There isn't much of an ingredient list for this recipe. Essentially it comes down to three ingredients:
1. The largest prawns you can purchase/afford
2. Whatever cheese you like the idea of using, I went for cheddar but really you could use whatever you want, I like the idea of trying a blue cheese at some point
3. The thinnest bacon strips you can get 

Start by peeling the prawns, make sure you leave the head and the tail on, just take the shell and legs off the body of the prawn. 

Use a sharp knife to slice down the belly of the prawn. You want to "butterfly" the prawn and create a pocket to put the cheese in without actually slicing the prawn in half. 

Stuff the cheese into the pocket you've created in the prawn. I grated the cheese first to make it easier on myself. I think the approach you end up taking will depend on what cheese you are using. If you stick to the recipe and use cheddar than I recommend grating it.

Wrap bacon tightly around the exposed body of the prawn, this will help keep the cheese in place, then secure with a toothpick.  Fry each side of the prawn in a pre heated pan/grill for 4-5 minutes. 

Preheat your oven to 200c (390f)

While the oven is heating, combine the brown sugar, paprika salt and olive oil to form a rub for the meat. Pat the pork dry with paper towel. Massage the rub into the entire surface of the pork including the fat.

Place the pork on a wire baking tray and then onto an oven dish. Pour some water into the dish to create a bain marie. This method of cooking has two advantages: the pork remains moist throughout the lengthy cooking process and the fat from the meat is separated from what you will eventually eat. Check the water throughout and top up as required, ensuring that it does not evaporate. 

To make the peanut sauce put the chilli flakes, lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, peanut butter, cold water and olive oil into a food processor. Blitz in the food processor for around 15 seconds. Yes, it's that simple. 

Cut the chicken breasts into bite sized chunks and push them onto your bamboo skewers. 

Cook the chicken skewers on a BBQ, grill or fry pan until brown on the outside and cooked inside. I cook each side before turning the skewers. E.g. treat each chicken skewer as having 4 sides and cook each side before turning them over to the next one. 

Serve on a bed of rice and top with peanut sauce. 

Fore rib of beef

The key to this recipe is being able to keep your oven at a constant 55 degrees Celsius  (131 f). You need an oven thermometer to monitor this. If you test your oven with the thermometer inside and it cannot maintain a constant temperature, this probably isn't the recipe for you. 

The size of the beef will not vary the cooking time required for this recipe. I use a two bone fore rib of beef because it comfortably feeds 4 people. My butcher cuts the bone off so it does not poke through the top, if your joint has the bones showing, you'll want to wrap them in foil.

Before putting the beef in the oven you need to brown the outside. You could do this on the stovetop but I like to use my baking blowtorch to brown the beef.

Now, put the beef in the oven at 55 degrees Celsius (131 f) for twenty hours. After twenty hours take the beef out and wrap in foil, leave to stand for the time it takes you to roast potatoes, about 30 minutes. When you unwrap the beef the end pieces will be very dark and dry, slice these off to reveal the rare roast beef inside. See pictures below for the difference between the end piece you should discard and the tasty inside. 

Thinly slice the beef and serve with salad and roast vegetables. 

1cup red wine
2 whole star anise
1/2 cinnamon stick
1tsp brown sugar
2 duck breast
Chinese five spice

Put the red wine, star anise and cinnamon stick into a pan and simmer over a medium heat. You want to reduce the liquid until there is only a third remaining. It's important not to let this bubble and boil, you just want to simmer while reducing it. 

While the red wine is reducing, score the skin on your duck breast as pictured. Then rub a generous amount of Chinese five spice into the skin and along the score marks. 

Heat a fry pan over a medium heat and ensure the fry pan is warm before placing the duck breast skin side down. Cook the duck breast until the skin is nice and crispy, see image below.

The first step is to slow roast the cherry tomatoes. Cut them in half and place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Put them in the oven at 60c (140f) for 4 hours. This will dry out the tomatoes and help to ensure you do not have too much liquid in the quiche. 

To make the pastry, start by placing the butter and flour into a large mixing bowl. With your hands rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Next add the ground almonds and continue to rub the mix together.

Then add the water and egg before quickly mixing it all together with your hands. Once combined you should be able to shape the dough into a ball. Wrap this ball of dough in cling film and leave in the fridge for several hours. 
 
After about 4 hours (more time if you have it to spare) take the dough out of the fridge and roll flat. The thickness is up to you. Place the dough into the baking tray, lining it completely. Ensure there are no gaps in the dough! Blind bake the pastry in the oven at 180c (356f) for 20 - 25 minutes. You want the pastry to be golden brown, not just light brown. 

While the pastry is baking cut the bacon into small slices and fry until crispy. Once the bacon bits are crispy pat them dry with kitchen towel to remove any moisture. 

Now you need to put the grated cheese, crispy bacon, dried tomatoes and chopped olives  in the pastry tray. I like to do it in layers: tomatoes, cheese, bacon, olives then tomatoes, bacon, olives, cheese. Mix 5 eggs and the almond milk together as though you were going to make scrambled eggs. Carefully pour the scrambled egg/milk mixture into the pastry over the other ingredients. Make sure you do not spill any over the edges as this will make an unfortunate mess when cooking. 

Put the quiche back in the oven at 170c for about 30 minutes. Serve warm or leave to cool and serve cold. 

Salmon fillets
Soy Sauce
Golden Syrup
Butter

I have intentionally left off the quantities for this recipe. Will you have 2 fillets or 4, or 6? How ever many people you are cooking for will determine how you make this. No matter the quantity, this is a quick and tasty tailgating dish that you can make on a grill at the game or while watching from home. Start by melting a generous amount of butter over a medium heat, say 1tbsp per fillet. Then add the fillets to the pan skin side down.

Drizzle golden syrup and soy sauce over the length of each fillet. This will dribble off the sides of the fish and mix with the butter, this is a good thing. The butter, syrup and soy will all combine and start to brown as you can see in the photos below. 

Once you notice the sides of your salmon starting to cook through it means it is time to turn the fillet. Turn the fillet so the skin is facing up and the meat is facing down. Give the fillet a good rub or stir through the glaze in the pan at this point. Personally I like to peal the skin off at this stage, it should be crispy and come off in one easy piece. If you like to keep the skin on your fish then go for it. It's your choice. 

Cooking this dish is not like cooking steak, the more you turn the fish the more chance it gets to coat in the glaze at the bottom of the pan. I like my salmon a little pink in the middle, you may like yours cooked through. If you are new to salmon then once you think a fillet is cooked you can cut into it with a knife and see if you have cooked it to your liking. 

Enjoy!

Sometimes the simple approach can get the best results. Don't forget that while tailgating or having a BBQ you can still enjoy steak! Whatever cut you prefer cooked the way you like. Simple, but always effective. 

Dice the bacon into small pieces and cook until crispy. 

While the bacon is cooking, mix together the flour, corn flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl. Add the almond milk and egg to the flour mix and stir until combined.  

Pat the cooked bacon with kitchen towel to remove any excess moisture. Now add the bacon and cheese to the pancake batter and stir until combined. 

Heat a non stick fry pan over a medium heat and add about 1/2tsp of butter, if that. Once the butter has melted add some pancake batter to the fry pan. How much to add is a personal choice depending on how big you want them to be. 

These pancakes will not bubble on top like normal pancakes, just lift the edge slightly to determine when to flip the pancake. Keep cooked pancakes warm in the oven until you've made enough to eat. 

Serve with maple syrup and a cold beer. 

Soy sauce
Maple syrup
Golden syrup
Hot smoked paprika
Pork ribs



I appreciate that I am a day late and a dollar short with tailgating recipes for week 1 of the college football season. However, to make up for it I am going to open with a classic, marinated pork ribs!

I have intentionally left off the quantities from the ingredient list. This is not like baking, you do not need to follow a strict recipe. The quantities will vary based on the number and size of ribs you have. There really aren't any right and wrong amounts!

The butcher near my new home had ribs twice the size of what I am use to purchasing. But I am not complaining! The real trick is the proportion of the ingredients. you want as much soy sauce as maple syrup + golden syrup. For the four massive ribs I had, I used the following amounts. 50ml soy sauce, 25ml maple syrup, 25ml golden syrup, 2tbsp hot smoked paprika.

Marinate the ribs overnight in your sauce mix. When your ready to cook, preheat your oven to 150C (300F). Take the ribs out of the fridge and bring them up to room temperature. Put the ribs and sauce into a baking tray and put it in the oven. Every 20 minutes or so you want to turn the ribs and baste them with the sauce they are sitting in. After about 90 minutes they will be ready to eat.