Today I picked up a side of goat, like a side of lamb it’s all the edible bits down one side of a goat, all 7.5kg of it for $30 from Woolworth’s of all places.

If you haven’t had goat before it’s very similar to lamb in both how you cook it and how it tastes although it’s a lot leaner and sweeter meat than lamb, cheaper too. The recipe I made with one of the steaks is a quick marinade with a spanish twist to it with some lemon. It only needs an hour in the fridge too. I wanted to make a pilaf to go with this but I only had arborio rice so a quick risotto it was. I’ve made that here before so I won’t go into it again today and obviously, if you can’t find goat, just use lamb.

Read More...

Tags:Paprika, Lemon, Lamb, Goat, Recipe, Risotto, Rice

I’ve had plans to have a friend over for dinner tonight for a little while and I was racking my mind to find something to make and just couldn’t put my finger on it until fate stepped in and delivered the latest edition of Delicious magazine just as I was heading out the door. Step in Spiced Lamb with mint yoghurt and pistachio. I decided against the salad in the magazine, the cucumber and tomato salad with lemon and dijon dressing and decided to use the beetroot I had left in the fridge. Here’s my version.

Spiced Lamb with Pistachio and Beetroot Salad with Orange Dressing

The lamb itself was tender and cooked to just pink with a brilliant sumac based spice rub and the orange and honey in the dressing balanced out the beetroot. A bit of cumin in the dressing tied it in with the lamb and a bit of honey did the same for the yoghurt.

Spiced Lamb Pistachio - Serves 2
2 lamb back-straps
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons of olive oil
½ tablespoon of coriander seeds
1½ tabelspoon of cumin seeds
1½ tabelspoon of allspice
2 tabelspoon of sumac
¼ cup of shelled pistachios, crushed

Mint Yoghurt
½ cup of yoghurt
1 tabelspoon of finely sliced mint leaves
½ tabelspoon of honey

Beetroot Salad with Orange Dressing
1 beetroot, diced
1 potato, diced
½ cup of grated carrot
½ tabelspoon of fresh ground cumin seeds
1 teaspoon of orange zest
juice of 1 orange
½ tabelspoon of honey
2 handfuls of salad leaves

Starting with the beetroot salad; steam the beetroot for about an 30-45 minutes or until it’s fairly tender but still has a bit of resistance. Add the potato and carrot and continue to steam until all is tender and the tip of a knife has no resistance left to it. Toss through the salad leaves and put aside until serving. Mix the remaining salad ingredients into a bowl for the dressing.

For the mint yoghurt, mix it all together. Put aside until serving.

Lamb. Toss the lamb, garlic and oil together and stand to marinade for two hours. Grind and mix the spices together. Once the lamb has marinaded for the set time, rub the spice mix all over the meat and fry or bbq on medium-high for 5 minutes each side. Take the lamb off the heat and wrap in foil for 8-10 minutes to rest.

Dress and plate the salad. Slice the lamb back-strap on the diagonal and plate. Sprinkle with the pistachios and drizzle around the mint yoghurt.

Tags:Middle Eastern, Lamb, Pistachio, Sumac, Delicious, Herbs, Recipe, Spices, Salad, Beetroot, Oranges

I had to go back to Sydney early from my New Zealand trip so I can sit an exam and since I hadn’t had any luck finding the quite space I needed to read the text books I’d lugged around with me thus far I booked myself two days in Harbour View room at the Hilton Auckland (I got a good deal at wotif). The hotel itself is smaller than I thought and felt cramped every time I walked through the lobby but the rest of the hotel is quite spacious. The room I was in had a very large marble bathroom with separate bath and shower, the rest of the room contained a king size bed, 32” LCD TV and DVD player and a desk. Then there was the balcony - the same size as the room itself! The only complaint with it is that even though there are double sliding doors opening on to it, there was a concrete pillar in the middle of them making getting outside a little awkward and blocked the view from inside.

I hadn’t had breakfast that morning so once I settled into the room, opened all the draws and flicked all the light switches I had a look at the room service menu. There was all of the standard fare you get at the Hilton plus the specialised items from the hotels restaurant. I ordered the Nasi Goreng, just a light meal. Presented well, the rice moulded in a bowl and turned out into the plate with a fried egg across the top, tomato and cucumber slices fanned around the edge and individual bowls of chili paste, soy and dried fish so they could all be added to taste, a single large prawn cracker and three small chicken satay skewers to the side. Flavour wise it was more subtle than I’m used to, all of the flavours were balanced so it was a clearly deliberate choice and it certainly wasn’t bland per se but I could see a lot of people thinking it was.

The second night I stayed I went to White, the hotel’s restaurant with Italian chef Cristiano De Martin running the show. You can see his European training and years of dedicated practice in the way every dish was executed, starting with the produce then preparation and cooking then finally the presentation. De Martin’s dedication to his food extends to joint venture called Homegrown with NZ primary producers to source the best ingredients. I can’t see any losers here, especially as I get presented with my first course.

Starting off with Heart of the Desert saffron infused carrot soup with parsley foam it’s not surprising De Martin highlights one of his Homegrown partners in Heart of the Desert saffron. Who knew that NZ can grow it given 90% of the world production is from Iran? The soup itself was good blending the more complex earthier kiwi saffron standing up against fresh sweet carrots. The parsley foam was wispy and delicate adding a level of texture and evening out the parsley flavour so that no mouthful could ever be overpowed with a herb than can taste like grass if you get a mouthful of it unexpectedly.

Contrasting the soup’s delicate flavour profile is the Northland kingfish carpaccio, spiced shallots with citrus and sesame dressing and mini coriander leaves hitting you with an incredible burst starting out with the lime that is made palatable with the shallots, coriander and sesame on the finish. Without any one of these the dish wouldn’t balance but here all of the flavours are inline leaving you with the amazingly fresh kingfish carpaccio. The mouthfeel of the slightly oily kingfish sliced paper thin and served raw as it melds itself with the rest of the flavours creating one of those moments you sit up and pay attention to what you’re eating.

I love duck and I eat it quite often but until now I hadn’t actually had the chance to make or try tea smoked duck. I made tea smoked snapper a few weeks ago as a trial before I give it ago on duck. Now I’ve got a gold standard to aim for. A salad of tea smoked duck resting on crisp filo pastry, pistachio, celery and grapes with a blueberry and riesling verjus dressing was a familiar yet different taste. Smoking the duck adds a soft undertone to each bite that while you can tell it is there, at no point does it distract you from the duck itself or any other ingredient. Pistachio as a nut has an odd flavour that wouldn’t have worked if the duck wasn’t smoked. A lesser chef would have either used hazelnut that I think would have enhanced the smoke and overpowered the rest of the salad or blanched almods simply for texture. The filo pastry was disappointing, it seemed more like a layer of cardboard where I was expecting the salad to be perched on top of individual layers of delicate filo. Did you notice something missing in the picture? When I was served the dish I thought it was odd but there isn’t a black/purple drizzle across the top. I’m not sure how they did it, but blueberry skin wasn’t in the ingredient list for the dressing so it’s is perfectly clear. The two black half circles are grapes.

Scallops are tender pillows of shellfish that have a sweeter meat than crayfish. Their intense flavour, despite that they’re physically delicate, means they can carry other strong flavours and De Martin picked almost a surf and turf with Spirits Bay scallops seared with crispy pancetta, apple pureé and a snow pea salad with cabernet sauvignon vinegar glaze. Even before the plate lands you can smell the pancetta and the bacon instinct kicks in and your nose is in the air trying to breathe it all in. The pancetta releases so much of it’s flavour as it’s friend in the pan next to the scallops that they seem to soak it up like a sponge. The drizzle of glaze on the plate was incredibly intense and perfect for cutting through the pancetta’s fat so you can reclaim the scallop’s individuality.

The Assistant Manager (who did an amazing job all night) disagreed with the chef on his choice of wine for a number of dishes and I either saw her point or agreed completely. This time I only saw her point. She gave me some of the listed wine, a Cloudy Bay ‘08 Sauvignon Blanc, and the wine she thought was best, a Brancott ‘07 Sauvignon Blanc, both from the Malborough. I’m sorry to say I wouldn’t have said either were a perfect match but then I can’t say what would have been either. The Cloudy Bay was good at balancing the glaze and pancetta but destroyed the apple and scallop where as the Brancott was obliterated by the fat. Given the focus of this dish was scallops, not pancetta I’d have erred on the side of caution and taken the Bancott as the manager suggested.

A Kaffir Lime sorbet broke the meal. It tasted like the only possible way you could have that much lime flavour in a that glass was if someone froze and blended the lime itself. It had such a fresh taste to it, probably enhanced by the fact it was frozen, but it could have easily been the smell of a fresh picked lime. My guess is it was probably oil from the skin being sprayed in to and incorporated with the mix.






The headline of the show for an international hotel in NZ was of course the Hawke’s Bay lamb loin roasted with garden herbs, parsnip créme and crisps, manuka smoked olives, lemon and Te Arai Extra Virgin emulsion. The lamb was cooked a touch longer than I’d have liked but within tolerances for medium-rare so it did benefit from the olive oil and parsnip mash for moistness. That’s not to say it wasn’t full of flavour; I’d say the kiwi’s have made a good go at it. Infact given the better farming and grazing weather in NZ for the past few years, their lambs might just be better than the Australians. For now. Picking up some of the smoked olives with the lamb made for a nice way to extend the otherwise limited range of flavours on the plate, the parsnips and olive oil seemed to take on a new life. Half way through I’d ran out and wished there were more, olives, not parsnip.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get the names of the two cheeses served on this course but they seemed along the lines of a mature cheddar and a firmer white mould cheese along the lines of a costello perhaps? As I was dining alone, I think I received a hastily cut down portion. There was just simply not enough cheese to try all of the condiments with at least one cheese, there weren’t even enough wafers. Still, it was nice for a course designed to transition your palette from red meat to dessert.




Of course, at the end of any meal you can’t go past dessert and what a dessert. The menu called for a chef’s selection and I don’t think there was anything left he hadn’t selected. When this course came up I was offered an extra glass of wine because there had been ‘an issue’ in the kitchen and I would have to wait an extra 10 minutes or so. What I think it was is that they couldn’t figure out how to present a dessert platter that’s designed for two people to a single person when most of the items are either slivers anyway or single units. Half a scoop of ice-cream anyone? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that if there were two people that I would have been disappointed with the portion size, there are four separate desserts for heavens sake but to cut them down further would have been unsightly. Which is why I got a dessert platter for two! It goes without saying that every single one of these desserts were delicious and flavour packed. No surprises in the taste, they were almost concentrated in their own flavour. So clockwise from the back we’ve got an apple galette topped with vanilla ice cream, vanilla panna-cotta with raspberry compote, lemon cheesecake, dark chocolate hazelnut torte with a scoop of hazelnut ice-cream.


I ordered an espresso to go with the petit four which was basically a sphere of pear and cream that finished the meal as I sat and waited for it to move itself below my centre of gravity and chatted to an Australian couple that also had the degustation whom asked me how I enjoyed it and gave them my Red Whisk business card so they can come and look at the pictures. My sincerest apologies have to go to them for the delay in posting this article.

All in all, I really quite enjoyed visiting (and not as their guest, this was fully funded by The Red Whisk). Next time I visit Auckland I’m going to have to stay at the Hilton again. As far as international standards go the Hilton here is above the average. Sure there are some things that could be done better but they’re probably not going to be picked up or worried over by your average consumer. As for the restaurant, the service of the assistant manager scored herself a very generous tip for her friendly yet professional service keeping the person dining alone who didn’t bring a book to read company, her generosity in pouring wine and offering not only and alternative to the listed wines, but both!



Hilton Auckland and White Restaurant
Princess Wharf. 147 Quay Street
Auckland. 1010
NEW ZEALAND

Tags:Degustation, Hilton, Auckland, New Zealand, Review, Restaurant, Wine, Fish, Soup, Scallops, Duck, Dessert

The point of the trip to New Zealand this year was to celebrate my mother's 50th birthday, so while my Aunts little monkeys were at school we took a trip out to one of NZ's top rated wineries, Mills Reef, in the Bay of Plenty region not far from Tauranga in the town of Bethlehem.

Mills Reef is hardly a stable but if the attitude of the staff on the restaurant is anything to go by then jebus himself was born here and it was our privilege to be on sacred ground but more on that in a minute. Going along Moffat Road and seeing the grounds appear before you is impressive with manicured lawns and rows of trees all leading up to the main building and it's own formal gardens but this is a working site. All of the processing, bottling and distribution happen here even though all of the grapes are bought and shipped from the not so far away Hawks Bay.

As you walk up from the car park the first door on the left is the tasting room so we went there first. As a tip for those visiting a winery with it's own restaurant, here's a good place to try a sip of a few things before you try and match them to your lunch and give you a chance to mull over which bottles you pick up.

Mills Reef Winery, 143 Moffat Road, Bethlahem New Zealand

In the tasting room we met Ken, the cellar manager who ever so patiently walked my family through not only their range but the tasting process (lightest and brightest to heaviest and darkest). From what I could tell all of the prices for the wine were quite reasonable where as the souvenirs had souvenir prices.

After a few uhms and ahs we took a price list and headed for the empty restaurant. There was a choice of the outdoor terrace or inside a dining/function room. The enormous main dining room was having the air-conditioning replaced before summer. Not to worry because ir was spring after all and we chose a table on the terrace in the shade. Just like everyone else did but being outside the noise wasn't an issue and the tables were well spaced anyway. After the stop-off in the tasting room I picked my entrée and main based on their recommended wines and everyone else chose the recommended glass. I wanted to see how they stood up to good quality food and thankfully what came out of the kitchen was great. Luckily I was really only interest in their red wine because the restaurants fish order hadn't arrived to meet the demand of their predominantly fish based menu.

Going around the table my mother had their seafood trio and the Pinot Gris, a slight alteration due to the lack of fish she had a king prawn, scallops and a piece of salmon; my brother had the oysters and my aunt had the bread and dukka which surprised me. For such a simple sounding entrée the chef added a bit of flair throwing in a couple of different types of cibatta and more than just a simple dukka, there was some great avocado oil, tapenade and homemade pesto too. I had the chicken liver paté with truffles crostini and the Cab Melot, or at least that's what I ordered. Instead I got garlic crostini that worked very well and I wouldn't have had any complaints if only I hadn't ordered truffles. That and if I didn't have to wait 10 minutes and actually need to get up from by seat, walk through a construction site and find the wait staff and ask them for our wine. Even though there were a few people in the restaurant by that stage I find it hard to believe a winery restaurant forgot to bring the wine.


Seafood Trio - Prawn, Salmon and Scallop


Cibatta with Dukka, Avocado Oil, Tapenade and Pesto


Chicken Liver and Cognac Paté and Fig Jam with Garlic Crostini

Main course ran smoother, Mum had the strawberry and asparagus salad with Kaimai Brie and a glass of the Sav Blanc which was tasty and exploration in vegetarian texture more than flavour, my brother had two giant lamb shanks that were cut above the knee and were so tender the meat would have literally fallen off the bone if he'd picked it up washed down with the Cab Sav. The meat was good quality lamb but seemed a little bland on it's own and relied in the jus to carry it. Mind you I only picked at his leftovers, so the most of the meat could have been fine. My Aunts Cajun chicken Caesar salad was generous, well seasoned. I had the lamb fillet that was cooked to a perfect pink with a blue cheese and pear salad with a walderberry jus, much like my favourite duck salad. The lamb itself seemed under seasoned but balanced out with some cracked pepper and the jus. The Merlot Malbec was a perfect match.


Asparagus, Strawberry, Avocado and Kaimai Brie


Warm Lamb Fillet, Watercress and Baby Spinach Salad with Pear, Cashew, Kikorangi Blue and Walderberry Syrup


Lamb Shanks Braised with Wholegrain Mustard on Green Pea and Potato Mash

Dessert. Only mother and I had dessert, her with the mandarin and cinnamon spring rolls which looked delicious and I had the 'ode to the lemon' which was a set of three lemon desserts starting with a lemon curd in a bitter chocolate case the size of a patty-pan, a lemon cremé brûlée in an espresso cup and a scoop of lemon ice cream in a parfait glass. All of which matched brilliantly in their own way to the riesling ice wine. If only it was delivered with the course. As the waitress walked off I called out "um, and our wine?" She flicked her nose up and walked off in acknowledgement. I waited. I waited. Again I got up and asked for my wine yet again. The excuse was they were waiting for the others coffee to be made before they bought out all of the drinks. Pity my ice cream had melted and my crem brule was cold by the time it arrived.

The location, food and wine at Mills Reef are nothing to complain about but the attitude and service of the restaurant wait staff really left more a lot to be desired.


Nectarine and Honey Spring Rolls rolled in Cinnamon Sugar served with Blueberry Syrup and Vanilla Ice Cream


Burnt Lemon Curd, Lemon Crem Brule and Lemon Ice Cream

Tags:Salad, Chicken, Lamb, Lamb Shanks, Paté, Prawns, Scallops, Lemon, Ice Cream, New Zealand, Wine, Review, Restaurant, Travel

In 1867 His Royal Highness Alfred the Duke of Edinburgh was shot in the back while on a picnic in Contarf, which is probably why a pub named after him was built miles away in Enmore in 1876. Well, actually it probably had a bit more to do with the near-by Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, which was built with memorial funds after his assasination attempt (the hospital, not the pub). A little ironic building a hospital since the guy that shot him was hung.

Affie, as he was known by his family was so called because he was affable, easy to talk to and that sense really has been instilled at The Duke. Given it’s prime location meters away from the Enmore Theatre everyone comes here for a beer and a meal before a show ( The Presets drew me here Monday night). If you’re planning on eating get here early because the place fills up fast. On freezing cold nights like last night, the roaring open fire helps too!

I’ve been here a few times, and the place isn’t cheap but the food is good and usually pretty high quality with some very generous servings. I had the mixed grill this time around, sausages, minute steak, bacon and lamb cutlets on chips with sauce of your choice, pepper, mushroom etc, all for the princley sum (get it?) of $17.50. It is just pub food here, steaks, burgers and the good old chicken parma that a friend had, looking equally as delicious and priced.

Mixed Grill @ The Duke, Enmore

Food, 7/10 - Better than most pubs and everything you’d expect on a classic pub menu board
Service, 8/10 - For a pub, you can’t complain - they were happy and friendly
Coffee, 10/10 - Because it was made with hopps and barley and served by the pint
Value, 7/10 - Tough one, but for the location and the generous servings it gets a couple extra points
Location, 9/10 - If you’re going to the Enmore it’s ideal

The Duke of Edinburgh
148 Enmore Road, Enmore NSW 2042
P: 02 9519 1935
F: 02 9557 1381
W: http://www.duke-hotel.com/

Tags:Pub, Enmore, Duke, Mixed Grill, Steak, Sausage, Fries, Lamb, Bacon, Chicken

This past weekend a friend of mine from work and I had to do some project work together, so we took the opportunity for her to come over and enjoy some home cooking. We had some bbq chicken and coleslaw for a light lunch before I started slow roasted lamb shanks for dinner.


This isn't my favourite shank recipe, which I couldn't find the day I wanted to make these, so I used what I had from Jamie Oliver's book, "Cook with Jamie". It's simple food, even though the recipe can look daunting to read for the inexperienced but it boils down to inserting a knife along the bone of the shank to make a small finger sized pocket to stuff a herb butter, then wrapping each shank individually in foil with a medely of diced veg under them (and a splash of white wine). The best part of this is that even though it takes 2.5 hours to cook, your house absolutley fills with a glorious smell of roast lamb from about 20 minutes in. If I knew more people in my apartment building I'm sure I'd have had them knocking on the door to invite themselves over for dinner.

Time did get away from us a bit, stuck in project work (yeah right - more like the wine) so the vegetables were over done. I think next time I'll have more veg and cut them bigger so they hold up to the long roast better.


If you're going to make these for a dinner party, wrap the foil parcels neatly and serve them intact to your guests so they can cut them open to get the full whaft of intensley smelling steam as it bursts out.

My favourite recipe for lamb shanks though, which I will detail another time, has the whole meaty shanks slow roasting in thick soup of tomato and mined vegetables. The soup keeps them incredebly moist at the same time as injecting the meat with flavour. They end up so tender you have to take them out with a spoon to stop them from falling apart!

Incredible Baked Lamb Shanks - Serves 4
(via How to Cook by Jamie Oliver)

6 Springs of fresh rosemary
150g Butter
15 Fresh sage leaves
2 Springs of fresh thyme
Salt and Pepper
4 Lamb shanks
12 Cloves of garlic
2 Large carrots
1 Onion
1 Leek
2 Glasses of white wine

Preheat your oven to 200C/400F. Pick all of the leaves off the herbs and put in a blender with the butter and whiz together, season with salt and pepper. Using small sharp knife and slide it between the bone and the meat to form a finger shaped pocket in all of the shanks and stuff as much of the herbed butter into the pocket. This will fill the heart of the shank with flavour.

Dice all of the vegetables and douse with oil and season with salt and pepper. Mix well and on four sheets of foil, share out the veg and place a shank on top of each pile. Make a boat shape with the foil and pour a quarter of a glass of wine in each foil boat. Wrap the foil tightly around the shanks and vegetables. Put all of the parcels on a tray and bake in the oven for 2.5 hours.

Serve the intact parcels to each guest so they can open them their selves.

Tags:Lamb, Lamb Shanks, Jamie Oliver, Baked, Slow Food

The cheese platter was washed down by another gin and tonic or three, and since I'd anticipated luxurious room service all day I skipped lunch and my stomach was rumbling. Browsing through the lengthy room service menu I finally settled on the "3 mini-burgers" and some buffalo wings.



The 3 mini burgers were the highlight, but nothing outstanding. It was a nice concept and worked well visually, the problem though was that other than the beef patty, lamb patty and chicken tenderloin on each burger, the rest were identical, a slice of tomato, lettuce and mayonnaise. They relied too heavily on the meat. When your concept is to have three individual burgers, you'd expect you'd do something so each one stood out individually? It would have been an easy fix, some caramelized onion on the beef, a dab or tzatziki instead of the mayo on the lamb, and perhaps some chili on the chicken?

As for the buffalo wings, they hardly rate a mention. They were warm and had a crispy skin with paprika and basic spices.

Breakfast the following morning was back in the club lounge and was equally disappointing as the canapes the night before. Just the stock standard sliced fruit, juices and cereals on the cold side of the buffet and on the warm there was just bacon, hash browns, sausages, scrambled eggs and grilled tomatoes. Individually everything was nice enough, but it certainly didn't hold a torch to the Sofitel Melbourne's breakfast buffet, they even had pancakes!

Tags:Room Service, Hilton, Review, Burgers, Chicken, Wings, Travel