CHOCOLATE AND GOJI BERRIES BALLS

These are great balls of chocolate, no naughty ingredients and my Dad loves them, I make him a batch every now and then as he eats them all !

Ingredients 

1/2 cup goji berries

1 cup ground almonds

1/2 cup chia seeds

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

8 apricots soaked in boiling water

1/2 cup 85% cocoa powder

2 tbsp melted coconut oil

First place the apricots in a bowl and cover with boiling water, leave to soak for 10 minutes then add all the ingredients to a blender and blitz to a thick paste.  Scoop out small ball size pieces and roll in to a ball, place in the fridge to set, that’s it, easy. 

PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY SHAKE

This is so awesome!!!  I first had this at prime time cafe Hollywood studios in Florida and it was so awesome, gorgeous sweet jelly with a rich creamy peanut butter and vanilla ice cream, cream and milk combination.  This was more of a pudding than a shake!  

Well actually I think the best shakes should be a pudding in a glass that you need a spoon and can just about use a straw to suck up! 

AWESOME... 

KING OSCARS HOT SAUCE

I’m working on taking my Hot Sauce brand commercial and have with the help of my team decided to brand my name and my personality King Oscar!  My hot sauce label is now in the hands of the designers with all of my input and I can’t wait to see the first draft.

I’ve now got a web design team on board to help my with my e-commerce web site and Amazon Pantry, then next I’m registering my food premises and got lots of food labelling and health and hygiene courses to pass then it’s the legal stuff like insurance and staff and I will be in production! 

This painting that my artist friend teddy_salad_art (instagram and facebook) painted as a folk art of me is the inspiration for my Hot Sauce label and my King Oscar brand, watch out here I come ! 

With dill jalapeño srirach mayonnaise 

The best burgers are made by hand, I used minced Angus rib steak and chuck steak as it’s got a good level of fat which is flavour, just seasoned with sea salt and pepper and that’s a perfect burger made.  I was inspired by my dads love of sour dressings and made a dill pickle, jalapeño and sriracha mayonnaise and loaded the burger with awesome flavours.

Prep time 5 mins / Cooking time 10 minutes

Ingredients 

(serves 4 double stackers)

The Burgers

700g minced Angus rib steak

300g minced chuck steak

1/2 tsp Himalayan sea salt 

1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Dill Jalapeño Sriracha Mayonnaise 

8 tbsp mayonnaise 

1 dill pickle chopped

1 tsp dill pickle brine

2 tbsp sriracha 

1 tbsp sliced fresh jalapeños 

Mix the steak mince, salt and pepper together, divide in to 8 balls, press the balls out to form your 4oz patties.  Heat a flat top skillet nice and hot, sear the patties for around two minutes on each side only turning once, this ensures another level of flavour to you burgers.  Place the bun on the skillet to toast the inside. Turn off the heat and leave the burgers to rest while you make the dressing.

Make the dill sriracha mayonnaise by combining all the ingredients, stack the burgers with the mayo dressing and fresh jalapeños on each layer top off with the bun lid and chow down, its going to be face messy but that’s the point.

SALT AND PEPPER SQUID

This is one of my favourite dishes to cook for my family on a Sunday, when I go to Southern Head Fish shack on the beach the fish guys know exactly what I want, fresh squid and giblets!

Ingredients 

(serves a greedy 2 or 3)

Salt n Pepper Squid

3 cleaned squid tubes and tentacles 

2 tbsp potato flour

1 tbsp Himalayan sea salt

1 tbsp black pepper

1 ltr vegetable oil

To Serve

1 lemon

1 tsp Himalayan sea salt 

2 cloves garlic grated

50 ml mayonnaise 

Heat your oil to 180 degrees C, slice the squid in to approximately 2” x 1” rectangles, score the inside of the squid with a diagonal pattern to creat a diamond crisscross.  In a large bowl combine the potato flour, salt and pepper, toss the squid in the coating.

Fry in batch’s for approx 60 seconds until a very light brown, remove and rest on paper towel,  serve with fresh lemon juice, season with sea salt and serve with a garlic mayonnaise dip, enjoy.

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BUTTERMILK STUFFED SCONES

Warm light crumbly melt in your mouth deeply satisfying cave aged cheddar cheese scones, on their own sumptuously delicious but these have gone to a whole other level being smothered with salty butter, fresh baked ham off the bone and warm brie, one scone is too much and will need a couple of attempts to finish, but watch out that flavour will have you going back for just one more bite!

Prep time 10 minutes / Resting time 30 minutes / Cooking time 20 minutes

Ingredients 

(makes 10 large)

160g cold salted butter

400g 00 flour

30g sugar

40g baking powder

200g double cream

220g full cream milk

300g aged cheddar grated

1 egg beaten for wash

5 slices ham on the bone

300g Brie room temperature 

1/2 pack butter

Pre heat your oven 220 C / 440 F

Place your baking sheet in the oven, if you have a stone baking sheet even better.

In a large bowl rub the butter in to the flour to breadcrumbs, stir in the sugar and baking powder, mix in 90% of the cheese reserving a little to sprinkle on top of the scones, then whisk the milk and cream together and stir gently to combine, at this point I turn the rubble mix out on to the work top and bring together by gently pushing the dough together but keeping my actions light, once you have a large flattish mound fold the dough in half, turn 90 degrees and press out to the same thickness as when you started, repeat this 3 more times pressing out a little less each time, this action is folding the layers of dough and fat which will give your scones the most unbelievable crumbly light melt in your mouth texture, not dissimilar to a really good home made puff pastry, cover with a tea towel and leave to rest for 30 minutes.

Press out the dough to approximately 2” thick and using a circle cutter cut out the scones in a straight down and up action, do not be tempted to twist the cutter as this suppresses the rise of the scone while baking.  Remove the hot baking sheet from the oven place your scones on, don’t over crowd, cook in two batches if necessary.  Brush the tops with egg wash place a sprinkling of cheese on the tops of the scones, turn the oven down to 200 C / 400 F and bake the scones in the oven for 20 minutes until golden brown and a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom.

Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack to cool for a few minutes, these are at their very very best served warm, if serving later wrap in a tea towel until needed and enjoy.

Cut the scones in half layer thick butter on both sides, top with ham and brie, pop in the oven for five minutes to warm through and enjoy immediately.

TIRAMISU AMARETTO MARSCAPONE

For my DaD, decadent glorious over indulgent happiness in every spoonful, this is a pudding that will take you several attempts to finish, the gorgeous rich marscapone custard and fragrant amaretto espresso biscotto will bring a cracking smile to your taste buds.

Ingredients

(serves 4)

20 biscotto amaretti almond biscuits

75ml disaronno Italian liqueur

1 espresso coffee

250g marscapone

2 egg yolks

4tbsp caster sugar

1 tsp cocoa powder

First make the espresso, place the biscotti biscutis on a plate pour over the disaronno and espresso and leave for a couple of minutes to soak up all the liquid.  In a large bowl whisk the marscapone, sugar and egg yolks together until smooth, now you are ready to assemble the layers.

In individual or one large serving bowl place six of the soaked biscotto biscuits top with one third of the marscapone custard, dust over a third of the cocoa powder, repeat this twice more and place in the fridge to chill for a couple of hours before serving.