The Cook and the Chef

Wednesday, 15 October 2008
6.30pm

This week on The Cook and The Chef Maggie Beer and Simon Bryant are thinking about wine. When it comes to cooking with wine, they both agree on the golden rule - 'if you wouldn't drink it, don't put it in your food!'

Wednesday, 03 September 2008
6.30pm

The little village of Nimbin, in the Byron Bay hinterland has embraced its reputation as Australia's hippy capital. On the edge of town, Maggie Beer discovers the beautiful Djanbung Permaculture Gardens. The gardens' owner, Robyn Francis, explains the permaculture philosophy. Maggie delights in the gardens' winter offerings and is particularly taken with Robyn's native lemon myrtle.

Back in the kitchen, Maggie re-visits one of her favourite desserts, the 'crumble'. Inspired by her trip north and always up for a challenge, she decides to use one of the most delicious and exotic of all tropical fruits, the custard apple and combine it with some lemon myrtle. Served with lemon myrtle crème anglaise, the result is a mouth-watering marriage of two unique flavours, casting a whole new light on this traditional dish.

Wednesday, 06 August
6.30pm

Following their New Zealand food adventure, Maggie Beer and Simon Bryant reset their sights on local Australian produce. This week they are enjoying two excellent fish, the King George whiting and the mulloway.

Simon takes his nephew Harry on a trip to the local port side markets where they're entertained by fishermen spruiking their wares. Harry is not too keen on the seafood on offer but doesn't mind a bit of King George whiting. Convinced that this is a fish for even the fussiest of fish eaters, Simon decides to cook some.

Wednesday, 09 July
6.30pm

In tonight's episode of The Cook and The Chef, Maggie Beer and Simon Bryant continue their food odyssey in New Zealand. On the North Island Maggie discovers a microclimate responsible for some wonderful produce, while Simon travels to the beautiful, pristine waters of Marlborough Sound in search of the green-lipped mussel.

Hawkes Bay on the east coast of the North Island is one of the sunniest regions of New Zealand. The area is renowned for the range and quality of its food produce, including gourmet snails. Maggie decides to visit a snail farm run by Raewynne Achten. From snails Maggie moves to olives, visiting Rose Gresson at her beautiful olive grove overlooking the bay. Rose has almost 3000 trees, which she described as growing like mushrooms.

Wednesday, 11 June
6.30pm

This week The Cook and The Chef celebrates 100 episodes with a very special guest - Peter Cundall of Gardening Australia fame.
Early in 2008, Maggie Beer and Simon Bryant met Peter at the Gardening Australia Expo and they all got on like a 'house on fire'.

Simon decided to give Maggie a special surprise and has organised Peter to come and give them both some strategic help in their gardens.
Peter has a look at Simon's small suburban plot and suggests a few potatoes he could grow. In the kitchen, Simon takes up the challenge and cooks a potato and chickpea curry.

Maggie uses her potatoes to make a great gnocchi and prawn dish.
Peter then visits Maggie's vegie patch and is thrilled to see she's planted kale - a vegetable that Pete reckons is so full of vitamins and minerals that "you can hear it doing you good". Maggie makes Peter a great kale and silverbeet tart and Simon makes onion bhajis to go with his curry.

Wednesday, 21 May 2008
6.30pm

This week on The Cook And The Chef, Maggie Beer and Simon Bryant are cooking up a feast for those living with diabetes.

These days a diabetic diet is regarded as the one we should all be following for good health, so Maggie and Simon have decided to demonstrate how good nutrition and flavour can go hand in hand.

Maggie's spelt pasta with roasted pumpkin, pine nuts and sage is not only unctuous and satisfying but ticks all the boxes for good fibre, low fat, low sugar and moderate carbohydrates.
She also uses another healthy grain, barley, to make a tasty, autumn soup by adding the flavours of porcini mushrooms and sherry.

Simon's quinoa noodle broth is about fresh ingredients and fresh flavours. He uses mushrooms, ginger, vegetable stock and soy to create a beautifully balanced, light broth for his tasty noodles and silken tofu.

6.30pm Wednesday, 30 April 2008

In tonight's episode of The Cook and The Chef, Maggie Beer and Simon Bryant demonstrate why salt and pepper feature as giants in culinary history.
While Maggie pot roasts a pheasant to succulent perfection with apple brandy, Simon makes a pepper sauce that turns a steak into so much more than a pub meal. He uses five different types of pepper to show us how a real pepper sauce should be made. A simple steak dished up with a roasted mushroom cap and this pepper sauce will make you think again about the importance of pepper as a really wonderful and complex spice.

6.30pm Wednesday, 02 April 2008

In this week's episode of The Cook and The Chef, expect to see some creepy-crawlies in the kitchen.
Simon Bryant tackles some unusual ingredients from the far north - snake gourds and sea cucumbers, while Maggie Beer shares some great tips on how to prepare succulent octopus.
On his recent trip to Darwin, Simon was lucky enough to be given a guided tour by local chef Jimmy Shu. Simon's a huge fan of Adelaide's Central Markets, but Darwin's Rapid Creek markets are equally impressive - chock full of exotic food products and great characters. Simon used to love cooking a Sri Lankan snake gourd curry and he was thrilled to see them on sale, which prompts him to resurrect the old recipe.

In tonight's episode of The Cook and The Chef, Maggie Beer and Simon Bryant dish up mangoes with two tropically inspired dishes that showcase the unique flavours of green, unripe mangoes. Maggie then whips up a 'sandwich' using delicate puff pastry and a bitey cheddar balanced with sweet quince
paste, while Simon has spectacular success with twice-baked goat cheese souffles.

The oppressive heat and threatening trade mark clouds of the 'troppo' season in Darwin weren't enough to stop Simon seeking out his favourite green mangoes. Darwin nurseryman, Chris Nathaniel was just the person to point Simon in the right direction, and as well as taking in the huge variety of tropical fruits in Chris's nursery, Simon was able to come away with the perfect green mangoes which he uses in a Som Tam, (green papaya salad).

06:30PM
THE COOK AND THE CHEF
New Series Wednesday, 13 February 2008

The Cook and the Chef is back for a new season of delicious cooking. Both Maggie Beer and Simon Bryant are raring to go and all set to show us fabulous new dishes, while sharing more of their culinary secrets.

The wonderful kitchen in the Barossa Valley remains their cooking-base but this year every episode will feature produce from a different Australian state. And later in the year, Maggie and Simon are off to New Zealand to check out the local produce there.

In the first program for 2008 Maggie and Simon are serving up a refreshing summer feast. Simon is off fishing for barramundi just out of Darwin, while Maggie stays in the Barossa to collect organic raspberries.

06:30PM
THE COOK AND THE CHEF
Wednesday, 31 October 2007

This week, Maggie Beer and Simon Bryant show us how to prepare excellent cocktail food for a stress-free party. They both have strong feelings about parties - but for very different reasons. "I've always loved parties," says Maggie. "I can invite plenty of guests, because they don't have to be seated, and with the right party food it's so easy to feed a crowd."

Simon's not always as keen because he's had to cater for so many cocktail functions involving so many guests. However, he believes cocktail food is a great way to entertain. "I personally really like cocktail food," he says. "I think it's a great way to eat."

Maggie's favourite spot for a party is in her courtyard around the wood oven, which means pastry and freshly-made pizzas have a starring role. "The food is fun, filling and informal - and everyone's involved", Maggie explains.

It can be stressful hosting a cocktail food party at home - so imagine having one for 400 guests! It's impressive and enlightening when Simon shows how a large hotel kitchen creates thousands of beautiful, individual portions for a cocktail function. "If you're doing a cocktail menu at home, it's important to design the food so it works for fingers," Simon advises.