Merry Christmas to all and to all a happy pavlova

It's most certainly that wonderful time of the year: Christmas is almost here and even closer for the lucky ones who don't have to be at work these next two days.

Christmas in Sydney is synonymous with summer, cold prawns, mango and pavlova for me, and I'm planning to have all this on the lunch table in two days' time for Christmas.

Pavlova, made with ingredients courtesy of Aldi Australia

I've had all sorts of pavlovas: completely store bought and dressed; store-bought bases and self-dressed; ones made from those little plastic egg things; and this year, one made from scratch by yours truly.

Aldi ingredients (eggs excluded) mise en place

Earlier this month I was sent a package of Christmas goodies from Aldi Australia supermarkets, with thanks to PPR.

Aside from a huge range of Aldi's Christmas products like fruit cake, panettone, fruit mince pies and German specialties like marzipan stollen, glazed lebkuchen (so addictive) and pfeffernüsse, I also received most of the ingredients to make a pavlova - that iconic Australasian fluffy meringue cake, topped with cream and fresh fruit.

Whipped meringue

Having had some disastrous experiences previously with various types of meringues, there was trepidation and fairly exact measuring of caster sugar, corn flour and white vinegar into the stiffly beaten egg whites.

In the end, I think I beat the egg whites on higher speed and for longer than the Aldi recipe suggested, but I felt safer for it.

Meringue tower

The very stiff, glossy peaks meant that I could pile the meringue high without it foaming and collapsing on me - and for me, that's an achievement.

Shaped meringue in oven

In any case it needed to be shaped as a round cake to fit into a new cake carrier I have, and so it was flattened and gingerly rounded before entering a low heat oven for an hour and a half.

I seem to have issues following recipes but despite a slight hiccup in the cooking timing, upon removing the meringue after overnight cooling in the turned-off oven, it looked like a proper pavlova with a crisp outer shell, and soft, marshmallow-y insides.

Finished pavlova

However, it would need to be decorated and served up at a gathering before I could really know what the insides would be like - much more nerve-racking than normal cakes where you can just stick in a skewer.

I was supplied with thickened cream for whipping, and punnets of raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and white peaches for decorating my pavlova - that skill of which needs a little work yet.

And to the all-important fluffy centre and taste test?

Pavlova innards (all that was left at the picnic!)

Success. It was perfectly soft and fluffy within, and even a little densely so which is how I like my pav. There was a decent thickness to the crisp outside shell, which had gained just a little colour in the oven.

The soft meringue itself was sweet, but not overly so while some commented that there was no minerally flavour that sometimes comes from the eggs.

In all, a win - a great, simple recipe that with a bit of refining on my behalf will be perfect for Christmas Day.

I'd like to wish everyone a very happy, merry and stress-free Christmas - I hope it's filled with great food and booze, presents, laughter and the love of family, friends and the jolly man in red.

Food, booze and shoes received pavlova ingredients and Christmas products from Aldi Australia, with thanks to PPR.

Sunday roast: Murray Valley Pork rolled loin

I’m not the best home cook. I like cooking but hate the cleaning. I have a short list of things I can do well, a longer list of things I do at a very average level, and an unenviable reputation for kitchen disasters that are still somewhat edible.

Murray Valley Pork cranberry and almond rolled loin
(Food, booze and shoes received a complimentary sample, with thanks to Acumen Republic)

So a partly prepared product like the Murray Valley Pork cranberry and almond rolled loin is perfect for me as the end result gives off the impression that I can cook, when in fact it's as easy as unwrapping the product, putting it in the oven with some vegetables and basting every now and then.

Murray Valley Pork cranberry and almond rolled loin

Murray Valley Pork hails from a network of farms in the Riverine region in southern NSW and northern Victoria, produced by Rivalea Australia. They offer over 30 different cuts of pork exclusively through retail butcher shops and select restaurant (not supermarkets).

The cranberry and almond rolled loin - ready to go into the oven

The stuffed cranberry and almond rolled pork loin is a new product offering from Murray Valley Pork available from select butchers. Each rolled loin varies from 1.0-1.5 kilograms each and is sold in vacuum-sealed packs (RRP $19.50/kg).

Rolled loin side view

Tightly rolled and tied, the loin holds a bread-like stuffing featuring dried cranberries and almond, while the loin is coated in a sprinkle of cranberry seeds.

Murray Valley Pork brand manager, Paul da Saliva said, "We've been listening to our customers and have developed a value added product that takes the stress out of cooking." And hence, my first pork roast.

Rolled loin with first baste

Along with the sample I was given came a recipe to pimp my rolled loin up a little with a honey and balsamic vinegar glaze for basting (600mL balsamic vinegar mixed with 60mL of honey).

Roma tomatoes with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, to be roastec

To accompany the roast was a recipe for balsamic roasted tomatoes, while I added a few other roast-friendly vegetables to my oven.

Rolled loin at second baste

Basting regularly through the 1.5 hour cooking time, the kitchen was filled with the sweet aromas of honey and cooking pork.

Rolled loin at fourth baste

At some point when the pork was starting to cook through, the stuffing started to ooze from both ends, while a sauce of cooking juices and excess glaze pooled deliciously at the bottom.

The cooked rolled loin 

Once cooked, the rolled loin had 15 minutes' resting out of the oven and it was all but impossible to resist cutting a bit off the caramelised end to taste.

Side view of the cooked rolled loin 

The meat itself was quite lean and tender, complemented beautifully by the honey and balsamic glaze. The stuffing was light and joyfully studded with cranberries, while the almond was somewhat less noticeable.

Murray Valley Pork cranberry and almond rolled loin with roast vegies

The more than 1 kilogram rolled loin I had would have been enough to feed four or five people with a bunch of vegetable sides, although the leftovers were pretty good too.

Great with reheated roast vegetables the leftovers even made for a gourmet sandwich filling two days after (with wholegrain mustard, rocket, caramelised onions, brie cheese and pickles).

Stuffing of the cooked rolled loin

For a quick and easy Sunday roast, the Murray Valley Pork cranberry and almond rolled loin is a great, no-fuss, low-hassle option that will still impress your home diners, and helping me grow my short list of things I can do reasonably well.

Murray Valley Pork works closely with chef and television host Manu Feildel who is the brand ambassador. It is also the exclusive pork supplier to Channel Ten’s 'Everyday Gourmet' with former MasterChef contestant, Justine Schofield. See recipes, hints and stockists at the Murray Valley Pork website.

Food, booze and shoes received a sample of the Murray Valley pork with thanks to Acumen Republic.

OzHarvest Feeding the 5000 with rescued food to highlight food wastage

Food wastage is an issue close to my conscience and fridge – I hate throwing out groceries from the fridge or pantry. I feel guilty about the financial and environmental waste, as well as the thought that someone else out there really could have done with the extra food.

Feeding the 5000 by OzHarvest, Martin Place, Sydney

Australians throw out $7.8 billion of food every year, according to foodwise.com.au, which equates to every Australian household throwing out $1,038 worth of groceries each year. That’s four million tonnes per year of food which ends up in landfill, and yet there are those without enough food.

Pop-up milk crate garden

And not that food supply is an issue in Australia. Our country produces enough food to feed approximately 60 million people, according to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (including exports, of course) – yet two million people in Australia still rely on food relief every year.

OzHarvest volunteers

Just last month, OzHarvest – the not-for-profit organisation that rescues food and delivers it to people in need – hosted a major awareness event in Sydney CBD's Martin Place, partnering with the United Nations Environment Program (OzHarvest is the official Australian partner on the global Think.Eat.Save – Reduce your Foodprint campaign).

Maeve O'Meara (centre) with volunteers

Feeding the 5000 brought together a number of restaurant chefs and industry figures, hundreds of OzHarvest volunteers and rescued ingredients to raise awareness of food waste and consumer tips to help reduce wastage.

Chef Lauren Murdoch (left) at the vegetable curry station

Surplus vegetable curry with rescued rice, onion relish and yoghurt

A free hot lunch for 5000 people was created out of ingredients that would have otherwise ended up as landfill. The menu included a full-flavoured vegetable curry made of surplus vegetables from the Sydney Markets and rescued sauce from MARS Food, served with rescued rice, onion relish, yoghurt and day-old bread salvaged from Brasserie Bread.

Brasserie Bread and saved potato and ham hock soup station

Dessermakers, Heilala Vanilla and Brasserie Bread's rescued bread & butter pudding station

Lemonade by 42 Bannerman

There was also saved potato soup with smoked ham hock by Martin Boetz of the Cooks Co-Op and James Viles of Biota; rescued bread and butter pudding by Dessertmakers, Pepe Saya and Heilala Vanilla; onion relish by Three Blue Ducks, chapatti from the Sydney Sikh community; gazpacho by Hungry Mondays, yoghurt by Kristen at the Full Circle and a fantastically refreshing home-style spiced lemonade by Salvatore Mammoti from 42 Bannerman Trattoria e Bar.

OzHarvest founder and CEO Ronni Kahn (left) and OzHarvest patron Thérèse Rein
(Photo by Giles Park, courtesy of Liquid Ideas)

Founder and CEO of OzHarvest, Ronni Kahn, said the aim behind the Feeding the 5000 event globally is to help raise awareness about the disturbing amount of food wasted around the world and how individuals, producers, supermarkets and governments can do a lot more to reduce food waste in our country.

"Food waste is a huge challenge that needs to be addressed locally and be embraced within our own homes first, so that we can affect incremental change globally. Our challenge is to create a sustainable food culture that can be shared by all. It’s a paradox that we produce enough food to feed all seven billion of us, yet so many in this world go hungry," Kahn said.

"The aim of this event is to educate all people – producers, consumers and businesses alike. We should not buy into the fact that fruit and veg needs to be cosmetically beautiful before we’ll buy it, because for every bendy or blemished carrot thrown out – we throw away embedded water, energy and fuel,” she said.

Billy Kwong's Kylie Kwong dishing out the vegetable curry
(Photo by Giles Park, courtesy of Liquid Ideas)

Nick Nuttall, UNEP spokesperson, added: “The way humanity manages or mismanages its food supply will in many ways define the 21st century – currently we know that we are not doing a great job with at least one-third of all food produced lost or wasted.”

"All of us are connected to food and every one of us can make a difference in the lives of those in need and the health of our planet,” he said.

In attendance at the Feeding the 500 event were OzHarvest patron and current First Lady (or Mrs Kevin Rudd) Thérèse Rein; Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore and United Nations representative Julia Dean.

OzHarvest founder and CEO Ronni Kahn speaking on the panel

There was also a panel discussion on Food Waste, Food Sustainability & Food Security featuring OzHarvest’s Ronni Kahn; Joost Bakker, sustainable architect of Greenhouse by Joost fame; Anabella Sao, a local grower; Indira Naidoo, author, blogger and former TV personality; Professor Veena Sahajwalla of the University of New South Wales; and Stephen Beaman, Director of Waste and Resource Recovery, NSW Environment Protection Authority.

Efendy's Somer Sivrioglu (right) cooking at the stove(Photo by Giles Park, courtesy of Liquid Ideas)

Chefs throwing in a helping hand included Kylie Kwong of Billy Kwong; Martin Boetz of The Cook’s Co-op (and formerly Longrain); James Viles of Biota Dining; Lauren Murdoch of Three Weeds; Somer Sivrioglu of Efendy; Grant LaBrooy of Three Blue Ducks; and Omar Ivan Andrade, Ben Sampson and Hendrik Vogelzang of Hungry Mondays.

The event was also supported by the NSW Environment Protection Authority’s Love Food Hate Waste campaign.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, roughly one-third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year — approximately 1.3 billion tonnes — gets lost or wasted. Every year, consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food (222 million tonnes) as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tonnes). Food loss and waste also amount to a major squandering of resources, including water, land, energy, labour and capital and needlessly produce greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to global warming and climate change.

Going nuts over Australian macadamias

I've learnt a few new things recently:
a) it is indeed possible to misplace a big chunky DSLR camera;
b) it's quite fun out in rainy weather when you’re prepared for it;
c) raw sorrel has an amazing citrus flavour;
d) the macadamia nut is the only nut that is native to Australia; and
e) the new season of Australian macadamia nuts are currently being harvested and dried for our eating pleasure.

Australian macadamia nuts - in shell and kernels
(Image courtesy of Australian Macadamia Society)

Australian macadamia growers, predominantly in subtropical northern New South Wales and Queensland, are anticipating a yield of 39,000 tonnes of macadamia nut in-the-shell in this year’s harvest, which will translate to 11,500 tonnes of luxurious macadamia nut kernels, of which 35% remains in the domestic market.

Colin Fassnidge, Australian Macadamia Society's Lynne Ziehlke and Australian Macadamias
ambassador Eamon Sullivan at Sydney Seafood School, Sydney Fish Markets, Pyrmont

This nugget of agricultural information was imparted at a recent Sydney Seafood School experience, courtesy of the Australian Macadamia Society which represents growers and the broader industry.

Olympic swimmer, and Perth café and restaurant owner, Eamon Sullivan, is an ambassador for Australian Macadamias and was on hand with restaurant chef and owner, and My Kitchen Rules judge, Colin Fassnidge, for a bloggers "maca nut" cooking challenge.

Sullivan and Fassnidge demonstrating macadamia recipes

While I’ve enjoyed many a macadamia nut, mostly roasted and salted, I've never really cooked with the nuts – until now.

On the menu for the challenge were a winter-appropriate Jerusalem artichoke and macadamia soup by Fassnidge and a not-nearly-as-healthy-as-it-sounds macadamia granola by Sullivan.

Sullivan and Fassnidge

Sydney Seafood School is such an excellent venue for classes, starting with the demonstration kitchen where both Fassnidge and Sullivan cooked, entertained and educated the small class.

Fassnidge plating up his soup

Sullivan's macadamia nut granola out of the oven

While there was wine and banter on hand, one did need to pay some attention as we'd be recreating the dishes shortly after.

It didn't take long for the demo kitchen to fill with hearty smells of onion, Jerusalem artichoke and creaminess of Fassnidge's soup nor Sullivan's caramelly, sweet, nutty granola.

Australian Macadamias aprons

In the Sydney Seafood School kitchens, it was action at all stations from the word go. Fassnidge and Sullivan did the rounds, proffering helpful advice and tips that I wouldn't mind in my kitchen every time I cook.

Macadamia and Jerusalem artichoke soup

I found chef Fassnidge's general seasoning tip – salt, pepper and, intriguingly, lemon in everything – particularly interesting and one that I'll be trying in the home kitchen.

We garnished his creamy, white soup of blitzed macadamia nuts and Jerusalem artichokes with more macadamias, raw sorrel shreds and picked crab flesh; the latter presumably to suit the Sydney Seafood School charter.

It was by far the best soup I've had any hand in making with the unique flavour of the root vegetable enhanced by the presence of creamed, rich macadamia nuts. The sorrel was a crowning glory, lifting the soup with its fresh citrus flavour.

Macadamia nut granola mixture uncooked

Meanwhile, Sullivan's macadamia granola was admittedly not something the elite athlete would eat too often. His recipe incorporates 300g of sugar, a combined 300mls of honey and golden syrup and almost 300mls combined of oil and butter.

The rolled oats and dessicated coconut give the granola a definite 'Anzac biscuit' taste and feel. But given the oil and sugar content of the granola, I'd recommend it as a now-and-then dessert treat with yoghurt or ice cream rather than an everyday breakfast item.

Macadamia nut granola out of the oven

The speed in which my granola was caramelising – or let's be honest in my case, burning – in the oven had me a little thrown, so too it's seemingly not-solid state while cooking. It firmed up as it cooled on the tray out of the oven and was loudly crunchy when completely cooled.

Fassnidge and Sullivan tasting and judging dishes

With both soup and granola completed in under an hour in teams of two, I was pretty happy with my efforts and the end result of dinner and dessert (burnt granola bits aside), even if they weren't winners of the night's challenge.

Sydney Seafood School dining room light features

We dined on our efforts in the Sydney Seafood School's gorgeous dining room after a fun and educational kitchen session.

Following the class, inspired and equipped with a hamper of "maca nuts" and other macadamia products, thus far at home I've made a macadamia choc chunk cookie based on a mashing of a couple of recipes and will be trying out Sullivan's decadent macadamia chocolate brownie recipe soon.

My macadamia and salted chocolate chunk cookies

Buying and storage hints (from the Australian Macadamia Society):
When buying macadamias, look for ones that are plump, crunchy and light-coloured.

To help maintain their quality, correct storage is vital. Once opened, keep macadamias in an airtight container, refrigerate and use within two months, remembering to return nuts to room temperature before eating.

The Australian Macadamia Society was founded with the objectives of promoting and coordinating all aspects of the Australian macadamia industry, to encourage free exchange of ideas and information, and to foster goodwill among members. See their Facebook page for macadamia recipes and ideas.

Food, booze and shoes participated in the Australian Macadamias Food Blogger Challenge with thanks to the Australian Macadamia Society and Crossman Communications.

Green tea rocky road: a sort-of recipe - and have a Merry Christmas

Christmas tree at the Flower Dome, Gardens by the Bay, Singapore
(Singapore food and travel posts to come soon)

First of all, Merry Christmas! I hope you spend tomorrow and all the festive season with loved ones, gorgeous food and responsible amounts of booze. And leave something nice out for Santa tonight, like a G&T or a perky dry rose.

Teddy bear Christmas tree at the Fullerton Hotel, Singapore

I'm not much of a recipe poster, but this no-cooking chocolate confection was pretty popular with a casual gathering and I imagine it would be for festive celebrations too.

Green tea rocky road - I think the inspiration came from eating way too many green tea Kit Kats which I bought in Japan earlier this year. And not being a cake or something requiring accuracy, this anything-goes kind of 'cooking' suits my style to a tee.

Green tea rocky road

The must-have ingredients for basic rocky road are chocolate and marshmallows. As for the rest of the fillings, classic ones are nuts, dessicated coconut and glace cherries. And if these items aren't in your pantry, why not try other combinations - like dried cranberries and pretzels here in this green tea version.

I call this a sort-of recipe as I don't provide an ingredients list or quantities as such - make as much or as little as you please. The only requirement is that the melted chocolate coats all the fillings.

White chocolate buttons for melting

First, melt the chocolate. I used a packet of white chocolate buttons. Better quality chocolate can be used, of course, but seeing the melange of flavours I was about to throw into it, I wasn't too worried about chocolate quality.

Melt the chocolate: whether in the microwave in bursts or over a double boiler (or even a pot of boiling water). Stir thoroughly, ensuring all chocolate pieces are melted and let it cool slightly.

Melted white chocolate with green tea powder

The next step is to add green tea powder, which is generally finely milled leaves of green tea. It's available in most Asian grocers in the Japanese section (I got mine in a small tin from the IGA in Market City, Chinatown).

I'd say add two teaspoons of the powder to the pack of melted chocolate to start, and add more to taste (I like a strong green tea flavour, so added about 1.5 teaspoons more).

Mix very thoroughly to achieve a consistent, sinister green colour.

Adding dried cranberries, marshmallows and pretzels to the chocolate mix

Next, add your fillings of choice. Start with a small amount, mix them through and see if the melted chocolate can hold more fillings, in which case, add more.

I added pink and white marshmallows (the normal size although the smaller ones would certainly work too), plain salted pretzels and a handful of dried cranberries for pops of sweet tartness.

When the fillings are amply coated with chocolate, pour out the mixture into a baking paper lined wide tray - I used a brownie one. Allow it to set at room temperature.

Once the chocolate has hardened, remove the rocky road from the tray and carefully cut into small squares. Serve / gift wrap / eat.