Heloumi Hunt Skewers

Oscar Gold

You always need a calming force following a catch-up with Cagey and there is no Academy Award Winner more calming than our dear friend, Helen Hunt.

We have known Helen since our time together working as Jami Gertz’s co-Assistants on the set of Twister, where Hells was the only person able to calm us down during our infighting to be Jami’s personal favourite and confidante.

It was a highly tumultuous period of our lives and the thought of sharing that honour was too much to handle and she was the only one brave enough to come between Annelie and I when we were throwing empty bottles at each other and ruining the other’s weaves.

Helen stuck with us during the years of court-ordered anger management, rehab and prison (following the Halle incident) and has become like a third Hollywood mother to us (she got us a role as Wilson’s assistant on Cast Away to get our feet back in the door, bless her).

To show our appreciation we made some Heloumi Hunt Skewers to enjoy while we discussed Julianne finally winning Best Actress. We don’t even have to pretend that won’t happen, right?

 

Heloumi Hunt Skewers_1

 

The combination of charred vegetables and haloumi are amongst my favourite and with a splash of lemon the party moved from our hearts, to our mouths.

Enjoy!

 

Heloumi Hunt Skewers_2

 

Heloumi Hunt Skewers
Serves: Hunger and ingredient dependent.

Ingredients
haloumi
zucchini
capsicum
cherry tomatoes
red onion
lemon wedges, to serve

Method
Cut all ingredients (except cherry tomatoes) into a roughly one centimetre dice…or you know, cherry tomato size.

Load skewers with ingredients piece by piece, alternating however you find aesthetically pleasing. I tend to start and finish with capsicum or haloumi as they act as an anchor to keep the skewers together.

Once all of the skewers are done, heat a large griddle or frying pan. Fry for a couple of minutes each side, season to taste and serve with lemon wedges.

Note: If you are using wooden/bamboo skewers, soak them in water for a couple of hours so that they don’t burn.

Lupita Nymang’o Salad

Oscar Gold

While some of our closest friends have won Oscars, we thought it would be best to invite some of our newer friends to Oscar Gold as a kind gesture of support to solidify friendships.

Not as a desperate attempt to capitalise on Lupita’s It Girl status (thank you Benedick Cumberbitch)!

We first connected with Lupita while attending Yale, where Annelie’s dog Nigella studied Law with future President Hillary Rodham Clinton and we attended the journalism program/worked the Yale Daily News with our gal pals, Rory Gilmore and Paris Geller.

We befriended Lupita when she assisted us in breaking up a fight between Rory and Paris in Shake Shack and were front runners to attend the Oscars with her, before her jealous brother threw a tantrum and got us banned from the Awards.

As we missed out on being in the big selfie, we will never forgive him.

Lupita dropped by quickly to celebrate last year’s win before having to jet back to LA to present JK Sim…sorry, the Best Supporting Actor Award. As it is still quite hot here, we opted for the Lupita Nymang’o Salad we whipped up during our visit to catch-up on the 12 Years a Slave set.

Lupita Nymang'o Salsa_1

The sweetness of the mango countered the sharp acidity of the vinegar and lime and leaves you feeling more satisfied than we will on Sunday when Cumberbitch loses.

He knows what he did. Enjoy!

Lupita Nymang'o Salsa_2

 

Lupita Nymang’o Salad
Serves: 2-4.

Ingredients
1 ripe mango, cubed
1 avocado, halved, stone removed, peeled, diced
1 red capsicum, halved, deseeded, finely diced
½ red onion, finely diced
1 lebanese cucumber, diced
½ cup roughly chopped fresh mint
2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Method
Combine juice, oil and vinegar in a small jug.

Combine everything else in a medium bowl.

Add dressing and season to taste.

This recipe is crazy basic.

I think you probably got that though, right?

Jeff Rib Probst and Elisabeth Hasselbeck Potatoes

12 Days of Survivor Christmas, Main, Side

It’s been an exhausting 10 days, with many of our closest survivor pals dropping by for a Christmas catch-up. With every cookie, pie and fancy dessert, there was always one thing in the back of our minds – Probst.

Probst. Came. Today, dear reader, was finally the day.

As you would probably be aware, our relationship with Jeff Dreamy-McDreamy-Free-Pass-Eternal-Object-Of-Our-Affection Probst has been tumultuous, so he insisted on bringing a friend to dinner (likely to deter us from making him our prisoner/Misery-esque lover). Luckily, his guest of choice was the delightful Elisabeth Hasselbeck, the Survivor: The Australian Outback contestant that has the dubious honor of being the first contestant to be worldwide spank bank material/the second America’s Sweetheart (we still love you too Col).

Lis has been keen to catch up ever since she hit it off with Ben on the set of The View. After Jazz in Your Face’s resounding success on the Ellen Show, Ben was looking for further opportunities for the troupe while Annelie continued with plans to thwart future Elijah Wood movies and subsequently save mankind from further suffering.

Long story short, Ben provided a short, naked dance intermission during a heated conversation between Rosie O’Donnell and Lis. Ben’s interpretative and confronting (literally) interlude got Lis’s attention and lifelong friendship and scared Rosie from ever returning…for a while (the whole Iraq issue was a farce).

How else to make the love of our lives and his equally amazing date feel welcome?

Indeed, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. However, the way to a man becoming your eternal (likely unwilling) love slave is through meat sweats and a food coma so terrible they lose the will to fight back. So, big meaty roast it was!

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The Jeff Rib Probst pulls out all the stops and is destined for special occasions only. Accompanied with crunchy, fluffy Lis Hasselbeck potatoes, this is a meal certain to impress.

Make sure you have plenty of cold ones on hand to wash down this deliciously meaty edible utopia!

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Jeff Rib Probst and Lis Hasselbeck Potatoes
Serves: 8.

Ingredients
2kg approx. beef prime rib roast (allow one rib per two people)
8 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 cloves garlic, finely sliced
12 medium size desiree potatoes
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method
Preheat oven to 220 degrees. Using a small paring knife, make small slits in the top of the prime rib (ribs facing down) and insert slices of garlic. Rub with four tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes in a cast iron roasting tray.
Meanwhile, wash and peel the potatoes. Using a sharp knife, halve potatoes and then cut fine slits, leaving 1cm at bottom of potato half to ensure potato stays together.
Once beef has cooked for 20 minutes, add potatoes to roasting tray and drizzle with extra 4 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast meat and potatoes for another hour for rare beef, or until cooked to your liking. Allow meat to stand for at least 20 minutes, while potatoes finish cooking through.
To serve, sprinkle potatoes with caraway seeds and arrange around the roast on a large platter. Serve with cherry gravy or other delicious seasonal sauces!

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Happy Christmas from the Fame Hungry team and all our celebrity besties!

Festive Cirie Fields Mushrooms

12 Days of Survivor Christmas, Side

It is a fact universally known that Cirie Fields is the greatest player to never win Survivor; in addition, she is also our personal saviour.

You see, before becoming a universal treasure on Exile Island, Micronesia and Heroes vs. Villains she worked as a nurse in one of the many rehab facilities Annelie and I frequented in the mid-nineties and can be credited as being the person to get us clean (not sober, baby steps).

We have always kept in contact with Cirie (and almost relapsed following the shock final 2 on Micronesia) and see her as a member of the family, so it is only fitting that she dropped by for a Christmas dinner complete with her signature Festive Cirie Fields Mushrooms.

 

Festive Cirie Fields Mushrooms

 

While it is a very simple dish, the garlic, chilli and parsley mingle together to create a side packed with flavour that is still festively appropriate and would go perfectly with any roast. (Or you could have the leftovers with some scrambled eggs for breakfast the next day).

Enjoy!

 

Festive Cirie Fields Mushrooms 1

 

Festive Cirie Field Mushrooms
Serves 4

Ingredients
4 large mushrooms (they don’t necessarily need to be from a field)
1 red chilli, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon italian parsley, chopped
50g butter melted
salt and pepper, to season

Method
Pre-heat a griddle pan until very hot.

While heating, melt butter in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and mix in chilli, garlic parsley and salt and pepper.

When the griddle in hot reduce to medium heat, add mushrooms face down and cook for about three minutes. Flip mushrooms over and press down into pan to ensure even cooking. Fry for further three minutes. Flip again (I make sure the griddle lines form criss-crosses, but I am anal) and cook for a further three minutes or until they are how you like them.

Turn off heat and pour melted butter mixture over the top. Rest for a minute and serve.

Benjamin Slaw

Side

It is always great to catch up with Ben and even better to watch the awkward way in which non-published Ben fawns all over him. Thankfully Law is well natured enough to ignore it. Maybe he is just grateful Ben isn’t demanding to sit on his knee like when Luke visits?

Ben was in town visiting family but dropped by for a catch-up, that in retrospect I think may have actually been a welfare check. Since moving to Sydney, we haven’t seen as much of Ben with our resurgent fame keeping us busy and Ben, you know, having work to do on account of having actual talent.

To keep him on schedule for his obligations, we threw together a Benjamin Slaw as we quickly discussed our upcoming stint on Home & Away (his childhood dream), whether Germaine Greer has forgiven our feud (don’t ask and no she hasn’t) and his upcoming book (we aren’t allowed to discuss, but it will be glorious).

 

Benjamin Slaw 1

 

There is no improving on perfection, so we gracefully bowed down to the Goddess Nigella and used her New Orleans Coleslaw for the Benjamin Slaw. Ben obviously lied to Ben and told him that he had invented the recipe…but don’t tell him.

Enjoy, he did…even with the side of lies!

 

Benjamin Slaw 2

 

Benjamin Slaw (aka Nigella’s New Orleans Coleslaw)
Serves 6

Ingredients
1 white cabbage, about 1kg before trimming
2 carrots
2 sticks celery
4 spring onions
200 grams mayonnaise
4 tablespoons buttermilk
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
100 grams pecan nuts, finely chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

Method
Trim and shred the cabbage, either by hand or with a food processor.

Peel and grate the carrots, and finely slice the celery and spring onions.

Whisk together the mayonnaise, buttermilk, maple syrup and vinegar and coat the shredded vegetables with this dressing.

Season, and toss through the chopped nuts.

WatermEllen DeGeneres Salad

Side

It is so nice of Ellen to make her second trip down-under for the sole purpose of catching up with us and clearing the air after the furore we created for her show.

She hasn’t changed a bit since that first time we met; so eager to embrace and foster new talent and give them a platform to succeed, while still being friendly and down to earth. She was literally flyin’ solo for the visit (she promised Portia would drop by soon…Annelie played the dancing baby opposite her in Ally McBeal), as she had guests she was hoping to secure in Australia.

Knowing she was out on business, we quickly threw together a WatermEllen DeGeneres Salad to counteract the recent heat-wave and provide Ellen with refreshing sustenance for her important duties.

 

Watermellen Salad 2

 

There is something about watermelon, feta and olives that is inherently satisfying and indulgent and when you add fresh mint and the lime cured onion, you are left with the perfect combination of (almost)summer flavours.

 

Watermellen Salad 3

 

We quickly ate our meal, mindful of Ellen’s official duties, before she dropped the biggest news of the catch-up (no, they are still not having a baby)…she wants to have us on her show again! This time as socialite-celebrity cooks, rather than as the classically trained contemporary dance troupe, Jazz in Your Face.

Our people are still talking, but stay tuned for our return appearance.

In the meantime, enjoy!

WatermEllen DeGeneres Salad
Ingredients
½ watermelon
200g feta
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 small bunch of mint, leaves roughly chopped
½ cup pitted kalamata olives, sliced
1 lime
olive oil
salt and pepper, to season

Method
In small bowl, combine sliced red onion with the juice of the lime to slightly cure.

Dice watermelon and feta into similar sized cubes (I went with roughly 1.5cm dice), and place in a large bowl with the sliced olives and a generous handful of mint.

Pour cured onion and juice into bowl with a good lug of oil. Toss (the salad) and season to taste.

Pizsa Zsa Gabor

Main

Some things never change; Zsas is a spitfire with a heart of gold and we love her for all that she has done in keeping our lives together.

After her driver dropped her off at 5PM for our dinner (this is due to the elderly needing to eat early, and by that I mean Annelie and I need to eat early) she immediately launched into her concerns that I was living in an unsafe neighbourhood (“Grifters and vagrants everywhere, Darling”) and my kitchen was barely that (“This box is a kitchen? Darling, we will call it the Deluded Kitchen until you upgrade”).

Being that Zsa Zsa was like a surrogate mother to us throughout the years, we felt the need to make something homely and loving, so went with a Pizsa Zsa Gabor.

 

pizsa-zsa-gabor-1

 

The dough had nothing it needed to prove (classic), being as warm and soft as one of Zsas’ hugs. In turn, the pizza was as spicy as her love life, brought out her exotic edge … and highlighted her hot temper.

She loved it, we love her. Enjoy!

 

pizsa-zsa-gabor-2

 

Pizsa Zsa Gabor
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
2 cups warm water
1 ½ tsp dried yeast
½ tsp caster sugar
785g plain flour
1 tbs salt
3 tbs grated parmesan
3 tbs finely chopped herbs (I use oregano, rosemary and sage)

Topping and assembly
½ butternut pumpkin, diced
cinnamon
200g feta, diced
chilli flakes
small bunch of sage
tomato sauce or paste
herbs
cheese to top

Method
Place yeast, sugar and water in a bowl and stir to dissolve. Stand for 5 minutes, or until mixture starts to foam. Sift flour and salt into a bowl, add the yeast mixture, parmesan and herbs and stir until dough starts to come together.

Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for 8 minutes or until smooth and elastic (you could use an electric mixer, but we learnt that kneading was therapeutic in anger management). Move to a large, oiled bowl and cover with cling-wrap; set aside in a warm place to prove for 3 hours or until doubled in size.

Knock back the dough and divide into 6 balls. Place on a large tray and cover with a damp cloth (tea towels work great) for a further 2 hours. If you don’t want to make 6 pizzas (don’t know why you wouldn’t but in case), you can wrap the remaining dough balls in cling-wrap before proving and freeze for 2 months. You can then defrost and prove as usual.

When you’re almost ready to start, pre-heat oven to 180C.

Spread diced pumpkin on a small tray and coat with a dash of oil and some cinnamon (I am pretty heavy handed, but this is discretionary). Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden.

While the pumpkin is cooling slightly, flatten the dough out to fit the pizza tray (or whatever you are cooking it on). Full disclosure, I am terrible at flattening out the dough. I would suggest searching YouTube for instructions. It didn’t help me, but I assume it didn’t hurt either.

Cover with a tomato sauce (I just used tomato paste and the remaining herbs), sprinkle with chilli flakes (again, quantity is discretionary) and spread sage leaves, pumpkin and feta over the top.

Bake, serve and then eat.

Sean Black Bean Salad

Side

Bless his heart, Sean actually has never held Ben’s showy behaviour on Lord of the Ring’s against us (unlike Peter Jackson, who really should have cast me in the Naomi Watts role in King Kong).

He dropped over the other day and we were almost shocked to find him in normal clothes and well, alive.

I mean, name one thing he wasn’t killed in?

You’ve got nothing, Jon Snow. (Sean loved that joke).

He regaled us with tales of his time on the set of National Treasure (Harvey Keitel was a hoot, apparently) and Game of Thrones (we know who wins the throne but as two of his closest confidantes, will never tell), while we quickly threw together our old favourite dish, the famous Sean Black Bean Salad, which we ate while hiding in his trailer avoiding Elijah Wood and Sean Astin, our nemeses on set.

 

A sword and a salad

 

The salad is fresh and full of flavour, with the citrus cutting through like Joffrey’s blade on Sean’s neck.

RIP Ned. Good to catch up Sean.

Enjoy!

 

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Sean Black Bean Salad
Ingredients
1 cup mixed quinoa
400g can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 small green capsicum, chopped
1 medium hass avocado, cubed
200g cherry tomatoes, halved
100g queso fresco, or mild cheese of your choice
½ red onion, finely chopped
1 small bunch coriander, finely chopped
1 lime
3 tbs olive oil, divided

Method
Wash quinoa thoroughly.

Heat 1 tbs olive oil a medium saucepan over high heat and add quinoa, cooking for 1-2 minutes or until lightly toasted. Add 2 cups water and cook, covered for 15 minutes or until done. Allow to cool for 20 minutes.

Mix quinoa, black beans, capsicum, avocado, tomato, onion, queso fresco and coriander in a large bowl. Dress with remaining 2tbs olive oil and juice of 1 lime.