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From pickles to sauerkraut to kimchi,

today is a celebration of fermentation.

I like what you've done there.

Absolutely adore fermented foods.

A great way to support your gut health.

I'm going to make a kimchi noodle dish because I love kimchi.

I love the spice, I love getting cabbage into dishes and I always

have fermented foods in the fridge.

Tim?

Well, I'm going to be making my ultimate Reuben toastie.

Oh, mate. Look, I've got high expectations.

And having been to New York, which I think you have too,

I've got some comparison I can be making as well.

Let's get into it, though.

Yes.

Jac, the year is 2015.

I'm in New York City with my girlfriend at the time, now wife.

We actually got engaged in New York City on our holiday.

Oh, that's a nice part of the story.

It's a great story, but we don't have time for that now.

But near where we were staying on the Lower East Side, a couple

of blocks over was a really famous deli called Katz's Delicatessen.

Have you been before?

I've been to New York, not to Katz's,

but I definitely had a New York Reuben.

Obviously, New York's really famous for their pastrami on rye

and their Reuben sandwiches.

We got one, and it was the most amazing sandwich

I had had in my life.

And that's what's going to happen today?

We're trying to replicate that time in New York City today

with my ultimate Reuben toastie. OK.

Are we ready? We are.

We're going to make my own little pickle relish.

I've just cubed up some cucumber and a brown onion and just hit

that with a little bit of salt, and we just let that sit

for a couple of hours.

And you can see how much liquid just naturally drains out of that.

It's a lot.

And we're going to add our vinegar into our pot.

I love making my own pickles and relishes at home.

I think they're really, really fun and they always taste so much better

than the store bought ones.

I couldn't agree more.

So caster sugar in there as well.

Now all I want to do is bring that to the heat, let that sugar

dissolve, and we want to reduce that water and sugar by half

before we add our cucumber and onion mix.

OK.

Alright, Jac, our vinegar and sugar has reduced by half.

Now we're going to add our drained cucumber and onion mix.

We just want a couple of cups worth.

Nearly all of this can go straight in.

So we just want to cook that for a couple of minutes.

Now to that I'm going to add a couple of special ingredients.

So a little bit of curry powder. OK.

We're just getting some... Interesting.

Yeah, I love it.

And we want to get some yellow mustard seeds in there as well.

And we'll just stir them around.

And all we want to do is cook these for a few minutes

until the cucumber is starting to soften.

Alright, Jac, our pickle relish is looking good.

It does look good.

A little cornflour slurry.

It's a great tip for thickening up sauces in a hurry.

Definitely.

So just a little bit of water to our cornflour.

Give that a little mix around. OK.

And we can add that in.

Now we just want to stir that till it starts to thicken up.

OK, that is done.

So what we need to do is just pop it into a bowl.

Ah, how good is that?

Cucumber pickle is done.

All you need to do now is just pop that in the fridge,

just to let it chill before you want to use it.

And we'll move on to building the rest of our toastie.

Excellent.

Now, Jac, every good Reuben toastie needs a Russian dressing.

Fact.

I'm going to give away my secret recipe,

and you're going to make it for me.

OK. Yeah.

So we've got some mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, some ketchup,

some cayenne pepper, and a little bit of pickle juice.

Alright, so that can all just go in the bowl.

Give that a mix around.

Russian dressing done. OK.

And while you're doing that,

check out this beautiful sourdough rye loaf.

That is a good-looking loaf...

How gorgeous. ..of rye bread.

I'm going to get a couple of good slices of our rye loaf.

We want some nice thick slices.

So when you say a little bit of pickle juice,

how much are we thinking?

Oh, just a good tablespoon or two. OK.

Yeah. That's what I love about cooking.

Especially with something like this.

I just cook to flavour and there's no right or wrong.

You just get it all in there. And the recipe is all online anyway.

Alright, Jac, that dressing looks fantastic.

Let's start building.

Now, it wouldn't be the ultimate Reuben toastie

if I didn't use two different types of cheese.

OK, so first we've got classic Swiss cheese,

which is a staple for a Reuben.

We're going to go double.

Let's go four slices of our Swiss.

Then I know we've got the pickle relish as well,

but I want some other pickles on here as well

just to accentuate that flavour.

Remember, we're all about fermentation today and pickling

and all that good stuff.

Now some sauerkraut.

Do you like sauerkraut?

Absolutely love sauerkraut.

Great way to get those fermented foods into your sandwiches,

into your salads, into wraps.

Have it on the side with your steamed vegies.

Super simple one to keep in the fridge.

OK, a good whack of sauerkraut onto there.

Now we need to talk meat.

We're going to put lots of good quality pastrami onto our toastie.

We want that Katz's Deli really thick New York style.

OK, well, at least you've got it balanced out with the vegies

and the fermented vegies, so I'm happy with that.

Yeah, that's right.

(BOTH LAUGH)

OK, so we'll crack these packets open.

I just love pastrami because when it's cured, it's got that real

peppery crust that they do to flavour the beef.

It is good stuff.

So we're just going to layer our toastie up nice and generously

with the pastrami.

Not holding back.

Well, we're not stopping.

Packet number two.

Wow. On we go.

I love this.

This takes me back to New York.

Alright.

It's a good amount of pastrami on there.

Yeah! (LAUGHS)

I think our pickle relish should be cool enough.

I'm going to grab that and then that can go on next.

Excellent.

Alright, have a look at this.

I'm pretty impressed with this.

I think you should be.

Homemade pickle relish.

So that can go on top.

Nice and generous amount onto our Reuben toastie.

How does one wrap their mouth around something this big?

We'll see.

Are you about to prove...

We'll find out very shortly.

Because I don't know if I can.

Now we need to get some of that gorgeous dressing.

OK, a good drizzle of our dressing.

Last but not least, our second type of cheese, American cheddar.

Double the cheese for double the love.

Ultimate Reuben toastie.

On goes the lid.

Wow. My goodness.

Now we better toast it, I suppose.

Yeah.

Could you please pass me the butter?

Of course. Thank you.

Alright.

Now we'll let that butter melt in the pan.

We'll toast our toastie for a few minutes either side

till it's golden, crunchy and melty,

and then we'll try and fit our mouth around it.

(LAUGHS) Oh. That's a challenge.

But we're here for it.

Alright, Jac, toasted to perfection.

It is.

Let's get this monster out.

OK, let's slice in and have a little look.

Look, my heart's actually started pumping a bit harder

just thinking about this.

Big reveal.

Oh, wow!

Look at that.

So if I was to plate this up, I would just,

on a plate, nice and impressive.

A big stack of our Reubens.

And I always finish my toasties with a little sprinkle

of salt on top.

This is a bold balancing act,

but it also is quite an incredible piece of art, almost in a toastie,

and I'd expect nothing less from you.

My ultimate Reuben toastie,

inspired by New York City,

with that beautiful layers of pastrami.

Wrap your lips around that.

It's a masterpiece. (LAUGHS)

Kimchi noodles, which, I'll be honest, came together one night

when I wasn't quite sure what I was going to put together for dinner,

but I had kimchi in the fridge and that was the base

of the inspiration for this dish.

Well, I can't wait. It sounds great.

Yeah.

A little twist on the noodles too,

is that we're going to make zucchini noodles.

Which I think are a fun take. Ah!

If you don't like zucchini or you don't have them on hand,

then a rice noodle is completely fine too.

Absolutely.

So I'm going to chop some Asian shallots.

I'd love if you could do some of the snow peas and also the beans.

And we're going to keep everything of a similar size

so that it all cooks fairly evenly and quickly,

because that was also part of the brief.

I got home one night.

It was probably a Friday night.

Yeah. I didn't want to order takeout.

I did want to use up everything in the fridge before the fresh order

came in over the weekend.

And kimchi noodles was it.

I love those challenges sometimes, where you get home,

"What have I got on the fridge?

"What have I got in the pantry?"

It's a bit of a mystery box. I know.

I love it.

I'm going to add some avocado oil to the wok.

Just a tablespoon will do.

This is actually a great wok.

It's good quality.

It's a non-stick surface,

but it's got a really solid aluminium base,

and it's PFOA free, which I love as well,

because we want to watch how our woks

and our non-stick coating pans are made with.

And we'll get that up on a nice high heat to start.

Then I have some garlic ready to go.

Minced up.

I don't cook with avocado oil much,

but I hear it's got a really high smoke temperature.

Yeah. Smoke point. Yeah.

And that's really important because we are firing the heat up.

We're gonna get hot.

So we don't want to have an oil that is going to oxidise too quickly.

We want one that's lovely and high in its smoke point.

And also avocado oils is rich in antioxidants too.

And it's quite a mild flavour.

So it's a good one to get into Asian cooking because it doesn't overpower

the rest of the foods or the ingredients in the dish.

Love that. We have some minced garlic.

So I'm just twirling our zucchini noodles.

I love doing this. This is fun.

It is good fun.

I'm grating lots of fresh ginger into the pan.

I love fresh ginger in my cooking.

Obviously has that beautiful Asian taste.

But it's a lovely way to warm the body as well.

And combined with the chilli that we'll get from the kimchi spice,

a goody for those autumn and winter months.

Alright.

And then we'll get our shallots in, lots of shallots.

And now they'll just cook for one to two minutes

and we'll get the rest of our vegies in.

So we've got to get our cabbage, our capsicum, our snow peas

and our beans in.

Now, I'm getting this funky smell here with that beautiful kimchi.

I absolutely love it.

I love fermented foods generally, and kimchi is a goodie to keep

in the fridge because you can add that spice component, but also

keeping fermented foods on hand like your kimchi, your miso paste,

which we'll add into the sauce as well.

Also other things like having kombucha on hand

to have with a meal like this

is really a great way to bump up all of your fermented food intake,

which helps to fuel all of those trillions of living,

healthy bacteria that live in our gut.

So we've got the cabbage going in.

I'm just going to tear the enoki mushrooms in.

I love enoki mushrooms in a noodle dish because they are of themselves

almost like little vegie noodles.

You know, your gut health has an impact on your immune health,

on your emotional and mental health, on your metabolism.

So it is really something to be thinking about.

Let's get those vegies in.

Alright. Alright.

Snow peas and beans going in, some red capsicum.

And we'll hold on the zucchini noodles

because we want to get these cooking.

And they'll cook in no time at all.

And while they are cooking,

we'll get our noodles sauce together as well.

I'm pretty happy with where these vegies are at.

You can see the enoki mushrooms have become lovely and soft.

They look great.

And we want to get our zucchini noodles, our kimchi,

and our sauce in.

So if you could actually chop up the kimchi for me,

that would be great.

Sure thing.

I'm going to make a little well in the middle of the vegies

in our wok here and get the zucchini noodles in.

Oh, lovely.

We don't want these to cook for too long.

We still want to have them a little bit tender.

So we'll get those in, as well as the kimchi as soon as you're done.

Here we go.

Alright. Bring the funk.

Yes. Epic.

So in our little sauce here, what did we have?

So we have the soy sauce, honey,

a good hit of chilli sauce, or sriracha,

and then a miso paste.

I used a white miso paste.

Fantastic. Let's pour that sauce on though.

You got it.

Love it.

Alright. I think I'm almost close to done here.

So we'll get these off the heat and serve them up.

OK, let's find our juicy bit of zucchini noodles.

Just the colours and the smells coming from the wok are tantalising.

They're so good.

And you know, actually, if I have a bit more time on my hands

and if the ingredients are in the fridge, I'll often whack some

firm tofu in the oven with some soy, honey, sesame

and get that all caramelised to pop on the top as well.

I wanted to hero the veg today, but if you want to add your protein,

you can actually just go ahead and choose your own adventure.

I just love how this is so nice and light.

I feel like you could eat a huge bowl of it

and still feel tip-top. I know.

Well, look, I did say this could serve two, but I'm sure we've got

a bit more in there to serve.

I think they're done. You know what'd be good?

Some sesame seeds on top.

Well, here you go.

Excellent.

Thank you.

Chopsticks.

Oh, be rude not to.

Oh, wow.

Good bit of zucchini noodle.

I'm going to get a bit of a...

Yeah, I want to try and get a bit of everything here.

Vegie power. Mmm.

Jac, that is a bowl of goodness there.

Oh, you are so welcome.

I'm glad to bring the balance in to what we have here.

And a really cool way to think about using your fermented vegies

like kimchi, but also packing lots of different colourful vegies

into a very simple meal, indeed.

I'm all for making health and nutrition

just that little bit easier for people.

And meal prep salad jars are a really cool way to do it.

I want to make mine today with a satay dressing

and then lots of beautiful ingredients - tofu, lots of herbs,

quinoa, some fruit, some slaw.

So we've got a bit of a Thai style tofu salad jar.

Let's start with our peanut butter dressing.

When I look for a good quality peanut butter, it's really all

about just peanuts and maybe a little bit of salt

in the ingredient list.

You don't need anything else because peanuts are naturally so high

in some good fats, in particular oleic acid, that you don't need

the extra vegetable oils or any sugar or anything else

in your peanut butter jar.

Just good quality peanuts and a touch of salt.

Then we'll get some soy sauce in as well to get that salty flavour

into the dressing.

I love a little bit of chilli to spice things up,

but that's really up to you.

Then some honey to get a little bit of that sweet flavour in,

and then the zestiness of some lime in there too.

If you don't have lime, of course use lemon.

You could also use orange or mandarin juice,

depending what's in season.

So a couple of tablespoons of the lime juice.

And because we want this dressing to be nice and loose,

we're going to add some boiling water.

And this component is important

because these are meal prep salad jars.

So they're going to pop out of the fridge the next day

and the following and even the day after to serve you for lunch.

And we want our dressing to stay nice and loose so that it coats

all the ingredients in the salad as you eat it.

Then we'll get our dressing into the base of our salad jar.

This is important too.

Getting it into the base means

that it's not going to make the rest of the ingredients all soggy

over the time that they sit in the fridge

before you have a chance to eat them.

So our dressing goes in first.

I've actually used around half a cup of peanut butter in my dressing,

so you can see I'm not scrimping on the ingredients.

If you're going to have a salad, you want good flavour

and lots of good nutrition too.

I've cubed some tofu in advance.

I haven't cooked it, and I'm going to drop it straight into the base,

where it'll sit and almost marinate in the satay dressing

over the course of the coming days.

The coriander stalks in at this stage is going to help just get

all those juicy flavours in, as well as some spring onions.

Never without a little bit of onion in a good salad.

And then we're going to think about again how we're marinating

the tofu with the satay, the herbs and the onion.

So I've got a little bit of tropical fruit to throw in here.

Sometimes I use pineapple, sometimes it's mango.

This is actually a little bit of peach today.

I think it all works well

because satay tastes great with sweet flavours too.

Let's get some good quality carbohydrate sources in here.

And I'm going to use quinoa.

And quinoa is a super cool... pseudo grain I would call it,

because it's actually a seed.

It's not a grain.

So it's actually incredibly easy to digest.

And it keeps really well in the fridge as well.

So if you are making these in advance and they're going to go

in the fridge, they're not going to go soggy and they're going

to taste great on the day that you decide to eat them.

Cucumber obviously has a high water content, so we're leaving

that at the top of the jar so it doesn't become soggy

and pushed down by the other ingredients.

And having it on top of the quinoa is just the right spot for me.

We're almost there. Stay with me.

And we're going to finish up with a few extra ingredients,

one of which is a pre-made slaw.

Just to make life easy on you,

I often keep these sorts of slaws in the fridge,

because if that makes getting some vegies in

just that little bit easier, why not?

Our slaw's in.

Let's get some herbs in to finish.

I'm a big fan of coriander.

Look, I know it's not everyone's herb.

My personal favourite.

So I'm getting some coriander in the top of each.

A few more peanuts for that crunch factor, and to team it up really well

with our delicious peanut dressing,

and some mint leaves to finish.

And as you can see, that's a fully loaded salad jar.

And that's what I'm after.

That's where I think, you know, prepping this in advance

on the start of the week

takes you through a few days' worth of lunches.

Pop the lids on, then into the fridge.

They'll keep up to three days.

And you tell me -

I think you might make a few people in the office

a little bit jealous of you with this lunch.

Captions by Red Bee Media