OUR FAVOURITE RECIPES
From paddock to plate, we take great care in everything we do. We have collaborated with award-winning author and food journalist Richard Cornish to develop and triple-test this beautiful collection of recipes, all cooked with our very own meat.
Super Easy Golden Crackling Porchetta
Porchetta is a marvellous dish. Easy to cook but presents beautifully with a beautiful golden roll of crisp-skinned crackling - a piece for every slice, and tender juicy pork loin that has been seasoned to give extra flavour. This cut is super easy to cook, even easier to slice and almost as good as the roast itself, are the incredible sandwiches you can make from the leftovers!
Rostbiff with French Gravy
Rostbiff is a cut from the centre rump, with the rump cap and fat layer removed. It’s a cut with remarkable flavour, especially when roasted. Rostbiff can be roasted whole in a hot oven, barbecued, or sliced into steaks for a tender, delicious stir-fry. Ironically, we use the French term "rostbiff" — meaning "roast beef" — to describe this very English cut.
Roasted Pork Shoulder with Roast New Potatoes
Pork shoulder is affordable, tender, and delicious. You don’t need to buy a whole pork shoulder — a smaller 2kg portion is perfect for a smaller gathering and cooks in the same way, just more quickly. For a richer, crispier roast potato, use the rendered pork fat instead of olive oil.
Roasted Whole Pork Shoulder with Buttery Hasselback Potatoes
Pork shoulder is perfect when serving a crowd. It has more flavour than most other cuts, cooks to a lip-smacking succulence, and boasts skin that crisps to golden crackling. Here, we pair it with rich and delicious roast hasselback potatoes.
Rack of Lamb with Middle Eastern Vegetables
This grass-fed rack of lamb is tender, rich, and succulent, cooked on a bed of vegetables seasoned with Middle Eastern spices to soak up all the delicious juices. It’s a super colourful dish and perfect for large celebrations and feasts.
Easy Carve Middle Eastern Lamb Shoulder
Lamb shoulder is so delicious. It is full-flavoured and cooks beautifully juicy and tender. It cooks more evenly and faster when it is boned, rolled, and tied, something we do in-house here for you gladly. We will even give it a rub with our special Middle Eastern Spice mix. Order online or come in-store and ask for one. We love the recipe so much we are going to share it with you.
Where's the (green) sauce?
Almost every cuisine around the world has versions of a green sauce – essentially an uncooked sauce featuring fresh green herbs, a good quality oil, and an acid component (vinegar or lemon juice).
Nana's Sunday Lamb Roast
My nana was a great cook. Growing up without a lot of money, she knew how to stretch out meals, make great dishes from cheaper cuts and fill up the bellies of hungry men and fussy kids. But it was on special occasions when she would really impress and nobody could come close to making a roast like hers. Nana would get up before the dairy farmers so that lunch would still be served by noon but I have tweaked her recipe so that the whole process takes about 2 hours with some prep the night before – and it might not be quite as good as Nan’s, but it's pretty close.
Chargrilled Porterhouse with Parmesan and Polenta Chips
Porterhouse is one of the best steaks in town. It sits next to the rib on the carcass and has a line of fat cap on one side. Our cattle produce porterhouse with a good amount of marbling, so they are always juicy and tender. These chips, by the way, are extra tasty, so easy to make, and can be made the day before if necessary.
Autumn Osso Buco
This is a deeply satisfying osso buco that is made without tomatoes. It has a delicate citrus tang from a little orange rind and an earthy note from the sage. This is such a light version of osso buco, it can easily be served on its own with just a glass of refreshing white wine or a glass of pinot noir.
Tacos de Carnitas
When Mexican families get together there is a lot of food served to feed a lot of people. Tacos de Carnitas is a dish where tortillas are filled with loads of fresh salsa and then lashing of rich pork, slow cooked, sometimes over a smoky fire, with zingy citrus, loads of fresh herbs, onion and garlic until the pork is super soft sitting in a rich sweet yet tangy sauce. So easy to make. So easy to eat.
Italian Pork and Fennel Meatballs with Sage and Pumpkin Risotto
Sausages are not just for the BBQ. They are a raw material for making other great dishes. Our sausages have none of the pre-added nasties and the pork and fennel sausages make excellent polpette or Italian meatballs. Here they’re served with a filling risotto with pumpkin and sage, a great way to feed and fill a growing family.
Dry Brined Pork Rack, Ginger Sweet Potatoes and Tangy Slaw
It takes a bit of time, but this little trick will make your next roast pork dinner a true celebration. Start the day before and make sure the skin on the pork is bone dry to help it crisp up in the oven. These dishes have some Asian flavours and the meal is great with Tsing Tao beer or even a full flavoured chardonnay or pinot noir.
Spanish Roast Chicken and Vegetables with Paella Stuffing
This is an excellent way of bringing a little variety and spice into the kitchen and big family dinners. First, you make a stuffing that looks and tastes like paella and you stuff that into a big chicken to feed a crew. Then you cook potato and onions and chorizo in chicken stock and wine alongside the roast chook. The result is a juicy flavoursome bird, loads of paella stuffing and a load of delicious Spanish vegetables. Add a few greens, crusty bread, and a bottle of tempranillo and you have a dinner party for six or just a great family meal.
Chicken Skewers with Caramelised Vegetable and Couscous Salad
This is a great way to serve a good number of people without breaking the bank. The simple but punchy flavours of garlic and paprika make chicken taste six times better than it normally does and if you can cook this over a charcoal grill – even better. Make sure you soak the bamboo skewers for an hour or so before so cooking so they don’t burn.
Middle Eastern Lamb Shoulder With Moghrabieh Salad
A beautiful rich slow cooked shoulder of lamb served on a salad of moghrabieh. You can buy these hand-rolled balls of semolina at Tonna’s in Daylesford or any other great deli where middle eastern products are sold. They are used in Middle Eastern cooking and soak up the flavours of everything they are cooked with.
Hainanese Chicken Rice
A dish popular in the Chinese populations of South East Asia it is originally from the Hainan province of Southern China. What we love about it is that it is so delicious and quite easy to make. Yes, there are a lot of ingredients, but they are all available in the stores in town. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be bringing this recipe out to feed the family or dinner party guests.
Beef Carbonnade a la Flamande
Annie Smithers put us onto this dish from Flanders in Belgium. It is enjoyed in France, Belgium and The Netherlands and is a thick, beef stew that tastes like the most delicious French onion soup but served on toasted baguette with French mustard. It is unusual for European cooking as it is made without stock, instead it uses beer. Try the Daylesford Brewery ale or Coopers Ale.
Blood Orange Honey BBQ Ribs
Sweet, smoky, sticky and so delicious these pork ribs are the perfect finger-licking accompaniment for a get together with friends or as a meal for the family. You will need plenty of napkins or even wet towels to get your fingers clean when eating this very moreish treat. Blood oranges have extra flavour and will be in stores until mid-spring. If you can’t find them, try navel oranges. Hint: Zest citrus before juicing them as it is much easier.
Lamb Neck Ragu
A rich sauce made from one of the best value pieces of lamb. Neck is packed with flavour and offers incredible value. Here is a Northern Italian ragu I first had when I dined with Stefano De Pieri at his famous restaurant in Mildura.
Cast Iron Steak
Cook the perfect rib eye on the bone inside on a cast iron grill or frying pan.