GRILLED LAMB, CHICKPEAS, SMOKED CAPSICUM AND TAHINA

A bit of a Middle Eastern thing going on here. I had some slow roasted forequarter of lamb left over from 2 nights ago, so I sliced it and grilled it. I had previously cooked some chickpeas, and so I sautéed these in olive oil and garlic. The smoked capsicum was also left over from a previous meal. The cherry tomatoes were from a local grower.

GRILLED LAMB, CHICKPEAS, SMOKED CAPSICUM AND TAHINA

SPICED TUNA WITH GRILLED PINEAPPLE SALSA AND CORIANDER SAUCE

Absolutely spectacular yellowfin tuna at the fishmonger. Seafood plays a big role in the diest of Mexicans - something that surprises those who think crisp tacos, burritos and nachos are Mexican. I have given this fish a modern Mexican treatment. Give it a go. It's really quite a simple dish.



GRILLED PINEAPPLE SALSA
½ a ripe pineapple
½ a habanero or scotch bonnet chilli
Juice of half a lime
Coriander leaves
Sea salt


CORIANDER SAUCE
1 bunch of coriander
2 anchovy fillets
1 clove of garlic
100 mls extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
Sea salt and black pepper


SPICED TUNA
800 gms yellowfin tuna
1 dried chipotle chilli
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
Grapeseed oil

To make the grilled pineapple salsa, peel and core the pineapple, and slice about 1cm thick. Place the slices in a single layer in a wide pan over medium heat and cook until the natural sugar starts to caramelize and the pineapple browns. Flip the slices over and cook the other side.
Remove, allow to cool, cut into 1cm dice and place in a glass bowl. Seed and finely chop the chilli and finely chop the coriander leaves. Add these, the lime juice and salt, stir to mix and set aside until needed.
For the coriander sauce, place all ingredients into a deep blender jug and pulse until there are no large pieced – but stop before it’s a totally smooth sauce.
Grind the chipotle and cumin seeds into a fine powder.
Cut the tuna into 2 slices about 3cms thick. Give the tuna an hour to come to room temperature before cooking. Dry with paper towels. Rub some of the spice mix into each side.
Heat 2 tablespoons of grapeseed oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. When rippling, add tuna. Cook for 2 minutes, then turn and cook for 2 minutes on the other side.
Remove the tuna and slice lengthwise about 1cm thick.
Place a mound of pineapple salsa in the centre of each plate, Spoon some coriander sauce around this. Place two slice of tuna over the pineapple, salt and serve.
Serves 4

SPICED TUNA WITH GRILLED PINEAPPLE SALSA AND CORIANDER SAUCE

BEEF CHEEK WITH ROASTED CAULIFLOWER MASH

If you haven't tried cooking beef cheeks, have a go. Dead simple and delicious. Butchers will denude them (remove sinew etc to leave just the meat). I put them into a deep cast iron casserole with red wine, veal glace, cognac, star anise, garlic, salt and pepper to cover the meat. I placed some dampened baking paper over the top, put the lid on and baked for 6 hours at 125C. That's it. I cut a head of cauliflower into florets and put these in a singe layer in a tray and brushed with olive oil. I added this tray to the oven for the last 1 1/2 hours of cooking the cheeks. I peeled and boiled 1 large sebago potato and drained this. I then combined the potato and cauliflower with about 100 gms of butter, salt and pepper and puréed.

BEEF CHEEK WITH ROASTED CAULIFLOWER MASH

ROASTED CHICKEN THIGH, CHOKOS & SEBAGO WEDGES WITH BASIL PESTO

Sebago potatoes make a good mash. They also make fine roasted wedges - boiled in salt water first, drained, some butter added to melt, then placed in a roasting pan with the melted butter poured over, salt, pepper, 30 minutes at 180C. The chokos were marinated in extra virgin olive oil, with finely chopped garlic and oregano leaves, then roasted for 75 minutes at 180C - covered for the first hour.

ROASTED CHICKEN THIGH, CHOKOS & SEBAGO WEDGES WITH BASIL PESTO

PUMPKIN AND SAFFRON RISOTTO

I've been tinkering with risottos for 30 years. Lost count of how many variations I've made. My favourites are fennel, beetroot, blue swimmer crab. I experimented with this one and was really happy the way it turned out. There's the usual onion, chicken stock, rice (vialone nano), salt, pepper and parmesan. In this version there's pumpkin, fino sherry, saffron and a tiny amount (about 1/8 of a teaspoon of smoked paprika - enough to add interest, but not enough to be identifiable).

PUMPKIN AND SAFFRON RISOTTO

SALAD OF BEETROOT, FIGS, CIPOLLINE AND HAZELNUTS

Hands up those of you who like beetroot? Okay. And those of you who like figs? Excellent. And those of you who like hazelnuts? Good. And those of you who like cipolline? Cipolline? C-I-P-O-L-L-I-N-E. Anyone? Anybody know what they are? Hmm. If you haven't had them, they are small, flat wild onions from Italy. I have only seen them here in Oz preserved in vinegar, usually balsamic. That's what I've used here - about 5 or six of them finely sliced, along with roughly crushed hazelnuts, fried eschallots, beetroot vinegar, hazelnut oil, salt, pepper and coriander.

SALAD OF BEETROOT, FIGS, CIPOLLINE AND HAZELNUTS

RISI E BISI

To we English speakers, risi e bisi sounds more romantic than rice and peas, the translation of this Venetian phrase. But rice and peas is basically what this is. Okay, it's vialone nano rice - along with carnaroli, one of the two best varieties of rice for risotto. And there's a bit more going on here than simply mixing it with peas - baby leeks sautéed in butter, garlic, home made chicken stock, vialone nano rice, finely chopped celery leaves, peas, salt, pepper and parmesan to finish. But at the end of the day it is essentially rice and peas. Delicious.

RISI E BISI

ROASTED VEGETABLES WITH SALSA VERDE

Confession time. First, the salsa verde might look familiar. I made it two days ago. Second, the observant amongst you might suspect that the broccolini isn't roasted ...okay, the reality is that none of you suspected that it mightn't have been roasted - or cared whether it was or wasn't. But it wasn't and that's because when you roast broccolini, the roasting doesn't enhance the flavour. So there are two roasted vegetables and one steamed vegetable ... no, that's a lie, because there's garlic in the salsa verde and, well, um, who gives a ...? Let's settle for veg with sauce (which is what salsa means, for the non-Spanish speakers amongst you)? Pumpkin from our neighbours' farm. Chokos also from their farm. Broccolini from the market. Enough.

ROASTED VEGETABLES WITH SALSA VERDE

BAR COD WITH RED CURRY REDUCTION

The first time I had bar cod was 20 years ago. Sydney chefs Neil Perry, Tony Bilson, Chris Manfield and Steve Manfredi were a team in a professional chef challenge organised by Seppelt, an old Australian wine company. Steve had asked me to come along and taste the chefs' trial run. Neil steamed bar cod wrapped in lettuce with a really fine sauce based on fermented soya beans. Bar cod isn't a species you see very often, so when I saw this at our local fishmonger, I grabbed a couple of fillets. I simply salted  and sautéed them in a little grapeseed oil. The sauce is exactly what it sounds like - a mix of home made Thai red curry paste, a little chilli paste and half a cup of coconut cream, reduced by about a quarter. A squeeze of lime juice. A watercress salad dressed with macadamia oil, a few drops of sesame oil and coconut vinegar.

BAR COD WITH RED CURRY REDUCTION

STEAMED FLATHEAD, PURPLE CONGO MASH & SALSA VERDE

Purple Congos are without doubt the most colourful potatoes around. No regulation white, beige or pale yellow here. These are in-your-face purple - intense and deep and rare in foods. Some eggplant varieties have purple skin, but it fades to a wishy-washy brown when cooked. If you boil these whole and then mash, they remain vibrantly purple. If you cut them before cooking, the colour leaches from them. I simply steamed these flathead fillets (caught by my brother). The salsa verde is a mix of parsley and coriander leaves, garlic, anchovy fillets, extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar and salt.

STEAMED FLATHEAD, PURPLE CONGO MASH & SALSA VERDE

CHICKEN SATAY

We Australians have a weird relationship with our neighbour Indonesia. We don't much like the politics. We mostly don't try to understand the religion. But we go there in droves for holidays. And we like the food. There's no food more Indonesian than chicken satay ... well maybe chicken curry. And rendang. And ... Well, anyway, satay is something that we all seem to love. The secret is in marinating the chicken. That's the first secret. The second secret is getting the peanut/sweetness/chilli/tang/saltiness balance just right in the sauce. Did I get it right? You'll never know.

CHICKEN SATAY

POLLO ADOBADO, SALSA DE ELOTE, GUACAMOLE, CHIPOTLE EN ADOBO

Another simple family meal - but a Mexican family meal this time around. Chicken thighs (with skin and bone intact for flavour) rubbed with adobo paste and grilled. Corn pan fried until it starts jumping, with a little agave syrup, lime juice and fresh chilli. Chipotles en adobo, for those who don't know, are smoked jalapeños cooked in a rich spicy sauce. They make an awesome accompaniment to barbecued meats. Add a tequilita and sangrita and you're in Mexican heaven.

POLLO ADOBADO, SALSA DE ELOTE, GUACAMOLE, CHIPOTLE EN ADOBO

GOLD BAND SNAPPER, BEETROOT SALAD, PUMPKIN SALAD, ROAST GARLIC AIOLI

Beetroots are so plentiful and cheap at the moment that I roasted several of them and used one to make this salad - with extra virgin olive oil, spiced beetroot vinegar, a little pomegranate molasses, salt and pepper. Our neighbours gave us a pumpkin, so chunks of this were mixed with pecan oil, white balsamic vinegar and toasted pumpkin seeds. A fresh fillet of gold band snapper, simply salted and pan fried in grapeseed oil and a dollop of roast garlic aïoli - sweet, salty, nutty, soft, crunchy.

GOLD BAND SNAPPER, BEETROOT SALAD, PUMPKIN SALAD, ROAST GARLIC AIOLI

MUD CRAB RISOTTO

My brother brought us a small mud crab caught in his crab pot. It wasn't really big enough for a substantial meal on its own, so it went into this wonderfully rich risotto. Not much in the way of extra flavours - Noilly Prat vermouth, eschallots, garlic and stock, so the sweet pure taste of crab shone through. Delish.

MUD CRAB RISOTTO

FEIJOAS

Something out of Brazil other than soccer players, gorgeous women and great music ... feijoas. Native to southern Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. Really popular in En Zed. Feijoas like cool climates - so they won't grow around here. These ones were grown at Stanthorp, a couple of hours away. They are incredibly sweet with flavours that remind me of guava, passionfruit and pineapple. We have been having these after dinner each night, along with some black Genoa figs.

FEIJOAS

MAHI MAHI CURRY

Not much to describe here. More of the mahi mahi bought two days ago (and caught the previous night). Home made yellow curry paste. Thai basil leaves from the garden.

MAHI MAHI CURRY

MAHI MAHI, BABY FENNEL AND A SAFFRON GINGER TOMATO SAUCE

The fisherman at the weekly farmers market operates a boat out of Southport, about 15 kms north of here. A couple of times during the year, mahi mahi pass by on their migrations. I simply sautéed these fillets in grapeseed oil. The sauce is a mix of saffron, ginger, tomatoes, garlic and chilli puréed and reduced. The finely sliced fennel was marinated in extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

MAHI MAHI, BABY FENNEL AND A SAFFRON GINGER TOMATO SAUCE

RISTRETTO

I start every day with a couple of strong flat whites. That's because I'm not man enough to front up to a shot of espresso so early in the day. But once the day's in full swing, this is what I really love - the intense, pure full-on coffee hit that is a ristretto. It's half the size of an espresso - about 15 mls. Same amount of coffee, half the water. This is the parfum to a short black's eau de parfum and a flat white/cappuccino's eau de toilette. The coffee has to be good because there's nowhere to hide. Ristretto translates literally as restricted. The only thing restricted is the use of water. The flavour is anything but. In some strata of society they'd be tempted to inject this. But they'd be denying their tastebuds serious pleasure.

RISTRETTO

FISH CAKES WITH ROAST GARLIC AIOLI

Home cooking. I trimmed the bellies off the salmon fillets cooked last night and use these tonight. Finely chopped salmon, cooked sebago potato, egg, chilli crab paste, fried shallots, salt and pepper - coated with panko crumbs and gently sautéed in grapeseed oil.

FISH CAKES WITH ROAST GARLIC AIOLI

SPICED SALMON WITH TOMATO & GINGER SAUCE, CUMIN CRUSTED PUMPKIN

If you're Australian or from London, you might know of Aussie chef Chris Manfield. If you know her, you'll know her love for a bold use of spices, and a particular fondness for the spices of India. I was inspired by her to produce this dish. The salmon was dusted with a mix of roasted and ground cumin seeds, cardamom seeds, coriander seeds, white peppercorns, cassia bark and brown mustard seeds, mixed with chickpea flour and salt. The fish was sautéed in a little grapeseed oil in a hot pan - two minutes each side. The pumpkin has been sprinkled with sumac, cumin seeds, sea salt and pepper and roasted at 220C for 20 minutes. For the sauce, I puréed three tomatoes, a 2 cm piece of ginger, a clove of garlic, a bulb of eschallot, salt and a dried bird's eye chilli. I heated a couple of tablespoons of peanut oil until smoking, then added the sauce (quickly, but carefully - it spits violently when the oil and sauce meet), reduced the heat to medium and stirred until slightly reduced and thickened. The lime pickle is from a local Sri Lankan couple at the weekly markets.

SPICED SALMON WITH TOMATO & GINGER SAUCE, CUMIN CRUSTED PUMPKIN

TUNA WITH AJVAR AND CANNELLINI & TOMATO SALAD

All over the world people share (if generous) or protect treasured recipes for traditional foods. In rural Australia, it might be a family secret for making perfect scones. In Mexico, it might be a recipe for pozole. In Louisiana, it might be a generations old recipe for gumbo. In Macedonia, it's probably a recipe for ajvar. According to Macedonians, their home country is famous for its red peppers (capsicums in some countries) and tomatoes. The locals have found dozens of ways to use the bounty of their land. And every home seems to have a recipe for this spicy red pepper sauce called ajvar.

TUNA WITH AJVAR AND CANNELLINI & TOMATO SALAD

MINESTRONE VERDE

There's nothing wrong with plain minestrone. But, to my mind, it's a distant second to this green version. This starts with slices of leek sweated in extra virgin olive oil until soft. Then I add rich home-made chicken stock (supermarket versions won't do for this), salt and pepper, halved Brussels sprouts, green beans and cook these until just tender. Then I add cooked cannellini and borlotti and heat through. I place a couple of tablespoons of basil pesto in deep serving bowls and ladle the soup over the top. You can really use most green vegetables - broccoli, broccolini, cabbage, cavolo nero, peas, silverbeet, kale. You can also add small pasta shapes. And if you fancy it, grate some more parmesan over the top.

MINESTRONE VERDE

YELLOWFIN TUNA WITH CHOKO PUREE AND BORLOTTI

Anyone else got an aversion to chokos? I did. Until recently. Then i discovered how marinating them in olive oil, garlic and oregano and slow roasting completely transformed them from a watery nothingness into something interesting. This time I omitted the oregano and puréed them after roasting. Brilliant. More slowly braised fresh borlotti and tuna  rubbed with ground chipotle chillies and seared in a very hot pan.

YELLOWFIN TUNA WITH CHOKO PUREE AND BORLOTTI

CHICKEN BREAST WITH CHIPOTLES EN ADOBO

The observant amongst you might recognise this is the front half of last night's chicken. Simply roasted with a little roasted chilli and chilli oil. Mexican friends will know how wonderful chipotles en adobo are: smoked jalapeños cooked with lots of great spices. Once made, they last virtually for in the fridge. A simple watercress and avocado salad.

CHICKEN BREAST WITH CHIPOTLES EN ADOBO

CHICKEN LEG, CAVOLO NERO, BORLOTTI AND BASIL PESTO

Rustic Italian fare. I love brining chicken. It adds flavour, thanks to the infusion of salt. It help the skin crisp, thanks to leaching water from the skin. Gently braised fresh borlotti - in chicken stock (made from the chicken frame). Cavolo nero gently braised in extra virgin olive oil with a little garlic. Home made basil pesto.

CHICKEN LEG, CAVOLO NERO, BORLOTTI AND BASIL PESTO

PANKO CRUMBED BARRAMUNDI WITH FIGS AND BALSAMIC GLAZE

More of these super sweet Genovese figs from the markets. Barramundi fillets from the fishmonger, dusted in panko crumbs and sautéed in butter. Ten minutes from start to finish. Now that's fast food. A simple rocket & avocado salad. Dinner.

PANKO CRUMBED BARRAMUNDI WITH FIGS AND BALSAMIC GLAZE