‘Take Home Chef’ Shares His Memorial Day Recipes

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (May 25, 2007) — It’s a good day at the market when Australian cutie Curtis Stone offers to cook you dinner, which is the premise of his popular TLC series, “Take Home Chef.”

Access‘ Maria Menounos had “the best day of her life” when the “Cooking With Curtis” author showed her how to prepare his secret recipes for a Memorial Day feast, and AccessHollywood.com now shares those recipes with you!

Spice up your holiday weekend with these three Greek-influenced dishes, perfect for a backyard barbecue:

400g / 16 oz prime sirloin sinew and fat trimmed and cut into 1 ½ inch diced pieces8 strong woody branches of rosemary (bottom half leaves removed from branch)4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oilSea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the tzatziki:1 teaspoon lemon juice1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil1 cup strained greek yoghurt2 cloves garlic peeled and crushed½ small cucumber peeled and deseeded and finely diced

Method:

To make the Prime Sirloin Skewers· Drizzle olive oil over diced steak· Skewer 3 pieces of beef onto each rosemary branch· Pre heat grill or bbq until nice and hot· Place beef over hot grill and cook for one minute on either side until beef is medium rare· Serve on a platter with tzatziki to dip.

To make the tzatziki:· Place the lemon juice and olive oil in a mixing bowl together and combine using a whisk· Add the yoghurt stirring to combine· Add the garlic and cucumber and combine.

2 red jalapeno chilies, finely chopped (about 2 tablespoons)½ bunch fresh chives, finely chopped (about 2 tablespoons) ½ teaspoon sea salt2 tablespoons olive oil16 uncooked jumbo shrimp (about 1 pound/ 500 g), peeled and deveined1 8-inch/ 200 cm stick of sugar cane Avocado Lemon and Organic Yogurt Dip (see the recipe that follows)

Method:

· Grate the peel from 2 limes into a large bowl. Stir in the, chilies, chives and salt. Add the shrimp and toss to coat. Drizzle the oil over and toss to coat again. Cover and refrigerate at least 20 minutes.· Trim the bark from the sugar cane and discard. Cut the remaining sugar cane into 8 splinter-like skewers. Thread 2 shrimp on each skewer.· Prepare the barbecue for high heat. · Grill the shrimp until just opaque in the center, about 2 minutes per side. Halve the remaining lime and squeeze it over the shrimp on the grill.· Transfer the skewers onto a platter and serve with the dip.

2 cups/450 ml lukewarm water (about 110°F/43°C)4 cups/510 g all purpose flour 1 teaspoon/about 5 g salt Canola oil, for deep frying1/3 cup/65 g granulated sugar1/2 teaspoon/about 2 g ground cinnamon 1/3 cup/110 g honey 1/3 cup/45 g hazelnuts, toasted, husked and finely crushed

Method:

· Whisk the yeast and 1/2 cup/110 ml of lukewarm water in a medium bowl to blend. Set aside for 5 minutes or until the yeast dissolves. · Whisk the remaining water into the yeast mixture. · Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. · Pour the yeast mixture over the flour mixture, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until you have a well mixed batter. The batter will be thick and sticky.· Cover the bowl of batter with a clean dish cloth and set aside in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours or until the batter has risen and doubled in size and small bubbles form. · Add enough oil to a large deep frying pan to come halfway up the sides of the pan.· Heat the oil over a medium heat to 375°F/190°C.· Combine the sugar and cinnamon in another large bowl and set aside.· Stir the batter to deflate it.· Working in batches and using a tablespoon, spoon the batter one spoonful at a time into the hot oil (you can cook about 8 doughnuts at a time). The batter will still be thick and sticky so the tablespoon will not fill neatly but will help as a guide to ensure the proportions are similar in size.· Fry for about 5 to 8 minutes or until the doughnuts puff and become golden brown, turning them occasionally to ensure they brown evenly. While frying, the batter will form round, puffy, irregular-shaped doughnuts. · Remove the doughnuts with a meshed or slotted spoon once they are golden and place them on a baking sheet lined with paper towels to absorb the excess oil. · Immediately toss the hot doughnuts in the cinnamon-sugar to coat.· Transfer the coated doughnuts to a warm platter.· Meanwhile, heat the honey in a small saucepan over medium heat until it is hot.· Drizzle the hot honey over the doughnuts.· Sprinkle with the crushed hazelnuts and serve immediately.