Two Fat Brothers - Recipes

Crumbed Pork Chops

A family favourite that we had to kick off with.

Pork chops or cutlets - Remember to leave the fat on. "You can cut it off but you can't cut it on".
Bread for crumbing - We used a fresh sour dough loaf. The resulting "damp" crumb provided a super crunchy texture. The crunchometer almost went off the scale!
Seasoned flour
an egg or couple of eggs, depending on how many chops, beaten for the wash
a few fresh sage leaves chopped
Olive oil for shallow pan frying

Pour yourself a Lounge Lager in preparation
Mix egg/s in bowl and set aside
In a bag or bowl add some plain flour then season with salt   and pepper
In a food processor wiz bread to make bread crumbs and add chopped sage leaves
Coat pork in seasoned flour shaking off excess.
Dip pork chops in egg wash and coat thoroughly in bread   crumb and sage
Check level of Lounge Lager, repeat if necessary
Heat oil on medium heat in solid based frying pan or skillet.   When a crumb dropped in starts to sizzle carefully arrange   crumbed pork chops in pan. Fry until golden brown and cooked through
Serve with your choice of salad or vegetables and
accompany with a Barossa Shiraz.
Watch John cook it here.

Apple Tart

This simple recipe is easy to prepare and a delight to eat. Your guests will think you are very posh indeed!

Sheet of butter puff pastry
3 or 4 Granny Smith apples
25g of unsalted butter
1/3 cup of caster sugar
1tsp of ground cinnamon

Combine sugar and cinnamon in a bowl
Peel, core and slice apples and add to sugar/cinnamon mixture, combine well and cover with cling wrap
Cut puff pastry sheet into circle and arrange sliced apple on top
Dot with pieces of unsalted butter
Cook at 220° for 20 minutes turning after 10 minutes
Serve with double cream or ice cream and a nice botrytis Semillon.
Watch Scott prepare it here.

Chargrilled Marinated Lamb Cutlets

Any lamb chops can be used for this dish, and, depending upon where you are reading of watching, they can have slightly different names. In the video, we used a rack of lamb, cut into two-cutlet chops, although loin or chump chops are also excellent. Ensure the meat is on the bone!

For the marinade, we’re looking for a mixture of oil, herbs, garlic, mustard and vinegar.

2 Sprigs Rosemary
2 Sprigs Mint, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and flattened
Juice of 1 Lemon or Lime
¼ cup Olive Oil
1 tbs Dijon Mustard (or English Mustard)
2 tbs Red Wine Vinegar
Salt, freshly ground Black Pepper

In a bowl, large enough to hold the meat combine all of the ingredients. If using racks of lamb, cut them into two-cutlet chops, and add to the marinade. Otherwise, allow two chops per person. Marinade the meat for at least 30 minutes up to a couple of hours.
Prepare your barbecue. If you're using a wood fire, you need a hot fire, but not ferocious flames. A good red-glowing bed of coals is what you're looking for. If you have a gas grill, preheat it, and use the grid. 
Remove the meat from the marinade, and grill on both sides to your preference. Lamb tastes lovely medium-rare. The thick-cut chops give a lovely charred outside, and succulent pink interior. Serve  with a salad, or the Two Fat Brothers Roasted Vegetable Salad.
The Two Fat Brothers enjoy an Australian Sparkling Shiraz with this classic Aussie outdoor culinary classic.
Watch John prepare it here.

Roasted Vegetable Salad

This dish goes beautifully with roasted or grilled meats, and is lovely as part of a winter lunch.
It is very similar to roasted vegetables, but we don't take them as far, and we add some red wine vinegar to the oil remaining in the roasting pan to create a dressing.
Try to create a colour contrast, using red, yellow, green and white vegetables.

Preheat your oven to 200 Degrees Celsius, 400 Fahrenheit.
1 bunch, smallish Beetroot, peeled
1 Large Sweet Potato, cut into chunks
4 Parsnips, peeled and cut into largish pieces
1 Butternut Squash, peeled and cut into chunks.
Olive Oil
Salt and freshly-ground Black Pepper
Red Wine Vinegar

Place all the vegetables into a baking dish large enough to hold them snugly.
Pour over enough Olive Oil to coat
Roast in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour. When the vegetables are soft, and perhaps just starting to caramelize, remove them to a serving dish. Add a splash of red wine vinegar to the oil remaining in the pan, and season to taste. Pour the dressing over the vegetables, and toss or mix to combine.

Pizza Dough

I love pizza! So much so that we have done two episodes dedicated to it. In the first episode we mixed the ingredients for our base in a mixer and I rolled out the bases. We then cooked our pizzas on the warm Weber BBQ on a cold and wet Hunter Valley day. The weather didn't dampen our spirits and the pizza was absolutely delicious but we knew we could do better.
On the second occasion I mixed the ingredients for our base in a food processor then made the bases by hand, showing my dexterity as a tosser. Pizza base tosser, that is. We then cooked our pizzas on the KettlePizza (attached to the Weber BBQ) at over 600°F on a beautiful winters day. The result was as you can imagine, pizza perfection.
Below is my recipe for the pizza dough which can be made easily in either a mixer with dough hooks or a food processor with blade. The toppings, I'll leave up to you.

500g Tipo 00 or other "hard" flour
1tbs instant dried yeast
1tbs salt
1tbs extra virgin olive oil
1tsp sugar
300ml luke warm water (200ml of cold and 100ml of boiling)

In either a mixer or food processor combine all dry ingredients then add the extra virgin olive oil and mix. Gradually add water until mixtures comes together. In mixer this is until the dough comes away from the bottom of the mixing bowl then mix on a higher speed for a couple of minutes. With a food processor this will be in about 15 seconds and dough has formed. Turn mixture out onto surface dusted with flour. Knead dough until it has good elasticity or passes the window pane test. This is when you take a piece of the dough which you are able to work and stretch until it becomes like a thin film without tearing. Put dough in a bowl and dust with a little plain flour then cover with cling wrap and set aside to proof for about an hour. In summer this is best done in a cool spot in the kitchen and in winter in a warm spot. Once dough has doubled in size divide into individual bases which can either be allowed to rise again for cooking or frozen until required. Frozen bases can be put in refrigerator the night before then removed and allowed to rest and rise at room temperature for 2 hours prior to cooking. See me make pizza dough in the mixer here or in the food processor, here.

Baked Figs Wrapped in Prosciutto with a Gorgonzola and Mascarpone Sauce

Figs are fantastic when in season and this entree is an absolute cracker that is so easy to prepare. I flatter myself by saying that at a recent dinner party our guests were hoping I was going to prepare this. They weren't disappointed!

Preheat oven to 200°C
Serves 4
8 figs
4 - 8 fine slices of prosciutto (depending on size)
125g Mascarpone
125g Gorgonzola

Cut a cross in the top of each fig. You can put a small slice of gorgonzola in this if you like, which I know the other Fat Brother is known to do.
Wrap each fig with a slice of prosciutto, two if they don't go all the way around.
Arrange in oven proof dish and bake for 10-15 minutes
Meanwhile in a small saucepan combine mascarpone and gorgonzola melt over gentle heat. If you prefer a sharper sauce then use slightly more gorgonzola. If you prefer a creamier, softer sauce use more mascarpone.
Pour melted mascarpone and gorgonzola over baked figs and serve. Remember to retain any leftover sauce which will keep for a few days in the refrigerator. I spread it on toast! Watch Scott prepare it here.

Char-grilled Marinated Quail

Here's a dish that will delight any guest at your next dinner party and allow you to be as creative as you like with the marinade. Remember to follow our basic tips of marination that is to combine the acidic e.g. vinegar, lemon juice or wine with oil and herbs. Here's John's marinade for his butterflied quail.

Juice of 1 lemon
Peel of the lemon
a good slug of olive oil
a cup of chopped oregano
2 pinches of salt
a couple of grinds of pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and add butterflied quail. Allow to marinate for half an hour or up to two hours.
Pre heat BBQ grill and char-grill quail being careful not to overcook. As with all barbecuing it is important to maintain hydration levels so take a beer with you. Serve quail with medium bodied red wine or sparkling shiraz. See John prepare it here.

Macerated Strawberries on Toasted Panettone with Sweetened Mascarpone

Sounds posh but is incredibly simple. To macerate we really mean to soften the fruit or for it to absorb flavours added to it, in this case liqueur. The choice of the liqueur is up to you but, please, make sure one is sympathetic to the other by having a sniff or treating yourself to a small taste. We used St. Germain, the elderberry flower liqueur.

2 punnets of strawberries hulled and halved
1/2 cup of caster sugar
1-2 tbs of liqueur
125g of mascarpone
2tsp pure icing sugar
1 panettone sliced

Place strawberries, caster sugar and liqueur in a bowl and set aside to macerate for a couple of hours.
Add pure icing sugar to mascarpone and combine well.
Toast or grill panettone, arrange on plates and top with macerated strawberries and liquid. Spoon over sweetened mascarpone and serve with botrytis Semillon. Watch us prepare it here.

Sweet and Sour Pork

This is not a dish that can be whipped up at the last minute. It takes time in preparation and there are as few separate processes. Having said that, if you have the time, you will not be disappointed with this timeless Cantonese classic.

1kg pork rashes - rind removed, cut into cubes
1 capsicum - cubed
1 carrot - julienned
1 clove garlic - finely chopped

The Batter
1/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup cornflour
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 egg
pinch of salt

Sweet and Sour Sauce
4tbs caster sugar
4tbs red wine vinegar
1/2 cup chicken stock
1tsp soy sauce
all stirred well until sugar dissolved

Thickener
1tbs cornflour
2tbs chicken stock
Stir well just before adding to sweet and sour

1ltr Peanut oil for deep frying pork plus 1tbs for stir frying vegetables

Method
Prepare batter mixing all ingredients and add cubed pork rashers. Drop in manageable batches into hot oil and deep fry until golden and cooked through. Don't be afraid to test them as you go, I certainly do! When all pork is cooked and drained on rack or paper towel, place in oven on low heat to keep warm.
Add a tbs of peanut oil to wok and ensuring surface of wok well coated. Add vegetables and stir fry until just cooked then add sweet and sour sauce. Bring to boil, stir thickener and add to sauce. Allow to return to the boil after which the thickener will become clear and sauce will thicken.
Remove pork from oven and put into large serving bowl. Pour the sweet and sour vegetables with sauce over pork and serve with steamed rice. Watch John prepare it here.

Boeuf Bourguignon

This French dish is the classic "winter warmer" and we served it with nothing more than a creamy mashed potato. I also enjoy dipping crusty bread in to soak up the sauce and accompanying it with a hearty red wine, preferably the same as I cooked with.

1kg chuck steak - cubed (not too small)
200g button mushrooms - whole is small, cut in half otherwise
24 French shallots - peeled and trimmed
150g bacon or spec - cut into lardons (we used spec)
500ml good red wine (refer above)
500ml beef stock
2tbs tomato paste
1 bouquet garni (we used the one that looks like a teapot teabag)
Plain flour - seasoned
2-3 tbs olive oil

Coat the beef cubes in seasoned flour. John uses the messy bowl method whereby I use the bag method of sophistication. Meanwhile heat the oil in heavy casserole dish. When oil is hot but not smoking, brown beef cubes quickly on all sides in batches. Don't over-cook. Put browned beef cubes in separate bowl.
Sauté* bacon or spec lardons, remove and add to beef. Sauté French shallots until browned and remove either adding to beef or in a separate bowl. Some people return the shallots with the mushrooms but we returned them with the beef. Add additional oil if required and heat to cooking temperature.
Sauté button mushrooms in the casserole dish until nicely browned then remove and add to shallots or in separate bowl.
Add the red wine slowly to the casserole dish scrapping any crusty bits from the bottom. Add the tomato paste and stir into the wine. Add bouquet garni and return beef and bacon (or beef, bacon and shallots). Add beef stock and stir until well combined.
Bring to boil then reduce heat to very low and simmer for 40 minutes. I use the lower simmer hob for this. Remove bouquet garni, return mushrooms (or shallots and mushrooms) and simmer for a further 60 minutes**.
Serve in bowls with creamy mashed potato and crusty bread.

* Fancy term that just means to cook by moving around and not sticking. From the French - Sauté which means to jump or bouncing. Usually sautéing is done by tossing in a sauté pan but I'd like to see someone try that with a heavy casserole dish.
** Because we were filming another video immediately after, we gave ours an extra hour covered in the oven at about 150C. If you have the time it's well worth it. See Scott prepare it here.

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