The Hangry Chef

My husband and I are big on Mexican food. We cook Mexican once or twice a week for dinner. Usually having tacos, I decided to do something a little bit different, so I incorporated traditional Mexican flavours in this dish (which I think might have originated in Texas? Don't shoot me if I'm wrong!). I always keep tortillas in the pantry but I had a sourdough baguette that needed to be used so I decided to use that as an accompaniment instead so I could use it up, if I were to use the tortillas I would cut them into triangles, like a pizza, and bake them in the oven to make them crispy to dip in the chilli. You will need... 4-5 serves (depending on how big a bowl you like!) 700gr premium, grass-fed beef mince 1 Tbs olive oil 1 brown onion 1/2 red capsicum 2 cloves garlic 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander 2 tsp smoky paprika 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes (or more if you like it very spicy!) 2 Tbs tomato paste 2 tins of chopped Italian tomatoes (organic if yo...

Again I'm going with the healthy theme, this is a great dish I made up to utilise some of the absolutely delicious organic veggies I purchased. You can add whatever vegetables you like to this Pad Thai, and if you don't like pork you can always use chicken instead. This is a great way to get more serves out of a small amount of meat, and cramming as many veggies as possible into your meal. You will need.. (serves 4) 2 trimmed pork cutlets (again, free range), use any kind of pork you like, I opted for cutlets and trimmed off the fat for a leaner cut of meat (you could just buy the eye fillet if you like, 300gr would suffice) For the pork rub... 1/2 tsp peppercorns 1/2 tsp coriander seeds 1 large garlic clove 2 tsp lemongrass (1 inch piece of stalk) 1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes (or fresh chilli if you prefer) For the stir fry... 1 packet Pad Thai rice noodles 2 tsp peanut oil (feel free to use coconut or an alternative oil if you have an allergy) 1/4 head broccol...

I've made rissoles in the past using beef mince, in some instances I have served them without the Napoli sauce, but they're always better if they're briefly braised. The end result is so much juicier and yummy. You are more then welcome to alter this recipe if you'd prefer to use beef or pork, but always opt for free-range if possible, and if you can get grass-fed (which is what animals are supposed to eat!) then go for it! I would recommend making your own breadcrumbs too, because we always end up throwing out the crusty ends of our loaves of bread which is a waste. To be more economical, you can place them back into a bread bag and freeze them. If you do this every week with the crusty ends, before long you'll have a full bread bag, then all it takes is a couple of pulses in the food processor and you have home made breadcrumbs. You can place the crumbs into a zip lock bag or container, back into the freezer and voila! You've got easy, ready made fresh br...

Hello to anyone who is reading this right now!! It's been a little while since I posted any recipes. I had been on holidays for a couple of weeks and I have been avoiding sitting at the computer! Instead I traded my trusty laptop for the TV and my exercise bike. I watched so many movies and shows in the holidays, I'm definitely getting my monies worth of Foxtel! More importantly, I've started delving into the scary world of documentaries and books about diet and food. I've always had an awareness of what I eat, this doesn't mean I eat well though. I go through cycles of healthy eating which for me consists of calorie counting, upping my intake of fresh food and limiting processed foods. This is usually short-lived until I get stressed, bored or tired of constantly thinking of food or cooking healthy meals so then I give up, start binging and really not caring about what I put into my body... Until I start feeling sick or look at the scales and realise I need...

Arancini are Italian deep-fried risotto balls. Yup. It doesn't get more delicious then that! Once you know how to make them, the possibilities for flavours and fillings are endless. I had pumpkin, feta and chorizo in my fridge so they're the ingredients I used. But you could do anything, spinach and mushroom, tomato and basil, bacon and mozzarella cheese, truffles if you're feeling fancy or just plain risotto if you're feeling not-so-fancy. You will need... (makes 16 balls) 1 small brown onion 1 clove garlic 1 cup arborio (medium-short grain) risotto rice 2 cups hot chicken stock (I use salt-reduced chicken stock cubes) 150gr butternut pumpkin, skin and seeds removed. 100gr danish feta 50gr chorizo, skin removed 30gr butter 30gr parmesan cheese salt and pepper 1 tsp picked thyme leaves 4 tsp olive oil For crumbing and frying.... 1 cup plain flour 2 eggs 1 cup milk 1 cup breadcrumbs 5 cups vegetable oil in a wok or saucepan, for deep frying sal...

As I was typing my last post they released more information!!! http://www.thefatduck.co.uk/Australia/ Reservations will be taken through an electronic ballot. The ballot will be open to apply on  WWW.THEFATDUCKMELBOURNE.COM  from 9am (Melbourne time) on Wednesday 8th October 2014, and will close at midnight (Melbourne time) Sunday 26th October 2014. When you go to The Fat Duck Melbourne website, you a greeted by a black webpage with a pocket-watch world clock on it and to the side it says MELBOURNE Reservations will be taken through an electronic ballot. The ballot will be open to apply on this website from 9am (Melbourne time) on Wednesday 8 th October 2014, and will close at midnight (Melbourne time) Sunday 26 th  October 2014. Sign up here  to be the first to know the latest about the opening of The Fat Duck restaurant in Melbourne.

Image taken from crownmelbourne.com I'm waiting with bated breath for ANY announcement about how to score a table at Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck restaurant opening in Melbourne's Crown Casino in 2015. It was announced on Facebook at 2.20PM (Australian Eastern Standard Time) yesterday that they will be revealing TODAY how you can possibly score a much coveted table at the restaurant. One Hour Ago Crown Melbourne's Facebook page posted an image of the building stating 'Look Up! It's The Fat Duck... taking shape at Crown Riverwalk. We are excited to share more new with you in the next could of hours #HestonAtCrown stay tuned..' These teasers are painful! They know how to build suspense! The whole thing has been very hush-hush, and although I've been stalking all the appropriate avenues (social media mainly) there has been little information given. This is all we know so far: Heston is relocating his entire Fat Duck staff to Crown Casi...