Tuna and tomato pasta sauce

Now I understand that you will call into question my frequent comment that, “this tastes so good blah blah blah…”’ but maybe, just maybe it’s true!

This pasta sauce is a variation to the old bolognese sauce with a much quicker preparation time using canned tuna and fresh ingredients.  I think the one ingredient that makes this sauce taste so good is the coarsely cut garlic.  I have never had much luck frying garlic, I like to throw it in when all the other ingredients are simmering so the garlic loses its edge and blends delicate flavour throughout the sauce without overcooking or frying in oil.

If you have children looking for a meal to cook, then this is a simple meal that will provide them with a strong sense of accomplishment because it is easy to make and tastes really good!

Like everything you cook, fresh ingredients are a must.

Ing.

1 x onion, finely diced

a tablespoon olive oil

200g canned tuna in oil, the Italian ones tend to be solid piece as opposed to flakes

3 x sprigs spring onion

1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes (or three fresh tomatoes instead)

3 cloves fresh garlic, coarsely chopped   

a handful of chopped fresh Continental Parsley

a tablespoon of tomato paste

a teaspoon of Massell powdered chicken stock

Murray River Pink Salt

Freshly ground pepper

Start by heating the pasta water onto the stove.  Place the pasta into the water when it boils.  Once the pasta is ready, the sauce will be ready.  Timing is everything!

Into a medium heated frypan, fry the onion in the olive oil.  After a minute, add your can(s) of tuna, ensuring to add all the oil in the can.  Mix it up and let it cook for another minute.  Add your tomatoes, spring onion, tomato paste and Massell chicken stock.  Let it settle.  Now add the garlic, Murray River Pink Salt and pepper to taste.  Add your Continental parsley and turn down the heat to low and let it simmer.

Make sure to serve your pasta sauce with freshly grated Grana Padano cheese!

There will be no leftovers, so if you’re into making several meals at one time, make a bigger batch!

Enjoy!

Brendan

Fresh Tasmanian Trout

Hi Lockdown Lovers and Lockdown Foodies (that should cover everyone),

 During the last Melbourne lockdown, we cooked a lot.  We enjoyed some new flavours, new experiences and moved out of our culinary comfort zone, just a little.  Now that Lockdown is back I promise to bombard you with meals and instructions, take dazzling good photographs (thanks to my phone) and engage with you all to prove that we can all cook, you just have to get to the kitchen!

OK, this week my good buddy Mark gave me a couple of fresh Tasmanian trout that he reluctantly parted with following many long fishless days and the usual fisher despair!  No, not really, he just gave me some fish!

Now, this is a simple meal.  Simple in fresh produce, minimal cooking, wonderful flavours and very little preparation.  The only factory produced products here are the butter and the cream in the fish sauce, but one could argue that they are pretty natural regardless of their manufacturing processes.  

The recommended ‘method de cook’ was oven baked.  Simple.  Here’s how:

Ingredients

Fresh trout

1 x lemon, sliced

Murray River Pink Salt

Cracked Pepper

Olive oil

Continental parsley or Fresh Dill

I would normally have added fresh Continental parsley or Dill, but I didn’t (too may diets to manage!)

Method

Preheat oven to 200c.

Clean the fish. 

We are going to envelope the fish in a foil envelope, so place the fresh fish onto a large piece of aluminium foil.  

This method cooks the whole fish, so inside the fish place two slices of fresh lemon, a sprinkle of Murray River Pink Salt, freshly cracked pepper to taste and a good splash of olive oil.  Add your Continental parsley or Dill now.

Pour a little more olive oil on the outside of the fish, wrap the foil so a large air pocket is created above the fish.  This will act as an oven or internal steamer while the fish bakes at high temperature.

Place on an oven tray and place into the preheated oven and bake for 20 mins.

When the parcels are ready to be removed, be aware that the steam is hotter than boiling water, so beware the rise of the steam!  Place the fish onto a serving plate and pour the remaining juices from the foil envelope over the fish.

The delicate flesh will fall off the bones, the fresh vegetables (not really salads) attached are complimentary and the ‘mandatory’, legendary butter, garlic, lemon and cream sauce recipe is here:

https://maxifoods.net.au/kitchen/sauce-so-good-it-must-be-bad

The ripe tomatoes were tossed in Murray River Pink Salt, freshly cracked pepper and fresh whole basil leaves.  Covered in olive oil.  Fresh!

The lettuce is just plain old freshly chopped Cos lettuce with Murray River Pink Salt and Olive Oil.  This tastes great!

The giant mushrooms are pan fried, on their heads, with a splash of olive oil on top and on the bottom.  They are served whole (and eaten in pieces)!

Promising you more recipes, reviews and rubbish this year (the three R’s). 

I’ve been a little busy.  Apologies!

 Brendan Blake

Many mushrooms make good pasta

OK, so I’m yet to discover that eating too many mushrooms encourages weird dreams, but if such a condition exists, then I’m in for a show!

I used four types of mushrooms, button, swiss brown, oyster and enoki (which are the long stem small head mushrooms).  The combination of olive oil, butter, garlic and mushrooms is pretty hard to beat.  This is a really delightful pasta which I thought suited the day we experienced today.  

You can use any type of mushrooms, even one type only.  It will still taste terrific.

Make sure you know that the mushrooms you are using are safe, particularly if you ‘found them in the garden’.  I suggest not to use field mushrooms unless you are trained in their identification and potential danger, and you wish to take that risk. 

Ing.

2 cups of Mushrooms, any type (from a reliable source)

300gms spaghetti

One onion, sliced

Four cloves of garlic, finely diced

A handful of Continental parsley

A few sprigs of fresh thyme

80gms butter

300gms fresh thickened cream

A tablespoon of olive oil

1 teaspoon Massel powdered chicken stock* (dissolved in a splash of hot water)

Freshly cracked pepper to taste

Murray River Pink salt

Grated Grana Padano cheese to serve  

Method

The pasta and the mushroom sauce are to be prepared separately.  Heat the pasta water so the water will be heated in a few minutes time, ready to cook.

In a large stovetop pan, gently pan fry the onion in olive oil over medium heat.  Once golden add the butter.  As the butter melts add the chopped garlic to the butter, ensuring it doesn’t fry.  Now add all the mushrooms (whole) and the Massel stock which is dissolved in a splash of hot water.  Sprinkle in some salt and pepper to taste.  Add the handful of chopped parsley and thyme.

Cook it for about 5-7 minutes while the mushrooms reduce.  

The pasta water is probably now ready.  Add your pasta to the water and cook as per the instructions on the packet, which is generally about eight minutes.

Now to your mushroom pan, add the cream.  Stir it about and let it sit for about three minutes whilst it rises.  Let it rise, but not boil.  Once the cream takes on the colour of the mushrooms turn off the heat and let it rest until your pasta is ready.

Strain the cooked pasta through a colander.  Tip the pasta into the mushroom sauce and toss about so everything is covered in the delicious mushroom flavoured cream.

Serve with a generous sprinkling of Grana Padano cheese.

Now eat.

Enjoy those dreams.

Kind regards,

Brendan Blake

 * Massel stock is vegan

Pasta al forno (Italian style oven baked pasta)

The wintery weather prompted me to make a lasagne, but when I arrived home I was asked to substitute the lasagne sheets with macaroni.  Go figure!

My lasagne was instantly converted into ‘pasta al forno’. The method is largely the same but instead of layering the pasta sheets and sauce, the (semi cooked) macaroni is placed at the bottom of the oven dish and the meat is placed atop, covered by a decent layer of nutmeg spiced béchamel sauce.

It is enough to make you over hungry!  A large baking dish will provide several meals, unless the first sitting does as it is expected and the whole lot goes!

Ing.

500g macaroni, I used San Remo

Sauce

1kg premium mince beef

1 tablespoon of olive oil (I used Cobram, but they are all good)

3 tins chopped tomatoes (Annalisa Italian are the best)

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

3 sprigs spring onion, chopped.

3 tablespoons tomato paste (Leggo’s)

1 handful of freshly chopped Continental parsley

1 heaped teaspoon Massel chicken stock

A good pinch of Murray River Pink Salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

4 cups boiling water

2 eggs, beaten, for use later.

Béchamel sauce

60gms butter

1 cup plain flour

3 cups milk

1 cup Mozzarella cheese

1 cup grated parmesan (I always use Grana Padano)

Murray River Pink Salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

A sprinkle of ground nutmeg or mace

Method

Preheat oven to 175C.

In a large pot, on medium heat, heat your onion in olive oil until gently golden.  Add the mincemeat and try to break it up. A whisk breaks it beautifully.  Let it cook with the lid on until it colours up and then remove the lid and let the liquid cook off.  The drier it is the more absorbent it will be when you add the other things.

Now add the three tins chopped tomatoes and the tomato paste.  Mix it up and let it cook. Add the parsley, spring onion, garlic, salt, pepper, boiling water (4 cups) and Massel chicken stock.  Bring it to the boil, stirring occasionally.  When it boils, turn the heat down to the lowest setting and put the lid on.  Let it cook for about 30 mins or longer of you have time.  The longer it cooks the better it will be.

Your pasta water should be already heating on the stove.  Once the water boils, add a teaspoon of Murray River Pink salt.  Add your macaroni and let it cook for about four minutes. Once it is semi-cooked, drain the water and set the macaroni aside to cool.

Bechamel sauce

There are two rules to making béchamel sauce. 

Rule No. 1 Do not stop stirring!

Rule No. 2 If you stop stirring, refer to rule No. 1 

To make the béchamel sauce, melt the butter on medium heat in a medium sized saucepan.  Once melted, slowly add and stir in the cup of flour.  A whisk works very well here too.  It will start to get lumpy.  Now add a cup of milk. Stir it about constantly trying to break up the lumps.  Add another cup of milk, stir…, now add the third cup of milk and stir…

Once the lumps break down, add your two cups of cheeses, Murray River Pink salt, freshly ground pepper and a sprinkle of nutmeg.  Stir, stir, stir.   

When the sauce is thick, but not heavy, turn it off and cover with a lid.  If it gets too thick it will want to become ‘bread like’ and that is not what we are looking for!

Assembly

In your baking dish place a thin layer of the meat sauce.  Now mix the two beaten eggs with the mass of macaroni and layer it all on the bottom of the dish.  Flatten it as much as you can.  Ensure that there will be room for the meat sauce and the béchamel sauce on top, with enough clearance for a piece of foil not to stick to the sauce. 

Once flattened, pour the meat sauce all over the macaroni and press it in.  Now pour, from the saucepan, the béchamel sauce over the meat sauce.  Using a fork, spread it evenly across the entire dish.  If you want, sprinkle some cheese lightly over the sauce.

Cover with foil.  If the sauce is too high and risks sticking to the foil, stand several, snapped to length, wooden or bamboo skewers upright in the dish, just high enough to hold the foil above the sauce.

Place into the oven and cook at 175C for about 40 mins.  Then remove the foil, turn the heat down to 150C and cook for an additional 10 mins so the top browns up a little.

Let it cool before you slice it up into 12 pieces.  The longer it cools the better the piece formation will be.  The first piece is the hardest to remove cleanly!  Otherwise no one should care about the presentation as it won’t last long enough to be admired!

Enjoy.  This is great for the adults and the kids.

Kind regards,

Brendan

Japanese Katsudon – crumbed pork cutlet with egg and rice.

Japanese Katsudon – crumbed pork cutlet with egg and rice.

Many of you must think I'm turning Japanese!

Now this Japanese dish is just fantastic. I’ve made it and posted it before, but his time the colour of the pork schnitzels was just perfect, so I couldn’t resist this important post!

Ing.

4 pork medallions
2 cups sushi rice
Plain flour to coat the pork
1 egg, beaten after the plain flour coating
1 cup Panko crumbs

In the pan

1 onion, sliced
4 eggs, beaten

Katsudon sauce, consisting of:
1 cup water
2 teaspoons Massel chicken stock
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 teaspoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons Mirin

To Serve

Sushi Rice

2 cups sushi rice cooked using the packet’s instructions (like other white rice)
Garnish with freshly chopped spring onion

Method

Lightly tenderise the pork fillets, cost them with plain flour, the egg mix and then into the Panko crumbs. Gently pan fry in olive oil until golden. Set aside.

Separately pan fry the onion in olive oil until golden.

In a separate (smaller) fry pan, place ¼ of the fried onion, place a cooked sliced Katsudon pork fillet on top and pour over it ¼ the beaten egg mixture. Now pour over ¼ of the cooking sauce.

Fry for about 1-2 minutes.

Do the same for the remaining three pork schnitzels, using the balance of the onion, egg mixture and cooking sauce.

Serve on a bed of sushi rice.

Excellent!

Kind regards,
Brendan

Japanese Gyoza

OK foodies, apparently my menu has consisted of food from the 1970’s, so I have had to lift my game and bring the menu forward 50 years.  Welcome to 2020!

Japanese Gyozas are fantastic.  The kids will love them!  So will the adults…

Gyoza 

500g minced pork

Gyoza wrappers (from the dairy case)

2 cups shredded Wombok (chinses cabbage)

3 cloves minced garlic

3 sprigs chopped spring onion

1 carrot, finely chopped

½ teaspoon finely chopped ginger

chopped chives (if you like)

2 tablespoons Hoi Sin sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

a pinch of salt and pepper

Dipping sauce

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

½ teaspoon sesame oil

Sesame seeds

Blend all the gyoza ingredients.  Place a teaspoon of the mixture onto a gyoza wrap.

Using your hands and little water, gently fold the front side of the wrapper into the pattern as seen in the photo.  This excellent YouTube video will assist:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uzGezdkuso

To cook, heat a pan on the stovetop.  Warm a tablespoon of sesame oil and pan fry the gyoza on the base only.  When golden brown, add two tablespoons of water and quickly place a sealed lid over the pan so the water is trapped and it steams the rest of the dumplings.

After a couple of minutes, check to ensure they are internally cooked.

Make sure to use the fantastic dipping sauce.

Enjoy!

Salmon and Dill Quiche, no pastry

Hey Foodies, now I’m no chef, but these meals seem to turn out pretty well.  They are all pretty simple to prepare, but results are awesome.  The best thing is that you know what you are eating because you add all the ingredients into your meals.

Remember all the recipes can be found on the Maxi Foods website: www.maxifoods.net.au

Ing.

A piece of skinless fresh salmon, chopped into pieces

6 sprigs fresh dill

6 eggs

300ml thickened cream

1 onion, pan fried in rings

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon Massel powdered chicken stock

Murray River Pink salt

Freshly ground/cracked pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 220c.

Gently pan fry the onion in rings in olive oil.  Flip them when they brown so both sides are nicely browned.  Place them into a pie dish as a base.

Whilst the onion is cooking, in a mixing bowl whisk 6 eggs until they’re well mixed and aerated.  Add 300ml thickened cream.  Add Murray River Pink salt, Massel powdered chicken stock and pepper to taste.  Whisk it some more so all the ingredients are mixed.  Pour the mixture over the sliced onion rings in the pie dish

Now add the salmon pieces so they are evenly positioned in the dish.  Add the dill in the same way.

When the oven reaches temp, put the dish into the oven and cook for about 20 mins.  Watch it from time to time.  When it is fully inflated and gently browned (yes it will double in size), remove it and cool it on the stovetop where it will (unfortunately) deflate.

Now eat.  This is so good I can’t explain it to you!!

Please enjoy!

Stay safe, stay well.

Kindest regards

Brendan Blake

Pizza Romana MMXX

You can’t go to Italy, so bring Italy to you!

Italian pizza is not like Australian pizza, which the Italians call ‘Pizza Americana’.

A traditional pizza from Roma or Napoli has a base of chopped tomato and ‘placings’ of Mozzarella or Bocconcini cheese and other things like artichoke hearts etc.   

Tonight, I made Pizza Romana.  The basil (the undisputed King or Queen of herbs) is added after the pizza leaves the oven, not before.  I have taken a few photos to show the process and I took a photo of every pizza, including the vegan version, so you can make this at home.

Ing.

Base

550gm ‘Tipo 00’ white flour, 440gm for the base, the rest to sprinkle

310ml warm water

2 teaspoons dry yeast (I use Lowan dry yeast because it always works)

2 tablespoons olive oil

A sprinkle of Murray River Pink salt

Top

2 x 440ml cans of diced tomatoes

A tub of bocconcini or fresh balled Mozzarella cheese

Fresh basil leaves

Murray River Pink salt

A splash of olive oil

Method

In a bowl mix the 440gm flour, yeast, olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.  Add the 310ml warm water (not hot, not cold). I usually fill a jug with 250ml boiling water and top up to 310ml with 60mls cold water.  Stir it all up until it is well mixed.  Then tip it ono the bench and start to knead.  Knead, knead, knead until you don’t need to knead anymore!

Place your dough into the same bowl you used to mix the dough, pour on a little olive oil and seal the bowl with Glad Wrap and place somewhere warm for 20-30 mins whilst it rises.  May your dough rise!

Preheat the oven to 240c.

When the dough is done, place it onto the bench and punch it, then knead it again for a few minutes until you have an excellent, soft, elastic dough.  Roll it into a thick roll and slice it into however many even pieces you want to make that number of pieces.

Roll each piece into a ball and then press it into a pancake on a dusted bench.  Keep pressing it with your hands, flipping it occasionally until the desired pizza size is reached.  I made six pizzas from 440mg flour.  They were each about 250ml in diameter.

Sprinkle the base with flour, particularly at the edges to get the rustic look.  If it looks good, it is good.  Presentation is everything!

Pour on your diced tomato directly from the can, the puree is also wanted.  Now add your bocconcini or Mozzarella in clumps, sprinkle a little Murray River Pink salt and a drizzle of olive oil.  Place into the oven.  Bake for about 10 mins or until the edges reach the right colour.

When the pizza leaves the oven it will be extremely hot.   Add your basil, take a photo for Brendan and eat it!

You can do this.  Be a superstar in your kitchen!

Enjoy.

Lamb Shanks, Fennel and Licorice roots (slow cooker friendly)

If you have not yet made this dish, it is highly recommended and unique.  The fennel we currently offer the stores is huge, fresh and crisp.

Make wintertime enjoyable by cooking these low and slow meals that warm the belly!

At the risk of being called ‘boring’, I made this fabulous dish again tonight. I also made the Poached Fruit in Brandy  https://maxifoods.net.au/kitchen/spicy-australian-brandied-poached-dried-fruit because I could and because it is very good! 

I made a few subtle changes to the previous lamb shanks, so this is the revised recipe:

Ing. 

4 fresh lamb shanks

1 onion, sliced

2 tablespoons olive oil

100ml red or white wine

2 large fennel, thickly sliced

1 red capsicum, sliced

1 green capsicum, sliced

½ cup coarsely chopped Continental parsley

5 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon of licorice roots

1 teaspoon Fennel seeds

An additional 2 cups hot water

1 teaspoon Massel powdered chicken stock

A good sprinkle of cracked pepper

Murray River Pink salt

Method

I started a little earlier than usual so I infused into two cups of hot water the licorice roots, fennel seeds, powdered chicken stock, Murray River Pink salt and the pepper.  This burst of flavour liquid then became a charged stock to add to the shanks and vegetables.

Preheat the oven to 150c

In a large (oven proof) pot, pan fry on the stovetop the sliced onion in olive oil.  When golden add the fresh shanks to brown them (not cook them).  Turn them over after a minute or two.  Add a splash (100ml) of red or white wine and let the alcohol cook off for about three minutes.   Now add the fennel, capsicum, parsley and garlic. 

Pour in the infused stock liquid.  Add another two or three cups of hot water, but don’t fill the pot to the top, leave a good 1/3 to ¼ without liquid, even if it does not cover the vegetables.  Bring to the boil and then turn off, put a sealed lid on the pot, place it into the oven and leave alone for about an hour.

Now, presentation is everything!  Leave aside some Continental parsley to garnish your magnificent meal and (hopefully) you will be credited by your guests/family as the world’s greatest cook (again).

Slow Cooker

To cook this is a slow cooker, everything is the same after the shanks are browned.  The onion and shanks should be stovetop browned before placing into the slow cooker.

Leftovers for tomorrow

The flavoursome juices left over, with bits and pieces of vegetables, will make an excellent thin pasta sauce or add to freshly cooked rice.   

Please enjoy. 

How to make a simple meal with what you find in the fridge

Hey Foodies, not every meal has to be epic!  On Sunday night I opened the fridge to see what I had available to make for dinner.  I saw some leftover chicken drumsticks and I thought, “I can do this!”  So, this is what I did:

In a bowl I crumbed the drumsticks with breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and plain flour over a base of olive oil.  In a saucepan over low heat I browned half a Spanish onion and two chopped cloves of garlic in olive oil.  When browned I added the drumsticks and cooked them on low heat for about seven minutes, turning them over now and then.

As the chicken was browning I added about a cup of tomato passata (puree), a handful of sliced mushrooms and a handful of chopped parsley.  I also sprinkled in a teaspoon of Massel powdered chicken stock, cracked pepper and Murray River pink salt.  

I covered with a lid and let it cook on low heat for about 20 minutes, turning the drumsticks very five minutes and ensuring nothing stuck to the bottom of the pan for longer than it needed to.

Nothing was planned, everything was what I saw in the refrigerator.

The result… you guessed it again…excellent!

If you wanted to make this the ingredients are:

5 chicken drumsticks

1 Spanish (red) onion

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ cup breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon plain flour

½ cup sliced mushrooms

1 handful of chopped Continental parsley

1 teaspoon of Massel powdered chicken stock

Murray River Pink salt

Cracked or coarse freshly ground pepper

Enjoy.

Giant Sausage Roll!

This is a sausage roll for the whole family.  It requires a longer cooking time than the smaller sausage rolls and can be served in slices.  Tomato sauce is necessary!

School holidays may mean that you have extra helpers who will love to eat this, so they should love to assist you to make it as well!

Ing

1 or 2 sheets thawed puff pastry

1 onion, finely chopped

1 kg premium mince meat

1 or 2 carrots, finely grated

A handful of Continental parsley

3 cloves garlic

Mushrooms (if you choose)

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese (Grana Padano)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon Massel powdered Chicken stock

Cracked or freshly ground pepper

Murray River Pink salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 225c.

In a small bowl, beat the two eggs.  Put a little of the egg mixture aside to be used to coat the roll before it is placed in the oven.  The rest of the egg mixture can be placed into the mix. 

In a bowl, mix, by hand, the onion, mince meat, eggs, grated carrot, garlic, parsley, salt, pepper and Massel chicken stock.  If using mushrooms, slice them into long strips and add them also. 

Lay your thawed pastry sheet on the bench.  Place a very large amount of meat on the pastry, shape and round the meat over.  Gently pull the pastry sheet towards you over the meat.  Now pull the other side over the meat.  Seal the two pastry ends together by pressing the pastry together.

Slowly roll the sausage roll over so the seam is on the bottom.  Place the roll onto a baking tray with baking paper so the roll doesn’t stick to the oven tray.  Using a small sharp knife, slice the pastry on the top of the giant sausage roll in straight parallel lines.  Paint the separated egg mix all over the sausage roll.   

Bake at 225c for 45 mins or until the pastry turns a golden-brown cooked colour.  Then it is ready.

If you have spare meat mix, which you should, make a second giant sausage roll that can be used for lunches, another dinner or an afternoon snack.

Enjoy.

Bone in Rib Eye or Tomahawk steak

The internet offers loads of conflicting advice on cooking the perfect medium rare Tomahawk steak.  Some suggest oven cooking before pan frying etc.  I have engaged a method that I started to use many years ago and it seems to work every time, regardless of the thickness of the steak.  If followed, it will serve you well.

We are going to cook the steak for four minutes only.

The butchers at Ballarat and Castlemaine have cut some Tomahawk steaks for you.  It will ensure your barbeque keeps running, even through winter!  Here we go:

1.     Steak must be at room temperature.  Allow it to warm up on the kitchen bench

2.     Turn the flame grill barbeque onto high and let it get hot.  This may take some time.

3.     Lightly brush a coating of olive oil on both sides of the steak

4.     Sprinkle some Murray River Pink salt and freshly ground pepper onto both sides

5.     When the barbecue is hot, place the steak on the open grill. Take note of its orientation.  If the barbecue has a hood, close it to maintain the heat.

6.     After one minute, turn the steak over to the other side.

7.     After one minute, turn the steak over again, changing the orientation so a ‘crisscross’ pattern appears

8.     After one minute turn the steak over one final time and cook for one minute (total of four minutes cooking time)

9.     Remove the steak from the grill and place onto a plate.  Cover tightly with aluminium foil.

10.  Allow to rest for ten minutes, then drain the juices from the plate.

11.  Your steak is ready to eat!

Don’t be tempted to leave it for more than one minute on each side.  I know it’s tempting, but don’t do it!

Let me know how you find this method.

Homemade Spinach Fettuccini

A variation on a theme: Homemade Spinach Pasta. Just add cooked spinach! You should all be expert pasta makers now. If not it may be time to buy a pasta rolling machine!

Ingredients

300gm ‘Tipo 00’ white flour

3 eggs (or one egg per 100g of flour)

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Cooked spinach

2 cups of fresh spinach leaves

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Murray River pink salt and pepper to taste

Cook the spinach for 3-5 mins in the hot olive oil, add a splash of water, add the garlic, salt and pepper. Put the lid on and allow to cook for about three minutes. The reduction in volume is remarkable! Add your spinach to the regular pasta mix and you will have ‘spinach pasta’!

The pasta making recipes and instructions are easy to find here under 'Brendan's Kitchen'.

A couple of photos to encourage you!

OMG – this is it! Lamb Ragu Ravioli or Fettuccini

I hope over the COVID lockdown I have assisted you all to become masters of your kitchens and subsequently the preparers of excellent food for you and your families.

If you have ignored all the recipes of the past, this one is the one to use.    

It requires a couple of hours of preparation, but all good things take time and this is no exception.  There are two homemade pasta options, both can be made concurrently.

If you a short of a pasta making machine, please buy one.  Once you master the pasta you will prefer homemade pasta every time.  It’s also important that you know exactly what is in your food.  You are cooking this from scratch! 

This recipe is in three parts, the Lamb Ragu, the Ravioli and the Fettuccini.

The Ragu takes a good two hours to get right.  The longer it is cooked, the better it is.  I suggest you make a double batch so you can store it and eat it over several days. 

Lam Ragu Ing.

500g diced lamb (available at Maxi Ballarat and Castlemaine in the Meat Department)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion (finely diced)

9 fresh ripe tomatoes (I think I’m over canned tomatoes)

3 sticks of celery (finely diced)

2 carrots (finely diced)

3 sprigs of spring onion (finely chopped)

5 cloves of fresh garlic (finely chopped)

A handful of chopped Continental parsley

2 teaspoons of Massel powdered chicken stock

3 tablespoons of Leggo’s tomato paste

1 cup of red wine (whatever you like)

2 cups hot water

A teaspoon of Murray River pink salt

A good sprinkle of Black Cracked Pepper

Ing. Homemade pasta

300g ‘Tipo 00’ flour

3 eggs

2 tablespoons olive oil

(general rule, 100g flour to 1 egg.  500g flour = 5 eggs, etc.)

Method Lamb Ragu

On medium heat, in a large pot (with lid) on the stovetop, brown the chopped onion in olive oil.  Add the lamb, let it brown for about two mins, constantly tossing so nothing sticks.  Cut your tomatoes in half and squeeze out the seeds and other internals and place the outer into the pot.  We won’t be using the seeds of the tomato.  Stir it for about two mins.

Now toss in your diced carrot, celery, spring onions, garlic, parsley, Massel chicken stock, tomato paste, red wine, Murray River pink salt and cracked pepper.  Turn up the heat and bring it to boil.  The task here is to boil off the alcohol of the red wine.  Keep stirring.  Five minutes should do it.  Now add your 2 cups of boiling hot water.  Bring it all to the boil on high heat.  Let it boil for about a minute and then turn it down to the lowest heat setting and put on the lid.  It should stay in this position now for about two hours.  1.5 hours minimum cooking time.  Lift the lid and give it a stir every ten minutes to ensure the base doesn’t burn.

Fresh Pasta

In a mound of flour, add your eggs and olive oil.  Mix it all together into a dough and knead it over and over.  It is a tough job, but someone’s got to do it!  After about 5 minutes of kneading, wrap your dough ball in Glad Wrap and let it rest on the bench.

When you’re ready to roll, cut off about 20% of the dough ball, start to roll it through the pasta roller, at the widest setting, several times then progressively smaller and finer until it has completed six thickness reductions.  This is a good fine thickness.

At this stage you can roll it through your fettuccini setting to make fettuccini, or leave it flat to make Ravioli.

To make the ravioli, lay out your flour dusted pasta sheet, take a few pieces of cooked lamb from the Ragu pot and line them up on the pasts sheet (refer to photos).  Fold the pasta sheet over, form the Ravioli by sealing each pocket with your fingers, then cut to size and seal the sides by pressing with a fork. The previous ravioli technique is better displayed here: https://maxifoods.net.au/kitchen/homemade-roast-pumpkin-ravioli-with-tomato-and-basil-sauce

The pasta takes about three minutes in salted boiling water to cook and be ready to eat.

Pour on the Lamb Ragu, a sprinkle of fresh Continental Parsley and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

This is a winner and a keeper.  It will impress the toughest of critics!

Enjoy!

Katsudon

Japanese pork schnitzel in egg and sauce

Some dishes are winners, some are not.  This one is!

Japanese Kastudon is easy to make and tastes absolutely fabulous.  You might consider it a variation of schnitzel.  It tastes great, the kids will love it (and love to help you make it) and in the unlikely event there are leftovers, they can be the next day’s school lunch!  

Ing.

Four tenderised pork chops/steaks, fat trimmed

Panko (Japanese style breadcrumbs) – at Maxi Foods

Plain flour

4 eggs

1 onion, finely sliced

Olive oil for pan prying

1 teaspoon Massel powdered chicken stock (in 1/2 cup hot water)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons Mirin (Japanese rice wine) – Maxi Foods

Murray River pink salt

2 cups of Jasmine rice for serving.

Method

Trim and tenderise the pork chops.  Prepare a three-bowl run of plain flour, one beaten egg and the panko.  Dip the pork into the plain flour and coat both sides, then the egg mixture and then the panko crumbs (add a sprinkle of Murray River Pink salt to the Panko). 

Your frypan needs to be fairly hot before you add the oil.  Add some olive oil and pan fry the crumbed pork until it is the right ‘cooked’ colour.  Turn over to cook both sides.  You may need to add more oil as the cooking continues.

Remove from the pan and slice the schnitzels into broad strips. Set aside.

Back to the same frypan, gently cook your finely sliced onion until it is caramelised.  In a separate jug, beat the other three eggs and set aside.  In another jug, prepare your sauce of the ½ cup chicken stock, soy sauce and mirin.

When the onion is ready, place the sliced schnitzels atop the onion, pour over the egg mixture and then pour over the sauce.  Let it cook in the egg and sauce mixture for about two mins or until the egg is cooked.  This may be best achieved in two batches, depending on the size of the frypan to fit all four schnitzels.

Serve on a bed of hot rice. 

Delicious!

Enjoy.

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

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 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!