Here is a recipe that made my mouth water even as I read the name. If you remember, my last post was a recipe using kangaroo meat. I think that I shall stick to the tried and tested beef or venison. For the life of me, I just cannot imagine eating kangaroo. Anyway, this recipe is from British celeb chef Alan Coxon. If you’re not familiar with ale-gar, it is simply a dark Vinaigre that is full of flavor. It is perfect for marinating meat in.

6 tbsp Ale-Gar Vinaigre, plus extra for drizzling
4 x 125-150g (5-6oz) fillet steaks
2 large courgettes, thinly sliced diagonally
2 peppers, deseeded and cut into chunks
2 red onions, sliced into wedges
4 tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Parsley sprigs, to garnish

Method:
Spoon the Ale-Gar Vinaigre into a shallow non-metallic dish. Add the fillet steaks, turning them to coat. Cover and leave to marinate for 30-40 minutes, turning once.

2 Heat a char-grill pan or grill. Put the courgettes, peppers and red onions into a bowl and add 2 tbsp olive oil, tossing them to coat. Char-grill or grill the vegetables in batches until tender and lightly browned. Set aside and keep warm.

3 Drain the marinade from the meat, then add the remaining olive oil, tossing the steaks to coat them. Char-grill or grill the steaks for 3-4 minutes per side, or until done to your liking.

4 Serve the steaks and vegetables on warm plates. Season with a little salt and pepper, then drizzle a little extra Ale-Gar Vinaigre over them. Garnish with parsley sprigs.

Cook’s tip: Try this recipe with venison steaks instead of beef.

I have never ever thought about eating kangaroo meat. I mean, I had this book in grade school with CA Zoo and Kangaroo; I don’t know if you have ever heard of that book but I have always seen kangaroos as nice cuddly animals (even though I know they aren’t in real life) and I can’t even bear the thought of eating its meat. In any case, Australian celebrity chef Benjamin Christie has this interesting recipe with kangaroo meat as the focus. Perhaps you’d be interested. Here it is, courtesy of the chef himself.

Ingredients
750g (1½ pounds) kangaroo mince
1 large onion ( chopped )
2 cloves of garlic ( crushed )
500g (1 pound) bush tomato chutney
100ml (3½ fl oz.) merlot
30g (2 tablespoons) tomato paste
5g (1 teaspoon) wildfire spice
1pkt fresh lasagne sheets (pre-cooked)
300ml (10 fl oz.) béchamel sauce
5g (1 teaspoon) lemon myrtle
250g shredded mozzarella cheese
125g (½ cup) parmesan cheese
salt as required

Cooking instruction
In a large saucepan on medium heat, cook the kangaroo mince, onion, and garlic until brown. Then stir in tomato paste and wine then cook until reduced. Add bush tomato chutney and wildfire spice, and then allow to simmer for at least 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt as required.

When making the béchamel sauce, as it cools whisk in the lemon myrtle, this will ensure maximum flavour.

Lightly grease the sides and bottom of an individual serve dish. Then spread a little of the kangaroo sauce over the bottom. Then place a cooked lasagne sheet on the kangaroo sauce. Spread the lemon myrtle béchamel sauce on the cooked lasagne sheet. Then spread with kangaroo sauce and a little mozzarella cheese. Repeat the layers till you get to the top of the dish. Finish with lemon myrtle béchamel sauce and sprinkle parmesan cheese over top.

Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 35 to 45 minutes or until golden on top. Sprinkle wildfire spice on the top and allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh herbs.

There is no dearth of cooking shows these days. From the United States to the United Kingdom to Asia – shows featuring one celebrity chef (or a group of them) are everywhere. So why should we be excited about Top Chef Masters?

If you have not already heard, Top Chef is one of the most popular shows, but the previous season is over. I am pretty sure that a lot of you are having Top Chef withdrawal right now, so this pece of news about Top Chef Masters should whet your appetites somehow.

So back to my question, why should we be excited? Here are a few reasons. One, there will be 24 chefs in the show, all of them pitted against each other. Not one, not two, not even 12, but a whopping 24!

Two, the successful formula that has been followed in Top Chef will be followed in Top Chef Masters. This is certainly something that a lot of people will appreciate (Top Chef withdrawal symptoms remember?).

Three, the line up is more than interesting – both for the judges and the contestants. For the judges, how do Tom, Padma, and Gail sound? Previous winners are always interesting for me. We also have some surprise judges thrown in – writers and produces of Lost, for example. As for the contestants, they are only some of the most well known personalities in the restaurant scene.

For more details, visit the Top Chef Masters web site.

This guy will never have his full share of controversy, will he? Jamie Oliver had the honor of serving the leaders of the world during the G20 summit in the UK, and this is what he had to offer them:

Starter: Organic Scottish salmon with samphire and sea kale, and a selection of vegetables from Sussex, Surrey, and Kent.

Main course: Slow-roasted shoulder of Elwy Valley lamb with Jersey Royals, wild mushrooms and mint sauce.

Dessert: Bakewell tart and custard.

Vegetarian option: Goat’s cheese starter followed by lovage and potato dumplings for the main course.

There are some things there that I am not familiar with, like samphire and lovage (ah, spank me!), but all in all, the menu looks fabulous to me. But no, some people are quite unsatisfied with the menu, saying that it is not representative of what British cuisine has to offer. Chef Yotam Ottolenghi, in particular said:

The first impression I get from this menu is that it’s extremely British and very politically inoffensive. I don’t think it’s terribly exciting, but then I don’t think it should be on an occasion like this, when Jamie is trying to satisfy so many people.

I would have liked to have seen a few subtle multicultural influences in the menu to reflect modern Britain. It’s a very northern European menu and it doesn’t represent the very strong south-east Asian influences that do exist here.

Some of the foreign guests might raise an eyebrow to the idea of mint sauce with lamb, but as long as Jamie keeps it fresh and doesn’t make it vinegary, like some of the shop varieties, people won’t find it offensive.

Who finds mint lamb offensive? Maybe vegetarians? Anyway, from what I heard, the dinner went off quite well.