This is a perfect special occasion meal, such as a dinner party or date night. The dressing, chopped coriander and spring onions, trussing the fillet can all be done in advance, leaving just the fillet to be cooked prior to serving. The only trick is sourcing the black beans. They can usually be found in Asian grocers…not in Warragul supermarkets!

Ingredients
1 tsp olive oil
1 x 1.5kg beef fillet
3 spring onions
1 cup coriander, chopped
Dressing
15g canned black beans, rinsed & lightly crushed
1 long red chilli, seeds removed & finely sliced
1 tsp ginger, grated
1/2 tsp sesame seed oil
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp lime juice
40 ml olive oil

Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Truss the beef fillet with kitchen string, tying at even intervals. Season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in an oven-proof frying pan over high heat. Sear on all sides until brown. Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. This should be medium rare, adjust cooking time for your preference. Cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of the fillet. Once cooked, remove from the oven and cover with foil to rest.

To prepare the dressing, place all dressing ingredients in a screw-top jar and shake well to combine.

Slice the beef and arrange on a warmed plate or dish. Pour over the dressing and sprinkle over the coriander and spring onions.

We love to serve it with roast or mashed potatoes and steamed greens.

Chicken, leek and bacon…can’t go past that combo. Think it couldn’t get any better? Top it with a disc of puff pastry and it will!

The pie mixture needs to be cooled before cooking it as a pie. It can be made the day before and stored in the fridge overnight.

When I made these the other day I used homegrown leeks, parsley and lemon juice from our own lemon tree!

Straight from the veggie patch

Makes 6

Ingredients
40g butter
1 tbsp olive oil
3 leeks, pale part one, finely sliced
4 bacon rashers
1kg chicken thighs
1 tbsp plain flour
pinch of nutmeg
200ml chicken stock
200ml sour cream or crème fraiche
2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 sheets puff pastry
1 egg, beaten

Method
Melt butter and oil in a pan over medium heat. Add leek and bacon and cook until leek is softened, about 8 minutes. Add chicken and cook until slightly browned to seal. Stir in flour and nutmeg and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Add chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Allow to cool. Once cook remove the chicken and shred, not too fine though, it’s nice to have some decent sized pieces in your pie. Add the chicken back to the pot and stir through sour cream, parsley & lemon juice. Allow to cool completely.

Preheat oven to 200°C.

To assemble pies, fill ramekins to no more than 1cm from the top. Cut the puff pastry into rounds 1cm bigger in diameter than the ramekins. Push the pastry into the lip of the ramekin. (If you’re keen, there’ll be left over pastry for decorations).Brush the pastry with egg and bake for 20 minutes or until the pies are golden.

Serve with mash & peas and enjoy al fresco!

Want a different pie? Try Beef & Guinness pies!

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I picked up this recipe when I was living in the UK a few years ago. There were heaps of cooking shows on at the time (I’m sure there’s even more now) which introduced me to many chefs over there, as well as the BBC’s food website. This recipe is adapted from the website, and I honestly can’t remember who the chef was…but the recipe is simple and delicious.

I have tried many different ways of cooking the chicken (it’s best to cook the chicken separately to the rest of the ingredients). I’ve grilled, barbequed and stir-fried. But what I find works best is poaching the chicken. Flavour can be added to the chicken in the poaching liquid. I like to add a spring onion, chicken stock and chilli flakes, or a split birds eye chilli, to the liquid.

Serves 4

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
2 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 handful green beans, chopped bite-sized
1 red capsicum, sliced
1 handful bean shoots
1/2 cup chopped coriander
1/2 cup chopped dry-roasted peanuts
375 g packet dried rice stick noodles

Sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp tomato sauce
Juice 1 lime
1 tbsp fish sauce

Method
Start by poaching the chicken. Place the chicken in a saucepan so that it fits snuggly. Cover with water and add your preferred flavours. Bring to the boil. Once boiling cook for a further 10 minutes, remove from the heat and set aside.

In a wok, scramble the eggs until just cooked (even slightly soggy). Remove from the wok and set aside. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until soft. Add the capsicum and beans and stir-fry for a couple of minutes. The rice noodles will need to be on about now, cook as per packet instructions.

Shred the chicken and add to the wok. Add the sauce to the wok and stir to coat. Add the cooked rice noodles, egg and bean shoots. Gentle toss everything together. Top with coriander and nuts.

If you like this one, you will probably like caramel chicken!

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Excuse the dirty oven, I have cleaned it since…

Light and fluffy, this is an excellent option for when you’ve had enough meat for the week. But even better as vegetarian protein option for a dinner party. Your vego friends will love you because it’s that good! It might sound bizarre as a dinner party option but a lot of it can be prepared ahead of time. Just before putting in the oven all that needs to be done is whisk the egg whites, fold them through the roux and bung it in the oven for 30 minutes. Timing is important though; you don’t want the soufflé sitting around out of the oven before serving so make sure you know when all your other delights will be ready.

The WOW factor occurs when you whip that soufflé out of the oven and take it straight to the table. Some of Dad’s oldest friends wax lyrical, 30 years after the event, when he pulled individual chocolate soufflés out of the oven on the dot of midnight at a New Years Eve dinner party. I’d be a rich woman if I had a buck for every time I heard that story…

This soufflé feeds 4 for dinner with other veggie accompaniments. I prefer to serve it with roast potatoes and a spinach & almond salad. Something crunchy next the soft soufflé makes a great textural combo. This recipe was adapted from The Food of France.

Ingredients
1 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp breadcrumbs
350g zucchini, 1cm slices
125ml milk
30g butter
30g plain flour
85g gruyere, finely grated
3 spring onions, finely chopped
4 eggs, separated

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Brush a 1.5 L soufflé dish with melted butter. Tip in the breadcrumbs to coat the dish. Tip out the excess crumbs. This will make sure the soufflé doesn’t stick to the dish, but will also help it rise.

Cook the zucchini in boiling water for 10 minutes, or until soft. Drain and when cooled slightly push some water out of the zucchini. Whizz in a food processor with the milk until smooth. If you do not have a food processor, or can’t be bothered with the washing up, use a potato masher to blend the zucchini and milk until smooth.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan. Add the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Add the zucchini and milk mixture and continue to stir until thick and smooth. Boil for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir through the gruyere and spring onions. Add the egg yolks one at a time, stirring each until well combined. Everything up until now can be prepared ahead of time. If finishing it off later cover with cling film so that the cling film sits over the mixture. This will ensure a skin doesn’t form.

Whisk egg whites until soft peaks. Stir a ¼ through the roux (zucchini mixture) to lighten it up. Fold through the remaining egg whites and delicately poor into the prepared dish (if too heavy handed all the airiness of the egg whites will be knocked about). Bake for 30 minutes. The soufflé is cooked when it wobbles very slightly when wiggled. As it hits the table it will cook a little further, making it perfectly cooked by the time it’s served.

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It may not look pretty, but it’s tasty!

Another slow-cook wonder, this curry is best made the day ahead. It doesn’t take long to prepare and then it can be shoved in the oven for a couple of hours. Just don’t do what I regularly forget to do…putting it in the fridge after letting it cool out of the oven. Thankfully, I have lived to tell the tale after remembering in the morning. If it was chicken I wouldn’t be too confident about eating it the next day, at least it’s always beef or lamb.

These quantities fed us well for dinner as well as lunch for one of us the next day. Doubling the quantities will certainly feed 6 hungry adults.

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
500g beef or lamb, 2cm dice
1 large brown onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, less if you don’t want the heat
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
200ml natural yoghurt

Method
Preheat oven to 170°C.

Heat oil in an oven-proof pan over a medium-high heat. Brown the meat, this may need to be done in batches depending on the size of your dish. Set aside and reduce the heat. Add to pan onion and garlic, sauté for 5 minutes, or until soft. Return the meat, and any juices accumulated, as well as the ginger, cayenne, paprika, salt and pepper. Stir to coat. Once the aromatics have released from the spices add the yoghurt and bring to a simmer. Cover the pan and place in the oven for 1-1½ hours, or until tender. Check fluid levels every half hour. If the curry seems to be drying out add half a cup of water.

Serve with steamed rice and naan. We steam the rice with some frozen peas to add some greens (and colour) to the meal.

You might also enjoy Massaman shanks…yum!

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