Archive for the 'Sporting Half-Time Hits' Category

Hey Jude…

Jude Bolton, favourite son of the Swans is faithful, fearless and relentless in the midfield, and tough about fresh fish and his mum’s cooking!

By Stephen Ostrer

 

Q: Jude, your season really seems to have kicked into gear since that standout performance against Power. How are you feeling?

A: We had a slightly longer pre-season than last year, and although the focus has been there all along, nothing really clicked in the opening round. But I came back from the break feeling fitter than previous years. I didn’t really go crazy this off-season, splurging and indulging as I often do by eating everything in sight. Normally I would have been at the head of the queue at Hurricanes for a meat feast, packing on the kilos, which of course I would then have to work off in the pre-season.

Jude Bolton
Q: Is this a newfound maturity, or did someone make a subtle suggestion that you rein yourself in?

A: Neither! I simply took the easy way out and removed myself from temptation! My girlfriend & I went off to Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, so the only splurging done was on fresh vegetables and fish. It was an incredible experience. I’ve got family over there so we would spend days touring the markets and selecting fresh ingredients. It’s a real eye opener, as well slimming! We would cook these huge feasts from the local ingredients and the weight would not budge… perfect.

 

Q: You’re tackling like a man possessed this season. Can you keep up that level of intensity on your fish and vegetable diet?

A: You lose about 2kg per game, even with all the fluid intake. So, after the game it’s more about getting some carbs into the system – the fish takes a backseat to a serious plate of pasta. Normally it’s lasagne with loads of sauce – Mum’s recipe!

 

Q: Mum’s recipe? So when it comes to cooking does Mum know best?

A: Without a shadow of a doubt! Mum’s a great cook, and although I left home and Melbourne when I was 18, Mum is still sending me recipes and newspaper clippings of meals to try. She’s a great cook – very experimental. She has travelled widely so she’s always trying new dishes, especially Vietnamese. She sent me a recipe for osso bucco the other day, which I cooked, and it was awesome!

 

Q: Does she send you up food parcels as well?

A: No, it’s not quite that extreme. I’ve got two older brothers, and although they are great sportsmen they’ve joined the golfing set, so Mum focuses more attention on my eating than on theirs, phoning me to tell me how my body is looking and what I should and shouldn’t be eating. I end up having to remind her that she’s my mother and not my coach!

 

Q: So in the Bolton Bondi household, is it all Mum’s home-cooked meals?

A: No, I’ve managed to cut the apron strings a bit more than that. My girlfriend, Lynette, is going through a bit of a vegetarian stage at the moment so we get a weekly delivery of fresh veggies from Fratelli Fresh and do a lot with those along with steamed fish. The worst thing is that I just got myself a nice, new stainless steel BBQ that is unfortunately almost as clean as when I bought it. So I’m hoping her next phase is meat so I can do the BBQ some justice! I think she would probably be relieved to get me out of the kitchen anyway – I tend to get a bit ‘do it my way’ when she’s cooking, which probably drives her nuts!

 

Q: Being originally a Melbourne boy, do you miss the restaurants and dining experience that it offers?

A: I’m really happy in Bondi. We have our local favourites and Sydney has such a variety of restaurants it’s almost impossible to complain or draw comparison. Hurricanes is a perennial favourite, so too are Le Paris-Go café for a laid back brekkie, and The Shop for the occasional glass of wine – a place that probably reminds me more of the laidback Melbourne bars than anywhere else… when the season permits of course. Better cover my back there!

 

Q: We had a chat in a previous issue with Ryan O’Keefe, who’s a bit of a foodie. Is there anyone else in the Swans who springs to mind?

A: Well Woogy (Jarrod) does but for all the wrong reasons! I have to admit that he’s got heaps better with age, but there was a time when he would knock up a pasta dish which he would describe as ‘pasta napoli’. It was his staple diet day in day out, and it was a shocker on every occasion! Should have been called ‘pasta barren’.

 

Q: In an incredible miscarriage of justice, you and Goodsey are indicted for match fixing in the finals and erroneously extradited to Rikers Island in the U.S.? Inexplicably put on death row, what would your final meal be?

A: Mum’s lasagne!

Published on July 3, 2008 in Sporting Half-Time Hits. Closed

Winging It

 

Craig heads south for the new footy season but keeps one foot firmly in the East!

By Stephen Ostrer


Q: Craig, new season, new club, new coach – how are you finding your move south of Centennial Park? Is there a different attitude at the Rabbitohs?

Craig: At the end of the day, football is football, and nothing beats hard work. But for me the change and the move to South Sydney has been really refreshing – the change has been good for me personally and for my attitude to football. There is a real energy and sense of purpose and excitement at Souths, an energy that is infectious from management right down to the players.

craig wingQ: You’re not the biggest bloke to have ever strapped on a pair of boots but it appears that you’re packing a fair bit more muscle than fat, is that down to the team’s nutritionist?

Craig: I’ve been playing professional footy for quite a while now, so I’ve kind of become accustomed to managing my diet and understanding what my body needs. The team nutritionist gave me the once over and said I was good to go. Anyway, I think she needed to spend a bit more time with the younger players who still reckon’ you can knock over a bucket of KFC for the protein!

Q: Are you strict about your diet?

Craig: My weight seems to fluctuate by about 2kg depending on what stage of the season we are at, and it’s been like that for as long as I can remember hovering between 86kg and 88kg. I‘ve got a simple philosophy – eat everything in moderation. You can eat whatever you like, just instead of ploughing through a pile, eat a little bit of everything. With sport being so professional these days you just can’t afford to go overboard although Mum still tempts me with her cooking!

Q: Your mum is Filipina. Does she think you are underfed and try and fatten you up with a mountain of Adobo chicken?

Craig: No, Mum is awesome. She’s half Spanish so that influences her cooking as well. She’s an incredible cook. When I was a kid I was really small and our neighbour was this big kid, so Mum was always trying to feed me up to make me grow. Luckily now that I’ve grown a bit, she has stopped and understands my diet, trying not to throw too much temptation my way.

Q: Any favorite dishes that you just can’t resist?

Craig: I’ve got four sisters who can all cook. Well, not so much the youngest as she’s still the baby of the family and gets away with everything, but the other three cook really well. My mum does awesome roast dinners with roasted vegetables that I just can’t resist and she does a mean barbecue. There is this prawn dish that she does on the barbie that always gets me… and she knows it!

Q: So did the cooking gene get passed down to the son as well as the daughters?

Craig: No, not a hope! I love food and someday would really like to learn how to cook, but at the moment when you get back from training, the last thing you feel like doing is cooking. So I just tend to throw together a simple salad and some steak on the barbecue… or head out for dinner.

Q: So out and about for dinner, any favourites?

Craig: I’m a real Bondi boy and tend to stay pretty local and low key. I am a massive meat fan so Hurricanes in Bondi is often the go, and North Bondi Italian is also one of my favourites. Breakfast at Green’s is great and I keep Icebergs up my sleeve for a more romantic dinner. See I told you I stayed local! Do you think my barracking for them will make it easier to get a table?

Q: What about lunch? There are some pretty big blokes lining up for the Rabbitohs this season, do they feed you at training?

Craig: Apparently a couple of years ago they used to, but the food bill could have financed a new stadium so I think they decided to can the idea. Now we always seem to head off to this great little sandwich shop in Erskineville, I think it’s called Mitchell’s, but you’ve got to get there before the big guys arrive or there will be nothing left. They take up two seats each and can clean the shop out. It’s unbelievable how much they can eat and then they are back at training an hour later!

Q: So your title of Cleo Bachelor of the Year doesn’t help get you get a seat at lunch or a table for dinner?

Craig: Mate, that was so long ago! 2000 wasn’t it? There are so many young, fitter, stronger, aesthetically pleasing players coming through the ranks that they don’t need an old has been like me. I’m 29; I’m over the hill already!

Published on April 20, 2008 in Sporting Half-Time Hits. Closed

Victory Innings

 

With summer well and truly here, it’s time for the beach, barbecues and, of course, cricket. FoodinFocus bats off with NSW captain Simon Katich.

By Stephen Ostrer


Q: It looks like it’s going to be one hell of a season! We’ve got the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash, the Ford Ranger One Day Cup and the Pura Cup. They say an army marches on its stomach, are you planning on making sure the boys get a good feed?

A: The boys have very good appetites. Thankfully, our room attendant Bobby Barter always has plenty of toasted sandwiches, smoothies and muffins on hand to keep us going during the long days at the SCG.

simon katichQ: You’ve had another winter season playing overseas, did you pick up any culinary tips, or at least get to sample some of the local fare?

A: I certainly did! With all the rain during their so-called ‘summer’, I spent a lot of time indoors watching the likes of Rick Stein, Gary Rhodes, Ainsley Harriott and Barefoot Contessa on the UKTV food channel. I was based in Derby. There wasn’t a huge choice, but the restaurants weren’t too bad. You could always find us at the Red Lion though. It was a gastro pub with great steak and ale pies.

Q: Are there any particular cuisines that you try to practice in your own kitchen?

A: Having toured India and Sri Lanka, I love trying to make curries from scratch with all the spices. I don’t profess to be a master, but I like making a mild chicken balti. I also like going to Surjit’s Indian Restaurant on Parramatta Road in Annandale for some authentic fare. I was presented with an award there a while back, and have been going there ever since.

Q: As captain, do you have the whole team over for a pre-season barbecue bonding session, or is it just the wise old heads for a gourmet dinner?

A: Unfortunately I don’t have a big enough house to have the whole team over at once! But, I have had some of the guys over for a barbecue and I always like to serve chevaps, which are skinless sausages from Croatia. My dad’s parents were born in the former Yugoslavia, so I got a real taste for them on visits there.

Q: What other culinary favourites have you picked up from your family?

A: My mum makes a mean ‘fritala’, a deep-fried sweet dumpling with sultanas and apple. It’s a killer for the waistline, but thankfully I have got a good genetic metabolism. Dad does a full roast lamb. He had all the boys over for one when we won the championships in 2003. The boys still talk about it now!

Q: So, what’s on the menu for a get together? Do you stick to a few tried and tested meals, or are you experimental and give the guys a sticky beak at your culinary skills?

A: If I have ten or more people, I keep it simple with a barbecue. I like to have plenty of meat, including a variety of sausages, a bowl of my homemade pasta salad and a fresh green salad, accompanied by a couple of loaves of crusty ciabatta (to make sure everybody is well fed). There is always dessert, either individual chocolate puddings or homemade apple-and-blackberry crumble. Having an ethnic background, combined with a love of eating, there is never a shortage of food.

Q: Does the start of the season signal the end of alcohol-oriented liquid beverages, or will there be a few beers flowing?

A: The start of the season usually means warm weather and a few cold beers, but if Stuey MacGill is around, then wine is definitely in abundance!

Q: You have also spent a fair bit of time on the road with the guys, does anyone stand out as having a real gourmet palate, or better still, is anyone on the team a real gourmand?

A: We have a team of very good eaters, myself included. But when it comes to fine dining, Stuey MacGill takes the crown. He is a good cook, but he definitely has a gourmet palate!

Q: Can your team-mates expect you to arrive with some freshly baked cookies or muffins this season, or would you never live it down?

A: My Randwick-Petersham team-mates always expect me to come prepared for club cricket with fresh, homemade rolls and muffins for lunch. It’s something I’ve always done, but I can’t take the credit as my wife makes them for me.

Q: Do you cook for your wife in return for her efforts?

A: I have to admit I don’t as much as I’d like to. Her favourite meal though is freshly baked barramundi with parsley, lemon, garlic and olive oil, served on a bed of spinach.

Published on April 20, 2008 in Sporting Half-Time Hits. Closed

Victory Dish

 

Catherine Cox – Sydney Swifts’ scoring sensation – takes time out from celebrating another Grand Final victory to talk wine, women, not many songs, and of course food.

By Stephen Ostrer

Q: Coxy, congratulations on your Championship victory with the Swifts. Although right now it seems inconceivable that one day, in the foreseeable future, you will be watching and not playing in a final, if it were to happen, who would you want to invite over to watch the game with you?

A: Well Liz (Liz Ellis) of course, we are inseparable, and her husband who is hilarious. I can often be found in her kitchen with a glass of wine as she whips up another delicious meal, she is an amazing cook. My roommates Julia and Hayley… and come to think of it the whole team would get invited and their partners too, the more the merrier. We all get on so incredibly well, and a lot of us have been playing together for over six seasons so we are all very close. The season wraps in November after national duty, so the wine bottles will definitely be popping come December.

catherine cox Q: Wine featured quite strongly in that first answer! Care to elaborate on what might be served?

A: Personally I think food is a fantastic accompaniment to wine, and therefore one simply cannot exist in isolation of the other! Having said that, it [alcohol] really is restricted in any decent quantity to the off-season. We train hard and the season is very long, so if it did turn out that we were watching rather than playing in the finals, I would expect a healthy amount of wine to be consumed to conceal our state of depression! As for the cultivar, anything really, but a good Cabernet Sauvignon is always a welcome guest.

Q: So it is Grand Final day, your guests are pouring through the door expecting a gourmet extravaganza and your main course will consist of wine and what exactly?

A: Easy. Risotto. Absolutely love it. It wouldn’t be an experimental dish either. I would go for one of my tried-and-true recipes. Most finals are played in the evening, so I expect the girls would be over in the afternoon and no one would be hanging around till after the game to eat, so my solution would be a hearty risotto that is both tasty, simple to cook (or relatively simple) and filling. Netballers are strict about what they eat and we spend an inordinate amount of time talking about food, so when it is off-season, it really is a chance to enjoy some more ‘hearty’ servings.

Q: Do you follow a recipe? Care to share it?

A: No I’m not a recipe follower. Although we have stacks of cookbooks in the house that everyone promises to try one day. Liz follows recipes, and everything she cooks always turns out exceptionally well. My father is the same as me, he will just throw things together and everything ends up tasting delicious. In fact the other day he did Roast Potatoes with Polenta, which was very metro-sexual of him, especially as I didn’t know he even knew what Polenta was! I’m not as gifted as him, but fortunately with risotto I kind of know where I am going.

Q: So, off the top of your head, could you remember the recipe?

A: Sweet Potato and Roast Chicken Risotto. Drives me nuts how long it takes to cook, but it’s a good workout for the arms and shoulders so I can count it towards my training program! Basically, you boil the Arborio rice using more wine than stock. Then sauté some leaks and add the leak and roast chicken to the rice. Bake the sweet potato and add that at the very end. Stir through some Parmesan cheese and use it liberally on top. Season well with salt and pepper, and finally, serve with wine!

Q: Would it be presumptuous to think that wine might feature on the dessert menu too?

A: No, I think they would have had their quota by then, and anyway, it would be cupcakes for dessert. For one thing there is absolutely no way that I would be making dessert, and for another, the cupcakes from My Little Cupcake in Neutral Bay are sensational. The only problem is that you are only allowed to buy a dozen at a time, so I would have to make numerous visits in a variety of disguises!

Q: Would you try and pass them off as your own creation?

A: No way! Liz would know straight away and there is no way she would let me get away with it. Plus I am a terrible liar so everyone would know the minute the words came out of my mouth.

Q: It’s time to blow the final whistle on your dinner guests. They are bound to conjure some clever defense to stay put, any attacking tactics you might deploy to unseat them?

A: Tell them the wine has run out! Anyway, not sure it’s an appropriate question as I am normally the last to leave parties. Perhaps you should ask the other girls how they dislodge me? I know it will make me sound like wine is my sole motivation, but I suspect they may have even used that same line on me before. Remember what I said at the beginning – it’s only in the off-season!

Published on April 20, 2008 in Sporting Half-Time Hits. Closed

BBQ Rules

 

Ryan O’Keefe, Sydney Swans’ hard-running, straight-talking forward, reveals his Grand Final-feast favourites.

By Stephen Ostrer

 

Q: Ryan, I know we are still some way off the Grand Final, and nobody wants to put the mockers on, but in the unlikely event that the Swans don’t make it three in a row, who will you be inviting over to watch the game?

Ryan: I think we would have to go the lot and bring the whole team over. It would be the off-season, so all the boys will be looking forward to a few beverages, a bit of fat and some carbs! I’d fire up the barbecue, put on some premium beers, and cook up an easy-to-eat finger feast. Some chicken marinated in with honey, soy, chili and lemon, some steaks too. Some people like to marinate steak, but I reckon it tastes better if you paste the steak and then cook it. Use some wholegrain mustard, soy, salt and pepper, paste both sides of the steak and then throw it straight onto the grill. I think I might hold off on the salads, maybe just do some baked potatoes and sour cream.

ryan okeef Q: So a small intimate barbecue, for 50 odd players! Partners as well?

Ryan: My partner Tara would want a few of her girlfriends over to balance out the testosterone! And yes, partners would be invited too. Tara is a vegetarian, so I would cater for that too and go a bit broader than the regular snags. Some lean, marinated chicken, or perhaps some seafood. Salmon, dory or barramundi wrapped in foil with some cut lemons and whole garlic cloves, or maybe even an oven-baked whole snapper with lemon, garlic and a bit of paprika. I wouldn’t plan a menu, or follow a recipe, just a bit of this and a bit of that.

Q: Where does your love of food and cooking come from?

Ryan: It just comes from a love of eating. We always had good food at home, nothing flash, just good homely meals. I left home at 18 and basically had to start fending for myself. I found cooking was therapeutic after training. I slowly got a bit more creative, and a bit more courageous, and tested my skills on small dinner parties.
I’ve always had a bit of an adventurous approach to food, it might get me into trouble after this, but I will try almost anything. I know a lot of people name Jamie Oliver as an inspiration, but I really do like the way he cooks. He is impulsive and adventurous. He likes to try different things and experiment with flavours.
Cooking should be experimental, challenge the senses, and at the end of the day, food should make you feel good!

Q: You’ve got a few breaks during the game and everyone is expecting something to snack on during each interval, will you opt for a different taste sensation in each break?

Ryan: Yes, beer! Seriously, the guys will have had such a good feed before the game starts at 2, they can bring their own snacks if they want, but I reckon they will have eaten themselves to a standstill!

Q: What about your fellow forwards, Barry, Michael and Nick? If you could choose a menu item that would most fit their personalities, or a dish they would most likely order in a restaurant, what would it be?

Ryan: This could get me into a heap of trouble! Barry is a big bloke, but believe it or not he doesn’t really eat that much, and he’s very meticulous about what he eats, so I think some Sushi and salad would do him.
Michael, straight up meat and three veg. Nick, something fried, in fact ANYTHING fried!

Q: If you invited Dermie (Dermot Brereton) over for your Grand Final feed do you think you would cop an earful for wearing an apron?

Ryan: I think Dermie would have a few choice words. He’s quite a character, so there would be some comments about the apron – but not about the food.

Q: You have mentioned in the past that one of your long-term goals is to open a restaurant. Considering you grew up in Melbourne, and given the Melbourne versus Sydney rivalry, would you open in Sydney or Melbourne?

Ryan: My family all live in Melbourne, but my home is Sydney and has been since I was 18, so I suppose it would have to be Sydney so that I could be hands-on. And, I would have to be hands-on to stop all the boys coming in for a free feed!

Q: People applaud your consistency on the field. Did you put in the hard yards when it came to teaching yourself how to cook? Were there any shockers?

Ryan: I think I’ve been pretty consistent in the kitchen too, not too many shockers. I progressed slowly, didn’t rush it, I just kept experimenting, taking one step at a time. Maybe cooking reflects our personalities. I’m not sure. You would have to ask Tara about shockers, she might have a different story. My motto in the kitchen is don’t mix ambition with ability!

Published on April 20, 2008 in Sporting Half-Time Hits. Closed