Tango Room Cafe and Bar

28/07/2026

26/07/2026

Sunday morning in the kitchen. Lovely easy cherry tart. Grind up a packet of these little ginger people in the blender with 1/2 cup melted butter. Press into I spring form cake tin and put in freezer for 1/2 hour. Wash out blender. Cut up fresh cherries , discarding seeds. You can also use fresh apricots or peaches. Put in blender with 1 1/2 cups of mascarpone, 1/2 cup cream, 2 tablesp Greek yogurt, 1 teasp of grated lemon rind. Blend up. Fill tart base and refrigerate for dinner dessert.

26/07/2026

Sunday morning in my kitchen. Soups. Pumpkin soup for joy. Bake a medley of pumpkin, carrot and Dutch cream potato in good olive oil and white pepper. When golden , cool and place in a blender with bone broth stock and 3 tablespoons crème fraiche. Serve w a little parsley pesto which is also blended so easily with 1 cup chopped parsley, 1/4 cup chopped mint, 1/2 cup chopped rocket, 1/2 cup lemon juice, 1/2 cup olive or avocado oil, a good spoonful of goat’s cheese, 1/2 teasp tamari or soy sauce and a drizzle of honey. Barley and vegetable soup for strength. . Toast 1 cup of barley in oil in a saucepan with a clove of garlic and 1 finely chopped brown onion. Pour in 2 cups o beef stock and let the barley absorb it all. Add a finely chopped seeded red chilli if you please. Now heat up the crock pot and add some oil . Throw in onion, carrot, celery, pumpkin, sweet potato, . Coat in warmed oil and let them cook while the barley is reducing. Add barley and 3 cups of stock plus 1 cup of tomato Passata . Cook in crock pot for 4 to 5 hours . In the last ten minutes you can add greens , be it shredded silverbeet, peas beans, or spinach. I like to throw in bay leaf, along with my Greek Spice blend which is ground in a mortar and pestle. It consists of black pepper seeds,fresh oregano, semi dried parsley, grated lemon peel, lemon thyme,rosemary, basil, dill,marjoram, a pinch of both nutmeg and cinnamon plus pink salt. I use a tablespoon of each and afterward put on parchment in a sunny spot for a day. When dry put in a pretty jar.

26/07/2026

Sunday morning in my kitchen. Spiced Carrot Cake. Sift 2 cups of organic SR Flour into a bowl Add 1/4 cup almond meal, 1 dessertsp cinnamon sugar, 1/2 teasp cumin, 1/2 teasp nutmeg, 2 finely grated carrots. Stir up. In your cake mixer put 2/3 cup soft butter, 1 cup brown sugar, few drops of vanilla . Beat to creamy and add 4 eggs which have been whisked with 1/2 cup yogurt. Fold in flour mixture and finish off batter with a splash of milk. You can add a dessert spoon of Tia Maria instead if you like. Bake at 185 C til nice and firm. Sprinkle some finely sliced almonds 5 minutes before you take out of the oven. To serve Lemon cream cheese . Beat 200 g cream cheese with 50 g of crème fraiche plus 1/2 cup icing sugar and grated rind of 1 lemon plus juice of 1/2 lemon. 🍋

02/07/2026

Swanky Fruit Cake. Ingredients: 1/2 cup Walnuts, 1/2 cup pecans, 1/2 cup pepitas, 1/2 cup coconut flakes, 2 dessert so of gold syrup, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 2 dessertsp peanut butter, 1/3 cup butter, 2 eggs 1/3 cup yogurt, 1 1/2 cup SRFlour , 1/2 cup of each chopped dates and apricot. 1/2 cup apricot or orange juice . Method: Bake pepitas, nuts and coconut in a 180 C oven until coconut is toasted. Do not take your eye off the tray. Take out and cool. Meanwhile put sugar, butter and golden syrup in oven in a glass bowl to melt butter, cool. Pour the nut mix into butter mix, add fruits . Stir til all well coated and combined. Beat eggs with yogurt and peanut butter, add to nut and fruit mix. At this stage you can jazz it up w some chopped chocolate and glacé cherries if you like. Sift in the flour , mix well with a spatula. Lastly add juice to make a nice wet batter. Put into lined cake tin and bake at 180C until cooked, about 40 minutes. Different and superb with a little pour of Chambord over top whist still hot.

02/07/2026

How to make a lovely Risotto. Step 1 Tomato Sauce. Put a dozen cocktail tomatoes in a baking dish , lined w baking paper. Throw a handful of cherry tomotoes, 1 seeded chilli, I finely dice pickling onion, 1/2 red capsicum which has been de seeded. Pour over olive oil, about 1 tablesp. Add some Greek herb mix, about 1 teasp. 1/2 teasp salt and a pinch of white pepper. Bake at 200 C . When cooled take off all the skins because you would not wish for plastic type texture in your sauce. Give a quick blend w stick blender, leaving a chunky texture. Step 2. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in this base pot. Add I chopped white onion , cook fast until crisp. Bring heat back to medium. Add 1 1/2 cups good Italian Risotto rice. Toss a bit whilst browning. Steam up that pot w 1 cup Rose. When evaporated, add 1 cup of hot stock, I like beef bone stock. When rice begins to talk crispy on bottom of pot , add another cup of stock. Do this until your rice is nice and soft between your teeth. Take off stove and stir in tomato sauce. Step 3 using same baking dish as for tomato sauce, peel a small punnet of mushrooms and add 2 dessertsp of butter and black pepper. Put into the oven for a few minutes at 210 C until a little toasted and juicy . Take out of oven and add to Risotto rice mixture. Step 4. . In the mushroom baking dish add a few slices of your favourite Italian sausage and cook till it looks unbearably delicious. Serve on top of Risotto with chopped parsley. The ultimate Winter comfort food.

30/06/2026

Spinach and dill cream cheese Tart. Pastry ( shortcrust) 1 1/2 cups plain flour pinch of pink salt and white pepper.150 g unsalted butter c old and cut into small cubes. 1 dessertsp cold Greek yogurt. 1/4 cup cold water. Sift flour and seasoning into a bowl. Make a well in the centre, add butter. Rub and lift until resembles breadcrumbs, make another well and add yogurt and half the water. When you have a firm dough cease adding water. Put on a floured board and knead for about 3 mins. Put back in bowl, cover and put in fridge for 30 minutes. Meanwhile heat 1 dessersp of butter in a pan,sauté 1 finely chopped picking onion , then add roughly chopped spinach leaves and a little diced raw chilli. Take off heat. In a bowl beat 2 eggs, 1 packet of goats cheese w dill, 1/2 cup of crème fraiche and a little white pepper. Roll out pastry, fit into your desired shape dish. Pour in creme mixture , add the spinach and onion. Top with a little grated Havarti cheese and pine nuts. Bake at 200degrees till firm. Eat immediately.

29/06/2026

One of those catering gigs I did with love

28/06/2026

Windy and rainy day calls for a potato, leek and silverbeet soup. Cut up 3 good sized Dutch cream potatoes. Drizzle over some good olive oil, with lemon thyme sprigs. Bake till looking yummy. Meanwhile, In a pot on stovetop sauté 1 cup chopped bacon, 1 brown onion and a clove of garlic ( squashed) . Oh! The aroma. Take out half of bacon . Stir in baked potato., reserving a few chucks. Add 1 leek, 1/4 cup chopped parsley, 1 teasp Dijon mustard. Pour in 1 litre beef stock. Add rough chopped 1 cup of silverbeet Bring to a slow simmer and cook for 10 mins. Take off stove, add a tub of crème fraiche and use stick blender to make a lovely creamy soup. When serving add bacon and potato chunks which had been set aside, garnish w rocket or parsley. Wonderful with fresh baguette and parsley pesto.

12/06/2026

Riverston Tea Rooms Rockhampton