Issue Twenty Two TURF
'N
SURF

Editor’s Letter

Welcome to the Turf ‘N Surf issue where sport takes centre stage with the 2023 seasons of the National Rugby League (NRL), the Australian Football League (AFL) and Super Rugby well underway – that’s the turf covered.

And the surf? In this issue Mark Best shines a light on Flinders Island in Bass Strait and Myffy Rigby tours the Mornington Peninsula for What’s Good in the Hood.

Stadium food has well and truly levelled up in recent times with punters wanting more than just a lukewarm pie to sustain them as the beers, cheers and jeers flow freely. High profile chefs across the country are taking up the challenge of game day dining and Pat Nourse chats with Matt Moran, Victor Liong and Mike Eggert to get the score on stadium dining.

Australian Beef has entered its second year of sponsorship with the Brisbane Broncos – a partnership fueled by the nutritional powerhouse that is Australian Beef. Healthy, balanced beef meals provide vital nutrients that help athletes and every day Aussies alike perform at their best.

On the healthy beef train – we catch up with social media chef sensation Andy Hearnden (4M TikTok and 2.2M Instagram) and Humble on Duke chef/owner Stacey Conner on the Sunshine Coast to capture their interpretations of a healthy beef meal for Cut Two Ways.

Still on the Turf, we head to Brisbane where ALH – Australia’s largest hotel group – has introduced a Footy Fever dish to the menu of their Queensland based venues for the duration of the football season. Leveraging the momentum of national sporting leagues and events is a great way to drive incremental meal sales and the Broncos Steak, basted with a XXXX BBQ sauce is a tasty way to do so.

Mark Best heads to incredible Flinders Island where he meets with Jo Youl – an island powerhouse promoting the produce and attributes of this remote island off the coast of Tasmania in Bass Strait. From producing Angus beef on the island to running the Flinders Island Wharf Restaurant and its roster of renowned chefs; providing luxury farm stay accommodation and other tourism ventures, if anyone knows Flinders Island, it’s Jo.

Finally, Myffy Rigby heads for the Mornington Peninsula where wild surf coasts and calm ocean bays encase a stretch of turf populated with fine wineries and a wealth of delicious dining options – from tantalising Tedesca to the awe of Audrey’s, be sure to add the Mornington Peninsula to your travel plans.

Mary-Jane Morse

Meat & Livestock Australia
[email protected]
@_raremedium

People Places Plates

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For as long as people have taken the field or stepped into the arena to test themselves against each other, there have been spectators, and for as long as there have been spectators, there have been pies.

Well, not pies exactly, but something like a pie – something to eat while cheering (or indeed booing) the battle playing out before you. And while things have come a long way since the days of oiled Spartans duking it out in the original Olympics (everyone usually wears clothes now, for one thing), for most of our modern era in the West, the food served at stadiums hasn’t changed that much. Even as broadcasting, advertising, changing attention spans and the rise of the professional athlete have dramatically transformed the games themselves, food stayed basic.

Or at least it did until now. Restaurant chefs are getting in on the business of how we eat when we’re watching sport, and it is, as they say, a game changer.

The food eaten at games is more diverse than you might’ve thought. Bovril, the British beef tea, has been described in some quarters as being nearly as important to British football as the ball itself. Canada’s love of chips smothered in cheese reaches insane heights at Toronto FC’s home ground at BMO Field, the birthplace of the triple-pork poutine. In Istanbul it’s all about kofte sandwiches, while miles of sausages are eaten in arenas across eastern and northern Europe, not to mention Latin America, and a whole lotta biltong goes down in South Africa. Also: sunflower seeds. Lots of countries are really into sunflower seeds. Bear that in mind next time someone tells you they think Chiko rolls are out-there.

In ancient times, sporting events were often accompanied by feasts and banquets. In ancient Greece, athletes competing in the Olympics were fed a diet of meat, bread, and wine to ensure they were well-nourished for their competitions. In ancient Rome, gladiators were served a diet of barley, beans, and meats to keep them pushing their personal best. While the food served at these events may not have been the type of fare we associate with modern sporting events, the idea of feeding athletes and spectators alike has been around for thousands of years.

It was in the 19th century, though, that we began to see the emergence of foods that are more recognisable as stadium snacks. In the United States, baseball was hitting its straps, and there’s records of vendors selling peanuts and popcorn at games in the 1870s. These simple snacks were cheap, easy to prepare, and could be eaten on the go, making them the perfect food for a fast-paced sporting event. Also: good with a beer and easy to throw.

Australian Beef has entered its second year of sponsorship with the Brisbane Broncos – fueling athletes and every day Australians on and off the field

As stadiums and arenas became more established, food concessions were set up on the premises, with more varied menus and more comfortable seating. One of the earliest examples of stadium food was the hotdog – the first of them sold at a baseball game in New York City in 1893.

In the early 20th century, with the rise of organised sports leagues, the variety of food available at sporting events began to expand. In the US, hamburgers began to be sold at baseball games in the 1920s, while in the UK and Australia meat pies became a popular food served at football matches. As sporting events became more professionalised and commercialised, food vendors began to see the potential for selling a wider variety of foods to hungry spectators.

Take a look around today. At the FIFA World Cup in Doha last year, punters at Al Bayt Stadium had the option of potato chips, popcorn and (beef) hotdogs but also the more Qatari-leaning likes of faytayer, a triangular almost-pie, filled with minced meat and spinach, and luqaimat, a sweet flour dumpling drenched in sweet syrup spiced with cardamom. If you want to get really fancy, consider making a booking at Geranium, the fine-diner in Denmark named number one in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2022. It’s located on the eighth floor of Parken, the home of Copenhagen FC – so you could conceivably nip in for a taste of the Spring Universe menu (for a crisp $800 AUD a head) and smash a bit of salted herring in crisp algae with dill stems and aquavit before a game. Not so much with the pies, though.

And in 2023, Australia is now well and truly in the game, following a string of high-profile announcements connecting restaurants and major sporting venues. Melbourne chefs Guy Grossi and Alejandro Saravia signed on with the hallowed ground of the MCG last year, and today, when members roll into the Long Room on a game day, Saravia offers them a buffet laden with the likes of leg of O’Connor beef, cooked over a wood fire and served with smoked chilli salsa and chimichurri. Grossi’s menus at the swank Committee Room, meanwhile, place duck and porcini tortellini with caramelised pear, and a rigatoni sauced with a spiced veal ragù and a healthy dusting of pecorino alongside King George whiting presented with a Sicilian-accented arrangement of breadcrumbs, pine nuts, sultanas, saffron and zucchini, and a serious herb-crumbed veal cutlet with bitter leaves dressed with lemon and capers.

Matt Moran is culinary ambassador across CommBank Stadium and Accor Stadium in Sydney – Photo: Steve Burn

Speaking of the MCG, next door in and around Rod Laver Arena, The Australian Open has done an incredible job putting Melbourne well ahead of its international Grand Slam brethren in the food stakes. This year’s talent included Jacqui Challinor offering a Nomad menu (hello mushroom and bone marrow empanadas) on the rooftop, Saint Peter chef Josh Niland with his fast-casual Charcoal Fish concept, plus full-service versions of Rockpool Bar & Grill, Supernormal and Stokehouse and a Penfolds restaurant powered by the team from Magill Estate, not to mention Tacos y Liquor and Ca Com, the casual offshoots from celebrated chefs Aaron Turner, of Igni, and Thi Le from Jeow.

It is, says Matt Moran, a sign of the times. The Aria chef reckons it’s tied up with sport being such a key place for corporate entertaining, and also just the general elevation of the food conversation in Australia.

“It’s all about good produce and just done well. People just want good food that hasn’t been sitting in bain-maries for God knows how long. You don’t have to serve five garnishes with it and trick it up, we just want to make it fresh and clean.”

Moran is now culinary ambassador across two large Sydney venues, CommBank Stadium in Parramatta and Accor Stadium at Sydney’s Olympic Park, and he says his mission is to put good produce first.

“If it’s going to be a chook, it’s going to be a really good roast chook with a good gravy. Slow-cooked lamb shoulder, he says, is the perfect thing in this context for chefs and punters alike. “You can do it in advance, and it’s so bloody easy to reheat in a Rational and put it on a platter and let people share it. That’s delicious.”

Moran Family Lamb Shoulder – not your average stadium snack – Photo: Travis Hayto

Where Moran grew up eating pies and barracking for the Dragons in the NRL, Lee Ho Fook’s Victor Liong’s memories of sporting fixtures growing up in southeast Asia were more about dirt-bike racing and martial arts – both things loved by his dad – and of the satay vendors.

The flavours of Asia carry the day at Liong’s new outlet of Lee Ho Fook at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne. That could mean Rangers Valley short-rib with fennel, mustard and baby cos, or Xinjiang-style cumin braised lamb and bullhorn peppers tossed through noodles, or even a milk pudding with coconut sorbet, lychee, raspberry and rose granita. The restaurant caters for large numbers of people in very small amounts of time – pre-game, half time and so on – so clean menu design and minimal movements for plate-up are key.

At the end of the day, Liong says, wherever you are in the world, fans are looking to be comfortable and not too bothered with the service style while watching the game. “It’s all about food that’s not too challenging and easy to eat.”

Victor Liong’s renowned Melbourne restaurant Lee Ho Fook now has an outlet at Marvel Stadium – Photo: TJ Edwards

You might know Mike Eggert as the chef behind the smash-hit success of Totti’s, which has just spread its wings from its Sydney home base and opened in Lorne on the Victorian coastline. But he also answers to another label: lifelong cricket tragic. (He has fond memories of the sandwiches his nan would make for a test-match: chicken and lettuce with butter and white pepper.)

So when Merivale signed on to step up the food offering at the SCG and Allianz Stadium, bringing its exec chefs Jordan Toft, Dan Hong, Ben Greeno and Vincenzo Biondini into the mix, Eggert was ready to lead the charge. And while you can now get noodles and dumplings from Queen Chow and Ms G’s, “the elevated, coastal European stylings” of Bert’s, Coogee Pavilion, wraps from Jimmy’s and a pasta bar from Totti’s, it’s Eggert’s pie and a burger from Biondini that bring it on home for the crowd in the stands.

“We had a couple of parameters,” says Eggert of the signature SCG pie he developed with the team from Sonoma Bakery. “It needed to be a one-hander. None of this two-handed pie crap.” Structural integrity, as with all good sandwiches and pies, was paramount. “You have to be able to nurse both a beer and a pie.”

For the filling, braised beef was the starting point. “I didn’t want anything at all fancy. No red wine, mushrooms and stuff. I just wanted an elevated version of a classic beef pie.” The winning mix is simply seasoned with black pepper, “a micro-amount” of onion and garlic, and that’s pretty much it. No packet gravy-flavour, no veggie boosters or chicken booster or MSG. “Just a beefy, meaty, gravy flavour stuffed inside a pie.”

Merivale’s stadium burger – smashed dry aged beef patty, caramelised onions, pickles, cheese and sauce – Photo: Jiwon Kim

Then there’s the burger. It was inspired, appropriately enough, by a research trip to the Superbowl in Los Angeles with Merivale boss Justin Hemmes.

“When Vinnie got back from LA he started working with Haverick Meats to dry-age his cuts of beef and mince them with a much more open, coarse grind to do his smash patties.” Now the smash-patty burgers are available at the stadium across three kiosks, and Eggert reckons it’s a solid-gold ripper.

“I think it’s one of the best burgers you can get in Sydney – and I’m saying that with my Merivale hat off. It’s on a Big Marty sesame seed bun from Martin’s. Dry-aged beef, caramelised onions. Really delicious.”

In an age when we’re talking about serious money for seriously upscale restaurant-style food in a sporting context, it’s interesting to hear Eggert talking about keeping the value front and centre with the pie, and about not wanting it to be, in his words, too fancy.

“I’m all for variety in pie shops because if you’ve got an audience and you do it well, you should expand your repertoire. But we’ve got the guys and girls in the stadium for an hour, two hours, and they’re not looking to eat three types of pies – they just want to have a good beef pie with a little bit of salt and a little bit of pepper because it goes well with a beer. For me, if you make a really good gravy beef, that’s fancy enough. That’s a winner.”

Stadium snack favourites are still a-go with pies, sausage rolls, hot dogs and chippies available at multiple outlets across both SFS and SCG – Photo: Steven Woodburn

Spotlight On

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SPOTLIGHT ON:

FLINDERS ISLAND

‘Farm to table’ is the aspirational aphorism used by many chefs to emphasise a direct relationship between a farm and their table. At its best, based on the distance between paddock and plate and the degree of commitment from chef and farmer, it can form an almost symbiotic relationship. At the same time, it remains an ideal fraught with tokenism, bureaucracy and logistical challenge.

On Flinders Island, where a roster of talented chefs take residence and for the first time in years a fully licensed on-island abattoir is operating – Jo and Tom Youl of Quoin Farm appear to have cracked the code.

Flinders Island, with a population of just 900, is the largest of the Furneaux Group amongst a cluster of about 100 islands in Bass Strait between Tasmania and Victoria. While mostly known for its rugged natural beauty, it is also growing a reputation for its grass-fed beef with Quoin Farm amongst those leading the way.

“My family has been running this farm since 1932, it’s really diverse and productive land with a lot of beach frontage. It was originally purchased by my great grandparents with Tom and I buying it from my uncle in 2014. We are the first people to live here full time, it’s a great property and we love our life here with our three young kids,” Jo said.

The original homestead block was first cleared as part of the soldier settlement program, a government scheme designed in 1916 to develop rural areas, encouraging returned servicemen to become property-owning farmers.

The first step in developing the property for beef production was to fence out native animals, whose numbers had soared to almost plague proportions in response to pasture improvement on the island.

Jo Youl on her family property Quoin Farm on Flinders Island

“When we took over the property it was running about 50,000 wallabies and thousands of wombats. We started off running 100 cows but they just couldn’t compete,” Jo said.

Tom built exclusion fencing around the entire property over the course of three years which means they can now safely invest in pasture development – realising substantial gains in productivity and allowing the family to now run upwards of 1,000 Angus cows for breeding.

While the heifers are generally kept to build the breeding herd, Quoin Farm steers are shipped to Tasmania from Lady Barron. Most make their way into the Cape Grim brand while the remainder are grain finished at the Powranna feedlot for export to Japan.

“We sell most of our steers at 450-500kg which is optimal for Cape Grim. We recently had some older steers weigh in at 600kg which is a bit heavy and a few that got left behind because they were just too big at 850kg,” Jo said.

Quoin Farm is set on 2,400 acres where Tom and Jo are working constantly to improve pastures and grow their herd of Angus cattle

One of the ironies of farming life on the island is that up until recently, if you wanted to eat Quoin Farm beef, the island’s only supermarket had to fly it in from the Tasmanian mainland. Fortunately, an on-island abattoir means that cattle weighing in outside of brand or market specifications have somewhere to go – while offering the opportunity for Quoin Farm to finally close the island supply chain loop.

The Davis Family reopened the Lackrana Meat Works 12 months ago after it had sat dormant for over two years. Managing director Charlie Davis said it took six months to bring the site up to scratch.

“It’s been a battle but the help from the locals has been phenomenal so it’s finally worked out. When you’ve got things like the abattoir processing local meats, it adds to the attraction to get people here,” Charlie said.

Jo and Tom opened their front gate as part of a virtual farm tour for the 2021 Tasmanian Red Meat Updates conference, to give an insight into life and red meat production in the Bass Strait. The virtual experience has now morphed into the Youl family’s vertically integrated luxe farm stay brand ‘On Island Time’ consisting of accommodation, restaurant, and tourism ventures; as well as on-farm accommodation for those wanting to experience life on a working cattle farm.

Island produced beef and lamb at the recently reopened Lackrana Meat Works on Flinders Island

“People really get to experience life on Quoin Farm with the cattle around the cabins and witnessing the amazing life that they have. We are also lucky that we’re so close to the beach, so people get the farm stay along with a private beach literally a kilometre away,” Jo said.

Flinders Island Wharf Restaurant is a pivotal part of the On Island Time brand and does the heavy lifting for locals and visiting tourists. Essential to the operation has been a roster of some of Australia’s best chefs in residence including David Moyle, Jo Barrett and Alanna Sapwell; with next season welcoming ex-Three Blue Ducks head chef Josh McMahon.

“The Wharf’s been running for about four years and we’re really lucky we have had some amazing chefs want to come here to experience island life and showcase our great produce,” Jo said.
Current incumbent Pip Sumbak has been running Pip’s Plate for almost 10 years. She took the long way round the fire pit via a Bachelor of Arts degree at Sydney Uni, a stint on MasterChef and then island-hopping using cooking as her ticket between France, Spain, Indonesia and Fiji. Known for her spectacular open fire catering, Pip has been treating the island to her craft for the past seven months.

Quoin Farm offers on-farm accommodation for tourists wanting the ‘farm stay’ experience

“Initially my brief was to come in and create a very simple bar menu for locals and tourists to have a drink and relax – some oysters, olives, nuts, island smoked fish dips, things like that, and only utilising island produce.”

“The biggest thing was to somehow showcase the island and create the kind of event that would pull tourists and the locals – and so we ended up creating an open fire cooking experience that we now do weekly at our Friday Night BBQ,” Pip said.

Pip’s barbecue experience is an open fire trellis in the style of Argentine chef Francis Mallmann. Local producers supply eggs, greens from their gardens, floral arrangements and edible herbs and flowers; and on the afternoon of our visit, Craig the fisherman drops off six gummy sharks. Now Pip also has the advantage of the local abattoir where she directly sources island beef, lamb and wallaby to showcase over flames.

Flinders Island Wharf Restaurant has included a roster of Australia’s best chefs including David Moyle, Jo Barrett and Alanna Sapwell

“People come here expecting a restaurant experience and what they get is this very kind of rustic trellis hung with Quoin Farm beef, seaweed, gummy sharks, and local wallaby,” Pip said.

Pip Sumbak prepares Quoin Farm beef for her Friday Night BBQ at Flinders Island Wharf

I can assure you that, having experienced Pip’s Friday Night BBQ, what ensues is a feast of epic proportions and a stunning showcase of Flinders Island produce.

“I was always drawn to experience style cooking – I like people to experience real food, to know where it came from and I love the reaction that people have watching their food get cooked on the trellis.”

“My first activity when I arrived was to get off the plane and go straight to the abattoir to meet them and understand exactly what they do. Having this direct relationship means that I can ask for specific cuts and preparations so it’s easy for me to carve on the night.”

“Living on the island has reminded me how important provenance is; we know the abattoir, we know the farmers, and that’s really special. What I take from this experience is that knowing how your meat is raised and killed is important – and that it tastes a hell of a lot better when you know where it’s from,” Pip said.

Pip’s first point of call when arriving on the island was to visit the abattoir

On their plans for the future, Jo is characteristically ambitious and upbeat.

“Medium term we would like to renovate more ground, we’re 65% improved at the moment on this block and it would be great to put in another 100 hectares of improved pasture. We’d love to buy some more land and to build the herd to 1,500 – 2,000 breeding cows – our aim is to keep improving and growing our herd.”

“Ultimately, we’d love to establish our own beef brand. That’s the dream; establishing our own brand and overseeing the entire process – working with the chefs who are cooking it and seeing our beef on the plate. We think it’s a really premium product and that’s what I’m really passionate about,” Jo said.

Quoin Farm – a story that almost writes itself and a business primed to launch its own beef brand

What’s Good in the Hood

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THE MORNINGTON PENINSULA

From an outsider’s perspective, the Mornington Peninsula is a bit of a study in extremes.

From stretches of calm ocean bay (on our visit, filled with giant migrating spider crabs!) to gum-lined roads, fields of lavender, and incredible wineries equipped with enviable kitchen gardens. A place where beach shacks and motor inns neighbour towns where properties are so huge and spectacular many aren’t even listed with a price tag when they hit the market. And yet, an honest, salty coastal vibe prevails.

Here’s What’s Good in the Mornington Hood.

Myffy takes in the view at the Portsea Hotel

AUDREY’S – THE CONTINENTAL SORRENTO

1 Ocean Beach Road, Sorrento
thecontinentalsorrento.com.au/audreys

Well-known Melbourne chef Scott Pickett named his latest restaurant after his grandmother, Audrey, who inspired him to start cooking. There’s a portrait of her hanging in the main dining room, which is all decked out in muted coastal colours, with ocean views and sea breezes to match. The menu, while focused on seafood, also features a buttery, musky 9+ David Blackmore wagyu rump cap with Bordelaise sauce and pressed Hawke’s Farm potatoes.

Blackmore Wagyu rump cap at Audrey’s

Age Young Chef of the Year winner Nicholas Deligiannis is behind the menu, where you’ll also see Mornington Peninsula squid ink noodles dressed with house-made XO sauce, Shark Bay scallops with seaweed hot sauce and, as a sweet ode to Audrey herself, a vacherin of apple, Calvados and Geraldton wax.

Young Chef of the Year Nicholas Deligiannis at Audrey’s

LE CAPUCIN

Shop 1/3770 Point Nepean Road, Portsea
lecapucin.com.au

Ever wondered what sort of crazy people are up at dawn and swimming across the bay? It’s the same people, all rugged up, eating croissants and drinking cappuccinos, seated around colourful outdoor tables at this French-style Portsea cafe. A labour of love from Loïc and Kirsty Duchet, who decided on a sea change a few years ago and never looked back, they stock everything from French olive oil to terrines, pates, and take-home meals. There’s even Orangina.

Come for the coffee, stay for the pastries

But check out the pastries, warming at the counter. Their beef bourguignon pie is made in house, with layers of flaky pastry and big hunks of red-wine gravy-soaked beef, it is perfectly seasoned, and perfectly comforting. Especially after a Portsea dawn swim.

Le Capucin breakfast of champions

MONTALTO ESTATE

33 Shoreham Road, Red Hill South
montalto.com.au

Top chef Matt Wilkinson is behind the menu here at this bucolic, art-driven winery-restaurant. Much of the fresh produce is grown onsite and whatever is not grown, is sourced locally. The majority of the menu is cooked on the kitchen’s central wood-fired grill.

Montalto chef Matt Wilkinson

Maybe that’ll be the wood-fired rump cap with artichoke and salsa verde, maybe it’ll be the slow-cooked lamb leg with house-made XO sauce, made with last season’s locally foraged pine mushrooms. Order another bottle of wine, sit at one of the rustic outdoor benches and breathe in the sweet, clean air.

Wood fired lamb leg with house made XO sauce

PORTSEA HOTEL

3746 Point Nepean Road, Portsea
portseahotel.com.au

A more Tudor-style hotel on the coast of Australia, you’re unlikely to see. The views of Port Phillip Bay out of the sun-drenched, open-plan dining room are unparalleled. Established in 1876, it’s here at this beautiful old pub that you’ll find the Portsea burger.

The Portsea Burger hits the spot

A soft bun holds a juicy Cape Grim beef patty, American cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomatoes and, of course, a side of chips. There’s a whole menu of pizza, too, if that’s what blows your hair back, not to mention a very attractive-looking crab cocktail. We’ll be back for the meatballs with house-made passata.

TEDESCA

1175 Mornington-Flinders Road, Red Hill
www.tedesca.com.au/osteria-tedesca

Brigitte Hafner gives Myffy a tour of the Tedesca gardens

A labour of love from one of Victoria’s great chefs, Brigitte Hafner. Stroll through row upon row of carefully planted, sown and raised vegetables, or just take a seat next to the fire and watch Hafner and her team of chefs work the Alan Scott wood-fired oven serving up the likes of juicy, salty lamb cutlets, licked by fire and served with a polenta cake made from local corn and beans picked fresh from the garden.

Gundagai Lamb cutlets with local polenta and beans from the garden

The walls are lined with incredible art, and there’s a warmth and depth of light in the room, further adding to that sense of conviviality. The argument for staying on in one of the guesthouses is strong. Not least for the view out to the property which now includes a vineyard, and the inside-outside deck festooned with grapevines that has long, leisurely Sunday afternoon written all over it. Sink in and never leave.

Slow roasted lamb shoulders in the Alan Scott oven at Tedesca

FOXEYS HANGOUT

795 White Hill Road, Red Hill
www.foxeys-hangout.com.au

Team building at Foxeys – the morning meatball rolling

The staff at this modest winery are so close as a team, that if you arrive at the right time of day, you’ll see them rolling meatballs together at the long, communal table before service. And if you’re lucky enough to try those spicy little bites served along with a yoghurt dipping sauce, make sure to enjoy them while sitting on the deck looking out at the winery and sipping on a juicy pinot.

Spicy, juicy meatballs with yoghurt dipping sauce (and wine, of course)

JOHNNY RIPE

284 Main Creek Road, Main Ridge
johnnyripe.au

Small batch, big vibes. Johnny Ripe pies, a mainstay on the regional Victorian pastry circuit, offers a picnic bench experience where the air is sweetly perfumed thanks to the neighbouring lavender farm. The go-to? A chunky beef pie with lots of pepper finished with a generous amount of tomato relish and an apple pie for dessert. And if a multiple pie lunch isn’t enough, you can always grab a few more to take on the road.

Grab your Johnny Ripe beef pie to go and enjoy it amongst the lavender fields

MANTONS CREEK ESTATE

240 Tucks Road, Shoreham
mantonscreekestate.com.au

Chef Vincenzo Ursini (ex-Cutler & Co) combines his fine-dining chops with the best produce in the area, whether that’s leaves, tomatoes and greens from neighbour Mary Loucas’s garden or the daily handmade pasta.

Handmade lamb agnolotti – chef’s filled pasta of the week

He’s also doing his version of pepper steak, using beef short rib, cooked down to a tender rich confection. Don’t let the That’s Amore burrata with 15-year-old balsamic vinegar pass you by.

Wagyu beef short rib with pepper sauce and onion cream

Cut Two Ways

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BEEF SIRLOIN

TWO WAYS

Awesome never takes a day off so the right nutrition is essential. Packed with protein, Australian Beef helps athletes and everyday Australians perform at their best – on and off the field.

Speaking of awesome, we got to spend some time with social media sensation chef Andy Hearnden whose TikTok following now exceeds 4 million alongside his 2.2 million on Instagram; and chef Stacey Conner of Humble on Duke in Noosa.

Together they plated up their interpretations of a healthy beef dish using beef sirloin. Also known as striploin, sirloin is found along the spine in the hindquarter running from the ribs to the rump. Coming from muscles that do less work, sirloin has less fat and connective tissue making them lean, tender and juicy.

CHEF ONE

Andy Hearnden

Content Creator – Andy Cooks

Innovation Chef – Kilcoy Global Foods

Beef San Choy Bow

New Zealand native Andy Hearnden was living and working in Melbourne as a chef when COVID struck. He and his partner Katelyn decided to pack up and leave the city – heading for Queensland’s Sunshine Coast instead.

Like most of us during this time, there was ample social media consumption and Andy was frequently commenting on how bad some of it was when Katelyn challenged him to do it himself and to do it better. The rest they say, is history.

Andy now boasts over 4 million followers on TikTok and 2.2 million on Instagram – his profile, Andy Cooks, shares a wealth of recipes – primarily cooking up dishes at the request of ‘babe’ aka Katelyn.

Andy Hearnden – otherwise known as Andy Cooks

Andy is also executive chef for Kilcoy Global Foods – working out of their Sunshine Coast innovation facility to trial different methods of preparing Australian beef from dry ageing in barrel aged negroni and creating informative videos on cuts and cooking methods.

For his healthy beef dish – Andy couldn’t go past the classic San Choy Bow – and I can assure you, we couldn’t stop eating it.

“I’m a huge fan of bringing people back to the table and sharing food together and I think this dish is perfect for this. Grab some lettuce and fill it up, it’s easy, healthy and interactive,” Andy said.

Trialling beef dry aged in barrel aged negroni at Kilcoy Global Foods

Whole striploin is thinly sliced then tossed in a hot wok with grapeseed oil for two minutes. Thin strips of carrot, water chestnuts and spring onion (white part only) are then added and cooked for a further two minutes, then tossed together with garlic, chilli and ginger. Next oyster sauce, soy sauce and maggi seasoning followed by some corn flour dissolved in cold water – a final stir and it’s good to go.

To serve, stack crisp lettuce leaves around a steaming bowl of the beef, garnish with spring onions (green part) and enjoy.

Andy prepares his Beef San Choy Bow

Andy prepares his Beef San Choy Bow

Andy prepares his Beef San Choy Bow

Andy prepares his Beef San Choy Bow

Andy enjoys his Beef San Choy Bow

CHEF TWO

Stacey Connor

Chef & Co-owner — Humble on Duke

Pink Peppercorn Sirloin

with burnt onion mayo, mushrooms, & cavolo nero

Stacey and Jade from Humble on Duke are all about making people feel good – serving delicious seasonal food and wine from their favourite regions with warm, welcoming hospitality. Their focus is on handmade, approachable food made using the finest local produce – offering Sunshine Coast locals and visitors a hospitality experience they won’t soon forget.

Here, chef Stacey has recreated one of the most requested dishes on the restaurant menu – so it can be experienced in a slightly healthier way.

“Grass fed sirloin is a wonderful lean cut of meat that isn’t too over the top gamey but great for a traditional iron or protein intake. I took some inspiration from the Bunning’s snag sanga – except here you’ve got a healthy onion mayo, pickled onions, your daily greens and a mean cut of meat, all whilst having zero carbs.”

“The mayo is made from an onion stock, oil, xanthum gum, and I have kept it light with some house pickled onions. Then there’s the oyster mushrooms – they are so good for you; great for the immune system, blood pressure and regulating cholesterol levels, so many great properties and antioxidants,” Stacey said.

Stacey Conner – chef and co owner at Humble on Duke in Noosa

Sirloin is seasoned with olive oil, pink peppercorn and sea salt, then seared in a hot pan and cooked to medium rare.

Meanwhile, oyster mushrooms are chargrilled and cavolo nero is fried in a pan – then both are seasoned with a sprinkle of salt, pepper and extra virgin olive.

Pickling onions are halved horizontally and blackened on one side in a pan then added to a simmering brine of water, brown sugar, salt, chardonnay vinegar, peppercorns, all spice, bay leaves and cloves – then left to pickle for a few days – or a few hours depending on your time frame.

To serve, Stacey carves the sirloin then adds to the plate with a good amount of burnt onion mayo then tops with mushrooms, some circles of pickled onions, cavolo nero and a sprinkle of pink peppercorn. To finish, red wine jus is poured liberally over the dish.