I’m almost all the seven dwarfs all at once. 

 So, it’s time to stop being such a bastard to my own body. 

And what better a place to start than to buy a few new fancy ingredients and have a play. Geeta Enterprises, a pokey, crowded, mess of a shop sits in the middle of McWhirters in The Valley -  right next to a lively tattoo parlour. I love poking around in there, checking out all the spices, chutneys, chilis, and a whole wall piled high with dried beans, legumes and rare flours. Of course, there’s a great selection of Indian beauty products too – and a great Bollywood soundtrack to boot!  I grabbed a massive bag of pre-mixed Dukkah for less than $5 and a big bottle of Pomegranate Mollases. I’d first heard of this syrup when I was googling pomegranates for this recipe, and it sounded delicious – sweet and sour. It’s actually quite potent – you don’t need too much. It’s cloyingly sweet, sour, surprisingly bitter and makes your mouth water – literally!

It goes perfectly with the yoghurt and fetta in this recipe  - actually, all the ingredients in this salad compliment each other perfectly. If I were you – I would try this recipe I was rather pleased when I stumbled upon it (then, of course, mucked around with the recipe!) and will be making it again.

Oh – and try it NOW! The star ingredients are in season!

Ingredients

2 large beetroots, chopped into 8 wedges then cut in half again

1/2 fennel bulb

1/2 spanish onion

2 slabs of moist, crumbly fetta  – cut into cubes

Salad greens, washed and ready to go

a few good dollops of low-fat greek yoghurt

a few tablespoons of pomegranate molasses, diluted with a tablespoon of water

olive oil

dukkah (feel free to make your own of course!)

salt and pepper

Method

1. Pop the beetroot into some cold salty water and bring to a boil. Cook for 20 minutes or until soft when skewered with a small blade. Remove from water and let cool a little

2. Cut the fennel and onion into slither-thin slices with a SHARP knife (golly - fennels are built like bunkers!)

3. Toss the fennel, onion, and greens with a tiny little bit of olive oil to make it all nice and shiny

3. Dollop yoghurt and smear across the plate with the back of a spoon (you know, like the REAL chefs do!)

4. Arrange the salad bits, beetroot and fetta on the plate

5. Drizzle some pomegranate molasses over it all, a pinch of dukkah, a crack of pepper maybe…

And you’re done!

Wife exits kitchen.

Enter Husband. 3 minutes later Wife is presented with the most delicious parfait on the planet.

It was so delicious I did a mad scramble to shove my memory card back in my camera, awkwardly take a few shots and continue the parfait love affair.

The pictures are bad. The Parfait is good.

• Sad, daggy old lamington, cut into 4 slices
• Port Wine Jelly
• Sweetened greek yoghurt with passionfruit pulp (yes, who woulda thunk it – passionfruit and port work well together!)
• A drizzling of good port over each lamington layer.

layer

upon

layer

upon

layer

.

Thank you Darren! xox

COMPETITION REMINDER! One lucky reader will WIN not one, but 2 x Rib on the bone steaks, a bottle of The Pinnacle white wine (with that fancy prawn recipe emblazoned on the back) and a very sturdy waiter’s friend corkscrew!

Kingsley’s Steak and Crabhouse is very generous and is sponsoring this competition – Thank you!

The competition will be open to Brisbane residents (or people looking for a sunshine-filled Queensland holiday  – what a great excuse huh!) and of course you must be aged 18 or above. The prize is to be picked up from Kingsley’s direct.

So, please tell us, What is your favourite accompaniment with steak?

We’d love to know – tell us a good story (we love a good yarn!) and the best comment wins! The comp will run until Friday the 24th September, and you can comment on any post.

Remember to leave your email address when you add the comment, and add the words “I LIKE STEAK” in the comment field - so we know you want the steak!

This night Julia made her go-to dinner of salmon fillet with choy sum and seasoned broth (amazing! I make this a lot now too!) and I offered to make dessert.  I whipped up this little baby – Maple Figs on Savoiardi Biscuits.  Julia certainly seemed to enjoy it and has mentioned this recipe to a few people now. It was only a couple of  months after this night that Julia and Catherine approached me to be in on their little project – iatebrisbane. I’m pretty sure this recipe was the decision maker for them.  I’m certainly glad they invited me, and I hope they like it too.

First of all – I know some people are weirded out by figs, I was too for years!  They’re really lovely, but I think they’re even nicer if they’re grilled. And maple syrup and figs work really well together. This recipe is a spin on tiramisu, where the biscuits are steeped in coffee. I’ve soaked these in Maple Syrup, and I’ve even tried a flavoursome cup of tea. It’s a very delicate flavour. Try it with other grilled fruits like peaches or nectarines.

Ingredients

2 fresh figs
2 heaped tbsps marscapone cheese
2 heaped tbsps whipped cream OR no-fat yoghurt
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
6 savoiardi biscuits (Italian lady finger sponge biscuits)
Maple syrup
Water

 Method

1. Mix together the yoghourt (or cream), marscapone, sugar and vanilla. Taste to check sweetness.

2. Cut figs in half (from top to bottom) and place in fry pan on medium/low heat.

3. Mix 1 or 2 parts water with 1 part maple syrup (again, taste for sweetness – you don’t want it too sweet)  in a shallow dish. Dribble some of the syrup over the figs halfway through cooking – A few tablespoons should be enough.

4.Dip one savoiardi biscuit at a time into the syrup in the dish, turning it once to let the syrup soak through. Place onto a small serving dish - 3 on each plate.

5. Dollop the cream mixture over the biscuits and top with the grilled figs. Add a tiny drizzle of extra (non-diluted) maple syrup.

For this bi-monthly theme, once we had decided on Middle Eastern food, I immediately started putting feelers out trying to find some tasty authentic recipes. I am very lucky to work with a bunch of great people of different nationalities and ethnic backgrounds. Lunch time at my workplace we quite often start talking about the foods we enjoy. So, it comes as no surprise to me that this recipe was passed onto me by a fellow at work. The surprise was that it originates from a Jaime Oliver recipe book. It didn’t matter where it originated from – it tasted fantastic! This recipe has been tweaked a bit – I can’t break my own tradition of course!

My workmate makes it quite often, and uses lamb shanks instead of the neck fillets stated in the original recipe. I tried to find fillets, but ended up with 2 lambs necks with the vertebrae inside. I was a little put off and not impressed until after I stewed it for a couple of hours, and cut the flesh from the bones, it was sweet and tender. And at only $5 for 2 lambs necks – it fed 6 serves – It was damn good value! There is more meat on one neck than a large shank, the meat is sweeter as the muscles in the neck are not used as much as the leg. And it’s half the price! I recommend it!

Marinade
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 3-4 small dried chillies
• a small bunch of fresh rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped
• 2 thumb-sized pieces of fresh ginger, peeled
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1. Crush everything up in a mortar and pestle.
2. Put half this mix in the bag with the lamb necks and massage around.
3. Put the other half in with the chopped vegetables, below.

• 2 whole lambs necks
• 1.5 cups water
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 2.5 cm/1 inch dice
• 2 red onions, peeled and roughly chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
• 8 Roma tomatoes, Cut in 1/4
• 1 stick of cinnamon
• 2 bay leaves
• a handful of dried apricots

1. Brown the lamb necks in a casserole dish on the stove top, then add the water and stock cube. Simmer for about 45 minutes.
2. Take the necks and stock out then brown all the vegetables for a few minutes.
3. Put all the ingredients above into the pot, including the necks and stock, and chuck in the oven (180 degrees) for about 1hour 15 minutes
4. Remove the necks from the stew and put onto a large plate (a quiche dish is perfect) With a small paring knife and a fork, cut the flesh away from the vertebrae in chunks. Throw the bones away (or make a stock?) and stir the meat back into the stew.

• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 cup couscous
• a little wine vinegar
• Handful of fresh coriander
• Handful of fresh Mint
• Handful of fresh Parsley
• 4 tablespoons natural yoghurt

1. Make the couscous by adding the boiling water, couscous and vinegar into a bowl and leave to sit for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork
2. Add the herbs to the stew and stir

Serve with yoghourt.

Speck is a salt-cured and smoked meat product from the hind leg of the pig. It can be used in similar ways to prosciutto and bacon.  We got our piece from the Jan Power’s Markets, a stall that sells a selection of deli meats, german sausages and duck products.

I love crispy bacon and speck - the best way to cook it is very slowly, starting off in a cold pan. The reason for this is that the fat in the bacon will melt and render off and can be removed from the meal – making it slightly better for you!

Ingredients

1 rasher of bacon, or speck
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 spanish onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 cup shallot – sliced finely
2 large potatoes

Dollop of Extra Light Sour Cream
Dollop of No Fat Yoghourt
1 heaped teaspoon of grainy mustard
Heaps of cracked pepper

Method

1. Finely slice the bacon or speck and put it in a cold fry pan. Slowly increase the heat and cook until crispy and brown. Drain on paper towels.
2. Chop the potatoes into inch-sized squares and simmer in water for about 15 minutes – or until the point of a knife enters and exits a piece of potato with ease. Drain and let cool a little.
3. Put all the ingredients in a bowl and fold together carefully.

The carrot has to be cut very finely, so they way I did it was to get a potato peeler and run it along the length of the carrot over and over so you get long ribbons. Then, pile these up and cut through it on an angle as finely as possible. You will get very thin julienned pieces of carrot.

For the cucumber, cut it lengthways, and with a teaspoon, scrape out the seeds. Then finely slice.

 Ingredients

10cm length cucumber (telegraph cucumber), thinly sliced

1 carrot, julienned

100ml Yoghourt

1tsp cumin seeds, dry toasted, then crushed

Salt and Pepper

1-2 tbsp lemon Juice

1 small garlic clove, crushed

Sprigs of Fresh Mint and Parsley, finely chopped

Method

Combine all ingredients and check for seasoning, let it sit for a little while before serving.