What a quick after work snack. I blew myself away with this one – it was soooo yummy and fast.

Serves: 1 or more
Prep: 10 min
Cook time: 7 min

Ingredients:
Guacamole
Gourmet Rissoles
Sweet Potato (kumara)
Button mushrooms
Cream cheese

1. Slice some sweet potato rings really thinly and char grill
2. Fry rissoles
3. Make guacamole
4. Sauté mushrooms
5. Toast bread
6. Pull it all together. Spread on the cream cheese, top on mushrooms, sweet potato, rissole on top and the guacamole to finish it off.
7. Delish!

These would work well as a few nibbles as an appetizer.

Serves: 4
Prep: 25 min
Cook time: 25 min

Ingredients:
500g veal mince
1 slice of white bread, crust removed and soaked in milk
2 small garlic cloves chopped
1 egg lightly beaten
2 tablespoons of oregano
1 tablespoon of mint

Tzatziki for dipping
1 small tub of yogurt
1 small cucumber finely cubed
1 small sprig of mint
½ lemon juice
A little lemon zest
1 garlic clove finely chopped.

1. Combine veal, bread soaked in milk, garlic, egg, herbs and salt and pepper. Mix together well.
2. Shape into small balls. I went for slightly elongated ones for dipping
3. Place onto a plate and heat a pan. Fry on a medium heat until browned on the outside. I made these the day ahead, and then heated in the oven covered in foil.
4. An hour or so before your guests arrive, make the Tzatziki by combining the ingredients above together.

At Gioan, Hoi An I was taught a really quick method of making pho – but from this I know what I would do if I was to ramp it up a little bit and make it more special by making my own stock and stuff like that. This method really only took about 10 – 15 minutes and was delicious.

Serves: 2
Cook time: 15 min

Ingredients:
100g of beef
2 teaspoons of veggie stock powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon of chili paste (sweet and spicy)
1 tablespoon of veggie oil
2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
1/2 liter of boiling water
100g of rice noodle
100g of bean sprout
1 tablespoon dried coriander powder
1 tablespoon fresh mint
1 tablespoon of dry fried onion
Pinch of pepper

1. Marinate beef in a bowl with veggie stock, sugar, sesame oil and chili paste
2. Add vegetable oil to a pan and bring up the heat until medium hot.
3. Add garlic and cook for 30 second, then add the beef to cook for a minute (the beef should be cut into small thin pieces)
4. Add boiling water and dry coriander to the pan and bring to the boil. Once it has reached the boil – turn off heat.
5. In a bowl add rice noodles and bean sprouts before serving the soup on top.
6. Garnish with fry onion, mint and pepper.

Best of luck with house hunting this week Lex!

Lex says “best served with Lambrusco… “

Serves: 4
Prep: 20 min
Cook time: 2 hrs 30 min

Ingredients:
8 or so inch thick cuts of veal shin steaks (900 or so grams)
2 tablespoons of flour
1 carrot died
1 onion diced
2 celery sticks diced
2 colves of garlic finely chopped
1 bay leaf
20 or so sprigs of fresh thyme
½ cup of red wine
250ml of beef stock
400g can of diced tomatoes
Olive oil

Gremolata
A big handful of fresh parsley finely chopped
Zest of one lemon
1 large garlic clove finely chopped.

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees
2. Lightly coat the veal with flour by rolling it around on a flour covered plate before browning off in a frying pan. Once sealed on both sides place the shanks in an oven proof dish.
3. Using the same pan sauté the carrot, onion and celery until soft. During this time add the thyme and bay leaf.
4. Add red wine, stock and tomatoes to the frying pan and bring to a simmer before pouring over the veal to cover.
5. Place the veal in the oven and braise for two hours until it falls apart
6. During this time prepare the gremolata by combining the parsley, garlic and lemon zest.
7. Serve the veal with the gremolata sprinkled on top.

I think the rocket makes this salad a bit rougher. Some might think it is all very unusual – but I really liked it.

Serves: 1
Prep: 5 min
Cook time: 7 min

Ingredients:
1 small piece of rump stake
1 carrot
A handful of baby rocket and baby spinach
1 Lebanese cucumber

Dressing:
1 teaspoon of peanut oil
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon of soy sauce
1 clove of garlic finely chopped

Sesame seeds to serve

1. Wash your salad leaves and leave to dry off a little while you begin to cook your rump.
2. Place a little olive oil into a hot pan and fry (or grill if you have one!) the stake for 3 or so minutes each side before resting for three minutes. Of course it will depend on how you like your stake cooked. I have mine medium rare.
3. During this time you will have been able to peel and slice your carrot and cucumber.
4. While resting the beef make the dressing by combining the above ingredients
5. Finely slice the stake into strips to serve and bring all of the ingredients together and gently mix through the salad and dressing.
6. Plate and serve with sprinkles of sesame seeds.

On Friday night I put my card in the ATM machine and had no money. I remember going to transfer that money… I was sure I ….

This weekend there will be no dinner parties…. Just a cheep arse stew! My eating criteria is: a) can be eaten for three days, b) isn’t high in fat and c) tastes good… … oh! and of course – d) its cheep.

Serves :4
Prep: 30 min
Cook time: 45 min

Ingredients:
An onion
3 carrots chunked
2 potatoes chunked
500g of gravy beef or chunk stake
A teaspoon of chopped rosemary
1 cup of veggie stock liquid
2x tins of tomatoes peeled and seeded
50g of tomato paste
1 400g tin of lentils
Two cloves of garlic
¼ teaspoon of lemon zest
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cal: 498 per serve

It ain’t no gourmet stew but its yummy, budget, hardy and volumesome.

1. Dice your onion and chunk the vegetables.
2. In a large pan sauté the onion for a few minutes before adding the carrot and potato. (of course celery would have been lovely here – but that was another dollar!)
3. Dice and add the beef to the pot and stir through with the rosemary until the meat has browned
4. Preheat the oven to 180ºC
5. Add the veggie stock fluid, two cans of tomatoes and the tomato paste, bring to the boil then simmer for 15 – 20 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
6. Add the lentils, garlic and lemon zest to the pot and stir through.
7. Move the pot into the oven and bake for a further 20 minutes or so. Once the meat is tender it is ready to serve, the sauce should have thickened by now as well making for a nice chunky and hardy stew.

Roo meat can be tricky, but when done right its damn tasty. Depending on the kill, sometimes you can still taste the eucalyptus in the meat. While it has a strong flavour, kangaroo is actually quite sweet and takes well to many different exotic marinades.

Because Kangaroo is so lean (less than 2% fat) it can easily dry out. You need to keep this in mind when cooking kangaroo. Typically a good cut is seared at flaming hot temperatures on both sides for around two minutes, or until browned. Kangaroo should always be cooked medium rare. Lesser cuts do very well in a curry or casserole.

I will be serving tonight with rosemary roasted vegetables. You may vary this component of the recipe. I have some suggestions in the ingredients, but it is really up to you.

Serves: Two
Preparation: 25min
Cook: 1 hour (mostly unattended)

Ingredients:
450g of Kangaroo Fillet
2 Carrots peeled and cut in two lengthwise
Two decent pieces of pumpkin
Three potatoes peeled and quartered
Rosemary
A shallot sliced
2 Tablespoons of wholegrain mustard
¾ cup of cream
Olive oil
Salt to taste

Having just eaten that moments ago, I am still gushing over how lovely and sweet the kangaroo is with the pumpkin.

1. Pop your veggies with rosemary to cook in the oven, they will take the longest.
2. When the veggies are almost done it is time to prepare the sauce. We do this by combining the cream, mustard and shallots and bringing to the boil. Allow to simmer for a minute before taking off the heat and season to taste.
3. In a pan, put a table spoon of olive oil and heat at an extremely high temperature. Using 1cm cuts of roo place them on the pan and cook for two minutes each side. Allow to sit in the pan for a further 2 or so minutes while serving. This will give the meat time to rest.
4. If your sauce needs reheating this is the time to do it.
5. Serve the vegetables, with roo and top with mustard sauce.

As I ate Kanga-mustard, I considered how well all of the flavours were merging. I think Kangaroo with roasted pumpkin and garlic topped with a balsamic glaze would work wonderfully as an entrée as it would be very strong.

This dish would also work with Chicken or veal.

Serves: for four.
Preparation: 25min
Cook: 45

Ingredients:
Four shanks
One large onion
Three cloves of garlic
A stalk of celery
A carrot
175ml of beef stock
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
A tin of tomatoes.
Herbs.
½ cup of flour
Salt and pepper to taste.
Olive oil.
Add some side veggies to serve.

Gremolata
Combine: 1/3 cup or fresh parsley finely chopped, 1 clove of garlic crushed and 2 teaspoons of lemon rind.

I like a napolitana with little chunky bits in it. If you were to serve this with pasta, I would highly recommend maturing the sauce slowly – perhaps even pureeing it. But that is not what a shank-y-o is about.

1. Preheat the oven at 180C
2. Coat the shanks in flour, the flesh will be moist enough for the flour to stick on its own. Brown in the pan you will use to make the napolitana sauce.
3. Once sealed remove the shanks into a baking tray and set aside.
4. Add the onion, carrot and celery to the pan and sauté until soft.
5. Combine garlic, beef stock, tomato paste, tinned tomatoes, herbs and seasoning and heat through.
6. Cover the shanks with the heated sauce, cover and place in the oven until cooked. This should take around 45 minutes depending on how large the shanks are.
7. Serve with sprinkles of Gremolata on top.