WATCH THIS SPACE

You might have noticed no posts for 2 months.

This is because I couldn't upload images. I got sick of trying and so simply posted onto the Behind The Burners Facebook page.

However, I have decided to have another go after 2 months off.

If you see a blur of posts over the next week or so, you'll know that all's well again.

If you see nothing, well, you'll know why.

Fingers crossed.

WATCH THIS SPACE

BRAISED OXTAIL WITH CELERIAC PUREE

Do you know an old song about love and marriage? How they go together like a horse and carriage? And you know how Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers worked so well together? And how Tom and Jerry just went together? And Abbott and Costello? Bacon and eggs? Well here's another marriage that just works. Maybe it's the star anise I used in the oxtail. Whatever the reason, this oxtail and this celeriac purée feel like they were made for each other.

BRAISED OXTAIL WITH CELERIAC PUREE

BEETROOT RISOTTO WITH QUARK

The first time I had beetroot risotto was in a restaurant in L.A. It was some time in the late 90s. Henry Winkler was on the next table. I remember being surprised at how old he looked. Mind you, I don't think I'd seen him in anything since Happy Days. I was also surprised by how conservatively he was dressed. You just don't see many tweed coats in L.A. Anyway, even though I'd been eating risottos for about 18 years at that stage, I'd never had one flavoured with beetroot. I loved it. It has since become one of my staple risottos (along with fennel, pumpkin, porcini and crab). I usually add a dollop of goat's cheese, but I had bought some quark a couple of days ago, so this added the finishing touch. Worked a treat, too.

BEETROOT RISOTTO WITH QUARK

ROASTED CAULIFLOWER SOUP WITH HAZELNUTS

The traditional way to make vegetable soups is to boil the vegetables in water or stock and purée. I have found that roasting adds an extra dimension to the flavour and two vegetables that really benefit from roasting are pumpkins and cauliflower. After slow roasting, I then combined the cauliflower with a rich home-made chicken stock, seasoned it and puréed this. There's a synergy between the cauliflower/Brussels sprout/cabbage family and hazelnuts, so I added broken roasted nuts and a little hazelnut oil to the finished dish.

ROASTED CAULIFLOWER SOUP WITH HAZELNUTS

COBIA, FLAGEOLETS, ROASTED CHOKO & ROAST GARLIC AIOLI

Cobia is also known as black kingfish. You can see the resemblance in the body shapes. But the two species taste quite different. To me, cobia has a flavour that's a little like swordfish. This is a very simple dish. That's to be expected. I am a man of simple tastes. Just give me the best of whatever it is and I'm happy. I'd never come to terms with chokos until recently. Every time I ate the soft, bland, watery flesh I couldn't help think of all the other vegetables in the world with real flavour. Recently I discovered how much better they taste when marinated with olive oil, garlic and oregano and roasted.

COBIA, FLAGEOLETS, ROASTED CHOKO & ROAST GARLIC AIOLI

COBIA, CAPSICUM & TOMATO SAUCE AND FLAT BEANS

According to the fisherman at the local markets, cobia are around when the whales are around. Not sure of the link between the two events. Maybe they like the same water temperature. Anyway, the whales have been migrating past here for the past month or so and will continue until November, so I guess there'll be cobia in the sea for a while to come. I seared steaks of cobia in ghee. The sauce is puréed roasted red capsicum, chillies, cherry tomatoes, garlic, thyme and olive oil. Flat beans have a short season and I saw these guys at the markets on Saturday.

COBIA, CAPSICUM & TOMATO SAUCE AND FLAT BEANS

WAGYU RIB FILLET, DUTCH CREAM MASH, WATERCRESS SALAD

Not much to report here. I bought some meat. I cooked it. It tasted sensational.

WAGYU RIB FILLET, DUTCH CREAM MASH, WATERCRESS SALAD

PAPRIKA CHICKEN THIGH, POLENTA, BABY CAVOLO NERO AND AJVAR

In many households, the pets eat the leftovers. Tonight, we ate the pet's leftovers. Well, kind of. Last night we babysat our neighbours' Australian silky terrier. I bought a chicken thigh fillet to cook for his dinner. I couldn't bring myself to order a single fillet from the butcher, so I bought 3. And cooked two of them tonight. I dusted them in smoked La Vera paprika and sautéed them in ghee. I had made a big batch of chicken stock yesterday, so used some of this to make polenta. I had also bought some baby cavolo nero leaves from Sydney's Fratelli Fresh and a jar of ajvar (it's made by a Macedonian woman in Sydney).

PAPRIKA CHICKEN THIGH, POLENTA, BABY CAVOLO NERO AND AJVAR

SALAD OF SMOKED CHICKEN, QUARK, BEETROOT AND MUSTARD FRUIT

Smoky, sweet, sharp, fresh, fruity, herbal, tangy. This salad has it all. Not much else to write ... oh, okay, I'll have a go: Once upon a time in a land not dissimilar to ours there lived a three-legged witch, an English police constable and a goanna. The goanna played honky-tonk piano, whilst the witch was a fan of Rolf Harris's songs. The policeman couldn't sing but simply repeated 'Hello, hello, hello' ... which itself is clearly repetitive. How's the story going so far? Had enough? Okay, that's all for now.

SALAD OF SMOKED CHICKEN, QUARK, BEETROOT AND MUSTARD FRUIT

SEARED TUNA WITH BEANS, ZUCCHINI AND CHERRY TOMATOES

Tuna is the meatiest fish in the ocean. So this is really a dish of meat and three veg for sea lubbers.   The beans and zucchini were sautéed in olive oil with garlic. The cherry tomatoes were roasted for eight hours at 90C. And the tuna got its usual quick sear in a very hot pan (after dusting with chipotle and cumin).

SEARED TUNA WITH BEANS, ZUCCHINI AND CHERRY TOMATOES

BRAISED OXTAIL WITH SWEET POTATO MASH

There aren't many foods as deeply satisfying as stickily rich oxtail cooked over many hours at a low temperature. These were dusted with flour and browned, then braised with a bottle of red, star anise, garlic, brandy, bay leaf, dried orange peel. The first cooking took place a couple of days before serving. Then I removed the excess fat and cooked again. About 6 hours in total. Gotta love winter.

BRAISED OXTAIL WITH SWEET POTATO MASH

CHICKEN THIGH, BROCCOLINI, FLAGEOLET AND TOMATO SALSA

Red, white and green ... it's Italian! And yet, the ingredients are multinational. Flageolet from France, salsa from Mexico, chicken from eggs (ort is it eggs from chicken?) and broccolini from ... well, it sound Italian, but this juvenile broccoli wasn't commercialised in Italy. Never mind. It feels Italian and looks Italian, so it must be Italian

CHICKEN THIGH, BROCCOLINI, FLAGEOLET AND TOMATO SALSA

DOU BAN XIAN CHICKEN WITH BABY BOK CHOY

Dou ban xian paste is a Sichuanese condiment with fermented soy beans, chillies and other indeterminate ingredients. I love some of these mysterious Chinese pastes because they are the foundation of so many dishes - and because we'll never know exactly what goes into them. Here I've simply tossed peanut oil, garlic, light soy sauce, dou ban xian paste, baby bok choy and chicken thighs in a wok and cooked over high heat until the chicken is cooked. I stirred through some fried pork skin and Bob's your uncle ... which doesn't sound very Chinese.

DOU BAN XIAN CHICKEN WITH BABY BOK CHOY

RIB OF WAGYU, TRUFFLED MASH AND FRESH SOY BEANS

The butcher had this magnificent rib of wagyu. He rarely has this on the bone, so I just had to buy it. Really nothing to do with meat this good but season it and cook it. The Dutch cream potatoes were boiled, drained and mixed with lots of Lurpak butter, salt and truffle. I boiled some soy beans. The end result looks like a basic meat and two veg - which it is. I figured it deserved a decent bottle - 1988 Moss Wood cabernet, which worked just fine.

RIB OF WAGYU, TRUFFLED MASH AND FRESH SOY BEANS

ROAST CHICKEN LEG, PUY LENTILS AND CAVOLO NERO

Southern European home cooking. A simple leg of chicken rubbed with oil, sprinkled with thyme, salt and pepper. Cavolo nero slowly sweated with garlic and olive oil. Puy lentils poached in rich chicken stock. That's it, folks.

ROAST CHICKEN LEG, PUY LENTILS AND CAVOLO NERO

YUCATECAN SPICED PORK NECK, ROAST PUMPKIN, PUY LENTILS AND CHERRY TOMATOES

For this pork neck, I used a Yucatecan spice mix recipe from great Mexican chef Patricia Quintana. The neck was sealed and roasted in a slow oven (140C) for 5 hours, then opened and transfered to the barbecue to brown up a little. The pumpkin was sprinkled with oregano, pepper, salt and olive oil before roasting. The lentils were poached in rich home made chicken stock. The tomatoes came from a local grower. They too were roasted very slowly (100C) until partially dehydrated and intensely sweet.

YUCATECAN SPICED PORK NECK, ROAST PUMPKIN, PUY LENTILS AND CHERRY TOMATOES

BARRAMUNDI WITH CANNELLINI, CAVOLO NERO AND TOMATO SALSA

Could barramundi pass for an Italian word. Maybe. At a pinch. It's an indigenous Australian word, but that i on the end lends it an Italian look. And that would make it a perfect candidate for this Italian treatment. I had already cooked the cannellini, so I simply needed to heat them in extra virgin oil and a little chicken stock. The cavolo nero was gently sweated in olive oil with garlic. The salsa has heirloom tomatoes, chilli and a little sugar and salt. To add to the Italian theme, the whole things is red, white and green!

BARRAMUNDI WITH CANNELLINI, CAVOLO NERO AND TOMATO SALSA

MAHI MAHI CURRY

So simple, so good. Home made Thai curry paste, chunks of local mahi mahi, a handful of Thai basil leaves, palm sugar, lime juice, fish sauce and coconut cream - and that's it. What's not to love about a good Thai curry?

MAHI MAHI CURRY

REEF COD, CANNELLINI PUREE AND WATERCRESS

I like mashed food. I guess it goes back to childhood. All those puréed vegetables and fruit we ate as toddlers. Well, not so much ate as sucked and spat and smeared. As a kid, my favourite comfort food was stewed apple and custard. Whenever I was sick, that's what I wanted. Many decades later, puréed food still does it for me. Not ALL puréed food. There are somethings that just don't work as a mash. A cake, for example. So here's a fillet of reef cod, simply pan fried in a little butter. The purée is mostly cannellini beans, with a small sebago potato to smooth out the consistency. A very simple watercress salad with mustard vinaigrette.

REEF COD, CANNELLINI PUREE AND WATERCRESS

TAMARIND MAHI MAHI WITH HERB SALAD AND PURPLE JASMINE RICE

This dish might be Thai or it might simply look vaguely Thai. A Thai impostor. A mock Thai. The mahi mahi was marinated in a mix of tamarind paste, black soy sauce and Vietnamese caramel sauce, then cooked in grapeseed oil. The salad is a mix of Thai basil, coriander, mint and Asian micro herbs, fresh eschallots, ground roasted rice and fried eschallots, with a dressing of lime juice, fish sauce, crispy prawn chilli paste and sugar. Purple jasmine rice is interesting. In its uncooked state there are grains of various colours - white, mottled and purple. The whites outnumber the other colours, and yet when cooked, they purple guys have coloured the rest of the grains.

TAMARIND MAHI MAHI WITH HERB SALAD AND PURPLE JASMINE RICE

SEARED SALMON WITH SALSA VERDE

Sometimes you just want a simple piece of fish. Sometimes. This is one of those times. And because I'm the one doing the cooking, I have the power to grant my wish. Here's a simply seared salmon fillet - cooked skin side only. That's the salsa verde underneath. Out of picture is a simple green salad - because sometimes you just want a simple green salad. (Maybe not so simple. Along with various lettuces, there was an interesting mix of Asian micro herbs from the markets.)

SEARED SALMON WITH SALSA VERDE

SMOKED HAM HOCK, CAVOLO NERO AND MASH

I don't know what constitutes normal weather where you live, but where we are, the climate is called sub-tropical. If those words suggest warmth, then what I'm about to tell you might come as a bit of a rude shock. I went out at 4pm and the temperature up here on the hill was 12.5C. We've been here seven years and it has NEVER been that cold during the day. I recall a 16C day once or twice, but not this. Nothing to do but cook something appropriate. I happened to have a smoked ham hock in the fridge, so I poached this until tender and pulled the flesh apart. I made a mash with sebago potatoes and lots of butter. And I sweated cavolo nero in oil with garlic. Perfect food for a chilly night.

SMOKED HAM HOCK, CAVOLO NERO AND MASH

ROAST CHICKEN LEG

Was Maryland the first US state to think about cooking chicken legs sans body? Or was it the ONLY state to have the idea? I have been thinking about this whilst I try to understand why, in certain parts of the world (including Australia where I live), chicken legs are called chicken Marylands. Nothing especially tricky with how I treated these ones. Brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with fennel and ground coriander seeds, roasted at 200C for 20 minutes, along with Japanese pumpkin and Brussels Sprouts and zucchini (these two added half way through cooking). Classic meat and 3 veg.

ROAST CHICKEN LEG

PONZU MARINATED TATAKI OF TUNA

Here's a Sino-Japanese mash-up. The local fishmonger had this sensational sashimi-grade yellowfin tuna, which I marinated in home-made ponzu sauce. I then briefly seared this on all sides - about 60 seconds each side. I steamed some baby bok coy and dressed the whole thing in a ponzu, soy, sesame oil dressing with black sesame seeds. It MUST be healthy.

PONZU MARINATED TATAKI OF TUNA

STEAMED CORAL TROUT WITH CHINESE SPINACH

I wonder how a fish that looks nothing like trout ends up being called a trout. Maybe it's irony - the same irony that has bald guys being called Curly, tall guys Shorty and fat guys Slim. Or maybe not. Anyway, I wonder about it, but I don't stress over it. It's called what it's called. I simply steamed this trout-that-doesn't-look-like-trout. Talking of names, Chinese spinach goes by a few different ones throughout Asia, so I've simple called it by its English name. It was cooked in a wok with peanut oil, light soy, black soy, chilli bean paste, ginger, garlic and chillies. I also cooked some ginger, garlic and chillies in a little peanut oil, light soy sauce and shaoxing which was poured over the fish after plating up.

STEAMED CORAL TROUT WITH CHINESE SPINACH

CHICKEN AND PORCINI PIE

Okay, this is bad for you ... but oh so good. Every now and then it's important to be reminded how good pastry tastes. This is a basic one - flour, butter, water. The filling is chicken, porcini, chicken stock, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper and roux (a mix of butter and flour with stock added to make a thick sauce).

CHICKEN AND PORCINI PIE

ROAST CHICKEN, PUMPKIN AND CHOKOS WITN BASIL PESTO

Classic Italian food. Well, almost. Chokos don't figure highly on Italian diets, but they could/should. I brined a whole chicken and then cooked it in a Schlemmertopf - one of those great German terracotta pots that seem to ensure that whatever's cooked in them remains moist. Luckily the Schlemmertopf likes a hot oven (200C), because that's a perfect temperature to cook the vegetables - marinated in olive oil, garlic and oregano. In case you're wondering (and you're probably not), the wine was a 2002 Shaw & Smith shiraz.

ROAST CHICKEN, PUMPKIN AND CHOKOS WITN BASIL PESTO

GRILLED LAMB, CHICKPEAS, SMOKED CAPSICUM AND TAHINA

A bit of a Middle Eastern thing going on here. I had some slow roasted forequarter of lamb left over from 2 nights ago, so I sliced it and grilled it. I had previously cooked some chickpeas, and so I sautéed these in olive oil and garlic. The smoked capsicum was also left over from a previous meal. The cherry tomatoes were from a local grower.

GRILLED LAMB, CHICKPEAS, SMOKED CAPSICUM AND TAHINA

SPICED TUNA WITH GRILLED PINEAPPLE SALSA AND CORIANDER SAUCE

Absolutely spectacular yellowfin tuna at the fishmonger. Seafood plays a big role in the diest of Mexicans - something that surprises those who think crisp tacos, burritos and nachos are Mexican. I have given this fish a modern Mexican treatment. Give it a go. It's really quite a simple dish.



GRILLED PINEAPPLE SALSA
½ a ripe pineapple
½ a habanero or scotch bonnet chilli
Juice of half a lime
Coriander leaves
Sea salt


CORIANDER SAUCE
1 bunch of coriander
2 anchovy fillets
1 clove of garlic
100 mls extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
Sea salt and black pepper


SPICED TUNA
800 gms yellowfin tuna
1 dried chipotle chilli
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
Grapeseed oil

To make the grilled pineapple salsa, peel and core the pineapple, and slice about 1cm thick. Place the slices in a single layer in a wide pan over medium heat and cook until the natural sugar starts to caramelize and the pineapple browns. Flip the slices over and cook the other side.
Remove, allow to cool, cut into 1cm dice and place in a glass bowl. Seed and finely chop the chilli and finely chop the coriander leaves. Add these, the lime juice and salt, stir to mix and set aside until needed.
For the coriander sauce, place all ingredients into a deep blender jug and pulse until there are no large pieced – but stop before it’s a totally smooth sauce.
Grind the chipotle and cumin seeds into a fine powder.
Cut the tuna into 2 slices about 3cms thick. Give the tuna an hour to come to room temperature before cooking. Dry with paper towels. Rub some of the spice mix into each side.
Heat 2 tablespoons of grapeseed oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. When rippling, add tuna. Cook for 2 minutes, then turn and cook for 2 minutes on the other side.
Remove the tuna and slice lengthwise about 1cm thick.
Place a mound of pineapple salsa in the centre of each plate, Spoon some coriander sauce around this. Place two slice of tuna over the pineapple, salt and serve.
Serves 4

SPICED TUNA WITH GRILLED PINEAPPLE SALSA AND CORIANDER SAUCE

BEEF CHEEK WITH ROASTED CAULIFLOWER MASH

If you haven't tried cooking beef cheeks, have a go. Dead simple and delicious. Butchers will denude them (remove sinew etc to leave just the meat). I put them into a deep cast iron casserole with red wine, veal glace, cognac, star anise, garlic, salt and pepper to cover the meat. I placed some dampened baking paper over the top, put the lid on and baked for 6 hours at 125C. That's it. I cut a head of cauliflower into florets and put these in a singe layer in a tray and brushed with olive oil. I added this tray to the oven for the last 1 1/2 hours of cooking the cheeks. I peeled and boiled 1 large sebago potato and drained this. I then combined the potato and cauliflower with about 100 gms of butter, salt and pepper and puréed.

BEEF CHEEK WITH ROASTED CAULIFLOWER MASH

ROASTED CHICKEN THIGH, CHOKOS & SEBAGO WEDGES WITH BASIL PESTO

Sebago potatoes make a good mash. They also make fine roasted wedges - boiled in salt water first, drained, some butter added to melt, then placed in a roasting pan with the melted butter poured over, salt, pepper, 30 minutes at 180C. The chokos were marinated in extra virgin olive oil, with finely chopped garlic and oregano leaves, then roasted for 75 minutes at 180C - covered for the first hour.

ROASTED CHICKEN THIGH, CHOKOS & SEBAGO WEDGES WITH BASIL PESTO

PUMPKIN AND SAFFRON RISOTTO

I've been tinkering with risottos for 30 years. Lost count of how many variations I've made. My favourites are fennel, beetroot, blue swimmer crab. I experimented with this one and was really happy the way it turned out. There's the usual onion, chicken stock, rice (vialone nano), salt, pepper and parmesan. In this version there's pumpkin, fino sherry, saffron and a tiny amount (about 1/8 of a teaspoon of smoked paprika - enough to add interest, but not enough to be identifiable).

PUMPKIN AND SAFFRON RISOTTO

SALAD OF BEETROOT, FIGS, CIPOLLINE AND HAZELNUTS

Hands up those of you who like beetroot? Okay. And those of you who like figs? Excellent. And those of you who like hazelnuts? Good. And those of you who like cipolline? Cipolline? C-I-P-O-L-L-I-N-E. Anyone? Anybody know what they are? Hmm. If you haven't had them, they are small, flat wild onions from Italy. I have only seen them here in Oz preserved in vinegar, usually balsamic. That's what I've used here - about 5 or six of them finely sliced, along with roughly crushed hazelnuts, fried eschallots, beetroot vinegar, hazelnut oil, salt, pepper and coriander.

SALAD OF BEETROOT, FIGS, CIPOLLINE AND HAZELNUTS

RISI E BISI

To we English speakers, risi e bisi sounds more romantic than rice and peas, the translation of this Venetian phrase. But rice and peas is basically what this is. Okay, it's vialone nano rice - along with carnaroli, one of the two best varieties of rice for risotto. And there's a bit more going on here than simply mixing it with peas - baby leeks sautéed in butter, garlic, home made chicken stock, vialone nano rice, finely chopped celery leaves, peas, salt, pepper and parmesan to finish. But at the end of the day it is essentially rice and peas. Delicious.

RISI E BISI

ROASTED VEGETABLES WITH SALSA VERDE

Confession time. First, the salsa verde might look familiar. I made it two days ago. Second, the observant amongst you might suspect that the broccolini isn't roasted ...okay, the reality is that none of you suspected that it mightn't have been roasted - or cared whether it was or wasn't. But it wasn't and that's because when you roast broccolini, the roasting doesn't enhance the flavour. So there are two roasted vegetables and one steamed vegetable ... no, that's a lie, because there's garlic in the salsa verde and, well, um, who gives a ...? Let's settle for veg with sauce (which is what salsa means, for the non-Spanish speakers amongst you)? Pumpkin from our neighbours' farm. Chokos also from their farm. Broccolini from the market. Enough.

ROASTED VEGETABLES WITH SALSA VERDE

BAR COD WITH RED CURRY REDUCTION

The first time I had bar cod was 20 years ago. Sydney chefs Neil Perry, Tony Bilson, Chris Manfield and Steve Manfredi were a team in a professional chef challenge organised by Seppelt, an old Australian wine company. Steve had asked me to come along and taste the chefs' trial run. Neil steamed bar cod wrapped in lettuce with a really fine sauce based on fermented soya beans. Bar cod isn't a species you see very often, so when I saw this at our local fishmonger, I grabbed a couple of fillets. I simply salted  and sautéed them in a little grapeseed oil. The sauce is exactly what it sounds like - a mix of home made Thai red curry paste, a little chilli paste and half a cup of coconut cream, reduced by about a quarter. A squeeze of lime juice. A watercress salad dressed with macadamia oil, a few drops of sesame oil and coconut vinegar.

BAR COD WITH RED CURRY REDUCTION

STEAMED FLATHEAD, PURPLE CONGO MASH & SALSA VERDE

Purple Congos are without doubt the most colourful potatoes around. No regulation white, beige or pale yellow here. These are in-your-face purple - intense and deep and rare in foods. Some eggplant varieties have purple skin, but it fades to a wishy-washy brown when cooked. If you boil these whole and then mash, they remain vibrantly purple. If you cut them before cooking, the colour leaches from them. I simply steamed these flathead fillets (caught by my brother). The salsa verde is a mix of parsley and coriander leaves, garlic, anchovy fillets, extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar and salt.

STEAMED FLATHEAD, PURPLE CONGO MASH & SALSA VERDE

CHICKEN SATAY

We Australians have a weird relationship with our neighbour Indonesia. We don't much like the politics. We mostly don't try to understand the religion. But we go there in droves for holidays. And we like the food. There's no food more Indonesian than chicken satay ... well maybe chicken curry. And rendang. And ... Well, anyway, satay is something that we all seem to love. The secret is in marinating the chicken. That's the first secret. The second secret is getting the peanut/sweetness/chilli/tang/saltiness balance just right in the sauce. Did I get it right? You'll never know.

CHICKEN SATAY

POLLO ADOBADO, SALSA DE ELOTE, GUACAMOLE, CHIPOTLE EN ADOBO

Another simple family meal - but a Mexican family meal this time around. Chicken thighs (with skin and bone intact for flavour) rubbed with adobo paste and grilled. Corn pan fried until it starts jumping, with a little agave syrup, lime juice and fresh chilli. Chipotles en adobo, for those who don't know, are smoked jalapeños cooked in a rich spicy sauce. They make an awesome accompaniment to barbecued meats. Add a tequilita and sangrita and you're in Mexican heaven.

POLLO ADOBADO, SALSA DE ELOTE, GUACAMOLE, CHIPOTLE EN ADOBO

GOLD BAND SNAPPER, BEETROOT SALAD, PUMPKIN SALAD, ROAST GARLIC AIOLI

Beetroots are so plentiful and cheap at the moment that I roasted several of them and used one to make this salad - with extra virgin olive oil, spiced beetroot vinegar, a little pomegranate molasses, salt and pepper. Our neighbours gave us a pumpkin, so chunks of this were mixed with pecan oil, white balsamic vinegar and toasted pumpkin seeds. A fresh fillet of gold band snapper, simply salted and pan fried in grapeseed oil and a dollop of roast garlic aïoli - sweet, salty, nutty, soft, crunchy.

GOLD BAND SNAPPER, BEETROOT SALAD, PUMPKIN SALAD, ROAST GARLIC AIOLI

MUD CRAB RISOTTO

My brother brought us a small mud crab caught in his crab pot. It wasn't really big enough for a substantial meal on its own, so it went into this wonderfully rich risotto. Not much in the way of extra flavours - Noilly Prat vermouth, eschallots, garlic and stock, so the sweet pure taste of crab shone through. Delish.

MUD CRAB RISOTTO

FEIJOAS

Something out of Brazil other than soccer players, gorgeous women and great music ... feijoas. Native to southern Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. Really popular in En Zed. Feijoas like cool climates - so they won't grow around here. These ones were grown at Stanthorp, a couple of hours away. They are incredibly sweet with flavours that remind me of guava, passionfruit and pineapple. We have been having these after dinner each night, along with some black Genoa figs.

FEIJOAS

MAHI MAHI CURRY

Not much to describe here. More of the mahi mahi bought two days ago (and caught the previous night). Home made yellow curry paste. Thai basil leaves from the garden.

MAHI MAHI CURRY

MAHI MAHI, BABY FENNEL AND A SAFFRON GINGER TOMATO SAUCE

The fisherman at the weekly farmers market operates a boat out of Southport, about 15 kms north of here. A couple of times during the year, mahi mahi pass by on their migrations. I simply sautéed these fillets in grapeseed oil. The sauce is a mix of saffron, ginger, tomatoes, garlic and chilli puréed and reduced. The finely sliced fennel was marinated in extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

MAHI MAHI, BABY FENNEL AND A SAFFRON GINGER TOMATO SAUCE

RISTRETTO

I start every day with a couple of strong flat whites. That's because I'm not man enough to front up to a shot of espresso so early in the day. But once the day's in full swing, this is what I really love - the intense, pure full-on coffee hit that is a ristretto. It's half the size of an espresso - about 15 mls. Same amount of coffee, half the water. This is the parfum to a short black's eau de parfum and a flat white/cappuccino's eau de toilette. The coffee has to be good because there's nowhere to hide. Ristretto translates literally as restricted. The only thing restricted is the use of water. The flavour is anything but. In some strata of society they'd be tempted to inject this. But they'd be denying their tastebuds serious pleasure.

RISTRETTO

FISH CAKES WITH ROAST GARLIC AIOLI

Home cooking. I trimmed the bellies off the salmon fillets cooked last night and use these tonight. Finely chopped salmon, cooked sebago potato, egg, chilli crab paste, fried shallots, salt and pepper - coated with panko crumbs and gently sautéed in grapeseed oil.

FISH CAKES WITH ROAST GARLIC AIOLI

SPICED SALMON WITH TOMATO & GINGER SAUCE, CUMIN CRUSTED PUMPKIN

If you're Australian or from London, you might know of Aussie chef Chris Manfield. If you know her, you'll know her love for a bold use of spices, and a particular fondness for the spices of India. I was inspired by her to produce this dish. The salmon was dusted with a mix of roasted and ground cumin seeds, cardamom seeds, coriander seeds, white peppercorns, cassia bark and brown mustard seeds, mixed with chickpea flour and salt. The fish was sautéed in a little grapeseed oil in a hot pan - two minutes each side. The pumpkin has been sprinkled with sumac, cumin seeds, sea salt and pepper and roasted at 220C for 20 minutes. For the sauce, I puréed three tomatoes, a 2 cm piece of ginger, a clove of garlic, a bulb of eschallot, salt and a dried bird's eye chilli. I heated a couple of tablespoons of peanut oil until smoking, then added the sauce (quickly, but carefully - it spits violently when the oil and sauce meet), reduced the heat to medium and stirred until slightly reduced and thickened. The lime pickle is from a local Sri Lankan couple at the weekly markets.

SPICED SALMON WITH TOMATO & GINGER SAUCE, CUMIN CRUSTED PUMPKIN

TUNA WITH AJVAR AND CANNELLINI & TOMATO SALAD

All over the world people share (if generous) or protect treasured recipes for traditional foods. In rural Australia, it might be a family secret for making perfect scones. In Mexico, it might be a recipe for pozole. In Louisiana, it might be a generations old recipe for gumbo. In Macedonia, it's probably a recipe for ajvar. According to Macedonians, their home country is famous for its red peppers (capsicums in some countries) and tomatoes. The locals have found dozens of ways to use the bounty of their land. And every home seems to have a recipe for this spicy red pepper sauce called ajvar.

TUNA WITH AJVAR AND CANNELLINI & TOMATO SALAD

MINESTRONE VERDE

There's nothing wrong with plain minestrone. But, to my mind, it's a distant second to this green version. This starts with slices of leek sweated in extra virgin olive oil until soft. Then I add rich home-made chicken stock (supermarket versions won't do for this), salt and pepper, halved Brussels sprouts, green beans and cook these until just tender. Then I add cooked cannellini and borlotti and heat through. I place a couple of tablespoons of basil pesto in deep serving bowls and ladle the soup over the top. You can really use most green vegetables - broccoli, broccolini, cabbage, cavolo nero, peas, silverbeet, kale. You can also add small pasta shapes. And if you fancy it, grate some more parmesan over the top.

MINESTRONE VERDE

YELLOWFIN TUNA WITH CHOKO PUREE AND BORLOTTI

Anyone else got an aversion to chokos? I did. Until recently. Then i discovered how marinating them in olive oil, garlic and oregano and slow roasting completely transformed them from a watery nothingness into something interesting. This time I omitted the oregano and puréed them after roasting. Brilliant. More slowly braised fresh borlotti and tuna  rubbed with ground chipotle chillies and seared in a very hot pan.

YELLOWFIN TUNA WITH CHOKO PUREE AND BORLOTTI