Sunday Roast Chicken

A classic roast chicken - cavity stuffed with parsley, garlic and
lemon and dusted with paprika, cayenne and s&p
- roasted in a hot oven and served with a gravy of thickened pan juices.

Served with roasted vegies - parsnip, sweet potato, onion, beetroot,
pumpkin and potato dressed with evo and s&p.

And one of my favorite salads - brussle sprouts blanched till al dente
with a balsamic and wholegrain mustard dressing.

Greek-style goat shanks with orzo

I made this a while back, but just didn't get around to posting it :(
This was my way of cooking the hard-to-get kosher goat shanks that Adam delivered to me from Sydney. (I understand it's amusing to go through security with frozen shanks).

Because of the natural 'lemony' taste of goat, I decided to go with a Greek-style recipe that uses lemon as well. I made a paste from garlic (lots), fresh oregano, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, chilli paste, s&p, lemon juice and olive oil. I put the paste on the shanks and baked them for a while (can't remember exactly - maybe 3/4 hour?) . Then I added chopped tomatoes, stock and a lemon cut into wedges, covered the dish with foil and continued to cook in the oven until the meat was tender.

About 10 minutes before the end, I added a cup of orzo.
The orzo soaked up all the juices and ended up with an amazing lemon flavour.

This was the first time I had ever cooked or eaten goat and it's definitely good meat. It was even great the next day :)

Portugese Feast

A selection of tastes inspired by 'food safari: Portugal'.

Goat, marinated in red wine and braised with onion, garlic, bay and
paprika for 4 hours in a slow oven.

Butterflied Chicken basted with paprika, garlic, lemon and bay leaf
powder and baked in a hot oven until crispy.

Served with saffron rice and a rocket, tomato and olive salad.

Soft Chicken Taco

A very quick bbq'd dinner - chicken strips coated in lime juice,
Tabasco, cumin, cinnamon, paprika, a dash tomato paste, s&p and evo oil.

Bbq'd on the plate until charred and wrapped in a soft tortilla with
avocado, salsa, tomato and shredded lettuce.

Charmoula Blue Eye with Carrot Salsa

Chunks of blue-eye, coated in lemon, paprika, garlic, spanish onion,
corriander, cumin, cayenne, s&p and evo oil. Skewered and bbq'd.

Served with cous-cous salad - with red pepper, saltanas, corriander
and spanish onion and dressed with evo and lemon juice.

Crowned with a salsa of grated carrot dressed with orange juice and
pomegranate molasses.

Eggplant Sandwich with Chili Tomato Sugo

Thin slices of eggplant spread with seasoned goats cheese and then
sandwiched and 'schnitzeled'.

Topped with a chili tomato sugo (passata with chili and s&p - simmered
to thicken a little)

Served with crispy roast potatoes (par-boiled then sprayed with oil
and flash roasted in a very hot oven) and a blackened red pepper and
rocket salad.

Fish with Preserved Lemon dressing

Just another dinner of fish and chips :) Baked fillet of harpuka in the oven with a bit of Alfoil loosely on top of it. Came out great.

Dressing is preserved lemons, capers, mint, parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, s&p. I'm tempted to call this a preserved lemon salsa :) It was great - fresh, light, tangy.
Potatoes were par-boiled and then pan-fried with chopped onion.

Very nice - definitely a keeper.

Roast Sweet Potato and Chicken salad

Roasted seasoned sweet potato and shreaded chicken marylands mixed
with cherry tomatoes, avocado, skinned red peppers, blanched green
beans, spanish onion (softened in lemon juice) and rocket.

Dressed with s&p, a splash of evo and balsamic vinegar.

Simple and delicious.

Ma Po Dofu

After years and years of watching Iron Chef I've finally cooked a dish
from the show - the famous Ma Po Dofu by Iron Chef Chen Kenichi.

A surprisingly simple dish to make - fried off mince, then a couple of
tbls of Toban Djan (chili paste) and a tbs of fermented black beans
stirred through and toasted.

Then the tofu is added and stirred gently. Add some stock, tomato
paste, sugar, ground szechwan peppercorns and simmered for a couple
of mins.

Finish with some corn starch dissolved in soy to thicken and garnished
with spring onion.

Served with white rice and steamed Chinese broccoli dressed with
sesame oil.

Hot, spicy, salty and smooth - a really interesting dish.

Goat Curry with basmati rice

Possibly the best dish I've ever made.

Based on an ABC radio recipe with all the usual Asian curry flavours
- a paste made with shallots, ginger, garlic, chili, lemongrass, cumin,
coriander root and seeds, cardamom, nutmeg, s&p, and a couple of
teaspoons of curry powder.

Sauted finely sliced onions until soft then cubes of goat meat and the
paste added and fried off. Then the potatoes, stock, coconut milk and a splash of fish
sauce added and simmered for a couple of hours until very tender.

Garnished with coriander and served with cherry tomatoes, sliced
cucumber and fresh lime.

Goat is a really brilliant meat - more tender than lamb, and with a slightly different flavour - almost 'lemony' - everyone should try it!

Tasted extra good when plated so beautifully by zo.

Spring Pasta with Chilli, Tomato and Ricotta

A different napoli sauce - made with diced onion and a whole garlic
glove sauted until soft then covered with passata, a little sugar, s&p
and a big hit of chilli flakes. Simmered for about 20 mins, then
blended to a smooth sauce (garlic removed) and softened with milk
(could have been cream but I didnt have any)

Tossed through the spirals and garnished with fresh dobs of ricotta
and some fine lemon zest.