Recipes to Get You Excited About Spring

Revitalise the BBQ

Welcome back the pleasant days with a late lunch that’s crafted solely by the flames and high heat of the BBQ. Easy to make, create a Mediterranean-inspired menu with some char grilled squid that’s dressed with some green beans, while the Middle-Eastern cauliflower steak transforms everyone’s idea of just how tasty healthy eating can be.

Both recipes can be cooked with Beefeater’s Signature ProLine™ 6-Burner Built-in BBQ.
This spacious BBQ features six burners with cast iron open grill and hotplate to effortlessly cook any type of ingredient. The included warming rack helps keep cooked food warm while the oil management system captures excess grease to ensure that cleaning up is simple. Finished with a gorgeous Stainless Steel colour, this built-in BBQ will suit any modern outdoor kitchen.

Char Grilled Chilli and Garlic Squid with Green Beans and Manuka Honey

Serves 4
Super Easy
Total Time: 20 Minutes

Ingredients:

• 1kg squid tubes
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp crushed pink peppercorns
• 2 tbsp manuka honey
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 red capsicum, sliced
• 200g green beans, trimmed
• Basil leaves to serve
• 1 lemon, halved

Method:

1. Split squid tubes in half opening flat.
2. Score the inside of the tubes with a small sharp knife in a criss-cross pattern.
3. Place tubes in a bowl and drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil, sea salt, pink peppercorns, and honey.
4. Heat Beefeater BBQ to high on both char grill and flat plates.
5. Cook squid for 2-3 minutes each side on the chargrill till charred.
6. Drizzle onions, red capsicum, and beans with remaining olive oil, and cook on the flat grill for 3-4 minutes till golden.
7. Combine with squid into a large bowl and scatter with basil leaves.
8. Place halved lemon on the flat or chargrill and cook for 1 minute till golden and soft.
9. Squeeze lemon over squid and serve.

Middle Eastern Cauliflower Steaks
Super Easy
Total Time: 30 Minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 large cauliflower
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• Sea-salt flakes, to season
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Chopped almonds, to garnish
• Mint leaves, to garnish
• Greek yogurt, to serve

Method:

1. Remove hard centre stalk and leaves from cauliflower. Slice cauliflower into steaks about 2 cm thick.
2. Heat BBQ to medium. Put the spices and oil in a shallow bowl and stir to combine, add cauliflower, and turn ensuring both sides are well coated. Use a pastry brush to ensure mix gets into all the cracks.
3. Cook steaks on BBQ for 10 mins each side, or until tender. Turning occasionally to ensure spices don’t burn. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice.
4. Transfer to a plate, scatter with almonds and mint leaves. Serve with Greek yogurt.

Recipes by Beefeater

Uncover Spring Baking

Delight everyone’s senses with some delicious tang from citrus fruits in your desserts. Think lemon that’s perfectly complemented with some sweetness in a Lemon Meringue Pie or perhaps explore a fruity, light cake with the Orange, Almond & Pistachio Cake. Both creations are crafted by Smeg chef Elke Travers and they can be mastered with the Smeg Thermoseal oven in the 90cm Victoria Freestanding Cooker.

Cook and bake up a storm with the spacious, high-functionality performance of the Smeg 90cm Victoria Freestanding Cooker. With its large 126L Thermoseal oven with 10 cooking functions and a 5-zone gas cooktop including a centre 18mj/hr wok burner, every dish on your menu can be whipped up, easily.

Lemon Meringue Pie
Makes a 24cm pie

Ingredients:

Pastry

• 225g plain flour
• 75g caster sugar
• 150g butter
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
• Pinch salt

Lemon filling

• 4 lemons
• 4 whole eggs
• 4 yolks [reserve whites for Italian meringue]
• 340g sugar
• 300ml cream

Italian meringue

• 90ml water
• 300g caster sugar
• Pinch cream of tartar
• 4 egg whites

Method:

1. Set oven to baker’s function and pre-heat to 180˚C. Grease a 24cm round deep loose-bottomed tart tin with butter.
2. For pastry, place flour, sugar, butter and a pinch of salt in a Smeg stand mixer bowl with the flex-edge beater attached and beat until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add egg and vanilla and combine until mixture forms a ball. Place dough on a sheet of baking paper and roll out to 3mm thickness. Line prepared tart tin with pastry, trim edge and refrigerate.
3. For lemon filing, zest lemons and juice with Smeg citrus juicer. Place zest and juice in Smeg hand blender jug with remaining ingredients and blend with flow blend attachment until smooth. Strain mixture through a sieve over the chilled pastry in the tart tin.  Bake for 15 minutes at 180˚C and reduce heat to 140˚C and bake for a further 40 minutes until set.
4. For Italian meringue, set oven to grill and pre heat to 220˚C. Place water, sugar and cream of tartar in a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve sugar.  Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until soft ball stage (118˚C) is reached.  Meanwhile, place egg whites in a Smeg stand mixer bowl with the whisk attached and whisk to stiff peaks.  With the motor running, slowly and carefully pour over the sugar syrup, continuing to whisk until the mixture is cool and very glossy.
5. Spoon Italian meringue over lemon tart, creating peaks and swirls. Place tart in oven and cook for 3 minutes until golden.  Serve with whipped cream.

Orange, Almond & Pistachio Cake

Ingredients:

Cake

• 3 oranges
• 6 eggs
• 2½ cups (250g) almond meal
• 1¼ cup (250g) caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ cup pistachios nuts, chopped, to serve

Glaze

• 1 cup (250ml) reserved liquid from boiling the oranges
• ¼ cup (55g) caster sugar

Method:

1. Place the oranges in a saucepan, cover with water, bring to the boil and boil for 2 hours until very tender. Remove oranges and set aside to cool. Reserve 1 cup of liquid, add ¼ cup caster sugar, bring to the boil and simmer until thick. Set aside to cool.
2. Set oven to fan forced and pre-heat to 190˚C. Line a 22cm cake tin with baking paper.
3. Place cooled oranges, eggs, almond meal, 1¼ caster sugar and baking powder in the hand blender food processer attachment and blend until smooth. Pour into prepared cake tin and cook for 35 minutes until cooked when tested with a skewer.
4. Pour glaze over warm cake and top with pistachios to serve. For best results refrigerate cake overnight.

Recipes by Smeg chef Elke Travers

Have Wines Ready to Serve

Raise a glass and celebrate with your nearest and dearest with some quality wine that’s been cellared and stored in Vintec’s wine cellar. Preserve more of your favourite wines across various types from reds to whites and sparkling with the Vintec 148-Bottle Multi Zone Wine Cellar.

With a varied 6-22°C temperature range, vibration absorbing shelves, a UV protected glass door and digital temperature display, store your wines at their optimal to impress everyone at your get-together. Check out some wine pairing tips from Vintec¹ that you can test out below.

• Oysters and Muscadet
• Why this pairing works: Muscadet features a salty, ocean-like quality that complements the flavours of oysters (and other seafoods) well. Muscadet is best served slightly chilled.
• Salmon and Pinot Noir
• Why this pairing works: thanks to its low-tannin and fruity characteristics, Pinot Noir is better suited for salmon and seafood as opposed to dry red wine that’s more ideal for red meat.
• Lamb and Shiraz
• Why this pairing works: Shiraz features a range of tasting notes, such as olives and berries, to smoky meaty flavours, meaning that any Shiraz complements lamb well.
• Steak and Cabernet Sauvignon
• Why this pairing works: its full-bodied, high tannin characteristic means that Cabernet Sauvignon is well equipped to hold up red meat. The high alcohol level means this wine feels thick, complementing steak perfectly.

¹ Vintec wine pairing tips sourced from: 4 Classic Food & Wine Pairings To Serve At Your Next Event

Be Ready to Entertain

Prepare your home for hosting family and friends again. For the latest products and technologies to have in your home in time for end-of-year entertaining, click on the link below.

ENTERTAINING INSPIRATION