Housewife

I cooked the most amazing dinner for my housemates the other night #ifidosaysomyself

Slowcooked shoulder of lamb with roast cauliflower salad and spiced sweet potato.

The lamb was on the slow cooker from 8am til 7.30pm and the sides took 20 minutes to pull together. Such an easy and relatively healthy dinner. 

The lamb was based on this Jamie Oliver recipe, but I put about 1.5 cups of chicken stock in the bottom of the slow cooker because I had it on for so long and didn't want it to dry out.

The roast cauli salad was from the Women's Weekly fast diet cookbook. It was kind of similar, sort of, almost, to this one.

And then there was the sweet potato that was gingery and delish with preserved lemon and fresh coriander. Find it here.

I cheated with dessert and picked up some absolute delights from Millstone Patisserie in Malvern. Get there as soon as humanly possible. Run, don't walk. It's phenomenal.

Tim Tam time

Good on you Qantas.

You've been kicking some big goals with your marketing efforts of late.

And this Tim Tam effort is just a perfect little touch on Australia Day.

And even though I've been demoted to Bronze Frequent Flyer from Silver recently (I'm not bitter, I'm really not), I still think you're ace.

Keep playing the patriotic card, it's speaking to me.

SA Grateful

I might have caved to social pressures and packed my bags for the big lights of Melbourne, but I will always be a fiercely proud South Aussie at heart.

So much makes this SA Great (oh how I wish they'd kept that brand instead of Advantage SA) and food and wine tops the list for me.

Menz is a firm favourite of mine and I especially love their commitment to the community and local charities. So I was especially chuffed to see them up in lights amongst some serious national heavy hitters today when I received my regular marketing industry newsletter this afternoon.

Menz has created what is believed to be Australia's largest mural made entirely of lollies.

Read about it here.

Doesn't it look great!? I'm yet to identify all the iconic SA landmarks hidden throughout the thousands of sweets but so far have spotted the Malls Balls . . . anyone have any other ideas?!

Then this morning, my parochial fires were burning for Kochie's South Australian food segment on Sunrise. Farmers Union Iced Coffee, Haighs, Maggie Beer, Penfolds wine . . . so so so good!

Check it out here . . .

Get some pork on your fork

I'm trying to cut back on buying magazines but I just can't walk past Donna Hay in the supermarket.

Her food stylists are masters and I just love how her food looks. Of course, I can never replicate such beauty, but the recipes are just so easy that I'm willing to give it a shot.

I had Ad and Nick over for dinner the other night so that Nick could set up my itunes and iCloud and all the rest of it. I've got no idea what it all means! He has the patience of a saint and fingers crossed has me all sorted when my phone - including all photos and contacts - is deleted from the system when I leave my job.

Scary how much we rely on phones these days!

Anyway, I wanted to do one big final cook up before I pack up my kitchen.

I'm in the mood for comfort food so settled on a pork and lemon ragy with crispy sage. Perfect Sunday night fodder.

It was delish and even the leftovers were good.

pork and lemon ragu with crispy sage

Serves 4-6

1 Tbspn olive oil, plus extra for brushing

1.5kg boneless pork neck, cut into 8 pieces (I had no idea what this was so asked the butcher and he said it was pork scotch fillet)

sea salt and cracked black pepper

1 brown onion, sliced

1 stalk celery, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 cup (250mL) dry white wine

1 x 400g can cherry tomatoes

1/2 tspn dried chilli flakes

1/4 cup (6ml) lemon juice

2 Tbspns finely grated lemon rind

2 cups (500ml) chicken stock

24 sprigs sage

1/4 cup (60ml) vegetable oil

12 slices rye sourdough bread

1. Preheat oven to 180. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based ovenproof saucepan over high heat.
2. Sprinkle the pork with salt and pepper and cook, in batches, for 3-4 minutes each side or until browned.
3. Remove from the pan and set aside.
4. Add the onion, celery and garlic and cook, stirring frequently for 3-4  minutes or until the onion is softened.
5. Add the wine and cook for 2-3 mins until reduced by half.
6. Add the cherry tomatoes, chilli, lemon juice, 1 Tbspn lemon rind, stock and half the sage and stir to combine.
7. Return the pork to the pan and bring to the boil. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and transfer to the oven.
8. Cook for 2 hours - 2 hours and 30 mins or until tender.
9. Stir through the remaining lemon rind, set aside and keep warm.
10. Increase oven temp to 220. Heat the vegetable oil in a small non-stick frying pan over high heat. 
11. Add the remaining sage leaves and cook for 30 seconds or until crisp. Drain on absorbent paper.
12. Place the bread on a large baking tray and brush with oil. Bake for 4-5 mins or until toasted.
13. Serve the pork with the sauce and bread and top with the crispy sage.

Donna Hay - Autumn Winter 2013

(I served mine with mashed potato and used fig and fennel sourdough which was the perfect match for the pork)

Enjoy xxx