Variation allegretto on Stephanie Alexander's slow-roasted loin of pork with garlic, rosemary and fennel

We had fennel, celery and some starting-to-grow-old granny smith apples from my recently commenced participation in an organic fruit and vegetable bulk buy and split it up type arrangement.

I followed the recipe in Stephenie Alexander's the cook's companion except as follows:

1. Cut of Pork was pork rib roast (no ribs) aka pork roast aka pork centre loin roast -I ended up cutting it open a bit more to smear the oil mixture over a greater area;
2. Cooked at 250 celsius for 15 minutes, then turned heat down to 200 for further 45 minutes;
3. Absolutely molested the skin with salt to create crackling NOTE: remove crust of salt upon beong cooked;
4. No pork rib bones in the  vegetables;
5. Substitue potatoes with granny smith apples.

Flat 2 late breakfast

Semi poached eggs (2 cms of water in pan and dash of vinegar)
Grilled bacon
Dark rye toast
Avocado butter: parsley, tomato relish whizzed avocado

Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Strawberry Friands

These friands are gluten and dairy free and taste like cumulus at dawn. It's strawberry season so I used fresh strawberries but you could put any kind of berry in - even something frozen like a frozen raspberry. This recipe makes about twelve in small shallow muffin baking thingo.

You will need:
1.5 cups pure icing sugar
1.5 cups almond meal
0.5 cup gluten free plain flour
3 eggs
180 g Copha
Fresh strawberries

Melt the Copha on the stove and prepare some ice water in a high rimmed baking tray to stand the pan in after the Copha has melted.
While Copha is cooling brush your baking holes with some of the Copha.
Mix sifted icing sugar, almond meal and gluten free plain flower. I cheat and don't sift and use a stick mixer to combine.
Create a well in the dry ingredients and add whisked eggs and cooled Copha.
Mix with a wooden spoon to being with and then bring in the stick mixer.
Fill baking holes to the brim with mixture.
Cut strawberries so as to fit in the centre of the holes. And put in slices of strawberries.
Bake for twenty minutes plus at 180 degrees celsius fan forced.

Allow to stand and dust tops with icng sugar.

Salmone al udon e insalata di alghe

Teriyaki Salmon
Udon Noodles
Salad:
Grated carrot
Grated beetroot
Cob lettuce leaves
Alfalfa sprouts
Continental parsley
Yakinori seaweed shredded

Kevin Rudd Brunch Plate

I thought his breakfast looked comically like Kevin. The only thing missing is his tatty hair cut. What a buffoon!  Anyway the mouth is sirloin pork. The cheeks, eyes and glasses are toast, eggs, salami, amd cherry tomato. The nose is fresh basil (perennial) leaves.

Winter's day beach house salad

Freshly baked salmon.
Shallots.
Cherry tomatoes
Continental parsley
Roquet
Spinach
Olive oil and houmous dressing

Best cold dinner

Brown bread toast and pate. Camembert. Prosciutto.

Burger

The Meat:
Onion Soup Mix; wet bread; salt and pepper; medium grade beef mince so that there is some fat in it; egg.

Caramelised onions.

Melt the cheese on the last turn of the meat.

Lettuce.

Tomato.

Sliced dill pickle.

Hot English mustard and tomato sauce.

Toast the buns in the oven.

Caramelising Onion

More butter than you think you need
Lowest heat burner
Thinly sliced onions
Lots of time

Poached Eggs and Avocado Mash

Poached Eggs
Avocado Mash: mash avocados with a fork; chopped mini roma tomatoes; crushed clove of garlic; squeeze of fresh lime; salt; pepper
Brown bread toast

Brunch Plate de Burgh

Bacon
Egg
Chilli-con-carne: half a bulb of garlic, 6 small red chillies, fried in olive oil, add spices (smokey paprika, sweet paprika, cumin seeds, ground cumin, ground coriander seeds), fry beef mince, add tomato paste, add red kidney beans, add crushed tomatoes, plus water and simmer for ages.
Salsa: green capsicum, red onion, mini roma tomatoes, lime juice
Croissant

Cold lamb lunch

Lamb plus what you see in the photo.

Onion & Gorgonzola Tarts

Caremelise heaps of onion in butter - low heat pan - takes forever!
Place puff pastry in muffin tray holes.
Place onion in pastry.
Place slice of Gorgonzola on top.
Cook in oven to pastry requirements: this was 20 mins at 200 Celsius fan forced

Poached Egg, Oven baked Bacon, Swisse Brioche

Bouillabaisse

3 kgs of tomatoes- peeled
Champagne - two bottles
Fish and shellfish and other creatures of the sea (as much as can be fitted in- maybe 1 kilo of dory plus meat from other creatures like prawns and crab and squid)
Fry garlic and fish in olive oil with smokey paprika, szechuan pepper, and cayenne pepper. Add tomatoes and start to make ragout style base. This will take a while.
Once it needs some liquid add champagne.
At the very end add other creatures of the sea (as these should not take long to cook).

Chestnut Pie

I pressure cooked dried chestnuts with sugar syrup i.e. 1 water to half sugar. For maybe an hour?
I baked blind some pastry (I used packet pastry as I was in a rush to take this pie to a birthday BBQ- NEVER use packet pastry as it tastes like old cardboard) anyway.
Whizzed up the chestnuts and added some butter and three eggs whisked. (might have to let the mixture cool down before adding the eggs) and filled the pastry and chucked back in the oven for about 45 mins at 180.

Omlette Deluxe!

Eggs, plus, wait for it... you can't guess this: mascarpone! One of these a day and you'll be fighting fit! In the spirit of St. Patricks Day I added spinach.

Claires pistachio and white bean salad

Drain sun dried tomato strips and rinse the oil off them
Tear up basil leaves and double the amount of baby spinach
Drain and rinse brine from cannellini beans
Dice finely Spanish onion
Chop pistachio kernels (unsalted)
Throw all the above in a bowl dressed with favourite vinegar based dressing

Larb

Chillies
Ginger
Lemon grass
Garlic
Fry in peanut oil
Cook Chicken mince AND pork mince in the above
Squeeze lime juice into a bowl
Add a bit of fish sauce and sesame seed oil and whip with a fork into an emulsion
Add to meat
Shred Vietnamese mint and Thai basil and throw onto meat
Throw on coriander leaves, some desiccated peanuts, and bits of red onion

Macleay Street Salad

Just in time to ensure that 2011 isn't a no-post year.

Last night invented the following delicious salad:

olive oil in the bottom of the bowl;

emulsify some Worcestershire sauce into the oil (not too much);

throw in leafy greens and toss into the emulsion;

sliced pear;

baby bocconcini - tear each globule in half;

fresh baguette - tear off pieces;

ranch dressing over the top of the bread.

This salad is called the "Macleay Street Salad".