What's for Dinner, Curtis?

As a chef stalker, I was so excited to meet Curtis Stone and have his new book, What's for Dinner? signed earlier this year. He's managing to muscle in between me and my thing with Jamie, and I've been cooking through a few of his recipes so far.

What I love about his book is the diversity - quick things, healthy things, not-so-healthy-but-very-yummy things, seasonal dishes, classics and new interpretations of old favourites so I wanted to show a few of his collection.

Chicken Cassoulet with Fennel and Bacon, with Endive and Shaved Fennel Salad

I have been trying to hide pulses in our dishes trying to trick my hubbie who claims to be not a big fan. This was an amazing dish for that and he even asked for seconds even after discovering that they were beans). I Apart from the chicken pieces being juicy and moist, the veg and bean concoction underneath was so flavourful. This was a great and cost effective low carb choice on a cool night.

Spiced Lamb Chops with Grilled Zucchini, Feta, and Olive Gremolata (served with Curtis' pickled onions)

I loved the simplicity of this dish, and it is great for preparing earlier and putting on the barbie when everyone is having a drink out on the balcony to admire the aroma - or in our case rushing to try to stop the smoke alarm beeping (think we need to clean the BBQ) The grilled zucchini is a good trick to make veg taste amazing; and with the onions and feta, this dish goes from a traditional meat and veg to a delicious, different but very healthy dinner.

Slow-Cooked Pulled Pork Sandwiches with 'Fireworks' Coleslaw (and Apple Bourbon Sauce)

This recipe, and in particular the sauce, are the reason to buy this book! I amended the slow cooked pork recipe for my slow cooker (I didn't basically the same but cooked it in the slow cooker for 8 hours instead of 2 1/2 which Curtis recommended. The pork falls apart, and it's the amazing sauce/chutney that puts it back together and makes an amazing sweet, tart, spicy sauce. Served with the coleslaw (where I substituted yoghurt for the mayo to make it healthier) this was a great dish for a posh night or casual night in!

Hope you can grab a copy of the book and try out a few. If you're anything like me, you'll love it! 

Barnacle Bills

Scallops Deling

On a recent trip to Cairns even though short we of course had to pay a visit to his favourite restaurant Barnacle Bills. When he was living and working there it was a real institution and he knew and hung out with the some of the family of the family owned and run establishment. It is a classic seafood restaurant on the esplanade with a fabulous menu and generous portions. We started off with a share plate of scallops and pork belly. Yum! What a delicious combination.

Seafood Curry

For some reason I had been craving curry for dinner and unusually for me I chose a seafood curry from the extensive picks of seafood options. I typically don't go for dishes where the seafood flavour has been masked by a strong sauce but this one was perfect. There was just enough heat but the sauce really complimented the perfectly cooked fish and seafood. After filling up on entree and main full of the flavour of the sea there was no way I could fit in dessert, but a great evening and can't wait for our next trip to TNQ so we can pay another visit!

Top of the Pop(up)s

On Monday night we had a very unique experience at Bar H, a little stylish contemporary bar in Surry Hills. Tonight wasn't a normal night there but one when the kitchen was taken over by Mindy, Audra and Kylie - our favourite MasterChef girls! I was ecstatic to get a booking after feeling like I had left it a bit late for the "first in best dressed" booking policy so Audra's confirmation made my day! And how glad I was - such a fun evening and great food. It is a strange thing meeting the MasterChef girls. We know them so well like friends we have shared every evening for the last few months with so it didn't feel surprising when we walked in and there was Audra greeting everyone while Mindy and Kylie smiled and cooked in the open plan kitchen.

The service was fantastic and drinks were here in no time for my hubbie and I to toast to the meal to come. The little bowl of caramelised nuts and tiny crispy fish reminded me of snacks in the Philippines and Japan so I couldn't stop going back for another nibble! The girls greeted everyone and announced a family style menu. First up was a 3 pepper chicken served in a bag for everyone to dig in. The pepper hit was great and what succulent pieces of meat. We polished off our bag in no time and soon it was an amazing slow cooked beef short ribs in an Asian sauce with some Gai lan stir fried with garlic and chilli - some of our favourite flavour combinations. No sooner had we polished off the beef, but a Mapo Tofu (Grandmothers tofu) was presented. It looked fabulous, but I was worried I was going to have to eat this one alone, as Cam isn't a big tofu fan. I gave him a bit to try and he was hooked! The spiciness with the Chinese sausage and pork mince complemented the tofu perfectly and we finished our plate.

With our mouths still with that slight chilli burn, we were presented with an individual dessert with a number of components. There was a lychee granita - so sherbetty and with such great lychee flavour that it cleansed the palate beautifully before the black sesame ice cream and the coconut tapioca with fried won ton slivers to give a crispy texture. All the flavours worked so well as a great end to a fabulous meal - or so we thought!

Just before we got kicked out so they could prepare for the next sitting finally came a Szechuan Salt Chocolate Truffle and a home made fortune cookie! Now it truly was the end, and the girls calmly saw everyone off before I'm sure they rushed back to the stove to prepare for the next round!

It really was a night to remember, the food, the wonderful hostesses and the fun!

Sarap in Parap

I was looking at my photos from last year's Darwin trip and was inspired again! The markets in Darwin were one of the highlights of a trip to NT, and we weren't even there for the famous Thursday/Sunday night Mindl beach markets. We headed to the Saturday morning Parap market on recommendation of Marion from Masterchef's and our great foodie's friends, to find the Green Papaya salad and Laksa. The markets are an ecclectic mix of Australian, indigenous Australian and Asian, all surrounding one block of a suburb on the outskirts of Darwin.

We had been advised to look for the woman with the big wooden pestle and mortar bashing the green papaya salad together. I guess we found her, and if we didn't (there seemed to be several large pestle and mortars on various stalls) it was certainly a salad worth the hunt. I regret not picking up one of the green papaya shavers (an implement I'm sure I could substitute with one of my mandolin slicer attachments, but it's just not the same!) as the salad was so expertly and quickly thrown together, with the shards of fruit, bashed up chilli, fish sauce and peanuts (I'm sure there's other secret ingredients). When I placed the order, I was asked how many chillis. I think we got two in our "medium" salad - I didn't want to be too blown away! It's a shame I wasn't in Darwin long enough to figure out how many I do - chillis that is - I think I could have gone hotter, but good to start off safe.

The market was bustling and surprisingly, despite the heat, the queue for the laksa was a few people deep. Not only was this the busiest, so the people were crammed in waiting for their turn to order and pick up their pots of spicy soup, but it was situated right in the heart of the market with the heat from the stalls and the day making us a little hot and bothered.

When ours finally arrived we escaped to a cool table under a tree to cool down, but the sweat didn't stop pouring off the brow with the heat of the laksa broth and the kick of the papaya salad. This, however, was sweat of contentment!

PS. Sarap means Delicious in Tagalog (the language my family in the Philippines speaks) I couldn't help thinking "how appropriate" the whole time I was in Parap markets!

Lime Time

I don't have green fingers - they are much more comfortable in the kitchen than in the garden. However, I do enjoy our little pots on the balcony (that my hubbie nurtures) with herbs and other edible additions to our cooking.

After a windy winter most of our flora needs a rejuvenation, but when I went out to water the other day, a somewhat lackluster shrub suddenly had a new lease of life with fresh new green branches.

I was delighted that the kaffir lime tree was flourishing again as we often pluck off a few leaves to season dishes with the subtle citrus flavour. 


We love preparing Thai food and along with coriander (which we've had less lucky growing) it goes in everything - finely sliced in larb, whizzed up in green curry sauce for a Thai chicken curry, infused in chicken coconut broth, blended in Thai fish cakes and even flavouring a kaffir lime panna cota.

With the new spring blooms, I am inspired to look out a few more kaffir lime recipes to add to the repertoire to make good use of our home grown ingredients! Any favourites you recommend?

Universal Success

Seared Scallops

Since I saw Jimmy and Claire at Universal restaurant last season of MasterChef, I've been looking for an opportunity to pay it a visit. I knew I would enjoy Christine Manfield's food style as I love spicy dishes. 


Using the excuse of a free bottle of wine, thanks to Citibank's Dining deal, we headed down a few Friday's ago to the Darlinghurst restaurant. No wonder I hadn't heard of it before MasterChef as it's in a small courtyard near not very much else!

Steamed Snapper

The whole experience was right up my alley! There was a "smart casual" feel to the restaurant with coloured lights and the buzz of light conversation, but with a fine dining presentation. What I loved about the food at Universal was that the spice complemented each dish in a different way. They also used great produce showcasing the fantastic flavour without the hype of foams and jellys of some of the more serious restaurants. This just made it a bit more relaxed and made us feel a bit more at home than when we're on our best behaviour on one off visits to "posh" restaurants!

The shared plates were perfect sized and fun for us, and perfect since there was no order envy and we got to taste quite a few things on the menu. We went for seared scallops green asparagus tempura with wasabi avocado, pork belly, steamed pink snapper wrapped in jamon with white asparagus, sichuan pepper mandarin duck, slow braised green chilli galangal wagyu beef shin.
Universal was a great success and will become a real favourite for us. Can't wait for the next excuse to dine there!

Hot Home Cook!

Cam's Chilli

We love having dinner parties and I enjoy trawling the recipe books and magazines for things to prepare for our guests that will be impressive looking and delicious. Sometimes, however, no matter how long I trawl, I can't find the right thing. I'm all for preparing days in advance when I have lots of time, but most weekends when we have friends round it's a marathon Sat to shop, clean, tidy the house and cook!

The last occasion I realised that my efforts of fine dining where really too stressful and what we have for dinner on a daily basis, presented nicely, is exciting enough to serve for our guests who are envious of our lunch leftovers!I put this to the test at our last dinner party. A week before my hubbie had made a fabulous beef chilli in the slow cooker so we decided to try this out with our guests. With autumn kicking in, the evenings are still cool enough for a warming, spicy feed, and the slow cooker is a sure win for juicy tender meat that melts in the mouth! To step the menu up a bit I found a delicious and simple cornbread recipe to accompany the chilli. It looked impressive, sliced beautifully (no crumbly slices) and balanced the spice of the chilli really nicely.

Jaffa Profiteroles

For dessert, an old favourite with a twist: profiteroles with chocolate orange sauce. I can whip these up pretty quickly and they are an easy dessert to prepare prior to the guests arriving. A little orange zest in the cream gave it a citrusy flavour and a glug of Sabra, an Isreali chocolate orange liqueur was an unusual addition to the chocolate sauce.

All in all, our guests were delighted and it was a much easier and enjoyable evening being a hot home cook than a fine dining fail!