Chicken and Potato Salad

This is the love child of a Waldorf salad and a chicken Caesar salad, plus tomatoes. Would have been even better with bacon, or chorizo, or sausage... okay I'm drooling again.

Serves 4

1 kg chicken thighs

1 Tbsp paprika

1 Tbsp ground cumin

1 Tbsp ground coriander

1 kg baby potatoes, cooked and halved

6 hard boiled eggs, quartered

1 cos lettuce, torn

3 spring onions, green parts only, finely sliced

½ punnet cherry tomatoes, cut into halves

¼ cup parsley, finely chopped

50g pecans, roughly chopped

Dressing*

2 egg yolks

1 Tbsp red wine or rice vinegar

¼ cup garlic oil

3 anchovies, pasted

2 Tbsp shaved parmesan

1 lemon, juiced

Combine paprika, cumin and coriander in a bowl with a little oil. Toss chicken in marinade and let sit for 30 minutes. Heat a BBQ to a low - medium heat a cook, turning occasionally, for 30 minutes or until cooked and tender. Let rest before shredding into bite-sized pieces.

Next, prepare the dressing. In a bowl, whisk together egg yolks and red wine vinegar. While continuing to whisk, add garlic oil a tiny little bit at a time until the mixture emulsifies. Once oil has all been absorbed, whisk through anchovies, parmesan and lemon (to taste).

Finally, combine all your prepared ingredients and dressing in a large bowl. Sprinkle with chopped pecans and serve.

* For lazy people, and those who hate anchovies (weridos), combine a ¼ cup full fat mayo with a splash of white vinegar and ½ tsp white sugar. For even lazier people, use packet Caesar dressing.

Moussaka

Moussaka is a traditional Greek dish with layered potato, lamb mince, eggplant and topped with a béchamel sauce. I’ve made a few adaptations here. Firstly, I’m not a big fan of baked potato – so I replaced the potato with… more eggplant!  Secondly, as a Greek dish, this is typically full of garlic and onion… so it’s time to break out the gold ol’ garlic oil. I’m not going to lie, I used a lot of it. Lastly, this is traditionally made with lamb… but where I am right now, lamb isn’t exactly cheap, so I’ve substituted with half pork and half beef to get the right fat content / mildness of flavour.

I focused more on the eating than on the photo taking.

Serves 6-8 (reheats like a dream)

1.5kg beef and pork mince blend

750g truss tomatoes, finely diced

¼ cup garlic oil

1-2 eggplant, thinly sliced

4 spring onions green parts only, finely sliced

5 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbsp dried oregano

¼ cup fresh basil, chopped

¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped

Cheese Sauce

500ml lactose-free milk

140g dairy-free margarine (or preferably butter if you can tolerate it)

½ cup GF flour

3 egg yolks

½ cup (50g) grated parmesan

Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Lightly brush eggplant with garlic oil. Add to pan and cook for 3 minutes on each side, or until tender and lightly browned. You will need to cook this in batches and set aside.

Heat a little garlic oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add beef and pork mince and cook, stirring and breaking up lumps, until browned all over. Remove meat from pan and set aside. Add onion to the same pan and cook, stirring, for a few minutes or until softened. Add the meat back to the pot with cinnamon and oregano. Stir to combine, then stir through the tomatoes. Simmer for 5 minutes or until mixture thickens. Add fresh herbs.

Next, prepare the cheese sauce. Heat milk and vegetable spread in a medium saucepan for 4 minutes or until hot. While whisking continuously, gradually add flour until combined, then continue whisking until thickened and mixture bubbles. Remove from heat and set aside for 10 minutes to cool. Whisk in eggs and cheese, then season.

Preheat oven to 180C. Line a large baking dish with greaseproof paper. Layer meat and eggplant in the baking dish, then top with a layer of cheese sauce. Bake for 30 minutes or until browned.

Five Spice Beef with Greens and Noodles

Dave actually said, "wow!" when he tasted the beef. I absolutely love five spice with beef, particularly when you also have oyster sauce. Mum used to make something like this - can't remember the exact recipe - but it's an all-time favourite and definitely included beef, five spice and oyster sauce. YUM!

I'm a fiend for rare beef

Serves 4

1kg beef steak, cut of choice

¼ cup soy sauce*

¼ cup rice vinegar

2 Tbsp fresh ginger

½ tsp chilli flakes

2 tsp five spice powder

2 tsp fish sauce

200g rice noodles, cooked

Handful of green beans, cut into 1cm lengths

3-4 bok choy

4 spring onions, green parts only, finely sliced

2 green chillies, seeds and membranes removed, finely diced

1 cup fresh coriander, roughly chopped

½ cup fresh basil, roughly chopped

2 Tbsp sesame oil

¼ cup oyster sauce*

A good splash of soy sauce*

2 Tbsp sesame seeds, to serve

Combine soy, rice vinegar, ginger, chilli, five spice powder and fish sauce in a large bowl. Add beef and let marinate for at least an hour. Three hours is even better.

To prepare the buk choy, separate each leaf into stem and leaf, then slice the stems into batons.

To cook the beef**, add 1 Tbsp sesame oil to a large frypan over a medium-high heat. Cook the beef to rare, then set aside to rest. Slice into ½ centimetre slices.

Heat 1 Tbsp sesame oil in a large frypan or wok. Add spring onions and chillies and cook until onion softens. Add beans and bok choy stems and cook. Add bok choy leaves and cook until wilted. Add the cooked rice nooles, coriander, basil, oyster sauce and soy sauce to the pan and stir to combine.

To serve, pile noodles into bowls, top with sliced beef and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

* If you have a high gluten sensitivity, ensure you are using gluten free soy and oyster sauces.

** I am not a steak master, I go for about 2 ½ minutes per side (depending on thickness), but honestly if you’re not sure… look it up on youtube.

Cheesy Baked Tomato Rice

Super yummy, kind of Mexicany flavours. We grilled up some chicken with this and it was shamazing. Just be careful not to burn it like I did!

Serves 6

2 cups rice, cooked

1 capsicum, finely diced

3 small, ripe tomatoes, diced

4 spring onions, green parts only, finely sliced

1-2 smoked sausages or kransky’s, sliced

1 cup fresh coriander, roughly chopped

½ cup fresh basil, roughly chopped

1 – 1 ½ cups grated hard cheese*

¼ cup tomato paste

2 tsp paprika

2 tsp cumin

2 anchovies, pasted

1 lime, zested and juiced

Preheat oven to 200C and line a baking dish with greaseproof paper.

Heat a frypan over a medium heat and add capsicum and spring onions. Cook, stirring, until capsicum has softened. Set vegetables aside and cook the sausage until a little golden. Remove from heat.

Combine in a separate bowl the tomato paste, paprika, cumin, anchovies and lime. In a large bowl, then combine the tomato paste mixture, rice, capsicum, tomatoes, spring onions, coriander, basil and half the cheese. Transfer rice mix to the prepared baking dish.

Dot the sausage rounds on top of the rice, then sprinkle remaining cheese on top.

Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until cheese is melty and golden. Once cooked, remove from oven and allow it to cool a little. Add extra coriander and onions on top for extra prettiness.

* If you have a strong aversion to cheese, this can definitely be eliminated. I would just make sure there's a good amount of tomato paste mix getting through the rice to ensure it stays nice and moist.