#fdbloggerfriends: Don’t Boil The Sauce!

The fifth blogger who has taken part in #fdbloggerfriends is Jason from Don’t Boil The Sauce, who hails from all the way down under! A Eurovision fanatic like me, I first found Jason when he baked his way through all the Technical Challenges from Bake Off and credit to him, I would not enjoy making a Princess Cake, a Spanish Windtorte or a Tennis Cake!

My name is Jason-Scott Watkins aka Mr Sauce and I’m a Melbourne based food blogger with an undying passion for the Eurovision Song Contest. Don’t Boil The Sauce! was created in 2012 to capture my experiences with cooking and enjoyment of food.

In 2013 my two passions combined with the creation of the Chow Down to Eurovision which showcases dishes from each of the competing countries in The Eurovision Song Contest to find one delicious winner. Don’t Boil The Sauce also features a Youtube channel where for the past 2 years I have interviewed many of the Eurovision artists in Vienna and Stockholm, naturally about food.

The name ‘Don’t Boil The Sauce’ comes from a direction I was given when making a Sticky Date pudding that a lot of people enjoyed boosting my confidence that I might be ok at this cooking caper.
I have 10 Eurovision Song Contest related tattoos….
I have baked along to all the technical challenges for the last 2 series of The Great British Bake Off (in times limits and survived) I can’t wait for the next series to see what challenges will be thrown my way.
My desire to have a sustainable kitchen garden far outweighs my skill at maintaining said sustainable kitchen garden!
I sang with/at Dami Im on the Eurovision red carpet in Stockholm

Apart from being life sustaining food just seems to always be there no matter the situation, from almost everyone conversation I have to being the escape pod for an introvert needing to get back in the kitchen at parties. Food and food blogging has led to meeting amazing people and opportunities such as being tasked to make a friend’s wedding cake.

My last meal on earth would have to be pasta con i broccoli with a side of chicken nuggets. I adore the simplicity of this pasta and it takes me right back to Rome and the pride of ordering half a kilo of broccoli in perfect fluent Italian (which I have mostly forgotten). The chicken nuggets are a guilty pleasure and if it’s my last meal well happiness and comfort is the key.

I started ‘Don’t Boil The Sauce!’ as a way to record the different dishes I’d been cooking as it is so easy to forget some of our kitchen triumphs. I’d enjoyed blogging privately while I was studying in Italy as a way of keeping friends and family up to date and recording my travels.

Favourite posts:

I wrote a post about my conversion to farmers markets, a concept I have previously hated. The post was well received by the markets and it was a great conversation starter with many of the farmers I now regularly shop from. People have also reached out to me on social media about their market experiences and have used my post to give the markets another try. I’m pleased to say that after two years I’m still farmers market shopping and loving it.

http://www.dontboilthesauce.com/2014/07/to-market-to-market.html

The Great British Bake Off is a highlight in my year and I had always wanted to make the chocolate cake from the opening credits. When it didn’t appear in any of the cookbooks I set about making my own version. I love this post because it is happy reminder of birthdays and a very large amount of chocolate cake…..and I mean a lot!

http://www.dontboilthesauce.com/2014/01/my-bake-off-birthday.html

With so many Chow Down to Eurovision recipes over the 3 years it is hard to pick just one but I have gone with this 40 clove garlic chicken I made to represent France. Garlic would be in my top 5 ingredients and an essential for any desert island pantry list. Its also make me proud of how I’ve improved as a blogger and photographer over the years, still a long way to go but that is the joy of learning.

http://www.dontboilthesauce.com/2016/04/chow-down-to-eurovision-2015-france.html

This spicy capsicum and bacon pasta is great for anyone that doesn’t love tomato! Winter is coming on stronger in Australia and that increase the needs for quick comfort food that will warm you up. The gently sautéed capsicum and bacon have a rich sweetness and the blast of chilli will really warm you up. The amount of chilli depends on your taste and I believe eating should never be painful but I don’t mind dancing near the edge. The sauce can be made ahead of time and just reheated and tossed through the pasta.