Jamie's Ministry of Food - LIVE

 A while ago now we managed to score tickets to see my hero Jamie Oliver.  Really the saga begins when the email came through on a Thursday announcing that tickets would go on sale at 9am Monday. Imagine my anticipation and excitement along with nerves - would I be quick enough, would I remember (lol how could I forget), would I forget my credit card at home, would it work!

Finally Monday morning came and I grabbed two tickets no problem. Unlike some concerts and shows we only had to wait a week and the following Sunday we were lining up outside the venue at the Carriageworks in Sydney to be let into the pretty intimate venue.

Jamie was using the opportunity for an audience of food lovers, media and corporates to announce the winners of the Ministry of Food Pop up competition and raise awareness of the work ministry of food do. It is an admirable charity that we got a sense of on his series Jamie's Food Revolution in the US. He now has branches opening up in Australia too including the pop up which was announced to be in SA.

Although it really was a promo show he still did a lot of cooking. I was amazed that he was standing there live in front of us. It really seemed like he was just being projected from a TV screen. He is so comfortable in front of the audience and his great sense of humour as well as care and respect for the ingredients is so obvious. We were lucky to see him cook with some of our other Aussie chef "friends" Toby Puttock, Ben O'Donoghue and Anna Gare - all long time friends if Jamie as well as supporters of his charity.

Whilst I didn't get my picture with him or a book signed, it doesn't seem like Jamie was here doing a tour for the fans or the glory. It was really about the charity and gaining the recognition for it and the sponsors Woolworths and Good Guys. Great cause and it was such a coup to see Jamie kind of up close and personal after watching so many of his shows and cooked so many of his recipes.

Crackle with Jamie

Mothership Roast Pork

I'm sure that you know how much I love Jamie Oliver. Now, if it's possible, I think I love him a little more. His new(ish) book "Save with Jamie" is a great concept. He has recipes for a "mothership" recipe using different types of meat and large fish to make that special Sunday night dinner, and then a selection of recipes to follow that use up all the leftovers in tasty and creative ways. I've always been on the look out for good ways to use the leftovers of a roast - which, otherwise, invariably sit in the fridge for a few days to be picked at and then tipped into the bin a week later when another roast comes along!

Anyway, I digress, it's not exactly for his handy recipe book that I love him more. It's for the Mothership Slow Roasted Pork recipe. If you go back through my blog, there are a few things I love - crackling and slow cooked meat, juicy and falling apart.

Cripsy Pork Tacos

Combine Jamie Oliver, and these two things and I
believe you have a WINNER. The recipe was so easy (but you did have to plan ahead a little to make sure it was in the oven quite a while before you would think of putting a roast on normally) and turned out the most amazing crackling as the top crispy layer to succulent - pull apart - don't need a knife pork.

Then, we got to enjoy it in a fantastic Crispy Pork Taco recipe too - crackling and all crisped up with some paprika, blackbeans and capsicum & red onion pickle. A completely different take so we didn't feel like we were eating leftovers at all!

Game for Jamie!

Me and Jamie! See we have this game. Jamie writes cookbooks with a time limit and show me how to make them on TV and I try to match his time. I am sure it's a game you've played before too!

Jamie makes these stunning meals in such a short time. My goal is not only to get them done in a similar time, but make them look as close as possible to his version! And sometimes, I am pretty darn close. The other day I beat all my records (but not Jamie's) and cooked his 30 min roast beef in 40 minutes. Pretty good since the kitchen didn't look like a hurricane had been through it. We're down to 25 ish mins for his 15 min dishes. Quite impressive really, considering we would spend 25 mins faffing about with a salad if not under the pressure of the clock.

What I love most about Jamie's dishes are the family style rusticness of them and even though I don't have the crockery to match, I think I do a good job. I'll hone my skills and be an expert one day but by that time, he'll probably have released a 5 min meals version to contend with!

Fabulousness in 15 (and a bit)

Crispy Duck 

I'm back on my Jamie bandwagon. I received his 15 Minute Meals book for Christmas and we've already tried quite a few of the recipes. What I have loved is that, although it doesn't take me 15 minutes yet (and my hubbie, when I timed him, took 26 mins) is that he encourages multi-tasking. Whilst something is searing, instead of watching it, I'm blitzing, chopping, marinading so that no time is wasted and a complete dish reaches the table all at the same time.

Chicken with 6 Veg Ragu

I love the variety of proteins and the way that he prepares them sometimes is quite unusual. We've had the Crispy Duck which also includes tofu and is the first time my hubbie has been able to palate it. We've tried a few dishes with lentils and all of the meals have lots of different types of vegetables, salad that are great supplements to get the veggie count for the day up eg. he often uses radishes and sprouts - things that I wouldn't ordinarily put on a salad, but they fit really nicely with the dishes and make the dish extra healthy!

Finally, I love getting the most out of my beloved Kenwood Chef. I can make the dressings blitzing them in the little jars, slice the veg in the food processor and liquidise sauces all with the same machine!

I think the book was made for cooks like me - gadget lovers needing some speedy after work ideas, who enjoy preparing and eating fresh, healthy produce!

Go with the Filo

Filo pastry is my new fave. There are some fantastic recipes out there - more than just the traditional Filo parcel, which means the dishes are much more interesting to cook and eat! What's more is that it isn't (I don't think) crammed with butter, so it is a much healthier option meaning we can pack the filling with cheese and other goodies with less guilt!

There have been a few standout recipes that we have tried over and over that I thought I would quickly share to inspire!

Jamie's Spinach and Feta pie
Whilst we are still battling against the clock to make this in 30mins, it is a quick, mid week meal option and the acidic sides of cucumber with an olive dressing and tomatoes on a bed of basil dressing really cut through the richness of the creamy feta pie. Jamie has a great technique for cooking the Filo pie on the stove top first and then in the oven which makes it easy to cook and serve.

Moroccan Lamb Pie from BBC Good Food Magazine (couldn't find the recipe online unfortunately)

The filling of this pie is cinnamony and subtly spicy which makes it so tasty. However, even though the filling is great, this pie could really be any stew with Filo scrunched up and spread out on top. It makes a plain pie look pretty sexy and the crispness of the pastry complements the soft stew. It's even on the list for a winter dinner party, especially if we can do individual ones!

Zucchini, Haloumi and Herb tarts
These vegetarian tarts were quick to prepare, semi healthy to eat (except with the extra haloumi I threw on top!) and very pretty to serve in the tray, but a bit difficult to remove! It's a great idea to portion with the filo in little tarts, and sit them together when cooking. I am always trying to find low carb vegetarian options, not needing the obligatory pasta or rice that I feel I need when there's no meat, so this was a great alternative and everyone loved the crunch of the filo with the creamy filling!

As summer comes round the corner, I think I'll be cracking out a few more filo recipes as they are always fantastic with a salad, and the filo is so quick to take out of the freezer and then prepare! Do you have any great filo recipes?

Get Forked

When we have dinner parties, recently we've preferred to have some canapes on the balcony before heading in for the main course. An interesting and quite an original concept, was Jamie Oliver's forks, and after locating some cheap but nice looking forks (not at Victoria Basement which wanted to charge us $90 for some great looking, but too exy forks), we decided that we'd try it out for a Christmas dinner party. Giving everyone a bite on a fork was a fun and easy to prepare canapé but something a little different.

Jamie called for 3 types of forks that we replicated for our guests. We started off on the most simple, but a classic favourite - proscuitto wrapped and threaded onto the fork, with a clump of rocket, lying in a bed of olive oil and balsamic. With the dressing on the plate, we could swirl our forks into the dressing before popping the forkful in our mouths.

The second was a smoked salmon fork with thinly shaved cucumber and a lemony creme fraiche topped with a sprinkle of chives. This was a great combination, and who doesn't love smoked salmon with anything! The lemon creme fraiche added a nice zing to the fork.

The fork de resistance, however, was the duck a l'orange fork, a combination of orange, threaded onto the fork with a medium rare slice of duck breast wrapped around a sprig of watercress with a mint, lime, chilli dipping sauce.

All scrumptious little morsels, easy to eat and dip into their respective dressings! And a bit of a laugh as my hubbie enjoyed telling our friends to "get forked!"

Welcome to Sydney Jamie!

Bucatini Carbonara at Jamie's Italian

We were trying our luck to get into Jamie's Italian, Sydney's first offering from our favourite chef, Jamie Oliver, on the first Saturday of it opening, but with the no booking policy I figured we had as much hope as anybody. Just for Jamie we agreed to the 30 min wait for a table for 4. As it turned out, a date would have been quicker as there are plenty tables of 2! It was well worth the wait!

Being from the UK it was great to have some banter early on with the English bar men, shaking up mojitos and topping up our champagne glass, so the half hour went quickly by.

The two level restaurant on Pitt Street is urban chic style - some classy graffiti on the walls, warehouse style decor, and pretty unexpected nestled between the impersonal office blocks flanking each side. Perfect for the casual style of the restaurant.

We enjoyed the salt and pepper squid and the Arancini risotto balls as a first course. The pasta - I couldn't get past the traditional carbonara - was deliciously al dente, and apparenetly the sausages were served with the best lentils our friend had ever tasted.

With attentive staff, a fun ambience and great food. We would have been happy to hang around, but the theatre called. Anyway, we'll be back and I think it will be a city favourite, a reasonably priced fun and delicious restaurant certainly filling a gap and very welcome!