The best way to cook Corn on the Cob

Out of curiosity I did a quick online search and to my surprise no-one else has recommended this method. Not sure why, as it is the easiest and tastiest I’ve tasted. It keeps all the flavour and moisture in so you get sweet juicy kernels of goodness.
Firstly you need as many cobs of corn as you have mouths to feed. Make sure you get them whole and still in the husk, not chopped or stripped of even part of the outer layer.
Next wrap them in foil and throw them in a hot oven for about 1/2 an hour or a little longer. Let them sit for a while until they aren’t too hot to touch, then unwrap them and peel back the layers. Tearing off the silks is easier when the corn is cooked, but difficult when it’s too hot to handle!

Fresh and Lively Seafood Pasta

This is a really simple, fresh and yummy recipe. I first made using fresh Moreton Bay Bugs that I bought from a guy selling seafood out of his van outside my work. I had planned to eat them with salad, but as I was driving home I realised that I was way, way too hungry for mere seafood salad so I invented this recipe in my head whilst driving home. The same happened tonight, with a few minor changes due to what I have on hand.

In a food processor, blend up a mix of parsley, coriander, the soft green bits off a baby fennel, a chilli or 2 (optional), the zest of a lemon, shredded parmesan and some roasted pine nuts or almonds.

Cook whatever pasta you want for however long it needs.

In a wok or large pan fry chopped leek and fennel with some minced garlic and ginger in oil. Add a splash of lemon juice and a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.

Fry seafood mix in the wok. Tonight I have fresh mahi mahi, green prawn tails and squid from a fantastic fresh seafood place in Cabarita Beach called The Stunned Mullet!!

Throw vegies, seafood, herbs and pasta together, toss through some olive oil, serve topped with some extra parmesan, parley and cracked pepper.

Tonight I think the crisp acidity of a glass of 2005 Tahbilk Marsanne will compliment perfectly – this is one of my all time favourite wines whatever the vintage!

Marinated turkey drumsticks with roasted beetroot, radish and squash.

First marinate the massive bird’s legs for a few hours in a mixture of olive oil, tomato chutney, dijon mustard, horseradish, maple syrup, kecap manis (sweet soy), salt and pepper.
Bake in oven for 1.5 hrs.
Place chopped beetroot, radishes and squash, along with a few cloves of garlic in a baking dish, sprinkle with salt and drizzle with olive oil. Place in oven about half way through cooking the turkey.

Creamy bacon & leek linguine served on a field mushroom with roasted cherry tomatoes & garlic.

Fry up a 1/4 of a leek, a rasher of bacon (both chopped) and 2 cloves of garlic diced (or a tbspn crushed) in a nob of butter.

Add a 1/2 cup of dry white wine and a tbspn of marsala. Simmer. Add 1/2 cup cream and 1 tbspn sour cream. Season with sea salt and white pepper.

In a baking dish drizzle a little olive oil and sprinkle some sea salt over a large field mushroom (one per serving) some whole cloves of garlic and some cherry tomatoes. Cook in moderate oven for about 15 min.

Stir through cooked linguine a splash of olive oil, a tbspn of cream cheese and some chopped herbs (basil and parsley work well).

Serve the pasta on top of the mushroom, pour over some of the cream sauce, place the tomatoes and garlic on the side and top with cracked pepper and grated parmesan.

Serve with a glass of fresh, crisp, dry white wine, perhaps Viognier.

Aussie Roo Burgers

Can’t get more Australian than using kangaroo mince to make your burgers!
A healthy and affordable choice too, costing around $8/kilo from Woolies Roo mince is not only tasty, but also lean – very low in fat, high in protein and iron.
To make the patties mix in 1/2 kilo mince, an egg, a tblspn tomato paste, 1/2 tspn paprika, a sprinkling of sumac, a splash of mirin to sweeten the mix a little (a little sugar or honey might work also), mixed dried herbs, a handful of bread crumbs and enough flour to reach the right consistency – not too wet, not too dry, but sticky enough to shape into patties and hold together while you fry them.
Fry in a little oil (I prefer rice bran oil when cooking at high temps) either in a pan, or the barbie of course.
Fry some bacon and an egg for each burger (if you want to add to the flavor and counteract the low fat meat of the roo).
Melt cheese onto the burger bun, then build your burger. Lettuce, tomato, pineapple, beetroot and BBQ sauce for a truly epic burger you probably won’t get your mouth around, I know I struggled. What a mess, an awesomely delicious mess!
A nice choice of beverage is a good Aussie Cabernet, robust yet juicy. Or a VB!

Chicken and corn soup

Soup is perfect winter warmer.
Tonight it was chicken and sweet corn.
Strip the corn kernels from 2 cobs using a good sharp knife and chop the cobs into a few pieces. Fry onion, leek, a few stalks of celery, a chopped carrot, a few cloves of garlic and 3-4 drumsticks. Add the cobs and cover with water and add a good pinch of sea salt. Boil for 3-4 hours and strain into another saucepan. Strip the flesh of the chicken legs and return to the stock. Add the corn kernels, some more chopped veg (carrot, celery, leek) and boil for another 1/2 hr, adding some rice vermicelli or similar noodles and cracked pepper towards the end.
Paired with a fresh and lively Tyrrell’s Lost Block Semillon.

Beef and Guinness Pie

First up an old winter favourite of many.

My partner Michael was craving this meal so we set about making it yesterday.

This was a team effort and we impressed ourselves immensely.

First we browned some floured diced blade (about 1/2 kilo) and 1 chopped onion. Then added this to the slow cooker with 2 tblsn tomato paste, 1 tspn vegemite, some crushed garlic, a splash of worcestershire sauce, chopped mushrooms, carrot and celery, 2 cups of beef stock and of course 1 can of Guinness draught. Put the lid on and came back to it 6 or 7 hours later. There was still a little too much liquid so we sprinkled in a little bit of Gravox and stirred it through.

This stew could have been served with some mashed potatoes and made a lovely meal, but Mick wanted pie so out came the Puff pastry just the store bought stuff this time. Put it together in a pie dish, brushed a little egg on the top and baked for about 20 min at 180-200.

Mick enjoyed his piece of the pie with a glass of Guinness of course, but I decided on a glass of Wyndham Estate Bin 444 Cabernet Sauvignon – a ‘never fail’ for around $10 a bottle.

So simple! So delicious!

Intro to me

So I love food – love cooking, love eating. I also love wine. Especially love food and wine together, I find it hard to have one without the other.  I get creative in the kitchen and have made some amazing meals.

Alas, no sooner have the dishes been washed I seem to have forgotten what it was that I cooked. So I decided to start a blog about it, after all isn’t that the done thing these days?

I can now share with the world (and save for my own reference) my best recipes and food ideas, along with my favourite wines to go along with said meals.

And while I’m at it I may as well share some of my photography and travel experiences  - food and wine related or otherwise.