Author: Robert Beerworth

I love cooking, wine, travel, my three boys, and two girls, Avalon and my beautiful wife and best friend and cook, Nat...

Moroccan meatball tagine with lemon and olives

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 4

For a low carb dinner, this is a fabulous recipe; flavoursome, exotic and filling.

I chose to type it up because it is a mince recipe (my favourite), it is healthy (less than 400 calories per serve) and frankly, it tastes like something you’d get at a Moroccan restaurant, let alone being a dish you’d prepare to keep trim or get trim.

The original recipe asked for lamb mince and lamb stock, though I changed this to lean pork mince and chicken stock respectively. It would be fine with turkey mince as well.

I also steamed and sliced in two zucchini at the end of the cooking, to add some greenery and fill out the recipe.

And of course cous cous with chicken stock and currants.

Eat well, feel good!

Ingredients

3 onions, peeled, roughly chopped
500gm minced pork (or lamb, beef, chicken, turkey)
Zest and juice of one lemon, then quartered
1 tsp cumin
1tsp cinnamon
Pinch cayenne pepper
Small bunch flat0leaf parsley, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
Thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and grated
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
Pinch saffron strands
205ml chicken stock (or lamb if doing lamb)
1 tbsp tomato paste
100gm pitted black Kalamata olives
Small bunch coriander, chopped
Cous cous (with chicken stock, currants and toasted, slivered almonds) or fresh, crusty bread
2 zucchinis, steamed and sliced and added at the end
Method

  1. Put the onions in a food processor and blitz until finely chopped. Put the mince, lemon zest, spices, parsley and half the onions in a large bowl and season; combine. Using your hands, shape into walnut-sized balls.
  2. Heat the oil in a tagine (or large pan/heavy pot) and add the remaining onions, ginger, chilli and saffron. Cook for 5 minutes until the onion starts to soften. Add the lemon juice, stock, tomato paste and olives and bring to the boil. Add the meatballs one at a time, reduce the heat and cover, cooking for 20 minutes; turn the meatballs a few times during this time.
  3. Remove the lid and add the coriander and lemon wedges, tucking them in between the meatballs. Cook uncovered for another 10 minutes until the sauce has reduced and thickened slightly. Add any pre-cooked/steamed vegetables, carefully combine and serve with cous cous or crusty bread.

Royale of Asparagus with Speck Dressing

.Reading time 3 minutes.
Elegant and clear you've spent the time, especially if you mention the 30 minutes of steaming!
Elegant and clear you’ve spent the time, especially if you mention the 30 minutes of steaming!

Serves: 4

This is a Guillaume Brahimi recipe and I think it is rather impressive.

It take a bit of time and his instruction to peel the asparagus (!!!) is too far, though it looks and tastes the part if served as an amuse-bouche; in fact, it looks really quite elegant.

I have a few recipes like this where people really appreciate the cut above home cooking and if you are cooking to impress, you really should give this a go.

Ingredients

20 spears (2 ½ bunches) asparagus
100gm butter
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1 garlic glove, thinly sliced
500ml (2 cups) chicken stock
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
200ml pouring cream

Speck Dressing

50ml extra virgin olive oil
2 shallots, finely diced
¼ long red chilli, finely chopped
150gm speck, cut into 5cm dice
100ml chicken stock
25ml sherry vinegar

Method

  1. Trim (and peel! – no, do not peel) 8 asparagus tips and set aside. Slice remaining asparagus into thin rounds, discarding the woody ends.
  2. Heat a saucepan over medium-high heat, add butter, shallots and garlic and sauté, stirring occasionally until tender though not coloured; a few minutes.
  3. Add the sliced asparagus and stir until the asparagus starts to soften (2 minutes) and then add stock, season to taste and simmer until asparagus is tender; around 4 – 5 minutes.
  4. Remove from the heat and strain, reserving the cooking liquor. Blend asparagus in a blender until smooth. Add a small amount of cooking liquor if necessary in order to form a smooth puree. Pass puree through a fine sieve and refrigerate until chilled; 220ml is required for the recipe.
  5. Whisk eggs, yolks and clear and reserved 200ml asparagus puree in a bowl to combine and season. Pass through a fine sieve. Pour 125ml into four 185ml heatproof bowls (or ramekins) and cover with plastic wrap. Steam in a steam oven (90c) or steam very gently in a steamer basket placed over a saucepan of simmering water and steam until just set (25 – 30 minutes).
  6. Remove and cool to room temperature or refrigerate until needed.
  7. Blanch asparagus tips in boiling water and then refresh.
  8. For speck dressing, heat a saucepan over medium heat, add 1tbsp extra virgin olive oil, then shallots and chilli and stir occasionally until tender though not coloured. Add speck and stir until light golden brown; around 5 – 6 minutes, then add chicken stock and sherry vinegar and reduce by half (3 – 4 minutes). Add remaining olive oil and season to taste with freshly ground black pepper.
  9. To serve, bring asparagus custards to room temperature (if chilled), then spoon the speck dressing on top, garnish each with 2 asparagus tips and finish with a few grinds of freshly cracked pepper to taste.

Light chicken korma

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

This is a simple and healthy take on chicken korma, save that unless you told your guests, they wouldn’t know.

The ground almonds are reasonably high in calories, though they pack so much other goodness (vitamins, minerals, good fats) that I didn’t (and wouldn’t) take it out of the recipe. Balance and moderation and all that.

Serve with basmati rice and plenty of coriander and this is two weekday dinners – and next day’s lunch packed.

I cut and steamed a whole head of broccoli and added it in at the last minute and you could of course do this with pretty much any vegetable, extending how much food you’re cooking and getting extra vegetables into the picture.

(And despite eating healthy, you’re eating the world’s greatest invention: curry!)

Ingredients

1 tbsp canola oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
Thumb-sized piece of ginger, roughly chopped
4 tbsp korma paste
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces
50g ground almonds
4 tbsp sultanas
400ml chicken stock
¼ tsp brown sugar
150g pit 0% fat Freek yoghurt
Big bunch of coriander, chopped

Method

  1. Put the onion, garlic and ginger in a food processor and whiz to a paste.
  2. Heat the oil in a large, heavy pot to a medium heat and add the paste, cooking for 5 minutes until soft.
  3. Add the korma pasta and cook for another 2 minutes until aromatic.
  4. Stir the chicken into the sauce, then add the ground almonds, sultanas, stock and sugar. Give everything a good mix, cover and cook for 10 minutes until cooked and reduced. Reduce further if need be.
  5. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the yoghurt and season. Serve on top of steamed basmati rice sprinkled with the coriander.

Salmon Salad with Vinaigrette

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 2 – 4

Another sub-300 calorie dish that I have adapted.

And so good.

Alternate the number of pieces of salmon you cook (2 – 4) depending on how many meals you wish to prepare. Served the next day from the refrigerator, it is just as good as warm the night before so even if it is just you, I’d do two pieces of salmon: dinner and a fabulous, healthy lunch at work.

(And swap a boiled, sliced egg for the potato if you wish.)

Ingredients

400gm green beans, trimmed and cut into 5cm lengths
¼ c red wine vinegar
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp mince shallots
¼ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp black pepper
2 – 4 salmon fillets, skin off
4 c salad greens
¼ c sliced red onion
1 tbsp capers
2 tbsp black olives, chopped
4 baby potatoes (or 2 hard-cooked eggs, sliced)
Handful of parsley, chopped

Method

  1. Steam the beans until al dente, refresh and drain. Combine the salad greens, capers, olives, beans and red onion and set aside.
  2. Steam the potatoes until cooked and slice. Set aside.
  3. Combine the vinegar, mustard, olive oil, shallots, 1/8 tsp salt and pepper in a small bowl and whisk until combined; set aside.
  4. Heat a pan to medium hot, spray both sides of the fish fillets with olive oil, season with the remaining salt and pepper and cook both side until fish flakes easily.
  5. Put a good handful of the salad/bean mixture in each bowl, sprinkle a few slices of potato (or egg) and flake the fish on top. Dress with the dressing and serve with a garnish of chopped parsley.

Tomato and Thyme Cod

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 4

Simple. Healthy. Tasty.

172 carbs tasty!

I added a chilli and a good crack of pepper (and coriander) and served with some steamed baby potatoes and steamed green beans, this is such a simple dinner. And nobody would know it was particularly healthy except that you would be remiss not to boast about it after they finished.

You could eat ten servings of this and still be on a contemporary diet! And of course, the recipe is easily halved though stick with it and you have lunch for the two of you the next day.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
400g can chopped tomatoes
1 tsp heaped light, soft brown sugar
Few sprigs thyme leaves, stripped
1 tbsp soy sauce
4 cod fillets (or similar; I used Ling)
Baby potatoes, steamed (season, some chopped parsley, no need for butter etc.)
Steamed green beans

Method

  1. Heat the oil in the fry pan, add the onion for 5 – 8 minutes until soft and starting to golden. Stir in the tomatoes, sugar, thyme and soy and bring to the boil.
  2. Simmer for 5 minutes and then slip the cod into the sauce. Cover the pan and cook for 8 – 10 minutes until the cod flakes easily. Season with pepper (and salt as necessary).
  3. Serve with potatoes and beans or…

Spicy meatballs with chilli black beans

.Reading time 3 minutes.
Add more chilli and spices to dial the meatballs up even further.
Add more chilli and spices to dial the meatballs up even further.

Serves: 4

Ok, so this dish is unlikely to feature at Est. or Rockpool, though if you had it at a local café or bistro, properly seasoned, you probably wouldn’t have any qualms.

So why am I typing it up? Not because it’s easy and not because it contains mince, one of my favourite foods.

It’s here because it’s healthy, in so far that it has only 376 calories per serve, which in context of a normal, man’s daily diet of 2,500 calories, is a huge win! The dish is low in GI and it fills you up. Which for a weeknight dinner, is awesome, especially as it reheats up just fine the next night.

And it tastes good.

I adapted the recipe to make the meatballs a little more flavoursome by adding the red onion and chilli and you could cut out the avocado to save on a few more calories. Though the avocado/lime accoutrement adds a really nice visual flair, especially if you have friends around.

Just quick note regarding the canned cherry tomatoes. I hadn’t heard of cherry tomatoes in a can, though upon closer inspection, I was able to find a can of baby Roma tomatoes at Coles. If you can, find whole baby tomatoes as they present really well. Otherwise, any canned tomatoes will do.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 red onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 large yellow pepper (capsicum) diced
1 tsp ground cumin
3 tsp chilli paste (I used fresh chilli paste)
300ml chicken stock
400g can cherry tomatoes
400g can black beans or red kidney beans, drained
1 avocado, chopped
Juice ½ lime

Meatballs

500gm minced turkey breast
2 chillies, seeded and chopped
1 red onion, chopped
50g porridge oats
2 spring onions chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp coriander
Good handful of coriander (stalks and leaves) chopped
1 tsp olive oil (or avocado oil, rapeseed oil)

Method

  1. First, make the meatballs. Combine all of the meatball ingredients (except the olive oil) in a bowl and knead together until well mixed. Shape into 12 ping-pong sized balls.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and cook the meatballs until golden brown, turning frequently. Remove from the pan.
  3. Tip the onion, garlic and yellow pepper into the pan and cook, stirring, until softened. Stir in the cumin and chilli paste and then the stock. Return the meatballs to the pan, bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cover the pan for about 10 minutes.
  4. Stir in the tomatoes and beans and cook, uncovered for a few more minutes.
  5. In a bowl, toss the avocado chunks with the lime juice and serve the meatballs topped with the avocado and coriander leaves.

Bacon Jam

.Reading time 4 minutes.

Yields 2 ¾ cups

I’m on a health kick at the moment, pretty exclusively focused on undoing the impressive, red wine tyres around my tummy and chin.

And whilst, as I get further and further into my regime and more and more committed to it – and cognisant that the calories I am eating are subtracted from the calories I am burning at the park walking the dog – I still have a few vices once in a while. (Including, unfortunately, the culprit whose handiwork got me to where I am now: red wine!).

Another such vice – once a fortnight on a Saturday lunch – is a burger. Starting with Neil Perry’s Burger, I’m slowly making my way through a veritable number of burger recipes and rewarding myself for long walks and cutting back on bread, wine and snacks.

I was up in Newcastle with my good mate Josh and I came across a peanut butter and jelly burger. Aware that this would either be terrible, a none-event or life-changing, I had no choice.

Peanut butter and jelly aren’t the only odd-fellows. The recipe calls for bacon jam, something I hadn’t heard of.

A quick search and Martha Stewart and Nigella are falling over themselves. And so it begins.

To wrap up, the burger itself was a bit of a non-event. I think that if I had added mayonnaise, it might have been interesting, though as it was, it was dry and slightly dull.

But wow, the bacon jam. Rich, sweet, sour. And spicy, What a relish!

In a sterilised jar, given that bacon is already cured, it should be able to sit on the counter like any jam, though my batch is in the fridge. Given my current, fitness trajectory, I can’t say I will be eating much of it, though when the occasion arises, the bacon jam will be the first to know!

This recipe is Martha Stewarts.

Ingredients

750gm bacon, sliced into 1cm pieces
2 c shallots, finely chopped (3 large or 8 small shallots)
4 small garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp chilli powder
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground mustard
½ c bourbon
¼ c maple syrup
1/3 c sherry vinegar
1/3 c packed light-brown sugar

Method

  1. Spread half the bacon in a single layer in a large frypan and cook over a medium heat, stirring frequently, until browned. Around 20 – 25 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Remove fat, repeat with remaining bacon, reserving browned bits and 1 tbsp fat in pan.
  2. Add shallots and garlic to the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring until translucent: around 5 minutes.
  3. Add chilli powder, ginger and mustard and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Increase the heat to high and add the bourbon and maple syrup. Bring to a boil, scraping up the browned bits.
  4. Add vinegar and brown sugar and return to the boil.
  5. Add reserved bacon and reduce the heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until liquid reduces to a thick glaze: around 10 minutes.
  6. Transfer the mixture to a food processor and pulse until it has the consistency of a chunky jam. Refrigerate in an airtight container at least 1 hour and up to 4 weeks.

Neil Perry’s ‘Hamburger’

.Reading time 5 minutes.

Serves 4

Whilst the 2013/2014/2015 Sydney hamburger craze will probably go the direction of the 2013/2014/2015 Sydney dumpling craze, for me at least, it has given me cause to reconsider the roots of a good – a great burger – and what it is all about.

Because if you have a burger at Chur Burger, or Neil Perry’s Burger Project or Sean Connolly’s Parlour Burger (with the one-day viral wonder, the Black Widow Burger), their core burger is about simplicity and quality of ingredient.

And that is perhaps where I have gone astray.

For years, my signature burger dish has been about two things:

  1. The paddy:
    1. 1kg Beef Mince
    1. 1 egg
    1. (Red) online, diced
    1. Handful of parsley, chopped
    1. A number of really good splashes of Worcestershire Sauce (and therefore the flavour)
    1. A heaped teaspoon of Horseradish
    1. Seasoning
  9. The balance:Grilled (BBQ) slices of white toast
    1. Torn cos lettuce
    1. Sliced tomato
    1. Sliced cheddar cheese to melt on the BBQed paddies
    1. Ketchup (not tomato sauce), good egg mayo and American Mustard

And whilst, if really flame grilled over a high heat and served medium-rare, this is a cracker burger, it isn’t the essence of burger. It is like customising mac and cheese when the purity of proper mac and cheese needs no improvement. It is like adding bacon to a Big Mac. There isn’t necessarily a need.

Worst still, I was using crappy mince from the supermarket. And the mince is where the flavour is!

Indeed, reflecting back on all the burgers I have cooked over the years – including the Tuscan Burger than won me a gong at a Wiliam food day – they have all been about stuffing ingredients into the patty. And using crudolla mince.

This burger recipe by Neil Perry is your classic mac and cheese. It will surprise nobody except that freshness of the meat makes the difference. Here, you MUST instruct your butcher to find his finest, most marbled piece of chuck steak. And then to grind it, fresh, on his coarsest setting.

At which point, you need to sprint home to cook it.

Get back to basics, invest in the meat, buy some really good buns (not that crap at Woolies), open a Corona with some lime and eat this bad boy in the sun. Seriously, this is good!

Oh, and if you can BBQ your buns and especially bacon on the BBQ as well, the taste simply gets even better by a factor of 10: Neil Perry says so himself!

I have slightly adjusted his recipe.

Ingredients

1kg of freshly ground chuck steak
½ – ¾ tsp sea salt
Extra virgin olive oil
4 hamburger buns, split and toasted (ideally grilled on the BBQ)
Ketchup, American Mustard and egg mayonnaise
4 slices gruyere (or sliced cheddar if gruyere not on tap)
8 rashes of good bacon
Lettuce and tomato slices
Sliced, picked cucumber (optional)
Freshly ground pepper

Method

  1. The bacon needs to be really, really crispy and this will take time. Depending on timings, start cooking the bacon in a pan or prepare it ready for the BBQ, ensuring that in either event, it is cooked to the point of snapping in two.
  2. Place the meat in a bowl and sprinkle with salt. Mix gentle and divide into 4. Move each portion between your hands for a minute to make a firm, though not overworked patty. Shape into a ball. Gently flatten to form patties around 3cm thick. (If you are refrigerating, cover in cling wrap and ensure that they are bought back to room temperature prior to cooking).
  3. Heat your BBQ (or pan) to very hot. Grill the burger for 2 minutes on one side, flip and another 3 minutes, placing a slice of cheese on top of each paddy for the final minute of cooking. Let the patties rest for 5 minutes and whilst doing so, grill your buns, taking note of your bacon depending on however you are cooking it.
  4. Assemble your bad boy; bottom of bun, mayo and mustard, patty, lettuce and tomato, bacon, ketchup, grind of pepper, top of bun.
  5. Close your eyes and eat.

Roger Verge’s Rib of Beef with Shallots and Vinegar

.Reading time 5 minutes.

Serves 2

My parents cooked this for Nat and me a few months back, remarking that it was simply the finest beef dish around.

And it is.

Its genius is in its simplicity and the beauty of its raw presentation; a cut of rare, primal meat on the bone, the butter and shallots heaped on top, some potato gratin and maybe some sautéed beans or asparagus or Brussel sprouts. This dish talks to why Roger Verge was such a genius chef.

This is a dish – commensurate with the relative cost of the cut of beef as well as the generally wonderful occasion that always surrounds itself around standing rib eye – that demands a very good bottle of red and a doubling of the dish to ensure that there are at least four of you to enjoy it.

I have cooked this for six people and it really is just a matter of multiplying the ingredients as need be.

A worthy note, whilst Haverick Meats (or Vics, or some other good wholesaler) will always be the pick for the finest standing rib eye (and the aged, standing rib eye at Haverick Meats is extraordinary: served at Cut, Chophouse and the finest steak restaurants in Sydney), if you can’t make it there or to another quality butcher, Woolworths now sells rib eye. It is vacuum sealed, two servings per bag and it really quite good and of course, really quite convenient.

Do not stop, do not go to jail, collect $200 and cook this, this weekend.

Ingredients

1 rib of beef weighing 800gm – 1000gm (essentially, a two bone thick cut), cut into individual portions (i.e. one bone per person)
3 finely chopped shallots
2 tbs (red) wine vinegar
2 tbs chopped parsley
70g butter
Salt and pepper

Method

  1. Season the beef with the salt and pepper and rub in the seasoning with the tips of your fingers.
  2. Heat a generous tablespoon of the butter in a frying-pan and when it begins to foam, put in the beef. Lower the heat so that the beef does not acquire a hard crust and cook for 5 – 10 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the meat and how well done you want it; rare to medium-rare I hope, something you should be able to determine by pressing down on the meat in the traditional method.
  3. Remove the meat and keep it hot. To do this, put it on an upturned plate inside a larger one and cover the whole thing with an upturned bowl. This allows the meat to rest without drowning in its own juices, which would spoil the texture.
  4. Pour away the cooking butter and replace it with the remaining butter, together with the chopped shallots. Return to a medium heat and allow to soften for 5 minutes without allowing the shallots to brown. Add the wine vinegar and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon. Season with a few grinds of pepper and salt as necessary. Add the chopped parsley and the juices which have run out of the meat. Mix well and pour into a sauceboat, ensuring it remains hot.
  5. Cut the beef in thick slices, giving each person and equal serving of lean and fat. Serve very hot, accompanied by the shallot sauce.

For what it is worth, Mr Verge goes on to explain that the meat really doesn’t need much more than a ‘salad of curly endive seasoned with a mustardy vinaigrette’. In fact, in his recipe, he ‘promises you splendid meal’ if the ‘wine is cool and fresh’.

No doubt, though I served this with sautéed asparagus and scalloped potatoes (potatoes and cream) and we drank red wine.

And with my approach, I also, can promise a splendid meal and afternoon.

Ellen’s Caesar Salad Dressing

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves 4

I can’t categorically claim that this recipe is my mother’s, though when she cites recipes, she always gives credit where credit is due; and for this particular dressing, she cites no one.

Doubly, Caesar salad was something I at so much of as a child (or at least as a teenager) that this particular dressing means home to me. Honestly, I have never tasted a better Caesar dressing.

Tear some cos lettuce, cut half a loaf of white break into 2cm squares and sauté in olive oil until brown (and sprinkling with garlic powder once done), shave some parmesan, perhaps julienne and cook some bacon, and here is your classic – brilliant – Caesar salad; add grilled prawns or grilled, sliced chicken breast and here is your classic – brilliant – weekend lunch!

Ingredients
2 cloves garlic
1 tin flat anchovy fillets
¼ c oil (olive oil and vegetable oil mixed)
2 tbsp grated Parmesan
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
Good grind of pepper

Salad: All the other ingredients for a Caesar salad; cos lettuce, croutons, parmesan cheese, bacon and perhaps some protein in the form of prawn or chicken.

Method

  1. For the dressing, in a blender, blend all the ingredients and check the seasoning.