health and food

Naughty Day After "Faux Paella"

Nicky Riemer from Union Dining is one of 20 of Victoria's top chefs who will unite to raise funds for vulnerable children at Gastronomique on November 25. The gala food and wine charity evening will support Anglicare Victoria. Now in its 12th year, Gastronomique includes signature dishes, fine wine and entertainment. www.gastronomique.org.au




health and food

Bacon wrapped mozzarella chicken breasts

When it comes to bacon, it's everything in moderation... This recipe uses bacon as a seasoning.




health and food

Julie's Coconut Cake

This recipe was featured on Foodie Tuesday, a weekly segment with Raf Epstein on Drive, 774 ABC Melbourne, 3:30 PM, courtesy of Julie Goodwin. Julie's new book is "Homemade Takeaway."





health and food

Tarragon Vinegar

This gourmet vinegar is often the choice for a vinaigrette dressing when making a classic French leafy green salad but it's so easy to make at home. It's worth using a good quality white wine vinegar. You could also use a local cider vinegar. Either way, the flavour is beautifully aromatic. Tarragon vinegar will last for well over a year. Be sure to use un-sprayed tarragon.




health and food

Salted Caramel Sauce

This delicious, easy to make sauce keeps for up to 10 days in the refrigerator. It's perfect for spooning over cooked pears or apples, chocolate cake or brownies, muffins, apple pie, icecream, waffles, crepes and more.




health and food

Quick Raspberry Jam

Anyone can make this jam in about 10 minutes! It surpasses almost any product you can buy. If giving as a gift it's best to make the jam only a few weeks ahead of time as the flavour will be fresher and the colour brighter. Store this jam in the refrigerator.




health and food

Balsamic Walnuts

Make these a few days before gifting - unless you decide to keep them! Walnuts will remain crisp for a few days only but that shouldn't be a problem. Serve walnuts as a nibble, sprinkle over a leafy green salad or roast vegetables, use to decorate panna cotta, cheesecakes, a frozen dessert, or serve on a cheese board.




health and food

Dulche de Leche

This delicious Argentinian confection (also known as Spanish Caramel/milk jam) is a thick caramel milk-based sauce to die for and is so easy to make at home. Use as a filling for tartlets or cakes, serve over ice cream, as a filling for crepes, as a sauce over baked pears or apples or simply eat from a spoon!




health and food

Pickled Cherries

Turn new season cherries into an exotic condiment. These make an elegant accompaniment to pates, terrines, baked ham, roast quail, cheese boards, or serve on antipasto platters to accompany charcuterie or any smoked or cured meats. Add them to a salad containing smoked chicken.




health and food

All Natural Apple Syrup

This syrup is delicious and well worth the time involved. While it tastes sweet it is natural and sugar-free. Add a tablespoonful to any chopped fresh fruit - berries, mango, pineapple, papaya, banana, grapes - and it will balance and enhance the flavours. It's also great served over waffles, crepes or ice cream.




health and food

Sticky pineapple and macadamia upside-down cake

This is what I think of as an honest cake - not tizzy, just homely, buttery and ever-so more-ish with its tender, nutty crumb and sweet, caramelised pineapple topping. I particularly love the way the sides, through some kind of magical alchemy of heat and sugar, become ever-so-slightly crunchy. There are a couple of little things I've noticed when I bake it - the first is that it cooks better and looks better when baked in a regular, not a non-stick, cake tin. And the second is that it's really important not to overload the tin with pineapple or it will release too much liquid and the centre of the cake will be soggy.




health and food

Pizza dough

600 ml warm water 1 kg strong pizza flour 8 g instant dry yeast 1tablespoon salt 2 teaspoons sugar 50 ml olive oil




health and food

Okonomiyake - Japanese pizza with soy, honey and ginger sauce

Referred to as a Japanese 'pizza', okonomiyaki is probably best described as a cabbage fritter. There are many versions that can include seafood, pork belly, kimchi or cheese, and either served with the sauce described or with Japanese mayonnaise. Delicious snack food, which can also be a meal.




health and food

Salted caramel popcorn chocolate and rum cheesecake

Cheesecake: 1/4 cups chocolate or coconut biscuit crumbs 80g butter, melted 500g cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup caster sugar 2 teaspoons gelatine dissolved in 1/4 cup boiling water 200g dark chocolate melted and cooled slightly 2 splashes of rum 1 cup Baffle Creek Cream, softly whipped Salted Caramel Popcorn: 1 1/2 cup caster sugar 1/2 cup water 2/3 cup brown sugar 300ml thickened cream 1/2 - 1 tablespoon sea salt flakes 200g popcorn, popped




health and food

Bbq barramundi, Jamon, minted peas, Dijon mustard dressing & Danish fetta

Delicious fish dish for a summer night.




health and food

Grilled calamari, watermelon, olives, goat's curd and crispy vine leaves

This recipe was featured on Foodie Tuesday, a weekly segment with Raf Epstein on Drive, 774 ABC Melbourne, 3:30 PM, courtesy of George Calombaris. George's new book is called "Greek."




health and food

Garden peas, cauliflower, almonds, lemon

This recipe was featured on Foodie Tuesday, a weekly segment with Raf Epstein on Drive, 774 ABC Melbourne, 3:30 PM, courtesy of George Calombaris. George's new book is called "Greek."




health and food

Josie's chocolate and walnut brownies

A delicious treat for the serious chocolate lover




health and food

Beetroot, yoghurt, date and za'atar dip

500g cooked and peeled beetroot (about 900g fresh) 2 garlic cloves, crushed 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped 1 cup of Greek yoghurt 5 fresh Medjool dates 3 tbsps. olive oil 1 tbsp. Za'atar Good pinch of Himalayan salt 2 shallots, finely sliced on the diagonal Handful of toasted and crushed hazelnuts 50g goat's cheese, crumbled






health and food

Muscavado pavlova with chocolate and hazelnut mousse and Christmas cherries

I love Christmas my all time favourite time of year. It's also a great time for awesome summer sweet produce. Muscovado brown sugar is a treacle like flavour and makes a welcome texture to a traditional pavlova.




health and food

Festive cherry salad

This light and lovely salad is designed to go with ham, turkey, pork, chicken or quail. You could even add shredded, smoked chicken to the recipe and serve as a luncheon or light dinner dish.




health and food

Muhallabiya (citris pudding)

This recipe was featured on Foodie Tuesday, a weekly segment with Richelle Hunt on Drive, 774 ABC Melbourne, 3:30 PM, courtesy of Hana Assafiri. Hana's new book is called "Moroccan Soup Bar: Recipes of a Spoken Menu."




health and food

Chickpea Bake

This recipe was featured on Foodie Tuesday, a weekly segment with Richelle Hunt on Drive, 774 ABC Melbourne, 3:30 PM, courtesy of Hana Assafiri. Hana's new book is called "Moroccan Soup Bar: Recipes of a Spoken Menu."





health and food

Tasha's simple no fuss Christmas cake

I absolutely adore a rich moist fruit cake laced with brandy. We love this cake in our house and will stay fresh in a airtight tin for months.




health and food

Strawberry and orange sorbet

Simple things are often the best, and never more so than in cooking. Although it's tempting to gild the lily, sometimes the best thing you can do with beautiful ingredients is keep things as simple as possible - and this light, refreshing sorbet is a case in point. The flavours are true and clear, and it needs nothing more than a few orange segments and strawberry slices to finish it off.




health and food

WARM FIGS WITH HONEY, ORANGE & CINNAMON

It's rare for me to cook fresh figs as I think there is little that can better a squishy-ripe, jammy fig eaten just as is. However just sometimes when they are cheap (well, relatively speaking!) and plentiful, I make this dish; it makes a lovely, simple summer dessert. The thing to be mindful of when you're buying figs, is that they're often picked when they're under-ripe as they're easier to handle and store, however if they're like this they're rarely worth eating; look for figs that feel softly squishy when you gently cup them in your hand, and ideally have tiny splits in the tender flesh...your care will pay off in spades.




health and food

ZUCCHINI, BASIL AND GOAT'S CHEESE FRITTATA

A good frittata is really simple to make, but it does need a little TLC to make sure that the eggs don't overcook. At its best the eggs are softly set and still really tender and the whole thing is such a pleasure to eat. So do take just a little extra care with this, it's really worth it.




health and food

My Mother's Fried Rice

Lorraine Elliott is the author of Not Quite Nigella. You can find her blog at www.notquitenigella.com This recipe was featured on Foodie Tuesday, every 3:30 PM Tuesday, 774 ABC Melbourne Drive show.




health and food

Chicken & Lemongrass Pot stickers Asian slaw

Fresh and tasty chicken pot stickers with a delicious Asian slaw.




health and food

Apricot & Vanilla Jam

This recipe features on Foodie Tuesday, a weekly segment with Raf Epstein on Drive , 774, 3.30pm, courtesy of Alice Zaslavsky.




health and food

Kansas City Ribs - Lance Rosen

This recipe for Kansas City ribs was featured on Foodie Tuesday, a weekly segment with Raf Epstein on Drive, 774 ABC Melbourne, 3.30PM courtesy of Lance Rosen. Lance's new book is called "Temples of BBQ".





health and food

Grilled coconut salmon

4X 200G SKINLESS SALMON FILLETS 1 TSP. HIMALAYAN PINK SALT 1 TSP. GROUND WHITE PEPPER 60ML. COCONUT CREAM 1 TSP. GROUND TURMERIC SUNFLOWER OIL FOR BRUSHING TO SERVE: STEAMED RICE AND WILTED ASIAN GREENS




health and food

Mango Alphonso Recipe

This recipe for Mango Alphonso featured on Foodie Tuesday, a weekly segment with Raf Epsteion on Drive, 774 ABC Melbourne, 3.30PM, courtesy of Christy Tania, head chef at the Aldelphi Hotel's Om Nom restaurant.




health and food

Chicken and zucchini burgers

500g chicken mince 1 large zucchini, coarsely grate(200g) 2 shallots, finely sliced 1 free range egg 1 handful of chopped mint leaves 1 handful of chopped fresh coriander 2 garlic cloves, crushed 1 tsp. ground cumin 1 tsp. Himalayan salt 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper A pinch of chilli flakes Sunflower oil for pan frying Soured Cream And Sumac Sauce 100g sour cream 150g Greek yoghurt 1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest 1 tbsp. lemon juice 1 garlic clove, crushed 1 and 1/2 tbsps. olive oil 1 tbsp. sumac Pinch of salt and pepper




health and food

Cassoulet

This recipe features on Foodie Tuesday, a weekly segment with Raf Epstein on Drive, 774 ABC Melbourne, 3.30PM, courtesy of Annie Smithers from du Fermier, a wonderful French farmhouse style kitchen in Trentham.





health and food

Italian tomato, saffron and mozzarella arancini

1/2 cup chicken stock 1 pinch of saffron olive oil, for cooking 1 small brown onion, diced 1 tbsp. tomato paste 150 g Carnaroli rice or Arborio rice Himalayan salt and freshly ground black pepper 100 ml white wine 60 g grated parmesan finely grated zest of 1 lemon 100 g grated mozzarella 3 eggs 125 ml (1/2 cup) milk 50 g plain flour 160 g panko breadcrumbs (see Note) vegetable oil, for deep-frying




health and food

Coorong Angus Beef Pie with Red Wine, Fennel and Green Olives

This recipe featured on Foodie Tuesday, a weekly segment with Raf Epstein on Drive, 774 ABC Melbourne, 3.30PM, courtesy of Maggie Beer. Maggie's new book is "Autumn Harvest".





health and food

White Chocolate and fresh peach cheesecake

This is a glorious match! Free stone yellow and white peaches are perfect at the moment but wont last much longer so enjoy them while you can




health and food

Burnt Fig and Bresaola Salad

This recipe features on Foodie Tuesday, a weekly segment on 774 Drive with Raf Epstein, 3.30PM, courtesy of Alice Zaslavsky aka Alice in Frames. Alice's latest book is "Alice's Food A-Z: Edible Adventures".




health and food

Babushka's Borsch

This recipe features on Foodie Tuesday, a weekly segment on 774 Drive with Raf Epstein, 3.30PM, courtesy of Alice Zaslavsky aka Alice in Frames. Alice's latest book is "Alice's Food A-Z: Edible Adventures".




health and food

Baked figs stuffed with goat's cheese, black garlic and herbs, mint and purple basil salad

Figs are such a versatile fruit, they can be eaten raw, cooked, and sweet or savoury. Here I am baking them with goat's curd which is truly delicious. Wrapping them in prosciutto adds texture and saltiness and the mint salad adds a lovely freshness to the dish.




health and food

Greek chicken with polenta and sumac crumb

6 chicken thighs 1 egg 1/2 cup polenta 1 tbsp. sumac 1 tsp cumin seeds salt flakes and freshly ground pepper, to season 60 ml (1/4 cup) pomegranate molasses Avocado Tzatziki: 1 cup)Greek-style yoghurt 1 ripe avocado, flesh coarsely mashed with a fork 3 Lebanese cucumbers, grated, squeeze to remove excess liquid 3 garlic cloves, crushed 1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves 1 tbsp. chopped mint leaves juice of 1/2 lime pinch of Himalayan salt




health and food

Easter ricotta, spinach, egg and dill pie

This is a simplified version of a traditional Italian spinach and ricotta pie, commonly eaten on Good Friday.