DEEP FRIED BUTTER BALLS

These balls of hot seasoned garlic butter are awesome, the crispy shell gives way to a burst of intense creamy buttery flavour, these are a once a year treat and well worth the wait.  I saw these on the food network program at the Texas State fair and though while I’m in the states I am going to have to make these, they went down really well and everyone loved them.

Ingredients 

(Makes 16)

4 sticks butter softened

2 cloves garlic minced

1 tsp crushed red chillies 

1 box fish fry coating

2 eggs beaten

1 cup seasoned flour

1 ltr peanut oil for frying

Mix the garlic, chillies into the butter, using two teaspoons, form the butter mix in to small one mouthful bite size balls, place on a tray and pop in the freezer for a hour.  Set up your dredging station with three bowls, one with the eggs, one with the flour and one with the fry coating.  

Take the butter balls from the freezer once frozen and roll in the flour, then the egg and lastly the fish fry coating, place the balls back on the tray and back in to the freezer.  Once the coating has frozen the balls are ready to fry. 

Heat your peanut oil to 350 F / 180 C and fry the balls for approx 30 seconds, as soon as you get a little spatter of butter breaking out of the crispy shell remove the balls and place on kitchen paper.  Eat with caution as hot butter can burn.

CATFISH FRY CAJUN TACOS

Melt in the mouth tender succulent Cajun coated catfish served in a white soft corn taco with all the fixings.  No noodling required for this catfish fry!  

Ingredients 

(makes 4)

4 white raw corn tacos

1 catfish fillet

1 box Cajun seasoned fish fry coating

1 ltr peanut oil for frying

1 tomato finely diced

1 fresh jalapeño finely diced

1/4 green pepper diced

2 tbsp chopped coriander 

AMERICAN BLUEBERRY PIE

RUSTIC

I made this for my friend Troy, he lives in Australia and was over visiting and I asked what pie he would like thinking chicken and mushroom or steak, but No he wanted blue berry pie and we Troy returns later this year he has put a forward order in for chocolate eclairs! 

Ingredients 

(makes two pies)

The Pastry

450g plain flour

110g grated lard

110g grated butter

1 pinch of Himalayan sea salt 

180ml cold water

The Pie Filling

300g blueberries

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla paste

Make the Pastry first as this will need to chill in the fridge for half an hour.  Place all the ingredients except the water in a large bowl and gently mix evenly, add the water and bring to a ball, wrap in cling film, press the ball flatter in to a disk and chill in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Place the sugar, vanilla and blueberries in a saucepan over a low medium heat and cook until they resemble blueberry jam, remove from the pan and leave to cool.

Cut the pastry in half and one half can be frozen for your next batch.  Cut the remaining half in half again and shap into balls, roll out to the thickness of a pound coin.  Line the pie tin with the pastry, and trim off any excess, I like to crimp the top edges of the pastry for that rustic farmhouse look.  Line the inside of the pastry with baking paper and baking beans, 

Pre heat your oven 180 degrees C and bake for 15 minutes, remove the baking beans and parchment paper and bake for a further 5 minutes, add the pie filling and finish of baking for a further 10 minutes, serve warm with cream.

RICE CUSTARD PUDDDING

I made this for my dad after watching a Michelin Star chef do it for his restaurant and why yes this has taking rice pudding to a whole other level it is not your traditional rice pudding and scare blue!  There was not skin!  

This is much richer and more of a creme englaise custard rice pudding, in its own right a gorgeous pudding but the main reason is that the skin is missing, and I know for some of you traditionalist this is a big part of your rice pudding, this I will work on, yuk! from my dad’s point of view it is the best bit and essential.  But with all that said, my family still gobbled it all down with delight.

Ingredients

(serves 2)

90g pudding rice

90g sugar

250ml double cream

250ml full fat milk

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

5 egg yolks

Wash the rice several times and place in a pan with the cream and milk, bring to a gentle simmer and cook for approx 20 minutes until the rice is cooked, meanwhile place the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla paste in a bowl and whisk until light and fluffy.

Take two ladles of the rice milk from the cooker and add to the egg yolks mixture, whisk quickly to incorporate, add the rest of the rice milk and mix well, add everything back to the saucepan and cook gently for a further 2 minutes and then serve.  If you want a hint of skin place the rice pudding under the grill for a couple of minutes, this will not give you that traditional thick baked skin but might be a compromise.

HOMEMADE HOT PIRI PIRI SAUCE

Homemade Piri Piri Sauce

This fabulous hot sauce is a great favourite of mine, I like to marinate chicken in this sauce and will serve it as Piri Piri chicken burgers, roast Piri Piri chicken, which is great in salads, tacos and wraps.

Homemade Piri Piri Sauce

2 red peppers roasted 

1 red onion charred

4 cloves garlic chopped

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 lemon zested

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 

1 habanero or scotch bonnet chilli (more for hotter)

1 tsp smoked sweet paprika

11/2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp Himalayan sea salt 

1 tsp black pepper

1 bay leaf

Finishing ingredients 

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 lemon zested 

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 

1/2 cup olive oil

Roast the peppers and onions on a plancher flat top or skillet, charring all over, deseed the peppers, in a blender purée the charred peppers and onion, add the garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, apple cider vinegar, habanero, paprika, oregano, salt and pepper, purée to a smooth sauce.  Pour the puréed sauce in to a saucepan add the bay leaf and gently simmer for half an hour, remove from the heat and leave to cool, transfer the sauce back to the blender, add the remaining finishing ingredients the lemon juice, lemon zest, apple cider vinegar, purée and finally drizzle in the olive oil while the blender is still running.  That's it, adjust the seasoning if needed and keep any left over in the fridge.

MOTHERS DAY CHEF’S BREAKFAST EGGS BENEDICT

A chefs breakfast for my mum on Mother’s Day, I love being a executive chef as I know what needs to be done and I got to instruct (boss)! my dad around the kitchen making this perfect eggs benedict for my Mum, with eggs from our legbar hens, home cured ham from our own pigs, spinach from the garden and homemade butter my mum makes this is a truly special breakfast.

Ingredients 

(serves 2)

The Hollandaise Sauce

3 egg yolks

1/2 a lemon juice

200g hot melted salted butter

1 pinch black pepper

1 tbsp finely chopped chives

The Benedict

2 English muffins toasted

4 tbsp butter

100g spinach

2 slices top quality ham

4 poached eggs

50ml white wine vinegar

This is a cooking all at the same time breakfast, so you need octopus arms, it comes together fast so be ready to serve.  Bring two saucepans full of water to a rolling boil, place 50 ml white wine vinegar in one and the other one of the saucepans needs to double as a double boiler for cooking the hollandaise sauce, place a third saucepan on a medium heat and add the butter to melt and stay hot.

Crack the eggs individually in to small bowls you can poach the eggs first and then 30 seconds before serving drop them back in to the hot water off the heat to warm back up, this really helps lower the pressure on bringing this whole dish together at once.  To poach the eggs whisk the water creating a vortex in the centre gently slip one egg in count to 30 then slip the second egg in poach the eggs for two minutes, remove and place on a plate to one side.

To make the hollandaise place the egg yolks in a glass bowl with the lemon juice, place the bowl over the simmering water and whisk the egg yolks keep whisking for about 30 seconds the egg yolks will fluff up and thicken, remove the bowl from the heat and slowly whisk in the butter this is now done, leave to one side.

Place 2 tbsp of butter back in to the saucepan, place on a medium heat, add the spinach and stir this will only take one minute to welt.  Place the muffins under the grill to toast, butter generously and place on your plates, top with the spinach and ham, meanwhile place the poached eggs back in to the hot water off the heat and place the hollandaise back over the double boiler for 30 seconds whisking all the time, take the hollandaise off, season with black pepper, take the poached eggs and place on top of the ham on the muffins and spoon over the warm hollandaise sauce, sprinkle with chives and that’s it, enjoy this breakfast of chefs.

PIRI PIRI SAUCE HOMEMADE

Succulent moist tender piri piri spiced and sauced roasted chicken, this is a winning dinner you can serve it as a roast, shred it and stuff tacos or build a salad bowl and any left overs for sandwiches and wraps (but there is never any left overs)!

Prep time 5 minutes / Cooking time 50 minutes / Resting time 20 minutes

Ingredients

(serves family 4)

1 organic or free range chicken 1.5kg 

(I find this bird goes further than the cheaper alternative and higher welfare)

1 bottle nandos hot Piri Piri sauce (homemade recipe below)

1 tbsp sea salt

1 tsp white pepper

2 tbsp Piri Piri dry spice (recipe below)

Piri Piri Dry Spice Mix

Blitz everything in a processor 

6 fresh chillies 

2tbsp dried chillies

4 cloves of garlic grated

1tsp salt

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp paprika

So simple, take your whole chicken, un-teather and squash flat ish, sprinkle with salt, pepper and the piri piri dry rub spice mix then pour all over with your hot sauce the pop in the oven 200 degrees C / 385 F for 20 minutes then reduce the oven temperature 180 C / 350 F, cook for a further 30 minutes, remove from the oven, cover and leave to rest for at least 10 minutes but more like 20 minutes, it really does make a huge difference to the juicy, moist succulent tenderness of the chicken.  That's is...below my family's favourite tacos.

Homemade Piri Piri Sauce

2 red peppers roasted 

1 red onion charred

4 cloves garlic chopped

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 lemon zested

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 

1 habanero or scotch bonnet chilli (more for hotter)

1 tsp smoked sweet paprika

11/2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp Himalayan sea salt 

1 tsp black pepper

1 bay leaf

Finishing ingredients 

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 lemon zested 

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 

1/2 cup olive oil

Roast the peppers and onions on a plancher flat top or skillet, charring all over, deseed the peppers, in a blender purée the charred peppers and onion, add the garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, apple cider vinegar, habanero, paprika, oregano, salt and pepper, purée to a smooth sauce.  Pour the puréed sauce in to a saucepan add the bay leaf and gently simmer for half an hour, remove from the heat and leave to cool, transfer the sauce back to the blender, add the remaining finishing ingredients the lemon juice, lemon zest, apple cider vinegar, purée and finally drizzle in the olive oil while the blender is still running.  That's it, adjust the seasoning if needed and keep any left over in the fridge.