What a cracker; serve this with a full accompaniment of Lebanese sides and dips – as we did for the boys whilst up the coast on a recent holiday – and all your mince wishes will have been granted.
Ingredients
1kg extra lean beef mince
2 tbsp butter
1 x fresh parsley, minced
2 onions, chopped finely
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper (if you have seasoned/flavoured pepper, by all means) Wood grilling skewers, soaked in water
Method
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and carefully form long tubes of the mixture around the skewers, between 2 – 3cm in thickness. Pack tight so that the mince does not fall off easily.
Heat a grill high and cook about 2 minutes a side until chargrilled and cooked through.
This really is one of my favourite recipes. And I can only claim scant ownership; I merely passed the recipe to my fabulous partner Nat who…
Now owns it.
And that is why it is her famous – and truly – amazing poached chicken salad.
Don’t hold back. This recipe is famous and famously good in our family and among our friends.
If you know Nat, you’ll know how clever and brilliant she is. With food, the theme is no different.
This salad sums her up.
Ingredients
4 x 180gm chicken breasts
100gm wild rocket leaves
20 green beans, blanched, refreshed (I then cut them in thirds)
1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced (use a mandoline if you have it)
1/4 cup each finely chopped flay-leaf parsley and dill
2 x 300gm buffalo mozzarella balls, torn (or substitute bocconcini)
Red Wine Vinaigrette
1 tbs red wine vinegar
100ml extra virgin olive oil
3 tsp Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tsp finely chopped rosemary, thyme and basil leaves
Method
Place the chicken in a large saucepan and pour in enough cold water to just cover.
Season with sea salt and pepper and cover with a lid. Bring to the boil over a high-heat then reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes.
Remove the lid, set aside from the heat and let the chicken stand in the poaching liquid for 10 mins. Drain and set aside.
For the vinaigrette, whisk together the vinegar, oil, Dijon mustard, garlic and chopped herbs in a bowl. Set aside, though give a good whisk just before serving.
Roughly shred the chicken into medium pieces.
Toss with the beans, rocket, fennel, parsley and dill in a larger serving bowl.
Drizzle with the vinaigrette and season.
Serve the salad topped with the torn buffalo mozzarella.
Rick Stein’s ‘India: in search of the perfect curry; recipes from my Indian odyssey’ has absolutely become my go-to, easy-curry tome.
Every curry I have attempted has been spot-on and this simple, aromatic chicken curry is no different.
I cooked it for the boys as part of a bigger Indian feast and so I needed something with a hint of fire, though not too much more. This is the elegance of this curry, where it is the soft spices that carry the dish rather than some whack of heat.
Oh, and the boys loved it – and it is pretty healthy to boot!
P.S. Rick asks that the chicken breasts are merely cut in half and cooked that way. I cubed the chicken to make it easier for the boys and I am not sure I wouldn’t do that again.
Ingredients
3 tbsp ghee or vegetable oil
5cm cinnamon stick
2 green cardamom pods, lightly bruised with a rolling pin
1 small onion, finely chopped
3cm piece of ginger, finely grated
3 cloves garlic, finely crushed
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
4 small chicken breasts, each cut in half
200gm Greek-style yoghurt
2 tbsp ground almonds
1 tsp salt
100ml water
To finish
Handful of flaked almonds, toasted
Handful of fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Method
Heat the ghee or the oil in a large sturdy pan over a medium heat, add the cinnamon and cardamom and fry for 30 seconds before adding the onion and frying for 10 minutes until golden.
Stir in the ginger and garlic and fry for 2 – 3 minutes, then stir in the ground coriander, turmeric and chilli powder and fry for 30 seconds.
Add the chicken and stir well, then add the yogurt, ground almonds, salt and water. Bring to simmer, reduce the heat slightly and simmer gently for 15 – 20 minutes until reduced to a thick, rich, almost dry sauce that coats the chicken.
Scatter over the toasted almonds and coriander to serve.
I type this recipe up on Valentine’s Day morning and so you can guess what I have just eaten and been made for breakfast!
This is better than any Hallmark card. In fact, it is better than any smashed avocado and tomato number that you’ll likely get at your local breakfast haunt, what with the addition of the chilli, ginger, dill, a squeeze of lemon and the radish sprinkled on top.
I added a few slices of tomato to my plate as well.
1 avocado
Juice of half a small lemon
Half a bunch of dill, chopped
Good pinch chilli flakes
2 good pinched of grated ginger
Rock salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
2 thinly sliced radishes
2 – 4 slices of toasted soy and linseed bread 1 tomato, sliced
Method
Mash the avocado together with the lemon juice, dill, chilli flakes, ginger and salt and pepper.
Spread the avocado mixture liberally on the toast.
Throw a few radish slices on top and the tomato if using.
It is simply magnificent. Like only Rockpool Bar & Grill could do.
I found the very best meat I could, I more than doubled parts of the cooking time and I found an amazing, thick Italian fettuccine to serve it with.
It is worth every second and cent you can throw at it. And when you reveal to your stunned guests that they’ve just silently eaten boring old spag bol, people will think you’re some of undiscovered Gordon Ramsay and immediately demand you sign up for Masterchef.
If only they knew all you had to do was spend half your night in the kitchen the day before prepping and cooking.
I have slightly adapted this as I did it. And don’t cut any corners. Finely chop everything, skin and deseed those tomatoes. Caremalise the veges on the lowest heat for as long as you can.
Ingredients
600gm minced ground Wagyu (I used Wagyu blade steak ground very coarsely)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 small carrot, finely diced
1 stalk celery, finely diced
100gm speck, finely diced
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
400ml full bodies red wine
1.2kg vine ripened tomatoes, peeled, seeds removed, diced
2 sprigs thyme, leaves picked and chopped 500gm fettuccine
Method
Heat the olive oil in a heavy saucepan over a medium heat.
Add the onion, garlic, carrot, celery and speck, season to taste with salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes or more, until the vegetables have caremalised but are not burnt.
Add the minced Wagyu, season with salt and cook, breaking up the beef with a spoon, for 5 minutes or until the beef is well browned. This will take much longer in practice as the liquid exits the beef; you’re done with the beef is browning or capable of browning and the juices have burnt off.
Add the wine and bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until the liquid has reduced by half.
Add the tomato and simmer for about 45 minutes or until thickened. Add the thyme, check the seasoning.
Combine the sauce with the cooked fettuccini.
Serve with 1 very small handful flat-leaf parsley, chiffonade, freshly ground pepper and freshly grated parmesan.
This is a great spread. Use low fat feta and it’s plenty healthy too.
Subtle, mediterranean flavour – a dark horse amongst other more popular spreads if presented as part of a share plate.
Peeling broad beans is a little bit of a pain though just get on with it; the end result is more than worth it, served with toasted pita or other crackers.
The great thing about this recipe is that because you have to let it marinate over night, it has weeknight written all over it.
Prepare it after dinner on Sunday, pop it covered in the fridge, Monday morning, put your skewers in water and Monday night… fire up the grill to hot, thread your meat loosely, cook up some rice, chop up a few cucumbers and there you have the best Monday night dinner in the street.
How good is that!
Ingredients
4 spring onions
½ c unsalted peanuts
2 tbsp (Malaysian) curry powder
½ c thick milk from milk powder
½ c coconut cream
2 tbsp fish sauce
½ tsp turmeric
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 Rump steak, cut into thin strips Sweet chilli sauce to serve
Method
Process in a food processor all the ingredients except the steak and sweet chilli sauce and marinate the steak overnight.
Thread the steak onto soaked bamboo skewers, grill and serve with the sweet chilli sauce.
Champ is as good as it is unknown in Australia; Ireland’s take on mash potatoes.
You can happily substitute spring onions for red onions or (French) shallots as I often do.
Or become a real champ warrior by adding bacon and ham.
Ingredients
100gm spring onions, sliced thinly
150ml milk
100gm butter
1kg potatoes
Salt and pepper
Method
Make your mash potatoes as you normally would; plenty of butter and seasoning. If you have a ricer, use that you get perfectly smooth mash, if not, buy one.
Stir through the spring onions.
Try not to keep sampling to check the seasoning for the 20 minutes that your braise is finishing off!
My favourite cookbook is Neil Perry’s The Food I Love. I’ve had it for years and have cooked so much from it.
The first recipe from it – years and years back – to christen a new Le Creuset pot was this beautiful braise. Since then, it is one of the first recipes I cook when the colder part of the year starts; that afternoon where you notice the chill and put on a good jumper.
It really does put a smile on your face as you snuggle up with a glass of red, a good serving of champ and some beans. Put on a movie, dim the lights and look forward to the coming months filled with meals like this.
Ingredients
1 kg beef shin, cut into 2cm cubes
Sea salt
1/3 c extra virgin olive oil, plus extra
2 fresh bay leaves
1 medium brown onion, chopped into 2cm cubes
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into 2cm lengths
1 medium leek, white part only, cut into 2cm lengths
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 thyme sprigs
1c (250ml) Guinness (yes there is some left over and yes you should drink it – it’s cold!)
Freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
Method
Remove the beef from the fridge an hour before cooking and season with sea salt.
Put olive oil and bay leave sin a heavy-based saucepan with a tight-fitting lid over a high-heat. When hot, add half the beef and brown all over. Remove and repeat with the remaining beef.
If need be, add a little more oil to the pan and add the onion to the pan and cook for 10 minutes over a gentle heat.
Return the beef to the pan and add the carrot, leek, garlic, thyme Guinness and 1 cup of water. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for about 1 ½ hours. Remove the lid and cook for another 30 minutes or until the beef is tender and you’ve reached the right consistency.
Remove the bay leaves and thyme and season with pepper. Serve sprinkled with the parsley.
Robby Dog Cooks 