Pigs Lost Amongst The Vines.

I'm turning over a new leaf (pun intended) on dolmades with a Mediterranean twist of pigs in a blanket. 

Pork and Fennel dolmades! 

It was only recently that I discovered vine leaves at my local grocery store. This gourmet leaf is a convenience food preserved and cooked so they're ready to roll out with whatever fillings you desire.

 Inspired by a recent recipe I did on a food shoot for a lamb shoulder filling, that included pork and rice, I decided to tweak and create something that could instead to be rolled up in my newly purchased vine leaves. 

Dolmades are traditionally vego, but I love the combinations of pork and fennel seeds together. The idea of the two wrapped up in a earthy leaf, so they're bite size and ready to devour, well I just had to give it a go! 

In making the recipe i added some prunes and caramelised balsamic for sweetness, pine nuts for a different texture, and balanced it all with lemon juice and fresh tomato. The result was irresistible and well worth the effort! I even managed to get two thumbs up from a friends mum, who is Lebanese and a crazy good cook!  

So if you can find these vine leaves amongst the huge array of new products hitting the shelves of our supermarkets give these bad boys a go! They'll be the best pigs in a blanket you've ever had! 

Recipe for Pork and Fennel Dolmades.
1 cup cooked rice
500g pork mince
1 onion small dice
2 tsp fennel seeds
80g pine nuts
1 tomato diced
1/2 a bunch of parsley chopped finely
50g prunes chopped
2 tsp caremelised balsamic vinegar
Vine leaves
1 lemon juiced
200ml water
1tbs veg oil
Method:
1. Cook of your onion with fennel seeds and pine nuts.
2. Add the pork mince and brown off.
3. Add your chopped prunes, diced fresh tomato, parsley and rice.
4. Season to taste then add your caramelised balsamic. Sett the mix aside to cool.
To assemble. 
1. Place a vine leaf down flat on a chopping board, then layer on another vine leaf for extra surface area.
2. Pile a small amount at the base of the leaf then bring the sides together, and roll your dolmade into a tight cylinder.
3. Place rolled dolmades into a heatproof terrine mould or tray then pour over with lemon juice and water, so that the liquid can just be seen from above.
4. Cook in a 180 degree oven for 20 mins.
Serve hot

One bite and you too will be lost in the vines with the pigs! 

Cheat Eggs....

Baked Eggs! 

As seen in many cafes baked eggs are a perfect balance of tasty and decedent. 

You can use any kind of pan to bake them in, as long as its oven safe and easy to eat out of, at my old work we even managed to cook them in muffin cases and pop them out on the plate. 

The flavour combinations are endless, you can go all out vegetarian and pop in your favourite antipasto's like grilled capsicum and eggplant, or try an omnivore approach by adding some bacon and cheese as well. 

Baked eggs is one of those classic recipes that will keep evolving because it can be changed it to suit your mood and the seasonal produce available. A great step in building some confidence in the kitchen, as its a hard one to stuff up.

Simply crack two eggs into a greased non stick ceramic pot, or muffin case and top it off with your favourite fillings. The one i've done above has prosciutto. parsley, cheese, grilled eggplant, chives and crunchy golden sourdough croutons-to save me having to make toast. After you've assembled your personalised eggs add a touch of seasoning a splash of decent olive oil and pop it in an oven of 180 degrees for 8-12 minutes- depending on if you like your yolks runny or stiff. 

When its cooked and crispy on the edges serve it with a glossy salad of rocket and tomatoes. 

Magnifique!

Hocks Of Beans!

We've Bean Missing You!

Beans aren't the most salivating of ingredients, we all know the rhythmic tune that suggests beans are some sort of musical fruit. Sadly shaming the 'fruit' for years, as unpopular and gassy. But its about time we get back into the bean, for they are magical, just for completely different reasons-

and no i'm not talking about giant bean stalks with ducks that lay golden eggs. 

These tiny beans are nutritiously bountiful. Packed with protein and dietary fibre, they are silent assassins for anyone needing good sources of packed-full nutritionally sound food sources. These babies just tick all the boxes in my books. 

And with the addition of a ham hock these two ingredients carry off as a dynamite duo. Ham hock being the flavour enhancer and the beans being the side kick absorbers. 

You see as the ham hock cooks slowly, to that point of being easily pulled from the bone, it oozes its marrow goodness into the cooking liquid where our bopping toppling beans bounce around like confetti.

This kind of slow cooking is what winter should be made of. Delicious hearty meals that can be served  all hours of the day, making our efforts of cooking them in the cold even more well spent and worthwhile. 

While most recipes call for cannellini beans, i found them hard to come by. A cheap and easy alternative is Great Northern Beans, which are a smaller variety of the white bean family. But make sure you get the dried beans and re-hydrate them yourself. This way you can cook them in your stocks and liquids and control exactly what goes in, and more importantly what stays out! 

TIP......

Legumes are great "Stretches" for any dish. Which is perfect for big family's or to avoid wastage and make good use of left over sauces and stocks. Simply keep the cooking liquids and cook your soaked beans with them to impart different flavours. 

Here is a recipe for my own Beans, which i have with toast and sometimes even a fried egg if i'm feeling decedent!

Northern beans cooked in a Spicy Tomato with ham hock.
Ingredients:
400g Great Northern Beans (soaked over night in water)
2 small Brown Onions (Sliced)
100ml Red Wine
3 cloves of Garlic (Smashed)
200ml Passada
2tsp Harissa
1 long red chilli chopped fine (Seeds removed if you want it to be less spicy)
1 Ham Hock
Thyme
Oregano
Method:

1. Cook off your onion in a large pot with olive oil for a few minutes until caramelised and translucent.
2. Add a splash more olive oil and add your garlic, chilli and Harissa. And cook till aromatic.
3. Deglaze with the wine and cook off for two-three minutes
4. Add the passada, ham hock, herbs, beans and soaking water. 
5. Bring to the boil then let simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the beans are tender and cooked. 
6. Serve with toast and chopped parsley.

El loco spread...

Wintery slow braised beef and kidney bean Fajitas.

This Winter i have etched a newfound love for legumes and beans! Working as a chef at Google i have seen them used in a variety of dishes. These hidden gems are not only a great source of energy but have a hidden talent for carrying stupendous flavour throughout a dish. Packed with protein, these wholefoods are great additions to soups, sauces and in this case Fajitas! To rehydrate these wonder foods, you can either leave them over night in water or bring them to the boil and leave them covered for 1 hour. Either way its worth using the dried variety as they haven't been sitting in a can for god knows how long. Bizarrely this is the freshest approach.

Fajitas are more or less a wrap and these bad boys are worth every minute of prep time! 

A different kind of winter warmer to keep you full and happy this cold season. 

Enjoy.

Beef and kidney Fajitas with salsa and spicy jalapeno yoghurt:

Ingredients:

12 Tortilla wraps. 

2 porthouse steaks/ sirloin steaks. approx. 500g

Marinate:

1 strip of rind and the Juice of 1 orange

1 Tbs Ground cumin

1tsp Ground chilli

1tsp Paprika

1tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp black pepper

3tbs olive oil.

Sauce:

100g kidney beans- rehydrated overnight in water.

420g can of crushed tomatoes

100ml red wine

1Tbs Red wine Vinegar

2 Garlic cloves

1 red onion

250 ml beef stock

1/2 green chilli 

Salsa:

1 Tomato, seeds removed and diced.

1 Corn cob, corn kernals removed and blanched. (canned can also be used)

1 Capsicum, small dice. 

1 Avacado diced. 

1/4 of a small red onion, finely diced.

Chopped fresh Corriander

1tsp salt

1/2 tsp white sugar

70 ml Fresh lime juice.

50 ml Olive oil.

Jalapeno Yoghurt:

1/2 Bunch of coriander

2 garlic cloves peeled

50 g pickled jalapenos.

250ml natural yoghurt

Method:

To prepare your meat:

1. Marinate beef pieces in orange juice, spices and olive oil for 1 hour, or overnight.

2. Remove meat from marinate and seal-off with 1 tbs of olive oil in a large pot. Then set aside.

3. Cook the onions and garlic in the same pot with some more oil until translucent.

4. Meanwhile mix the red wine and vinegar into the bowl that was used to marinate the meat- this way we get all the spices and flavour into the dish.

5. Return the meat to the pot of onions and add the wine and vinegar mix to de-glaze the pan.

6. Then add the tomatoes, beef stock, kidney beans and chopped green chilli. 

7. Leave to cook for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Either on a low flame simmering or in the oven at 160 degrees Covered. 

MEANWHILE.

To prepare your tortillas:

Wrap the tortillas up in aluminium foil around 6 per bundle. 

To prepare your salsa:

Put all your cut vegetables into a bowl. And add the lime juice, olive oil, salt and sugar. Softly toss it all together and taste for extra seasoning.

To prepare you jalapeno yoghurt:

Get a food processor and blitz your coriander, jalapenos and garlic to make a paste. In a separate bowl mix the paste with the yoghurt and season to taste. 

When the meat is ready break it up a bit to form shreds. Put the foil wrapped tortillas in a hot oven of 280 degrees for 3 minutes.

To serve have all your condiments out in small bowls, with some extra coriander and lime wedges, and let everyone make their own wraps. 

A colourful mexican banquet for the shared Winter table! 

Mothers Day Breakfast.

Benedict Breakfast w/ House Hollandaise.

Quick and Easy. 

Reduction

Eggs benedict is one of the most indulgently delicious breakfasts there is to offer a mum in bed this Sunday, and with my recipe- which is measured conveniently for two, you can have it whipped up in no time at all!

Eggs benedict is all about the hollandaise sauce and making it from scratch is the only way to do it. That phoney yellow stuff you can buy at the store has the consistency of paint and will be picked for a try hard in a second. Its worth taking the time to make your own and with my recipe it will be done in no time!

So you're probably wondering what's the secret to this hot emulsified creamy sauce?  Well it's all about the reduction!

A reduction can be any reduced liquid. The reason why we reduce liquids is to gain a stronger more intense flavour and this is definitely needed to make this buttery sauce carry a punch. For our hollandaise sauce we're using vinegar, bay leaves, eschalots and a couple of juniper berries- just to shake things up a little. The reduction is where you can add your mums favourite tastes. You can add some thyme, or tarragon if she likes a herbier taste but i like to keep it simple with just a touch of spice. 

Recipe for my eggs benedict for TWO! 
*You will need a food processor for this recipe.

Reduction ingredients:
100 ml white wine vinegar.
1 eschalot sliced
1 bay leave
4-6 peppercorns
2 juniper berries

Remainder ingredients:
100g HOT melted butter.
1 egg yolk.

4 eggs
2 english muffins
4 slices of ham or smoked salmon
handful of rocket

Method: 
1. Place a saucepan of water on the stove and bring it to the boil. This will be for poaching your eggs.
2.To prepare the reduction place all ingredients in a saucepan and leave to simmer for 4 minutes then strain.
3. Moving quickly onto the hollandaise sauce, place the egg yolk in the food processor and 2 table spoons of the strained reduction.
4. Melt the butter so that its hot and ready to go.
5. Add a splash of the butter and blitz the ingredients to bring the egg up to temperature.
6. Add 1/3 of the remaining butter and blitz, then slowly add the rest and blitz to form a slightly thick emulsified creamy hollandaise- keep in a warm place.
7. Add two tablespoons of vinegar to the pot of pre-prepared boiling water.
8. Bring the flame down to a simmer and poach 4 eggs, by swirling the water and cracking the egg in the middle. See video demonstration here. How to poach an egg. 
9. Meanwhile toast your english muffins.
10. If your using ham quickly toss it in a pan to get it warm, otherwise place your smoked salmon on top of the muffin followed by your poached egg.
11. To get your hollandaise warm again add a tablespoon of the poaching water to the sauce and whiz it for a further 30 seconds before pouring the sauce on-top of your muffin and egg.
12. Serve! Preferably in bed with a large coffee.

Eggs benedict is a sure way to impress mum this Sunday! Serve it in bed and your bound to have a winner for breaky or brunch! 

WHOLLY ORANGE!

Boiled WHOLE Orange Jaffa cake.

Oranges are in season! So why not make the most of them, and that means using the whole thing zest and all! This is a cake that allows you to use every bit of an orange and gives you a dense and moist yellowy orange cake marbled with rich dark chocolate.  Delicious.

By boiling the orange the pith becomes soft and the bitterness is taken away, leaving instead a perfect balance of zest and juice and whole orange flavour packed with a punch! You don't have to add the chocolate if Jaffa is not your taste, but if you haven't tried orange with chocolate before it's worth it, they're a food pairing that always works a treat!

Make the most of the orange season and give this cake a go!

Recipe for my Jaffa orange cake that uses the whole orange:
Ingredients:
2 oranges (Navel variety or Valencia, no pips)
125 g butter (melted)
1 cup milk
2 heaped tablespoons of sour cream
3 eggs (Lightly beaten)
2 cups self raising flour 
1 cup sugar 
1tsp baking powder

Boiling oranges

100 grams of dark chocolate. (Chopped roughly)


Method:
1. Place oranges in pot and cover in water, bring to the boil. Pour out water, then replace with more cold water and bring to the boil again then turn the heat off and leave covered for 10 minutes. 
2. Remove oranges and let cool until they can be handled then cut into quarters, and process in the food processor for 1 minute. 
3. Preheat oven to 160 degrees and prepare a cake tin. 
3. Put the pureed oranges in a bowl and add the eggs, milk and sour cream and mix. Then mix in the remainder ingredients. Mix it all together to form the cake batter. 
4. Take the tin and pour half the batter in, then sprinkle with the chocolate. 

5. Poor the remainder of the batter, and place in the oven for 50-60 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes. 
7. Tip cake out and serve. 

This bright yellow cake will have your mouth dripping when it comes out of the oven, but it lasts a week in the fridge and only gets better with age, so theres not rush!

Beautiful Baklava.

باقلوا 
bɑːklɑvɑː

Inspired for something to bring to a lebanese barbeque at the home of the best lebanese cook i know, a mum recently returned from her homeland of Lebanon, i decided to honour the sweet dish of baklava. Nothing beats the irresistible layers of sweetly rich filo pastry folded over a nutty filling spiced with cinnamon. But for my version i decided to spice the sugar syrup, that gets dosed all over these gems, with rose petals and cardamon pods. 

Baklava is characteristic of the cuisine of the Ottoman Empire. Phyllo pastry, which means 'leaf', is speculated to be invented in Istanbul in the time of the early Ottoman empire around 1500, but is now used all over the Mediterranean, Middle east and Europe.  Making this pastry is a difficult task, so i would encourage you to buy the pastry from the shops, and put the love into the filling. 

  

To change the taste of your baklava and make it unique, you can feature different types of tea to infuse the syrup and transform the taste of your beautiful baklava. 

Theres is no such thing as low fat baklava, so get over it and eat it. Is butter Is better as i always say. These moorish treats are worth the indulgence. 

Recipe for Rose and cardamon Baklava:

Ingredients:

1 box of filo pastry 

150 g butter

1.5 cups castor sugar + 40 grams extra 

1.5 cups raw sugar

3 cups water

2 tablespoons honey

4 cardamon pods

*Rose petals. 

80 g Pistachios 

150 g Walnuts

50 grams almond flakes. 

2 tsp of cinnamon powder.

*You can use rose tea from tea shops, or petals from flowers if your not too worried.

Method:

1. To make the syrup put 3 cups of sugar and 3 cups of water in a saucepan with cardamon pods and rose petals. Cook on a low heat until the sugar has dissolved then simmer for 30 minutes and let cool.

2. Meanwhile whiz the walnuts in a food processor to a crumb, not too fine but not too chunky. Then use the same processor to whiz the Pistachios to a finer crumb.

3. In a bowl prepare your nut mix by adding the cinnamon and extra sugar to the walnuts and half the almonds and pistachios. Set aside the rest of the nuts for decoration at the end.

4. Preheat your oven to 155 degrees Celsius, and melt your butter in the microwave for 1 minute. 

5. Roll out your filo pastry then cut half way through the longest side to make two smaller rectangles. Set half aside to use later covered with a damp tea towel to keep moist.

6. Begin the layering process by painting a tray with butter using a pastry brush, and placing your first piece of filo. Repeat by brushing the top side with butter and placing another piece of pastry. Do this with 1/4 of ALL the pastry.

7. Then take 1/3 of a handful of the nuts mixture and scatter across the top of the buttered layers of pastry then continue layering for another 1/4 of pastry.

8. Again scatter 1/3 of the nut mixture on the buttered layers. Remove the pastry that was set aside and continue layering for another 1/4 of the pastry.

9. For the 3rd layer of nut filling use the remainder of the mixture and then finish the layering the rest of the pastry with butter. 

10. When its finished, brush a generous amount of butter on the top and sides of the pastry and put in the freezer for 10 minutes to strengthen the dough.

11. Brush again with butter then score the top of the pastry with a criss-cross.

12. Cover with a piece of baking paper then cook in the oven for 35-40 minutes.

13. Remove the pastry from the oven then add the syrup to the hot baklava, then top with left over nuts and leave to soak. 

14. Cut the baklava into diamonds or triangles and serve at the end of a meal with mint tea. 

Kteer tayyeb! 

This means very delicious in Arabic.