Mackerel Confit Cheekyricho YouTube recipe

Our friends recently went to sea fishing. It was hot and sunny, the Mackerel were biting  and they caught some nice fish. Luckily they thought of us a delivered some beautifully cleaned cutlets to us. With all the busy preparations for our upcoming trip happening at the moment there is no time to get out to sea ourselves and take advantage of this seasonal fresh catch.

We have brought you one method of cooking this delicious oily fish that is extremely good for you and should be an integral Part of any balanced diet and that is our Tuscan Mackerel but this is light alternative for using this firm fleshed fish species. It's our version of a French style of preparing foods, a must try, our Mackerel Confit (pronounced conn fee) normally hare, rabbit or duck is gently poached in its own fat over an extremely low heat for a long period of time. Then generally cooled within the fat and used later. This makes the meat incredibly tender and moist and also acts to preserve it for later use. The meat is also incredibly rich as it absorbs some of the fat or oil in the gentle poaching. The good news is, this is extremely economical because a little goes a long way. One Mackerel cutlet cooked Confit style is ample for a luscious meal paired with a crisp  colourful garden salad. A wonderful nutrient rich satisfying low carb meal or make it go even further by rolling it in a wrap or serving with a crusty warm

Home baked sourdough cob with fresh butter or olive oil to dip. This fish flaked gently through ribbons of thick home made eggy pasta, dressed with more of the poaching oil and either fresh dill or parsley makes a superb dinner a few capers and a spangle with sweet cherry tomatoes and 

freshly cracked pepper is another amazing use for this style of fish. We do hope you give it a try and if you aren't lucky enough to catch it yourself, make sure you keep an eye out for it at your fishmongers.

For this recipe and so much more check out our Cheekyricho YouTube channel, why not subscribe we show you how to clean, cook, smoke, grill, fry, bake, sous vide, confit, thermochef,grill, Actifry and flavorchef, steam, pressure cook, camp oven, dream pot, en croute and en papilotte and bake all manner of foods

3 Cup Chicken, Ninja Foodi Cheekyricho cooking youth e video recipe https://youtu.be/wbqhxTMFyNw

The Ninja Foodi is the perfect Appliance for this delicious Taiwanese or Chinese classic 3 Cup Chicken dish. The high sides of the high quality non stick cooking vessel ensure the food stays in the pot and not on your bench top and the sauce is easily reduced to a sticky, gelatinous, fragrant, flavoursome sauce that is fork tender with the meat delicately flavoured right to the bone. Easy to Eat, Cheap to buy and easier to make. Put our Cheekyricho cooking 3 Cup chicken on the table tonight for your family and tempt even the fussiest eaters to ask for second helpings.
For this simple video recipe and so many more check out our Cheekyricho cooking youtube channel where we show you how to cook delicious, simple, budget meals for you family. There is something there for everyone and we even do requests. Thanks for watching and for stopping by.

               https://youtu.be/wbqhxTMFyNw             




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Smoky Ham Hock, Lentil and Vegetable Soup, One Pot Meal cooked by cheekyricho cooking youtube channel in the Tefal Cook4Me

Its Pouring rain outside, falling straight down, thick and heavy, so heavy my lovely big river outside my window looks like the surface is boiling and I can barely see the trees on the other side. Everything feels cold and damp, we're rugged up like the Michelin Man and the heaters on, working hard and not making much of a difference to the temperature inside the house.
I've done all I can to make us more comfortable from the outside, time to warm us from the inside. Yep, its soup time. Smoky Ham Hock with Lentils and Vegetables, a massive pot enough for tea tonight and hearty leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
Our vegetarian visitors hardly made a dent in the huge vegetable haul I ordered in for them on the weekend so I'd better set to and put all this fresh produce to good use. Soup is a good start so I bought this large smoked Ham Hock with a thick brown soft chewy skin over rich dark gelatinous meat full of tendons and sinew, this will need a lot of long slow moist cooking to release all of that sticky succulent meat from the bone to flavour my soup, slow cooker will do it but you will need a long time, all the nutrients in the vegetables will have gone the way of the dodo bird by the time the meat is ready, which really negates the purpose of eating something healthy. Now, because I'm a 'want it now' kind of girl, the only sensible option is our Tefal Cook4Me, ridiculously quick, energy efficient, nutritionally sound, flavour enhancing, spectacularly simple and unbelievably easy to use and clean bench top appliance made just for this job. I don't even put it away in the cupboard in this weather, it happily sits on the bench waiting for another daily task to help me with. Help me it does, it bloops away making risottos in a wink, tenderising the most inexpensive, toughest cuts of meat and poultry to a succulent spoon tender consistency turns itself to the keep warm function, keeping my meal safely hot and ready to eat until everybody has come home from work, school or sport and even the stay cool handles help you decant the left over contents into a storage container for the fridge or freezer. Then is just a quick wipe out before its ready for its next job. Nothing sticks to the non stick surface and its light enough to handle easily. You probably could put it in the dish washer but its a large family sized vessel that would take up so much room on the rack, There wouldn't be much room for anything else. Being so easy to clean I've got the inner pot back in the Cook4Me before I can get the dishwasher open to load it in there.

My soup was so delicious, in our video recipe we give you hints on how to stop your Tomato paste from going mouldy, how to peel a tomato in seconds without blanching and potentially burning yourself and of course how to prepare the star of the show, the Smoked Ham Hock, so everybody gets a decent portion of its smoky goodness in every serving. 

Its comfort food in a bowl, we serve it as a meal with crusty parmesan, garlic, herb bread, all on the one slice (because its a compromise for everybody, saves arguments, we load it all on top and everyone gets their favourite, along with everyone elses favourite. LOL) and warmed to toasty perfection in the Tefal Actifry in about 4 minutes, which is about a quarter of the time it takes for my wall oven to get hot enough to heat it without even cooking it yet. This is fast, slow food at its best and we are delighted to share our recipe with you on our cheekyricho cooking channel.
https://youtu.be/JUze6SRA0tU

Beef Stroganoff cooked in the Tefal Cook4Me by Cheekyricho Cooking Youtube Channel

Winter is here, the dogs won't get out of bed, its dark early and our afternoon walk is brisk because of the cold and the failing light. The beef strips I had thawing on the sink, stayed frozen solid for hours.
I was left scrambling to make a quick dinner, with frozen meat, a jiffy blast in the nucolator while I roughly chopped onions and mushrooms and a delicious warming meal for at least six frozen starving adults was only 30 minutes away. I kid you not. Slash into those veges, dust your meat in seasoned flour, brown it for five or so minutes in oil and butter with a handful of smoky bacon, veges in, bathed in beef stock, lid on 10 minutes on the quick cook function in the Tefal cook4me and its done. Loosen and cream up the already stunningly tasty sauce with as much sour cream or natural yoghurt as you like and you're good to go. Gives you enough time to whack together some rustic garlic bread with my fresh home grown herbs (including the trip to the herb garden) and crust that bread up in the Tefal Actifry for 4 minutes and you are eating a fabulicious winter warmer inside half an hour. Bottle of spicy red Cab Sav and you won't need the heater on anymore.
My favourite part of winter is the wholesome, healthy stews and casseroles. Old fashioned favourites and of course some new trendy jobbies to keep the menu fresh and alive.
This recipe is so worth the tiny amount of effort it takes to make and it makes an unbelievably large amount of food, which makes it a very economical family feed. Left overs can stuff a spud or a crepe or top a toast for breakie with an egg. It is winter after all. Fill a pie or jaffle or sandwich maker snack, the possibilities really are endless.
Forget that slow cooker, I have, mine dropped dead and I haven't missed it or replaced it. No running the power hungry oven for hours to tenderise meat. This cooks so quick you'd better get the kids to set the table, you won't have time for that job.
Check it out and our ever growing Tefal Cook4Me playlist on our cheekyricho cooking channel, you'll be so glad you did.
https://youtu.be/kSeQje_zWX8

Richo has started his diet

6 days in and he has shed 3 kilograms. He is following the 2 day diet as recommended by his a Doctor.

Goodbye Portia

On 28th August we made the heart wrenching decision to take our darling little Portia to the vet. After a particularly harrowing night where she endured more episodes which increased in duration and frequency we made our final trip to our vet. Unbeknownst to us our family vet had recently sold his practice due to serious health issues. We wish him all the very best in his retirement and thank him for his kindness, honesty and diligent care of our family pets for the last couple of decades.

Our new vet was very sympathic and treated our little old lady with the utmost kindness and compassion. He knew the difficult decision we were making was unavoidable and he reassured us we were doing the right thing by our little darling.

I was a mess, I kept my promise to stay with her until the end and we said our very sad goodbyes and took our baby home to look over her beloved river for eternity. My heart was absolutely shattered, I had spent her whole life protecting her, loving her and keeping her safe and in the end it was me that made the decision to get end her suffereing

Portia is fading

My little chihuahua Portia is 16 and a half years old. She has dementia and sometimes has trouble remembering even me. Despite her outrageously increased appetite she is fading away to a skeleton loosely draped in skin. After a series of possible strokes she seems to have trouble eating, Richo suggested I feed her with a teaspoon so three times a day I hand feed my ancient baby, since Portia and I embarked on this mealtime ritual she has put on weight. She is still thin but improving. This week she has had some pretty horrible nights, I am surprised each morning she is still with us. Her annual checkups and vaccinations with our vet indicate she has the 'heart of a puppy' I think that little heart is beating longer than her other organs would like. I spent a whole morning this week agonising over whether to take her for her final car trip to the vets. Richo questioned if I was trying so hard for her sake or mine. I keep maintaining that unless she is in pain I will keep her comfortable, trouble is, she can't tell me if she is in pain and just when I think it's time, she rallies. She can hardly walk very far but every time there something new she makes a beeline for it. I unravelled the vacuum cord, she headed into the middle of it and got stuck. She walked off the edge of the lawn and fell into the garden, instead of walking back out she just stood there, awaiting rescue. I need some sleep, her turns are scary, sometimes she has a gagging sound in her throat, other times she drinks water until she vomits, she isn't diabetic, she seems to have lost her manners regarding her toilet training, she has forgotten all of her favourite words. She has failed so fast it's hard to accept. These turns involve her tongue going ever so slightly blue, twitching, throwing her front left leg up when she walks, like a goose step, but the most frightening is the look on her face, momentarily her eyes go into a diamond shape with a high point in the centre of her upper eyelid which makes her whites of her eyes visible above the iris. She doesn't seem to see anything during these episodes which range from a few seconds to several minutes. I wish I knew  what was happening. I know if I take her to the vet, he will tell me something I don't want to hear.  How on earth will I know when she has had enough. If my love for her would keep her alive she would live forever, unfortunately it doesn't work that way. I guess little Portie and I are in for another long night. I can only hug her and reasure her, comfort her and try and help her recover from these horrible episodes.

Here she is running with the other girls when she turned 16 and now in 6 short months, she has lost all of her vim and vigour 

Woopie dinner at the Seaview Hotel woolgoolga

So there was a power outage for most of the day today. We were trying to get some work done and most of our jobs required power.  Couldn't even make a coffee so we decided to go for a drive instead. There is a little town called Woolgoolga or , Woopie as the locals call it, which has recently been bypassed by the highway. We took a turn in there because it has a nice beach and a great headland where you can whale watch. Instead of a takeaway we decided to give the pub called the Seaview Bistro, on the hill a go. It was a gorgeous day, bright sun but not too hot and the car park was full for a midweek lunchtime and the outdoor verandah was also busy so we popped in to check it out. The place was sparkling, the staff were really friendly. We opted for a chicken schnitzel, peppercorn sauce, with chips and salad. It was ample, fresh, fast and tasty. $7.50 and they have a revolving menu. I think it's different everyday, anyway we enjoyed it, could've had a rump steak instead but we saw this meal being served and it looked good so opted for it. So if you happen to be travelling through Woolgoolga on the NSW North Coast you can't go wrong with this meal for great value, freshness, cleanliness, relaxed comfortable atmosphere, friendly helpful staff, good off street parking and although there is no ocean view there are plenty of green trees about and mountain views too. There is a significant Indian population in the town and one day a week there is an Indian meal on the menu.

For a little town off the highway this is just one of the treasures to be enjoyed. 

Little Mouse is two

We celebrated Little Mouses 2nd Birthday today. Adorned with a Frozen necklace, Minnie Mouse ears and frock and a ukulele. The duck Quacker from the Seattle Duck was a real hit. We twirled and danced and oohed and aahed  and spent a jolly time asisting with the dolls house construction.

Before filling it with zoo animals, teddies, Australian and African native animals, but the inclusion of the naked barbie dolls gave it a Playboy mansion aura as they sat leisurely at the dining table with the candelabra or tangled their ample legs around the standard lamp post pole dancing style. 

A morning at the beach to play in the winter sunshine followed by A play in the park this evening with some coloured torches with friends was topped off by the populating of the dolls house and delicious meal of fried rice, eggplant tofu curry , warm potato salad, crudités and miso soup. All our favourites before we collapsed exhausted into bed to dream some dreams about our wonderful adventures today. If our third birthday is half as exciting it will be a grand day.