Briami / Oven roasted vegetables

Briami meaning "oven roasted vegetables", is a traditional Greek vegetarian dish. There are so many things to love about this dish - it's nutritious, colourful and incredibly delicious! A symphony of aromas play out in our kitchen, bringing a smile to all that experience it. We shared our Briami tonight with our neighbour Lilyana. Who might you share this dish with?  Our take on this recipe below, and we serve as a main dish. You can serve as a side, giving you more portions. Because the sauce is so beautifully rich and flavoursome, we have made sure to keep the remaining, to be used as a sauce back with lamb, chicken and fish. We wish we could install a button on our blog that you could press to release the aroma!

Rustic chopping begins

Finely sliced onions
(refer to previous post
chopping onions without tears)

finely chopped garlic

adding capsicum, zucchini, garlic, onion
to oven dish

Adding potato and tomatoes
 to oven dish

Eggplant,dried oregano
salt, pepper, lemon juice,
olive oil and hot water
added to dish

At this stage I remove dish from oven
after 30 mins of cooking time
 and add parsley and more
hot water, place into oven
for another 75minutes

Briami plated up, ready to serve!

Traditional Greek Briami "oven roasted vegetables"

serves 5 as main course

2 zucchini, cut into chunks

6 large potatoes, peeled and quartered into chunks

1 brown onion, finely sliced

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 red capsicums, cored, seeded and cut into chunks

1 eggplant thickly sliced

800g chopped canned tomatoes

150ml good quality extra virgin oil

250ml hot water

1/2 fresh lemon juice

1-2 tsp dried oregano

5 tbs chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

generous pinch of good quality salt and cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 190 degrees

Wash all vegetables to dislodge any dirt/grit and then begin chopping

Thickly slice eggplant, season with salt and leave to rest for 15-30 mins on paper towel or in colander

(the salt will reduce any bitterness and can reduce the amount of oil they soak up during cooking)

Chop zucchini into chunks

Seed and core capsicums and cut into chunks

Finely slice onion (see previous post on chopping onions without tears)

Finely chop garlic

Add zucchini, capsicum, onion, garlic to deep oven dish

Peel and quarter potatoes into chunks and add to the oven dish

Wash eggplant to remove salt and pat dry with paper towel. Add to dish

Add canned tomatoes to dish covering vegetables

Mix well, then stir in 150ml olive oil, 150ml hot water and lemon juice

Add the dried oregano and season with salt and pepper

Check that mixture is spread evenly and your rustic dish is ready for the oven

Bake for 30 minutes at 190 degrees - ENJOY the incredible aromas!

Take out after 30 mins and stir in parsley and 100ml hot water

Return to oven and cook for another 75 minutes, increasing the temperature to 200 degrees for the final 15 minutes

Serve Briami in clay pot to complete your rustic dish (or any plate/bowl will do)

Reserve any leftover sauce and use with lamb, chicken or fish

Sprinkle with a little more parsley and serve

ENJOY! -X-

Rack of Lamb / Garlic and Rosemary potatoes

A dish we have cooked on many occasions, especially for friends. This recipe always gets a great response! The best part about this dish is in the preparation - the aromas of the garlic and rosemary make our heart sing! Turn on your favourite tunes, pour a glass of your favourite wine and have fun.

prepare lamb with rosemary and garlic, cover
 then refrigerate for 30 mins - 1 hr

Rosemary and Garlic potatoes par-boiled
and ready for oven

Rack of lamb ready to be served

Rack of Lamb with Rosemary and Garlic potatoes

serves 3

Rack of Lamb from your local butcher

5 cloves garlic

1 bunch finely chopped rosemary from your garden or market

salt, for seasoning (we used Himalayan Pink Rock salt)

cracked black pepper, for seasoning

4 large or 6 small potatoes, peeled and sliced 5mm or 1/2 cm and par-boil

1/2 lemon

6 tbs infused oil* or plain olive oil - 2tbs for lamb marinade and 4 tbs for potato dish (you may use less, just go with your own feel)

salad;

spinach leaves, washed

cherry tomatoes, washed and halved

marinated feta (you can buy from any deli or market)

To prepare the lamb;

Make a garlic paste using 2 cloves garlic (refer to our previous post Monday January 30th for step by step guide) and place into small bowl

Finely chop 2 tbs rosemary and add to bowl

Add generous pinch of cracked black pepper and salt (if you used salt to make your garlic paste then you will need only half the amount of salt)

Add two tbs of infused olive oil (refer to our previous post Monday February 6th for an easy step by step guide) or just plain olive oil, squeeze of lemon and mix together

Make small slits into lamb with knife

Massage mixture over the lamb and gently into the slits

Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 30mins - 1hr

To prepare Rosemary and Garlic potatoes;

Start the peeled and sliced potatoes in cold water and bring to boil. Par-boil the potato slices and 2-3 garlic cloves (in their skin) for 10mins. Drain and refresh in cold water to stop cooking process. Make sure they are only partly cooked, otherwise they will turn to mush in the oven if over boiled.

Place potatoes in oven dish. Remove garlic from their skins and break up into small pieces over the potatoes. Season potatoes with salt. Take your infused olive oil* or plain olive oil and drizzle over potatoes then mix ready for the oven. Turn on oven and pre-heat to 200 degrees.

Take out lamb from refrigerator. You may want to wrap the ends/bones with foil so they don't burn. Place lamb into oven dish. Place both lamb and potatoes into oven for 20 - 30 mins. Keep the lamb medium-rare. Remove from oven, cover with foil and allow lamb to rest for a further ten minutes - this will allow the juices to be absorbed back into the meat.

Check your potatoes and remove or further roast while lamb resting. The idea is to have the potatoes slightly crisp and golden around the edges and moist in the centre.

To plate up place potatoes in centre of plate and place 2 pieces lamb on top.

Serve with salad

ENJOY -X-

Rosemary and Garlic infused oil

We missed our Thursday cooking tip last week, so here it is!

Rosemary and Garlic Infused Oil

This is easy peasy! 

Pour good quality olive oil into a sterilized jar (you will find this in our earlier posts)

Add garlic cloves and rosemary

Seal with tightly fitted lid

Leave for 2 weeks in a cool dry dark area

After 2 weeks your oil is ready to go. Twist open the lid and smell those incredible aromas!

Once opened store your oil the same way - cool dark dry area

ENJOY!

**you can make all types of oils using different herbs and spices and then add to your favourite dishes

Daylesford

Recently we traveled to Blackwood and then onto Daylesford (about an hour and 45 mins from Melbourne). The Daylesford and Macedon ranges region is known for it's excellent and diverse food and wine product. Along our journey we met passionate locals who care about issues of sustainability and are committed to growing, producing and serving excellent local wine and produce. We enjoyed Blackwood and our visit to St Erth -Australia's first publicly open certified organic garden. We spent time walking through the garden admiring all of the produce, and then made our way to the St Erth cafe to devour it's meals fresh from the garden! We relaxed on the garden deck, listening to nature and enjoying the fabulous food.

Once we finished our lovely lunch at St. Erths we drove north from Blackwood towards Daylesford and came across a sign on the side of the road beckoning us to Daylesford Cider House and Tavern. We, like many others, have become cider-devotees, enjoying the sweet pleasures of  Swedish "Rekorderlig"  pear  or mixed berry ciders, the lovely dry tartness of "The Hills" apple cider  from South Australia or the occasional jar of  good 'ol Bulmers from the Isle of Brit. 

We drove the 3km's off the beaten-track to the cider house and reached the front of the property. We found the charming English Heritage Revival cider house building was fronted by the large double-decker bright red "Daylesford Cider Bus". We can only assume this marketing tool was created after the creator had enjoyed a few too many of their own products!

The cider house itself was lovely, and to our glee provided us with a brilliant cider experience we were hoping for. As we walked through the front door, Sally (the owner) greeted us & very quickly informed us this was not your "typical high-street" cider house. Here the apples are grown on the property - in fact it is the only such cider-farm in the central highlands of Victoria.

Sally let us know very quickly their cider is of the traditional & non-carbonated kind. OK, we were kind of bummed about that at first - being the newly crowned cider king & queen of Nth Carlton. The cider is in fact aged over 18 months and is derived from 20 varieties of apples. Their production process in entirely organic and is not watered down, full of sugar and chemicals - as many of the big-named city-ciders are - according to Sally!

We were encouraged to try 3 varieties offering sweet, medium and dry finished flavours. They were all quite different and all provided a deeply complex flavour to the last. We had struck gold! A great new cider we can call our own - now you can too! PS - they deliver free (into Melbourne at least). Kanpai!

www.daylesfordcider.com.au

ENJOY!

Ginger and Mint tea

Finally, the very hot weather has packed up overnight and left Melbourne...well for a few days anyway...we don't have air conditioning, so for the past week we have had our place locked up to keep cool...we are enjoying having all the windows and doors open this morning. Currently we are being entertained by a family of birds on our balcony eating seed we leave out for them every couple of days. They seem to be embracing the cooler weather too. What are you drinking this morning? We have just made some ginger and mint tea. The mint we picked from our herb garden. It's such a refreshing natural way to start the day! We thought we would share with you our very easy recipe.

See baby bird keeping cool amongst our basil

Ginger and Mint tea

x2 Long clear glasses

Mint leaves

Ginger, sliced very thinly with skin left on the outer

boiled water

place boiled water into 1/2 glass

Add ginger and let brew for 5 minutes
Add rest of boiling water to glass
Add mint leaves, stir and let brew for 2 minutes

Wrap a napkin around centre of glass to grip with your hands when drinking

(you don't want to burn yourself!)

ENJOY!

Garlic paste

We have been tennis mad this past fortnight here in Melbourne! We love the tennis. We always find this Grand Slam so uplifting and buzzy! It's inspiring for us to watch the incredible strength, power, resilience and athleticism of  Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Victoria Azarenka, Serena Williams (and more). Every year if not travelling, we visit the tournament to watch some super explosive matches, and then spend the rest of the tournament watching the matches from home glued to our couch cheering and barracking, feeling privileged that we are witnessing historical moments in sport - such as the Nadal vs Dojokavic Grand Slam final last night! An epic 5 hrs and 53 minutes five setter! Incredible gladiator athletes driven to their absolute best! We can't help but have the blues today...not just because it's Monday, but because Melbourne's best sporting event (in our opinion) has now packed up, the athletes have moved on, and we must wait another year...*sigh*

Ah well, now more time for cooking.

We missed our Thursday cooking tip post because we were preoccupied with the tennis...so here it is!

Garlic Paste

Peel the cloves of garlic

Lightly chop into smaller pieces, then add salt

Using the flat edge of the knife, flatten the cloves of garlic to a smooth paste

ENJOY!

**Garlic paste can be used in many dishes. We will use it in dishes we post, so stay tuned! For now, some easy creations are - mix garlic paste with butter, finely chopped parsley, a little lemon rind or orange rind. Place onto baking paper and roll into cigar shape, tie both ends and refrigerate or freeze. Take out and slice when needed to use when cooking steak, seafood, vegetables
Another easy one is adding garlic paste to butter and making garlic bread or garlic pizza using focaccia or pita bread

Tuna Sambal Matah

"Sambal" meaning seasoning and "Matah" meaning raw...

We love this dish for its colour, spice and flavour. The great news is it's healthy, easy to prepare and cooks in no time! Perfect feel good dish, and a great one to make on a hot summers night when entertaining friends or family. Enjoy with a glass of cider over ice,  wine or beer.

3 tuna steaks

3-4 large red chillies seeded and finely sliced

4-5 shallots (small purple skin variety) peeled and finely sliced

2 blades of lemongrass (thick end, remove top end) very finely chopped

1 tsp - 1tbs of freshly sliced or grated ginger (we love ginger so add 1tbs)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

3 tbs oil (vegetable oil)

1 juice of fresh lime

Rice

Steam rice

Lightly brush both sides of tuna steak with oil and season with little salt, pepper and splash of lime juice - cover and place in refrigerator for 20 mins

Chop chillies, shallots, lemongrass and ginger

In a bowl mix together the chillies, shallots, lemongrass, ginger, salt, pepper and oil

Add the lime juice and squeeze mixture with hands to blend the flavours (using latex gloves or clean hands)

 Cook your tuna on grill plate or in pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes (turning steaks at 2 1/2 minutes) - you don't want tuna to cook all the way though. The idea is to seal the top and bottom. Keeping it a little rare will give you and your guests a gorgeous tender and moist steak

Serve steak with mixture on top (ensure you squeeze excess juice from mixture just before serving) and serve with rice.

ENJOY!

**All ingredients available at Asian grocers or markets. Grab a fresh tuna steak from your local market or seafood supplier

Australia Day / A celebration of multiculturalism

As today we bask in the glory that is our country & our Australian way of life, it is important we recognize once again the reason why our country is considered the most livable (& luckiest) country in the world.

Australia's rich beauty is embedded in its past, it's present and future. We must recognize here our indigenous roots, it having lived and thrived for the past 40,000 years - this believed to be the world's oldest surviving culture. Today we celebrate our indigenous roots for it has made us what we are.

Please follow this link to this ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image) for the Melbourne Indigenous Arts Centre, this coinciding with the National Indigenous Photo-Media Forum for photographers and artists - 

http://www.acmi.net.au/melb-indigenous-arts-fest.aspx

Australia is a beautiful mix of rich cultures all melding together to give us the richest garden bed for our nation's growth. You must know by now in our previous posts, we love to experience the contrasting cultural expression of the varying nationalities who call Australia their home. We love the people, their culture and especially their food! It is great that we can travel to places like Europe, Asia or Africa and experience cultures thousands of years old -it is just as cool that we can come home and  have a little piece of each of these in our city for us to enjoy & learn from.

On Australia day we thought it would be a great time to introduce to many of you a little indigenous flavour! A perfect match to our very popular Sunday roast! We found this incredible recipe at http://www.aussiecooking.com.au

Recipe for Lamb Leg Rolled in Wattle Seed and Macadamia 

Lamb leg rolled in wattle seed and macadamia nuts, served with mango sauce

2.2kg Easy-carve (boned out) lamb leg

200g crushed macadamia nuts

200g wattleseed

500g mango puree (use fresh mango and place into blender to puree)

a pinch of Mintbush marinade

50g butter

salt

pepper

Length-wise, roll one half into the macadamia nuts and the other half into the Wattleseed

Place the leg into a hot oven and cover with aluminum foil. Use a piece of baking paper, if necessary. Roast for 1 and a half hours at 200 degrees and then remove the covering and roast until the nuts are just browned (you may need to roast meat less or more depending on how you like your meat). Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes before carving, remembering to remove the string.

Place the mango puree, Mintbush marinade, butter, salt and pepper into a saucepan. Warm for a few minutes on a medium heat.

Slice the lamb leg and fan on a plate over Lemon myrtle infused rice, or Alpine pepper polenta. Drizzle with the mango sauce and accompany with your favorite steamed greens or baked vegetables.

All indigenous ingredients available at;

http://www.dining-downunder.com/shop/index.php

Other great online stores;

http://www.bushtuckershop.com/

http://www.oztukka.com.au/

We were delighted last year when we received a very gorgeous gift from the bush tucker shop in our mail. Haley our friend is indigenous, and had selected and organised for these goodies to be sent to us to assist with a monstrous assignment I had to do on herbs and spices. I was so excited! Not only did I have an incredible selection of indigenous spices, but I also had gorgeous jams including my favourite "Lillipilli" and everything was packaged inside a beautiful hand woven basket that Haley had made! Smelling,Tasting, Feeling these indigenous spices was a first for both of us. We had a great afternoon, our senses were well and truly alive! We loved learning about where they came from. It made us realise that this is a part of our culture we had no idea about! We have enjoyed playing with the incredible and interesting flavours in our kitchen, and highly recommend you step out of your comfort zone and have fun selecting and ordering some amazing indigenous flavours, available online. Our very favourite is "wattleseed". It has an incredible earthy flavour that is extremely similar to a mix of hazlenut, chocolate and coffee. I am not a coffee drinker, so for me this is the perfect substitute! Wattleseed is also great  in desserts such as ice-cream. Lilli Pilli, apart from it's gorgeous colour, has a wonderful apple and cinnamon flavour and is delicious on pancakes as well as toast.

Lilli Pilli -  photo from
http://mcmkscoutgroup.org.au/tag/lilli-pilli-jam/
head over to this site to make your own jam!

Wattleseed Icecream Recipe 

http://www.bushtuckershop.com/files/wattleseedicecream.pdf  

 1 litre of premium vanilla ice-cream 

 2 teaspoons of Wattleseed 

  

This recipe is a very easy way to make good quality vanilla ice-cream into a 

bushfood sensation. Simply add the Wattleseed into a glass and add just enough boiling water to cover the grounds. Don't add more water or it will form ice crystals when refrozen 

Allow to cool 

Allow ice cream to partially thaw, put in large mixing bowl and add the cooled wattleseed grounds, mix well, put back in ice cream tub and refreeze. 

  

ENJOY! 

Xin Nian Kuai Le!

That's Happy New Year in Mandarin!

Melbournians there are loads of festivities happening around town this weekend!

Sunday 29th January -

Festival 10am-10pm Barkly St Footscray

Festival 10am-8pm Little Lonsdale St China Town

Traditional Music, food, dancing and more!

Enjoy! We will be!

LIVING THE GOOD LIFE! - WITH ADRIAN RICHARDSON

The first time we visited Carlton North, we loved the village atmosphere of Rathdowne street and the almost untouched feel of the surrounding area - you can imagine yourself back in the 20's when Carlton thrived as an inner city working class suburb along side of Fitzroy, Collingwood and Richmond.

My Grandfather grew up as a boy in Carlton - we walk past his old family address in Drummond St and imagine how wonderful it would be to knock on his door and be invited in for a cup of tea. we'd love to talk to them - next project...TIME MACHINE!

Of course, the face of Carlton changed in the 50"s with an influx of Italian immigrants bravely making their way across the seas to Melbourne. At my grandfather's address there now stands a proud example of Italian 50's architecture - simple 50's box structure, the ever present concrete surrounds with stone mosaic trim dominated by a beautifully kept rose garden.

My grandfathers' childhood address - now a great Italian palace!

                     

Proud 50"s Italian Heritage - sweet as roses.

                         

The Italian heritage in Carlton & Carlton Nth is thick in the air and so evident when you walk the streets, so many homes bursting with fresh herbs, tomato plants of all kinds and immersed in a seasonal culture passed down through the ages. We love it here in little Italy!

Of course, in an area so molded by Italian culture - there soon follows brilliant food and restaurants & OMG how much to we love Italian food! I suppose we always have, but Kristy and I have grown a much deeper appreciation of it's respect and reliance on fresh seasonal produce. We now grow as much of our own fresh food as we can with grand plans for the worlds largest market garden on our balcony...

Not long after moving to Carlton Nth, our love of Italian people, culture and especially food drew us to a leading local Italian food establishment called "La Luna" - this the creation of proud Italian and celebrity chef Adrian Richardson.  On our first visit with some friends, we simply had a nirvana dining experience (you know what it's like - when all the culinary stars align!). The restaurant is understated - modern Italian, well lit by natural light beaming in from Rathdowne St. Somehow Adrian even convinced the local council to let him plant seasonal greens in planter boxes on the street outside - these used in his cooking. Adrian's theme is to only cook with the freshest of produce- thus ensuring we enjoy the food at its freshest, tastiest and healthiest - he even butchers his own meat on premises. 

Adrian Richardson's La Luna in Rathdowne St. Carlton Nth.

We are glad to see he doesn't get his diners involved in this!

As you may have noticed,  our dining experience at La Luna sits pretty high in our best-things-to-do-in-Melbourne list. We hope you all have the chance to go there and enjoy his great food.

On our way out we couldn't help but buy a copy of his latest book - "The Good Life". We fingered through it over dinner and just had to get a copy to try some of his cooking at home. 

The Good Life - Adrian Richardson.

Adrian was nice enough to sign his book for us - Live the good life!

Naturally, once we got home and pored through "The Good Life", we made a short list of meals we would attempt - stretching our little 50's kitchen to the limit. To our glee, we found Adrian (although from a strong Italian heritage) brings together tastes from across the globe in to a menu that is simply divine bistro food. This explains why our first dish cooked and highlighted here could not be further from his Italian roots - "Pot Roasted Chicken with North African Spices".

It was a OMG moment as soon as we saw the photo and read the ingredients - these ingredients slow cooked can only mean great flavors, that when you close your eyes transports you to a Moroccan souk kitchen - so cool! So here it is guys - please try it...you will Love it. We promise!

Adrian Richardson's - Pot Roasted Chicken with North African Spices.

4 free range chicken marylands - cut through the joint to separate the drumstick & things.

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 medium brown onions - (see Kristy's onion cutting post - it saved my eyes on this one!)

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 tablespoons grated ginger

2 small red chilies, seeded and finely sliced

2 tsp sweet paprika

2 teaspoons cumin seeds - toasted & ground (toasted in moderate oven for 10mins is fine)

1 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted & ground

I teaspoon saffron threads

500 ml chicken stock

200gm green pitted olives

2 cups roughly chopped flat leaf parsley

2 cups roughly chopped coriander leaves

Juice of 3 lemons.

Ok here we go, so preheat your oven to 180 degrees, season the chicken pieces generously with salt & pepper. Heat half the oil in a large heavy based frying pan and brown chicken pieces in batches over a medium heat. Transfer to a large casserole pot.

Brown the seasoned chicken and transfer to large pot.

While the chicken is browning you can prepare your spices - chopping your onion, garlic, chilies, grating the ginger and toasting the coriander & cumin seeds in the oven.

Our spices to add...

Add the rest of the oil to the pan, and lower the heat to medium. Fry the onion, garlic & ginger for 3-4 minutes, until the onion is soft but not colored.

Add the chilli and dried spices (coriander, cumin, paprika & saffron and fry for another minute, stirring well.

Add the stock and bring to the boil.

Stir in the olives (halved) and fresh herbs. (stand look & smell in wonder!).

Once all of the ingredients are added - OMG!

Poor over the chicken pieces and cover with the lid - you hard work is done - if you haven't already you should crack a bottle of Sav Blanc and bathe in the aroma of what you have created!

Poor that goodness in!

Bake in the oven for 40 minutes on 180 degrees. Remove the lid after this and bake for a further 20-30mins until the chicken has browned on top. 

Bake for 45 with lid on - then 20 mins lid off to brown.

When ready, stir in the lemon juice and sprinkle with some fresh coriander leaves & take to the table to serve....

***We also like to add some Greek yogurt with salt, pepper, paprika and lemon juice to taste as a side with steamed rice of your choice.

Pot-roasted chicken with North African spices - yum!

As you can see this dish tantalizes all of the senses - it looks amazing, smells and tastes brilliant!

We hope you love it as much as we have bringing it to you.. . :)

ENJOY! 

ADAM & KRISTY