I adore a succulent duck breast cooked with a crisp, tasty skin on it. Yet achieving this in the Big Green Egg has proven less effective than the kitchen … until now. I found a way of getting that delicious, crispy skin using the Egg, whilst at the same time cooking a rich and complimentary mushroom side. It’s a  simply trick, you just need a cast iron skillet. And a spirit level. Pan Seared Duck Breast Time 10 mins prep 20-25 mins cook Difficulty Easy Servings 2 servings Serve with Seasonal vegetables Wine match Pinot Noir Getting Crisp Duck Skin in a Big Green ..read more

Beef short ribs are a deliciously rich and flavoursome cut of meat, one of our favourites to cook any time of the year. Smoked over cherry wood and then braised for a few hours in a red wine sauce to enhance the deep flavours and you’re on the way to create a winning dish to impress friends and family alike. Beef Short Ribs with Red Wine Sauce Time 5 mins prep 7-8 hours cook Difficulty Easy Servings 2-4 servings Serve with Potatoes and broccoli Wine match Syrah, Rhone red What are beef short ribs? Where can I buy them? Short ribs come from the rib sections of a cow. T ..read more

One of our favourite guilty pleasures is a delicious cote de boeuf served with seasonal vegetables. And chips. It must have chips. The trick can be cooking the meat evenly as the cut tends to be quite thick. This is where a sous vide comes in very handy, ensuring a consistent cook throughout the joint of meat. It also allows for the juices to be reserved for a fantastic jus. Sous Vide Cote de Boeuf Time 5 mins prep 4 hours cook Difficulty Very easy Servings 2-4 servings Serve with Seasonal vegetables Double cooked chips Wine match Bordeaux   What is Sous Vide a ..read more

Or as it’s also known, clean the fridge out mac ‘n’ cheese. Inspired by Jamie Oliver’s new mantra for home cooking, we raided our food supplies to discover what we had lying around to make dinner. My wife hit on the idea of mac ‘n’ cheese with mushrooms and spinach. Add in smoked cheeses that had been maturing for a while and we had ourselves a fantastic side dish. Spinach & Mushroom Mac ‘n’ Cheese Time 25-30 mins prep 35-40 mins cook Difficulty Easy Servings 8-10 servings Serve with Reverse seared ribeye steak Wine match Oaked Chardonnay   An Overloaded Pa ..read more

As lockdown resulted in postponing our USA and Canada road trip, my wife and I have been vacationing vicariously through the medium of television. In a recent series, we followed a famous chef as he travelled from San Francisco down through Mexico, enjoying local cuisines on the journey. We felt inspired to do a fusion of Mexican style flavours with traditional USA food, resulting in some delicious Mexican style BBQ ribs. Mexican BBQ Ribs Time 15 mins prep 5-6 hours cook Difficulty Easy Servings 4 servings Serve with Smokey chipotle beans Wine match Smooth Syrah &nbs ..read more

We had bumper crop of tomatoes this year. Green tomatoes. A cooler summer and late bud break meant that by mid-October the vines were adorned with small, unripe fruit. Rather than discard them as useless, my wife decided to make a delicious green tomato chutney. And she added in some tamarind for good measure. Green Tomato & Tamarind Chutney Time 30 mins prep & overnight 2 hour cooking Difficulty Easy Servings 3 jars of chutney Serve with Crusty bread and cheeses/meats Wine match Viognier or light Riesling Making the Most of the Harvest Our red tomato crop th ..read more

Building an awesome table for a Big Green Egg seems to be a rite of passage for many Egg owners. Sadly my DIY skills are non-existant. In fact in 2002, and following a shockingly bad attempt to paint a wall, my wife imposed a lifetime ban on me from attempting any type of handiwork. My father-in-law, on the other hand, is a highly skilled DIY enthusiast. So for my recent birthday he gifted us an amazing custom built Minimax table … The Inspiration The design of this table is based on one by Gary, who was kind enough to do complete technical drawings of his table (pictured below). I liked the ..read more

My wife and I experienced a fantastic lunch at the Gatlinburg branch of Calhoun’s Tennessee BBQ in 2019, part of our east coast USA tour. The highight was the best chilli that we’ve ever tasted, using brisket as the meat. After cooking and enjoying some brisket back home, we had leftovers. Time to emulate that amazing Calhoun’s Tennessee brisket chilli. Alder Smoked Brisket Chilli Time 20 mins prep 4-5 hours cook Difficulty Easy Servings 6-10 servings Serve with Tortilla chips, grated cheese Wine match Syrah, Pomerol Brisket, Leftovers and Meaty Chunks To acquire lef ..read more

I thought I had roast potatoes nailed a long time ago, having peaked with the duck ‘n’ dexter roasties a few years back. Then one day a few weeks ago I decided to try roasting potatoes in the Big Green Egg. Well hello! After an abortive first attempt, we now have a new winner for how to make amazing roast potatoes! And yes, they are better than oven cooked ones … Crispy Roast Potatoes in the BGE Time 15-20 mins prep 1.5 – 2 hours cook Difficulty Easy Servings 4 servings Serve with Roast meats Using and Seasoning Cast Iron I use a cast iron pan for roasting potatoes (and ..read more

I’ve been on the bread baking journey for nearly six years, and whilst I’ve tried many different types of seeded bread (both purchased and made by my fellow bakers) this was one of the first seeded loaves I baked myself. It took a couple of experiments to get a seed mixture and technique nailed. And turns out that it’s very easy and virtually the same as other bread recipes I’ve used … Make a delicious, tasty seeded wholemeal loaf of bread yourself with this simple recipe. Seeded Wholemeal Bread Time 2-3 hours prep 25-30 mins cook Difficulty Easy Servings 1 x 1kg loaf Serve with ..read more