It's a Chef's Life

This is a riff on one of my special occasion meals. Marinate chicken in white miso, rice wine vinegar, mirin, soy sauce, and a little sesame oil. One hour is the ideal marinating time. Fry store bought Thai curry paste, I used green, in some neutral oil. Add a can of light coconut milk and reduce. Season to taste with fish sauce and brown sugar and keep warm. Boil peeled potatoes until tender and mash with butter and wasabi paste. Season to taste. Saute chicken and finish cooking in a 200C oven. Serve the potatoes topped with chicken, sauce, and thinly sliced radishes.  

Soup making is one of my favourite parts of cold weather! Italian wedding soup starts with meatballs; mix ground beef with egg, breadcrumbs, and seasoning. Brown in oil. Saute chopped rainbow chard stems, add sliced leaves. Top with good chicken stock and add meatballs, white beans, and orzo. Cook ten minutes until orzo is tender and season to taste.  

     I was given the self care cookbook by Gemma Ogston for Christmas and it is full of inspiration. I was inspired by her stuffed sweet potatoes which go down a treat. Roast unpeeled sweet potatoes at 200C until tender. Toss chickpeas with smoked Spanish paprika, chili powder, seasoning, cumin and a little oil. Roast in oven. For the dressing combine tahini with red wine vinegar, honey, garlic and seasoning. Chop cherry tomatoes and mix with lemon juice, seasoning, and fresh chopped coriander. Roast chicken breasts at 200C for 30 minutes, topped with Dijon mustard and salt and pepper. Cut sweet potatoes in half and mash and top with chickpeas, chopped chicken and tomato relish. Top with chopped scallions.

I love panzanella; we have cubed sourdough left over from our Christmas fondue. Toast stale bread cubes in oil over medium heat and toss with diced cucumber, cherry tomatoes, sliced radishes, white beans and diced bacon. Add a dressing of red wine vinegar, extra virgin avocado oil, honey and chopped garlic.  

 I love a bourbon sour, we used to drink them back in my university days in Australia. I also remember enjoying the pisco sour in Peru. To make a gold rush combine equal parts bourbon (I used Maker's Mark), fresh lemon juice, and honey syrup (equal parts honey and water heated to dissolve honey and cooled) with an egg white over ice in a cocktail shaker. Cheers!

  Broccoli and cheddar soup is perfect for the short and cold days of winter. Boil potatoes in stock, when almost done add in some tenderstem broccoli. Puree with an immersion blender, adding mature grated cheddar, cream, and salt and pepper.

  I love homemade granola because it has exactly what I want in it. Toss oats and nuts (I used macadamias and Brazil nuts) with some pumpkin seeds, some oil, maple syrup, and a pinch of salt. Roast at 180C until golden about 20 minutes. When cooled toss with dried fruit (I used dried figs and dried cranberries) and I also added some mini white chocolate chips leftover from making Christmas candy. Enjoy your custom granola!