Month: August 2016

Shepard’s Pie is a classic family-favourite dish. This Father’s Day, pimp your pie with slow-cooked lamb shoulder. This fancy slow-cooked version is perfect for a special Father’s Day dinner. 

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 x 2kg lamb shoulder, excess fat trimmed,
• 4 large celery sticks, ends trimmed, coarsely chopped
• 4 large carrots, peeled, coarsely chopped
• 1 large brown onion, coarsely chopped
• 6 garlic cloves
• 40g (1/4 cup) plain flour
• 500ml (2 cups) Beef stock
• 95g (1/3 cup) tomato paste
• 2-3 sprigs of thyme
• 1 sprig of rosemary
• 1 cup of white cooking wine
• 1 cup of vegetable stock
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 1kg desiree potatoes, peeled, coarsely chopped
• 80ml (1/3 cup) milk
• 40g (1/2 cup) shredded parmesan
• 2 tablespoons panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

Method:
1. Pierce the shoulder all over with a small, sharp knife. Season with pepper, salt, then rub in sprigs of thyme and rosemary, push the cloves of garlic into the piercings.

2. In a roasting tray place the cut or ‘mirepoix’ onions, carrots and celery into small cubes (about .5cm square) along with the bay. Place the Lamb should on the mirepoix and add white wine and vege stock.

3. Place a sheet of baking paper over the shoulder and cover with foil to seal the dish.

4. Cook for 5 hours at 170°C. Pull out and remove the shoulder from the  dish and set aside. Pour the remaining contents into a jug and let cool. The fat will rise as it cools, so when it starts to almost solidify, it can be easily removed to leave clarified juices and vegetables.

5. Pull the meat from the bone – it should come away very easily. If you have latex food handling gloves, use these as the meat will still be hot and oily.

6. Add the lamb, pan juice with mirepoix, beef stock, tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce in a pot. Bring to the boil. Uncover and cook for a further 30 minutes or until the sauce thickens slightly.

7. Meanwhile, cook the potato in a large saucepan of boiling water for 10 minutes or until tender. Drain and return to the pan. Use a potato masher or mill to mash until smooth. Add the milk and stir until well combined. Season with salt and pepper.

8. Increase oven temperature to 200°C. Use a fork to spread the mash over the lamb mixture. Combine the parmesan and panko in a small bowl. Sprinkle evenly over the mash. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Serve and enjoy!

Thanks to our friends at Plus 5 for sharing this special recipe with us. Plus 5 is a boutique cocktail and tapas bar offering tasty wood fired cuisine alongside an array of incredible artisan drinks. Plus 5 is celebrating Father’s Day with a Pie & Ale special with patrons able to choose from a lamb or beef pie served with mash and peas and a Coopers Ale for only $18 per person. www.plus5bar.com.au 

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The best start to Father’s Day is a delicious breaky. Our friends at Sweets For Tilly have put together a ‘kid-friendly’ and scrumptious pancake recipe to sweeten dad up on his special day. The recipe is also full of natural sugars so a little more healthy than the average pancake.

Ingredients:

• 200 grams self-raising flour – sifted
• 1tsp baking powder
• A pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 300 ml of milk
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 90 grams of finely chopped hazelnuts (or whiz in a food processor for it to be finely chopped)
• 150 grams frozen blueberries
• A small knob of butter for cooking

Method:

1. Mix the dry ingredients and the nuts in a large bowl.

2. Beat the egg with the milk and then make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Whisk the milk into the dry ingredients until you have a thick batter.

3. Gently stir in half the blueberries into the batter mix.

4. Put a large non-stick frying pan on a low-medium heat and add a small knob of butter until it melts.

5. Ladle the batter into the pan, cook for 2-3 minutes until there are bubbles forming on the surface of each pancake.

6. Turn the pancake and cook for another 2-3 minutes until golden.

7. Keep the pancakes warm in a low temp oven, while you cook the rest of the batter.

8. Serve with yoghurt and the remainder of the blueberries. Or for a special treat top with golden syrup with the blueberries.

This is a great recipe for all ages!

Sweets For Tilly is a family run business by Jacqueline and her two daughters, Nancy and Rachel. Starting a baking business has been a lifelong dream for the three ladies, and as a family with the gift of baking and flare for and creativity, Sweets for Tilly was born. The name of the business was inspired in honor of their late Grandma, Mathilde, which is the French version of the name Matilda, which can also be known as Tilly.

Many may know that the art of baking macarons can be very tricky to say the least. The three ladies began their obsession for perfecting the art of macarons several years ago. Their signature flavours include, salted caramel, berry burst (chocolate with a berry surprise, and a very special Mauritian vanilla tea flavour. The Mauritian vanilla tea flavour pays homage to their island heritage, with Jacqueline moving here with her husband many years ago to start a family and settle in Australia. More than 40 years later, both Nancy and Rachel have families of their own finally and decided to take the leap and begin a baking business to turn their dream into a reality.

Sweets For Tilly bake macarons, biscuits, sweets and special occasion cakes all handmade and baked with love. The delights we bake cover everything from weddings, birthdays and baby showers. Learn more at www.sweetsfortilly.com.au

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This delicious meal combines four dad-friendly favourites: Potato Gratin, Beef Rib, Bourbon Glaze and Crumbed Onion Rings. This meal will make for one happy dad this Father’s Day!

Potato Gratin:
Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Lightly grease a rectangular baking tray
3. Thinly slice potatoes and onion.
4. Arrange some of the potato over the base of the tray and top with a little onion.
5. Sprinkle with a few slices of garlic and season with salt and cracked black pepper.
6. Continue layering with the remaining potato and onion, adding garlic every second or third layer.
7. Combine cream with cheese.
8. Bake for 45 minutes or until potato is cooked through and top is golden.
9. Let the tray of gratin go cold and set.
10. Once the Gratin has set you then use a circular hollow cylinder to cut nice round portions of Gratin ready to be served when required

Beef Rib:
Method:

1. Get a pan nice and hot and seal the ribs until they have a nice caramel brown colour.
2. Add ribs to a big roasting dish and fill with some diced onion, Garlic, rosemary, thyme and veal/beef stock.
3. Cover the tray with baking paper and then with tin foil, place in the oven on 84 Degrees Celsius and slow cook for 14hrs.
4. Once the ribs are cooked remove from the tray and strain the stock into a smaller saucepan. This can be kept to be used for another time when slow cooking or reduced into a delicious Jus.
5. Place the ribs in another tray, pour some of the bourbon glaze over and put them in the oven for 10 minutes at 180 Degrees Celsius.
6. When ready, plate the ribs add a little more bourbon glaze and top with onion rings.

Bourbon Glaze:
Ingredients:

• 400ml tomato sauce
• 100ml bourbon
• 50ml Worchester sauce
• 50ml maple syrup
• 1/3 of a bunch of chopped thyme

Method:
Combine all ingredients together to produce 600ml of bourbon glaze.

Crumbed Onion Rings
Method:

1. Slice onions into 1cm thick rings.
2. Dust the rings in flour.
3. Then add to egg wash.
4. Once completely coated in the egg wash, add to the bread crumb.
5. Add the rings back to the egg wash, then to the bread crumb to get a nice even thick layer.
6. Once ready fry until golden brown and serve.

Thank you to our friends at Meat Market on Melbourne’s South Wharf Promenade for sharing this delicious recipe. Dedicated to the flavours of an open flame grill, Meat Market is the ideal spot to sample the best meats Victoria has to offer. On Father’s Day, Meat Market is offering dads and their families some R&R with ‘Ribs and Rump’ platters available for $49 per person. For bookings call 03 9008 8953. www.meatmarketsouthwharf.com.au. 

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