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Recent news stories covered world-wide shortages of CUCUMBERS, in part because of the influence of food tik tokkers!

How much can tik tok influence what we eat?

And speaking of, do you want to try out Logan's (a successful food tik tok influencer) cucumber recipe? (He has many.)

SMOKED SALMON AND AVOCADO CUCUMBER SALAD

Slice one whole cucumber and set aside.

Make the dressing by mixing:

3tbs whipped cream cheese

2tbs chopped fresh dill

50g capers and their juice

1/4 red onion, finely sliced

1 whole avocado

Bagel "everything" seasoning

pinch of MSG powder

Pour the dressing over the cucumber. Then add in 200g of smoked salmon, chopped loosely. Serve. Maybe on a bagel.

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Simon’s recent love affair with miso continues…. This time with a really simple but super delicious Miso, lime and sweet potato bake. It’s super easy - there’s only about a half dozen ingredients that you need and a few that are just a little out of the ordinary (lemongrass, Thai basil, limes) but really, nothing hard to find at all. The flavours though are absolutely spot on – it’s a ‘gratin with attitude’ as Anna Jones puts it and it is absolutely fantastic with beautiful bbq chicken or Yumi’s INFAMOUS vegetarian converter chicken wings. 

Start by making a sauce

Put a 400 ml tin of coconut milk in a blender with 100g cherry tomatoes and roughly chopped - 1 green chilli, a large thumb-sized piece of ginger, 3 garlic cloves, 2 lemongrass stalks and 2 tablespoons white miso paste. Blitz on high until you have a smooth, fragrant sauce. 

Prep your Sweet Potatoes and BAKE

Preheat the oven to 180C. Slice 750g sweet potatoes (4 small/2 large) about ½ cm thick - by hand or MANDOLINE (!). Season with sea salt and layer into a 28cm oiled baking dish (about A4-sized). Layer them in overlapping rows. Pour over the sauce, cover the dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes until the top is browned and the potatoes are cooked through. Take off the foil and bake for another 15 mins. 

Final finish

Grate over the zest of 1 unwaxed lime. Scatter over the leaves of a small bunch of basil (Thai best but normal fine) and bake for a final 5 mins. Serve with 2 limes for squeezing over.

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It's not a "humble brag" at all to come all up in our show notes and mention that my OTHER podcast - Ladies, We Need to Talk - won 2 awards in November. One for Best Podcast Sex and Relationships - and one for PODCAST OF THE YEAR!

No, it's not humble at all. It's huge.

As it is when your restaurant wins an award. It should be shouted from rooftops because basically, it's an accomplishment that no one can take away from you. Absolutely my podcast won't be PODCAST OF THE YEAR next year. But this year it was. And I'll keep that til I die.

On today's show, we talk about what it means to win, and Simon describes the amazing experience of dining at this year's CHEF OF THE YEAR Award Winner, Jung Eun Chae's restaurant, Chae.

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It's not every day you make a slice that's so yummy you should retire and just become a permanent cake maker, obviously growing EXTREMELY RICH in the process! Lol!

Have you also noticed your fruit n veg getting cheaper? HMU at [email protected]

RHUBARB SLICE

750g - 1kg rhubarb, washed, dried and trimmed to a salad-like dice.

225g room temp butter

150g sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla paste or essence

450g plain flour

1.25 tsp baking powder

big pinch salt

Combine the butter, sugar in a food processor, add in the vanilla, the eggs one at a time, and at the last minute, add in the flour, salt and baking powder but DON'T OVERMIX.

Split the mix in 2, press half of the mix into a brownie tin, refrigerate or freeze the remaining dough.

Mix the prepared rhubarb with 10g tapioca flour and 80 - 100g brown sugar. 1 tsp of vanilla extract and a pinch of salt.

Add that to the brownie tin, spreading evenly.

Spread the remaining mixture over the top of the rhubarb.

Bake for 40 mins at 180C, allow to cool then sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with strong, hot tea!

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If it's not Moving House season, it's Gift Wrap season (*HELP!*), and Simon is getting amongst it by creating a really impressive but rather easy fish meal.

Pre-heat the oven to 200C

Trim and chop bok choy into (roughly) 4cm pieces, cut 1-2 spring onions into matchsticks, set aside.

In a small bowl, 1tbs miso paste, 2tbs butter, and 1tbs mirin, mix to combine, set aside.

Set out 4 pieces of 30cm baking paper.

4 x 120g-150g white fish fillets, eg., Ling.

Divide the fish pieces and 100g mushrooms (eg., shiitake) plus the prepared veg among the 4 pieces of paper.

Drizzle with the miso dressing and 2 addition tablespoons of water.

Wrap well.

Bake for 12-14 minutes. Allow to rest for a couple of minutes. Unwrap at the table with great theatricality and enjoy getting involuntary twinkle hands! (Top with more finely sliced spring onion if you want!)

Enjoy!

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I sometimes forget that Simon's day job is commissioning and editing cookbooks. The man lives and breathes it.

So we find out what he's been working on (Spoiler: Adam Liaw's latest) - - and then deviate into a favourite that is both simple and quick, but necessitates good ingredients and a deft, confident hand. Or a drunk hand! Either will do!

Spaghetti Aglio, Olio & Pepperoncino

100g spaghetti per person (best quality)

6 tbs best olive oil

handful of red chillies or dried chilli flakes with good flavour

4-6 cloves of fresh garlic, finely sliced

optional: grated parmesan (Simon doesn't)

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Fulfilling our remit to make delicious food achievable - THIS EPISODE DELIVERS!

Yes, it is a tiring time to be alive in the world. Politics and world events are GRIM. And yet, one must eat. One must feed one's family.

LOADED SWEET POTATO WITH BLACK BEANS AND CHEDDAR (thanks to NY TIMES COOKING)

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Wash and dry 2 medium sweet potatoes then halve them lengthways.

Rub all over with 1tbs olive oil and sprinkle salt all over.

Roast for 30-40 minutes, until smelling good.

(*I found I didn't need this much time - Yumi)

Turn them over so they now look like boats and use a fork to rough up the flat side.

Top with 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese and 1 can rinsed and drained black beans, then another 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese.

Bake for 7 minutes until cheese has melted and the beans are hot.

Serve with a wedge of lime, chili sauce, fresh coriander, and WHATEVER ELSE YOU WANT.

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Hetty McKinnon's cookbook 'Community' is an Aussie classic. I remember when women used to give this to each other as a cult gift - so good! Everything from this book is amazing and you can buy it via this link. The following recipe can also be found here. But listen to this episode

STEP 1: Barbeque the following, well.

2 heads (1kg) broccoli, cut into florets

STEP 2: Make a dressing and heat on stove in a small pot combining these ingredients:

125ml extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

80g capers, rinsed and drained

1 long red chilli, thinly sliced

STEP 3: Combine the following in a big bowl and then dress with the warm oil/dressing:

500g cooked chickpeas (about 2 cans) drained and rinsed

1 cup baby spinach leaves

1 cup parsley, finely chopped

1 cup mint, leaves picked

zest and juice of 1 lemon

80g Parmesan cheese, shaved

50g flaked almonds, toasted

sea salt and black pepper

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Having a food failure ISN'T unusual. It's part of being a cook.

But there's something particularly painful when it's a whole cake that's ruined.

I relive a recent Pear Cake fail and we talk through what can be done when things don't go to plan.

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