Coca Cola Pork Belly

Ingredients:

2 cups Coca cola
1/4 cup sweet chilli sauce
1 cup of tomato sauce
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 Cloves of Garlic Crushed

2 kg pork belly cut into thick strips

Method:

Preheat oven to 210-220°C fan forced (230-240°C normal).
Whisk the Coca Cola, sweet chilli sauce, tomato sauce, Worcestershire, red wine vinegar and garlic until well combined.
Place the ribs in a large oven tray in one layer and pour the sauce over the top. Cook in the oven for about 20 mins, turning a couple of times.

We put ours into the oven on a lower heat for 1 1/2 hours

Mushroom Tart

Ingredients:

Olive oil

1 garlic clove, sliced

Button mushrooms, cut into quarters

2 tbs finely chopped flat leaf parsley

1 tbs finely chopped chives

1 tbs softened butter

Grated fresh Parmesan cheese

1 sheet puff pastry

Basil leaves, to serve

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C fan forced.

2. Heat oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and mushrooms and saute for 3-4 minutes or until tender, add the herbs and butter and toss to combine. spread over the Parmesan and stir until cheese begins to melt. Season with salt and pepper. Put mushroom mixture into a heap on baking paper.

3. Cut the pastry to a circle a little larger than the size of the frying pan. Place pastry over the warm mushroom mixture, press edges under the filling. Brush the pastry with egg mix.

Transfer to the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes or until pastry is golden and puffed.

4. Stand for 5 minutes. Invert tart onto a serving plate, scatter with basil, serve.

Mock Berry Cheesecake Recipe

Ingredients:

100g plain sweet biscuits, crushed

100g butter, melted

1 cup frozen mixed berries

¼ cup caster sugar

½ cup pouring cream

Method:

1. Place the crushed biscuits into a bowl. Add enough melted butter to bind. Place an egg ring onto the centre of serving plate. Spoon biscuit mixture into the ring and press down firmly with a large metal spoon to form a 1cm-thick crust. Refrigerate until firm.
2. Meanwhile, combine the berries and caster sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Simmer, stirring often until berries collapse and sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, refrigerate until cold.
3. Whip the cream to stiff peaks. Spoon the cream on top of the biscuit base. Carefully remove the egg ring, spoon over the berry mixture.

I added some drinking chocolate to the cream mix and grated a little chocolate over the top. This is a recipe for the people with a very sweet tooth.

Zia Josie linguine with tuna and bocconcini

Ingredients

150g baby bocconcini

150g cherry tomatoes

150g baby spinach leaves

1/2 cup basil leaves

1 shallot

1 clove of garlic

425g can tuna

500g linguine

300ml thickened cream

splash white wine

salt and pepper

Method

Finely chop shallot and garlic, cut tomatoes and bocconcini in half, and drain the tuna (saving the oil for frying shallots)

Fry shallot and garlic till tender (3-5minutes) then de-glaze pan with white wine and reduce, add cream and boil for 5 minutes.

Bring large pan of water to boil add 1 tbsp of salt and linguine and cook for 8-10 minutes.

Fold tuna into cream mixture, then the spinach, turn off the heat and add tomatoes, basil and bocconcini, stir in cooked linguine and serve.

I didn't have fresh basil so I used a squeeze of the tube basil instead.