Baked Eggs with Bacon, Coriander and Chilli BBQ sauce

One of my favourite things to wake up to is Baked Eggs. It is definitely the tastiest and one of the easiest breakfasts to prepare... and ridiculously diverse, basically throw in whatever you like. Here's one of my faves...

2 Large Free-Range Eggs
2 Rashers Bacon
Handful of your favourite grated cheese
Olive oil
2-3 chunky slices good quality bread (turkish bread or ciabatta works well)
Heaps of coriander, chopped
Home-made Chilli BBQ Sauce

Okay, this is dead easy if you're prepared. Heat a small, oven proof pan over a medium flame, slosh in a bit of oil and chuck in your bacon rashers. Cook for about 3 minutes before cracking your eggs into the pan. Cook for another 2 minutes, coat the entire thing with cheese and whack it under a hot grill alongside some olive oil coated bread until the bread is toasty and the cheese is melted. Take the HOT pan out of the grill, smother with BBQ Sauce and Coriander and serve with the crispy toast.

Make this for me and you've won my heart.

(Goes really well with a good strong espresso or Bloody Mary if you're hungover)

Chilli BBQ Sauce

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup hot chilli sauce
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
2 fresh birdseye or other hot chillis
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook until onion is tender. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer 5 minutes. Bang it into a food processor and pulse until smooth. Refrigerate until needed.

Almond Crusted Pork Loin on Coleslaw and Quinoa with Mustard Apples

Got inspired by an incredible whole roast pig at an amazing wedding earlier this year and came up with this creation. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

serves 4

4 pork loin chops

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/4 cup plain flour

2/3 cup slivered almonds, roughly crushed

sea salt

freshly ground pepper

Quinoa

1 1/2 cups white quinoa

1 1/2 cup chicken stock

1 1/2 cup water
1 Tbls unsalted butter

Coleslaw

1 1/2 cup finely sliced white cabbage

1 cup finely sliced red cabbage

1 cup roughly chopped coriander

1 granny smith apple, diced

4 spring onions, finely sliced

juice of 1 lemon

Tblsp sour cream

Mustard Apples

1 jonathon apple

2 Tblsp Dijon mustard

juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup coriander, chopped

Start by heating some peanut oil in an oven proof pan. Coat the pork loin with seasoned plain flour, then dip into the egg, then coat in crushed almonds. Place the loins in the pan and fry for around 5 mins on both sides. Pre-heat your oven to 200oC.

While the pork is cooking combine quinoa, stock and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Cook for around 15 min or until tender, adding water as necessary.

Whisk together lemon juice and sour cream. In a large bowl, combine cabbage, coleslaw, coriander, granny smith apple and spring onions and coat with lemon and sour cream dressing, cover and refrigerate.

To finish cooking the pork, place whole pan in the preheated oven for 15 min or until juice runs clear. Remove from oven and let it rest for 5 min. Cooking pork this way keeps it ridiculously moist and tender.

Finely slice the red jonathon apple and coat and coat with mustard and lime juice for a sweet, sour spicy combo. Sprinkle with coriander for an aromatic hit.

To finish, mix butter into cooked quinoa. Spoon into open ended moulds on the plate. top quinoa with a large amount of coleslaw and pack in quite tightly. Place a few apple slices around the plate. Carefully remove the mould from the quinoa and coleslaw. Place a crunchy almond crusted pork loin against the coleslaw. Kick back and enjoy. x

Espresso Jelly with White Chocolate Foam

Hey there. Made these for a high tea/dinner party that got a little out of hand... I kind of want to make them again with Cafe Patron in the jelly and Creme de Cacao in the foam to make it extra fun... will update with results.

Ingredients

Espresso Jelly
- 500ml freshly brewed espresso
- 200g brown sugar
- 3 tsp/ sachets powdered gelatine, dissolved in a little hot water
- Cafe Patron Tequila (optional, although definitely worth it)

White Chocolate Foam
- 250ml Cream
- 1 tsp vanilla paste/ 1 vanilla bean, halved
-220g white chocolate
- 2 egg yolks
- 150g caster sugar

-extra vanilla paste

Okay, I'm really tired. let me know if this makes no sense...

Start by making your espresso jelly. Heat the espresso in a saucepan over low heat and dissolve the brown sugar in it. Remove from the heat and add the dissolved gelatine (it should be a sticky paste). Stir briskly until combined (If you're an alcoholic like me, add the Patron here). Line a baking tray or similar container with cling film and pour the jelly mixture in. Cover, then place into the fridge and allow to set.

Whilst the jelly is setting it's time to make the foam. It's basically a creme anglaise with white chocolate added then put through a cream charger. Start by heating the cream and vanilla over a medium flame, wait until small bubbles start forming around the edges of the saucepan and add the broken up white chocolate to dissolve. Remove from heat. While the chocolate cream mixture is cooling slightly, whisk the egg yolk and caster sugar together until it is nice and creamy. Add a bit of the cream to the egg mixture and stir to combine, then pour the creamy eggs into the saucepan. Put back onto heat, stirring gently until mixture coats the back of the spoon. Allow the mixture to cool slightly before pouring into a cream charger. Charge with two nitrous oxide bulbs and refrigerate until ready to serve.

To serve, I cut the jelly into cubes and placed 2 in each shot glass then filled the shotty with foam, finishing by piping a comma of vanilla paste. You could just as easily serve them as dessert by pouring the jelly into parfait glasses before setting and then top with cream and shaved chocolate.... I'm so making that soon....

Late Night Dinner- Roast Duck Agnolotti with Beetroot Pickle. Micro-salad of Red Shiso and Purple Queen Beans

Hey again. Last night I got home and all I really wanted to do was crash on the couch, but then I realised I have a blog to write and Duck Agnolotti (from toscano's) that really needs eating. So I cleared out the near empty fridge (I swear there is only mustard and pomegranate left in there) and came up with this surprisingly good dish. Inspired by a beetroot pickle a friend taught me how to make and using some incredible olive oil he bought on a great night out- even though the food was not. Seriously, the quality of the ingredients can really make a meal. Thanks MAAAAAATE.

Duck Agnolotti with Beetroot Pickle

Ingredients
Roast Duck and Wild Mushroom Agnolotti
1 Beetroot, peeled
Apple cider vinegar
Brown Sugar
1 Garlic clove, crushed
Bunch of Thyme
Sea Salt
Some nice olive oil
Lemon Juice
Red Shiso sprouts
Purple Queen Beans (or any broad bean type thing)



Finely dice your beetroot into 3-5mm cubes. It really needs to be this small to cook through properly. Plus it looks real pretty. Lightly sauté the crushed garlic in a frying pan  with a good slosh of olive oil. Add in the beetroot and cook for 3-5 mins. Strip the leaves off the thyme and add it to the mix- the more the better. Pour in enough apple cider vinegar to moisten the sauce. Whilst that's simmering away, throw the Agnolotti into salted boiling water. This should take about 6 mins, you'll know it's cooked when the pasta rises to the surface. (I know it's not home made but this is really good quality store bought stuff. I'll post up the brand as soon as I remember it.)
While the pasta is cooking, quickly saute the broad beans and coat in a little olive oil, sea salt and lemon juice. Place on plate along with the red shiso. I <3 microherbs.
Add the brown sugar to the beetroot pickle mixture and stir until dissolved.
Drain the agnolotti and toss in another slosh of olive oil. Place the pasta on the plate beside the microsalad and top with with a good helping of the pickle. Tastes like Autumn.
(I swear I'll leave some for you next time.)

A Start to Swallowing Melbourne

As I am sure many of my friends are aware I am highly passionate about food, and as I have recently discovered, many of them are sick to death of me posting shots of my food to facebook. Hence the start of swallowing Melbourne.
I was hoping to start the blog with a post of an amazing meal I created last week, but the photo that I took of it somehow went missing, so that will have to wait until I remake it. Instead I'll show you all one of my all time favourite desserts... Wait for it.... Chocolate Souffle....

Okay... so i don't have pictures of that either, so you'll have to settle for Brulee French Toast with a Vodka Raspberry Syrup.

So this was something i whpped up a couple of weeks ago when I was home alone on a Monday and a little peckish.


Ingredients

The Toast
Some good quality White Bread
2 Eggs
1/3 cup Milk
Vanilla Paste or pods or essence
Butter
Sugar

The Syrup
1/4 cup Vodka
Handful frozen Raspberries
Star Anise Pod
1/2 Cup Sugar


Cut yourself a couple of slices of bread and let them sit whilst you make the egg mixture, they will dry slightly and take on the moisture more fully. Grab a big bowl and crack your eggs along with your milk and vanilla and whisk until it's combined. Dunk your bread in this and leave covered while you make the syrup.
Get a small saucepan and bring the vodka, star anise and the raspberries to a slow boil. Add the sugar and reduce until syrupy.
While thats bubbling away it's time to do your toast. First, melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat whack in your egg soaked bread and fry until nice and golden. Flip it over and do the other side then take it out to rest. There should be a little butter left in the pan, if not add a little more along with a bit of sugar. Heat up the butter/sugar mixture until its all gooey and chuck your toast back in to coat it in yumminess.
 Pile your bruleed toast on a plate and pour over some of that syrupy goodness.
Seriously Satisfying.

Hope you like it,  will do something more wanky soon.
xx