Tag Archive for: vegetarian

Food & Wine Storyline with Chef Dominique Rizzo

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If you think it’s all strawberries and ice cream at the Ekka, then think again.  At the Food and Wine stage, it is everything from kangaroo damper to edible flowers to gelati, to native fruits, to dagwood dogs, to gnocchi and sausage making, mixing it up with Country & Western singers, our fabulous boys in blue.

That’s what the Food & Wine Storyline at the EKKA in 2017 with Chef Dominique Rizzo is all about.

Food & Wine Storyline with Chef Dominique Rizzo - Chef Ben King and Chef Dominique Rizzo

Chef Ben King – Head Chef at Putia Pure Food Kitchen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Food & Wine Storyline with Chef Dominique Rizzo - Gabrella of Gelato & Co Winner of the Gelati competition with Chef Dominique Rizzo

Gabrella from Gelato & Co, Winner of the Gelati competition

 

As the host of the Food & Wine Stage in the Woolworths Pavillion, Dominique welcomed her fabulous guest presenters by day and then cooked up a storm at night for her special “Dinners with Dom“.

 

Food & Wine Storyline with Chef Dominique Rizzo - Rainforest Bounty

Lyn Vicary, Rainforest Bounty

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dominique’s shares with you two of her favourite recipes from this year’s EKKA that will be easy for you to cook at home and enjoy with yourwww.kullillaart.com.au/coo-ee-cuisine-bush-food-kitchen-recipe-book and friends.

1st Recipe

Dale Chapman from First Food Co (Aust) Pty Ltd

Straight from Dale’s Cooee Cuisine cookbook is a native spice rub rubbed onto a kangaroo fillet. Showcasing a wattleseed damper sliced into thin slices for the finished creation of a kangaroo bruschetta.

Native Spice Kangaroo Damper Bruschetta

Ingredients:

½ tbsp. ground cumin

1 tbsp sea salt

1 tbsp white pepper

1 tbsp ground pepper berries

½ tbsp. chilli peppers

2 tbsp ground lemon myrtle

2 tbsp dried finger lime

2 tbsp garlic powder

2 tbsp native mint

2 tbsp toasted coconut

Kangaroo fillet

3 cups self-raising flour

½ cup extra self raising flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 cup powdered milk

½ cup soda water

2 tbsp wattleseed

2 cups oil

Steps:

Wild Spice Rub:

  1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

Kangaroo:

  1. Add olive oil to make a wet mixture to brush over kangaroo fillet.
  2. Salt and pepper kangaroo.
  3. Cook kangaroo in a hot pan for 10-15 minutes.
  4. Let rest and slice thinly.

Damper:

  1. Sift flour, add wattleseed, fold in soda water, adding more if you need it.
  2. Very quickly combine and dust surface with extra flour and knead.
  3. Make into shape of a loaf and bake in a moderate oven for 10-12 minutes.
  4. Slice into 1cm slices, brush with oil and char grill.

Assemble:  Assemble kangaroo onto char grilled damper. Add rocket and serve.

Our very talented country and western singers on the Food & Wine Storyline:

Food & Wine Storyline with Chef Dominique Rizzo - young guy Country and Western singer

Country and Western musician

 

Food & Wine Storyline with Chef Dominique Rizzo - Felicity Kircher

Country & Western singer, songwriter, musician Felicity Kircher with her father Robert

 

 

2nd Recipe

“Dinner with Dom” recipe:

Pasta curls with Italian pork sausage, sage, radicchio and parmesan

Ingredients:

  • 750 grams pork and fennel sausages
  • 150 grams thick-cut pancetta, diced
  • 2 brown onions, peeled and diced
  • 6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 medium carrot, diced
  • 3 celery stalks, finely sliced
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
  • 1/2 tablespoon fennel seeds
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 400 ml red wine
  • 600 ml chicken stock
  • 400 grams tinned crushed tomatoes
  • 3 sprigs rosemary
  • 2 sprigs oregano
  • salt and pepper
  • 60 ml extra virgin olive oil
  • Fried sage
  • Radicchio baked with honey garlic dressing
  • Shaved parmesan

Steps: 

  1. Remove the skins from the sausages and crumble the meat. Discard the skins. Heat a heavy-based pot over medium heat, then add the sausage meat and pancetta. Fry until the sausage meat is golden brown, stirring every few minutes.
  2. Add the onion, garlic, carrot, celery, bay leaves, dried chilli and fennel seeds. Stir in well. The vegetables will sweat a little and ease all the crusty, caramelized pieces from the bottom of the pot.
  3. Continue to cook gently for 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until the vegetables are soft and slightly caramelized. Add the tomato paste and red wine and bring to a simmer. Add the stock, tinned tomatoes, rosemary, and oregano and continue to simmer for about 45 minutes on low heat, until you have a thick, intense sauce consistency.   Cook the pasta according to packet instructions.
  4. When cooked, season the ragu carefully (the sausages will already be salted), then add the olive oil and the cooked pasta. Bring the pot to the table.

The people in the know about the Food and Wine Storyline: 

Food & Wine Storyline with Chef Dominique Rizzo - with Qld Police

Qld Police

Food & Wine Storyline with Chef Dominique Rizzo

Anooska Tucker-Evans, The Courier Mail

And the best behind the scenes team ever:

Food & Wine Storyline with Chef Dominique Rizzo

Maggie Hollingdale

 

Food & Wine Storyline with Chef Dominique Rizzo

The Woolworths Pavillion at the EKKA

Where it all happens:  the Woolworths Pavillion at the Brisbane EKKA

A sustainable kitchen garden – making a menu from your mulch

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A sustainable kitchen garden Chef Dominique Rizzo - Dominique with freshly picked vegetables

The following guest blog post is by Dominique Rizzo from Pure Food Cooking, Channel 10’s “Ready Steady Cook” and “The Circle”…

“A sustainable kitchen garden – Making a menu from mulch” was originally published at 1 Million Women some years ago.

 

 

Life is busy!  I feel that this year is flying past with the blink of an eye. When I am out and about I often get asked what I cook at home and am often embarrassed to say that I indulge in the simplest of cooking and quite often live on vegetable soups, loads of grilled, poached or baked seafood’s, and fabulously fresh salads and vegetable dishes made with ingredients that I manage to pick from my brothers garden next door…. my little patch of herb and vegetable paradise is in the making.

Most of us are doing our best to grow our own little patch of produce and it’s wonderful if you are just managing to have only a couple of pots of herbs as gardening as I have found out does require a little or even a lot of effort to reap the benefits.

Working in my own sustainable kitchen garden I have come up with some great ideas on how to make the most out of what you grow, avoid wastage and even save money. Fresh herbs are fantastic to use in all cooking, salads, drinks and even desserts and tend to be very seasonal so when they come on take advantage of the abundance of these few simple ideas.

Using the harvest from your sustainable kitchen garden:

Herbs

  • Blend your herbs in a food processor with a little oil and freeze in ice cube trays, remove when frozen and then store in plastic bags or plastic containers, use the cubes to flavour soups, sauces, stir-frys or even to add to a dressing of olive oil, vinegar and a squeeze of lemon. Any combination of herbs are ideal for tossing with steamed vegetables, dressing steamed or baked fish, chicken or seafood or mixing through boiled potatoes with a little mayonnaise, low-fat yoghurt or sour cream.
  • Try making pesto’s with a variety of different nuts and of course some sharp parmesan, this can also be frozen and is a great pasta sauce standby.
  • Make your own fresh dried herbs, nothing like what you buy in the supermarket and are easily done by placing them onto a baking tray and allowing them to sit in a very low oven of about 40 – 50 overnight. Simply, scrunch up the herbs and store them in jars.

Lettuces are fantastically easy to grow and if you are not on top of them they soon start to flower, so get in while the leaves are young and sweet and use the leaves for wonderfully fresh salads. You can also lightly steam them and dress with olive oil and lemon or sauté the leaves with a little butter, garlic, prosciutto or bacon and top with toasted fresh breadcrumbs for a delicious side.There is always lettuce soup, a quick light soup combining garlic, onions, lettuce, homemade chicken stock, simmered until the onions are softened and garnished with fresh parsley and a dollop of sour cream or yoghurt.

Home grown tomatoes have the most amazing flavour, they make great fresh sauces and keep well packed into sterilised jars, tomato and chilli jam makes a great gift for you chilli-loving friends and helps you get stuck into that chilli bush you have full of that fiery flavour. Tomato, apple and rosemary jelly is superb as a spread on fresh scones or pikelets and ideal as an accompaniment to sandwiches and of course a kitchen is not home without a spiced tomato relish, it is a must in any one’s fridge or pantry great served with cold meats, barbecued meats, on sandwiches or tossed through chopped vegetables with a little oil before roasting tomato relish.

Sustainable kitchen garden Chef Dominique Rizzo -lemon relish

Lemons make fresh and vibrant table decorations piled high in glass vases with fronds of rosemary or thyme, squeeze the juice and zest the skin and freeze for use in drinks, homemade lemonade, lemon curd is delicious and easy to throw together for a country breakfast served with pancakes or spooned onto tartlets for a delightful afternoon tea with friends. Lemon zest and juice is perfect for adding to dressings, marinades, baking, and is ideal blended with garlic and fresh herbs rubbed into lamb, fish, or chicken.

Preserved lemons are quite expensive but very easy to make. Wash your lemons and then make a cut through the middle and then into quarters keeping the lemon intact. Pack each of the lemons with rock salt then fit them into your sterilised jar, I love adding, peppercorns, a stick of cinnamon, a bay leaf, some cloves and a star anise for a real middle eastern flavour. Alternate the jar with salt-filled lemons and more rock salt then fill the jar with lemon juice until the lemons are covered. Secure the lid tightly then sit in a dark place for up to 7-8 months. These make well received Christmas gifts, or just a thank you to a friend and why not wrap a little preserved lemon recipe for a wonderful Moroccan salad or a tagine, around the jar.

Sustainable kitchen garden Chef Dominique Rizzo - Fennel and lemon relish

One of my other favourite recipes is for my divine lemon and fennel relish , it is an amazing accompaniment to fish, chicken, pork or lamb and goes beautifully with cheese, or tossed with freshly steamed asparagus or beans for a zesty side dish, this relish also makes good use of that excess fennel which tends to grow endlessly.

For a sustainable garden to work for you, you need to use it and keep on using it. So grab those empty jars that I know you have stored away for a rainy day and start cooking. The gift of food is something very special and is always well received from my family who have everything they need in the material sense and love eating. Receiving a basket or jar of homemade goodies from anyone for me is a real treat, you know that a lot of love and thought has gone into each and every mouthful.

“Fill up on life” with Chef Dominique Rizzo at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre Launch of their New Menu

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The Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre was recently named the World’s Best Convention Centre by the International Association of Congress Centres and best in the world for Food & Beverage, receiving double the ratings of other international convention centres.  With such an impressive reputation, The Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre celebrated the launch of their new menu  “Fill up on Life”.

Master of ceremony at the event was Chef Dominique Rizzo, widely known for her quest to share her passion for healthy, pure food not only at Putia Pure Food Kitchen, her restaurant in Brisbane but all around Queensland and beyond.

Chef Dominique Rizzo gives a sneak preview of her experience at the spectacular promotion of the Centre’s new menu and food concepts, offering arguably the best produce Australia and Queensland have to offer.

Brisbane Convention Centre - Fill up on life food

With this launch, the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre (BCEC) celebrated a giant leap forward in convention catering by now offering mainstream healthy dishes and options to people with dietary needs. Gone are the days of heavier, traditional convention food, instead welcoming in a new style focusing on nourishing, energy-giving foods prepared in a bespoke kitchen tailored to meet guests’ special dietary requirements; implemented in response to the high demand for dietary requests at 20% to 30% of all meals.   In another first for convention catering, the leading direction at BCEC comes from the wonderful influence, knowledge and experience of Queensland Ambassador Chef, David Pugh, recipient of many hats for his acclaimed Restaurant Two.

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre -Chef Martin Latter, Chef Dominique Rizzo, Chef David Pugh

Choosing Chef Dominique Rizzo to host the launch was a natural fit as these same principals underpin both her menu that she offers at Putia Pure Food Kitchen and their menu at Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, promoting a “nourish mentality” using locally sourced, sustainable, seasonal produce. Dominique defines the convention centre’s new boutique menu as one crafted around Queensland flavours and nutrients that will feed the type of energy and atmosphere that participants want at every stage of their conference or event. This menu, for the health conscious, provides the necessary nutrition to focus minds and energy to keep going through those long conference afternoons.

 

Brisbane Convention Centre - Fill up on life

So too, good nutrition is the key to the menu choices at Putia, where there are sensational taste sensations for those who are gluten free, dairy free, egg free, vegan and vegetarian. That is why Chef Dominique Rizzo and the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre make a great combination, sharing the same values when it comes to nourishing your mentality and filling up on life.

Getting the Know How on Perfect Lettuce Pesto and Broccoli and Cauliflower Fritters

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Broccoli and Cauliflower fritters rsz 

Listen to the interview on 612 ABC Brisbane here:  Lettuce pesto and Broccoli and Cauliflower fritters

 

And follow the recipes here:

Broccoli and Cauliflower Fritters

Makes 20 -25 fritters depending on the size

These are a fantastic vegetarian fritter in which you can use just about any vegetable, I have also made these with sautéed chopped mushrooms and they taste delicious. They make a great addition to a light dinner, as a starter to have with drinks and ideal for kids for the school lunches as you can mask the vegetables that they may not like. Adapt the ingredients to suit your taste buds and make your own fantastic combinations. You could also spray these with olive oil and bake them in an oven of 180c for about 15 minutes until golden.

 

  • 250g broccoli, cut into florets (about 1 small head)
  • 230g cauliflower, cut into florets (about ½ a cauliflower)
  • 2 tbsp. Gourmet Garden Parsley or ½ cup chopped parsley
  • 1 tsp. Gourmet Garden garlic
  • ¾ cup grated parmesan
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
  • 80g cream cheese
  • Salt and pepper
  • Extra bread crumbs
  • About ½ cup Light olive oil or vegetable oil for frying

 

  1. Cook the broccoli and the cauliflower in boiling water until tender and almost breaking apart. Drain and rinse with cold water allowing the vegetables to drain completely before using. In a food processor pulse the vegetables until just combined but not puree; you can also do this with a potato masher, mash the cauliflower and the broccoli until just broken up.
  2. Place the combined vegetables into a bowl and add in the chopped parsley, minced garlic, grated cheese, eggs, breadcrumbs and cream cheese. Season well with salt and pepper and with your hands combine the mix until it sticks together. Taste the mix and adjust the seasoning. Cover with plastic wrap and sit the mixture in the fridge for at least an hour, you will find that the mixture will harden slightly and the fritters will be easier to manage and fry if they are a little firm.  Place the extra bread crumbs into a bowl and take a spoonful of the mixture, roll it in the breadcrumbs and then into a small ball, flattening it slightly with your fingers.
  3. When you are ready to cook them, heat a large fry pan with oil and fry the fritters on all sides until golden about 1-2 minutes. Drain on paper towel and serve hot or room temperature with a squeeze of lemon and with salad if you are making a meal out of these.

Lettuce pesto
Lettuce pesto with crackers rsz
Makes 2 cups

 

I love this pesto, it’s so easy to throw together especially if you are growing your own lettuce and have abundance and can’t keep up with the harvest. You can use any type of mixed leaves and even the softer outer leaves that are not great for a salad. You can add in some of your favorite ingredients such as olives, anchovies, chopped salami, and substitute the parmesan for feta, ricotta and even cream cheese or blue cheese… whatever you have in the fridge.  Use this as a dip, stirred through pasta, tossed through a salad… yes that’s right lettuce pesto with lettuce, you may want to add a splash of vinegar to loosen it up for a dressing. This is also great to spoon through a medley of steamed vegetables. So I will leave it up to your imagination on how many ways you can make use of this tasty pesto… it will also make a great picnic spread for bread or crackers.

 

  • 2 big handful of mixed lettuce leaves ( about 4-5 cups, try and use a mixture of leaves, Cos, ice berg, red coral, butter head, red coral, green coral)
  • 1 tbsp. capers, drained
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • Handful of lemon basil leaves or basil
  • 1/3 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
  • ¼ cup toasted pine nuts
  • 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • ¼ cup olive oil, if you want a looser pesto add a little more oil
  • Salt
  • 1 tbsp. lemon juice

 

  1. Place all the ingredients into a food processor and blend until combined and chopped together. Adjust the seasoning and store in an airtight container or jar in the fridge for about 3 weeks. If the top is covered with oil the pesto will stay fresher for longer.

 

Tag Archive for: vegetarian