Euro burgers with red wine sauce

enough for: 2
takes: 10 minutes
400g (14oz) minced (ground) beef
1/3 cup red wine
2 – 3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 generous tablespoons unsalted butter
mixed salad leaves, to serve

1. Preheat a large frying pan or skillet on high.

2. Form beef into 2 patties.

3. Sprinkle a scant teaspoon salt on the hot pan and place burgers on top.

4. Sear burgers for about 3 minutes on each side. Remove meat and rest on 2 warm dinner plates.

4. Add wine and tomato paste to the pan. Simmer for a minute or so, stirring to scrape up and burger bits into the sauce.

5. Stir in butter until melted. Taste and season sauce.

6. Serve burgers with sauce poured over and green salad on the side.

French potato salad

With smoked trout and hard-boiled eggs

Halve 1kg kipfler potatoes lengthwise and boil these waxy beauties until they are just cooked. Drain and leave to cool in your serving bowl. Top with quartered hard-boiled eggs, 500g of flaked smoked trout and a fine dice of a blanched red onion. Dollop on the dressing and garnish with dill.

Dressing: cut the tops off a bunch of dill and reserve to garnish. Chop up the rest and stir generously into creme fraiche that’s been loosened to a dolloping consistency with lemon juice and spiked with a little Dijon mustard and salt.

CHRISTMAS GINGER BEER-GLAZED HAM

4kg half leg ham on the bone

Ginger Beer Glaze

1 firmly packed cup brown sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 whole cloves
1cm piece ginger, peeled, sliced
3/4 cup ginger beer
2 kaffir lime leaves
2 star anise
1 cinnamon quill
1 garlic bulb, halved horizontally
1/2 cup (250ml) red wine
1 tsp mustard seeds

Melon salad:

1/2 rockmelon, seeds removed, cut into wedges
handful basil, leaves picked
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbs white wine vinegar

For the glaze, combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook for 40 minutes or until reduced by two-thirds. Set aside to cool completely. Strain glaze into a bowl, discarding solids.

Preheat oven to 150°C. Using a small sharp knife, cut around ham shank in a zigzag pattern, then carefully run knife under skin, around the edge of the ham.

Gently lift off skin in 1 piece by running your fingers between the rind and the fat. Discard skin, then score fat in parallel lines, 1cm apart. Baste fat with some of the glaze and place ham on a rack set in a large roasting pan. Roast ham, basting with remaining glaze every 20 minutes, for 1.5 hours or until caramelised.

Slice the ham and serve with salad.

Lebanese Roast Ratatouille with Hummus

enough for: 2
takes: 40 minutes
2 med eggplant
3 small zucchini
2 teaspoons baharat spice blend or 1 teaspoon each coriander and cumin
4-6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
300g (9oz) hummus
salad greens, to serve

1. Preheat your oven to 250C. Chop eggplant and zucchini into 1 inch chunks (2.5cm). Toss eggplant, zucchini, spices and oil in a roasting pan. Sprinkle with salt.

2. Roast for 30 minutes, stirring about half way. Or until eggplant and zucchini are well cooked and starting to brown.

3. Divide hummus between 2 plates. Top with roast veg and salad leaves.

5 spice chicken salad

enough for 2:
Takes about 10 minutes.
2 teaspoons Chinese 5-spice
1-2 small red chillies, chopped
450g (1lb) chicken thighs fillets or breasts, sliced into thumb sized pieces
1-2 limes
4 handfuls washed salad leaves

(Add spring onions, red capsicum)

1. Pop a frying pan or wok on a medium-high heat.

2. Combine 5-spice, chilli with 2 tablespoons of oil (I used macadamia but any neutral flavoured oil is good) and a little salt. Toss chicken to coat in the oil.

3. Cook chicken for about 2 minutes on the first side.

4. Turn and cook, covered for another 2 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

5. Remove from the heat and squeeze over some lime juice.

6. Divide salad between 2 plates. Top with hot chicken and serve with lime on the side.