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.

Braised Rabbit with Star Anise and Cranberries

A mate of mine recently gave me a whole stack of bunny wabbits, dressed and everything. Having never cooked rabbit and only eaten it once this was new territory. I did some research and this is attempt number one. Many recipes pointed out how delicate a flavour it is but most recipes have bold flavours like mine so I went for the safe option. Not surprisingly - its quite like chicken. On the upside, this was very nice but next time I will be more gentle. The most interesting part was the cranberries, a few recipes I saw called for sultanas or raisins which I do not like in savoury food. The cranberries puffed up heaps but the flavour went to the background - my wife didn't even know until I told her after that they were there. Tasty.

1 kg of rabbit on the bone
2 rashers of bacon cut in batons
1 stick celery in fine dice
2 carrots in fine dice
1 onion in fine dice
2 big handfuls diced mushroom
3 cloves garlic
1 tin tomato purée
1 star anise
1 handful of dried cranberries
1 good slug of red wine
2 bay leaves
A bouquet garni  (tie some herbs together)
A splash of Brandy
1 cup chicken stock
Flour for dusting
Salt and pepper
Butter and extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs sour cream
Parsley and chilli flakes
Good mash


Season the flour and dust the rabbit. Heat the butter until foaming then add in some olive oil. Brown the rabbit then remove to a clean plate. Fry the bacon then remove to a clean plate. Sauté the onion, celery and carrot until soft then add in the garlic and cook until fragrant then remove. Add more oil/butter sauté the mushrooms with some salt and pepper, add the onion mixture and bacon. If you want a thick sauce, cook through some of the left over flour from dusting. Deglaze the pan with the Brandy and red wine and when the boozie smell is gone pour in the tomato, cranberries, star anise, stock and stir to combine. Place in the bouquet garni and add the rabbit pieces. Reduce the heat to low, add a lid and leave it for 1.5 hours. Remove the rabbit pieces and take the meat off the bone (discard those), chop into bite sized pieces then return to the sauce and stir through the sour cream. Check for seasoning. Garnish and serve with some mash.

Pork Rack Cassoulet with Cherry Tomatoes

I've been meaning to make this for some time now. I had intended on making it slightly differently but I left some diced lamb in the butchers. Thankfully however the apple and cinnamon pork sausages that I bought easily had enough flavour. I thought that this would have been more labour intensive than it was, it was really very simple actually, give it a crack.

1 pork rack
2 pork sausages (apple and cinnamon)
1 tin crushed cherry tomatoes
1 tin cannelini beans, drained
1 onion diced
2 cloves garlic diced
2 tsp chopped rosemary
1 slice of bacon, diced
4 or 5 bay leaves
1 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper
A little Pesto Aioli
Chives
Olive oil

Colour the sausages in the pan you are going to cook the dish in, with a little olive oil - remove to a clean plate. Saute the garlic, onions, rosemary and bacon. Pour in the cherry tomatoes and cannelini beans and the chicken stock. Slice the sausages and place them in too. Give it a good mix along with the bay leaves. Bring to a simmer, turn down to very low and let it do its thing four a couple of hours.
Oil the pork rack and rub plenty of salt into the rind. Place on a roasting tray then place into a preheated 180C oven for 25 minutes. Increase the temperature to 220C for another 15. Keep an eye on the rack that you don't overcook it or burn the crackling. Remove to a plate and allow to rest covered loosely with foil.
Check the cassoulet for seasoning adding more salt and pepper as required. Remove the bay leaves. Slice the pork rack between the bone. Spoon the cassoulet into bowls, bang on your piece of pork, drizzle over some pesto aioli and a sprinkling of chives.

Slow Roasted Leg of Lamb with Sage and Anchovy

Cooked anchovy rules. Hard. I was watching a cooking podcast from Strada and the dude did lamb rump with an anchovy, oil and rosemary sauce which I thought was a great concept so I tweaked it to get this. My wife who does not dig on anchovy loved it (best ever lamb roast apparently) and the kids smashed it too. Anyhow, quick and easy to prepare and could be applied to any cut of lamb I would imagine.

5 or 6 anchovy fillets
1 handful sage leaves
6  garlic cloves
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
Pepper
1 leg of lamb (mine was boned out)
1 leek chopped
2 piece celery chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 cup sparkling white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock

Blitz anchovies, sage leaves, 3 cloves garlic, pepper and olive oil along with some of the oil from the anchovies. Paint the lamb with about half of the flavoured oil. Sear the lamb on all sides in your roasting dish on the stove top then remove. Add in the leek and celery and remaining garlic and soften a little in the flavoured oil then deglaze with the wine, cook out the alcohol for a minute then add in the chicken stock. Add a lid then place into a pre-heated 140C oven for 2 hours. Remove the lid, paint with some more of the oil then return to the oven for another 45 mins. Rest the meat and strain the sauce. I served this with fresh beans and mash and if you want an extra hit of anchovy, spoon some more oil over your meat.

Osso Bucco with Olive, Fennel and Cherry Tomato

Delicious and cheap. I removed the fennel stalks after the cooking process as they were a little fibrous but they had already done their job. If you wanted to keep it in (which I would next time) I would use a more tender portion of the fennel bulb or slice it more thinly.

4 pieces osso bucco
4 tbs flour
Pepper and salt
2 handfuls chopped fennel (approx)
5 or 6 mushrooms torn or chopped
1 stalk celery sliced
1 onion in wedges
1 handful cherry tomatoes
2 cloves garlic sliced
Olives (as much or as little)
1 cup red wine
Some chicken stock
Gremolata
Natural yoghurt
Olive oil
Some great mash

Season the flour and dust the meat. Heat some oil to medium high and sear the meat, giving it some nice colour. Remove to a clean plate. Throw in the veg, olives and garlic and toss until fragrant. Tip in the remaining flour and toss through, cooking for a couple of minutes. Deglaze with the red wine, mix, add in the meat and pour in enough chicken stock to just come up to the meat. Add a lid, reduce to the lowest setting and simmer for 2 or 3 hours. When ready remove the meat and stir in a couple of tbs of gremolata. Spoon some mash into bowls, add some sauce, top with some meat and a dollop of yoghurt. My mash was potato, parsnip and cauliflower florets.

Pork Cheek Braised with Fennel and Chorizo, Finished with Watercress and Feta

This is the very definition of sometimes food. Holy moly, so tender you could have eaten this using a brick, the fat from the crackling scrapped off like soft jelly. The butcher warned me about this. The cheek came as an entire jowl, its not very pretty to look at but it certainly did the job. Very little prep, a few hours cooking, a lot of guilty face stuffing. Oh, and I meant to poach some green prawns in the reducing liquid but forgot, it would have been great though...

2 pork jowls (score the skin)
1/3 chorrizo sausage finely minced

1 stick celery finely diced
1 carrot finely diced
1 onion finely diced
3 cloves garlic sliced
1/2 a fennel finely diced
1/2 a capsicum finely diced
1 cup bubbly white wine
1 bunch watercress
2 cherry tomatoes
1 tbs marinated feta
1 tbs caraway seeds
1 tbs salt (maybe more)
1/4 bottle passata
1 tbs sugar
Pepper
Olive oil

Heat some olive in a large frying pan to medium high. Half cook the chorizo then remove to a clean plate. Oil the pork skin, pour over the caraway seeds and salt and rub into the skin. Sear the underside of the pork jowl until it has great colour then remove to a clean plate. Throw in the veg and garlic and toss about until fragrant. Pour any resting juice into the veg, add in the chorizo, place the jowls on top and pour in enough wine to cover the veg (not watercress or tomato) and come a little up the sides of the meat. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Cover with a lid and allow to simmer for 2 hours.
Preheat an oven to 140C.
Remove the lid and place the pork in the oven - it reduces the sauce and dries out the skin. Roast for an hour. Remove the dish from the oven. Take the meat from the pan and place back in the oven, under a medium high grill, 2 or 3 shelves down until crispy and awesome. Good idea to place something underneath it. In the meantime reduce the sauce over a low heat on the stove top with half the sugar and all of the passata. Mince the watercress with the feta and cherry tomatoes. Mix through half of the feta, check the cheek sauce for seasoning and sweetness and add more salt/pepper/sugar if required. If you feel as though it is too heavy, squeeze in some lemon - the feta and tomato will freshen it up though. Slice, arrange on a plate, add some sauce, top with more feta gear and serve with some great toasted bread.

Sage and Thyme Pork Belly

Only because the crackling was perfect. The crackling was still crispy the next night cold from the fridge.

1 piece pork belly, skin scored

1 handful sage leaves

1 handful thyme leaves

1 tbs salt

1/2 an onion sliced

4 or 5 mushrooms sliced

1 carrot sliced thin-ish

1 cup sparkling white wine

1 cup stock (or more if desired)

2 cloves garlic chopped

1 lemon in quarters

2 tsp (or more) sugar

Olive oil

Chop the herbs. Spread the onion on the bottom of a roasting tray, top with the sliced mushroom and carrot. Pour over a little oil. Place the pork belly on top, pour on a little oil, add on the salt and chopped herbs and rub into the skin. Pour the wine in, avoid getting any on the skin, add in 3/4 of the lemon quarters and cover with foil. Cook in a preheated 170C oven for 1 hour then remove the foil, roast for a further hour then remove from the oven. Place the veg (pulp of the lemon only) and liquid from the roasting tray in a small saucepan with the stock and garlic. Simmer while the skin crackles then blitz with a stick blender. Check for seasoning, add some sugar and a squeeze of lemon.

To crisp the skin stick the belly under the griller, two shelves down so it doesn't burn, on high, rotating it every few minutes to get an even, super crispy result. 

I served this with blanched asparagus and a sweet potato and potato mash with some marinated feta mixed through.

Pulled Slow Roasted Lamb for Pizza

A fair chunk of this didn't make it to the pizza - we ate it well before then. This gear would work equally well to finish a risotto, to fill ravioli, go through pasta, sit on crusty bread or fill pasties/empanadas. The pizzas had either garlic oil and passata bases, included roasted sweet potato and basil leaves and were finished with yoghurt once cooked. One I filled as a calzone. Stuffing around is worth it sometimes.

1 kg lamb pieces

3 or 4 shallots

4 cloves garlic

Fresh thyme

1 tbs balsamic vinegar

1 tbs olive oil

Salt and cracked pepper

1 cup red wine

Mix the olive oil, balsamic, thyme and enough salt and cracked pepper for all of the lamb in a large bowl. Add the lamb to the bowl and rub all over then transfer to something suitable for roasting in. Place the lamb in a preheated 200C oven for 20 minutes then reduce the heat to 140C and roast uncovered for 2 hours. Take from the oven and remove the meat, garlic and shallots to a clean bowl and allow to cool. Return your pan to the stove top over a medium heat. Deglaze with the red wine and quickly scrape up any bits. Pour the liquid into a bowl until ready. When the meat has cooled enough to handle, cut from the bone and either chop with a knife or pull apart with two forks. Remove the garlic and shallots from their skins, chop.  Remove it all to a large clean bowl and stir through the wine gear. Use as you see fit.

Chicken Braise with Chorizo, Leek and Olives with Cous Cous

Cheap and radical. Very little work and got better as the days went on. I think that the better the quality olives you use will provide you with a better quality result.

4 chicken thigh fillets
1 sprig rosemary stripped
Salt and pepper

1 tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 slice bacon diced

1 large leek in thin batons

6 or 7 oil marinated olives, chopped

1 tbs of the marinated olive oil

2 tbs chorizo in small dice

5 or 6 mushrooms quartered

1 cup white wine

1 1/2 cups passata

2 garlic cloves sliced

1 tbs natural yoghurt

2 cups couscous

1/2 a lemon

1/2 a lime

Chopped parsley

1 chilli sliced to serve

Season the chicken with salt, cracked pepper and rosemary and set aside. Add the extra virgin to a large pan that has a lid and heat to medium high. Cook the bacon until it has nice colour then remove. Sear the chicken pieces on each side until they have nice colour but aren't cooked and remove to a clean bowl and cover with foil. Add the mushrooms to the pan and saute until they take on some colour then add in the garlic and cook until fragrant then add in the leek. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring until the leek is fragrant. Deglaze the pan with the white wine scrapping up any bits. Slice the chicken. Pour in the passata and add the chicken and its juice, olives, chorizzo, oil from the olives, stir and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low, add a lid and allow to braise for 5 to 10 minutes. Turn off and remove from the heat while you prepare the couscous and stuff about.

Pour the couscous into a bowl and squeeze in the juice from the lemon and lime, add the lemon and lime halves to the bowl. Cover with boiling water and cover for 5 minutes. Remove the citrus pieces and fluff the couscous with a fork.

Check the braise for seasoning, adjust, stir through the yoghurt and some parsley. Spoon the couscous into bowls, top with the chicken braise, parsley and sliced chilli and tuck in.

Lamb Neck Braised with Mushroom finished with Fresh Tomato and Ricotta

Tasty, easy and cheap.

400 gms lambs neck slices
2 cups flour
2 tbs rosemary chopped
Salt and pepper
1 glass red wine
1 cup beer (I used White Stag)
1 lemon quartered
5 button mushrooms sliced
5 or 6 pieces dried porcini
2 cloves garlic sliced
1 clove garlic whole 
4 tbs ricotta
1 handful basil leaves
1 carrot diced
1 potato diced
1 small sweet potato diced
Olive oil


Season the flour with the rosemary and salt and pepper. Cover the dried porcini in boiling water for five minutes, remove then chop, reserving the water. Dust the lamb neck slices in the flour then sear with some olive oil over medium high in a casserole dish. When they have nice colour, remove to a clean plate. Add a little more oil to the casserole dish and quickly saute the mushrooms and sliced garlic until fragrant. Stir in 2 tbs of the seasoned flour and cook for a further minute or so. Add in the lamb necks and their juice, the root vegetables and quartered lemon. Deglaze the pan with the red wine, beer and the mushroom water, removing all bits from the bottom of the dish. Return to the boil, reduce the heat to very low, add a lid and simmer gently for 3 hours.
Blitz the basil leaves, whole garlic clove and ricotta.
After three hours remove the lemon quarters, stir through the ricotta mixture, check for seasoning and spoon into bowls. Serve with nice crusty bread.

Braised Beef with Red Wine and Basil

The difference between a good meal and a very tasty one really is only in how you finish it. Always check for seasoning and think about what could be added to lift the dish.



With mash...

500 gms diced stewing beef

Fresh cracked pepper and salt

2 tbs minced rosemary

2 shallots sliced

1 cup red wine

1 cup chicken stock

3 handful mushrooms quartered

1 good slug of brandy

2 handfuls basil leaves

2 cloves sliced garlic

2 cloves minced garlic

Olive oil

1 tbs extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp corn flour

Combine the beef, salt, pepper, rosemary and some olive oil with your hands. Heat 1 tbs or so of olive oil in a heavy based saucepan that has a lid. When browned remove to a clean plate. Brown the mushrooms with the sliced shallots and garlic. Add the beef and its juice and deglaze with the brandy. When the brandy has evaporated, add the wine and bring to the boil, add the chicken stock, stir, reduce the heat to low and add the lid. Simmer for 1.5 hours. Mix about 3 tbs of the cooking liquid into a teacup and mix through the corn flour, squashing any lumps. Mix the corn flour through the braised meat and simmer for 5 minutes. Slice the basil, add to the pot with the minced garlic and extra virgin and mix through the braised awesomeness. Check for seasoning - add some cream or similar if you want and serve with crusty bread.

Beef Cheek Stroganoff with Porcini Sour Cream

Worth the time invested, beef cheeks rule and pearl barley absorbs bucket loads of flavour.

3 beef cheeks

1 tsp paprika

2 tsp porcini salt

1 cup flour

Pepper

Olive oil

6 or 7 mushrooms sliced thickly

1 onion sliced

2 handfuls blended cherry tomatoes

1 cup chicken stock

1 cup red wine
1 tbs balsamic

1 cup pearl barley

1/2 cup minced parsley

Glazed carrots

2 tbs sour cream

2 tsp small bits of porcini mushrooms

Combine the flour, paprika, porcini salt and pepper. Dust the beef cheeks in the flour. Heat some oil to medium high in the bottom of the pan with a lid you are going to cook with. Sear the beef cheeks on both sides and set aside when they have nice colour. Add in the sliced mushroom and onion and coat in the oil, turning for a few minutes. Add in some of the left over seasoned flour and cook for a further 2 minutes. Pour in the wine and scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour in the chicken stock and the blended tomatoes, stir to combine. Place the beef cheeks in to the pan, pour a little balsamic over each cheek, cover and place into a preheated 140C oven for 2.5 hours. Remove the pan from the oven and carefully remove the cheeks with a large spoon. Stir in the pearl barley and parsley and return the beef cheeks, add the lid. Return to the oven for 30 mins or until the pearl barley is tender. Add more stock if necessary.

Combine the sour cream and porcini bits and place in the fridge for 30 mins.

Remove the cheeks from the oven, spoon some mixture into warmed bowls, add meat to the top and finish with some porcini flavoured sour cream. Serve with glazed carrots.

Lamb Shanks with an Asparagus and Ricotta Sauce

Easy and lighter tasting than most shank recipes I have made.

1 shank per person
Stripped rosemary
Chopped garlic
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
1 cup red wine
4 or 5 tbs ricotta
1 bunch asparagus thinly sliced
Chicken stock
1/2 tbs fresh basil
1/2 tbs fresh parsley
1/2 tbs fresh mint
2 cloves garlic
Steamed cauliflower

Preheat an oven to 130C. Grind the stripped rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper and some olive oil in a pestle and mortar until you have a rough paste. Rub the paste over each shank. Sear the shanks on the stove in the casserole/roasting dish you are going to use until they have nice colour. Pour in the red wine, add a lid and place in the oven for 3 or so hours. Baste the shanks occasionally.
When the shanks are ready, pour off or spoon out all of the rendered fat. Place the cooking dish back on the stove top and heat to medium. Deglaze the pan with about 1 cup of chicken stock. Mince the garlic, basil, parsley and mint. Add the minced herbs, asparagus slices and ricotta to the chicken stock. Reduce slightly and check for seasoning. Place a shank on each plate, top with sauce and serve with the veg.

Whole Beef Shank Slow Cooked with Sage Tapenade

Not as complicated but easily as tasty as it sounds. Can't get a whole beef shank? - use osso bucco slices. Don't like olives? - leave 'em out (its no longer close to a tapenade however). I fully plan to use this method again but I think that next time I will use a slow cooker or add an hour of cooking time. To be true to the result that I created tonight I will use the cooking time here I used. My recommendation to you however if you want to try this would be to use a slow cooker. As this is a large chunk of meat full of sinew, it needs more love than it would in slices as in osso bucco. What I did was tender but didn't melt.
Should be enough meat for 6 adults. As for the pictures, annoyingly I could not rotate the first 2 no matter how hard I tried...


1 whole trimmed beef shank (see pic)
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
1 stick celery in small dice
1 capsicum in small dice
1 carrot in small dice
1 onion in small dice
5 medium sized field mushroom in slices
1/2 bottle red wine
4 tbs oven roasted cherry tomatoes
1/2 bunch sage
3 cloves garlic chopped
3 large green olives minced
Extra virgin olive oil
3 or 4 tbs gremolata
2 bunches broccolini halved
2 bunches asparagus halved
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
Parmesan cheese
Some great mash
Some great bread

Olive oil, salt and pepper the shank and sear it on all sides over a medium high heat in a dish with a lid large enough to cook it in, remove and allow to cool for a bit. Combine the chopped olive, sage, chopped garlic and enough extra virgin olive oil to lubricate the mixture. Rub the olive/sage mixture on the outside of the shank. Reheat the cooking dish then toss through the diced carrot, onion, capsicum, celery and sliced field mushrooms through the left over shank seared oil. Deglaze the pan with red wine, nestle in the shank, scatter the cherry tomatoes around the shank, cover and slow cook at 130C for 3 hours.
Prep the rest of the vegetables, and heat the water etc. Make the mash and cover. Remove the shank to a clean plate and cover with foil. Spoon off as much fat with a spoon as you can and discard. Add half the gremolata to the shank sauce and cover for 5 -10 minutes while you finish everything else off.
Steam the greens for 5 mins starting with the broccolini then adding the asparagus 2 mins later (depending on thickness). Drain the greens, allow to steam out for a minute then dress with the extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, lemon juice and as much Parmesan as you like.
Try to carve the shank off the bone in 2 or 3 large chunks then slice as thick as necessary (I went for 1cm thick slices). Spoon some shank sauce/vegetables onto clean bowls or plates, add some mash and top with slices of meat, more gremolata and greens with pieces of bread on the side. My mash had horseradish in it.

Beef Cheeks Braised with Port and Capsicum

Sounds gross, tastes unreal. I have bought these in different states in the past - as a whole strip that I needed to trim, as a 'fillet' and, this time as medallions. Good gear non the less, its cheap and tasty. You can do a great deal with them, treat them like you would shanks or big cuts of casserole meat if it suits, be simple or be complicated, it doesn't matter. Use whatever herbs you can get your hands on, in this recipe I used thyme, parsley and some basil flower/seeds from a flowering basil plant - the flavour is great and is more robust.

4 beef cheeks

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 handful of chopped herbs

1 capsicum in small dice

2 or 3 cloves of garlic sliced

1 onion in small dice
1 bunch silverbeet washed, deveined and chopped
1 cup port
1/2 cup chicken stock
Minced parsley
Grated Parmesan
1 clove of garlic minced
Extra virgin olive oil
Tomato bread

Preheat an oven to 140C. Heat some oil to medium high in a large heavy based saucepan that has a lid. Oil and season the beef cheeks and sear them in the pan. Remove the cheeks when they have nice colour on both sides, add in the onion, capsicum, garlic, the sliced garlic and chopped herbs then deglaze the pan with the port and stock. Scrape up any sediment while mixing all of the ingredients well. Nestle the beef cheeks into the mixture, add the lid and place in the oven for about 3 hours.

After 3 hours remove the cheeks to a clean plate and cover. Add the silverbeet and minced garlic to the saucepan, mix in and bung back in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and pour in any resting juice from the meat and check for seasoning, adding more salt/pepper as necessary. Spoon the silverbeet/capsicum mixture into warmed bowls and add a beef cheek to the top of each. Grate on some Parmesan, sprinkle on parsley and drizzle on a little extra virgin. Serve with tomato bread.

Slow Roasted Leg of Lamb with Red Wine and Maple Syrup

This was gooood. I've seen maple used with roasts before but usually its pork but I thought I would give it a go and it was worth experimenting with. As an educated guess I would say that a well flavoured honey would work equally as well. Tonight I used about 1 tbs of maple syrup but I think that 2 or 3 would have been better, the flavour really goes to the background but the result is quite complex. The actual best part  of this (apart from the ridiculously tender meat) was the mushrooms, they really absorbed all of the flavours and intensified them.

1 lamb leg (mine was about 2.5kg)
2 cups red wine
2 or 3tbs maple syrup
1 sprig of rosemary stripped
3 cloves of garlic in thick slices
4 cloves garlic whole, skin on
About 10 button mushrooms
1 or 2 tbs cream
2 or 3 tsp porcini salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Potato (I used Desiree)
Thyme sprigs
Steamed snow peas

Make small incisions into the lamb with a small sharp knife all over the lamb. Widen each with either your finger or the non-business end of a spoon or knife. Shove the slices of garlic into the newly formed holes in the lamb, pour a little oil over the lamb, season with porcini salt and pepper and massage the rosemary all over the leg. Add the mushroom, whole garlic, wine and maple syrup into a roasting dish or large saucepan, add the lamb on top, add foil (or a lid) and place into a pre-heated 130C oven for 3 hours. After 3 hours remove the lid, increase the temperature to 140C and baste the lamb with the red wine. Place back into the oven for another 2 hours uncovered, basting every 20 - 30 minutes. Slice the potatoes in half length ways and boil until just tender. Remove the lamb from the oven to a clean plate and cover with foil and a tea towel. Squish the garlic out of its skin into the red wine, add the cream and mix in. Place the red wine on the stove top over a medium heat to reduce a little, adding more liquid if required. Heat some olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and add the thyme then the potatoes cut side down. Cook until golden. Carve the meat, serve with the potato and steamed snow peas and the red wine and maple sauce.

Osso Bucco in Dark Beer

I learnt a few things from this recipe. Firstly, as it turns out any almost any liquid is suitable to cook in. Secondly, not to be afraid of braising in beer, it is awesome. I was expecting a really condensed beer flavour but there was not. The flavour was developed but complimented the others and was no stronger in flavour than red wine is in braising. Thirdly, to use more beer next time. I thinned the beer out with a little chicken stock fearing it would be too intense. Finally, to make small incisions in the connective tissue around the outside of the osso bucco, otherwise it curls up. Any cut of stewing meat would be suitable to substitute with and, use any beer you think would be appropriate.

Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1/2 a sprig of rosemary chopped
1 slice of osso bucco per person (1kg diced if using other meat)
3 shallots sliced thinly (or 1 small onion)
2 field mushrooms in big chunks
4 garlic cloves roughly chopped
Bouquet garni (1/2 a handful of different herbs tied together with kitchen string)
3 tbs dried porcini mushrooms (optional)
1.5 stubbies of Tooheys Old
1 capsicum oven roasted, skinned and chopped
7 or 8 silverbeet leaves deveined and chopped
2 tsp garlic oil
Parsley chopped
Mash potato

Preheat an oven to 140C. Oil the osso bucco slices and season with salt, pepper and rosemary. Make a few shallow vertical cuts around the outside of each slice to stop it from curling. Sear the osso bucco over a medium high heat in a large saucepan. When you have good colour, transfer to a clean plate. Add the onion, garlic and mushrooms to the pan, toss occasionally until fragrant. Deglaze the pan with the beer, add the porcini, place the osso bucco on top of the mushroom mixture, add the bouquet garni, put on the lid and transfer to the oven for 2 1/2 hours. Remove the saucepan from the oven, take out the meat and cover it. Remove the bouquet garni, mix in the garlic oil, capsicum and silverbeet and cook over a medium low heat for five minutes. If necessary add a little chicken stock. Mix in the parsley, check for seasoning, spoon into bowls, add some mash, place the meat on top.

Pork with Canelli Beans and Star Anise

2 large potatoes in large dice
1 large carrot in large dice
2 handfuls uncooked canelli beans
1 onion in large dice
3 pork forequarter chops in large dice
1 chilli sliced
3 garlic cloves sliced
1 litre chicken stock
Sage chopped
1 rosemary sprig stripped
1 star anise
1 handful flat leaf parsley (stems removed and chopped)
Zest from 1 lemon
Extra virgin olive oil
Parmesan cheese for serving

Combine the pork with a small amount of olive oil, salt, pepper, zest and half the rosemary. Brown the pork in a casserole dish and remove to a clean plate. Saute the onion, garlic, remaining rosemary and chilli over a medium heat until the onion is transparent. Deglaze the pan with stock, lifting all of the sediment from the bottom. Add the pork, vegetables, sage, parsley stalks and the star anise. Simmer over a low heat for 1.5 to 2  hours keeping an eye on the level of stock. Check for seasoning and serve with parmesan shavings, a squeeze of lemon, a little extra virgin olive oil and fresh parsley leaves.