Scrumptious Grub

May 12, 2012

Craig’s Cracking Chilli Con Carne!

It’s been spectacular Autumn weather in Sydney so far but the evenings are still crisp and chilly, giving us the perfect excuse to eat Chilli Con Carne and drink red wine! Who needs an excuse really? This is Craig’s own Chilli creation which he’s been making for years… and here it is: Craig’s Chilli Con Carne recipe! It is (apparently) really easy and one of my favourite pig out dishes, because you keep going back for more and more tortillas and tacos by justifying to yourself that it’s still all included in the one meal! We sometimes eat this dish with rice and salad, but usually with tortillas and tacos and Craig’s home-made guacamole. My only complaint is the number of dirty dishes created by this masterpiece… do we really need each and every condiment separated into different and matching bowls? With chilli, salsa, grated cheese, sour cream, guacamole, jalapenos, salad leaves and tomatoes that’s a whole lot of bowls! Worth all the washing up though… delicious!

Chilli con carne with THE LOT

THE LOT

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May 10, 2012

What to do with Kale!

With winter on its way in Sydney and Lachy in childcare for the first time… we are trying our best through the consumption of green leafy foods to avoid getting sick, particularly as we both work full-time and Craig is less than 8 weeks away from (hopefully) running his first marathon in the Gold Coast! So my ridiculously crazy and overly ambitious husband is trying to invent different and tasty ways to inject what would ordinarily be a boring tasteless green vegetable into our bodies! With this newly created Kale recipe (which I’ll update later), Craig succeeded! Kale… also know as Cavolo Nero (black cabbage), if chopped up and pan friend with olive oil, garlic, onion and chilli flakes is absolutely delicious with roast lamb rack or roast chicken… it also completely cleans out your system the next day, if you know what I’m saying.

Chopped Kale with olive oil, onion, garlic and chilli flakes

Kale with lamb rack, roasted sweet potato and goats cheese

A mound of kale with roast chicken

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May 10, 2012

Heavenly barbequed salmon curry

This whole side of Salmon from Sydney Fish Markets was so huge Craig and I barely managed to eat half for dinner on Sunday night, I devoured more for lunch on Monday, the boys had some for dinner that night and on Wednesday… my Dad ate the rest. Even as three-day-old leftovers Dad raved that this was an awesome curry and the best salmon dish he’d eaten to date. My parents have requested it be cooked for them soon (I haven’t told Craig yet). A simple Pete Evans recipe from ‘My Grill’ with red Thai curry flavours and coconut milk, the salmon was cooked perfectly and melted in my mouth like butter! I’m really glad to see the end of Craig’s man-flu and the beginning of his re-entry into the kitchen!

Colourful flavoursome salmon curry

Piping hot and ready to serve

Sliced down the middle to expose pink buttery salmon

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May 9, 2012

Scottish-Italian-Japanese Mushroom Risotto

While I was at the SCG on Saturday night screaming my head off watching the Crows beat the Swans by 5 points (YAY), my Glaswegian husband was inventing himself a new risotto using Italian porcini mushrooms and Japanese shiitake mushrooms! Well somebody had to stay home and babysit! I was fortunate enough to taste this multicultural Scottish-Italian-Japanese delight the next day for lunch on sourdough toast covered in parmesan cheese and it was no joke, the best risotto Craig has ever made. Finished with truffle oil drizzled over the top this risotto filled me with anger and disappointment that I didn’t check the fridge when I got home at 1am the night before for traces of yummy reheat-able drunken feasts! I will publish his full recipe in time, but in short this number contained onion, chilli flakes, porcini mushroom, shiitake mushrooms, quality chicken stock, kale, olive oil, salt and pepper, truffle oil and the touch of a Scotsman!

Gone in three bites!

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April 30, 2012

Home-made Gnocchi con salsa di vitello

In English… potato dumplings with veal ragu, a Buon Ricordo recipe. What a perfect meal to eat with family on a cold Autumn Sunday evening with a glass of red and a game of derby footy (go Crows)! Having never made potato gnocchi before, we thought they would turn out like little tough pouches of dough… but surprisingly they were soft and well seasoned and, although uneven in size due to a giant knife trying to cut around tiny 2-year-old’s fingers wanting to help, they were not far off what we’ve been served in Italian cafes. Admittedly we don’t eat gnocchi often so we are by no means experts, but it was lovely. These instructions helped! The gnocchi was covered in a veal ragu using diced veal back-strap (as the recipe says) and the flavour and intensity of the sauce was beautiful, but we were disappointed that the veal wasn’t as tender as other ragu’s we’ve had. Not disappointed with the meal overall though, and guess what – I made it all by myself! That’s right, not Craig… me! “The best dish I’ve ever presented”, said my husband… a very proud moment for me (I need to get out more)!

Little potato clouds before cooking

Gnocchi con salsa di vitello (potato dumplings with veal ragu) & parmesan

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April 25, 2012

Roast Beef with Jus… to the ANZACS!

Craig was excited to get home from work on Tuesday night, the Eve of ANZAC Day 2012, because earlier that day he’d decided he was going to roast an eye fillet of beef and make a Beef Jus recipe from Salsa. I was excited to rush home from work to eat it all! Knowing the next morning Craig wasn’t running and we wouldn’t make the 5:30am Dawn Service with Pop, Marsha and Dan either (thanks to our little sleeping numpty sons), we also decanted a lovely bottle of wine to share (Gibson Barossa – Adelaide Hills Cabernet Merlot 2006). The beef was utterly tender, rare and juicy and while the Beef Jus took a couple of hours to reduce and intensify in flavour, it was well worth the wait! With a creamy potato and parsnip gratin, and boiled broccolini finished in the pan with garlic and olive oil, this was a rich hearty roast to remember. Let’s raise a toast to the ANZACs, including my late Great Grandad who served in WWI, my late Grandad who served in WWII, and my Dad who served 2 tours in the Vietnam War! Proud of you all… Lest We Forget!

Completely and utterly the most succulently delicious roast!

Juicy is an understatement!!!

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April 21, 2012

Friday night delight… Buon Ricordo RAGU!

One of the great things about having a husband is not having to eat baked beans on Salada crackers for dinner. Yes that’s right… a long and very single time ago that was a culinary option for me! Last night when I walked in the door after work I should have been mostly excited to see my husband and children, but the aromas that immediately hit my nose caused me to instead run straight past them and into the kitchen to suss out its source! On the stove top I found a Buon Ricordo recipe bubbling away, a pork and beef shoulder ragu which Craig served with plenty of parmesan cheese and spelt fettuccine. Buon Ricordo is an Italian restaurant in Paddington that we absolutely love, and last night Craig managed to turn our home into this great restaurant (minus the atmosphere, plus a couple of sleeping kids, minus a waiter and sommelier, plus a TV, minus red wine for Craig who is deep in the throes of marathon training, and thankfully minus the large bill at the end!). Craig said he expected more from the ragu, but I thought it was positively delicious – especially washed down with a glass of red after juggling and cartwheeling our way through a tough week!

Delicious ragu sauce straight from the pot

Snow caked with parmesan cheese

All mixed through into a rich meaty saucy ragu

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April 14, 2012

Check out my rack (of lamb)

It’s about time Craig got his hands on a decent rack, he deserves it! After being all beef’d out after a couple of meals of ridiculously orgasmic Rangers Valley grain fed steaks from VC, Craig decided that Friday night would be vegetarian night, bringing home a rack of lamb for dinner! Well that’s about as vegetarian as we can handle! Craig has perfected the art of cooking lamb rack… after searing it on all sides he pasted onto the lamb a mixture of mustard, crushed garlic, rosemary, thyme, sea-salt, pepper and a touch of olive oil – and then finished it in the oven to create perfectly pink juicy lamb. As a side Craig made a salad of classic complimentary flavours: roasted sweet potato, Yarra Valley Dairy goats cheese, Ligurian Green Olives, and toasted pine-nuts. To finish this delicate vegetarian meal, we decanted a meaty bottle of Casa Freschi Profondo Langhorne Creek 2006, and polished the whole meal off in less than 10 minutes!

On looking back at some of the food and wine we’ve consumed since first writing The perfect Sunday, we really look like gluttonous pigs! So for the record – our 2012 New Years Resolution was to drink nicer wine, less often! People laughed at this, but it really has been a successful resolution (with a couple of slip ups of course). I live by my new motto “Less is more”… although wouldn’t life be all sorts of boring without the occasional dirty great big hang over? The answer… nope!

Pink perfection

Craig's perfect rack (of lamb)

Lamb served with roasted sweet potato, goats cheese and green olives

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April 10, 2012

Duck me… that was amazing!

The Easter long-weekend was so much fun, bumming around Sydney with Craig and the boys while everyone else headed north or south on holidays… leaving us to play wherever we wanted with easy traffic, parking and nobody in sight! The other great thing about Easter was the food and wine intake… but after Sunday’s family lunch (see: Banoffee pie in Marsha’s banoffee belly!) I thought we’d never eat again! I also thought Craig would certainly not have enough energy to cook after spending Monday morning at the beach so last night I expected takeaway… boy was I mistaken! On our way back from a crisp morning session at Neilson Park, Craig picked up a whole duck from Victor Churchill inspired to try a Neil Perry roasted duck recipe (The Food I Love)… and duck me it was amazing! I’ve actually never eaten roast duck before, but Craig said it was cooked as he expected with crispy salty glossy skin and a soft meaty centre! The orange sauce was Craig’s own recipe, a variation of a Pete Evans sauce and was gorgeous and silky (stay tuned for the recipe). Craig also made his (well Neil Perry’s) classic potato gratin and my new favourite vegetable dish in the whole wide world… braised red cabbage (also Neil Perry – The Food I love). With this scrumptious meal we decanted one of our favourite wines picked up at the Hunter Valley many years ago after first trying it at Zest Restaurant… Lakes Folly Cabernet 1999. What a sensational way to finish a positively brilliant Easter weekend!

Lakes Folly 1999 - sensational wine!

Resting roast duck fresh out of the oven... empty glass waiting to be filled!

Roast duck glistening with orange sauce

Roast duck, potato gratin and braised red cabbage peaking through...

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April 8, 2012

Banoffee pie in Marsha’s banoffee belly!

There’s nothing quite like a Sunday roast on Moose and Oohh Aahh’s deck, but one that ends in home-made Banoffee Pie with home-made short crust pastry is one to remember. We arrived with perfect timing… 30 minutes early at the demand of our 2-year-old, to our hosts’ dismay who were both red-faced and flustered in the kitchen with the pressure reaching boiling point! After seeing the roast lunch they produced I now totally understand why… so much going on and the added distraction of five adults and two little boys didn’t help: “Marsha, come here… come here!”. I’m going to describe this meal backward with dessert first – as my sister Marsha made this amazing Banoffee Pie with loads of love and attention and I suspect, even more hatred and loathing!

Banoffee Pie:

Banoffee is now my favourite word! Banoffee! It’s brilliant! Moose went on quite a journey before reaching her final sensational banoffee creation! After ruining her first banoffee pastry, Marsha made a second batch to perfection but smashed it in transit all over the floor. She described her emotions at that moment and I am so surprised, impressed and thankful that she got right back on that banoffee horse and made a third batch… which was also perfect, but which didn’t end up on the floor! Being 24 weeks pregnant, I thought it only fitting that her banoffee belly be shown posing next to her Banoffee Pie! So delicious! Banoffee!

Marsha's Banoffee belly!

Serve me up some Banoffee Pie please!

Banoffeelicious!

Roast beef with Yorkshire Puddings:

Before Banoffee Heaven Marsha and Dan made a good old-fashioned roast beef dinner with all the trimmings! Every element was amazing but to me the home-made yorkshire puddings covered in delicious gravy were the best! I had three (oops). I was actually surprised the gravy was that good given Marsha admitted that her baby brain accidentally caused her to wash out all the beef juices from the pan before making it. The beef was tender, juicy and scrumptious and the roast potatoes were smashingly crisp and fluffy! Also, while Marsha apologised for the sweet potato being over-cooked… um it turns out the slightly charcoaled taste was excellent. With a roast like this, I blame the simple things like broccolini cooked to perfection and home-made horseradish cream for my gluttonous eating. Thanks guys, oh so finger licking good!