Elf

Lamby Slidaris

Lamby Slidaris

Burgers, Main, Tapas

What a way to kick off my triumphant return to this anthropological study slash international fashion lifestyle brand!

Ames arrived in full Ronnie Vino look and attitude, dancing her way through my door and into my arms, before launching into a rapid fire greeting as she poured us glasses of wine I swiped from a hotel minibar and left at her house.

“Ben! Thank god you agreed to come back, I was worried about you after your tragic loss but always knew that coming back to you fans would help you heal.

“And to return with a date with me? What an honour!”

But truly the honour is all mine. As you know, I first met Amy through her brother Dave – Annelie and I were department store elves with him. It was this point I invented twerking, which I taught to Miley. Eventually he took us back to Raleigh where we immediately fell in love with the broader Sedari clan, none more than dear Amy.

And that, my friends, was the beginning of our beautiful friendship.

Amy’s career has deservedly gone from strength to strength over the years, and while she didn’t hook me and Justin Theroux up after his split from Jen-An and is yet to cast me on At Home, nothing will ever come between us. I mean, at the very least, we will always have Lamby Slidaris.

 

Amy Sedaris preparing to devour a delightful Lamby Slidaris

 

Inspired by her Greek heritage, though not necessarily Lou Sedaris – or Loudaris, as I’ve tried to turn into his nickname – approved, these little babies are melt in your mouth perfection. The earthy lamb, salt haloumi and the sweet, sweet hit of beetroot work together for a tops tapas treat.

Enjoy!

 

Amy Sedaris smashing a delightful Lamby Slidaris

 

Lamby Slidaris
Serves: 2-6.

Ingredients
500g lamb mince
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp oregano, roughly chopped
2 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp mint, roughly chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
salt and pepper, to taste
100-200g Halloumi Holbrook, sliced into
10 Briocher Bünsberg in slider form
¼ – ½ cup Beetrootina Wesley Tzatziki

Method
Preheat oven to 180C.

Combine the mince, garlic, oregano, chilli, mint, cumin and coriander in a large bowl with a good whack of salt and pepper. Scrunch until well combined, divide into 10 little patties and flatten on a lined baking sheet. Transfer to the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until cooked through.

Spread the halloumi slices on a second lined baking sheet and pop them in the oven for the last 5-10 minutes, or until starting to crisp on the outside.

To assemble your sliders, split the buns – my favourite pastime – lather with beetroot tzatziki, top with the pattie and cheese, and close before smashing. Greedily. Immediately.

 

As you can probably tell, we are very social but the fun isn’t only limited to celebrities! You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Tumblr.

So I’m a little bit late this Mon-dee

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

So remember that other time (or two) I said I wouldn’t disappear without a trace for months ever again? Well it happened. But bear with me, ok?

It was all an elaborate plan to fool you into thinking I was on Australian Survivor: Champions vs. Contenders II as a Champion blogger/chef/internet celebrity/philanthripist/ventriloquist/triple threat/model/international lifestyle brand. But alas, nobody even speculated about my inclusion.

Conveniently that long con also coincided with a time in my life where I was struggling and needed to take a step back. My beloved, adorably sassy puppy passed away after an all too brief life and I didn’t want to run the risk of dealing with hate – looking at you, Tyra Sanchez and she who shall not be named – when I lost the unconditional love and high-fives of a 2kg puppy.

Anyway, last week I reached out to global icon Amy Sedaris to congratulate her on her latest Emmy nomination which quickly turned into a pep talk.

“Ben. BEN,” she screeched in her best Mimi Kanasis. “Sweetheart, you need to get back on the internet thing you say isn’t a blog but is clearly just a blog.”

“The anthropological study?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I love you, illiteracy is hilarious – you know I said that to RuPaul and Michelle that one time – and you need to bring joy to the people by showing them that celebrities make a mess of themselves while eating. We’re like real people.

“I’m on the next plane out, so you better cook up something better than you served David, ok?”

Sooooo, what do I make for my semi-triumphant return?

Image source: TruTV.

 

As you can probably tell, we are very social but the fun isn’t only limited to celebrities! You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Tumblr.

Roasted Chickpeter Dinklage

Party Food, Snack

Pete is just such a delightful, delightful man.

As I mentioned earlier, Annelie and I caused a major scene on the Game of Thrones set during season one which had a highly negative impact on Dinkie’s relationship with the rest of the cast.

The incident? Obviously Annelie and I were both competing to mother Khal Drogo’s dragon, found out about the other’s advances and had an epic Dynasty style fight that would go on to inspire Viserys’ death scene. Let’s just say, I now wear a wig.

Anyway, Dinkie had vouched for us to get us the job and tried to stop us during the altercation, resulting in the premature beheading of our dear friend Dead Stark. He was painfully hurt by our indiscretion and vowed that the Master of Coin would never talk to the Masters of Bate again.

It was tragic, but we deserved it.

Thankfully, fate knew that our friendship was too important and intervened when I ran into Dinkie at Clement Clarke Moore Park in Chelsea. Impressed by my niece’s charm and the fact that I was, for some reason, trusted to keep a two-year-old alive, he reached out and extended his forgiveness and renewed friendship.

We spent the last festive season wandering the High Line, brunching at the Standard and (much to his chagrin) heckling commoners from the top of the Flatiron Building – the only thing missing, was Annelie.

Wanting to make up for missing out, Dinkie requested that our catch-up be absolutely perfect, which to us means plenty of booze and a batch of Roasted Chickpeter Dinklage.

 

Roasted Chickpeter Dinklage_1

 

Roasted chickpeas are super simple and can pretty much be seasoned with anything (lemon, pepper and Parmesan is pretty delicious) so play around until you get the taste you want. Obviously we went for something spicy, like you would expect in King’s Landing.

Enjoy!

 

Roasted Chickpeter Dinklage_2

 

Roasted Chickpeter Dinklage
Serves: 4.

Ingredients
400g can chickpeas
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sriracha sauce
½ tsp honey
dash cumin
salt and pepper, to taste

Method
Preheat oven to 200°C.

Drain the chickpeas and rinse thoroughly for a minute to clean off the beans. Drain off the extra water and pour out onto a tray lined with paper towel and dry, again, thoroughly. Discard any skins and paper towels and lay the chickpeas back out over the tray.

Drizzle the olive oil, sriracha, honey and spices over the chickpeas and use your hands to coat.

Roast for 30-40 minutes until the beans are golden and crunchy, keeping an eye on them to avoid burning.

 

As you can probably tell, we are very social but the fun isn’t only limited to celebrities! You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and Google+.