4 pork chops, 1″ thick3 cloves garlic, mincedRosemary from 3 medium length branches, minced12 sage leaves, minced1/2 tsp salt1/2 Tb sugar1 Tb cider vinegar Mix all ingredients together and marinate pork at least 2 h. Grill to perfection! Serve with apple jelly. The rosemary, sage and the apples used to make the jelly were from…
Maple, juniper berry and nutmeg cured bacon
I think I found one of the best mix of flavours for my bacon with this recipe. In addition to using the standard cure, I added maple syrup, juniper berry and nutmeg (details below). The bacon below was slow cooked in a pan before resting on some paper towel. For the pork belly, leave…
Pork banh mi (Vietnamese baguette sandwich)
These sandwiches using vietnamese baguettes seem to be the latest craze in Melbourne. The vietnamese baguette is essentially a french baguette that is made with a bit of rice flour so it is lighter on the inside and crunchier on the outside. There are a range of options, but I made the ‘traditional’ version. …
pizza night!
Home-made pizzas are so much fun…and the girls love to make them…their favorite is bacon and pineapple, and of course we used my home-cured bacon! Pizza dough recipe and toppings below… The dough is the easiest to make…I prefer to make it 1-2 days ahead, if possible, but a few hours is okay. I use…
Pork floss
I found this in the Asian supermarket. Cannot wait to use it! It’s essentially dried, BBQ pulled pork.
Hanoi beef noodle soup
For New Year’s eve we had some friends over for dinner, and Belinda wanted to cook some Vietnamese dishes from her new cookbooks by Luke Nguyen. I was the sous chef for the evening! This is the first of the dishes, very yummy and we had leftovers the next day for lunch. The recipe calls…
Beef and pancetta meatballs
Madeleine has been asking for meatballs recently, so here we go… Ingredients meatballs 1 kg (2 lb) beef mince 250 g (1/2 lb) pancetta 1 large brown onion 3 cloves garlic 1 large handfull (1/2 cup)…
Garden photos update, December 2012
The Vegees are continuing to grow. The sugar snap peas are long gone, the broccoli is gone, and there’s a bit of silverbeet (chard) left. Still waiting on the red cabbage, hot peppers, red onions, tomatoes and corn. I also added a photo of an artichoke flower and a bush that has flowered for the…
Lamb and honey sausages with red cabbage, green beans and asparagus in a balsamic cherry tomato sauce
I bought honey and lamb sausages from a local greek butcher, and instead of simply grilling and serving on a bun, etc., I used them in a stew that goes well with pasta, rice or potatoes (I served with pasta). The sausages I used were small, chipolata size, so I used 12. Ingredients 12 honey and…
Pineapple braised beef top ribs with sweet potato mash, asparagus and sugar snap peas
For slow cooked beef, top ribs are one of my favorite. They are also inexpensive; our local butcher sells them for $6/kg, or $3/lb. I get the butcher to cut them in medium pieces. Ingredients (beef top ribs) 2 kg / 4 lb beef top ribs, cut into medium pieces 2 medium brown onions,…
Pumpkin tarts with maple cream
I made these to take to Madeleine’s first piano recital. Pretty simple, and yummy. The pastry 2 cups plain white flour 1 tsp salt 2/3 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut in cubes 1/4 cup water Using a pastry blender (or your finger tips, but slower), blend the flour, salt and butter until the…
Braised pork neck, mixed bell pepper and mushroom pasta with sour cream
I braised a pork neck and used half of it with pasta, and reserved the rest to use later this week in something else. I tossed the pork with sautéed red and yellow bell pepper and mushrooms, a bit of the braising juice, and finished with sour cream. 1.5 kg (3 lb) pork neck 1…
Day to Day Thoughts on Food 