Jeff Grand Varnier Mousse

Dessert, Survivor: Cambodia - Second Chance, Sweets

Over the span of four episodes Jeff Varner has been dominating the game and setting the tone of the season however that two-bit floozy slash my Survivor nemesis Tasha (she cock-blocked my attempts to woo Joe pre-game) was able to wrangle Abi for two successive votes and boot out our dear friend and biggest non-idol-owning-or-person-named-Joe threat, Varner.

We have been friends with Varner for a long time, having met during the filming of Survivor: The Australian Outback where Annelie flew plane in the opening and I supplied Kel with my beef jerky. Much to Probst’s chagrin (we were not friends yet) we loitered around Ponderosa and joined the pre-jury trip where we bonded with Jeff over our mutual hatred for Colby (he had stolen Probst’s heart, obviously).

There was a brief stint following All Stars where we lost contact (we may have leaked spoilers AND blamed it on Varner) however we reconnected while working for Martha Stewert … where Annelie and I had nothing to do with her jail sentence. Trust us and please buy it, Martha can’t know anything.

Varner really took the fan vote to heart and turned up in Cambodia to play hard and reward everyone for his votes and even in an episode with Probsty’s wet dream, aka the DILFs glistening in underwear challenge, Varner was a star, battling hard in his final tribal council and walking into our open arms in Ponderosa with his head held high.

We tried to send a bug flying into Tasha during tribal to force a medivac but sadly it was Varner we were entertaining at Loser Lodge with a big vat of our Jeff Grand Varnier Mousse; well, what Probst left us – he wandered out of the kitchen repeating his commentary from the DILF challenge, Dietz, big and long, it will take some experimenting (hopefully we can join whatever he has planned).

 

Jeff Grand Varnier Mousse_1

 

Like Varner’s short stint on the island, the mousse packs a punch with the Grand Marnier cutting through the velvety dark chocolate to woo even the staunchest of Jaffa critics over to the choc-orange side.

Enjoy – like we will when Varner gets his inevitable third chance!

 

Jeff Grand Varnier Mousse_2

 

Jeff Grand Varnier Mousse
Serves: 6(ish).

Ingredients
6 eggs, at room temperature
350g (at least) 70% dark chocolate, preferably Valrhona
75g butter, cold
75g sugar
a good dash of Grand Marnier
a pinch of cream of tartar

Method
Separate the eggs, I prefer by hand for some visceral reason about connecting with your food however do it the easiest way you know, placing the yolks in a small bowl to the side and the whites in a large clean, dry bowl for a stand mixer.

Leave the eggs just hanging out on the bench and get to work melting the chocolate using a double boiler method (aka large bowl over boiling water – just make sure to avoid the bowl touching the water or it may cook rather than melt). Once the chocolate has melted, remove it from the heat and stir in the cold butter. Once the butter is fully combined, add a good dash (about a 2 tbsp, depending ultimately on how much orange flavour you want) Grand Marnier and 4 of the egg yolks. Leave to cool slightly.

Start beating the egg whites on medium in a stand mixer, adding the sugar and a pinch of cream of tartar the egg whites when they start to foam and continue to beat the until they form stiff peaks. Add in the two remaining egg yolks and beat until combined.

When the chocolate cream has cooled slightly, fold through the egg whites in three goes, gently folding through each addition. Spoon the mousse into cups/serving dishes – I went with ceramic mugs and espresso cups –  and refrigerate overnight.

Devour and enjoy, with or without what Probst has planned with his share.

 

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Peih-Gee Lawsagne

Main, Survivor: Cambodia - Second Chance

Poor sweet, scrappy Peih-Gee – just when she felt safe, our dear friend Abi-Maria (we met after getting kicked out of the same anger management course) flipped the game and orchestrated her blindside.

Let this be a warning to all of the remaining players, do not cross the Brazilian beauty … she will boot you!

We first met our (other) dear friend Peih-Gee while working as back-up dancers during Madonna’s performance at the 1998 MTV Music Awards (where I once again displayed twerking to the masses before Miley did). A fast bond was formed upon discovering that she was heiress to a jewellery dynasty, hoping she would go full Patty Hearst and help us rob the family business following a period of brainwashing.

While that didn’t happen, on account of her superior morals and strong will, she was kind enough to keep us blinged out with her superior jewellery designs.

Going into Second Chance, we felt that Peeg (as her closest friends call her) was well placed to succeed being a lone representative from a middle season however sadly our little firecracker Abi took an immediate dislike to our pocket rocket and she was doomed to join our other (loser) friends on the pre-jury vacay while we hung out in Ponderosa with their more successful peers.

While she was bummed to go out early, she was more than ready to leave the desolate Angkor beach and devour a hearty slice of our famed and noted Peih-Gee Lawsagne.

 

Peih-Gee Lawsagne_1

 

We first made her the Lawsagne while squatting at her San Franciscan home whilst Annelie was trying to destroy George Lucas for taking away her first love Mark Hamill and I was developing my Castro based, soon to be green-lit Andy Dick Broadway musical Little Whorphan Andy (Harvey Fierstein, give me a call).

Peeg had just returned from her crushing defeat in China (could you imagine how great a Peih-Gee / Courtney finals would have been?) to discover that we had sold most of her possessions and trashed her house – the only thing we could do to apologise, was feed her our delicious, delicious comfort food.

Enjoy!

 

Peih-Gee Lawsagne_2

 

Peih-Gee Lawsagne
Serves: 4-6.

Ingredients
500g chicken mince
1 cup Toni Basil pesto
1 cup green peas
400g ricotta cheese
1 egg
3/4 cup Parmesan
1/2 cup mozzarella
2 cups passata
1/2 cup cream
8-12 fresh lasagne sheets

Method
Heat a large saute pan and cook chicken mince until browned all over. Add cup of peas, cup of pesto and 1/2 cup of water. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes, or until peas are cooked.

While the chicken is cooking, mix together ricotta, egg, 1/4 cup Parmesan and season with salt and pepper. In another bowl, mix passata and cream.

Preheat oven to 180C. In a rectangular baking dish, spread 1/3 of passata mixture. Lay out lasagne sheets and top with a thin layer of ricotta mixture and chicken, and roll up from the short end. Place on top of passata mixture. Continue until all filling and lasagne sheets are used.

Top roll-ups with remaining sauce and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan and mozzarella. Bake for 35 minutes, or until lasagne noodles are soft enough to eat.

 

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Mirin Oskooi Salmon

Main, Survivor: Cambodia - Second Chance

It is truly lucky that Ben and I were able to comfort the devastated Shirin Oskooi after her very premature exit from Second Chance.

While many people think Ben and I only know Shirin given how extraordinarily well connected we are in the Survivor circles, the truth is we interned for her briefly at Google. Although we had been embedded in Google as spies to collect corporate secrets around Shirin’s prized Google calendar, we were both so technologically illiterate (apparently Google doesn’t accept sexual favours in lieu of intelligence) we were fired well before this was possible.

Luckily, Shirin thought we were both pretty ace on a personal level, and we’ve been catching up at the Burning Man festival ever since.

Shirin bolted out of the gates on Second Chance, and it seems as though her supreme wit and smarts was her downfall. The fact that she also turned her back on the somewhat erratic Abi-Maria likely didn’t help, as she lost her majority alliance to Deitzy’s undeniable charms.

What provides warm, tasty comfort without wreaking havoc on one’s undeniably fragile internal eco-system after subsisting on bugs and coconuts?

 

 

shirin

 

The Mirin Oskooi Salmon combines the health benefits of salmon with a fuck-load of sugar and mirin. A perfect balance of healthy and fuck you Abi and Terry.

 

shirin 2

 

Mirin Oskooi Salmon
Serves: 4

Ingredients
4 200g salmon fillets
1/4 cup mirin
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons honey
Thumb-size piece of ginger, finely grated

Method
Combine mirin, soy, sugar, honey and ginger in a large ziplock bag. Add salmon fillets and allow to marinate, refrigerated, for up to 2 hours.

Heat a large frypan with a small amount of oil. Add salmon, brushed with extra marinade, cooking for 2-3 minutes each side or until just cooked through.

Serve with steamed greens and rice.

 

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Vytas Baskausserole

Main, Survivor: Cambodia - Second Chance

Poor, beautiful, rump-a-licious Vytas!

While Vytas has sadly always turned down my sexual advances, even in our time together in prison (you just know I would have made a beautiful prison wife), he did not deserve the tragedy/travesty of being the first boot on Second Chance!

Seriously people, get rid of our frenemy of beige-personality Woo!

We have been friends with Vytas longer than anyone else on the cast, after meeting in Santa Monica in the late 90s while Annelie and I were trying to grift celebrities. Unlike the Shirin and Kelley-not-Wiglesworth’s of the world, we were immediately taken with the bad boy and lured him into our web of deceit and drugs, landing us in jail.

Annelie ended up in prison with Piper Kerman, Vytas and I were lucky enough to stay together where we were bonded for life. While Vytas used the time as an opportunity to grow and better himself, Annelie and I used it to rule the prison yard until we were released.

Being so kind Vyt has never held that against us, even as we went through relapse after relapse and returned to prison to get our stale cigarette’s from the vents (yep, we inspired both Vee and Red).

In early 2006, we realised Vyt’s dreamboat brother was set to appear on our favourite program, Survivor and got to work planning a double wedding to the brother’s. (Sadly they didn’t think it was a great idea).

Going into Second Chance, we knew Vytas would have one of the largest target’s on his back as not only is he hella dreamy but he proved in his previous turn that he could charm people and would play dirty if needed.

Knowing this, we broke away from the press area after the marooning and stole our friend Abi-Maria’s bracelet (sorry Abi, we love you) to create some drama to deflect attention from Vytas long enough for Savage to suggest another naked challenge.

Sadly Vytas took the pre-game advice I gave him for wooing me and used it in game, taking a direct quote I whispered into his ear while he slept the night before the game, “Hammer that nail into me (to) Woo (me). Hammer it into me.”

It is always hard to be the first boot (am I right, Francesca?), but Vyt met us in Ponderosa with a lot of grace and humility. Obviously we were ropeable, threw out all of our rice in the Tribal Council fire (soz if you wanted Risotto after your boots, guys) and got to work making our angry and hearty Vytas Baskausserole.

 

Vytas Baskausserole_1

 

Based on a California-esque casserole we made in the early years of our friendship, the Baskausserole is filled with a kick of heat to wash away the sadness of being first boot. We also couldn’t remember if Vytas was vegetarian, so just pretend it is if he is, ok?

Enjoy – Vyt, just remember Tina was also a first boot once!

I wonder who will be joining him on the pre-jury vacation..?

 

Vytas Baskausserole_2

 

Vytas Baskausserole
Serves: 10 or one first boot and his two close friends that just damn, wish they were his lovers.

Ingredients
1kg beef mince
1 green capsicum, diced
2 onions, diced
400g can creamed corn
400g can condensed tomato soup
400g can diced tomatoes
1 cup passata
125g button mushrooms, whole or quartered (size dependent)
120g jarred pimientos, drained and chopped
hot sauce, to taste
¼ jarred olives, drained and sliced
1 tsp celery salt
½ teaspoon mustard powder
½ teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon ground pepper
500g wide tagliatelle, cooked and drained
2 cups cheddar cheese, grated

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C.

In a large fry-pan, cook mince, capsicum and onion over medium heat until the meat is starting to brown.

Drain out any fat and stir in all remaining ingredients, except for the cheese, and pour into a large baking dish (30x20cm-ish).

Top with cheese and bake for 40-50 minutes.

Devour and plot ways to enact revenge on those who wronged our dear friend slash potential new boyfriend.

 

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+.