My Brother Cooks

Category: Easy

Simple items and techniques only

  • Greek Roast Lamb Leg with some English touches

    Greek Roast Lamb Leg with some English touches

    Yes these are all text messaged recipes, but occasionally, just occasionally, I manage to be in town to enjoy the finished product.

    Thats what’s happened this weekend. My brother has taken the base recipe from Scrummy Lane, selected a nice leg of lamb and kicked on.

    Cooking starts the day before with prepping and marinading, and in this case also cooking up some Yorkshire Puddings. The next day the roast is in the oven for about 7 hours from 5am.

    Screenshot
    Screenshot

    As I was dropping by to offer him a ride to our folks, I got to take a photo of the bees hard at work on the flowering rosemary he used for the marinade.

    The end result was delicious, although in my final photo I didn’t have the gravy on which was amazing.

  • Roast Lamb Leftovers = Easy Yiros

    Roast Lamb Leftovers = Easy Yiros

    This doesn’t really require much of an explanation.

    Lamb leftovers – toasted Pita bread, hit with store bought Tzatziki for zero effort and you’re off to the races.

    Fair to say that normal texted image quality has been resumed.

  • Hot Sauces

    Hot Sauces

    My brother grows his own chilies and has a pretty wide repertoire of sauces from the sweet to the outright lethal.

    His main go-to’s seem to be from the site www.chilipeppermadness.com. There are lots and the mango habanero is on speed dial.

    The other close favorite is this Trinidadian one.

    I’ve made both of these and they are excellent.

    The clever part is using it to supercharge flavour into some otherwise ordinary meals like sandwiches.

    Plus its a fun process and offers a great deal of scope for creativity.

    His pro tip – almost always add a carrot!

  • Slow cooked Pulled Pork

    Slow cooked Pulled Pork

    My brother will do this every few months. Low and slow cook, the base recipe is here although he’s also used the spice pre-blend here which is convent if you can find something like it.

    As long as you’ve got the time this is super cheap, and freezes well and can turn up in everything from tacos to pasta during the week.

  • Cheat Code Pizza

    Cheat Code Pizza

    Making your own dough is very easy, but if you didn’t make it the night before and don’t have the time to do the kneading method over a few hours, then there are two other ways, and my brother uses them both.

    First is just a store-bought dough. Delicious and cheap. Often at least as good as your own homemade effort. Then sauce and toppings as usual.

    Second is even easier. Supermarket cooked but chilled pizza (not frozen) that you just need to reheat, but you put a few of your own fresh ingredients to kick the flavor up a notch. Some fresh herbs like basil on the top.

    Cheat Code Entered.

  • Pizza From Scratch

    Pizza From Scratch

    I never used to make much homemade pizza. I love it, and in Asia, the style isn’t what an Australian might be accustomed to, but it seemed like too much work.

    My brother found the no-knead method from a few people, at first Babish’s pan-pizza recipe and now Serious Eats’ version. No, I don’t know why he switched over.

    He did it often enough he convinced me to try, and it is stupidly easy.

    Just stir together the dough the night before and leave it covered to ferment.

    He uses a small red pan when cooking pan pizza for himself or just a pizza tray when going for a thinner style with the same dough.

    He doesn’t have a fancy high-temp oven, but it works just fine so it will for you too.

    Read below for top tips on whether the ingredients go on top of the cheese or under it!

  • Fast Steak

    Fast Steak

    I prefer to get my meat from a butcher, I think the prices can be competitive while the quality is always amazing.

    Supermarkets have come a long way on quality and you can get some great stuff now. My brother prefers to do that.

    With steak he will routinely use the supermarket ready-made slaw and oven-fry chips into the air fryer.

    He will also often cook a couple of steaks so he has them for steak sandwich lunches which he can take to work over the next few days.

    Hit with salt then high heat in an oiled pan for 3 minutes each side. Cut the time back if it’s a little thinner.

    Once you get used to your pan and heat source, you’ll be able to get it your exact doneness every time… so make sure you practice.

  • Braised Steak and Onions

    Braised Steak and Onions

    We used to have this on toast for breakfast as kids. One of my absolute favourites.

    Straight from the can. Warmed in a pot or microwave for a couple of minutes, then onto the bread. I remember knowing if there was a different brand used, and really only liked the Kraft one.

    They really don’t make this stuff in cans anymore. Kraft stopped in 2005. There are too many amazing options for fresh meat and vegetables, and to be honest it looked a little like dog food.

    This version is very hearty and still great on toast.

    Pro tips from my brother.

    a) Add a good teaspoon of Vegemite.
    b) Add some peas or carrots at for the last 10 minutes.

    https://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipes/braised-steak-onions-recipe/7dkcy558

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  • Lamb Roast leftovers…

    Lamb Roast leftovers…

    Because he principally cooks for himself, my brother is quite the master of using left overs.

    Lamb leftovers put to use in a Roast Lamb Yiros (aka Souvlaki) or sandwiches or…

    Grab a supermarket Pita, a little lettuce and some sauce.

    Zero time. Apparently delicious.

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  • Toad in the Hole

    Toad in the Hole

    The meaty cousin to Yorkshire Puddings and for my money, the ultimate Comfort Food.

    5 Minutes for the batter while you heat the oven. 35 minutes to cook. Flour, milk, eggs and sausage. Cheapest hearty meal you can make.

    You can cook it for one in a single pan, or do large portion. You can also use the BBC Recipe my brother uses https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/best-yorkshire-puddings or my current favourite which is has a slightly better batter for large portions https://www.tamingtwins.com/toad-in-the-hole-recipe/

    Packet gravy is super easy, but you can elevate with some slow cooked onions or do it from scratch also.