A BBQ breakthrough - Heat Beads® Chimney Booster

We come with news of a BBQ breakthrough *drum rolls* … the new Heat Beads® Chimney Booster.

Heat Beads®, Australia’s leading BBQ fuel and equipment specialists have recently launched a revolutionary product which heralds the arrival of the very latest in BBQ convenience, cutting BBQ lighting time for cooking over coals down to a record 12 minutes (the days of heating coals for up to an hour to get that authentic BBQ flavour are no longer!).

Heat Beads® is proudly Australian owned and operated and has been satisfying Aussie BBQ needs for over forty years. 

We’re a nation of BBQ’ers, and BBQ season is certainly not over just because summer has finished. In fact, March is actually the driest month of the year, so now is the time to be BBQing most! 

We recently indulged in some real, authentic BBQing with Heat Beads® Chimney Booster and were excited to receive our shiny new Weber kettle BBQ, premium meats and a Heat Beads® accessories pack (including the new Chimney Booster) to make our BBQ cooking experience super quick, easy and fun. 

What you need:

Heat Beads® Firelighters

Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes

Heat Beads® BBQ Starter Chimney

Heat Beads® Chimney Booster

We lit the Heat Beads® Chimney Booster with firelighters, filled the BBQ Chimney with briquettes and placed the BBQ Chimney on top of the Chimney Booster. 12 minutes after turning the Chimney Booster on, the briquettes were hot and ready to BBQ with (yes, it’s

*that*

quick!)

We used the 12 minutes to whip up a salad and do a little marinating of our meats and veg…

Soon it was time to pop on some oven mitts and transfer the briquettes to the BBQ!

And it was  time to get cookin'!

Recipe: Smoky rib eye fillets

Ingredients

Handful of Hickory woodchips for smoking

Rib eye fillets

Salt

Pepper

Olive oil

Steps

1. Soak the hickory woodchips in water for around 30 minutes before cooking

2. Marinate the Rib eye fillets with salt, pepper and olive oil.

3. Sprinkle the soaked woodchips directly over the briquettes.

4. Start cooking! It took us approximately 4 minutes on each side for the beef to come out medium.

5. Enjoy!

We loved the results. It was such a quick and easy way to enjoy authentic smoky BBQ tasting meats.

The Heat Beads® Chimney Booster is an exciting addition to Heat Beads® existing range, cutting the time needed to fire up the BBQ to a mere 12 minutes - this made it so easy and convenient to BBQ the real way!

Where to buy:

Heat Beads® products are available from all major grocery and hardware retailers.

The Hundred-Foot Journey | Recipe: Spicy Superior Gold Hot Smoked Salmon

Gastrology bloggers received the product courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.

Surround yourself with picturesque and elegant views and indulge in a range of cuisines without leaving your home as The Hundred-Foot Journey has just been released on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital. 

Join Hassan Kadam (Manish Dayal) a culinary sensation with the gastronomic equivalent of perfect pitch, as he and his family leave their home in India to settle in the quaint village of Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val in the south of France. 

Filled with charm, the village is both picturesque and elegant proving to be the ideal place to settle down and open an Indian restaurant - the Maison Mumbai. 

It’s not long until Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren) the chef proprietress of Le Saule Pleureur, a Michelin starred, classical French restaurant gets wind of the Maison Mumbai, located a hundred feet from her own restaurant and escalates an all out war between the two establishments. 

The conflict is subsided when Hassan combines his culinary talent with his passions for French haute cuisine and Madame Mallory’s enchanting sous chef Marguerite (Charlotte Le Bon), instilling Saint-Antonin with the flavours of life that even Madame Mallory cannot ignore. Beginning as culinary rivals, Madame Mallory eventually recognizes Hassan's gift as a chef and takes him under her wing, weaving magic between their two cultures. 

The Hundred-Foot Journey is a delightful escape produced by Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey, destined to bring out the chef and creative spirit in all of us.

Recipe inspired by The Hundred-Foot Journey: Spicy Smoked Salmon

Gastrology bloggers received the salmon courtesy of Superior Gold.

After watching the movie, we were encouraged to do a little experimenting. We drew inspiration from the recipe pictured below from Le Creuset.

Ingredients

1 packet Superior Gold Hot Smoked Salmon, Peppercorn and Garlic Aioli 

1/2 teaspoon chilli powder

1 pinch of cumin

Method

1. Combine the chilli powder and dash of cumin.
2. Coat the Superior Gold Hot Smoked Salmon, Peppercorn (which comes with a sachet of Garlic Aioli which we omitted for the purposes of this recipe) with the chilli and cumin mix.
3. Heat rice bran oil in a not stick pan.
4. Fry/heat the salmon quickly for no more than 1 minute.
5. Enjoy!

Note: For this recipe, 1 packet of Superior Gold Hot Smoked Salmon serves 2 people

Although the salmon is beautiful to eat as is, the addition of chilli and cumin added an interesting spicy kick to the salmon which complemented its smokiness. We served the salmon with a cheesy polenta, organic tomatoes for freshness and a white wine, butter and parsley sauce which tied the elements together. 

It was an incredibly easy thing to cook and was thoroughly enjoyed by our guests.

Recipe: Yam Duck

This post was sponsored by MATRADE's Malaysian Kitchen Program.

One of our favourite Malaysian dishes to enjoy at home is a stew made from yam and duck which is called (creatively!) yam duck.

This dish is an old school favourite in Malaysia and can be cooked easily at home with readily available Malaysian ingredients.

Here's what you will need:

2 kg duck, cleaned and cut into 8 pieces

1 ½ kg yam, cut into large wedges

100g young ginger, sliced

1 tbsp chopped garlic

¼ cup canola oil
1 packet bean curd

400ml water

2 tbsp Ayam brand Oyster sauce

1 tbsp Yeo's sesame oil (available from Oriental Merchant)

1 tsp Ayam brand palm sugar 

½ tsp pepper

1 pc cinnamon stick, about 5 cm long

2 Dragon Phoenix star anise

2 cloves

And here's how to make it:

Heat the oil in a saucepan and fry off the ginger and garlic until soft. Add in cinnamon, star anise and cloves as well as the duck and stir fry until the duck is sealed and well coated with spices. Add the 400ml of water and allow to cook on low heat till meat tender. Then add the yam and all remaining ingredients and simmer until the yam is soft. Garnish with spring onions and sliced chilli to taste and enjoy!

Recipe: Murray Valley Pork Mole

Gastrology bloggers received the product courtesy of Murray Valley Pork.

Mole is a popular spicy Mexican sauce which has a decadent taste from being made with chocolate.

The pulled pork mole is one of our favourite Mexican dishes. Here is our super easy cheat's pulled pork mole recipe using Murray Valley Pork Topside. 

Ingredients

1.4 kg Murray Valley Pork Topside, rindless (cap-off)

450g Mayordomo Black Mole

Instructions

1. Prepare the mole according to instructions in a saucepan. 
2. Brown the pork in a separate saucepan.
3. Slow cook the pork in a slow cooker for 8 hours on the "low" setting.
4. Using a slotted spoon, remove the meat from the slow cooker to a board, leave to cool a little, then use forks or your fingers to tear into shreds.
5. Serve!

We served our pulled pork mole with some brown rice and a fresh rocket salad.

Holy Mole(y)! This dish was simply delicious. The pulled Murray Valley Pork meat was tender and delicious with the perfect hint of heat. We loved the taste of the rich mole chilli-chocolate sauce which had developed a delicious depth of flavour from being cooked with the pork. The hint of sweetness from the moles was cut beautifully by the fresh salad, and the brown rice brought the whole dish together.

Get your hands on some Murray Valley Pork -> Find your nearest stockist here!

Byron Bay Cookies | Recipe: White Choc, Macadamia & Blueberry Cheesecake recipe

Gastrology received the products courtesy of Byron Bay Cookies.

Byron Bay Cookies came from humble beginnings. They were originally baked on an old farmhouse stove in the hills of Byron Bay, a small coastal hamlet on the most easterly point of Australia.

With the region famous for its fresh ingredients and unique flavours one of the original cookie flavours, White Choc Chunk & Macadamia Nut is still one of their most popular flavours (and one of our personal favourites)

With hundreds of thousands of cookies baked weekly, Byron Bay Cookies now supply cafes and gourmet food stores across Australia.

Byron Bay Cookies have been supplying Qantas since 2003. They recently celebrated 10 years of being served on board Australia's most iconic airline. I recall journeys on Qantas flights when I was young eagerly devouring some delicious Byron Bay Cookies on board.

Today, Byron Bay Cookies are also available on board Jetstar and Virgin Australia and have widened their reach internationally to include Sainsbury's and Selfridges in the UK. 

Recipe: White Chocolate, Macadamia & Blueberry Cheesecake

Serves: 12

Ingredients:

300g Byron Bay Cookies White Choc Chunk & Macadamia
100g Byron Bay Cookies White Choc Chunk & Macadamia for mixing.
125g butter, melted
3 teaspoons gelatine powder
1/4 cup boiling water
2 x 250g packets cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
300ml thickened cream, whipped
250g white chocolate melts
300g fresh or frozen blueberries
50g fresh bluberries for decorating

Method:

1. Lightly grease and line the base of a 22cm spring-form pan with baking paper. Place cookies into a food processor. Process until fine crumbs form. Add melted butter and process until well combined. Press mixture into the base of pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Stir gelatine and boiling water in a cup until gelatine dissolves. Set aside. Melt chocolate in a bowl over boiling water until just melted. Stir and set aside.
3. Using an electric hand beater, mix cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in gelatine mixture, melted chocolate and cream. 
4. Crumble the remaining 100g cookies stir through mixture and fold in the blueberries. Spoon mixture onto biscuit base. Decorate cheesecake with blueberries. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
5. To serve cheesecake, release from spring-form pan and transfer to a serving plate.

Byron Bay Cookies are available in David Jones stores nationally, as well as Harris Farm, Bunning's Warehouse Cafes, Healthy Life, Woolworths and selected IGA supermarkets. 

Mùa Đông @ Ba'get | Recipes: Bo Kho (spicy beef stew) + Chai Dreaming Cocktail

Gastrology bloggers dined courtesy of Ba'get.

Ba’get celebrates Mùa Đông (winter), with an array of warming winter Vietnamese dishes.

This week, we got out from the cold and into Ba’get’s warm kitchen where exotic spices and hot hearty stews were bubbling away.  

Owner of Ba’get (and our host for the evening), Duy Huynh shared his recipe for Bo Kho (spicy beef stew) as we took a first look at what is new for the season at Ba’get. 

Recipe: Bo Kho (spicy beef stew)

Ingredients

2 kg Gravy beef cubed

1 tb soy sauce

Spice salt:

3 tsp salt

4 star anise

1 cinnamon quill

12 cloves

10 cardamon pods

½ tsp Chinese five spice

3 Onions, coarsely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 lemongrass stalks, bashed

1 thumb sized knob of ginger, bashed 1 chilli (or as desired), halved

3 tb tomato paste

4 carrots, peeled & in large chunks % mandarin peel, pith removed

4 cups of beef stock

Fresh coriander & Thai basil to garnish

Method

1. Make spice salt: Toast spices in a dry pan on medium heat, and grind to a fine powder with salt
2. Combine beef, spice salt with soy sauce and marinate for 30 mins
3. In a wok, stirfy onions, garlic, lemongrass, chilli and ginger so they just take some colour. Add the beef and stiffly for 15 minutes. Add tomato paste, carrots and mandarin peel & continue to cook for another 5 minutes
4. Add beef stock and cook for 30 mins in a pressure cooker or on a gentle simmer for 2 hours or until tender. Serve garnished with Thai basil and coriander.

Serving suggestions

Bo Kho is traditionally served with a freshly baked baguette.

Our thoughts

The stew was delicious. We loved the mix of spices which made the broth both aromatic and moreish. Hearty, well-seasoned with beautiful flavours, the stew is winter comfort food at its best.

Cocktail Recipe: Chai Dreaming

Ingredients

1 heaped teaspoons of Chai Spices (such as Prana Chai) 

1 tsp honey

Hot water

150 ml Soy milk

A shot of brandy

Fresh Ginger wedge Cinnamon stalk

Cinnamon sugar

Method

Add enough boiling water to cover Chai tea in a flask. Allow to infuse for 2 minutes.

Add honey and soy milk and heat with a steam wand or on a stove top to 75c

Add shot of brandy and pour into a mug garnished with ginger, cinnamon and ground cinnamon sugar.

Our thoughts

The Chai Dreaming cocktail was a stunner. A winter warmer that will knock the chill from your system this season, it had a lovely warmth from the use of fresh ginger that was soothing and comforting.

The Bo Kho and Chai Dreaming (albeit a non-alcoholic version) is available on Ba’get’s new winter menu. 

Find more Ba'get recipes and read about the amazing Ba’get banhmi here.

Recipe: Maggie Beer’s Crispy Skin Salmon with Pea Puree | Tips from Aussie Farmers Direct: 10 good reasons to eat seafood this Easter

Gastrology bloggers sampled the new range of seafood  courtesy of Aussie Farmers Direct.

This Easter, Aussie Farmers Direct is working to put the ‘good’ back into Good Friday by partnering with Maggie Beer to release a collection of Easter seafood recipes as part of a move to encourage Australians to include more seafood in their diet this year. We thought we would share our favourite recipe with you...

Recipe:  Maggie Beer’s Crispy Skin Salmon with Pea Puree

 Ingredients 

Aussie Farmers Direct Salmon fillets ($13.79 for two 180g fillets)

1 tbspn unsalted butter

4 thick salmon steaks, skin on

To taste salt flakes

1 tbspn Extra Virgin Olive Oil

4 wedges lemon

Frozen pea salsa

1 1/2 cup frozen peas

15g unsalted butter

2 tspn Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 golden shallots peeled and chopped

3/4 cup Chicken Stock

1 sprig chervil

1 tbspn lemon juice

To taste salt flakes

Method

For The Frozen Pea Salsa:

1. Spread peas on a tray to thaw for 10 minutes.
2. Place a large frying pan over medium heat, add the butter and melt with the Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Add the chopped shallots and sauté until soft.
3. In another small sauce pan, bring the Chicken Stock to the boil.
4. Add the peas to the shallots along with chervil and lemon juice.
5. Pour the hot Chicken Stock over the peas and quickly bring up to the boil again, then remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
6. Pour the pea mixture into a blender or mouli and process until fine. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.

For The Salmon:

1. Heat a large frying pan over a moderate heat with half the butter.
2. Season the salmon on the skin side with sea salt.
3. Once the pan is hot, add a dash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and place the salmon steaks skin side down in the pan. Cook for about 2 minutes or until the skin is crisp. Putting the salmon aside, quickly wipe out the pan with a paper towel.
4. Return salmon to pan, add the remaining butter and return to heat.
5. Once melted, turn the steaks over with tongs and almost immediately take the pan off the heat and allow to sit in the hot pan. The centre of the fish should be a little rare.
6. To serve, pile a layer of salsa on to a plate and place the fish on top. Squeeze a wedge of lemon over each piece of salmon, sprinkle the herbs on top and dress with a drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Aussie Farmers Direct brings back Fish on Fridays

Aussie Farmers Direct is working to put more 'good' back into Good Friday by offering Australians ten good reasons to eat seafood on Good Friday...or any Friday!  Traditionally, seafood was consumed on Good Friday in place of other meat. Though over the years this seems to have fallen by the wayside. Fish and other seafood are highly beneficial to our health, so perhaps it’s time to revisit the tradition and bring back fish on Fridays. 

Essentially, here's why we should bring back fish on Friday:

• Low in unhealthy saturated fat and high in protein
• High in Omega-3 fatty acids which are great for heart health
• Prevents inflammation and reduces the risk of conditions like arthritis
• Assists in proper foetal growth and development during pregnancy
• Associated with positive brain health
• High in iron and vitamin B12
• It's easy to prepare and cost effective
• And most importantly, it's deliciously versatile!

Aussie Farmers Direct has launched a new range of Australian seafood including Natural Calamari, a Half Side of Huon Salmon, Honey Soy Flathead Fillets, crumbed White Fish and Lemon Myrtle Blue Grenadier Fillets, which will soon join Aussie Farmers Direct’s existing range of Aussie prawns, salmon and barramundi. 

This Easter, Aussie Farmers Direct will be delivering a range of freshly caught seafood including:    

• Natural Calamari, $7.99 for 300g
• Half Side of Huon Salmon, $19.99 for 500g
• Honey Soy Flathead Fillets, $14.99 for 300g
• Crumbed White Fish, $8.99 for 250g
• Lemon Myrtle Blue Grenadier Fillets, $8.99 for 300g
• Salmon Fillets, RRP $13.79 for two 180g fillets
• Barramundi Fillets, RRP $12.99 for two 180g fillets
• Smoked Salmon, RRP $6.69 for 100
• Plain Unmarinated Prawns, RRP $10.99 for 300g

To enjoy a wholly Australian Easter this year, visit AussieFarmers.com.au 

Banh Mi Masterclass @ Ba'get | Recipe: Vietnamese Pickles

Gastrology bloggers dined courtesy of Ba'get.
Location: 132 Russell Street, Melbourne
Phone: 03 9988 4130
Link: http://www.ba-get.com/
Cuisine: Sandwiches/Subs, Vietnamese
Overall Impression: 8/10

Melbourne's love affair with Asian street food continues to grow with the opening of a new traditional Vietnamese Banh Mi establishment, Ba'get in the heart of the CBD.

Ba'get brings together crusty, fresh baked bread with authentic house-made charcuterie, grilled meats, pickled vegetables, pate, Asian herbs and fresh chillies to create an all-encompassing flavour and texture sensation.

Ba'get is the brainchild of Duy Huynh and his family who have been in the Melbourne food industry for over 21 years.

Ba'get is the real deal – Vietnamese street food with its heart firmly located on the banks of the Mekong Delta. The banh mi are made using age-old family recipes that have been perfected over several decades.

We loved the freshness, balance and authenticity of Ba’get’s banh mi. 

We were also given the opportunity to make our own Ba'get baguettes...

Baked hourly, the baguettes are consistently delicious and ingredients are carefully selected to achieve the perfect texture and flavour balance.

Ba'get’s menu featues a wide array of authentic Banh Mi including: traditional Classic hams, Grilled Lemongrass Pork, Pulled Chicken, Buddha's Tofu, Rich Tomato Meat Ball and Grilled Lemongrass Chicken as well as more modern flavours such as leg ham and salami; all lovingly made to order to ensure uncompromising freshness. Ba'get also offers Vermicelli bowl versions of Banh Mi flavours as a gluten free option.

Lovers of caffeine will not be forgotten - they will also be serving up potent quantities of cà phê sữa đá - traditional Vietnamese coffee as well as hot, flaky pork puffs, Vietnamese sesame donuts and a selection of tantalising pastries including Cassava Cake, Coconut and Durian Buns.

Bata's interior is also reflective of Banh Mi's origins, resembling a Vietnamese streetscape; complete with overhanging power lines, splashes of luscious red and turquoise complete with French architectural finishes, referencing its colonial past.

Scrawled in calligraphy across the store's feature wall is an ancient Vietnamese poem; a mantra to the authenticity that Ba'get aims to achieve which rougly translates to:

“Half-truths are never true, nor can true love ever come in halves”

Recipe: Vietnamese Pickles 

Ingredients 

Vegetables

1 x large carrot

1 x daikon

peeled and cut into matchstick battons

Pickling liquor

1 cup of vinegar 1/2 cup of water 1 tb sugar

1 tsp salt

1 clove of garlic sliced

1 bird's eye chilli split in quarters 8 pepper corns

Method

1. Sterilise a jar by placing in a 100c oven for 10 mins, or rinse with water and place in microwave for 2-3 mins, or on a hot dishwasher cycle
2. Peel and cut vegetables into match stick battons — set aside in a bowl
3. In a saucepan, heat the pickling liquor ingredients until boiling, and remove from heat.
4. Pour the pickling liquor onto vegetables and combine well.
5. Transfer to sterilised jar and store in the fridge for up to 4 weeks
6. Always use clean chopsticks to serve pickles

Serving suggestions

Serve with grilled lemongrass pork on rice, in vermicelli bowls, in salads or as an accompaniment to meat or curry dishes where you want to add freshness and zing. Great served with crispy roasted pork belly, and hoi sin. And essential of course, in Banh Mi.

Gastrology bloggers dined courtesy of Ba'get.

A Porky Christmas: Murray Valley Pork Cranberry & Almond Loin Roast

It is really easy to master the art of the tender roast with Murray Valley Pork's Cranberry & Almond Loin Roast.

Murray Valley Pork (MVP) is a premium range of hand-selected pork. The pork is grown in Australia’s beautiful Riverina region in southern New South Wales and northern Victoria under a great animal welfare policy - ‘to care for every pig every day’.

It’s full of good things healthy bodies need: protein, thiamine, niacin, B6, B12, selenium, riboflavin, zinc and Omega-3. That means that MVP has it all – it’s lean, fresh and healthy.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a skilled cook or not, the MVP cranberry and almond rolled loin is very easy to prepare – all we had to do was unwrap the packaging and pop it into the oven.

The pork was absolutely delicious. We loved the fact that is was so lean, fresh and healthy. 

Fragrant, sweet and succulent, this pork was some of the best we've tasted. The stuffing was a lovely combination of subtle sweet cranberry which was complemented by the earthiness of the almonds.

The Cranberry & Almond Loin Roast is perfect for family meals, special occasions and barbecues. We’re thinking of cooking this again for Christmas!

Get your hands on some Murray Valley Pork -> Find your nearest stockist here!

Gastrology bloggers tried the Cranberry & Almond Loin Roast courtesy of MVP.

Recipes: Australia Day-inspired High Tea

J and I were recently at Highpoint’s fresh food market to get ingredients for an Aussie High Tea with friends. Instead of the traditional three tiers, silver cutlery and delicate china, our version of an Aussie High Tea was made up of lamb (which we bought from Highpoint’s Melbourne Fresh Meats), chocolate scones, carrot cake and most importantly, we replaced tea with beer.

The chocolate scones in particular were a massive hit. The following are the recipes from our pre-Australia Day Aussie High Tea.

Recipe: Chocolate Scones

Ingredients

• 150 ml cream (from Yes It's Fresh Deli)
• 200g good quality dark chocolate, chopped
• 20g butter 
• 1 organic egg (from Yes It's Fresh Deli)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (from Yes It's Fresh Deli)
• 1 3/4 cups self-raising flour
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
• Pinch of salt

Makes 8 scones.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Line a tray with baking paper. Spray some olive oil on the baking paper and dust it with regular flour.

In a small bowl whisk the cream, egg, and vanilla extract together.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, melted chocolate, sugar and salt. Cut the butter into the flour mixture until it is crumbly. Mix all the ingredients together until a dough forms.

Shape the dough into balls. You should be able to make about 8 balls. Place these balls on the baking tray. Dust flour on top of all the scones.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until they are firm on the outside but soft in the centre. A toothpick inserted into the centre will come out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Recipe: Carrot cake 

Ingredients

• 125g self-raising flour 
• 3/4 cup brown sugar 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 
• 1/4 cup olive oil 
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten (from Yes It's Fresh Deli)
• 2 cups grated carrot (from the Highpoint Fruit and Vegetable Market)
• 60g roughly chopped walnuts (from John's Nuts)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and grease an 18cm spring form tin.

Mix flour, sugar and spice. Ad oil and eggs and mix just until combined.

Stir in carrot and walnuts. Spoon into prepared tin and bake for 40 to 60 minutes.

Cool in tin before turning out.

Recipe: Australia Day Marinated Lamb

This recipe came to us courtesy of Highpoint’s Melbourne Fresh Meats.

This BBQ marinade works with everything from lamb chops, to lamb roasts, lamb kebabs and tender lamb back-straps.

Marinade Base

To make the marinade base finely chop an onion and mix with 1/4 of a cup of white vinegar,2 teaspoons of salt and a splash of olive oil

For best results marinate overnight but at a minimum an hour or two will be fine.

Marinade Options

Then add your favourite combination of herbs and spices. The following are some of our favourites:

• the juice of half a lemon and a teaspoon of cracked black pepper
• 2 sprigs of rosemary and 1 clove of crushed garlic (we used this for our lamb roast which is pictured below!)
• 1/2 cup of chopped parsley and a teaspoon of cracked black pepper
• 1 teaspoon of paprika, 1 teaspoon of ground cumin, 1 teaspoon of ground coriander and 1 small chopped finely fresh chill (optional)

(Note: all these measurements are for 1 kg of lamb so for more lamb just multiply the amount you have!)

Highpoint tip! 

Do your Australia Day shopping this Friday at Highpoint! Highpoint will be running Australia Day cooking demonstrations in the Fresh Food Market with Rob Monteau on Friday 25 January at 11am, 12pm, 1pm and 2pm. Rob will be cooking up an Aussie-inspired feast including BBQ prawns, lamb kebabs, porterhouse steak salad and BBQ chicken ideas.

Gastrology received a $50 voucher to spend at the new Fresh Food Market 

to create our Australia Day recipes

Making Christmas a Highpoint

Our Christmas celebrations started early this year.

With two of our closest friends planning an overseas trip over the Christmas period, we decided to have an extra early Christmas dinner with them last weekend.

Roast turkey

Roast potatoes

Roast pumpkin, Meredith goats cheese & rocket salad

Chocolate mousse with brandied berries

Gastrology were invited by Jess from MANGO to visit Highpoint’s new Fresh Food Market and were generously provided with a $50 voucher to use at the Fresh Food Market and a $25 voucher to use at Melbourne Fresh Meats which we put to good use (along with quite a few extra dollars from our own hip pocket) to purchase all our Christmas dinner ingredients.

Thankfully the dinner was a huge success. We were very pleased with the quality of the produce from both the Fresh Food Market and Melbourne Fresh Meats. Here are the recipes we used to prepare our Christmas dinner. They are all very simple and easy to follow. Enjoy!

Recipe: Roast pumpkin, Meredith goats cheese & rocket salad

Ingredients

• ¼ pumpkin (from the Highpoint Fruit and Vegetable Market)
• 6 'squares' of Meredith goats cheese in extra virgin olive oil (from Go Vita)
• 200 grams of rocket (from the Highpoint Fruit and Vegetable Market)
• 1 small red onion (from the Highpoint Fruit and Vegetable Market)
• 2 tablespoon good quality extra virgin olive oil (from Yes It's Fresh Deli)
• 1 tablespoon good quality balsamic vinegar (from Yes It's Fresh Deli)
• Salt
• Pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees celcius.
2. Place chopped pumpkin on a baking tray lined with baking paper, drizzle lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
3. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden.
4. Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk good quality extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar until combined and season to taste.
5. Very thinly slice the red onion.
6. In a large bowl toss the pumpkin, sliced red onion, rocket and crumbled goats cheese together gently. Drizzle with the dressing.

Recipe: Roast turkey and gravy

Ingredients

• Roast turkey (7.5kg turkey from Melbourne Fresh Meats)
• Butter (from Yes It's Fresh Deli)
• Good quality extra virgin olive oil (from Yes It's Fresh Deli)
• Corn starch
• Salt
• Pepper

Instructions

We bought a fresh turkey that was ready to cook. So all we did was lightly brush the turkey skin with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and pop it into the oven, following the instructions on the pack.

For the gravy, we saved the turkey juices and turned it into a lovely gravy by reducing the liquid in a pot and adding rosemary, a spoonful of butter, dissolving one tablespoon of corn starch and lastly, adding salt and pepper to taste.

Recipe: Roasted potatoes

Ingredients

• 1 kg chat potatoes (from the Highpoint Fruit and Vegetable Market)
• 3 sprigs rosemary (from the Highpoint Fruit and Vegetable Market)
• Good quality extra virgin olive oil (from Yes It's Fresh Deli)
• Salt
• Pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees celcius.
2. Remove leaves from the rosemary sprigs and chop finely.
3. Place chopped potatoes on a baking tray lined with baking paper, add rosemary sprigs, drizzle lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
4. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden.

Recipe: Chocolate mousse with brandied berries

Ingredients

• 200g good quality dark chocolate, chopped
• 20g butter (from Yes It's Fresh Deli)
• 3 organic eggs, separated (from Yes It's Fresh Deli)
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar
• 1 cup (250ml) pouring (single) cream
• Berries (from the Highpoint Fruit and Vegetable Market)
• Brandy
• Icing sugar

Instructions

We used Donna Hay's chocolate mousse recipe. 

The recipe says that it is for 2 people but when we doubled it for our party of four, it was far too much! I would recommend halving this recipe for two, or using it as is for four.

Instead of the raspberries that Donna Hay uses in her recipe, we served the chocolate mousse with brandied berries which were very easy to prepare. We mixed icing sugar and brandy to taste, then allowed the berries to soak in this mixture for about 4 hours.