5 Minute Food Fix

MARMALADE shouldn't be out-of-reach for the average home cook!And if you LOVE the weird, spreadable, sour, sometimes bitter preserve, then you really must try home-made, because there's nothing as good available to buy in mainstream shops, although Simon does have a few he thinks are "pretty good".DELICIOUS RUBY BLOOD ORANGE MARMALADE1.5kg blood oranges1kg sugar2tsp agar agar powder (optional)METHODWash the skin of the blood oranges, remove any stickers and seeds and prepare to get chopping.Cut off the rough nubby ends of the oranges then halve them, and slice them into crescents slightly thinner than a 20c piece. (Same thickness is fine.) Compost excess pith.Soak the orange slices overnight in just enough water to cover them.Next day, sterilise 6-8 jars with metal lids by putting them in a cool oven and then turning it on to 100C for 30 mins.In a large pot, bring the blood orange slices and their water to the boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and set a timer for 40 mins. When the timer sounds, pour in the sugar. Stir to assist it to dissolve. Set another timer for 40 mins and keep cooking it gently so it's bubbling, but not furiously. Now you'll need to keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn. Keep stirring and watch the level of heat so that it doesn't scorch the bottom of the pan.In the last minute, scatter over the Agar Agar powder and mix through well.Allow the jam to cool a little - say, 15-20 mins.Arrange the sterilised jar in your biggest sink. Pour out the marmalade into the jars using a ladle or heatproof jug. Screw the lids on tightly. When the jars are cool enough to handle, wash them clean of spatters and spills.Add a cute label if you can be bothered.Store in the fridge for up to 3 months.Serve on toast, with a cheeseboard, on scones or muffins. DELIGHTFUL! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I finally got my hands on a copy of Sami Tamimi's FALASTIN - and it's a remarkable cookbook. It's got one of my favourite tomato recipes in the entire world, a rice dish where you use Greek yoghurt almost as a stock to make a creamy white risotto (incredible), and this dish, which I have (since recording) made multiple times. It's easy, really nourishing, and has flavours that transport you to the wonderful culture and food of Sami's homeland.SESAME CRUMBLE50g white sesame seeds25g black sesame seeds150g rolled oats50g flaked almondssea saltcardamom seeds, removed from the pods and crushed50g smooth peanut butter1 egg white100g honey1tbs rose water2tbs olive oilCombine and bake at 160g for 18-20 mins, stirring twice.Serve on top of fruit and yoghurt.PS. If you want to find out more about the GRANOLA I have perfected (it really is perfect) have a look here - or search for GRANOLA TEMPLATE, episode 295 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yumi is still very much hung up on the cookbook that is TOMATO by Clare Thompson, which so far has been yielding a DELIGHTFUL number of heavenly recipes, including the one which inspired her to get into a Black Olive Tapenade...Because who doesn't love a foodie quest? Find a hundred grams of the best pitted black olives you can afford!Moosh them up with 6 anchovies and a tablespoon of capers and 4 tablespoons of olive oil and a sprig of thyme!Use a sharp knife, a mortar and pestle, or a nutribullet-sized blender: The results will differ in texture, but will all be delicious! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Utterly thrilled with his work perk of a whole ton of beautiful, fresh pistachio nuts, Simon has gone nuts experimenting with this ingredient.He's tried nearly everything, but today's dish is far-and-away his favourite:PISTACHIO TRAY-BAKE CHICKENHeat oven to 220CTo make the pistachio paste:Chop 1 cup of shelled and roasted pistachios with one small bunch parsley. Get it quite well chopped and fine and then into a bowl.Add zest of 1 lemon, 2 finely grated garlic cloves, a pinch salt, 1 tsp Dijon mustard and 3 tbs olive oil.MIX WELL til you have a chunky paste.Take a bunch of broccolini and toss with 1tbs of the pistachio paste and set aside600g boneless, skin-on chicken thighs. Coat them with the remaining pistachio paste.Pop on tray and roast for 15 mins and then add the greens and roast for another 10 mins or until the greens are cooked and the pistachio crust has gone golden.Serve with Simon's Lemon Yoghurt. (Greek yoghurt enlivened with a squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch of salt.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yumi is going back to her mother's country with this particular culinary love affair.Zenzai is the name for Adzuki Beans when they're cooked and sweetened, but still hold their beany shape. There's fantastic info about it on this website which is particularly helpful if you love cooking Japanese food!Sweetened beans can be a weird concept if you're not accustomed to it - but give it a chance, it's extremely digestible and leaves the body feeling invigorated and powered!ZENZAI 200g Adzuki Beans1 Litre of water150g brown sugarpinch saltBoil the adzuki beans for 45mins. Drain and rinse them well then top them again with fresh cold water and bring back to the boil. Consider how watery/thick you want your finished product to be when you add the water. (Motto: "You can always add more [water, in this case], but you can't take it away!") Cook for 15 mins before adding the sugar and salt. Allow some water to evaporate but not so much that the pan is dry. Check the beans after another 30 mins. You want them soft and yielding. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Borrowing heavily from Maggie Beer's famous recipe for SOUR CREAM PASTRY, Yumi gets super-inspired in the kitchen and devises a PIE RECIPE for the ages.SMOKED ALMOND PASTRYIn a food processor, mix 240g plain flour with 30g smoked almonds. Add in 160g chilled, cubed butter and whizz for 20 seconds.Add in 125g sour cream, and 40g of olive oil and whizz together for 30-50 seconds, until the dough forms a ball.Get the dough up out of the food processor, and roll into two balls. (If you love metrics, I weigh the base ball to be 340g (bigger) and the lid ball to be 290g.)Wrap in plastic or beeswax and refrigerate until needed (at least 2 hours, overnight is fine).FILLINGDry roast 1 big, cubed sweet potato for 20mins on 180C.Dry cook 500g baby spinach until it's all wilted. This looks goofy like the pan is overfilled but it shrinks down, be patient and watch it doesn't catch on the bottom of the pan.Allow the sweet potato and the spinach to cool.Combine these ingredients with 500g fresh ricotta, 120g finely grated Grana Padano (I used the microplane) and a pinch of salt.Mix well.TO ASSEMBLEPre-heat the oven to 180C.Roll out the pastry in 2 pieces. The larger piece goes into the base of the pie.If you're prepping ahead, you can stop here and refrigerate the crust. This will also prevent shrinkage!Fill the pie with your sweet potato-ricotta-spinach mixture.Top with the lid.Trim, decorate, get fancy with the edges (or don't) and remember to cut a slit in the lid for steam to escape.Brush the lid with a whisked egg yolk, a shake of salt and a generous sprinkle of sesame seeds.Bake for 30-40 mins. Serve in fat wodges with a side of tomato sauce.LOSE YOUR MIND and RELISH THE LEFTOVERS! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's not brain surgery or rocket science, but heating up some leftover rice *can* be a sexy meal ticket. *cough*Simon gets inspired with a meal for one that'll take you 4 minutes to put together. Bonus points if you made the lemon salsa from last episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Simon is STOKED with the new season's lemons.For this stunning (and achievable) spoon-on-everything sauce:CHOP ONE LEMON very well, flicking out the seeds as you go until it's almost like a pastechop through a small bunch of parsley,2tbs drained capersloosen everything up with 1/3 - 1/2 cup olive oilsweeten with a tiny bit of sugar or honeyand a fat pinch of saltServe on fish --- or listen for our next episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yumi can't let go of trying to perfect a recipe from The Regional Italian Cookbook. Even though it demands we use a cheese that is impossible to find in Australia.SHE IS DELIGHTED to report that she's cracked the nut! It can be done!And is predictably delicious!Grease with butter a 23cm cake tin and drizzle with olive oil.Pre-heat the oven.Run 1kg of peeled potatoes through a grater.Put the potato "noodles" in a colander and rinse well with freshly boiled water from the kettle.Mix with 1 egg, beaten with 100ml cold water.Fold through 70g plain flour (or less).season with salt and pepper and a generous pinch of finely ground white pepper.Mix well then put into greased tin.Top with curls of butter (I used about 100g).Top with handfuls of grated Fontina cheese or Spressa delle Guidicarie cheese.Bake on the bottom shelf of your oven at 180C for 35 mins.Serve hot!If it still seems undercooked on the bottom, cook individual slices on your sandwich press! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yumi gets excited to be tasked with the responsibility of cooking a cake big enough to feed a crowd, that is stable enough to take to the beach.It uses Nagi's 'My Very Best Vanilla Cake' - which is dead-set reliable and brilliant.A couple of variations: I cook it in a 28 x 35 roasting tin which I line with baking paper and give a light spray with cooking oil.I also always use coconut oil (the runny, liquid kind) as the oil in the recipe.Contrary to what I was planning when we recorded this episode, I changed my mind about the icing and used my own recipe:YUMI's KILLER ICING500g fresh ricotta (the kind that is sold in a basket or from the deli, NOT the stuff in the tub)1 block of lactose-free cream cheese (I have found this in ALDI)260g icing sugar2tsp vanilla essence and 1tsp vanilla pasteWhizz everything up in a food processor. You'll need to stop a couple of times and scrape the mixture down the sides. Whizz until glossy and lump-free.Dress the cake immediately if you're eating it immediately. If you're taking it somewhere, my recommendation is you decant the icing into a sealable container (I use a big, clean 2L yoghurt tub) and keep it cool in an insulated bag with a couple of icebricks until needed. (NO ONE wants beach-warm dairy!) Dress with a silicone paddle and top with hundreds and thousands and candles and other delightful nonsense! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Unfortunately I missed the opportunity to interrogate Simon on him putting a shot of coffee into his BOLOGNESE - please feel free to email your horror reaction to foodfixemail@gmail.com SIMON'S SUPER STEAK COFFEE RUB1-2 tbs finely ground coffee1 tbs brown sugar1tsp smoked paprika1 tsp saltCombine the ingredients - it's ready for a couple of big steaks.TO COOK:Remember to dry off your steak before you do anything!Then rub in the smoky coffee rub!Fry HOT and (pretty) quick - depending on the cut of meat, roughly 2 mins per side on either an oiled pan or with a bit of oil drizzled over the steak prior to cooking.Allow to rest and serve!PS. 수박 겉 핥기 [subak geot hal-kki] 수박 [subak]= watermelon겉 [geot] = outside핥다 [haltta] = to lickLiteral translation: "licking the outside of a watermelon"Source: Talk To Me in Korean Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of Simon's cookbooks has gone to #1 in Australia for the past fortnight.It's called The Weekly Grocery Shop and you can buy it here.The idea kind of inspired Yumi to make croutons (again). This time using an innovation borne of necessity. But they're REALLY GOOD!Pre-heat your oven to 150C and find the biggest trays you have.Take one stale sourdough baguette and slice into the thinnest possible rounds.Lay out the pieces of bread like large coins over the baking trays.Use a microplane to grate a smoked tasty cheese over the bread slices.Drizzle lightly with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and sesame seeds (optional).Bake for 15-20 mins or until smelling toasty and feeling very crunchy.Store in an airtight container until needed - should last 2 weeks.Serve in Caesar Salad, Rocket and Pear Salad or on any soups. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Simon's amazingly healthful and generous Chicken Soup *IS* pretty winning. He tries to massage my competitive gland by telling me Kate Brown (from my book publisher) prefers HIS soup recipe to mine... HOWEVER IT'S UNTESTED and THEY'RE VERY DIFFERENT!Warm 1tbs oil in a big pot.Add 4 finely sliced garlic cloves.Add a thumb of finely grated ginger and 2 tsp ground turmeric. Cook til smelling fancy.Add in 500g chicken thighs and3/4 cup of brown rice1 bay leaf and8 cups of water or chicken stock. Bring to a simmer.Cook for 20 mins.Add in 2 neatly diced zucchini and cook for the last 10 mins.(30 mins cooktime in total.)TO SERVE:Shred the chicken and return it to the pot.Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper accordingly.Serve with a squeeze of lemon and a handful of washed coriander, some chili oil (optional!). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why DO people cook sweets with vegetables?Are they trying to use up a glut?Trick the people they care about into eating more veg?OR - does it genuinely work as a flavour add-in?Today we dive into BUNDT cakes, how they go wrong, and we get specific with a Lemon and Zucchini Bundt Cake that is surprisingly easy, lasts well and uses up your dirty gourds! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yumi is drawn to a book called The Regional Italian Cookbook but hits some speed humps in trying to make the perfect Potato Cake.Can you pronounce Spressa delle Giudicarie? In this episode you can hear Yumi make multiple attempts to say the name of the cheese, which we were unable to find (email us if you know where to get it! foodfixemail@gmail.com ) Grease with butter a 23cm cake tin and drizzle with olive oil.Pre-heat the oven.Run 1kg of peeled potatoes through a grater.Mix with 1 egg, beaten with 200ml water.Fold through 120g plain flour (or less).season with salt and pepperMix well then put into greased tin.Top with curls of butter (I used about 100g).Top with handfuls of grated Fontina cheese or Spressa delle Guidicarie cheese.Bake on 180C for 35 mins.Serve hot! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Simon is full of inspiration and new information about PEPPER.So he's got a lovely recipe for a WHITE PEPPER CHICKEN CONGEE.Rinse a cup of Jasmine rice.Add it to a pot with 7 cups of chicken stock, 1 chicken breast and 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, finely chopped.Simmer gently for 45 minutes until the rice breaks down.Remove the chicken breast from the pot and shred it to go back into the congee. Season well with salt and LOTS (talkin' a whole tablespoon here) of our hero ingredient - ground white pepper.Top with a sprinkle of chopped spring onion, a drizzle of sesame oil and maybe even another sprinkle of ground white pepper! Serve! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'Cacio e Pepe' is having a moment - but Simon has a fantastic spin on the idea that makes it a great dish for ONE (*side eye Yumi*) and cuts the amount of carbs.Use one jar of fancy white beans, drain and cook up in a half cup or so of stock with a big knob of butter. Warm it up and then add a generous fistful of Pecorino cheese and a MASSIVE grind of freshly ground black pepper. (Be like Simon - or don't! - and get the best, most interesting black peppercorns you can find.)Stir and add more cheese, more pepper, and wait until it tastes "restaurant fancy". Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is a Tarka? Simon explains and there's a really good picture of what it looks like on top of a daal here.CASHEW SPICE TARKA1/4 cashews1 tbs ginger2 sprigs curry leaves1/4 tsp nigella seeds1/2 tsp chilli flakesMeera Sodha's 1 tsp cumin seed1 tsp mustard seed1 long green chillicurry leaves, all fried in smoking hot oilQUICK NO-FRY BASIC RED LENTIL DAAL1 small Spanish onion, thinly sliced1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced1 tbs grated ginger1 tsp grated garlic1/2 tsp turmeric1 tsp ground cumin1 tsp ground coriander1 cinnamon quill300g red lentils600ml waterADD EVERYTHING TO A POT, PRESSURE COOKER or SLOW COOKER and cook for about 40 mins. Add salt and pepper. Then top with a Tarka of your choice! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I won't name the restaurant because it's gorgeous and fantastic and deserves every success!JATZ CRACKERS CHICKENMarinate chicken tenders or thigh fillets cut into strips in Greek yoghurt with a pinch of salt.Blitz the Jatz Crackers to form a crumb.Coat the chicken in the crumbs.Air fry for 15 mins.To cook in the oven? Lightly spray with oil and bake on a tray (spread out) for 10-15mins, 200C. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, Simon reveals just how much he listens to Yumi's work on Double J, and reminisces about when his kids were so little he had to make lots of tray-bakes, because they're very "set-and-forget" - allowing one to get on with the very hands-on work of parenting!ONE TRAY SALMON (or other fish) BAKEPre-heat the oven to 220C.Rub a family sized salmon fillet with dijon mustard, oil, salt and pepper.Chop a fennel bulb into narrow-ish wedges. Add to the tray with broccoli florets, squished kalamata olives, lemon zest, fennel seeds and a big drizzle of oil.Cook for 15 mins and serve immediately. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.