Christmas is over and the New Year is here. The time has flown by and, with relatives visiting and friends popping over, we have had plenty of food to enjoy. Kevin and Tanya joined us for a meal on Christmas Day and here’s what I rustled up for them and the family including my mum and her partner, visiting for the UK.

Beer Can Chicken

Simply one of the best ways to ensure your roast chickens are truly moist and yet have the most flavoursome crispy skin. This is best done cooking with indirect heat on a hooded gas barbecue/grill, though it can be done successfully in a large conventional oven.

2 chickens
2 440ml cans of beer
1 cup home made barbecue rub

Open the beer cans and drink half of each so that both are half empty! Rinse the chicken inside and out and dry thoroughly. From the neck end, use your hand to separate the skin from the breast of the chickens, working all the way down to and over the meat of each leg. Tip ½ of the rub under the skin of each chicken and massage to ensure it is evenly spread over the flesh beneath the skin. Spoon any leftover rub into the opened beer cans. Close off each neck cavity by stretching skin over it and securing with a cocktail stick or two then insert half a lemon to help seal the neck and provide a stopper to prevent the cans poking out. Grease the outside of the cans (to ease removal later) and insert into the cavity of the chicken and spread out the legs to form a tripod. The back leg of the tripod is the beer can. Tuck the wing tips behind the chicken’s back. Place chickens in a large roasting pan to retain juices – I use these to occasionally baste the birds and pour over the carved meat later.

If using a three burner barbecue/grill, preheat the two outer burners and place the pan in the centre over the unlit one. With a two burner, simply preheat the burner on one side and place the tin on the other. I used the warming shelf grill attachment to help stabilise the chickens – though not before spilling one can, as the photo above shows

Cover the grill hood and cook. After 1¼-1 ½ hours (a drumstick will move freely in the joint when done), the skin will be a dark crispy golden brown and the meat is cooked through. Remove the pan from the grill and let the chickens rest for five minutes before carefully removing the cans – preferably with tongs; get help if necessary – and carving as normal.

Home made barbecue rub

This can be absolutely anything that tickles your taste buds – Google provides infinite inspiration or try one of the many pre-made seasoning mixes from the spice section of your local store. From recollection, I included some or all of the following:

Garlic, onion salt, chili powder, black pepper, coriander seeds, turmeric, paprika, rosemary, oregano, parsley, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Seeing as Tuesday is the only night I get away from Dante’s, I decided to knock-up a roast for two. Inspired by Buzz’s recent post, Sunday Roast, I rushed to a little French deli in Mt Albert called Pyrenees. They have a good selection of French produce and the best Baguette’s I’ve tasted in NZ, pictured above. Whilst there I saw this lovely piece of Lamb ready seasoned with fresh rosemary. I myself also agree with Buzz, that meat especially lamb should never be shadowed with excessive seasoning.

On the return journey home, I think to myself ‘What would be a good wine to accompany this dish’. Luckily enough, we live in a area known as vineyard heaven surrounded by some of NZ’S best wineries. One of my favourites is Coopers Creek. So after way too many tastings, we leave with a 2004 Merlot/Cabernet Franc recommended to us.

Roast Lamb Noisette with Buttered Cabbage, Roast Potatoes and Garlic.

500g of Lamb noisette all-ready seasoned. (unstuffed)

4 Medium floury potatoes peeled.

As much garlic as possible.

1\2 a Cabbage with the leaves removed and wash.

A good lug of olive oil.

A nice Knob of unsalted butter.

Flaky sea salt. The best you can get. Well worth it.

Freshly ground black pepper.

Set your oven to 200 c, and two large pan’s of salted water to the boil with the lid’s on. In the mean time, cut your peeled potatoes into large bite size pieces. Now remove all the garlic from it’s bulb, leaving the garlic cloves with the skin on, and set aside. By now you should have two pan’s of boiling water, add your potatoes. Now grab a medium sized black skillet or frying pan and sear the lamb on all sides without burning the rosemary. Once seared, lightly smear the lamb with olive oil and season with the sea salt and a little fresh black pepper, and place into a good sized roasting pan, and into the oven for 20 Min’s for medium. Keep an eye on the potatoes. Using a small sharp knife check your potatoes. Don’t over cook’em, when done drain and cover with olive oil and sea salt and place into the oven next to your lamb, along with all the garlic. Now add you cabbage to the second pot of boiling water and reduce the heat to a very lite simmer with lid off. Once the 20 Min’s is up remover the lamb from the oven and let sit for 10 Min’s in a warm place. Check your potatoes, garlic and cabbage. When ready drain your cabbage and add a knob of butter. Slice up the lamb. Now serve with the roast potatoes and garlic. Along with the cut baguette and your choice of wine.

Running a busy pizzeria leaves you little time to cook, unlike Buzz who has time to burn in his 9 to 5 life-style . So if time is an issue this recipe will always be a winner. Like most genuine Italian food, simplicity is a clip around the ear from Mamma when you get too excited with the ingredients. So keep it simple and do it well. Here’s how.

Spaghetti Carbonara al Dante for two

500g of speck bacon (streaky bacon will do) if speck not available

Two large free range eggs

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Angel hair pasta

Olive oil or garlic infused olive oil (optional)

Set a large pan of salted water to the boil, followed by pre-heating a frying pan with olive oil. In the meantime chop all the bacon into squares and then lightly whisk the eggs in a separate container with a little salt and set aside. Add your pasta to the boiling water and place the bacon into the hot frying pan and cook till crispy. Remember to always stir the pasta and bacon to keep it free. When the pasta is almost ready (al dante) drain and shake of any excess water, drizzle a little olive oil over the pasta before adding it to the frying pan with the crispy bacon. Fold it all together, now give the eggs a second whisk and add it all to the pan. Continue to fold the pasta till the eggs start to turn to a scrambled egg like texture and then serve, with freshly ground black pepper and a glass of crisp white wine.

Regardless of what Buzz says, I do have some food in the fridge and this recipe is proof. This dish combines a number of things I had to hand at the time and is based on the garlic-infused olive oil that I use in the pizzeria.

Gypsy Pasta – serves two

1 medium red onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, medium chopped
2 large field mushrooms, sliced
1 cup of kalamata olives
6 sun-dried tomatoes, sliced into matchsticks
garlic-infused olive oil

While cooking the pasta, heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan, add the onion and garlic and saute over a medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. As the onion starts to turn translucent, add the sun-dried tomatoes and heat through before seasoning to taste. When the pasta is done, drain and return to the pan, adding the sauce, the mushrooms and olives. Fold together and allow to sit for 3-5 minutes to allow the mushrooms to soften and take up the flavours. Serve with crusty bread, Parmesan cheese and a boisterous red wine.

My tips for cooking the perfect pasta are always use lots of salted boiling water, allowing the pasta room to move and always use fresh Parmesan cheese, not the dried up stuff in tubs.