Jacques Cuisine Catering was founded in 2015 by Jacques Robinson, a Warkworth local who holds a passion for food and love for people. He set out to find a way to bring the two together and this is where it started.

Jacques is known for his artistic flair and attention to detail when it comes to his food and well-executed events.

We offer a wide range of catering services from Large function’s too small function’s, corporate event’s, party’s weddings and Cakes. We are especially known for our in-house chef services, extravagant 3-course meals for those unexpected dinner parties, we have everything taken care of from the planning, shopping, cooking and the cleaning up. We also offer event management packages so you can have the piece of mind knowing that all aspects of your event will be taken care of.

We can provide bar services, service staff and work together with hire companies. We pride ourselves on serving delicious food with impeccable service and will make your event spectacular.

Our latest and greatest addition to the company is the J.C.C in a box (Jacques Cuisine Catering In A Box). Fresh, healthy delicious, ready to eat meals in a box. We make sure that all of our ingredients and products are local, organic (where possible) and free range, we source from local orchards and farms. These meals are cooked with passion then delivered to your door at affordable prices. This is a great way for us to share our love and passion for food and bring it to your table.

“My ultimate goal is to make people smile and be happy. I think the best way to do this is through food. You know food can take you to a whole new level and it will take people on a journey. I know that my food will do this and it will show the passion and love I have!”. - Jacques Robinson

Today Jacques Cuisine Catering is taking off and thriving like no other! There is a fabulous team here waiting to serve and look after your next event!

Tuck into this juicy succulent flavoursome slow cooked pork, topped with asian slaw, nestled between two soft homemade buns. The flavours will definitely be a party in your mouth!

Asian Pulled Pork & Slaw Sliders

PREP TIME

10 mins and Marinating

COOK TIME

9 hours and Resting

INGREDIENTS

½ cup dry sherry¼ cup each soy sauce and oyster sauce1 tbsp honey5 whole star anise4cm piece fresh ginger, thinly sliced2 cloves garlic, crushedfinely grated zest and juice of 2 limes1 long red chilli, halved lengthwayszest of ½ an orange, cut with a vegetable peelerHandful of coriander4.5-5kg bone-in pork forequarter, skin scored and meat side slashed 12-16 times2 tbsp vinegar, to brush

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine all ingredients except pork and vinegar in a large dish.

Add pork, skin side up, keeping the skin dry and clean. Cover and allow to marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight in the fridge.

When ready to cook, preheat oven to 250°C fan-bake. Place pork in a metal baking dish (do not use a glass or ceramic baking dish as it might shatter when you add the marinade and water) and set the marinade aside. Brush the skin with vinegar and roast until the skin starts to blister (about 45 minutes).

Reduce oven temperature to 140°C. Pour reserved marinade and 2 cups water into the roasting dish and cook, uncovered, for about 8 hours. Push the meat with your finger – it should give way completely. Drain off the cooking liquid into a bowl and pop in the freezer until the fat sets and can easily be skimmed off. Cover pork with tinfoil and a clean tea towel and allow to rest for 20-30 minutes.

Lift off crackling and use forks to pull the pork apart in loose shreds. Heat the skimmed cooking liquid and pour it over, add a handful of chopped coriander.

Serve in buns with slaw and cracking on the side if desired.

I love how we go through different seasons, as cooks we have an idea of what sort of meals to cook to fit in with each season. As we come into winter i get more and more excited thinking about new recipes i can create. From 8 hour slow roasted leg of lamb that melts like butter, a long and slow braised beef stew with a hint of red wine, to a hearty vegetable soup with vegetables from the garden! Oh and don’t forget freshly baked bread on the side. Theres something soooo comforting about walking into a warm house and the aromas of home cooked stews and freshly baked bread oozing out! However nothing beats sitting down in-front of the fire with a cup of homemade hot chocolate on a winters evening! I will be posting some of my all-time favourites over the next while so keep an eye out!

This Weeks Recipe: 8 Hour Slow Cooked Lamb Leg.

It really is a very simple recipe…the secret lies in two components: the cooking method, and one humble ingredient.

The cooking method is low and slow. Leg muscles are one of the hardest-worked muscles in the body, and so slow cooking is the perfect way to break down all the tough tissue and transform it into fall-off-the-bone, melt-in-your-mouth meat that diners will fight over.

The humble ingredient, which I have never really seen being used in this way before is (don’t hold your breath) grated carrots. Sounds very uninteresting, I know…but hear me out.

When you cook the meat for such a long time at such a low temperature, these modest grated carrots start to release their natural sugars and caramelize. They all but disintegrate, while creating the most deliciously dark and caramelized crust and gravy.

I also think that people feel very intimidated by cooking such a big slab of meat and by the term “slow-roasting”, when in fact, it may be one of the easiest cooking methods of all.

This is because people tend to confuse time-consuming with difficult. There is a HUGE difference. And while this recipe may be extremely time consuming, the actual hands-on prep time is less than 15 minutes. After that, you just throw the whole thing in the oven and let it do all the hard work for you. All you will need to do is to check on it every few hours and make tiny adjustments.

So I stand by my statement that this recipe is DEAD easy, perfect for a chilly day when you know you will be home all day or have other housework to do. It is also SO impressive when you are having guests over, where they will think that you spent the whole day slaving away at stove…bonus!

PREP TIME

10 mins

COOK TIME

8 hours

TOTAL TIME

8 hours 10 mins

here, a leg of lamb gets slow roasted to perfection, until the meat is falling off the bone...a classic, age old family recipe that is perfect for gathering and celebration

INGREDIENTS

• One bone-in 2kg leg of lamb• 2 onions, finely grated• 2 carrots, finely grated• 4 cloves garlic, minced• 1 tsp. mastic*, crushed into a powder (mesteka in Arabic)• 1 tsp. ground cardamom• 2 tsp. mixed spice• 1 tsp. crushed pepper flakes (optional)• 1 ½ tsp. salt

INSTRUCTIONS

In a large roasting tin or a cast iron pot, place the lamb. Add all the other ingredients and take a couple of minutes to rub them all over the lamb leg. Cover the pot (or use foil/plastic if you are using a roasting pan) and let it rest to marinate in the fridge overnight. This step is crucial.The next day, preheat the oven to 160 degrees C. Remove the lamb from the fridge and place it into the oven. Cook for 4 hours, covered.After 4 hours, remove the lid or the foil, and roast for another 2-3 hours. During this part of cooking, you will need to check on the lamb every half hour or so. Using a large spoon, scoop up some of the sauce over the lamb to baste it a couple of times. If the pan is getting too dry, add some hot water, about a half a cup at a time. You will notice the crust of the lamb will be getting darker and darker; this is good! Don’t freak out. Just make sure there is enough liquid in the pan so that nothing burns.The lamb is ready when it becomes fork-tender, and you can easily shred it off the bone. I find this happens in about 8 hours total of cooking time.Take the lamb out of the oven, and using a spoon, skim as much fat as possible off the gravy. Serve with vermicelli, rice, or roast potatoes.

NOTES

Mastic is a natural resin from the Mastic tree, also known as ‘Arabic Gum’, and is used in Arabic and Greek cooking. Look for it in health stores or specialty Middle Eastern or Greek shops. If you can’t find it at all, just omit it. If you are using a larger leg of lamb, just increase the amounts of all the the rest of the ingredients accordingly. The cooking time will remain more or less the same.

There is something so special about working with the bride to be and sometimes the groom to be (i say sometime's as usually the bride makes all the decisions and the groom to be forks out the $$$). I have been so lucky to have worked with couples from the beginning of there engagement journey to make there day incredibly special! Building this spectacular event to celebrate there commitment to one another. As an event manager i not only cater the food but also offer my knowledge and flare to create beautiful spaces to enjoy the banquets of food in. I work with my clients to create the perfect package.

Here is a review from the latest wedding. I was so fortunate to work with this couple for just over a year! We spent late nights over messenger picking out table designs, colour styles, foliage and more.

"Jacques did an absolutely stellar job catering for our wedding - we couldn't be happier! We had many guests commenting that it was the best wedding meal they'd ever had. The food was so fresh & delicious and the presentation was outstanding. Jacques also made our delectable & beautifully presented wedding cake - a three-tiered chocolate mud cake. The dessert table was an incredible surprise - completely overflowing with all sorts of treats including lemon tarts, french desserts, fresh fruit - it was a work of art. As was the cheese table, a feast of savoury goodness! Jacques was a delight to work with, assisting with styling & sourcing for the wedding on top of his catering duties. His enthusiasm, creativity, can-do attitude & amazing personality make him a pleasure to be around. An incredible talent, we cannot recommend him highly enough!"

HIRE JACQUES CUISINE CATERING!!!!