Brown Chicken Stock

White chicken stock looks quite anemic, so in order to give it more depth of colour the first thing to do is brown the chicken carcass. This also gives the stock a lot more flavour.

I chicken carcass
I carrot
I onion
2 sticks celery
I leek
Vegetable oil
A sprig of thyme
I bay leaf
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons tomato puree
2 tablespoon white flour

Preheat oven to 200°C. Place the carcass in a roasting tray and put in oven for 15-20 minutes.

Chop carrot, onion, celery, leek into large chunks. Heat some oil in a pan and add the chopped vegetables, along with the thyme, bay leaf and garlic. Sauté for a few minutes until golden brown, stirring frequently. Add the tomato puree and cook for another 4-5 minutes until the mixture is a rich brown colour.

Five minutes before taking the chicken carcass out of the oven, lightly dust with flour. The flour not only acts as a thickening agent to the stock but stops it becoming greasy, as it soaks up all the access fat. This way the stock becomes really beautiful and transparent. Return the carcass to the oven for 5 final minutes, then pick the bones out of the tray and add them to the pan of vegetables. Top up the pan with just enough water to cover the bones. It is very important to use cold water so that any fat or grease left on the vegetable or bones will solidify and rise to the surface, where you can skim it off. If you use boiling water it will disperse the fat throughout the stock. Bring the stock to the boil, turn the heat down, skim the scum off the top and let it simmer for an hour. Pass through a sieve.

Makes 1 Litre, will keep in air tight container, in fridge.

Extracted from Kitchen Heaven by Gordon Ramsay.

Braised shank of lamb with parsnip purée

I love this particular cut, as it’s the part that people tend to forget. When I was little I grew up eating either leg of lamb or shank. The shank is a cheap, very earthy cut of meat and easy to cook, as you can start it off and then forget about it for a few hours. It benefits from a slow cooking process - the longer you cook it the better. During the process you can actually watch the meat slide down the shank, and the bone is great for presentation. If you’re not a confident cook, this is a good cut to start with. Why serve it with parsnips? Well, I’m fed up with potatoes always being served with lamb. The sweetness of the purée really cuts through the richness of the meat. Parsnip goes hand in glove with lamb - two of the cheapest ingredients and they sit beautifully together. Words by Gordon Ramsay

Serves 4

Olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 small lamb shanks
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 leek, roughly chopped
1 celery stick, roughly chopped
½ a head of garlic
A sprig of fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
a sprig of fresh rosemary
2 star anise
300ml dry white wine
1 litre chicken stock (see recipe under stock)

Parsnip purée
100g butter
4 large parsnips, peeled and chopped
100ml double cream
Sea salt and freshly
ground black pepper


1 Heat a little olive oil in a large pan. Season the lamb shanks and brown them all over in the oil, then remove from the pan and set aside. Add a little more oil to the pan, add the chopped vegetables, garlic, herbs and anise, and cook gently until browned. Pour in the wine and cook until it has reduced down to a syrup. Put the shanks back into the pan and pour on the stock. Season to taste.

2 Cover the pan and cook gently for 2½-3 hours until the meat is tender and falls off the bone. About 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time, make the parsnip purée. Melt the butter in a frying pan over a low heat and cook the parsnips until completely soft and falling apart (about 25 minutes). Add the cream and bring to the boil. Season, then liquidise to a smooth purée. Keep warm.

3 Remove the lamb shanks from their liquid and keep warm. Strain the stock, pour it back into the pan and cook over a high heat until it forms a sauce consistency. Serve each shank with a good spoonful of the parsnip purée, and pour over the sauce. Lovely with some simple steamed broccoli or green beans.

Extracted from Kitchen Heaven by Gordon Ramsay,

Coconut Pistachio Brownie

1 cup Moist Flakes Coconut
½ cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 eegs
½ flour
1/3 cocoa
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup pistachio nuts, roughly chopped

Heat oven to 175°C. Grease and paper line a slice tin. Combine butter, sugar, egg and vanilla essence in a bowl. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Add with ¾ cup coconut flakes and pistachios in to butter mixture.Mix together well. Spread mixture evenly over base of tin. Sprinkle remaining ¼ cup coconut flakes over the top. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the tin. Col completely in tin. Cut into squares.

recipe sourced from the packet of Mckenzies Moist Flaked Coconut.

Ultimate Dining Experience

We recently dined at the flying fish restaurant in Sydney, although we had been there before it was still amazing, you can enjoy your sensational meal overlooking the bay with views of the Sydney Opera House.

If your ever in sydney and love seafood you wont be disappointed.

We enjoyed the degustation menu which consisted of

Flying Fish seafood tapas

Yellow fin tuna with sweet crackling pork and ruby grapefruit

Seared white scallops with a warm cauliflower pannacotta, asparagus salad and black truffle

King Island marron tails with leek tortellini, trompettes and blue swimmer crab bisque emulsion

Lemon, lime and orange sorbet

Pan fried Mulloway with potato fondant, boudin noir,zucchini blossoms and pork jus

Dessert tasting plate

Coffee and petit fours

Images sourced from the flying fish web site

Gourmet Baked Mushroom on Sourdough

I have used this recipe as a starter for a dinner party, a light meal and it would also make a fab breky with some crispy pancetta on the side. This recipe was sorced from Taste magazine

Bash olive oil, garlic and basil.

Brush flat mushrooms with basil oil and season with salt & pepper. Place two halved cherry tomatoes cut side up on mushroom and bake in oven for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile: brush a slice of sourdough or pane de casa bread with basil oil. Bake in oven for 6 minutes.

Place rocket on bread then mushroom. Sprinkle with crumbled feta and drizzle with basil oil.

Garnish with basil leaves.

I don't know where is recipe came from.

Rocket & Spinach Pesto Spaghetti

This is a great pasta that is packed full of freshness, you can add some oven roasted cherry tomatoes or pumpkin, or even some cooked salmon pieces. Make the pesto as close to serving time as possible as it tends to loose its bite.

½ bunch rocket, washed, ends trimmed and dry
½ bunch spinach, washed, ends trimmed and dry
3 garlic gloves
35g parmesan
35g pine nuts

Lemon rind of 1/4 of a lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
80ml (1/3 cup) fresh lemon juice

Salt and pepper

Bashed all of the dry ingredients in a mortar and pestle until it is a very thick chunky paste. Stir in lemon juice and olive oil to make it a pesto consistency. If you add the liquid too soon it makes it messy to bash up the dry ingredients. You can add a little bit of lemon juice earlier if it is too dry to bash.

Cook thin spaghetti in a large saucepan until al dente. Drain well and return to the pan.

Add the rocket and spinach pesto to the pasta and toss until well combined.

Serve with finely grated parmesan, lemon juice and rind.

Mediterranean Rice Salad

I am not sure where this recipe came from, my mother in law gave it to me. It is my most favorite salad and i have also made this using pasta instead of rice.

Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 12 Minutes

2 cups white long grain rice
2 cups chicken stock
420g drained corn kernels
1 cup semi sundried tomatoes
½ cup pine nuts, toasted.
8 green onions
½ cup green olives, sliced
1 cup fresh basil, chopped
Mustard Dressing

½ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons seeded mustard
1 glove garlic
salt & pepper

Place rice in a large sieve and rinse under cold water until water runs clear. Bring the chicken stock to the boil in a medium saucepan; add the rice, simmer covered, over low heat for about 10 minutes until the rice is just tender, and all the liquid is absorbed. Fluff rice with a fork and leave to cool.

In a jar combine all mustard dressing ingredients and shake.

Place the rice, corn, tomatoes, pinenuts, onions, olives and basil in a large bowl.
Just before serving add the mustard dressing. Season to taste.