Stuff each Cannelloni shell with the spinach mixture. This might be messy, but it really is easiest just to do it with your fingers. You can mess around with spoons or piping bags if you like, but experience has taught us that fingers are just the best way. And how often do you get to play with your food, anyway?
Layer the stuffed tubes one deep in an oiled oven dish (or spread with baking paper - wonderful stuff in the cleaning-up stakes). Over the tubes, spread one 420g can of pasta sauce, or an equivalent amount of proper homemade stuff if you've got it. We don't. Watch this space when tomatoes are 50c a kilo in late summer.
Grate cheddar and parmesan cheese over the cannellonis and place in the oven at 200c for about 40 mins. For the last 5 mins, flick the oven over to grill mode and brown the cheese.
Serve with fresh veges and sticky sweet pumpkin.
Roast at 200C for about 50 mins.
The producers of WRIOF seem to have taken the line that its better not to offend anyone, even at the expense of its viewers' health and wellbeing. It touts itself as an informative piece of journalism, but comes across as a vaguely directionless magazine item, which will suggest the hidden dangers of our food industry but refuses to really expose them. For all her disarming charm, Petra just isn't the hardnosed investigator that this show needed at the helm. Maybe next series the producers will see sense, and hire Jeremy Wells instead. Then we'll get to the bottom of it.
Make up some instant custard (real egg custard is much nicer, but it won't keep very well in the fridge for the number of days that this trifle will). Pour over the top of the fruit and sponge. 
Whip 300ml of cream and spread over the top of the trifle. Get a block of nutty chocolate and grate liberally over the cream. Serve with ice cream and/or jelly. This trifle is even nicer after a night in the fridge, because all the juices and flavours soak right through the sponge. Mmmmm.
Seasoned with the chopped herbs, freshly ground pepper and salt and rubbed with olive oil, the lamb duly went into the thusly preheated oven with a few mushrooms for good measure. 
While the 15 minutes ticked away I did the obligatory pile of fresh market veges (I know, its repetitive, but its important), and decided that it needed at least another 5 if not 50 minutes. I don't like to eat my meat raw.
Dished with boiled new potatoes, the fried whole button mushrooms, and steamed green stuff.
The Verdict: The meat was absolutely divine. It was fresher and had more taste to it than anything I can ever recall buying from the supermarket. It was a $5.00 cut, which is at the top end of our meat for 2+1/2 budget, but it was more than worth the money. The cooking advice I was not so impressed with. It's a steak. Whole fillet beef steak is best sealed in a hot pan before being roasted hot in the oven, so I'm not sure how a low oven heat alone was meant to bring out the best in a slice of lamb steak. But it was saved, and it was delicious.
Posts were erected.
Concrete was mixed and poured. Rails were nailed. Gates were whacked together. 
There was much rain, and plenty of mud. Palings went up, and the driveway disappeared. A gate was hung. Latches were attached and holes drilled for latches to latch into. 
Gate was swung, and grins were had. There was more rain, and more mud.
And big Thanks to Obi, who really did all the work, under Isaac's close supervision.
1 t Peppercorns
In a mixing bowl, blend 60ml of red wine with 60ml of dry white wine, 4 T Olive Oil, 2 T Honey and 1 T of paprika. When the spices have been frying for about 3-4 minutes (keep to a moderate heat, and be sure not to let it burn), add this to the wine and allow to steep for 10 minutes or so.
building a non-secret society of nice people who respond to disasters, catastrophes, and apocalypses with humanitarian aid, kick-ass tools, and extensive knowledge.
When the rice starts to go glossy, add in about 60ml of dry white wine. As this boils off and is absorbed by the rice, start adding your stock. Add about 1 ladelful at a time, allowing the liquid to be absorbed before adding the next ladelful. This should be a gentle simmer, hot enough that the rice is cooking through but not so hot that it cooks on the outside but not in the middle. That just takes practice, and getting to know your cooking tools. If you get to the end of your stock and the rice isn't done yet, just add a bit of hot water.
When the rice is done, remove the pan from the heat and stir through about 40g of butter and a good little pile of parmesan, also about 40g. Stir until melted through. Dish and garnish with a bit more grated parmesan and some chopped capsicum.
This is one of those meals that you just put everything on the bench and let everyone make their own. Better than anything you'll get from a street vendor, even in NY itself.
I think they call it Phelps' Syndrome, and it seems to be catching.
While these are cooking, slice 3-4 Chorizo sausages. With just a little oil (the Chorizo will release plenty of their own!) brown the sausage on both sides. 
In a small pot, prepare the Alfredo Sauce: Melt 2 T Butter. Add 1 Cup of cream and gently stir for 5 mins or so. Heat well without boiling. Whisk in 3/4 Cup of Cheddar Cheese and about 1/4 Cup of stronger cheese, like Parmesan or Emmental until melted. Add pepper and parsley to taste.
Everything should come together about the same time. Drain the pasta and mix in the Chorizo and Alfredo sauce. Dish, layering the mushrooms on top and drizzling extra Alfredo over the steamed veges. Serve with pepper and a drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
When the potato and kumera are just cooked, drain through a colander, reserving the cooking water. Allow to cool slightly (so that the heat of the veges doesn't start cooking the egg prematurely). Return the water to the pot and put the pot back on the heat, bringing the water to the boil. Put the brocolli and cauli in a colander and place in the boiling water, blanching for about 4 minutes. This will heat the florets but leave them crunchy and full of flavour.
Repeat until you have cooked enough for everyone, or else some people might get a bit titchy at being forgotten.
Well, I have to be honest. Chicken #1 was in the crockpot already when I learned that there were so many people coming to dinner that it would be a two-chicken night. So the second chicken had to be roasted, and the idea of the ultimate taste-test was a secondary consideration.
But here's the thing. Because Chicken #1 was still a teensy bit frozen, I put it on at 10, on high for 2 hours, before turning it down to low for a further 6. Also, it was a size 12, and Chicken #2 was a size 16. Chicken #2 was also a different brand from Chicken #1. So its possible that Chicken #1 got a wee bit overdone, and since its not fair to compare apples with pears, the entire debate is, as Obi has said, a load of...
Although we had put together a fairly passable piece of work, I felt that dropping Jane's writing had lost some essential, balancing perspective from the overall concept of Urban Driftwood. This may have been because the other three writers (myself, Morgue, and Steve) are all male, and a female point of view amidst the clamour of angsty young men should never be ignored. Time has a way of moving quickly, though, and its already August. Still we haven't finalised Urban and printed an inaugural run. Was there a reason?
It sort of worked. Sort of. Of course, I'll be grinning on the other side of my face in 20 years when they tell us how bad cooking with baking paper is, and how only those crazy folk in the good old 00s would have ever done that...
Preheat oven to 200C.
We had this, and I have to say it was the best jelly I've ever tasted. And I like jelly. Based on this, you can make so many variations. Raspberries will be on the menu when they're in season.
Stand aside. Remove the onion mixture from the pot and heat a bit more oil. When the oil is hot, brown off the meat in a couple of batches. When you've finished the meat, heat the pot again and deglaze with a mixture of about 1/8 Cup of balsamic vinegar and 1T of honey. Reduce the glaze by half, then return the meat to the pot. Toss well in the glaze, then return the onions to the pot. Mix well. Add a can of chopped tomatoes, bring to a gentle bubble and reduce to a gentle simmer for 1 to 1&1/2 hours. 
In the last half hour add some veges to the stew. Over a pot of boiling water, steam a few florets of brocolli and cauliflower. I did ours over a pot of kumera and lovely new potatoes bought fresh from the market on Saturday morning, boiled up with a sprig of mint out of the garden and some peeled lemon rind (thanks, lemon tree!). 
When the broco and cauli are hot, pop them in the stew and mix through. Then add 1/4 Cup of cream and stir through thoroughly. Increase the heat to reduce the stew a bit, allowing about 5 mins for the cream to thicken, and dish with the potatoes and kumera. Lovely stuff.
