Andrew's Sunday Steak Sanga

There is nothing more fun that catching up with your old mates especially over a beer and a good ol' steak sanga (translation: steak sandwich). After a walk and frolic at Bronte beach we all mosied on back to Andrew and Renee's house for a spot of lunch. The weather was beautiful so we sat out the back and had some cold beer and wine. Andrew cooked up some scotch fillet steaks on the barbie which he'd flattened so they were more tender and sandwich friendly. At the same time he fried up some balsamic onions which is exactly what it says on the tin - diced onion and balsamic vinegar. We toasted some turkish bread, Renee chopped up some slices of tomato, washed some spinach and laid out the most important ingredient - the sauces: BBQ, Tomato and Mayo. A piece of turkish, topped with tender steak, sweet onion, fresh tomato, spinach and a combo of mayo and BBQ sauce. Bite into it...delicious! A sip of wine, a steak sanga and old friends..the perfect Sunday.

A slow-cooked lamb shank

We went over to Dan and Chantal's and they cooked up such a beautiful dinner. I was especially touched as they've recently had a baby, so life is extra hectic! That's where the slow cooker came in handy. Dan plonked all the ingredients for these Moroccan lamb shanks in the slow cooker in the morning and by the time he got home it was done. A relaxing glass of wine with the gang, make the cous cous in a flash, sit down and serve. The lamb was so soft it fell of the bone and the sauce was  thick and sweet from the sweet potato and the prunes. This combination os sweet, savoury and spice was just earthy and delicious! Lucky we had plenty of cous cous to mop it all up! Here is the recipe - divine. http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/Slow-Cooker-Moroccan-Lamb-Shanks-L2841.html

My boyfriend the cook

My boyfriend has always claimed he is no cook. He'd rather leave it to me. But he got a 'gastropub' cookbook for his birthday and, somewhat reluctantly, decided to give it a go for a casual Friday night dinner with 2 of our friends. Whilst I can't say he enjoyed the process (some people actually find cooking stressful if you can believe it) I think he was quite chuffed with the end result. The simple but special menu?

Oysters Kilpatrick
Lamb cutlets with rosemary and anchovy butter
A side of perfectly roasted potatoes
Rocket, pear and Parmesan salad with caramelised balsamic dressing (bought on a recent trip to Mudgee)
Strawberries Romanoff with vanilla cream
Cheese
Loads of wine

I helped by heading to the fish market Friday morning. It was so lovely and peaceful being there at 8am and having the market to myself. I bought a dozen Pacific and a dozen Sydney Rock oysters and got some lovely cheeses from the lovely cheese man.

For the Oysters Kilpatrick Carl cut 2 pieces of bacon into strips, crisped them in the pan then added some balsamic vinegar. He then add a dash of Worcestershire sauce and spooned this mixture over the oysters..into a hot grill for about 5 minutes and there you go. You could still taste the oyster but it has has the smokiness of the bacon and the sauce.

The lamb cutlets were simply cooked on the BBQ along with the rosemary but what made them really special was the anchovy butter:

125g of softened unsalted butter
2 anchovies
1 tbsp of parsley
1 tomato skinned and de-seeded
1 clove of crushed garlic

We mixed this all together, placed in the centre of some Gladwrap, rolled and put into the fridge to set. Once the lamb was done we simply sliced a piece of the butter and put it on top of the lamb to melt..amazing.. to mop up with the lamb and the roast spuds. Plus with the leftover butter is now in the freezer for us to use on fish, with chicken, stirred through pasta on to make a garlic bread - very handy indeed.

The strawberries were quartered, sprinkled with sugar and then covered with half a cup of freshly squeezed orange, 60ml of Cointreau and then put in the fridge to soak. The result was sweet syrupy strawberries which tasted so good with the vanilla double cream.

So for someone who doesn't cook this 3 course meal was was simple yet delicious. So delicious in fact there are no photo's...

A Japanese style schnitzel

I remember seeing Alvin in Masterchef using Panko breadcrumbs in his elimination 'fish and chips' challenge. The fish sounded so crunchy and delicious, I thought 'I need to try Panko breadcrumbs one day'..and I did.

Introducing the Japanese style schnitzel. Take an organic chicken breast and pound to oblivion...ok maybe not oblivion but so it's thin. I suggest removing the tenderloin as it is a bit awkward. Dip the chicken in flour, then egg then coat in Panko breadcrumbs and sesame seeds. As we are trying to be healthy at the moment I put it in a 180 degree oven for 12 minutes but if you really wanted to make it sensational you could pan or deep fry.

Meanwhile I made a salad of radish, avocado, lettuce and cucumber then dressed it with a mix of Mirin, ginger and sesame oil. The result? Crunchy yet succulent chicken with the flavour of toasted sesame seed with a fresh, clean  salad...yum.

A not so dirty kebab

If your stuck for a dinner idea and want something healthy, easy and tasty then look no further than the "not so dirty kebab".

Simply:
- Grill some lamb fillets sprinkled with Greek herbs
- Make a tabbouleh with a bunch of parsley, 3 vine ripened tomatoes, good quality olive oil and a the juice from half a lemon
- Warm some wholemeal pitta bread in the oven
- Have some lovely greek dips on hand - I used tatziki, hummus and smoky eggplant

Then build your masterpiece! A warm pitta bread, spread with tart, smoky dips topped with tender marinated lamb and finished off with the freshness of the lemony tabbouleh..roll and eat. It was messy (like to ones at 3am), but boy was it good. We may have even had leftovers tonight..

Cajun Fish with Chunky vegetable and corn salsa

Last night I made the best dish I've done in a while.

I chopped zucchini, eggplant, red capsicum and fresh corn from the husk and fried that in a pan for about 5 minutes. Then I simply added some Barilla Ariabiatta sauce, a sprinkling of Masterfoods Mexican chilli powder and let that simmer away for about 20 minutes. In the meantime, I got Barramundi fillets, dipped them in a little canola oil and covered them with Masterfoods Cajun spice and some Mexican Chilli powder. Pan fried  for 4 minutes one side, then 2-3 minutes on the other, turned off the heat and let that sit for a couple more minutes..succulent, spicy, melt in the mouth fish with a tangy sweet salsa that made my mouth sing. Try it sometime..it was dead easy.

Hello Spring! Hello Seafood!

Quick & simple but impressive dish! Mixed seafood grill – free of any nasties, all fresh and wholesome ingredients.

Get a portion of 3 or four of your favourite pieces of seafood – we used salmon, prawns and scallops. You can add calamari, octopus, bugs or white fish or scampi. BBQ or pan fry. We BBQ’d.

Lay on a bed of baby spinach leaves, roasted tomatoes and cucumber.

Dress it with a mix of olive oil, lemon juice, dried chilli flakes, parsley, mint, S&P.