Yesterday I cooked for some good friends of mine and since I’m not working right now I had the time for slow roast beef. In all honesty, dinner didn’t quite pull together as planned for a number of reasons but mostly because I’d had a fair bit of red wine by the end of the roasting time. Have you ever tried to make pasta drunk? It took all day to get rid of the flour from the kitchen today. Still, it was tasty.

It’s a fairly straight forward recipe and really takes no time at all to cook prepare, especially if you buy pre-made pasta. The red wine sauce needs thickening after cooking which I didn’t do, I’ve also reduced the quantity of liquid in the recipe below to aide that. Please don’t forget or skip the pancetta, it made what would otherwise be a pretty plain sauce.

4 Hour Roast Beef Rump in Red Wine Sauce

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Tags:Roast, Beef, Rump, Recipe, Red Wine, Wine

Oxtail, not surprisingly it’s the tail of an ox. So what’s an ox then smart-arse? An ox is either a castrated bull or working cattle, like those olde-time timber carts pulled by teams of cattle. These days, it’s just the tail of any cattle really.

They are more often than not sold as individual sections of bone with their surrounding meat. If you do happen to get a whole one you can feel along for a the gap between the bone and cut there. As far as cooking it, think of how you’d cook a lamb shank - long and slow and good for the base of a stock or stew. There isn’t usually much meat on these things as the tail of most animals is used to store fat but if you’re served a piece you’ve really got to pick them up and chew off the meat.

For something a little different, you can try making a paté

Oxtail Paté

Oxtail Paté - Makes 2 cups
1kg of oxtail
1T of olive oil
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves, ground
10 juniper berries, crushed
1 bay leaf

Pre-heat your oven to 160ºC. Toss all of the ingredients together and roast for 6+ hours until a skewer pierces the meat without resistence.

Take the roasting tray out and pick over the bones, removing the large pieces of fat and placing the meat into a food processor. Discard the bones. Remove the bay leaf and add everything else to the food processor. Blend until the meat becomes fine, but not a pureé.

Pack the paté into a dish suitable for serving in and cover in plastic wrap. It can be keept for up to a week refridgerated.

Tags:Paté, Beef, Dip, Roast, Housewarming

Tonight was meant to be catching up with a couple of friends for dinner, Adam, Neil and Matt but Matt couldn’t make it. There’s a funny story about Matt. Stoned at a party at Neil’s house people were throwing out some crappy dance moves and talking about some crappy music like The Salmon Dance. Matt pipes up “What’s a salmon?” with the reply being called out, it’s a fish. Funny stuff if you were there - or stoned. Now if Adam wasn’t allergic to fish, we’d be having salmon. So, to keep a theme, we’re having pork because Adam thinks I’m a man-whore.

Roast Pork Loin with Dried Fruit

Roast Pork Loin with Dried Fruit - Serves 4-6
1kg pork loin
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 large shallots, chopped
¾ cup diced dried apples
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup dried mixed berries
¼ cup dried wild figs
1½ cups low-salt chicken stock
½ cup dry white wine


Preheat oven to 220°C. Sprinkle pork with rosemary, salt, and pepper.
Place pork in the oven and roast for 20 minutes. Lower the temprature to 170ºC and continue to roast until thermometer inserted into center registers 65°C to 75°C, about another 35-45 minutes. Transfer pork to platter; let stand 10 minutes.
Add apples, figs, cranberries and berries to the pan with the wine and stock.; stir until fruit mixture is heated through, boil 1 minute, lower the heat, cover and simmer. If thicker sauce is desired, boil until reduced enough to coat spoon. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Slice pork and spoon sauce over.

Tags:Dried Fruit, Pork, Fruit, Tenderloin, Roast

I've roasted a chicken for TRW before but when I offered the chance to make a home cooked meal for someone I figured that I should probably make a classic, or something resembling one so I searched epicurious and came up with Olivada Roast Chicken. This version or a roast chook has an olivada (which is very similar to a tapenade and would make a great dip or spread) slipped under the skin of the chicken after you've given it a reach around and separated the skin from the flesh. If you're at all squeamish or have just watched any movie by Ridley Scott you might not want to do this on an empty stomach. Please note that this is not the same hollow feeling you get after watching anything by Michael Bay.

Olivada Roast Chicken

Olivada Roast Chicken with Thyme Roast Vegetables - Serves 4-6

Olivada (can be made a day ahead)
1½ cups of kalamata olives
4 teaspoons of fresh chopped rosemary
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

Chicken
1½-2kg whole organic chicken
¼ cup of melted butter or olive oil
⅓ cup dry white wine
⅔ cup chicken stock

Vegetables
1kg of mixed roasting vegetables
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper
Fresh thyme

To make the olivada, pit the olives if they aren't already (press down on them with the back of a kitchen knife is easiest), toss them all in a blender and wizz until you've made a paste. Stir it halfway through if the bits are clinging to the side. If you're making this a day or two before, put in in an air-tight bowl and and keep in the fridge until ready. Let it come back to room temperature before cooking otherwise it will slow the chicken getting to a safe temperature making it dry out.

For the chicken, pre-heat your oven 200ºC. While the oven is heating rinse the chook under cool running water and dry it out with either paper towel, or a hairdryer (no, really). Once that's done place the chicken on your work surface with the neck facing you and gently slip your fingers under the skin on the breast side. Continue rummaging around the gap between the skin and flesh like you're looking for your keys under the couch until the skin is separated across the breasts, legs and most of the drumsticks. Take a small handful of the olivada and insert it in the gap made looking for your keys. Keep doing that until you've filled the gap or run out of olivada. Massage the chicken to spread the olives evenly.

If by the time your oven is up to temp and your chicken is room temperature, place it on the roasting rack in your roasting tin, brush it with the melted butter and roast until the chicken has reached a safe temp 85ºC which should take about an hour and a half. Otherwise let it warm up before roasting. Add the vegetables to the bottom of the tin about half way through.

When your chook is looking like a retiree from Miami, take it out and place the roasting rack and the vegetables on a chopping board or somewhere else to rest, cover with foil to keep them warm. Put the roasting tin on the stove across two burners on medium to low and add the wine and enough chicken stock to make 1, swirl it around and scrape off all the sticky bits on the bottom of the pan, simmer and reduce to about ⅔ of a cup.

Tags:Olives, Kalamata, Roast, Chicken, Potato, Thyme, Olive Oil