The Hangry Chef

I recently found a couple of rogue tomato plants that had somehow taken root in my garden beds. Now it has to be said that I have tried and failed many times to grow my own fruit, herbs and vegetables,  so I have given up and now only keep hardy succulents that I know I can't kill. But when I saw these tomato plants growing out of nowhere, I decided to leave them and see how they fared without my grey thumb touching them. So, surprise surprise, I now have two large tomato vines, both baring fruit to the tune of about 30-40 tomatoes. These beauties have thrived on my neglect and I was able to pluck two ripe ones yesterday. WINNING! In honour of the first fruit I have ever grown from a seedling in my own backyard, I decided to make the most traditional tomato dish ever- Tomato Bruschetta! Bruschetta, meaning 'toasted bread' has no limits it seems, with most restaurants serving all different incarnations of the delicious Italian snack. There is only one true brusche...

A few simple steps and you can have yummy banana bread, you can slice this loaf up, wrap it up and freeze it for lunch boxes or eat it all in one go! You will need... 3 ripe bananas 2 eggs 1/2 cup milk 1/4 cup margerine 3/4 cups caster sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp bicard soda 2 cups plain flour Method... 1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees celsius, grease and line a loaf tin. 2. Peel all the bananas, mash two in a bowl using a fork, and slice the other banana lengthways and set aside to place on top of the banana bread. 3. Sift all dry ingredients together into a bowl. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk the eggs, add the milk and mashed banana. 4. Melt the margarine in the microwave and set aside to cool. 5. Form a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients slowly while mixing with a wooden spoon, stir well to make sure there are no lumps then finally add the melted margarine and stir to combine well. 6. Pour the batter into the pr...

You will need.. 2.5kg pork leg roast, de-boned, trussed with skin scored (ask your butcher to do this for you) 2 Tbsp sea salt 2 Tbsp olive oil 2 Tbsp lemon juice fennel seeds (optional) Mirepoix- chunky diced vegetables 1 carrot 1 onion 2 celery sticks 4 cloves garlic (leave whole in skins- just lightly bruised) Gravy 2 Tbsp plain flour 2 cups reduced salt stock (or water) Salad 1 fennel bulb, shaved 1 granny smith apple, thinly sliced 1/2 cup roasted, peeled hazelnuts 1 cup baby rocket leaves 1 Tbsp olive oil 1 Tbsp vinegar of your choice salt and pepper to season roasted vegetables of your choice- pumpkin and sweet potato go well Method.. 1. Preheat your oven to 240 degrees celsius. 2. Dice the mirepoix and in the bottom of a heavy roasting tray, and lightly drizzle with olive oil. 3. Rub a drizzle of olive oil over the skin of the pork. Scatter salt to evenly cover in a light layer over the pork skin, then drizzle lemon juice and a scatter of f...