Master Chef 2011

Ok, finally the end of my athletics season spells the beginning of the NEW season of Master Chef, FINALLY!

So far this season has been a bit of a double edged sword in terms of its deliver...It's still fun to watch, YES, some people are annoying and others we can't get enough of, though channel 10 has to ease up on trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Now i dearly love this show and have an enormous appreciation for the power it has (even though the product placement is again taking reign..).

From the online side of things, it's great to see a bit of a refresh as far as their website goes, i like it :)

We've already seen 2 elimination a one contestant beat a chef in one of the Tuesday night challenges. I know they said it last year, bu the bar has been raised to a shockingly high level! I think it'll be great to get more contestants that are a little rough around the edges as opposed to your same old lawyer, Office manager, etc.

My new favourite chef is the great big Italian man Alessandro, one of his recipes can be found by clicking here.

As usual, i'll be trying some of these recipes and some newbies, which i'be been waiting for the Autumn/Winter to get stuck into, where my coach can't say yay or nay about what i eat ;)

So check back soon
i-Vefa

Chargrilled Salmon with Mustard Cream Sauce

[So sadly this menu has been moved offline boo! both the image and link have been removed so as to eliminate any possible temptation :) ]

This is fantastically easy and a must try for anyone looking to impress that special someone.

Not to mention that this is a very healthy meal and is easy enough to be a Wednesday night meal or elegant enough to be an entre on a Saturday night!

Char grilled Squid (stuffed) on bed of veggies

In terms of time, flavour and simply getting it all right, this stretched my ability albeit quite limited; though the pay off was great with a stuffed squid that was not only bursting with flavour but came with quite a sense of achievement.
The first achievement was pretty much getting the little buggers clean, it doesn't sound difficult but again, for someone who had never actually done it before, I can assure you, it was!

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Prep time:  free up at least 2 hours, which includes cleaning the squid, only about 45min if you opt to purchase pre-cleaned squid (not a bad option!)

Ingredients:
- 2 whole squid
- 1 clove garlic, (crushed & chopped)
- 2 shallots, (very finely chopped)
- 1 cup breadcrumbs (fresh sourdough if possible)
- 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh parsley
- ¼ cup olive oil (plus a little extra to drizzle)
- 100g kidney beans, refreshed in cold water
- 100g green beans
- 1/2 cup rice boiled
- 5-10 cherry tomatoes
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- fresh lemon juice to top
- 10 Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
- lemon juice from 1 fresh lemon

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How to work the magic:

1. If you've never cleaned a squid before click here or left to launch a video. The only thing you have to remember is save the tentacles and cut them into little 0.5cm lengths an any little squid bits that don't make the cute, save them for the filling.

2. Heat half the olive oil in a frying pan; throw in the garlic and shallots until soft. Add tentacles and any little bits and cook until opaque and just cooked, throw in the green beans for a little but ensure they're still crispy and not soggy; season to taste.

3. Just before removing the above mixture, put in the rice for a little to get all the flavours

4. Combine tomatoes, beans, olives, vinegar and a little oil in a bowl, season to taste.
5. Combine rice/tentacle mixture in a bowl with lemon juice, parsley and breadcrumbs.
6. Spoon rice/tentacle mixture into the squid hoods, leaving 1cm at the top to secure with a toothpick, drizzle with a little extra oil.
7. Heat the pan, cook squid, turning until golden and squid is just cooked through. Slice squid.
8. Divide salad among plates and top with squid, spoon over any remaining dressing to serve.
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HINT: You can place the squid in all sorts of ways, though if you're serving it up, try make them all look the same, it just adds that difference.

The Service Guy to the rescue

So it's no secret, Salim 'The Service Guy' saved our oven just in time for Grand Final day, the day wouldn't have been the same without good ol' Australian pies!

The pies were perfect, the chops, snags and company was perfect, as was the game (as a spectacle).

Since it was a draw it looks like we're back at my place for yet another BBQ on Saturday and it promises to be just as good a day as it was last week.

The invite for the second Grand Final BBQ:

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Just a quick plug for Service Central, which got me in touch with Salim who quickly and efficiently repaired the over.

My recipes 'll be back!
I promise to be back with some yummo recipes very soon, I’ve actually got a number of them coming, though I just have to re-make a few as I forgot to take photos, (which is very unlike me) so stay tuned =D

Dinner Party Disaster!

So…my better half and I were hosting (on the Saturday just passed) a long awaited dinner party for a bunch of friends; the theme, GREEK!

Count down: 1 week till dinner guests’ arrival
We actually spent a week preparing for this dinner, having even changed the furniture around the house (a little), created a DVD to showcase our recent holiday pics and videos, not to mention the menu I put together for it. Oh, I forgot to mention the week before, we actually trailed all the food to see how it would work and it was perfect.

Count down: 6 hours till dinner guests’ arrival
On the day we were so well prepared, with much of the food having been prepared several hours prior to our guests arriving we were lapping up the free time, if you know what I mean ;)

Count down: 2 hours till dinner guests’ arrival
Placed the tiropitakia (cheese pies) in the oven. They came out looking umm, sort of raw…hmm I thought, that’s never happened before.

Count down: 1 hour till dinner guests’ arrival
Placed the mousaka in the oven and the second round of cheese pies.

Count down: 40 minutes till dinner guests’ arrival
Went to take out the cheese pies and they hadn’t even browned…in fact the oven was still damn cold! The oven just died!

Count down: 38 minutes till dinner guests’ arrival
I notify the boss and in a somewhat reserved fashion, she freaked out.

Count down: 36 minutes till dinner guests’ arrival
I freaked out!...not as reserved.

Count down: 35 minutes till dinner guests’ arrival
Thought of cancelling the night. Opted to call my sister so as to hijack her oven, alas they were out!

Count down: 34 minutes till dinner guests’ arrival
Called mother-in-law and asked her to pre heat the oven, I’ll be over in a jiffy

Count down: 33 minutes till dinner guests’ arrival
We both freaked out heaps at this stage, but I was now on my way to the in-laws.

Count down: 31 minutes till dinner guests’ arrival
Called our guests and asked them to delay 30 or so minutes.

So though we had bought a little time, our panic was going to keep us unsettled for the rest of the night.

I cooked the food and was back at our place only 15 minutes AFTER our guests had arrived…eeek! Basically I didn’t get any sort of a chance to take any photos as I was very much in a state of “this night’ll be much better sitting in the past”.

Now our guests were fantastic and very understanding of everything that had happened and thought the company was (as always) first rate, as hosts, we never really settled and remained anxious.

So much for the chocolate cake I planed on making the next day.

The Menu:

Greek night menu Sept 2010 -

Horiatiki Salata (Greek Salad)

In Greece, this was (as you can imagine) a standard at every meal, not to mention, one of the key aspects to that wonderful Mediterranean diet.
Since my recent return from Greece, the Greek salad or 'horiatiki' as it better known (to the Greeks) has since become a standard at my dinner table as it was, and still is, at my mum's .
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Prep time:  15 minutes

Ingredients:
- 2 large tomatoes chopped into chunks
- 1 cucumber, peeled & sliced
- 1 red onion, sliced into thin rings
- A handful of Kalamata olives, let's say 10 for arguments sake
- About 150g of feta cheese (id recommend Dodoni or Bulgarian)
- 1-3 tablespoon of oregano
- Drizzle extra virgin olive oil to taste
- Drizzle vinegar to taste
- 2 hard boiled eggs (this is an option that I like to include, when the salad is the meal)
- Fresh parsley (chopped)

How to work the magic:

Well this is as you can imagine the easy part. Just how perfectly you cut the ingredients is up to you. Though a well cut Greek salad can look absolutely amazing.

So, cut the tomatoes in quarters, then the quarters in halves, throw them and the sliced cucumbers in a big bowl and put the onion rings in, trying not to break the rings, the olives and parsley are next then (if you’re going to use the eggs, cut them into quarters and put them in here).

The feta can be placed on top in any way you like, my mum say’s that you can tell a person by the way they cut their feta, so on that note, it's up to you. The gorgeous oregano is last of all the ingredients. Dress and mix through only just before serving.
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HINT: Use plenty of oil and vinegar, this way when the salad is all gone you can break off a bit of bread and dip away; this is what my Giagia attests to her, putting on a few extra kilos in her latter years.

Return from the Mediterranean

Hi all

My apologies for the lacklustre effort over the last 6 weeks but I've only just returned from a spectacular trip to some of my favourite places in the word and what is (for me) the culinary centre of the world...Greece!

I tasted an amazing array of foods and dove into a number of Middle Eastern and African dishes in Egypt and thankfully my research is now complete.

I look forward to sharing some great dishes with you here on i-Vefa so stay tuned :)

i-Vefa