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.

Garlic and Red Wine Sauce

I made this for a lamb rack. After eating the lamb rack though, I have decided to either trim all of the fat off prior to cooking or deal with lamb cutlets only. The lamb was delicious, the sauce was excellent but, that much fat on a plate is not cool. The oil combination I used for the garlic was rubbed on the exterior of the lamb, the tomatoes I placed under the lamb while it roasted and I used the resting juices. You could just as easily roast the tomatoes by themselves for 15 minutes or so (until they begin to collapse), coated in a little oil.

1 head of garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
Porcini salt
Pepper
Black cherry vinegar (or balsamic)
1 handful of cherry tomatoes
1 tbs butter
1 shallot diced (or 1/2 a small onion)
1 cup red wine
1 cup stock (I used chicken)

Cut the top off the head of garlic exposing  the tip of each clove. Combine the oil, porcini salt, pepper and vinegar in a bowl and whisk to combine. Place the garlic in some foil and cover with the flavoured oil, seal the foil and roast in the oven for 1 hour at 180 C. With 20 minutes to go for the garlic, oil the tomatoes and bung them in the oven. Saute the shallot in the butter over a medium heat. When translucent add the wine then stock. Reduce, adding more stock if necessary, reducing the temperature if necessary. Remove the garlic from the oven and using the back of a large knife, squish the garlic out onto a chopping board then squish the garlic some more, adding it to the sauce. Add any meat resting juice you may have and add the tomatoes to the sauce, squishing them a little. Check for seasoning, add some parsley, add a little butter if wanted. Put on meat.

Blue Cheese Sauce

This is my first attempt at making blue cheese sauce, not from timidity, my wife hates stink cheese. There are a few components about this recipe that make it interesting. Primarily, it is a simple process with few ingredients and takes very little time to prepare. Secondly, not very much sauce is required as the stuff it is made of is strong. I had about 2 tbs on my massive piece of rump and it was plenty. Finally, as with any recipe I create, quantities are not particularly important and, ingredients are interchangeable or omittable. For example, if you don't have wine don't use it, if you don't have stock use a little water, use veal/beef/vegetable stock instead of chicken stock, use red wine instead of white wine, use different blue cheeses, like cream? use more of it. Whatever.
I can see this being useful with chicken, roasts, salads (when the sauce is cold), with avo on toast, in mayo. Again, whatever.

1 shallot in small dice (or 1 small onion)
1 tbs butter
1 heaped tsp of garlic oil
30 - 40 gms Blue Castello
1/3 cup white wine
2 tbs cream
1/3 cup chicken stock
Steak resting juice
Chopped parsley

Melt the butter over a medium heat, add the shallot and garlic oil. When the shallot is translucent (about 5 minutes) add the wine, allow to come back to the boil then add the cheese, cream and chicken stock. Allow to return to the boil then reduce the heat to medium low. Reduce for 10 minutes, adding the steak resting juice and, more stock if necessary.
Finish the sauce with a small squeeze of lemon, check for seasoning, add some chopped parsley.

Crispy Teriyaki and Nori Chicken

This is a great recipe as finger food for parties. The only downside is it can be a bit time consuming as you need to cook in batches, allow about an hour. I have basically stolen this recipe (with a couple of modifications) from an Anglo/Japanese cookbook called Yoshoku.

Sunflower/grape seed oil (about 1.5 litres)
1kg chicken thighs chopped into thirds
2 nori sheets (sushi paper)
Teriyaki marinade (see previous recipe)
2 cups corn flour
Salt
Pepper
3 or 4 lemons

Combine the chicken with the teriyaki marinade in a bowl and refrigerate. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium high heat. Roughly chop the nori sheets then put into a food processor to finely chop, pushing the pieces down occasionally. You can do this with a knife but it is messy, the shards fly everywhere. Season the corn flour with salt and pepper and the finely chopped nori, stirring with a fork to combine. Drain the chicken well and dust in the corn flour, removing to a clean plate (this step is a tad gluggy on the fingers but worth it). Deep fry the chicken turning if necessary. It should be cooked when it takes on a golden colour, if in doubt, cut a piece open - have a squiz then eat it. As you remove the chicken, sprinkle with a little salt and a squeeze of lemon juice. Cook in batches topping up the oil as necessary.
Serve the chicken with wedges of lemon.

Basic Teriyaki Marinade

This is another recipe we use relatively regularly. It is simple and tasty with few ingredients. Whats really great about this though is that you can really dress it up, it is possible to add all kinds of additional flavours. Some suggestions would be chilli (fresh or dried), five spice, mirin, wakame, sesame seed and lemon/lime juice. Mostly often we use this for chicken thighs.

1/2 cup teriyaki (I prefer Kikkoman)
2 tsp grated ginger
1 -2 cloves of garlic minced
1 tsp sesame oil

Mix it all together.

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.

Fresh Tomato Sauce

This is the first time I have bothered to skin and deseed a tomato, I really wish I had done it earlier. Provided you have tomatoes that smell like tomatoes, the result should be fantastic. The process itself takes very little time. Score one end of a tomato and dunk it in the water you are boiling for your pasta, in less than a minute it will have blistered where you scored it. Remove the tomato, peel of the skin, quarter and jam you thumbs in there to take out the pulp. In total, about 2 minutes.
This entire recipe should only take the time it takes to boil the water and the pasta. Prepare the ingredients as the water starts to boil and cook the sauce while the pasta boils. I am guessing that capers would be great in here as well.

2 deseeded ripe tomatoes
1 shallot sliced
1 garlic clove sliced
Olives (I used Always Fresh Deli Style Olives)
1 small handful of basil and parsley
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil

Squash the olives with the back of a large bladed knife, remove the seeds and give the flesh a rough chop. Roughly chop the tomato. Roughly chop the parsley and basil. Heat the olive oil, add the shallot and garlic. When aromatic, add the tomato and olives with some salt and pepper. Toss the contents and reduce the heat. Add the herbs just before you add the sauce to your pasta.

Barbecued Vegetable Ravioli (Filling)

I bought a ravioli making device and test drove it last night. Heaps easier than trying to form them yourself. Sadly, unless you have a pasta machine or can buy freshly made pasta, rolling it out by hand is not worth the effort. Try as you might, you cannot roll it out thin enough. Regardless, the filling  for the ravioli would make either an excellent pasta sauce of its own (thinned a little) or would be fantastic as a dip. Very simple and tasty.

1 smallish eggplant
1 field mushroom
1 zucchini
1 small beetroot peeled
Thyme
Sage
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 shallot
3 tbs sour cream
1/2 grated Parmesan
1 small handful of basil leaves
1 tbs white balsamic vinegar

Slice all vegetables (except the shallot) into 1 to 2 cm slices. Chop the sage and thyme. Combine the sliced vegetables and herbs and some olive oil in a bowl with some salt. Barbecue the vegetables until cooked. Combine all ingredients in a food processor checking for seasoning.

Pan Fried Field Mushroom

A little white wine would work very well with this also.

Butter
Olive oil
Field mushrooms
Garlic sliced
Sage leaves (or other)
Porcini salt
Cracked pepper
1/3 cup chicken stock

Heat a non-stick pan to medium, melt the butter and when it starts foaming, add some olive oil to stop it from burning. Add the sage leaves and garlic and fry until aromatic. Remove the stem from the field mushroom and place gill side down into the flavoured oil. Fry for five minutes then turn over placing the cooked garlic and sage leaves on top with some porcini salt and cracked pepper. Allow to fry for a couple of minutes then add the chicken stock, placing a lid on top. Reduce the heat to medium-low cooking for another 4-5 minutes or until the stock has reduced. Remove to a plate whole or slice and display as necessary.

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.

Whole Mushroom and Cognac Sauce

I served this with steak on the weekend, it was low maintenance and tasty. The simple ingredient that really makes the difference here is the resting juice from the steak which I had cooked after starting the mushrooms off. You can use that idea for any warm/cooked sauce that you make, much like in gravy. Its not a punch in the face but it gives sauces more depth. Of course the most prominent flavour here though will be the cognac but you could just as easily use brandy or port, even scotch whiskey if you wanted to. This is enough for 6 steaks.

1 tbs garlic oil (more if necessary)
1 shallot thinly sliced
1 bag of small button mushrooms
3 tbs cognac
1/2 cup stock (use what you have on hand)
3 tbs mascarpone (substitute with any form of cream)
The resting juices from steak

Add the garlic oil and shallots to a pan over a medium heat. When aromatic add the mushrooms whole and toss through the flavoured oil. Continue to move about occasionally until coloured all over and a bit soft, about ten minutes. Add the cognac to the pan (be careful it may flare), stirring to remove any caramelised bits from the bottom. When almost completely reduced (about 1 minute) add the stock and allow to reduce. Cook steak, rest steak somewhere warm. Once reduced add the mascarpone and turn down heat to medium low. When reduced add the resting juice from the steak, increase the heat and reduce further. Check for seasoning and spoon over your steak.

Mashed Potato

Mashed potato is capable of taking almost any flavour. For the mash itself I allow one medium sized potato per person and about 1 tbs of butter for 4 people. Use as much milk as is necessary to gain the right consistency and don't be afraid of salt. If you are adding other dairy products, reduce or replace the milk. Also, try different spuds, I really like kipfler potatoes in mash. Try the following additives to mash or combinations there of (example: mayo and sour cream make it taste like potato salad).

• Natural yoghurt
• Sour cream
• Finely diced spring onion or shallot
• Horseradish or horseradish cream
• Wasabi paste
• Mayonnaise
• Parmesan cheese (particularly excellent with yoghurt)
• Porcini salt
• Sauteed mushroom
• Feta
• Feta oil (instead of milk)
• Cream
• Minced parsley
• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Roasted/confit/fresh garlic
• Parsnip
• Lemon rind
• Extra virgin olive oil (instead of milk)
• Roasted cherry tomato oil (instead of milk)
• Blue cheese, Camembert, Costello
• Browned butter (buerre noisette, nut brown butter)
• Seeded mustard
• Truffle salt

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).

Beetroot and Feta Dip

This would also work very well with raw beetroot. Try to use the best extra virgin olive oil you can be bothered using, it makes a difference.

2 medium beetroot

2 tbs crumbled feta

1 clove garlic

1 handful of mint leaves

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (may need more)

1 tbs cherry vinegar (may need more)

Salt and pepper

Peel and cut the beetroot into wedges. Season the wedges then coat in olive oil then roast in an oven at 200C for 30 mins then allow to cool. Put all of the ingredients in a food processor and blend. If the mixture is too dry, add more extra virgin olive oil. Taste the dip and see if it needs a) more mint b) more vinegar c) more salt/pepper d) more garlic.

Serve with toasted crusty bread. We ate this with barbecued lamb backstraps and a parsley salad.

Mushroom and Silverbeet Risotto

This did require some preparation but it was very tasty. If you don't have silverbeet use spinach. When I made this I used the leftover stock from the Garlic Thyme Pot Roasted Chicken recipe which was about 400ml and topped it up with store bought stock. I also used the fat from the top of the stock instead of the olive oil and butter to toast the rice.

2 cups risotto rice
4 cups chicken stock (more may be necessary)
8 silverbeet leaves deveined and roughly chopped
2 tbs yoghurt (natural or Greek)
1/2 an onion finely diced
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 sprig rosemary stripped
2 tbs pesto
5 chicken thigh fillets
1 lemon
2 tbs butter
2 tbs olive oil
300 gms diced mushroom
1 1/2 cups white wine

Combine chicken and pesto and allow to marinade in the fridge for a while.
Steam or boil the silverbeet until just cooked, drain, squeeze out any moisture, allow to cool then blend with the yoghurt in a food processor then set aside in the fridge.
Heat 1 tbs butter in a large heavy based frying pan, when it foams add 1 tbs olive oil. Add the stripped rosemary and half of the garlic, cooking until fragrant then add mushrooms, toss to coat and saute until mostly cooked. Add 1/2 cup white wine and reduce, remove and set aside.
Cook the chicken in a frying pan in a little oil over a medium heat (so the pesto doesn't burn) until just cooked and set aside.
Heat the stock in a medium sized frying pan. Using a large, heavy based frying pan with high sides, saute the onion and remaining garlic over a medium high heat. When translucent add risotto rice and toss to coat, toasting for about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the wine and allow to almost completely absorb. Reduce the heat to medium. From this point add 1 ladle of stock at a time when each previous one is almost absorbed. When the stock is almost all gone, try a few rice grains, if they are still quite uncooked add more stock to your saucepan and continue until cooked. This should take about 18 - 20 minutes.
When the stock has been absorbed and the rice is just cooked, remove from the heat, stir in the silverbeet,  any juice from the chicken, mushrooms and Parmesan cheese. Check for seasoning then spoon into serving bowls.
Top with sliced chicken and a squeeze of lemon.

Garlic Thyme Pot Roasted Chicken

Pot roasting is fantastic and requires little preparation. This recipe takes about ten minutes to prepare, 2 1/4 hours to cook, the cold meat stays moist and the left over stock can be used in risotto. The fat will rise to the top when refrigerated and the stock should keep for at least a week. This recipe is largely inspired by a Donna Hay recipe but I have included it here as I think the stock from this chicken is the business for risotto.

1.5 kg whole chicken
1 head of garlic, cloves peeled
1 handful of thyme
1 lemon (skewer the skin a few times)
6 potatoes washed and quartered
1 onion halved the sliced lengthwise
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup stock

Put half of the thyme, a few garlic cloves and the lemon in the cavity of the chicken. Tie the legs with string. Place the chicken and the rest of the ingredients into a fitting casserole dish, season with salt and pepper and put into a pre-heated oven (150C) with the lid on for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the lid, add some veg if you wish then continue cooking for a further 45 mins.

Shanks

For this recipe I haven't dusted the shanks in seasoned flour and herbs and I didn't add any tomato to the braising liquid. With no tomato the shanks seemed less 'heavy' and without dusting the shanks I saved heaps of time.

3 lamb shanks
1 sprig rosemary, 1/2 stripped 1/2 finely chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 onion thinly sliced
8 mushrooms quartered
8 slices dried porcini mushroom finely chopped
2 carrots in small dice
8 silverbeet leaves deveined and shredded
1/4 cup port
1/2 bottle red wine
500 ml stock
1 handful fresh basil
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Some great mashed potato

Heat olive oil to medium high in a deep, wide, heavy based saucepan add the stripped rosemary and sear the shanks on all sides then set aside. Add onion, garlic, remaining rosemary and mushrooms to the pan and cook until fragrant and the mushrooms have a little colour. Add more oil if necessary.
Deglaze the pan with port and when almost evaporated add the wine and allow the alcohol smell to cook out. Add the carrot, porcini mushroom and stock then place the shanks on top, add the lid and place into a pre-heated (150C) oven for three hours. Remove the lid, baste and continue cooking for a a further ten minutes. Remove the shanks from  the pan and set aside in a warm place.
Place the saucepan on the stove top over a medium heat and add the silverbeet. While the silverbeet cooks blend the basil and extra virgin olive oil.
Serve the shanks on top of the sauce, mash to the side and top with the basil oil.

Mint and Parmessan Crusted Lamb Cutlets

Try this for an entree, simple and tasty. Its seems like heaps of oil but there will be almost as much left.

4 lamb cutlets
1 cup polenta (or semolina)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (from a microplane)
3 tbs chopped mint
Rind from 1 lemon
Salt and pepper
1 egg
2 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil

Combine polenta, cheese, mint, rind, salt and pepper. Beat the egg. Dip the lamb in egg then coat in mixture. Melt the butter over a medium heat until it foams then add the oil. Add the cutlets cooking until golden on each side, it should medium in the middle.

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.

Pumpkin, Sage and Chicken Pasta

This started out as ravioli filling and then I realised that I suck at making ravioli. It was however delicious and simple. Here I have used cottage cheese instead of ricotta which I believe tasted better. If you can be bothered making your own pasta it is definitely worth the effort.

1 packet of pasta of your choice (or 300gms homemade)
2 chicken thighs
1 tbs garlic oil
300gms pumpkin
1 1/2 tbs butter
1 good handful of sage
100gms cottage cheese
1 clove garlic minced
3 slices prosciutto

Dice the chicken with a sharp knife then with one hand on the handle and the other a bit back from the pointy end with fingers pushing down, rock the knife over the chicken and mince it. This will give larger chunks than minced chicken, alternatively, buy minced gear. Heat the garlic oil over a medium high heat and before it colours add the chicken. As this begins to fry add 1 tbs of chopped sage. When cooked, check for seasoning then set aside to cool.
Boil the pumpkin and when cooked mash with the butter and 1/2 a tbs of chopped sage and check for seasoning. Set aside to cool. Grill the prosciutto until crispy then set aside to cool slightly before crumbling. Boil the pasta in salted water. While the pasta is cooking combine the chicken, pumpkin, crumbled prosciutto and cottage cheese. Once the pasta is cooked, drain leaving 1 - 2 tbs of cooking water then stir through 2/3 of the pumpkin mixture.
Add the remaining butter to a small saucepan and when melted add the garlic, adding 10-ish sage leaves 30 seconds later. When the leaves are crisp remove from the heat. Put the pasta in bowls and add some of the remaining mixture to the top of each bowl. Pour some of the sage butter over each bowl.

Garlic Oil

This is one method of producing garlic oil, takes very little time, lasts for weeks in the fridge and is extremely versatile. The other method requires whole cloves in oil and more time, however according to another mate of mine, creates a more intense result. I have yet to explore it.
Once you have made this, let it sit at room temperature for twenty minutes or so before using. I almost solely use this as the base for pizza now instead of tomato sauce. Spread some over the bread of your choice with a little parsley and grill for a snappy garlic bread, use as the base for bruschetta, boil some new potatoes discard the water and return to the heat adding some garlic oil, salt pepper and parsley for super quick garlic potatoes. Etc etc.

5-6 large garlic cloves (more if you want)
Extra Virgin olive oil

Peel and finely mince the garlic. Once it is all chopped, keeping one hand on the handle of a large knife and the other on the blunt edge, squash the garlic at a low angle pulling toward you. Repeat until you have a paste of sorts. Transfer into a small dipping bowl (a ramekin will do) and fill to 2/3 or 3/4 with the oil. Top up as necessary.



Rosemary Potato

Roast Pork (and its remnants)

There are three parts to this recipe which make it interesting 1) the trivet 2) the crackling and potatoes and 3) the gravy.

1. A trivet keeps the meat off the bottom of the roasting pan and are usually metal, this one is edible. Use root vegetables, possibly onion (will be strong), herbs and garlic under your roast to catch the juice from the meat. Once the meat is cooked, take the trivet out of the pan, remove the garlic skin and blend the whole lot and add it to your gravy. If you don't want the floury texture of the potato, blend everything else and eat the spuds.
2. Before you start roasting, pat dry the meat and rub sage salt into it. When the meat is cooked, remove the skin as a whole piece with a knife and place on a rack above your roasting potatoes and crank the temperature to 220C. Pour the remaining fat from the roasting pan over the potatoes as well and baste occasionally. To achieve perfect potatoes, cut the potatoes in half length wise and place flat side down, roast without turning and baste.
3. Place the pan on the stove top over a medium heat, add a couple of teaspoons of sugar to the tray and allow it caramelise before deglazing. In this case I used cranberry juice to deglaze. It was great. Once you have deglazed the pan, pour the contents into a saucepan, its easier.

2kg rolled pork loin roast
1-2tbs sage salt
X amount of medium sized potato
2 carrot
6 garlic cloves
1 cup cranberry juice
2 tsp sugar
1 cup white wine
1 cup stock
1 tbs minced parsley


Preheat oven to 250C. Pat down the pork with paper towelling and rub the sage salt all over. Create a trivet by arranging 2 halved potatoes, 2 halved carrots and 6 garlic cloves (all oiled) in the middle of the roasting pan, making sure that the garlic is in the middle or it will burn. Place the pork on top and put in the oven for 20 minutes at 250C the reduce the temperature to 180C. Roast for a further 1 hour 40. With 45 minutes to go, place as many potatoes halved and oiled as you need, cut side down onto another roasting tray and put in oven. Roast potatoes for an hour.
When the meat is ready, remove from oven, carefully take off skin in one piece and place on a plate, cover with foil and place somewhere warm or cover with a tea towel. Put the skin on the oven tray over the roasting potatoes and pour over any pork fat over the potatoes. Increase the temperature to 200C for the remaining roasting time.
To make the gravy, remove the trivet and blend. Put the roasting pan over a medium heat, sprinkle some sugar over the pan, allow to caramelise, deglaze with cranberry juice, scrapping up any browned bits. Pour into a saucepan adding the wine, stock and trivet blend. Reduce over a medium heat to your desired consistency. Pour any of the resting juice into the saucepan. Just before serving, add in the parsley.

The remnants:

The following day, reheat over a medium-low heat any remaining gravy and thin out slightly with either water or more cranberry juice. Crack in as many eggs as will fit, poaching until just cooked and serve on toast. Sounds gross but it is amazing.

The left over meat is great with Jarlsberg cheese, mushroom and porcini salt on a toasted sandwich.

Baked Mushrooms

There is a common theme here, I love mushrooms. This is about as complicated as I get with baked shroom. Usually I merely put sliced garlic, parsley, a sprinkling of wine, lemon rind and butter and occasionally Parmesan. This however was wicked.

1 tbs each of chopped fresh basil and oregano

2 tbs bread crumbs (I used Japanese)

1 tbs roasted tomato oil

1 tbs roasted tomatoes
2 cloves garlic chopped

Porcini salt

Lemon rind
Wine (I used Riesling)
4 large flat mushrooms

Grease an oven tray and pre-heat the oven to 200C. Pour a little wine over the top of each mushroom. Mince the remaining ingredients with a knife, add pepper and divide evenly across the top of each mushroom. Bake for 20 minutes or until the shrooms have collapsed.

Porcini Salt

I have made flavoured salt many times before, they add so much flavour and depth to a meal. Using a mortar and pestle, grind any flavour you choose (e.g. rosemary, chilli, five spice, lemon rind) with some salt, allow it to dry then store in an air tight container (otherwise it will go stale quickly), it is that simple.
A friend of mine told me about this particular salt variant last year and it wasn't until recently that I tried it. I am a fool and should have done it much sooner. Porcini salt can be (and should be) used in salad dressings, on roasted potato, on grilled/barbecued/fried meats, in fritatas and scrambled eggs just to name a few. In this case, you should use a spice grinder or food processor as a mortar and pestle just won't do the job.

5-7g dried porcini mushrooms
2 tbs sea salt flakes

Grind porcini mushrooms in a spice grinder or food processor. When you reach the desired consistency, mix with the salt and store in an air tight container.

Mushroom Goo

I make variations of this regularly. Sometimes I use it as a pate, sometimes I put it through pasta, most recently it went on filo pastry with cold smoked salmon and basil, topped with more filo, milk wash then bunged in the oven. Sometimes I use sour cream and others natural yoghurt. In this instance I have used a sweet late harvest Riesling which worked brilliantly, normally I would use a quantity of wine and chicken stock. Mushroom is fantastically versatile, basically you can do anything with it you choose.

500g mushroom in small dice
1/2 an onion in small dice
2 cloves of freshly minced garlic
1 cup late harvest Riesling
1 knob of butter
1 tbs of oven roasted tomato oil
150-200g cream cheese
Garlic chives chopped

Melt the butter oven a medium high heat until foaming then add the tomato oil, onion and garlic. When fragrant add the mushroom and toss quickly to coat before the mushroom absorbs too much oil. Cook over a medium heat until the mushrooms have taken on some colour and have become soft. Season to taste. While this happens, thin out the cream cheese with a little boiling water to make it workable then add the garlic chives. Add the wine to the pan and allow to reduce almost completely, set aside to cool for five minutes. Combine mushroom and cream cheese.

Garlic and Parsely Prawns

This is well tasty. The most time consuming portion is peeling the prawns. I have used cooked prawns here simply because peeling cooked prawns is more simple.

1 kg of cooked prawns peeled
2 cloves garlic
1 tbs oven roasted tomato olive oil
5-6 cherry tomatoes quartered
Juice of half a lemon
3 tbs finely chopped curly parsley
Chilli flakes for serving
Mayonnaise for serving

Fry the garlic in the oil over  medium high heat until fragrant. Add the prawns and tomato and toss to combine, cooking for one minute. Add half of the parsley, the quartered tomatoes, season to taste and toss to combine, cooking for a further minute. Add lemon juice and stir for a further thirty seconds. Remove to a plate topping with chilli flakes (optional), a drizzling of mayonnaise and the remaining parsley

Meatballs

Meatballs are brilliant, put in any flavour you want, make it as spicy as you please, coat in semolina, fill with cheese or, use different types of mince.
The only difference here is that I have used a red wine based sauce and a vinegar with the bread when it was toasted. Try pouring the sauce over some cooked pasta and finishing with the meatballs on top for a more substantial meal or, bung toothpicks in them and take them around as canapes with the sauce for dipping.

750g premium beef mince
1 tbs each of chopped parsley and sage
1 handful of copped basil
2 cloves garlic chopped
1/2 a chopped onion and sauteed
2 tbs crumbled feta
1/2 a chopped onion raw
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2-3 tbs tomato paste
1 cup red wine
1 cup stock
1-2 tsp sugar
Slices of turkish bread/ciabatta
Balsamic or cherry vinegar for drizzling
Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
olive oil

Combine meat, sage, parsley, half the garlic, the sauteed onion, egg, feta, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper and mix until well combined. Coat your hands in olive oil and form the mixture into even sized, bite sized balls, coating your hand with olive oil as you go. Shallow fry the meat balls in batches over a medium-high heat until coloured but not cooked. Set aside.
Add remaining raw onion and garlic and saute. When fragrant and translucent add wine to deglaze. When the wine has reduced to about a third add the stock, tomato paste, meatballs and sugar to taste and cook over a medium heat to reduce. Just before serving, add the chopped basil and stir through.
Drizzle the extra virgin olive oil and cherry vinegar over the bread slices and toast until golden.
Serve in warmed bowls with bread in the middle of the table for dipping/mopping.

Roasted Cherry Tomato and Basil Fritatta

Fritatta's are rad, you can add almost anything to them. The only things you really need to remember are to a) do not over crowd and b) do not over cook. The process is much more simple I might add, with a non stick pan.

4 medium sized sebago potatoes pre-cooked and cut into 2cm dice (approx)
1 handful of roughly chopped button mushrooms
1/2 an onion diced
2 tbs of oven roasted cherry tomatoes
1 handful of basil leaves
1 cob of corn, stripped
1 knob butter
1 tbs oven roasted tomato oil
2 cloves chopped garlic
1 tbs chopped rosemary
6 eggs
3tbs natural set yoghurt
1/2 a cup of milk
Parmesan cheese to top

Pre-heat oven to 180 C. Melt butter over a medium-high heat in a non-stick pan and add onion, rosemary, potatoes and tomato oil when bubbling, stirring for 5 mins. Add garlic and mushrooms and stir until fragrant and have taken some colour. In the meantime, combine eggs, yoghurt and milk. When mushroom/potato mix is ready, swill around to allow oil to go up the sides. Add egg mixture, pour in corn kernels and add layer of basil leaves, topping with parmesan. Cook over a medium heat until sides and bottom have set then transfer to the oven for about ten minutes, checking frequently with a skewer. Alternatively, place under a grill. Cook until just cooked and turn out onto a plate.
Serve with salad, cooked meat, whatever.

Oven Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Firstly, grown your own cherry tomatoes, they are the shiz and will save you heaps of money.

I was hesitant to try oven roasted tomatoes in the past as they sounded like 'poor mans semi dried tomatoes'. One of my mates convinced me otherwise when I told him I had an over abundance of fruit. I've even used capsicum. He told me to roast them just as they are with olive oil at about 90 C for a couple of hours. I roasted them at 130C and put stuff on them. Regardless, they are fantastic.

Use the tomatoes in antipasto, in pastas, on biscuits, through shanks, in omelette's and just about anywhere you want a sweet tomatoee hit. Use the oil in salad dressings, to finish cooked meat (eg chicken breast or pork chop) and to flavour butters/oil in the cooking process.

There are no measurements here, it will depend on how many tomatoes you have. Don't use too much balsamic or fresh herbs, just have enough for them to be in the background.

Cherry tomatoes halved

Fresh oregano and basil finely chopped

Garlic finely chopped

White Balsamic

Olive oil to coat

Olive oil to fill jars

Toss the ingredients and place on a baking paper lined roasting tray. Roast in the oven anywhere from 90 C to 130 C until collapsed and flavours have developed (45mins to an hour). Remove from tray and place into jars topped up with olive oil, scraping every bit of mischief in.

 

Hassleback Potatoes

They have been done plenty of times before. This version uses the duck fat from the previous recipe and almost ends up as half potato sized chips. I have used a metal skewer as the bamboo kind get stuck and need to be pushed through. If you are gentle enough with your knife it wont become damaged.

3 tbs confit garlic duck fat
8 medium sized sebago potatoes peeled and halved length ways
1 tbs each chopped rosemary and sage
salt

Preheat oven to 200 C. Insert a skewer length ways as close to the cut edge of a potato without splitting it. Using a sharp knife thingly slice accross the potato, remove skewer and bend potato slightly. Repeat for remaining pieces. Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl and place on a roasting tray. Throw tray in oven and cook for up to 40mins basting frequently. Once potatoes are golden, remove, season and serve immediately.

Confit Garlic

4 Heads of Garlic (approx 40 cloves)
330g ish Duck Fat
Rosemary chopped

Peel the garlic and place in a small pan with high sides along with the duck fat and garlic. Cook at the lowest temperature on the stove for about 45 mins. It should be barely bubbling. Remove and cool. Pour contents into a sterilized jar and refrigerate. I keep mine for up to six months.

To use, place whole cloves (fat removed) on biscuits with cheese and tomatoes or place on a platter with antipasto. Return the unused fat to the jar to cover the remaining cloves.
Use the fat to roast potatoes and meats.

testing testing attention please

my name is alex and i love cooking for others. i read recipes extensively but never use them and rarely cook the same thing twice. i have been attempting to write a cook book for my family but, progress has been slow due to the nature of good food and company often going with wine.
the recipes are either combinations of flavours that i enjoy or are variations of recipes i have read. if you like what you see please subscribe and, feel free to comment.
i hope you find it useful in some way.