Announcement

**Bates** · 2026-02-22T01:45:34

Originally posted by milanja View Post

Guanciale is traditional, but not my favourite, I like speck, which Aldi do also, the guanciale can go really crisp really quick if you don’t keep an eye on it, and a lot that I have bought is majority white with only a few slithers of meat, so it can feel a bit too fatty.

You can also add more egg yolks and cheese to play with the amount of “cream” produced.

one thing I do really like is the pecorino Romano, it is tricky to find in the shops, I always go past tutto deli in Mawson to buy a chunk. If not find your favourite Parmesan.

it is only about 4 ingredients, and it’s worth good ingredients for a dish that we have maybe once or twice a month.

I like a combination Parmesan and Pecorino.

I also use Spec cut into bite size cubes. No oil when browning off the Spec as it's quite fatty.

Keep some of the fatty spec oil and add to the egg yolks.

Now I'm hungry

**Vasco** · 2026-02-22T02:55:04

Originally posted by Duchess_of_Bondi View Post

Sounds amazing Vasco. Not ginger beer but I do remember trying it with cola once, for that caramalised taste.

Let us know how it went. I can't stand vinegar so when I make it a few times a year, I just keep it plain these days. What veges do you like to have with yours?

Mate it was sensational. Even better in sandwiches with some horseradish cream.

**Vasco** · 2026-02-22T02:56:43

Originally posted by horrie hastings View Post

I sometimes do a whole chicken sort of Greek style with the lemon.

With the thighs i just squeeze lemon juice over them, then sprinkle lemon pepper and a bit of powdered chicken stock over them and put a dab of butter or margarine on top of each thigh then fill the water in the baking dish making sure it doesn't go more than half way up the chicken thighs, less is better just as long as the pan doesn't dry out, i find the skins crisps better with the less water.

If you marinate the thighs in Greek yoghurt overnight they turn out great.

**Vasco** · 2026-02-22T02:58:42

Originally posted by Bates View Post

I'm thinking about deep fried neighbours cat who keeps killing our native birds.

Sweet and Sour Mao

Yeah we have a lot of native birds where we are. One of our neighbours has two cats that roam around all the time. We've just got a jack russell so can't see them hanging around our garden anymore.

It's actually illegal in SA for cats to be outside. Should be a national law.

**Duchess_of_Bondi** · 2026-02-22T03:03:59

Originally posted by Vasco View Post

Mate it was sensational. Even better in sandwiches with some horseradish cream.

Thanks for the update and I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm going to start making it more often this winter as it keeps really well. I'd bought some at the beginning of January as every month I get extra discounts with Coles and it's so economical. I really love it with beetroot in a salad, plus of course having it with steamed veges. I can take it to work on sandwiches with some bitey vintage cheese as it won't make a mess. One of my bachelor uncles lived well into his 90's and he ate it all the time as my aunty would make sure he always had some in the fridge.
I do mine in the stockpot and just set and forget. Nothing better than doing that in winter with a Roosters victory going on in the background.

**mightyrooster** · 2026-02-22T03:14:18

Originally posted by milanja View Post

Guanciale is traditional, but not my favourite, I like speck, which Aldi do also, the guanciale can go really crisp really quick if you don’t keep an eye on it, and a lot that I have bought is majority white with only a few slithers of meat, so it can feel a bit too fatty.

You can also add more egg yolks and cheese to play with the amount of “cream” produced.

one thing I do really like is the pecorino Romano, it is tricky to find in the shops, I always go past tutto deli in Mawson to buy a chunk. If not find your favourite Parmesan.

it is only about 4 ingredients, and it’s worth good ingredients for a dish that we have maybe once or twice a month.

That sounds very fatty. Maybe I should try the speck next time. I only used the shortcut bacon last night too so probably not enough fat there. I did add Parmesan to the eggs and cream. I’m really not sure where I got my actual recipe from, probably a magazine I read years ago or a website from somewhere, but it uses 400g of pasta which seemed like a lot, 3 eggs plus an additional yolk, 2/3 cup of Parmesan and 100 mls cream for the sauce. If I remove the cream how many extra eggs should I add? I was cooking for 4 last night and there seemed to be too much pasta. The recipe also included 200g of bacon.

**Bates** · 2026-02-22T03:26:42

No chance of us becoming NRL players but improving our cooking skills from say a 2 /10 to 8/10 is achievable with the amount of food content and recipes on YouTube.

It's so much easier watching someone cook when it comes to learning than using cook books.

I've recently mastered my Sweet and Sour Pork with the help of YouTube and it's on tonights menu.

**mightyrooster** · 2026-02-22T03:34:28

Originally posted by Bates View Post

No chance of us becoming NRL players but improving our cooking skills from say a 2 /10 to 8/10 is achievable with the amount of food content and recipes on YouTube.

It's so much easier watching someone cook when it comes to learning than using cook books.

I've recently mastered my Sweet and Sour Pork with the help of YouTube and it's on tonights menu.

Yep, I’ve been using YouTube a bit more too lately. RecipeTineats with Nagi is also fantastic as she always has a video of how to make every recipe on her website. Hmm maybe I should check if she has a carbonara recipe too.

**Bates** · 2026-02-22T03:40:03