Cha's Kitchen

Wealthy Industrialist and the worlds foremost bubble bath enthusiast. Future owner of the Dallas Cowboys. I also make food.

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Behold, the Tim Tam smore

Behold, the Tim Tam smore

Just behold it. Graham Cracker. OG Tim Tam Molten marshmallow   Behold…. The Tim Tam ‘smore A photo posted by Cha’s Kitchen (@chaskitchen) on May 30, 2016 at 8:50pm PDT  

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A very Portland meal

A very Portland meal

So, I officially moved to Portland in January of this year, but I did come to visit in the summer of 2015 (and fall) when I was looking for work. When I was on the hunt for a job there were obviously things I did to fill in the time I didn’t spend chasing down employment leads. Such as Walking the Cat. But. I did have a chance in the summer to cook an all PNW meal at our little apartment. This…

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Things I need to do everytime I come home to Melbourne

Things I need to do everytime I come home to Melbourne

I’ve been living in the Portland, Oregon now for just on 6 months and whilst the experience has been amazing, the coffee is excellent and food great there are still a bunch of things I miss from Melbourne. Things I factor in when I come home to visit…….i.e; If I’m catching up with you we’re going to one of these places. LAMB: It’s cheap, it’s good and people in Melbourne know pretty blood well…

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Scallop Pies

If there’s one thing you must do when visiting Tasmania it’s to have multiple scallop pies(especially at the Salamanca Market pictured below). Traditionally, the pie is simply small scallops – roe on, a bechamel with a little curry powder in flaky pastry. I’d never made them before, but then I saw how big the diver scallops are here in the Pacific Northwest…they could eat men whole. The are big…

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Coffee in Portland

I don’t think it was until someone in NYC mentioned “Melbourne Style Coffee” that I realised how much of a coffee city I had grown up in. Now living in Portland I had been assured that ITS PRETTY MUCH LIKE A CITY MADE OUT OF FITZROY. Ok this is an overstatement, definitely some similarities with hipsterville but certainly Portland is it’s own city with it’s own charms. <- This was not my concern…

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Lamb Shank Pies

Lamb shanks are one of my favourite cuts of meat. Cheap(sometimes), tender when cooked right and they look gnarly.  When i’m home I love making lamb shank pies for my Dad, it’s legit his favourite. The bone sticking out really serves no purpose but it looks cool. You can skip the pastry part and this recipe makes a good stew.   Ingredients 3 x Lamb Shanks(Have your butcher cut the bottom of the…

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Indomie + Beef Ribs = Ghetto Rendang.

Indomie + Beef Ribs = Ghetto Rendang.

I was bored….and there may or may not have been some instant noodle influences at work. Somehow we got on to the topic of making actual meals from instant noodles( Dave Chang may have had something to do with this). So pretty much you can make ghetto beef rendang using three packets of rendang and a kilo or so of ribs. I mean it works… but it still tastes like instant noodles.…

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Man Night IV : Italian

Man Night IV : Italian

Usually Man Night requires at least a week of planning, buying and prepping. On this occasion this was more Man Night Lite. A friend had some pretty great news so a few of the fellas come round for an impromptu man night with a few hours notice. The theme Italian, the result of a few bottles of Berlusconi Rosso lying around. Kicking things off with a few Berlusconi Spritz and salumi Enter…

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Man Night V

There are two things wrong with the title of this post: It was neither winter or evening. BUT it was super manly… well not really but it was great to see the fellas after three months away in the US. The menu was a little simpler than most Man Nights and primarily made use of the woodfired oven at my parents home. What a way to spend a Sunday afternoon Smoking some wild rabbits from the Vic…

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Lamb leg schnitzel

Can you turn an entire lamb leg into a schnitzel? Yes… yes you ca. You will need 1 x Lamb leg (deboned) 500ml natural greek yoghurt Breadcrumbs Flour Few eggs You will need to 1. Bash out the lamb leg until it’s a this as you can get it without it falling apart. 2. Season with salt, add the yoghurt and place everything into a zip lock bag overnight. 3. Rub off the yoghurt and crumb the lamb leg.…

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The Ultimate Tonkatsu Sandwich

If you’ve been to Japan there a few things you will notice. Everyone’s really nice Everything is efficient and makes sense They have their convenience food on point. I’m talking about small, cheap items you can pick up from a convenience store or train station. Sushi, beers, hot food, ramen(instant), pankcakes and of course sandwiches. The best by far is the Tonkatsu sandwich: constructed of…

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Last minute pickles

I like pickles. I like cucumbers and I like putting something together at the last minute. Behold the last minute pickles. No they aren’t as delicious as proper fermented pickles but they are salty, sweet but still retain a heap of crunch and fresh flavour. They’re pretty much good on anything… and you can make them in under two hours. Also you can scale this recipe up if you need more curing…

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Berlusconi Rosso: How to make homemade vermouth

On a hot summers day I could legit drink a pint of good vermouth on ice. So I was bored and decided to make my own using mostly native ingredients. Behold the Berlusconi Rosso Ingredients: 20L of pinot noir rose(or similar) 50g each of: Aniseed myrtle Lemon myrtle Pepper berry Wattleseed River mint Wormwood Star anise Bush tomato Organic no spray oranges Fennel seeds Rose petals Cinnamon Vanilla…

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Wild Boar Ragu

You know when you go to the market, see something and think I’M GOING TO BUY IT but then realize you don’t know what you’re going to cook with it, let alone if you’ll have time.

Yeah so I saw Camel and Wild Boar and John Cesters at Prahran Market a few weeks back and had to get some (camel later).

This is perfect for a Sunday afternoon relaxation. 

Ingredients

500g Wild Boar (Diced) 100g driced…

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An 8kg Christmas Turkey Cooked Sous Vide

Christmas lunch is by far one of my favourite meals of the year for two reasons: Family and food. If you’re not familiar with an Australian Christmas(well how we do it in my family) it’s usually hot, cans of beer start at about 10am, then there’s cold seafood followed by a number of animals roasted and served with various sides. After a nap there’s usually mum’s famous flaming plum pudding.

I…

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Man Night III: Fourth Course: Lievre a la royale

What is more decadent than a wild Tasmanian hare cooked in red wine and cognac, served with potato mash, foie gras, truffles and a sauce made with the hare’s blood. It’s not made up, this dish is a classic.

Ingredients 2 wild Tasmanian hares and their blood. Carrots, onions, celery all chopped real nice. Thyme, parsley and pepper corns 2 bottles of pinot 1 cup cognac

500g Potato 150g unsalted…

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Man night III

This post is a few months late but to be honest we’re all still recovering from Man Night III. This year we expanded the group out to 11 and for the first time decided to up the ante a bit, chipping in $100 to cover food, booze and other items.

The inspiration for Man Night III came from a clip in the Quebec episode of Parts Unknown where Anthony Bourdain, Frédéric Morin and David McMillan(of Joe…

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