces (Meatball Pasta bro)

Until recently I've never cared too much for spaghetti and meatballs but, my local Italian does off chops antipasti polpette and a wicked polpette pizza. They are soft and glorious and I thought I'd give it a go. This recipe is solid. There is a bit of stuffing around but it is worth it. My kids hate fennel but love this. There are a few components here at play that make this work. Using bacon fat in the meatball to render down as it cooks combined with the softness of bread soaked in milk creates a wicked texture. Finishing the pasta with a fresh tomato sauce just brings it all together.

Meatballs:

1 finely diced onion

1/3 stick of celery finely diced

1 carrot finely diced

4 cloves garlic minced

500gms pork mince

500gms beef mince

Fat from 4 slices of bacon finely minced

1 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

Stalks from some parsley finely minced

5 slices of white bread, crust removed and discarded, soaked in milk

2tsp fennel seeds ground finely with salt in a mortar and pestle

Pepper (the fennel already has salt)

Extra virgin olive oil

Pasta Sauce:

1 tbs tomato paste

400ml passata

1/2 an onion fine diced

4 cloves garlic minced

2 rashers of bacon fine diced

Handful of basil leaves

Salt and pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

Spaghetti

Fresh Tomato Sauce:

1/2 an onion in fine dice

1 tub cherry tomatoes quartered

Handful of basil leaves

Salt and pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

For the meatballs sauté the onion, celery and carrot in some EVOO over a very low temperature until they are quite jammy. Add the garlic toward the end of this process. Set aside and allow to cool. Drain the milk from the bread and gently squeeze out some of the excess. In a large bowl combine all of the ingredients with salt and pepper and mix well, making sure you break down the bread. Roll into even sized balls. I weigh mine to 80gms. Place in the fridge for a while to firm up.

Fry the meatballs in a little EVOO over a medium temperature in a saucepan large enough to fit them all. Once they have some nice colour but aren't cooked all of the way through, remove to a clean plate.

In the same pan make the pasta sauce by gently sautéing the onion, bacon and garlic over a medium heat. When the onions are translucent cook the tomato paste for a few minutes then add in the passata and stir through, adding the basil in whole. Simmer for 5 minutes then remove the basil. Place the meatballs in, spooning over some of the sauce. Simmer the meatballs over a low heat while you boil your pasta (keep some pasta water).

For the fresh tomato sauce (this can be done in advance and reheated) sauté onion and garlic until soft in a decent glug of EVOO with some salt and pepper. Bung in the cherry tomatoes and as they become softer, squish them down. Add in the basil to infuse. Set aside

Once the pasta is cooked, remove the polpette to a plate, stir the pasta through your pasta sauce with some of the pasta water. Pasta into bowls - balls on top - fresh tomato sauce on top of that - parmesan cheese, flaky salt, EVOO - some herb if you've got it - crispy prosciutto if you've got that too.

Chicken and Rice Lunch Prep w/ Variations

Eventually the kids got bored with ham sandwiches for lunch. Fair enough bro. Anywho the request was made for chicken and rice for lunch. To avoid the kids getting sick of this too I make variations with the flavours, it is no extra work. This all happens in the oven and the rice cooker and apart from shredding the chicken, is only about 20 minutes work. 

The premise is the same to how I prepare chicken for tacos - a bed of veg, some aromatics, seasoned chicken on top. Roast, shred, combine with the veg and cooking juices. About half of the cooking juices goes into the rice too. Target sell a chicken shredder for about $5. If you don't have that, just bash the chicken up with a whisk - works a treat. 

This recipe makes enough for 9 meals.

1kg chicken thigh fillets

Taco seasoning (I make my own, its heaps easy)

1 onion sliced

Half a tub of cherry tomatoes sliced

1 chorizo diced or a few slices of bacon

Coriander stalks and leaves (optional)

4 cloves garlic sliced thinly

1 lime sliced in half

2 bay leaves

1 capsicum sliced in small pieces

Vegetable oil

2 cups rice

1 heaped tsp chicken stock powder

Pre-heat the oven to 180C

Line a baking tray with baking paper. This is easier if you wet the tray first then place down the paper - it makes it stick. Also makes cleaning up easier. Cover the tray in the onion, tomato, capsicum, chorizo, garlic, bay leaves, squeeze the lime over and place the limes on the tray too.

Season the chicken with the taco seasoning and coat with oil. Place on top of the veg tray. Roast for an hour or until the chicken starts to be able to be pulled apart. Baste it if you can be bothered. 

Cook the washed rice with a heaped teaspoon of chicken stock powder. Add some washed/cooked black beans toward the end if you feel like it.

When ready, remove from the oven, take out the bay leaf, squeeze the roasted lime onto the tray then discard. Allow to rest for a bit. Pour half of the cooking juices and half of the veg into the rice and mix through. Shred the chicken and mix with the remaining veg mixture. Portion rice and meat into lunch things, place in the fridge for future use.

Variations:

Curry Red/Green/Yellow - use jar sauce, coat the meat as before, change the veg to suit your needs. Maybe cook the rice with coconut milk, season with a little soy sauce, fish sauce, lime and sugar.

Jamaican: Jerk seasoning is rad. Get some of that. Use black beans in the rice too

Spanish: Season the chicken with salt/pepper, tomato paste, paprika and cumin. Put some sliced black olives in the rice toward the end

Japanese: Miso seasoning with some lime juice, honey and sesame oil

Portugeeeeezer: I actually haven't done this but, I'd just buy some Nando's seasoning - I am sure it would be ace

 

Green Curry version 1 million...

Recently I made some Green Curry for a mate and her family. She dug it but wanted the recipe so I said I'd build one for her. I'm writing this also for my reference too as I keep making it and forgetting what I'd done before. 

Green Curry I am sure has rules and what not but it kind of is just a moosh of green things and a heap of aromatics. It is way better than jar sauce and worth the five minutes it takes to rough chop some veg and whiz it up in a food processor. What I will say though is a game changer is velveting your meat before hand. It is easy and it works heaps good. Or not, its up to you...

For the Paste:

1 bunch coriander, washed, roots removed, reserve some leaves for garnish

5 cloves garlic

1 thumb ginger

3 stalks lemon grass

3 limes

Chilli to whatever capacity you like (none is ok)

3 spring onions, some green bits reserved for finishing

1 tsp roasted shrimp paste

1 tbs sesame oil

2 tbs vegetable oil

Dinner itself:

500gms chicken breast or skinless thigh fillets

2tsp bicarbonate soda

1 tsp chicken stock powder

Salt, pepper and a good pinch of MSG if you can get it

400ml coconut milk

Greens of your choice, blanched

1 onion sliced

Soy Sauce

1 tbs brown sugar

2 limes

1 tbs fish sauce or so

Vegetable oil for shallow frying

Curry paste as above

Rice to serve

For the curry paste: 

Remove the outer layer of the lemon grass stalks and use a microplane to grate the white parts of the lemon grass down until you get to the woody bit. Zest one of the limes and juice 2 of the limes. Rough chop the veg and stick in a blender with with the oil, juice, zest and shrimp paste. Taste it and see if it needs salt - the shrimp paste is very salty though. Add more lime juice if it isn't zingy enough. If it is heaps dry, add more oil until it is a smooth paste.

Dinner though: 

Thin slice the chicken breast in bite size pieces. Place the sliced chicken into a bowl with the bi-carb, chicken stock powder, salt, pepper, MSG and two or three tablespoons of water. Mix and set aside for twenty minutes. This will make your chicken absorb the seasonings and the water - consequently giving you more browning and is more moist.

Brown the chicken in batches in a little oil and remove to keep warm. Fry the onion until it takes on some colour. Add the curry paste and fry for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Add in the coconut milk, bring to a light simmer, reduce the heat and allow to cook for 5 minutes. Add in the fish sauce, sugar and lime juice and some soy sauce. Stir and check for balance adding more of what is missing. Unsure? Not sweet enough - add more sugar. Not enough zing, more lime juice. Not enough weird - add more fish sauce.

Bung in your greens to heat through and some spring onion slices. Dish up, garnish, eat. Peanuts and fried onions, coriander, more lime juice and fresh chilli are good to stick on top.

Fermented Hot Sauce

This is great but not really an original idea from me. When I initially made this I did a batch of Jalapeño and a batch of 7 Pot Douglah Chilli's. They are a bit niche but a mate of mine gave them to me. They are very similar to Caroliner Reapers, stinking hot however very fruity in flavour. They taste great but they are evil.. I imagine this recipe would work well with any type of chilli. I plan on doing a version of this with mango in the very near future with Jalapeño. Anyway, it is worth the effort.

Edit: 

I have refined the recipe somewhat which is now reflected in the recipe below.

Mango happened and it is rad.

1 L brine (3 tbs salt, tbs sugar per L)

20 Caroliner Reapers 

2 tubs cherry tomatoes (400-500gms) halved

5-10 cloves garlic

2 onions sliced

Pepper

3 tbs sugar

2 cup vinegar

1/2 tsp Xanthun Gum optional

Mango/Pineapple Alternative

Swap the tomato for the same amount of mango and/or pineapple

Swap the Caroliner Reapers for Jalapenos 

Combine all ingredients except for the vinegar in a large jar and seal, filling with brine to the top of the jar. Let sit for two weeks on the benchtop. After two weeks, drain the brine veg from the brine (reserving the brine). Blend the fermented vegetable mess with 1/2 cup of brine and 2 cups of vinegar and additional sugar. Check for seasoning and add more brine, vinegar, salt or sugar as required for taste and consistency. 

If doing with Jalapeño, they do not tend to break down as much as they are quite thick skinned, it may end up looking a bit more like salsa. 

Use on tacos, eggs, avo on toast, everything really. Enjoy

Carolina Reaper Salt and Pepper Moreton Bay Bug Tails

So easy and quick but soooooo freaking tasty. Last time I cooked this I put them in sliders with avocado, rocket and Kewpie mayonnaise. If you don't dig on chilli, just use normal salt. I may get around to a photo one day...

200gms Moreton Bay Bug Tails, halved length ways

100gms corn flour

Big pinch Carolina Reaper Salt

Heaps of cracked pepper

Pinch of Chinese 5 Spice

3 egg whites beaten (not stiff just whipped)

Vegetable oil for frying

Salt (just the reg)

Lemon 

Heat the oil to a temperature for deep frying, approximately 180C. Combine the flour, Reaper salt, pepper and Chinese 5 Spice. Dust the bug tails in the flour and mix through the egg whites. Fry in the oil for about 2 minutes or until slightly coloured. Place onto a wired cooling rack, season with salt and a squeeze of lemon. Maybe do this to 500gms of bug tails, it tastes that good

Caroliner Reaper Salt

Deadly but awesome. By itself it is very very hot however, on/in a dish it is very doable - my kids eat it. Do not make Margaritas with this. Kidding, do it, you will suffer however... 

20 Caroliner Reaper Chilli's

300gms Table Salt

Place the chilli's on a baking tray and bake for 8 hours at 80C for 8 hours. Leave to properly dry overnight in the oven. Blitz in a blender then smash in a mortar and pestle with some of the salt. Mix through the salt. Done

Bouillabaisse with Charred Fennel

Bouillabaisse is a bit of fiddle but it is worth it. I have tried to simplify it as much as possible for myself.

200 gms prawn
10 scallops halved
2 slices firm white fish in bite sized pieces
2 sets fish wings
Two crabs picked (large shells reserved) - or 1 tub meat
1 bulb fennel
1 onion in fine dice
1 stick celery in fine dice
1 carrot in fine dice
5 cloves garlic minced
1 tbs tomato paste
1/2 tub cherry tomatoes halved
1 glass white wine
Bouquet garni (parsley, thyme, bay leaf tied in a bunch)
2 chilli minced
1 pinch saffron
1 handful parsley
1 litre chicken stock
Extra virgin olive oil

Remove the fronds from the fennel (for garnish) and separate the leaves of the fennel, cleaning as necessary. Shell the prawns and reserve the larger shell pieces and heads. Char the fennel leaves over flame until slightly smokey in batches. Repeat with prawn shell/heads.

Mince the charred fennel and saute with the onion, celery, carrot, chilli and most of the garlic over a low temperature in extra virgin olive oil until soft. Toss through the cherry tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Once soft add the tomato paste to the mix and cook off. Deglaze with white wine and once the alcohol has also cooked off, pour in the chicken stock, stirring to combine, adding the bouquet garni. Add the saffron, fish wings, prawn shells/heads, (large crab shells if you have them) and simmer over a low heat for 5 minutes. Remove the fish wings and prawn shells (crab too)
and discard. Blend the sauce with a stick blender.

Add the fish pieces and simmer for 2 minutes before adding the prawn, followed by scallop 1 minute later. Finally add the crab and remaining garlic, some chopped parsley and give a gentle stir.
Divide amongst bowls, top with more parsley, a drizzle of extra virgin and some fresh cracked pepper.

Orecchiette with Buffalo Mozzarella, Cherry Tomatoes and Pistachio

First time I've done this in a while...
My wife and I went to Italy earlier this year and this was one of the pastas that we ate (photo is the actual dish). The cheese used there was 'stracciatella di buffala' which is not available where I am. This very simple pasta is mostly here so that I do not forget how to make it...

1 packet orecchiette pasta
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
4 cloves garlic minced
1 chilli minced
1 handful pistachio nuts chopped
2 or 3 bay leaves
1 tub of buffalo mozzarella, shredded by hand
Salt and pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
Basil leaves

Cook the pasta, reserve a cup of the cooking water.
Gently fry the chilli and garlic in about 3 tbs of extra virgin olive oil with the bay leaves. Once aromatic, add the tomatoes to the pan and toss. Add the cooked pasta to the pan with some of the cheese and pistachio, season with salt and pepper, some torn basil, half of the cooking water and toss to coat. Test for seasoning and if necessary add the remaining pasta water. (At this stage add some hot smoked salmon or pan fried chicken if desired).
Garnish with some torn basil leaves, the remaining cheese and pistachio. Add a final drizzle of extra virgin.

Edamame and Avocado Puree

So easy, versatile and cheap. Eat it as a dip, serve it with scallops and prosciutto, top it with tea smoked salmon (pictured) or pair it with a pan fried chicken breast.

1 packet of edamame
1 avocado
1 lime
1 clove garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
Light olive oil (or similar)
Salt and pepper
Water

Shell the edamame. Shell the avocado and roughly dice. Blitz the edamame and garlic with the juice of half a lime, about a tablespoon of extra virgin, 1 tablespoon light olive oil, salt and pepper. Add the avocado and 1 tablespoon of water then blitz. Add more water as necessary until the mixture becomes a smooth puree or to your liking. Check for seasoning, adding more lime juice or salt and pepper as required.

Jump in.

Phad Thai - Alex

There are a million versions of this, this is just here for my reference... What I can thoroughly recommend from this recipe however is covering the rice stick noodles in cold tap water to soak instead of hot water. When you drain them they maintain their integrity so much better and do not break apart after being added to the wok and cooked.


3 bulbs lemon grass bashed then finely sliced
3 cloves garlic
1 thumb ginger
2 stalks spring onion
1 handful mint leaves
1 bunch coriander
1 tsp shrimp paste
1/2 a mild chilli sliced, seeds removed
1 chilli sliced
1 tbs tamarind pulp
1 tbs brown sugar
2 tbs fish sauce
2 limes
Sesame oil
Extra light olive oil
1 kg chicken thigh
Salt
2 eggs
1 onion in wedges
1 pack bean sprouts
1 pack rice stick noodle
1 handful peanuts chopped
Fried dried onions (optional)

Cover the rice stick noodles in cold tap water for 30 minutes.
In a small bowl cover the tamarind pulp in warm water (about 1 cup) to steep.
Season the chicken with a little salt and dress in the olive oil and a little sesame oil.
Using a pestle and mortar make a paste from the lemon grass, chilli, ginger, garlic, one sliced spring onion, shrimp paste, half of the mint and the stalks from the coriander.
Pass the tamarind water through a sieve into another bowl and push as much of the paste through the sieve as you can into the water. Discard the pulp. Add the sugar, 1 tbs fish stock and the juice of one lime to the tamarind water and whisk to combine. Check for seasoning and add more sugar or lime or fish sauce as necessary. Set aside.
Drain the noodles.
Heat 1 tbs olive oil (or vegetable oil) in a wok over a medium high heat and cook the chicken batches getting some nice colour in the process then set it aside. Crack the eggs into the wok and scramble, remove to a clean plate. If necessary add some more oil then stir fry the onions until tender and with a little colour, remove and set aside. Take the wok off of the heat and slice the chicken thinly. Return the wok to the heat, cook the ginger/garlic paste for a couple minutes, throw in the chicken pieces and coat in the cooked paste mixture, add the onion doing the same, followed by the bean sprouts and noodle. Deglaze the wok with the tamarind sauce and toss the noodle and chicken through. Add the onion, egg and some chopped coriander and combine.
Spoon into bowls and top with peanuts, more chopped coriander, chilli, some sliced mint leaves, sliced spring onion, fried onions if using, a drizzle of sesame oil and squeeze of lime.

Harissa Paste

This is ace. This is one of those recipes that will evolve over time but I am very happy with it. 7 Pot Duglah's are a very fruity chilli which is great however, next time I think I might try and use a variety of chillis for more depth in the chilli taste. Bung this on chicken marylands, roast lamb, roast veg, go nuts. Easy and delicious.


5 - 7 Pot Duglah’s (or Carolina Reapers)

2 large capsicum

1 punnet cherry tomatoes quartered

1 red onion in wedges

6 cloves garlic

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs thyme

Half a bunch or coriander stalks

Oil

Salt and pepper
1tbs chilli flakes

1 tbs cumin seeds

1 tbs coriander seeds

1/2 tbs fennel seeds

1/2 tbs caraway seeds

1/2 tbs dried mint

1/2 tbs paprika

4tbs red wine vinegar

Extra virgin olive oil

Coat the veg and chilli in oil, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with thyme, chilli flakes,

mix about and roast at 170C. When the capsicum has good colour remove to a bowl and cover with cling film to steam, then peel. Take out the chilli when they have colour and the tomato and onions when ready too - set aside.

Dry roast the herbs until just fragrant then grind to a powder in a pestle or mortar.

Combine in a blender with 4 tbs red wine vinegar, 1/2 a tbs paprika, 1 tbs extra virgin olive oil and some more salt and pepper. Check for seasoning, add more oil if necessary - it should make a thick paste. Store in the fridge in clean jars with a layer of oil on top.

Hot Sauce

Too easy, goes on everything. I'll put a photo up one day...

3 - 7 Pot Duglah’s (or Carolina Reapers)

1 onion in dice

4 cloves garlic sliced

1 punnet cherry tomatoes

Olive oil

1 cup white wine vinegar

1 tbs sugar

Salt

Sauté onion garlic and chilli in oil with a little salt, when starting to stick, add in the tomatoes. When the onion, tomato mixture starts to take some colour, add in the sugar, some salt and the vinegar. Mix about and test for seasoning, adding more salt, sugar or vinegar as necessary. Blitz until smooth and bottle.

Coconut Salmon en Papilote with Asian Greens

This is really easy and can be prepared hours in advance.

1 fillet salmon per person
1 sheet baking paper per fillet (about 30cm long)
3 tbs coconut milk per fillet
2 thin slices ginger per fillet
2 slices garlic per fillet
2 slices lime per fillet
Fish sauce
Raw sugar
Coriander stalks
Minced lemon grass
Salt
Sliced chilli (optional)

Pak choy
Bok choy
Grated ginger
Grated garlic
Sesame oil
2 tbs oyster sauce
1 tbs kecap manis

Fold the baking paper in half then cut half of a heart shape leaving as much paper in tact as you can. Place down a few coriander stalks and some minced lemon grass next to the spine of the folded half of the paper. Place the salmon fillet on top of the lemongrass/coriander stalks. Spoon over some coconut milk, a few splashes of fish sauce, ginger slices, garlic slices, lime slices, sprinkle a little sugar, some salt and if using, chilli slices. Fold the paper over the top of the fish and begin folding the paper over on itself until you have sealed the bag. Place on a tray in the fridge until you are ready. When it is time to cook, preheat an over to 220C then baked the fish for 12 minutes and remove to a clean plate.

Cut the base from your pak choy and bok choy, rinse away any grit. Heat some sesame oil in a wok or frying pan, sear the greens in batches, remove then add in some more oil then the garlic and ginger and fry until fragrant. Add the oyster sauce and kecap manis then toss the greans through the sauce.

Load the greens onto your plate then remove the salmon and its juices to the same plate, the kecap manis and oyster sauce mix very well with the coconut milk.
Enjoy.

Pork Orange Honey and Blueberry Pasta with Roasted Onion, White Wine and Cream

Sounds complicated but it isn't, quick too. My butcher is unreal and makes these mind blowing pork orange honey and blueberry sausages (you can find them here or on Facebook by searching for Aussie Smokehouse). They're like nothing I've ever eaten before, moist but not greasy at all and the fruit/honey combo works incredibly well. Although I understand that you may not be able to get your hands on them, the method would work really well with any flavoured sausage eg Italian, pork and fennel, chicken and honey etc etc. When I first made this I used 6 or 7 large mushrooms but I was out of them last night. I like to plump up the veg content when I can. As for the onion portion of this recipe, I have a thing for roasted onion wedges at the moment but you could very simply dice and saute them. Also, use whatever pasta you like but the shells catch the mince really easily.
Enjoy

1 kg pork orange honey blueberry sausages
1 onion in wedges and separated
6 mushrooms diced
1 slice bacon diced
1 stalk celery diced
3 cloves garlic minced
1 cup white wine
150ml thickened cream
1 packet large shell pasta
Salt and pepper
2 slices grilled prosciutto
1/2 bunch parsley minced
Chilli flakes or fresh
Parmesan cheese
Extra virgin olive oil



Coat onion with a little olive oil and season, roast at 180C for about 15 minutes (keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn - get some good colour though).
Put your salted pasta water on to boil.
Season and saute the garlic, celery, mushroom and bacon in 1 tbs or so of extra virgin until soft. Squeeze the sausage contents into your frying pan, break up and cook through. When cooked deglaze with the white wine. Add in the roasted onion then reduce to a simmer, reduce by half and not smelling boozie. Pour in the cream. Add half of the parsley. Check for seasoning. Cook your pasta, reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Drain and add to the mince mixture with the some of the cooking water.
Spoon into bowls and top with parsley, parmesan, grilled prosciutto, salt and pepper, chilli and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

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.

Sand Crab Dressed in Coconut on Papadoms

I like picking over crab but if I were short on time I would just buy it. Once you've got the crab meat, it is a ten minute job. Dress the crab, fry the sweet potato chips, cook/puff papadoms, top with tasty stuff and tuck in.

1 or 2 sand crabs picked or 200gms bought meat
2 tbs coconut milk
Juice of half a lime
Splash of teriyaki sauce
Sesame oil
Coriander
Chilli
1 cup of thinly sliced sweet potato
10 or 12 papadoms

Deep fry the sweet potato in batch until coloured and crispy. Carefully fold the crab meat in half of the coconut milk, lime juice, a little teriyaki, a little sesame oil and some chopped coriander. Cook the papadoms in the microwave in batches (usually about 45 seconds or there abouts).
Place the crab on a poppadom, some more coriander, chilli slices and a squeeze of lime.

Oven Roasted Cherry Tomato and Prawn Pasta with Chilli

Wow first recipe of the year.
I have been refining this one for a while, it is basic and quick with few ingredients. I sometimes mix it up by adding some blue cheese when I am warming the sauce through. If I were cooking this for adults only I would fry the chilli when cooking the prawns with some garlic. Using green prawns will produce a better flavour in the sauce but either way it is gooood. It's a crowd pleaser, enjoy.


400gms prawns, shelled - heads reserved
1 1/2 punnets cherry tomatoes quartered
1 onion sliced and  broken up
2 tsp sugar
6 cloves garlic sliced
Handful of parsely leaves
A handful of basil leaves
One bay leaf
A splash of white wine
Lemon wedges for serving
Extra virgin olive oil
1 cup pasta water reserved for the sauce
I packet of pasta
Grilled prosciutto
Sliced chilli
Parmessan
Salt and pepper

Combine the prawns heads with the sliced onion, 4 cloves worth of sliced garlic, cherry tomatoes, salt and pepper, the sugar, half of the parsely, the bay leaf and enough extra virgin to coat. Roast at 180C for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Roast it until some of the onions and tomatoes have a little char. Discard the prawn heads and bay leaf and blend tomato mixture in a food processor with half of the basil, a squeeze of lemon and a good hit of extra virgin. Refrigerate until ready.
Cook the pasta.
While the pasta is cooking, fry the remaining garlic in some more extra virgin until fragrant then toss through the prawns. Remove the prawns and set aside, deglaze the pan with the white wine then pour in your prepared tomato sauce to the frying pan. While warming, thinly slice the remaining basil then incorporate into the sauce. When ready, reduce the heat to low and wait for the pasta to finish cooking. When the pasta is done pour a cup of pasta water into your tomato sauce and stir to combine.
Toss the pasta through the sauce, bung into bowls, place prawns on top, sprinkle over some freshly grated Parmessan, crispy prosciutto, parsley, a little lemon, salt and pepper, chilli and a little more extra virgin.
Serve with crusty bread.

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...

Spaghetti Bolognaise with Mushroom and Kale

I think I have an addiction to kale. This is one of my go to recipes, I love, the kids smash it, its mostly veg. Win - win. One of the most beautiful things about this dish is, you can make it on the go. Once the onion and celery are minced and have begun sauteing, you can bgein chopping the next bit. If you have never used pork and veal mince for spag bol, you should. Two tips, 1) generally it is how you finish a dish that makes it rule - some great parmesan and great extra virgin can lift any dish from good to wow; 2) learn to love chilli - it is the business.

1 onion in small dice
1 stick celery in small dice
2 tsp minced rosemary
2 tsp minced thyme
1 handful minced parsley
1 handful basil leaves
3 cloves garlic minced
2 rashers bacon in small dice
2 handfuls mushroom minced
A few porcini mushrooms ripped (optional)
500 gms pork and veal mince
3 leaves kale, finely chopped
1 bottle of passata
1 packet of pasta
1 or 2 tbs sugar
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
Parmesan cheese
Chilli - fresh or dried

Get your pasta water hot. Sauté the onion and celery over a medium high temperature in some extra virgin with the 1/2 of the garlic, rosemary and thyme. When soft throw in the bacon and fry for a few minutes. When fragrant add in the mushrooms - you may need more extra virgin. When the mushrooms are cooked add in the minced pork and veal. Cook the concoction until the moisture has mostly evaporated then mix through the kale, salt and pepper. When fragrant and beginning to soften, stir through 3/4 of the tomato passata. Add in the sugar, balsamic and remaining garlic and 1/2 of the parsley. Start cooking the pasta in salted water. Reduce the heat and simmer the sauce until the pasta cooks. If your sauce is too dry add some of the pasta cooking water into the sauce. Chop the basil and stir through, check for seasoning, adding more salt/pepper/sugar/balsamic as necessary. Combine the sauce and pasta. Spoon into bowls. Top with a sprinkling of parsley, salt, a grind of pepper, parmesan and chilli. Some crispy prosciutto is wicked too.