Mussels in white wine

I know everything tastes great, but this dish is ‘superb’!

The Castlemaine delicatessen has Mussels in the seafood section that are fresh and ready to cook.  Your only Mussel preparation is to rinse them in cold water and clean up the outside of the shell. 

Ingredients:

1kg of Mussels

a bottle of white wine (any type, I used a $6.50 Sav Blanc)

1 onion, coarsely chopped

3 fresh ripe tomatoes

3 sprigs of spring onion

A handful of parsley

A handful of coriander (save a little to garnish)

Massel powdered chicken stock

Murray River Pink salt

Black cracked or freshly ground black pepper

Method

This dish is cooked in white wine. It is important that the alcohol evaporates before serving. 

Chop the tomatoes in half and squeeze out the seeds.  We will not use these in this recipe.

In a stovetop pot on medium heat, pour in the bottle of white wine, add the chopped onion, tomatoes, spring onion, parsley, coriander, chicken stock, salt and pepper.

Let it cook under medium heat for about seven minutes whilst the alcohol cooks out.  Smell the steam to ensure the alcohol is gone. The flavours of the vegetables and herbs will merge beautifully.  As this process takes the vibrancy of the colours, save some coriander and parsley to garnish to serve.

When all is ready, increase the heat to high and toss in your cleaned mussels.  Place a lid on top.  The mussels will be cooked and ready in about two minutes.  Turn the heat off.  Discard any mussels whose shells are not open.

Garnish with chopped parsley and coriander.

On second thoughts, maybe 2kgs is a more appropriate quantity!

Enjoy

Homemade Pasta – Fettuccini Pesto

As the pasta making machine was engaged, I decided to make a delicious fettuccini with pesto sauce.  One of the wonderful attributes to this type of cooking is that the ingredients you use are all selected and cooked by you.  You know everything that is in your food.

The pasta was pretty simple, 3 eggs, 300gms flour and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  That’s it!  The method is on the website or Facebook under ‘Roasted Pumpkin Ravioli’.

Ingredients:

Pasta

3 eggs

300gms ‘Tipo 00’ flour (available at Maxi)

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Pesto

1 cup of fresh basil leaves

300gms roasted pine nuts

½ cup grated parmesan cheese (I used Grana Padano)

½ cup olive oil

To make the pesto sauce, blend all the ingredients in a blender.  That’s it!

The pasta will cook in about 3 minutes.

Mix and eat.  This meal is delicious and so easy to make.

Remember to sprinkle lots of grated parmesan on top.

Enjoy.

Homemade Roast Pumpkin Ravioli with Tomato and Basil sauce

Why give your kids Play Dough when they can make you dinner?  It’s much the same!

This dish comes in two parts, the ravioli and the sauce.  It needs a little preparation but the result is excellent and well worth the effort.

Ravioli

If you have a (dusty) pasta rolling machine at the back of the cupboard your task will be simple.  If you can’t find it, look behind the popcorn popping machine and the automatic bread maker!  Otherwise a rolling pin works just as well. 

Ravioli Ingredients

500gs of ‘Tipo 00’ fine flour, plus a little for dusting

5 large eggs

2 tablespoons of olive oil

400g pumpkin to roast, any variety, I used Kent Pumpkin.  Butternut or Grey will work equally well.

Pasta sauce ingredients

One brown onion, chopped

Two tins of chopped tomatoes

1 cup hot water

A handful of fresh basil leaves or a teaspoon of dried basil flakes

2 heaped tablespoons of Leggo’s tomato paste

1 teaspoon Massel powdered chicken stock

a sprinkle of nutmeg

a sprinkle of cinnamon

Murray River Pink Salt

Cracked or freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200c.  Coarsely chop your pumpkin and lightly coat with olive oil and Murray River pink salt.  Place on a baking tray on baking paper and pop into the oven.

To make the pasta:  Combine the flour, the eggs and the oil on a benchtop.  Mix it into a dough and knead it over and over until it is firm and well joined.  This pasta dough should be hard.  It is hard work to knead it.  If it is too hard add some olive oil.  Form a ball and wrap it in Glad Wrap and leave on the bench to rest for 30 mins.

Start making your sauce.  Gently fry your chopped onion in olive oil.  Once browned add the chopped tomatos and the tomato paste.  Add your basil, Massel chicken stock, hot water, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper.  Bring it to the boil and then turn it down, covered, to the lowest possible setting and let it slowly flavour up.  Give it a stir every five minutes to ensure nothing has stuck to the base.  It will be ready once the ravioli is ready to cook.

When your dough has rested for 30 mins, cut off about a fifth of the ball and start to roll it through your pasta machine or rolling pin.  Roll it nice and thin.  Roll several long sheets and put them aside.

Once your roast pumpkin is roasted and soft remove it from the oven and mash it with a potato masher.  Gently lay out small balls of your mashed pumpkin onto the pasta sheets (as in the photos) and fold the sheet over the pumpkin to form the ravioli envelope.  Ensure to leave room on the sides to seal the ravioli pieces.  Now gently press the pasta around the pumpkin filling and seal off each piece.  Once you have a complete run, cut each piece out.  Seal the ends by pressing along the edge with a fork.

When they are all done, turn off your tomato pasta sauce and let it rest.

To cook the ravioli: boil water with a pinch of salt.  Once boiled, place the ravioli pieces into the boiling water.  They will cook in about three minutes.  When they are ready they will float to the top. Given them an extra ten seconds before removing them to a colander to drain.  Cook all the ravioli, pour over the tomato and basil sauce, sprinkle a little (a lot) of Grana Padano grated Parmesan cheese and eat.

This dish is a winner and a keeper!
 

Brendan Blake

Broccoli Forest - beware...

Broccoli

Steam your broccoli in 2 cms of boiling water for 3 minutes.

Add salt, olive oil.

Done.

Eat!

Osso Buco

In Italian, ‘Osso’ translates to ‘bone’ and ‘buco’ translates to ‘hole’.  Therefore this dish translates to ‘bone with the hole’, or ‘Osso Buco’.  Simple!

The cooked marrow inside the bone is my favourite little piece to eat.

There are many recipes for this excellent Italian dish.  This is mine:

Ingredients

4 pcs Osso Buco beef (from the meat case at Maxi)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion

plain flour

2 carrots

3 lengths of fresh celery

2 cloves fresh garlic

a handful of fresh Continental parsley

a can of diced tomatoes

Massel chicken stock powder

2 cups hot water

Murray River Pink salt

Black cracked pepper or freshly ground pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 200c.

In an oven ready pot (with a lid), on the stove top, gently fry (uncovered) in olive oil your onion sliced into rings. Flip them when they start to brown.  A whilst they’re cooking, coat your Osso Buco meat with plain flour.  Place the Osso Buco meat into the pot and let them brown.  Flip them to brown the other side when they look ready.  We are not ‘cooking the meat’, we are ‘browning’ the meat…

Whilst they’re browning, dice your carrots and celery.  Chop your parsley and garlic.

Mix a teaspoon of Massel powdered chicken stock in 2 cups of hot water.  Pour a little of this stock into the pot to maintain moisture. 

Once the other side of the meat is browned, tip in your vegetables.  Add a can of diced tomatoes and add the rest of your stock.  Add Murray River Pink salt and cracked or ground pepper to taste.     

Ensure the liquid comes up, but not so high as to cover the contents.   Put the lid on and place in the preheated oven for 1 hour 30 mins.   At the 1 hour mark, check to ensure your liquid has not evaporated.  If it has, you will need to add more Massel stock mixture to ensure the dish remains cooking in liquid.   A tight pot lid will allow a little evaporation, but check it regardless otherwise it will appear a little dark in colour and earn the name ‘burnt’!

This can be served as is, on a bed of rice or mashed potato.

I like to eat it ‘as is’ so then I can have another one!

Enjoy.

Product Review Georgina and the Castlemaine Bakery crew

When you walk past Georgina’s fresh cake display you should know that most of the treats have been made in the bakery, from scratch.  Georgina’s cakes, slices, quiches and tarts are all made locally in the bakery by our fabulous bakers.

Our cream cakes all contain fresh cream.  Our Vanilla Slices are world class!  Our fruit tarts will warm you up and our Christmas mince tarts (my favourite) are available ‘out of season’!

Orders for birthday and other occasion cakes make our day!

Enjoy (in moderation!)

Product Review Hazeldenes Tuscan Herb Chicken

This prepared whole chicken roast is so easy to cook and tastes fabulous.

Preheat oven to 200c, cook for 1 hour.  Done.

I have cooked this chicken for several years now (not every day) and it never lets me down.  The flavours are very gently spicy, the kids will love this, the meat always comes out juicy and moist, perfectly cooked and ready to eat.  The four portions easily separate to serve.

With any vegetables or chips you choose to add, this chicken is an excellent choice.  It is so easy to cook. 

It costs $10.99 and can be located on the butcher’s meat case in the ‘chicken’ section!

Enjoy!

Meatballs with Mace

Given the climate, meatballs were necessary!  But you don’t need colder weather to make meatballs. They should be made regularly! 

 I changed my previous recipe just a little and wanted to let you know because the result was quite amazing.  I simply substituted nutmeg for a teaspoon of ground Mace.  What is Mace?  If you missed the Mace post, you can read it here on the website:    

 https://maxifoods.net.au/kitchen/what-is-mace

The recipe otherwise has not changed, copies below, but in line with my recent requests, I now attach an ingredient list.  Yipee!

Sauce:

1 sliced onion

4 cans of chopped tomatoes (or a kilo of fresh tomatoes with the seeds removed)

Half a large jar of Leggo’s tomato paste

A handful of parsley

Cracked or ground pepper

Murray River pink salt

A teaspoon of Massel powdered chicken stock

A cup or two of hot water

1 qtr teaspoon of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of Ground Mace 

Meatballs:

750g – 1kg premium mince

I onion, diced

A handful of Continental Parsley

Half a cup of grated Grana Padano Parmesan cheese

Half a cup of breadcrumbs

2 eggs

1 teaspoon of Massel powdered chicken stock

Cracked or freshly ground pepper

Murray River Pink salt

This recipe comes in two parts. The sauce in which the raw meatballs are cooked must be prepared before the meatballs are prepared so they are ready to be cooked as they are rolled. 

Sauce: brown an onion, sliced into rings. Once brown, add four cans of diced tomatoes and half a large jar of Leggo's Tomato Paste. Add a hand full of chopped Continental parsley, cracked pepper, a pinch of marine or Murray River Salt, a teaspoon of Massel chicken stock and the 'Secret ingredient' a quarter teaspoon of nutmeg and cinnamon (now use GROUND MACE instead of the nutmeg). Mix it all together and bring it up to temperature whilst preparing the meat balls. Leave to simmer once boiled.  Add some hot water to give it enough volume to hold the meatballs

Meatballs: in a large bowl, hand mix the premium mince, a well diced onion, a hand full of Continental parsley, a breadcrumbs, (I like the Anchor brand), two eggs, half a cup of grated Grana Padano Parmesan cheese, a sprinkle of cracked pepper, a good pinch of Murray River Salt, a teaspoon of Massel chicken stock and the quarter teaspoon of cinnamon and another teaspoon of GROUND MACE.  Once mixed, roll your balls into whatever size you choose.

Gently place them into the now simmering sauce. Do not stir the pot as they will break! If you need room in the pot, shake the pot so they all fit under the sauce. Let them cook for about 20 mins. They are ready to serve. They can be stored in the fridge for a few days.

For the pasta I used imported Italian ‘Orecchiette’, which translates to '‘little ears’

This is a 'starter' recipe for the kids to get involved in cooking!

Make a large batch so you can eat them over several days.  They get better each day!

What is Mace?

I recently discovered the spice ‘Mace’ when I made the Traditional Plum Puddings.  Mace is a traditional plum pudding ingredient. 

Mace is the lacey outer layer of the nutmeg seed.  It has a similar flavour to the nutmeg seed, which we commonly buy ground, but it is less intense.  It is a regular spice added to Indian curries.

We stock it at Maxi Foods Ballarat in the gourmet herbs and spice section.  It will soon be available in Castlemaine as well.    I provide some images which I sourced from Google images and Pinterest.  The nutmeg seed (black) and the mace (red), in situ, is particularly beautiful.

Chunky Tomato and Shallot Soup

Shallots are like little onions but my experience with them is that they are more delicate, they require less heat at a slower rate in oil to extract the best flavour.

Ingredients

2 shallots, sliced into rings

3 sprigs of spring onion

A handful of chopped Continental Parsley

12 whole ripe tomatoes

One teaspoon Massel powdered chicken stock

Murray River Pink Salt

Freshly ground or cracked pepper

Two tablespoons of Leggo’s Tomato paste.

Fill the kettle and set it to boil.

Slice your shallots into rings and gently fry them in olive oil in a soup pot.  Flip them after a couple of minutes.  Cut your tomatoes in half and squeeze out the inside pulp and seeds.  We will only use the outer of the tomato.  Toss all your tomatoes into the pot.

Chop your spring onion into little pieces alongside the parsley and chuck them in the pot.

Place the teaspoon of Massel chicken stock into the pot and add two cups of boiling water from the kettle.  Add the Leggo’s tomato paste and the add salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and bring to the boil.  Once boiled turn down to the lowest possible setting and simmer, covered, for about 45 mins to one hour.  Stir the base very ten minutes or so to ensure nothing sticks.

Add or reduce the amount of water you use to make this soup thicker or thinner.

Garnish with fresh Continental parsley to serve.

Serve with thick crusty bread.

Burn your beans, burn your zucchini

‘Control burn’ your veggies.  It brings out delicious flavours.

Char Grilled barbequed Zucchini:

Ing.

Zucchini

Olive Oil

Murray River Pink salt

Cracked or freshly ground pepper

Slice the zucchini, add olive oil, salt and pepper and add to hot grill barbeque, one minute each side.  Done.

So simple!  So good!

Blistered beans and ginger:

Ing.

Any quantity of beans (the lager quantity the better because they will all be consumed)

10 very fine slices of fresh ginger or grate fresh ginger instead

3 sprigs of spring onion

Sesame oil

Mirin

Sake (if you have some, otherwise don’t worry about it)

Soy Sauce

Murray River Pink salt

Cracked or freshly ground pepper

Trim the ends from the beans, place into a hot skillet with sesame oil.  Add sliced spring onion, sliced ginger, a splash of mirin, a splash of soy, a splash of sake, a sprinkle of Murray River pink salt, freshly ground pepper.   Toss frequently.

 Keep on high heat until ‘control burnt’.  Blistered beans are what you are looking for.

Now eat!  Delicious!

Liquorice Root and Fennel - Lamb Shanks

A slow cooker can be used. The recipe advises the changeover time.

I think I have discovered something unique. The flavour of this dish is something I have never tasted before. It was naturally sweet and had the most amazing unique flavour!

Fennel has a terrific flavour. Added to Crushed Licorice Root and allowed to infuse, the flavour really livens up. I wouldn’t say it has a licorice flavour, but it was a flavour I had never tasted before. It was so good I had to share it!

Ingredients

1 teaspoon of Licorice Roots, infused in 2 cups hot water
2 tablespoons of olive oil
4 fresh lamb shanks
A large bunch of fennel, sliced
1 onion, cut into rings
2 shallots, whole, peeled
1 red capsicum, cleaned and sliced
3 Sprigs of spring onion, chopped
A handful of Continental parsley, chopped
Massel powdered chicken stock
Murray River Pink Salt
Cracked or freshly ground pepper

Prep.

Preheat oven to 200c. Place the Crushed Licorice Roots into 2 cups of hot water. Stir and allow to infuse whilst you continue on below. Set aside.

Method

In a large oven ready pot (with oven lid) gently pan fry the onion rings in olive oil. Flip them after a few minutes. Now add the shanks. We want to externally brown the shanks. Turn them over every five minutes or so. Once browned, you can transfer this dish to your slow cooker.

Once the shanks are browned throw all your vegetables (fennel, capsicum, shallots, spring onions and parsley) into the pot on top of the lamb. Sprinkle Murray River Pink salt, cracked pepper to taste and the Massel chicken stock.

Now pour the infused licorice root water into the pot. Top up the pot with hot water so that the liquid in the pot comes up to two thirds the height of the ingredients. Leave some of the ingredients out of the liquid. Allow the contents of the pot to heat, covered, on the stove for about five minutes.

Place the pot into oven for 1.5 hours. Check it every 30 mins or so to ensure the liquid has not reduced. If it has, top it up with hot water. Don’t let the pot run dry. If it is well covered it should not lose liquid.

Once ready, this can be eaten as is or on a bed of rice.

Enjoy. This one is especially good!

Spicy Australian Brandied poached dried fruit

You have all read my posts where I don’t believe we should wait for December to enjoy the delights of Christmas food.  Today I poached Australian dried fruits with brandy and spices.  OMG! This is so good words cannot explain, but facial expressions can!

In your pot, bring to the boil 1 cup of brown sugar with 2 to 2.5 cups of water, two cinnamon sticks, vanilla bean scrapings (and the bean), a teaspoon of mixed spice, about 12 cloves and a good splash of brandy.  I gave mine a really good splash of brandy!  The alcohol evaporates early but the flavour remains. Boil for 2 minutes.

Now turn down the stove to the lowest possible heat setting and add 500g of Australian dried fruit.  I added pears, apples, prunes, peaches and apricots.   Given the fruit is dried, 500g is a lot of fruit.  Let it simmer for 30 mins, slowly turn it over occasionally so all the fruit absorbs the liquid. 

Remove and discard the cinnamon stocks and vanilla bean. Let it cool and slap on a dollop of freshly whipped cream.

Incredible!!

You can place these fruits in their liquid into sealed glass jars for storage in the refrigerator, guaranteeing a week’s supply of excellent lock down food.  

You can eat this as a meal.  Who needs savoury food?

Stay well, enjoy isolation!

A simple winter warming chicken soup

Simple chicken and veg soup (broth)

I know you can all make this, so this will serve as a reminder of how delicious it is and simple to make.  You’ll need:

2 fresh chicken carcasses

2 carrots

1 potato

3 sticks of celery

I onion

3 sprigs of spring onion

3 cloves of garlic

A bunch of fresh Continental parsley

Massel powdered Chicken Stock

Murray River Pink Salt

Cracked or freshly ground pepper

Put the kettle on as we require lots of hot water for this soup. 

Chop all the vegetables into little pieces.  A good knife is essential.  Perhaps I’ll do a review on the knife I use...  A good chef’s knife will make this chopping easy.  Of course the onion, the garlic and the parsley should be finely chopped.  We are not going to fry anything in oil.   

Place all your vegetables into a large pot on medium heat.  Stir them for about five minutes whilst they soften.  They will create their own moisture so there is no need to add water at this stage.  We are just softening the veggies.  When they start to stick to the pan, add about 100ml hot water.  Now add your chicken carcasses to the top.  

Add hot water to just cover the chicken carcasses.  This may be a litre or two, depending on the pot size you use, so be ready to refill and reheat the kettle.

Add a good pinch of Murray River Pink salt, cracked or freshly ground pepper, a teaspoon of Massel chicken stock.  Cover and bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting and leave for one hour.  

After an hour, remove the chicken carcasses, keeping any chicken meat you can extract.  Then toss the remainder of the carcasses away.  The soup will be ready, but fairly heavy in chicken fat!  There are several options now to remove the fat:

1.     Place the soup in the refrigerator overnight and remove the floating chicken fat with a spoon when it has settled the following day; or

2.     Let the soup cool a little, place ice into a metal ladle, place the ladle gently into the hot soup. The fat will stick to the bottom of the ladle!  Brilliant:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYugpggPaTs

3.     Let the soup cool, place an ice cube into the soup.  The fat will stick to the ice cube.  Remove it before it melts!

Serve with warm crusty bread.

Roasted Roots

Inspired by the Hemlock post, I decided to roast five root vegetables.  The vegetarians and vegans will enjoy this very much, as will the carnivores!

I selected orange carrots, purple heirloom carrots, parsnips, celeriac and beetroot.  I peeled them and cut them into large pieces, then lightly covered them with olive oil, sprinkled Murray River pink salt and freshly ground pepper.  I roasted them for about 45 mins at 200c alongside another tray of roast pumpkin with sweet potato and a bacon and parsley quiche. 

Well, the root vegetables were fantastic.  Slightly blackened, the carrot gave a sweet taste, the celeriac and beetroot were perfectly cooked, nicely soft and full of flavour.  The purple heirloom carrots had less flavour than the orange carrots and the parsnip was excellent.  I had not eaten parsnip for a few decades, but I enjoyed it more tonight than I did when I was seven years old!

Several of these roots have already offered their green tops for other vegetables, so in a way you get two meals from the one vegetable.  As mentioned earlier today, I would like to grow some parsley so I can eat the parsley and then pull the root and roast it too.  The celeriac did not taste like celery, so I expect the parsley root will not taste like parsley.

Given the range of colours in which carrots can grow, tomorrow I’ll post an interesting piece about why the orange carrot is the most prolific of all the carrot colours and why it should be called the ‘heirloom’ carrot as opposed to the purple, yellow and white varieties which have been given that title.

Eat well, stay well.

Kind regards,

Brendan Blake

Product review: Salt Kitchen Charcuterie, Pork and Fennel Sausages

We are so fortunate in Central Victoria to be blessed with so many local food producers right at our door step, many of whom are relatively small and dedicated to their trade.

We discovered Mick Nunn and Salt Charcuterie in Ballarat about five years ago and we have ranged his products ever since. I bring them to your attention! Sometimes the local producers are drowned in the marketing of the multinational brands and their excellent products are overlooked.

Mick produces a large range of gourmet sausages and meats. Wagyu beef products, hams, bacons, pastrami, Spanish Chorizo and a load of sausages, all smoked in the traditional way. This is the Salt Kitchen website: Please take a look.

https://saltkitchen.com.au/

Tonight, I review the Pork and Fennel Seed sausages. I have always been a big fan of the pork and fennel blend, often found in ‘Sicilian’ pizzas so I was delighted to get that big fennel flavour with dinner. Cooked inside on the stovetop. No tomato sauce needed! These beauties are a meal in their own right, but as usual I had to add a ‘large’ range of oven roasted potato, sweet potato, onion, carrot and of course Brussel sprouts to round off a full meal and avoid being called a carnivore!
However, given the fact that there are fennel seeds in the sausages frees me from that title!

Unfortunately, there was no room for dessert! I have been told it is time to bake a cheesecake. A few months ago, I baked three cheesecakes in one week because I wasn’t happy with the recipes I chose and had to make a few changes to get it right. I think I’ll do it! I’ll let you know if I do!

I post a range of photos of the Salt Charcuterie range taken at the Castlemaine store. Ballarat has an equal offering. Offer them some local support. We do!

The Brendan Burger

Tonight was burger night. A self-serve, create your own burger from the usual ingredients.

I made six big meatballs from 750g premium beef mince, one chopped onion, a handful of breadcrumbs and one egg. Cracked pepper and Murray River pink salt of course.

The balls were flattened and pan fried in olive oil for about 5 mins. Meanwhile the Tip Top burger buns were split into two (a top and a bottom) and gently toasted in the oven grill.

Once the burgers were cooked I used the same pan to cook six fried eggs, not flipped, and laid a piece of melting cheese on the egg before they were removed. Too easy!

Brendan's Construction: buttered bread base, chopped iceberg lettuce, meat burger, tomato sauce, egg and cheese, then the top bun.

I had a can of beetroot and pineapple rings awaiting opening, but it's not summer, so they stayed in the can for another day.

I took one bite and said 'good burger'!

Easy to make at home, kids love them and they are healthy! All the food groups are represented: protein, carbohydrates, sugar, a little fat and a lot of flavour!

Make them on the weekend. Get the kids involved. The sooner your children learn to cook, the sooner you can handball the task!

Stay well, stay safe.

Kind regards,
Brendan Blake

Six large meatballs

750g premium beef mince, one onion, breadcrumbs and one egg. Salt and pepper of course.

Product Review: Oakwood Free Range Berkshire Pork Smoked BBQ Pork Ribs

If you think the name is a mouthful, wait until you try these beauties.

Ralf smokes these meaty free range pork ribs in a real smoke house where they develop their delicious flavours. They can be pan fried on the stovetop and they are ready to eat in less than 10 minutes. They are very good indeed. There is no need to add cracked pepper or Murray River Pink salt. All the flavour is provided in the pack!

Now, to save you my usual rhetoric about how good things taste, I provide you with a quote from a vegetarian who ‘sampled’ these BBQ pork ribs:

‘it’s enough to make you stop wanting to be vegetarian!’

Broccoli

I cooked the usual seasonal Brussels sprouts and broccoli with these ribs. I want to briefly talk about cooking broccoli. As you know steam is hotter than boiling water, so don’t boil broccoli, steam it. 2-3cm of water in a pot, lid on, will boil in a minute. Once boiling, put in your broccoli and steam for 3 minutes. No more, no less.

Remove with tongs and add fresh olive oil and sprinkle on the Murray River Pink salt.

Ready to eat in 4 minutes from go to gob.

BTW, the broccoli stem is the best part of the broccoli, not the worst. Eat it first!

Oakwood BBQ Ribs!

Located in the Delicatessen

Minced Pork and blistered beans

Tonight’s minced pork dish is made in two parts, the beans and the pork.  Both have to be cooked on high heat.  The beans have to burn and blister and the pork has to be dry fried so it accepts the sauce.  At the end they are all added together to make very memorable dish.

Both pans should have a sesame oil base as opposed to the regular olive oil.  Gently pan fry the spring onion, garlic and minced ginger.  I grated my fresh ginger using a zester over the pan.  Once they are nicely cooked, add your minced pork and turn the heat up high. 

 Whilst the pork is cooking add your fresh beans to a different pan and turn up high.

Now make your sauce.  ¼ cup chicken stock, (I used the powdered Massel chicken stock with hot water) a tbspn of Hoi Sin sauce, a tbspn of cornflour (I didn’t have any so I used plain flour), a tbspn of white wine vinegar, a tbspn of soy sauce, a tbpsn of Chinese cooking wine, if you have some and a tbspn of Oyster sauce.  The recipe required a tbspn of sugar, but I skipped that.  Stir it all up and when the pork is brown or charred, add the sauce to the hot pan.  It will thicken quickly so give it a good toss around and remove it from the heat before it dries out.

At this late stage I added a chopped fresh chilli, not to everyone’s delight, but it looked good!

Pour the minced pork over the beans and eat.  I served it over Jasmine rice, with Brussel sprouts and oven baked sweet potato.  This dish is a real crowd pleaser!

Masani Lasagna - Product review

Hi Ballarat foodies, I'm considering ranging these hand made lasagnas from the famous Masani Restaurant in Carlton, which is currently closed due to the crisis. We are ranging them in Castlemaine.

There is a Black Angus Beef and a Vegetarian lasagna, both precooked, so all you have to do is heat them in the oven (not microwave!)

They are made completely from scratch including hand rolled pasta from a small Victorian flour mill.

I 'quality control' tested one tonight. Oh my goodness! They are so good. They are actually unbelievably good!

I was asked tonight if we should range them in the delicatessen at Maxi Foods. If you want them, you will have them!

The question is: should Maxi Foods offer Masani Italian precooked Lasagnas? $9.95 pce.

The photo below is the vegetarian version. The beef lasagna didn't make the shot...