Author Archive

BBQ Chicken

Posted on: January 18th, 2017 by gherkinmedia

Ingredients

  • 1 (4 pound) chicken, cut into pieces
  • 1/2 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 3 tablespoons ginger juice
  • 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1/2 tablespoon curry powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk

Directions

FOR MARINADE: In a large bowl combine the soup, garlic powder, ginger juice, cardamom, curry powder, salt, brown sugar and lemon juice. Mix well. Marinate the chicken in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, mix in the buttermilk, then grill the chicken until cooked through. You’ll love it!

BBQ Chicken Wings

Posted on: January 18th, 2017 by gherkinmedia

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
  • 1 cup oyster sauce
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons garlic powder
  • 1/4 cup gin
  • 2 dashes liquid smoke flavoring
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 1/2 pounds chicken wings, separated at joints, tips discarded
  • 1/4 cup honey

Directions

In a large bowl, mix the teriyaki sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic powder, gin, liquid smoke, and sugar. Place the chicken wings in the bowl, cover, and marinate in the refrigerator 8 hours or overnight.

Preheat the grill for low heat.

Lightly oil the grill grate. Arrange chicken on the grill, and discard the marinade. Grill the chicken wings on one side for 20 minutes, then turn and brush with honey. Continue grilling 25 minutes, or until juices run clear.

BBQ Chicken Salad

Posted on: January 18th, 2017 by gherkinmedia

Ingredients

  • 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
  • 4 stalks celery, chopped
  • 1 large red bell pepper, diced
  • 1/2 red onion, diced
  • 1 (8.75 ounce) can sweet corn, drained
  • 1/4 cup barbeque sauce
  • 2 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise

Directions

Preheat grill for high heat.

Lightly oil grate. Grill chicken 10 minutes on each side, or until juices run clear. Remove from heat, cool, and cube.

In a large bowl, toss together the chicken, celery, red bell pepper, onion, and corn.

In a small bowl, mix together the barbeque sauce and mayonnaise. Pour over the chicken and veggies. Stir, and chill until ready to serve.

Christmas Butterflied Leg of Lamb

Posted on: January 18th, 2017 by gherkinmedia

Ingredients

  • 1 butterflied leg of lamb
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 2 Tbsp prepared Dijon-style mustard
  • 2 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp lemon zest
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp coarse sea salt

Method

In a small bowl, combine the honey, mustard, rosemary, ground black pepper, lemon zest and garlic. Mix well and apply to the lamb. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator overnight. Before cooking, remove the lamb from the marinade and grind over the salt.

Cooking in the Oven

Preheat oven to 190°C. Place the marinated leg cut side up, on a rack over a roasting tray. Fan-bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Turn the lamb over and continue to roast for another 15-20 minutes or until cooked to your liking. Rest in a warm place, covered, for 10-15 minutes before carving. Serve with your favourite seasonal vegetables or salad.

Cooking on the BBQ

Lightly oil a preheated barbecue and grill the butterflied lamb over a low steady heat, turning it several times and basting with any leftover marinade, for 30-35 minutes. Remove from the heat and rest in a warm place, covered, for 10-15 minutes before carving. Serve with your favourite seasonal vegetables or salad.

Roast Scotch Fillet of Beef with Mushroom Sauce & Roast Potatoes

Posted on: January 18th, 2017 by gherkinmedia

Ingredients

  • 750g piece beef Scotch fillet
  • 2 tsp horseradish cream
  • 2 tsp prepared mustard
  • 2 tsp brown sugar

Mushroom Sauce

  • 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 tsp minced fresh garlic
  • ½ cup port or medium-sweet sherry
  • 1 cup beef stock
  • 4 portobello mushrooms, chopped
  • 220g can Wattie’s Mushrooms in Butter Sauce

Roast Potatoes

  • 6 small to medium starchy (roasting) potatoes
  • 2-4 tablespoons oil

Method

Brown the Scotch fillet on all sides in a dash of oil in a hot frying pan. Transfer to a chopping board.

Mix together the horseradish cream, mustard and brown sugar and spread this mixture on the top and sides of the meat. Place on a foil-lined baking tray.

Place in 220°C oven and then turn down immediately to 200°C and roast for 40 minutes.

Set aside to rest for 10 minutes before carving and serving with Mushroom sauce, Roast Potatoes and freshly steamed vegetables.

Mushroom Sauce

Cook the onion in a dash of oil in a saucepan over a moderate heat for about 5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook for a further minute.

Stir in the port or sherry and simmer until reduced by half. Add the beef stock, chopped mushrooms and mushroom sauce. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Roast Potatoes

Peel the potatoes and place in boiling salted water. Bring to the boil and boil for 5 minutes. Drain and return to the saucepan. Shake the potatoes over the heat to rough up the outside edges. Alternatively, use a fork to score the outside of the potatoes, so that the edges are rough.

Roll the potatoes in the oil so that they are evenly coated and place on a baking tray.

Cook at 200°C for 15-20 minutes until golden.

Whole Roast Fillet of Beef with Shallots & Mushrooms

Posted on: January 18th, 2017 by gherkinmedia

This roast fillet of beef takes less than half an hour to cook, with the sauce easily made while the meat is resting. Follow the simple steps below to prepare and tie the fillet – this can be done well in advance and then kept refrigerated until about an hour before cooking, when you should bring the meat to room temperature before placing in the oven. Serve with your favourite roast vegetables or a pan of creamy scalloped potatoes.

Ingredients

  • 1 whole Quality Mark beef fillet trussed (see below) – approx.1.2 kg for 6 serves, 1.7 kg for 8 serves
  • Olive oil for marinating and cooking
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • ½ Tbsp each rosemary & thyme sprigs
  • Several good grinds of black pepper
  • ½ Tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 10 shallots peeled
  • 350g mushrooms cut into quarters
  • 2/3 cup red wine
  • 1 cup beef stock

Method

For the marinade, crush or pound 1 Tbsp olive oil, garlic, rosemary, thyme, pepper and balsamic vinegar to form a paste. Pat the meat dry with paper towels and rub the marinade thoroughly over.

Cover and marinate at least half an hour. If marinating in the fridge, remove the meat from the fridge at least an hour before cooking. When ready to cook, remove the meat from the marinade and pat dry. Preheat oven to 230°C.
Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a heavy-based frying pan and when very hot sear the fillet 1-2 minutes each side (not the ends) until browned all over.

Transfer the meat to a shallow roasting pan, add remaining oil and toss the shallots around the meat, coating lightly in the oil.

Roast 20 minutes for rare, or 25 for medium rare. Ten minutes into cooking, add the mushrooms to the roasting pan.
Remove the meat, cover and keep warm for 15 minutes before carving.

While the meat is resting, place the roasting pan with the shallots and mushrooms on the stove, heat and add the wine, stirring any bits off the bottom.

Simmer until reduced by half then add the beef stock and simmer again until reduced by half. Add any meat juices to the sauce and serve the beef in thick slices with the warmed sauce.

Preparing the beef

Eye fillet has a thin membrane called silverskin which needsto be removed if your butcher has not already done so. Use a sharp knife to carefully remove all the membrane. If left on, it will shrink during cooking causing the fillet to curl up.

For even cooking and attractive presentation, the meat should be as uniform as possible and tying the joint, called ‘trussing’, is the key. Using individual pieces of kitchen twine, tie the joint firmly at 4-5 cm intervals, spaced evenly between each truss. Tuck the thinner tail of the fillet underneath and tie in place.

Greek Spring Lamb Leg Roast

Posted on: January 18th, 2017 by gherkinmedia

Greek Spring Lamb Leg Roast

  • 2kg leg of lamb, at room temperature
  • 4 cloves garlic, cut in thin slivers
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely diced
  • 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
  • 1 cup black Kalamata olives, chopped

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C. With the tip of a sharp knife, make deep thin slits all over the lamb meat, and then insert slivers of garlic into each incision. Season lamb all over with salt and pepper and place in a large oven pan. Roast lamb for 30 minutes.

At the same time, heat oil in a saucepan, add onion and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes to soften but not brown.
Add chopped tomatoes and 1/2 cup water and simmer for five minutes. Add olives and rosemary and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Reduce oven temperature to 180°C. Pour hot tomato sauce over lamb and continue roasting for one hour, basting occasionally with tomato sauce. Remove lamb from the oven, cover with a tent of foil and rest for 10 minutes, so that the juices set. Slice to serve with a green vegetable, such as steamed beans, on the side.

Oven-Baked NZ Hangi

Posted on: January 18th, 2017 by gherkinmedia

Method

  • Preheat oven to 160°C.
  • Pierce the skin or meat of the pork and insert garlic cloves.
  • Rub the outside of the pork with oil and salt.
  • Place on a rack in a lined baking tray.
  • If you have a meat thermometer place this in deepest part of the pork, avoiding the bone.
  • Surround the pork with the vegetables.
  • On lowest rung in oven place the smoker box.
  • Place the pork above the smoker box and bake until thermometer reaches 71°C or juices run clear when pork is pierced (approx. 3 hours).
  • Rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Terrific Tips

If you don’t have a smoker box simply line a baking dish with several layers of foil, then add the woodchips, soil and brown sugar.

A bowl of steamed watercress goes great with Hangi pork.

If the skin is not crisp when pork is cooked, remove the skin and place it under the grill for 5 minutes until crackled.

Oriental Red Roast Pork

Posted on: January 18th, 2017 by gherkinmedia

Ingredients

  • 750g Scotch fillet
  • 1 tablespoon liquid honey
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon hoi sin sauce (oriental bbq sauce)
  • 1 teaspoon red food colouring (optional)

Method

  • Cut the meat into quarters lengthwise and place in bowl.
  • Place the pork and all other ingredients in a plastic bag and tie loosely.
  • Place in refrigerator 10-12 hours or overnight, turning occasionally.
  • Pre-heat oven to 170oC.
  • Drain the pork and place in baking tray.
  • Cook for 20-30 minutes until internal temperature reaches 71oC and the juices run clear when meat is pierced.

Greek Lamb with Spinach, Pinenuts and Feta

Posted on: January 18th, 2017 by gherkinmedia

Ingredients

  • 1 hollow-boned full leg of lamb
  • 250g frozen or fresh spinach
  • 2 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
  • ¼ cup well-packed chopped fresh parsley
  • ½ tsp dried dill leaves or 1 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
  • 100g feta cheese, crumbled
  • ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
  • ½ – ¾ cup pine nuts, toasted
  • 1-2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1-2 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • ½ cup olive oil, extra virgin is nice here

To Finish

  • 400g can borlotti beans, butter beans or chick peas, well-drained and rinsed
  • ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 cup green olives
  • grated rind one lemon

Method

Turn the slow cooker on to pre-warm while gathering and preparing the ingredients.

Defrost the spinach if frozen and place between two dinner plates. Squeeze the plates over a sink and allow excess moisture to fall away. Press as firmly as possible as you want the spinach to be as dry as possible. If using fresh spinach, wash the leaves, remove the stalks and cook the leaves in a saucepan with only the water that clings to the leaves until wilted. Drain and chop finely.

Mix the spinach together with the spring onions, parsley, dill, feta and parmesan cheeses and pine nuts. Season well with pepper.

Using skewers, secure the opening of the boned leg of lamb at the knuckle end. Pack the filling into the cavity where the bone has been removed. Use skewers and or string to secure the opening at the top of the leg of lamb to ensure the filling is well-enclosed.

Brown the lamb as well as possible in a dash of oil in a hot frying pan. Transfer to the slow cooker.

Scatter in the onion and garlic and pour in the wine and olive oil. Season with pepper and salt and cover with the lid. Cook on low for 5-7 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.

Carefully remove the lamb from the slow cooker. Scatter in the chick peas, parsley, olives and lemon rind and stir to mix. Cover and cook on high for a further 30 minutes while the lamb is resting.

Serve the lamb sliced with spoonfuls of the chick peas and juice and accompany with grilled sliced aubergine and baked vine tomatoes.