Some people may be quite incredulous to the fact that tearing apart animals and eating their flesh is quite enjoyable. For me, it ranks right up there with the same level of satisfaction you get after polishing off an entire peking duck or 3 dozen oysters. Or 20 McNuggets. Crustaceans scamper around the Earth’s seabeds withholding from human kind some of the most precious and addictive meat known to exist. I find simplicity serves these fellas best. Steamed or intelligibly tossed in a wok with some chilli jam, the less you do with these creatures the more you get out of them. At the other end of the seafood monarchy we find the sardine. Sometimes dismissed as bait and not even good enough, in the eyes of this particular fishmonger, for prime real estate behind the glass display cabinet but instead piled up in a blue container on the floor like an open casket at an empty funeral. They may be small and cheap, but that’s not a good enough reason to discriminate against the sardine, it’s funny but still no reason why you shouldn’t be chowing down on these little pilchards. BBQ a couple and thank me later, after all how could you not like a fish that was named after a Mediterranean island?

Blue Swimmers w Chilli Jam

Steamed Blue Swimmers w Rouille

School Prawns fried in Spiced Tea Butter w Pork Belly Toasts

BBQ’d  Marinated Sardines w Tomato and Parsley

BBQ’d Celery and Watercress Salad

Bloody hell, summer is nearly over. Better fire up the BBQ and make the most of the primo conditions. Portuguese style BBQ’d chooks are a crowd pleaser, and it’s not bloody hard to see why. Crisp, charcoaled skin smothered in piri piri hides a lucious white flesh that would make any cow ‘mooooo’.  BBQing isn’t all about the meat, veg love the hot action too. Zucchinis and scallions, rubbed with a little olive oil and salt, take to the grills heat like  butter on bread….magic. Speaking of bread….sopping up the chicken juice and piri piri with a focaccia laden with mascarpone was one of the most deliciously satisfying moments I’ve had all summer.

BBQ’d Piri Piri Chicken

Green Beans and Watercress w Ranch

BBQ’d Zucchini and Scallion Salad w Onion and Parsley Dressing

Mascarpone and Scallion Focaccia

Our mate Joel (ripper of a dude) is having a little crisis. Recently he has become incredibly cautious as to what food groups compose his diet, which I found a little disturbing. My fears were only magnified when he told us the meat group had been put on hiatus. Shocking. I’m not saying you can’t enjoy a meal that is void of meat, but why would you bother to put yourself through such an awful regime for days/weeks on end. If you enjoy something, then enjoy it more. Joel, I hope you enjoyed that skirt you bloody legend, cos there’s plenty more where that came from champ.

Beef Skirt marinated in Soy, Mirin, Marjoram, Sage, Oregano, Garlic

Button Mushrooms, Apple and Kiwi Cream, Fresh Mint

Burrata, Ox Heart Tomatoes, Strawberries, Purple Cress

Baby Cos, Egg Scallion Dressing, Croutons

Roast Squash and Mache Salad

Iggy’s Bread w Shiso and Parmesan Butter

Sydney’s weather throughout the summer has been more imbalanced than a one-legged vegans diet. However on the off occasion when the sun decides to endure a lengthy stint outdoors, we have opted to follow suit enjoying lunch out on the deck. Strawberries and burrata begin the meal, which is probably my favourite thing to eat right now, topped with a little baby chive and watercress salad. Fresh summer strawberries, macerated a touch, and creamy burrata are a brilliant way to start or end a nice shiny feast. The leftovers from the previous evening were turned into a deserving little dish that would please the socks off any man or beast.

Strawberries, Burrata, Baby Chives and Watercress

Lamp Rump, Confit Baby Onions, White Zucchini, Dashi Jelly, Snow Pea Sprouts

It has been a while since we have hosted a dinner at The Duxford, mainly due to certain members schedules and sheer laziness. Sometimes the meals we enjoy most are the ones we cook for ourselves, for no guests results in minimal stress, less dishes to clean and especially no vegan moon units to worry about. This dinner was enjoyed out on the deck in the cool summer breeze amongst some sterling conversation, which goes hand in hand with the present company. A salad of golden grapes tomatoes, tiny purple grapes, pickled eschallots and snow pea shoots played nice along side the roast lamb rump, cold braised eggplant, asparagus salad and confit baby onion with dried shiso finished with a light dashi gravy.

Roast Lamb Rump, Cold Braised Eggplant, Asparagus Salad, Confit Baby Onion w Dried Shiso, Dashi Gravy

Golden Grape Tomatoes, Tiny Purple Grapes, Pickled Eshallots, Snow Pea Sprouts

• 500g White Asparagus

• White Anchovies

• 2 Thin slices of Sourdough

• 2 slices of Leg Ham

• Handful of Basil

• Sea Salt

• Caster Sugar

• Black Pepper

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• Mustard Powder

• Unsalted Butter

• Wedge of Lemon

Put a large pot of salted water on the stove, bring to the boil. Trim asparagus, set three spears aside. Place the remaining asparagus into the boiling water for 2 minutes, then refresh in iced water. Peel the three spears you set aside lengthways, leaving you with long, wafer thins strips. Place strips in a bowl with a pinch of salt, sugar and mustard powder, leave to pickle. Place a pan on high heat. Cut sourdough up into little cubes and add to the hot pan along with a splash of olive oil and a nice knob of butter. Season with salt and pepper, tossing the cubes constantly until golden. Transfer to some kitchen towel. Keeping the pan on a high heat, add the slices of leg ham, cooking on both sides for 1 minute. Lay slices of ham down on a plate, take asparagus spears and wrap each one with an anchovy and assemble over the ham. Take the sourdough cubes and smash to crumbs in a mortar…..scatter all over the plate. Drape pickled asparagus slices along with basil leaves all over the dish and finish with a lick of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon. This fella would be a nice feed between two, so adjust the proportions to cater to your needs.

Fish soup…..why on earth do we not see enough variations on Australian menus when we are surrounded by the ocean, which is home to some fantastic shellfish and finfish. I find fish soups can swing both ways, where on one hand you can have a strong, luxuriously rich bouillabaisse based demon and on the other, a light, delicate fairy of a consommé. Here is my attempt at the later, which Morgan McGlone (a serious dude) of the Flinders Inn currently has on his menu. I had the privilege of sampling the dish a couple months and could not get the idea out of my head. I love a good bouillabaisse, this is just a variation.

Bouillabaisse Soup w Steamed King Prawn, King Prawn Tartaré and Seared Scallops w Rouille Croutons

• 500g Chicken Thigh, Skin off

• 1tsp Smoked Paprika

• 1tsp Ground Cinnamon

• 1tsp Ground Black Pepper

• 1tsp Curry Powder

• 1tsp Mustard Powder

• 1tsp Carrot Powder

• 2 tsp Sea Salt

• 1Tbsp Corn Flour

• 2 Tbsp Plain Flour

• 1L Vegetable Oil

Trim chicken thighs, getting rid of any excess fat. Slice thighs into thin bite size pieces. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and add chicken, coating each piece evenly. Heat oil to 170°C, whether it be in a pot or deep fryer, and fry till golden in colour. Season to taste

SWEET MUSTARD

• 2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard

• 1 Tbsp Mayonaisee

• 1 Tbsp Leatherwood Honey

• 1 Tbsp Warm water

• Sea Salt

Combine mustard and mayonaisse. Combine warm water with honey, stir into mustard-mayo blend…..season to taste. How easy is that kids.