Baked beans are one of my comfort foods, always have been, always will be. I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to try out Maggie Beer’s version that appeared i one of the first episodes of The Cook and the Chef. Probably because I don’t tend to cook dried beans or pulses and I keep forgetting to pick up some speck. Luckily, one day visiting The Deli in Erskineville to get some ricotta to stuff some zucchini flowers and make some cannelloni I saw they had speck and I picked up some of that too.

Boston Baked Beans - Serves 2-4
250 grams of cannellini beans
1 teaspoon of mustard powder
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 tin of tomatoes
150 grams of pork speck
1 onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves
1 bay leaf, torn
Salt and pepper

Heat oven to 180ºC. Soak the beans overnight. In a large saucepan, fry the onion, speck, cloves and bay leaf until the onions are transparent. Add everything else except the beans and simmer for 10 minutes to reduce the liquid a little.

Drain the beans and add. Put a lid on the saucepan and bake for three hours, stirring occasionally. Serve.

Tags:Beans, Tomato, Recipe, Bacon, Baked, Maggie Beer

Here’s something that I’ve been meaning to make for a while, and thanks to SBS’s Food website, not only is the recipe but the original video from Maeve O’Meara’s exellent series, Food Safari.

I made all of the sauce, but only cooked half of the chicken since it was just me after all, a quarter for dinner and the other quarter for lunch the next day. Even though I have a charcoal BBQ, I don’t have a rotisserie so I just turned it once in a while with some corn and a sweet potato next to it. A little bit of bacon didn’t hurt either!

It’s damn tastier, and healthier than Oprorto and that’s saying something coming from me.

Charcoal chicken with piri piri sauce
1 whole chicken Marinade: 8 cloves garlic, crushed Pinch salt Juice of 2 lemons 1 tsp bay leaf powder 2 tsp paprika 2 shots scotch whisky (80mls) 2 tbsp very soft butter 1 whole chicken Rock salt Piri Piri Sauce: 10 – 12 birdseye chillies, chopped finely (medium size, medium heat) Pinch salt Juice of ½ lemon 100mls olive oil 2 tbsp garlic powder (not crushed garlic as the mixture will be too runny) Mix all ingredients into a thickish dipping sauce.


Mix all ingredients for marinade together. Prepare chicken – trim away excess fat. Then use a sharp knife or kitchen scissors to cut the chicken through the breastbone. Open out, turn over and flatten by pressing down with your hand along the backbone. Make a small cut under each wing to help it flatten further. Make several incisions in the flesh with a sharp knife. This will allow the flesh to absorb the marinade and allow fat to drain. Prick all over with a large fork. Brush both sides with the marinade and sprinkle with rock salt. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 30 – 45 minutes. Cook over a charcoal BBQ (or any hot grill if you don’t have a BBQ) turning frequently and basting continuously with the remaining marinade until both sides are golden brown – approximately 30 minutes. Cut the chicken into pieces with kitchen scissors and brush with Piri Piri sauce.

Tags:Portuguese, Piri-Piri, Chicken, Bacon, Corn, Recipe

Have you ever had one of those moments when you’ve heard a new word two or three times in a week then find yourself using it? Somehow, the arse that hosts Ready Steady Cook taught me the word ‘paupiette’ which is a piece of meat with a pocket sliced into it and then stuffed prior to cooking. I’ve made similar things many times before but I never realised that was a word for it.

So when I had some bacon, camembert and a chicken breast handy a chicken paupiette was called forth.

Chicken Paupiette of Bacon and Camembert

Chicken stuffed with Bacon and Camembert - Serves 2
2 Chicken breasts
4 Rashers of bacon
250g of Camembert, sliced
Salad leaves to serve

Slice a pocket into the thickest parts of the chicken breasts trying to make each pocket as big as possible but not to cutting through to the other side. Lightly hammer out the chicken to as thin as possible without breaking apart the chicken.

Stuff the pocket with half of the cheese and a rasher of bacon then slowly pan fry until the chicken is cooked through and browned on the outside along side the two spare rashers of bacon.

Slice the chicken in half and lay over salad leaves with the extra pieces of bacon.

Tags:Cheese, Chicken, Recipe, Bacon, Frying, Camembert

I said I’d go back to Varga Bar to try their food menu and today was the day, or at least I thought it was. It was time for brunch, around 1030, 11 and I wanted a bit of breakfast, salmon eggs benedict to be exact but they were out of smoked salmon. Okay fine, I’ll just have ham. Sorry, out of that too? Not to worry, I can understand how difficult it is to find either of those two things in Newtown. The Deli is all of 2 minutes walk away, not to mention all of the other delicatessens and heck, even the IGA on King Street has both.

I ended up with a sandwich. Luckily it was tasty but given it was a bacon sandwich ($10), a little light on the bacon.

Bacon, Avocado, Tomato and Lettuce on Sourdough @ Varga Bar

Tags:Newtown, Bacon, Sandwich, Avocado, Review, Café

The lunchtimes of the IT Consultant tends to run along the lines of starting off at a new client, asking where the best place to have lunch is and going there every single day for the six weeks you’re on the job. Sometimes it’s hit and miss but sometimes you get lucky.

Peppermill Café, Milsons Point

At a recent contract I went out myself and failed miserably picking the Kirribilli Village Café and Restaurant. I tried their steak sandwich and it was just awful, chewy, tasteless and very overpriced. $25 off for the sandwich and a coffee. That’s when I asked. The team I was working with and I went around the corner to The Peppermill Café in Milsons Point, their coffee is a little to be desired considering it’s Campos Coffee, but it almost always seemed burnt but the service and food was always pretty good.

The first day I went I was recommended their regular special, a chicken and leek pie. Not what I expected in the presentation department but it was tasty. An individual baking dish with mashed potato on the bottom, a regular chicken and leek filling and a square of golden puff pastry balanced across the top. Almost every day since then I went to Peppermill for either lunch or breakfast, often for both. When I had breakfast, brunch, or afternoon tea, I’d pick up a smoked salmon, ricotta and avocado croissant, the combination of the soft buttery pastry and the oily smokiness of the salmon was a winner.

Smoked Salmon Croissant @ Peppermill Café, Milsons Point

They serve an all day breakfast here, and the majority of the menu was based around breakfast but almost as often as I’d see someone have a burger I saw someone else have either the pancakes or french toast, both served with either bacon and maple syrup or a mixed berry compote. Delicious stuff and well worth a try if you want a bit of extra energy before hitting either the Kirribilli or North Sydney Markets one weekend (I worked weekends too). The beef burger is nice, standard fare, but the chicken burger was the winner, chicken, bacon, avocado. Damn tasty.

It’s also licensed and they won’t pass judgement if you have a Bloody Mary on a Monday!

Chicken & Bacon Burger @ Peppermill Café, Milsons Point

The Peppermill Café
30 Glenn Street, Milsons Point (map)

Monday to Friday 7am to 6pm
Saturday and Sunday 8am - 4pm

T: (02) 9954 1444
F: (02) 9954 1444
www.thepeppermillcafe.com.au

Tags:Coffee, Restaurant, Review, Chicken, Burgers, North Sydney, Milsons Point, Croissant, Smoked Salmon, Avocado, Bacon

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

Bill Granger is someone I would aspire to be like, studying art and working as a waiter he discovered and grew his passion for food and now he’s gotten pretty well rich doing something he loves, with out selling out.

Bills - 359 Crown Street, Surry Hills

Bills second restaurant in Surry Hills opened 12 years ago and has been going strong ever since, full to the brim from opening till the end of brunch, easing off through the day and picking up again for dinner. It’s a great place to come despite it’s incredibly short menu, one of the shortest in Sydney with usually ony a dozen items to choose from, most of which are staples that are always there such as the sweetcorn fritters with guacamole and the chicken club sandwich, which is what I had today. Now this isn’t your typical three tier sandwich, it’s a chibata roll with roast tomato, baked chicken thigh, roquett and a light spread of dijonaise. It is delicious, but for $17.50 you’d want it to be. Don’t count on the coffee, it’s always just a little burnt.

Club Sandwich and Herbed Fries - Bills, 359 Crown Street, Surry HIlls

If you’re after better coffee and cheaper sweet corn fritters (also $17.50) try Lemon Twist a little further south on Crown Street.

Tags:Surry Hills, Restaurant, Chicken, Bacon, Review