Herb-Crusted Flathead With Tomato and Avocado Salsa

I am forever surprised by the number of people who won't eat fish or seafood. For some it is not a choice. My brother developed a crustacean allergy, possibly after spending too many summers using prawns as bait for fishing, and now cannot eat anything with even a mere taint of seafood. Food prepared on a chopping board that was previously used with prawns is enough to send him to the emergency department at hospital. So people with an allergy, I understand.

But what about the rest of you? I have had adults (or at least they appeared to be adults) tell me that they don't eat fish because they had it once when they were a child and didn't like it. Or maybe their mother used to cook it, but only ever heavily coated in a stodgy batter, and so it no longer appeals to them. Others have told me that they don't cook fish at home (which means their kids mostly don't eat fish) because they are worried it will make their house smell. To all of you, I say it is time to have another shot at making fish for dinner. The only thing that will make your house smell is failing to clean up after yourselves.

This recipe is fast and delicious, and a great one to try on the kids. If your kids are still at the stage where even the smallest piece of green means that they won't touch it, by all means skip the herbs, the zest and the salsa. The simple combination of crispy crumbs, and tender white fish is a winner with even small fussy eaters. For the adults at the table, include the herbs and lemon - they really lift the flavour of the fish. If you have never used them, fresh breadcrumbs are larger and fluffier than the boxed crumbs. Make them every time you have a leftover chunk of good bread, by cutting off the crusts and whizzing the remains in a food processor. They can be stored in the freezer for a month or two, so they are handy every time you want to make this recipe, and I promise you will want to make it again.

This is the last of the recipes I have tried from Delicious Dec 09 / Jan 10 for my We Made It challenge with Melinda from Melbourne Larder. In February, we will be looking to the Feb / Mar 10 issue of Donna Hay.

Herb Crusted Flathead With Tomato and Avocado Salsa

adapted from Delicious Dec 09 / Jan 10
Serves 4

8 x 100g flathead fillets
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1 tbs chopped thyme
1 tbs chopped parsley
30g unsalted butter melted
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tomatoes. chopped
2 avocados, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed

Put fish on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Combine breadcrumbs, herbs, zest and butter. Add seasoning to taste. Sprinkle some breadcrumbs over each fish fillet. Drizzle with 1 tbl olive oil. Grill under medium heat for 4-5 minutes until fish is cooked and crust is golden. (NB If your griller is very hot, make sure you put the tray on a low shelf and keep an eye on the crumbs to make sure that they don't catch). For salsa, combine remaining tomato, avocado, garlic, lemon juice, remaining oil and salt and pepper to taste in a mixing bowl. Serve fish with salsa.

Frittata for One

I am old enough to remember when eggs were the bad guys in the cholesterol wars, banished to the "once in a blue moon" category with

double cream and butter. But the pendulum has swung, and a friend has now been prescribed more eggs (if prescribed is what a nutritionist does) to help control his cholesterol. Apparently the good fats in eggs help fight cholesterol, plus they have a whole lot of nutrition and are very filling, so he won't nosh on something naughty mid-morning. So with that blessing in mind, here is a very very very easy frittata recipe from Nigella, that will get your day off to a good start.

Even if you are still half-asleep, you can manage this:

1. Scan fridge for any little bits and pieces of leftovers (vegies, maybe some ham or cheese or smoked salmon) that take your fancy, and grab two eggs.

2. Whisk eggs and chop whatever else you have grabbed finely, before combining them.

3. Tip the eggs into a hot pan, pause for two mins and then tip onto a plate. Too easy.

This was a perfect breakfast this morning with my fillings of choice - a little ham, a little capsicum and a little parmesan. Nigella also suggests using the frittatas as a filling in a sandwich with a smear of mayonnaise - something to do with your leftovers if there are any. Thanks to the ladies at I Heart Cooking Clubs for their theme this week: a Nigella One Pot (or pan) Wonder. I have no doubt that I will make this again and again and again.

Frittata

From "Nigella Express" by Nigella Lawson

For each frittata:

2 free-range eggs

knob of butter and a drop of oil, for frying

For a cheese frittata

25g/1oz Emmental, grated (or any other cheese of your liking)

For a chilli frittata

1 long red chilli, deseeded and sliced ¼ tsp ground ginger ¼ tsp ground coriander

For a green frittata

20g/¾oz watercress, baby spinach or rocket, finely chopped 1 spring onion, finely sliced

For a ham frittata

50g/2oz ham, chopped

1. Crack the eggs into a bowl, add your choice of flavouring and beat well to combine.

2. Heat the butter and oil in a heavy-based frying pan. Once the pan is hot, pour in the egg mixture, swirling quickly to coat the base of the pan in a thin layer.

3. Cook the frittata for 2-3 minutes over a medium heat, then lift the edge of the frittata with a spatula to check it is set and golden-brown underneath; the top of the frittata should be just set but still a little gooey.

4. To serve, slide the frittata out of the pan onto a plate and fold one half of the frittata over the other. Repeat the process with different flavourings to make more frittatas as needed.

Lemon, Garlic, Chilli and Anchovy Pasta with Crisp Breadcrumbs

If chocolate cakes are the sort of recipes that everyone loves reading about, then this is probably the reverse. All the carb haters will ignore it because it features pasta and breadcrumbs. The anchovy-phobics won't go near it because it contains a generous dose of what one friend refers to as the "devil fish". And I know that there are legions of people who won't even look at anything marked chilli. They probably had a traumatic childhood experience where someone convinced them to swallow a birds eye chilli whole and have never recovered. (Or is that only my circle of friends?)

If you're still with me, this is a fantastic dinner, especially for those nights when you want something tasty without too much time or effort or planning. Everything you need is probably already in your cupboard. This is a meal that is big on flavour and big on texture thanks to the softness of the pasta and the crunch of the crumbs. Just the thing for curling up on the couch for a night in front of whatever boxed DVDs you are working your way through. The recipe comes from an old Donna Hay Magazine (March / April 2006). I have been thumbing through some old Donna Hays because the web cooking event Hay Hay Its Donna Day is back. Check back in later in the week for my entry in this month's challenge of a summer salad.

Lemon, Garlic and Anchovy Pasta with Crispy Breadcrumbs

adapted from Donna Hay Magazine March / April 2006

serves 2

200g spaghetti

10g butter

1 tbl olive oil + 1 tbl extra

4 anchovy fillets finely chopped

1/4 tsp chilli flakes

2 garlic cloves crushed

1 cup fresh breadcrumbs

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/2 cup finely grated parmesan

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and return to saucepan.

Meanwhile, put butter, 1 tbl olive oil, anchovies, chilli and garlic and cook for 1-2 mins, until anchovies are starting to melt. Add breadcrumbs and parsley and continue to cook for another 3-4 mins or until breadcrumbs are crisp and golden.

Add lemon juice, parmesan and extra oil to pasta, and toss. Twirl the pasta into serving bowls and top with the crumb mixture.

Cheats Salmon Teriyaki aka Maple Soy Salmon

How do you know a recipe is a winner? I spotted this salmon recipe on Closet Cooking and bookmarked it a while ago, and promptly forgot about it. Then a month or so ago, looking for inspiration for dinner for the kids and some friends who had come to stay, I found it again. Since then, I have made it five times. I have made it at home. I have made it away. When my daughter was having a friend over for a sleepover last week and I told her she could pick "anything" for dinner - yes it was a good mummy day - this is what she picked. I now know this recipe off by heart (along with the start of the Madeline books, half a poem by Hopkins and a lot of trivia).

The recipe doesn't sound promising - maple syrup and soy sauce as a combination is a little odd, I admit, until you try it. At which point, you will realise that the flavour profile is very close to teriyaki, and it actually tastes better than the commercial teriyaki sauces (although not quite as good as the local Japanese). I am sure this will remain a favourite especially, but not only, when we are away on holidays because:

- it is so damn easy

- there are three ingredients (four if you are really getting fancy), and even the smallest town general store has soy sauce and maple syrup.

So thank you Kevin from Closet Cooking for the recipe (who incidentally attributes it to Allrecipes).

PS Click on the link below and look at Kevin's photo - much prettier than mine. In my defence, there were 10 yr olds nipping at my ankles.

Maple Salmon

from Closet Cooking

4 salmon fillets (skinned and boned if you prefer)

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger (if you like but you don't really need it)

Marinate the salmon in the maple, soy and ginger for about 20 minutes. Put the salmon on an oven tray and baste generously with marinade. Grill the salmon under a pre-heated hot griller for 5-10 minutes, depending on how rare you like your salmon . Place the salmon on a plate and pour some of the maple sauce from the bottom of the pan on top of the salmon. Serve with rice to sop up more of the sauce and some greens.

Superfast Honey Lamb Skewers With Almond Couscous

As every parent knows, the early evening is when the most stressful time squeeze of the day occurs. Before I had kids, it didn't really matter if we didn't eat dinner till after 9pm. But once you have kids, there is definite pressure to get the meal on the table by a reasonable hour - whatever that may be - depending on the age and stage of your kids. Somewhere between 6-7pm is regarded as reasonable around here. Not sure why. If you are a working parent, and not getting home till about six, or you have been out at some after school activity, the squeeze is even harder. If you haven't yet worked out what is for dinner, harder still. And don't imagine your only focus is dinner. If your life is at all like mine, you will also find yourself:

- suggesting the children to do their homework

- feeding the dog

- looking for the netball skirt

- putting on a load of washing

- hanging out some drying

- reminding the kids to do their homework

- unloading the dishwasher

- signing permission notes for school

- answering the telephone and trying not to swear at some poor call centre guy in India

- attempting to find the chequebook

- yelling at the kids to do their homework

This recipe is for those nights. Buy some narrow backstraps of lamb (look out for them on special because they can be hellaciously expensive). Cut each strap into 4 or 5 pieces and thread them onto skewers. The kids might even help with the threading if the homework is done. Mix up honey, lemon rind and rosemary (if your kids hate herbs, go lightly on the rosemary or leave it out altogether). Brush the marinade onto the skewers, whack them under the grill, and they are ready in a couple of minutes. Served with couscous that also takes 5 minutes, and whatever vegies you have on hand, and it makes a delightful meal. If you want to be fancy, you can even toss some toasted almonds through the couscous and serve the lamb with some greek yoghurt as a sauce. But probably you just want to sit down.

This recipe comes from the 20 minute section of "Food Fast" by Donna Hay. I especially like Donna Hay in general, and this book in particular for recipes for my most frantic nights. And

I think she is being generous with the 20 mins - if you tried you could get it down to about 15 minutes at the most. (Incidentally, this fed two adults and two kids; if you are big eaters, you may want more lamb).

Honey Lamb Kebabs

from "Food Fast" by Donna Hay

500g lean lamb loin or fillets or backstraps

2 tbl honey

2 tsps grated lemon rind (with a rasp grater, you can do this in less than a minute)

1 tbl rosemary leaves

Black pepper to taste

Cut lamb into cubes and thread onto skewers. Combine honey, lemon, rosemary and pepper. Spread onto kebabs, then grill them for 1-2 mins each side.

Couscous:

1 cup instant couscous

1 cup chicken stock

1 tbl good olive oil

toasted almonds, to serve

Heat stock in a small saucepan to boiling. Tip in the couscous, remove saucepan from heat and cover. Let sit for five minutes. Fluff up couscous by raking with a fork. Stir through olive oil. Mix in almonds and serve.

Curried Couscous

The dramas of 09 continue with the discovery last week that a small part of our house has structural problems and basically needs re-building. How much work (and cost) is not clear until the builders start pulling off our walls next week. It makes me feel ill even writing that. Just my luck that the room in question is basically the repository for every piece of paper / book / file in the house. The next week will be spent boxing and clearing. Keep your fingers crossed for me - I am hoping that if things come in threes, this is the end of the three that began with chicken pox and followed with whooping cough. Then, just maybe, the second half of the year will be smooth sailing.

Luckily for me then, this week's Barefoot Challenge of curried couscous was a cinch. It was tasty, easy and I had nearly all the ingredients on hand. Couscous is always a winner with me because it is so fast and virtually impossible to stuff up. It also allows for any number of tweaks. My only changes to the recipe were to halve it, and I used stock instead of water for making the couscous, and left out the butter. The curry flavour was not overstated either, just a warm note in the salad. It worked well as a side when I served it with a lamb tagine, but I could also see it as a salad at a BBQ or maybe even as a girl's lunch with prawns or chicken breast tossed through it as well.

This month's first Barefoot Challenge is a recipe that I can see myself making again and again, so thank you to Ellyn from Recipe Collector and Tester for your choice. The Barefoot Bloggers are a cooking group that every month cooks something from the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten. Click here to see what others thought of the recipe.

Curried Couscous

from "The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook" by Ina Garten

1 1/2 cups couscous
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup good olive oil
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup small-diced carrots
1/2 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup dried currants or raisins
1/4 cup blanched, sliced almonds
2 scallions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)
1/4 cup small-diced red onion

Directions
Place the couscous in a medium bowl. Melt the butter in the boiling water and pour over the couscous. Cover tightly and allow the couscous to soak for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
Whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, vinegar, curry, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Pour over the fluffed couscous, and mix well with a fork. Add the carrots, parsley, currants, almonds, scallions, and red onions, mix well, and season to taste. Serve at room temperature.

Tuna Salad - Sashimi Style

I have spent the last few weeks away from my kitchen and my computer, so minor renovations at home could be completed, and my cooking has been limited. But I couldn't let May slip away without making and posting this fantastic tuna salad which was one of this month's picks for my Barefoot Blogger cooking group. Coincidentally, I recently had lunch at Sushi-E (try it if you are ever in Sydney and would like some fantastic sushi), and ate a salad with almost exactly the same components as Ina's one below, so I have tried here to reproduce the flavours that I loved so much. In particular, I hunted down some wasabi flavoured furikake to season the salad. Delicious!


I served the tuna raw, which is my personal preference, and halved the quantities as it was just for darling husband and myself. I still wound up with very generous serves and leftovers. If you haver never tried raw tuna, it tastes soft and silky and not at all fishy - just make sure you purchase sashimi grade tuna. I couldn't find wasabi powder here - it comes as a paste - so I used about 1 1/2 tsps of the paste in my half serve of dressing, instead. I also plated the salad as an appetizer rather than as a main meal, as I think delicate portions work better with this sort of food - it also makes the expense of the tuna go a lot further (and good tuna can be pricey). This is a salad that I will make again and again - it would be wonderful for entertaining, and is incredibly easy. It would lend itself to being chopped very small and served in tart shells as well. And if you can access sashimi quality fish - have it raw. Some things are just too lovely to cook!



Thanks to Kate from the elegantly named Warm Olives and Cool Cocktails for such a wonderful choice. I am thrilled to have been lured back into the kitchen for this one.



Tuna Salad
adapted from the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten

1kg very fresh tuna steak, cut 1-inch thick
4 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for brushing
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus extra for sprinkling
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black, plus extra for sprinkling
2 limes, zest grated
1 teaspoon wasabi powder
6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (3 limes)
2 teaspoons soy sauce
10 dashes hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco)
1 to 2 ripe Hass avocados, medium diced
1/4 cup minced scallions, white and green parts (2 scallions)
1/4 cup red onion, small diced

Brush the tuna steaks with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the tuna steaks in a very hot saute pan and cook for only 1 minute on each side. Set aside on a platter.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the olive oil, salt, pepper, lime zest, wasabi, lime juice, soy sauce and hot sauce. Add the avocados to the vinaigrette.

Cut the tuna in chunks and place it in a large bowl. Add the scallions and red onion and mix well. Pour the vinaigrette mixture over the tuna and carefully mix.

Mushroom Soup

I love this time of year. The air in the mornings and evenings is quite crisp and fresh, but the days are still gloriously warm. And the sea is still a wonderful temperature for swimming. It is also the last week of daylight saving, and I know that in a week we will start on the downhill slide to winter. So it is definitely the time to really savour the last remnants of summer (even though we are officially in autumn already). However I am already moving from cold soups to warm.

This mushroom soup was very quick and easy for a Sunday night. Simply simmer mushrooms in chicken stock with a slice of sourdough. Season, blend and viola. It comes from one of the great ideas you find in the margins of Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion. If you are not familiar with it, this book is stuffed with detailed recipes, organised by key ingredient, as well as mini-recipes in the margins. The mushroom chapter for example offers major recipes like:

- mushroom caps stuffed with goat's cheese on vine leaves or

- mushrooms en papillote

as well as mini-recipes in the margins eg

- morel pasta sauce

- pepper mushrooms, and this week's pick

- mushroom bread soup

So many good ideas, and even though I have had it for years, I still feel there are unexplored chapters in my book. Something to look forward to in winter perhaps? If you are in the mood for soup - drop in on Deb at Kahakai Kitchen for her Souper Sunday.

Mushroom Bread Soup

adapted from "The Cook's Companion" by Stephanie Alexander

500g mushrooms

4 cups chicken stock

2 slices sourdough bread, crusts removed

Simmer sliced mushrooms in stock with bread for 10 minutes, or until mushrooms are tender. Blend soup and season to taste. Garnish with chives and creme fraiche.

Marinated Pork Ribs - A New Family Favourite

While we were eating these ribs, my husband told me at least half a dozen times "these are really good ribs". A good sign, I thought. Because, although we have eaten ribs fairly regularly, I usually buy them pre-marinated. In fact it is usually a meal I make when I can't be bothered thinking about what to cook and / or arguing with the children about their table manners. (Has anyone else noticed how when you are eating with your hands, the arguments about table manners evaporate?) The downside of pre-marinated ribs, is that when the butcher puts them in a bag, you are left with only the remnants of marinade clinging to the ribs, which I don't think is enough for a moist tasty rib.

Honey soy is usually a winning combination for a marinade because of the simultaneous sweet and salty hits. When I found this recipe at Cookbook Recipes, I knew it would be a winner because the garlic and ginger add a bit of strength to the flavours, and star anise always adds an amazing background note. If you have never cooked with star anise, get some to throw into a marinade, or an asian hotpot - it is definitely worth trying. And cooking ribs is definitely a two step process - bake them first then whack them under the grill to caramelize / char them a little. It makes them so much yummier! Then simply slice them up and serve. I did a side of corn on the cob (when you are already eating with your fingers why not continue?) and rice to soak up the marinade. And apologies about the photo - it was all eaten before I thought to take another picture....

Marinated Pork Spare Ribs

1.5kg pork spare ribs

1\4 cup (90g) honey

1\2 cup (125g) Kecap Manis (a thick sweet soy sauce)

2 tsp sesame oil

2 star anise

3 cm fresh ginger grated finely

1 clove garlic crushed

Combine the marinade ingredients. Tip marinade either into a very secure tupperware that can be shaken around a bit, or into a plastic bag that you can seal. Add the ribs and make sure they are well covered with some marinade. Allow to marinade for three hours or preferably overnight. I usually turn them or give them a shake every few hours to make sure everything is really soaking in the marinade.

Heat oven to 180C. Put the ribs into a large baking tin so they can lie flat. Tip the marinade over them, cover with foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the ribs from the baking tin and put on a grill tray, and grill each side under high heat until caramelized and starting to char. Slice ribs between each bone and serve with cooking juices and remaining marinade from the baking tin tipped over the top.

Snazzy Sausage Rolls

So that the catering burden does not fall solely on one pair of shoulders, a lot of our school functions tend to be "bring a plate". There is good and bad in this (good: chicken sandwiches are usually excellent; bad: way too much sushi has been served up over the last few years to the point where I can no longer look at a maki roll). This week we had the first function for Year 7 parents, and I was under instruction to bring a plate of hot savouries eg sausage rolls or pies. Both sausage rolls and pies can be either delicious or dodgy depending on the quality of the meat and pastry. If I could have mustered more energy, I might have attempted some baby pies, but February is hot, humid and exhausting enough without making pies as well. NZ's Cuisine magazine came to my rescue with a brilliant take on sausage rolls: this recipe featured in the November edition.

Simple: buy the best chipolatas you can (any flavour you like). Roll in honey and mustard. Twirl a strip of pastry around it. Drizzle with honey and mustard. Serve with BBQ sauce or chutney. Perfectly easy. Easily perfect. (And I am still shocked as I reread this post to think of myself as a Year 7 parent. High school - how on earth did I get here so fast?)

Chipolata Twists With Honey and Mustard

1 kg small chipolatas

3 tbls honey

3 tbls wholegrain mustard

1 egg beaten

2 sheets puff pastry, defrosted and sliced into 2cm strips

Preheat ove to 180c. Toss mustard and honey together in a large bowl. Add the sausages and make sure they are well covered all over with the honey mustard (it will help the pastry to stick). Wind a strip of pastry around each sausage and place on a baking try, ends underneath the sausage. Brush the pastry with beaten egg and bake until the pastry is puffed and golden (around 30-40 mins). Meanwhile warm the leftover honey and mustard in a small saucepan, and drizzle it over the sausages once they are cooked.

Baked Sausages and Capsicum

Despite my undying devotion to cooking, I only ever watch TV cooking shows very fleetingly because I find them bizarrely unsatisfying. There are some notable exceptions: I really love "The Best in Australia" (three professional chefs compete each week to create the ultimate dish in a particular category eg the ultimate egg breakfast or the ultimate pasta dish), and "The Great British Menu" is also compelling, but mostly I turn on a show, see a little but then find myself wandering away to do the laundry or unpack the dishwasher (see - really bored). But every now and then, something catches my eye. I spotted this dish while blitzing through the channels last week, and landing on a British show called "Come Dine With Me". Hilariously, the concept seems to be a competitive dinner party show, with people making bitchy comments about someone's bathroom wallpaper and decor choices before sitting down to a dinner that they then critique fairly mercilessly. Just like having Simon Cowell over.

In any event, the dish I saw featured had potential as a quick, simple dinner, although I must confess that I would not consider it for a competitive dinner party with snarky celebrity judges. The colours are gorgeous but make sure you get really good sausages as they are definitely the star. (Leftover note - I mixed the leftover capsicum with some of the meatball sauce from tomorrow's posting, instead of having pasta. Scrumptious).

Roasted Sausages and Capsicum

adapted from Come Dine With Me Italian Sausages from Ben de Lisi

6-8 spicy Italian sausages

2 orange bell peppers
2 yellow bell peppers
2 red bell peppers
2 green bell peppers
1 large red onion
1 tbl dried oregano
Ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

Chop capsicums into 3 cm squares, discarding seeds and membranes. Chop onion into quarters and then split into layers.

Place all capsicums and onions in a large baking dish and mix well with a drizzle of olive oil, oregano, salt and pepper. Pierce the sausages and place on top. Cook at 200C for 30 mins or until sausages are cooked and capsicum is tender. (Remove the sausages and allow the vegetables to keep cooking if necessary).

Raspberry Friands On A Very Grim Day

I was going to give you an ode to summer fruits today, but have just woken to the news that more than 100 people died in the bushfires in Victoria yesterday. Entire towns are now gone: the shops, the pubs, the houses. More than 700 homes destroyed. This morning's paper says that this is Australia's worst ever loss of life outside of war. It is very hard for me to even get my head around it - and even harder to accept that at least some of the fires were deliberately lit. Apart from the constant refrain from all quarters to "hold your loved ones close", there doesn't seem much more to say.



If you are lucky enough to be sitting with your loved ones, enjoying the last of the summer fruits, these friands are a very simple treat. They also freeze well, so box up any leftovers, for days when stunned silence is as much cooking as you can manage. PS The recipe comes from Donna Hay's Modern Classics Book 2 - which is always simple but reliable. Feel free to play around with the fruit according to what needs using in the fruit bowl.



Raspberry Friands
from "Modern Classics 2" by Donna Hay

125g butter
1 cup almond meal
1 2/3 cups icing sugar sifted
3/4 cup plain flour sifted
1/2 tsp baking powder
5 eg whites
1/3 cup fresh or frozen raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, etc

Heat the oven to 180C. Grease and flour a regular sized friand tin or a muffin tin. Melt the butter over low heat and allow to bubble just until it starts to go slightly gold in colour. Set aside.

Mix almond meal, icing sugar, flour and baking powder in a bowl and stir to combine. Add the egg whites, and stir until just mixed in. Add the melted butter and stir again until just mixed in. Spoon 2 tbls of the mixture into each muffin tin, then sprinkle berries on tp. Bake 15-20 mins or until golden and springy on top.

Cold Pea, Mint and Prawn Soup for A Hot February Night

A pinch and a punch for the first of the month. February means back to school or back to work; time for new routines and new challenges. But the weather does not always co-operate with what should be an industrious time of year. Right now it is classic February weather in Sydney: very hot and sticky, the sort of weather that makes you breathless because the air is so heavy. I remember February days when I was in kindergarten being told to lie down on the cool tiled floor because that was the only bearable place to be on such hot days. Our teachers would read stories or play us records while we just lay flat on the cold tiles for what seemed like hours at a time. Heaven.



So, with weather like this, indulge me with another cold soup. This week it is chilled pea and mint, garnished with prawns to make it all a bit more interesting. I found it on the Gourmet Traveller website, having seen something similar in one of my food magazines (possibly Gourmet) and then losing it. This soup is filling enough to be a light supper on its own, and is dead easy to make: water, peas, a little garlic, shallots (or onion would be fine too) and some mint. Plonk a prawn on top, then enjoy before you go back and lie on the tiles some more.



The original recipe suggests straining the soup after blending but on a day like this, that was one step too far. I am sending this over to Deb at Kahakai Kitchen for her Souper Sunday. There is quite a collection of people starting to meet in her kitchen every Sunday (US time), so go take a look! And one final note, styling for this photo was by the elder darling daughter.

Chilled pea and mint soup with poached prawns

adapted from Gourmet Traveller website

1 tbsp olive oil
3 golden shallots, finely chopped (use 1/2 a brown onion if you don't have shallots)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
600 gm frozen peas, defrosted
1 cup (loosely packed) mint leaves
1/3 cup yoghurt (the original recipe calls for creme fraiche but I did not have any)
12 small green prawns, peeled, cleaned and halved lengthways

Heat oil in a saucepan, add shallot and garlic, cook over medium heat until soft (2-3 minutes). Add 500ml water, bring to boil, add peas and mint, remove from heat. Add yoghurt. Blend with a hand-held blender until smooth. Season to taste, refrigerate until chilled (1-1½ hours).

Meanwhile, bring a saucepan of salted water to boil, add prawns and cook until pink (2-3 minutes). Transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl of iced water, drain and set aside. Check soup seasoning. Pour soup into bowls, top with prawns and serve.

Mango, Avocado, Papaya and Mint Salad - Time To Get Healthy

Having come back down to earth with a thump after our holiday, (thanks to the dreaded chicken pox) it is time for some virtuous eating. I'm not fussed whether it is soups or salads, just anything that has lots and lots of anti-oxidants and vitamins, as a bit of a restorative for all of us. I had spotted this salad in a Maggie Beer book when I was looking for Christmas recipes (she calls it her Christmas Salad), but it works just as well as a January salad (or an August salad provided that you can get your hands on a mango). This salad will definitely be making regular summer appearances at our house.

And on the subject of virtuous behaviour, I missed doing new year's resolutions because we were away, so I am officially declaring February to be the beginning of our new year. Tomorrow I will share with you my resolutions for 09 as well as some more "virtuous eating".

Christmas Salad from "Maggie's Table" by Maggie Beer

2 handfuls rocket

2 witlof bulbs, separated into leaves

2 mangoes

2 ripe avocadoes

1/4 papaya

30 mint leaves

Lime Vinaigrette

Finely grated zest and juice of two limes

125 ml extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

To make the vinaigrette, whisk all ingredients together.

Wash and dry the salad leaves. Slice the mango, avocado and papaya into similar sized long strips. Shred the mint finely and scatter over the salad. Dress the salad with the vinaigrette and adjust seasonings to taste.

Fish Roasted With Capers and Lemon Butter

Yesterday was really hot. Today is really hot. Tomorrow will be really hot. So hot that it is hard to walk from your towel to the sea. So hot that every blind and curtain in the house is drawn to try and keep as much heat out as possible. So hot that every theatre in town is full with people watching movies just for a couple of hours in the air conditioning. And to top it all off - the bushfire commissioner announced a complete fire ban on the radio this morning, so no Australia Day BBQs. And we are still in quarantine with chicken pox!

So dinner needs to be quick and easy (which also fits my general post-holiday mood). Donna Hay is the go-to girl for quick and simple. If you don't own at least one of her cookbooks, I suggest you buy one. Nothing too hard, no long ingredient lists, nothing that needs a couple of days preparation and a few sub-recipes. This fish was delicious, and very low stress. Apart from buying the fish, all other ingredients were on hand. A great dinner in less than 30 minutes - and a good solution if your fish BBQ has just been cancelled.

Fish Roasted in Capers and Lemon Butter

from "Off the Shelf" by Donna Hay

4 x 200g firm white flesh fish fillets

2 tbls salted capers, rinsed

1 tbl finely grated lemon zest

1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese (I used about 1/4 cup)

60g butter softened

cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 200C. Place the fish fillets in a baking dish lined with baking paper. Combine the capers, lemon zest, parmesan, butter and pepper. Spread the mixture over the fish. Bake for 20 mins or until the fillets are cooked and the topping is golden.

Macaroons To End Off A Lovely Meal

Macaroons are one of my favourite sweet treats. Coconutty and moist, they are a perfect little indulgence at the end of a meal, with a cup of coffee or tea. They are also gluten and dairy free - so a good choice for anyone trying to limit either one in their diet. The best bit is that no one else at the table will feel deprived either. Macaroons are not to be confused with the pastel-coloured French macarons that have taken the world by storm. According to Wikipedia they originated in Scotland.

These delicious bites are also easy enough for a child to make - if only my children loved coconut the way I do. I like to make them very small and dainty - feel free to roll them bigger if you would prefer a more substantial morsel.

Coconut Macaroons

adapted from "Modern Classics Book 2" by Donna Hay

2 cups dessicated coconut

1/2 cup caster sugar

2 egg whites

Preheat oven to 180C, and line a baking tray with baking paper. Mix ingredients in a bowl until well-combined. Roll heaped teaspoons of the mixture into balls, and place on tray. Cook for 10 minutes or until they are light golden.

Baked Ricotta - A Light Meal With Friends

A very busy and exciting week. Catching up with old friends, the Melbourne Cup and now the excitement of the US election. A week like this needs something simple and more-ish that you can keep coming back to. I served this baked ricotta to some girlfriends who dropped over. It was paired with thinly sliced sourdough, some cured salmon (posted here) and a tossed green salad. Perfectly simple and simply perfect - a lovely light dinner, which of course left room for a killer chocolate cake that I will share with you later in the week. And enough leftovers for some lovely lunches. (PS You can see my Melbourne Cup hat in the picture! I couldn't resist including it)

Baked Ricotta

From "Flavours" by Donna Hay

4 tubs fresh ricotta (more or less depends on the size of the tin you are using- I used a loaf tin) Black pepper to taste

Olive oil

Mix ricotta with a generous amount of black pepper to taste. Line a tin with baking paper. Fill with the ricotta mixture. Bake at 180C for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven. Unmold the ricotta,then coat the top with more cracked black pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and return the ricotta to the oven until the edges have started to turn golden. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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When I got back from Melbourne there was a lovely surprise for me - a Kreativ Blog award from Deb at Kahakai Kitchen. Deb is a talented and enthusiastic blogger who is inspiring us all with (among other things) her Souper Sundays and Cook the Books. Along with the award was a meme, so you all get to know a little bit more about me.

So here goes:

7 things I did before
1. Sold zodiacs at a jewellery shop when I was 14
2. Worked in catering through school and university
3. Used to spend 4 hours on a Friday peeling prawns for the Friday prawn roll special at the pub where I worked (easily the worst job I ever had)
4. Worked as a nanny
5. Completed a law degree, but never practised law
6. Researcher for A Current Affair ( I promise it was a different show then)
7. Director of Corporate Affairs for a large US Card company

7 things I do now
1. 700 small things every day
2. Look after our little family
3. J'etudie la langue francaise
4. Spend too much time in front of the computer (a recent post-blog development)
5. Try to exercise 4 times a week (there is nothing easy or spontaneous about this for me)
6. Read in the bath (my secret guilty pleasure)

7.Cook

7 things I want to do
1. Meet my new niece Sophie in Connecticut
2. Finish my Xmas shopping
3. Put my photos in albums
4. Stress less
5. Keep improving my blog
6. Be more organised
7. Sleep better

7 things that attract me to the opposite sex
1. Love
2. Laughter
3. Smile
4. Eyes
5. Intelligence
6. Calm
7. Face

7 Favorite Foods
1. A really good runny brie
2. Pavlova
3. Coffee
4. Mangos
5. Roast Chicken
6. Raspberries
7. Oysters

7 things I Say Most Often:
1. Yes
2. Bugger!
3. Sit down and eat your dinner!
4. I have no idea where it is.
5. Sleep tight
6. Unprintable
7. Love you

And now the seven people I would like to tag for this award and meme:

1. Christy of Sew Much Fabric Sew Little Time, who sent me my wonderful Blogging By Mail Box

2. Esi at Dishing Up Delights, whose adventures I love to follow

3. Anne at Anne Strawberry because she cooks with such love

4. Karen from Bookbath because I love books and baths

5. Helen at Grab Your Fork - a local food blog that I read closely

6. Heather at SLO Cooking - who has lots of fun ideas

7. Lorraine at Not Quite Nigella because her Halloween Party looks as fantastic as the rest of her blog. Check it out here.

Now they get to pass on the award to some blogs they admire.....

Cured Salmon Gravlax - Easy & Delicious

There is no doubt that food goes through fashions. I think we have just come through the winter of the Pork Belly, and we are definitely now going into the summer of the Tapas. When I look back, I can clearly remember the year of the Sticky Date Pudding, the summer of the Pannacotta, the winter of Pesto, the spring of Salt and Pepper Calamari, the year of Laksa. These items have all at different times become ubiquitous in Sydney to the point where you would imagine that chefs might be de-registered if they fail to include some version or other of the dish on their menu. But, the truth is that the reason they become so very popular is because they are all completely delicious.

Without wanting to date myself too much, I also remember a summer of gravlax, or sugar-cured salmon, in the late 1980s. Tasty, soft, indulgent, it is the perfect thing to make for entertaining in summer. All the work is done ahead of time (24 hours ahead), it is very very easy to do and people are incredibly impressed that you have cured your own salmon. Even better, it is delicious and light and sumptuous. And if tapas, do take off this summer, it will be a very easy tapas-style dish to prepare. This recipe comes from Joan Campbell in a Vogue Wine and Food Cookbook called "Home Truths: What The Foodies Cook For Themselves". The cookbook is out of print now but if you trawl around eBay or some of the second-hand cookbook sellers, you may find it.

Gravlax With Dill Sauce

adapted from "home Truths" edited by Joan Campbell

1 side of ocean trout or salmon (you can get your fish shop to skin it and pin bone it for you)

100g sugar

100g salt

1 tbl white cracked pepper

1-2 large bunches dill, stems crushed

Dill Sauce

2 tbl sugar

2 tbl white vinegar

2 tbl dill

2 tbl dijon mustard

1 tsp salt

9 tbls vegetable oil (any flavourless oil is OK)

If your fillet has not been boned, go over it with tweezers and pluck out any bones you can feel by running over the fillet with your fingers. If it is not skinned, you can leave the skin on. Mix sugar, salt and pepper together. Place a heavy piece of foil on your kitchen bench, and make a bed of dill on it the size of your fish. Rub half of the sugar and salt mixture into one side of the salmon, then turn it over and rub the other half into the other side. Place the fish on the dill, then top it with another bed of dill the size of the fish. Wrap tightly in foil, and refrigerate for 24 hours, turning the fish over regularly. To serve, scrape the pepper and dill from the fish and slice thinly. Serve with the sauce.

Sauce: Place sugar, vinegar, dill, mustard and salt in a bowl and beat well. While still beating add the oil slowly. Pour into a container and refrigerate until serving.

Beetroot and Carrot Salad For A Bit of Colour in Your Life

It might be an Australian thing, but I really love beetroot. We grow up with it as a standard inclusion on take-away hamburgers (unbelievable to many non-Australians, but 100% true), so I can't even remember trying it for the first time. In recent years, it has become an increasingly common salad addition or garnish, largely because of the dramatic splash of crimson it offers. On top of that are the significant health benefits, and a sweet, easy flavour.

This salad has a Middle Eastern flavour to it with the cumin, coriander and cinnamon combination - and it packs a punch; an ideal combination to serve with a lamb or chicken tagine. It is also easy to make, and brings a definite splash of colour to the dinner table. Even better, it can be prepared in advance and refrigerated as both the beetroot and the carrot will hold their texture. The recipe comes from "Great Food Fast" published by Martha Stewart, which has lots of nifty ideas for quick meals. If you prefer less strong flavours, I would reduce the cumin and coriander by about 1/4 tsp each. I liked their advice and used the food processor for grating. Just make sure you either use gloves when you are peeling the beetroot, or hold it with a fork to avoid staining your hands pink.

Shredded Beetroot and Carrot Salad
from "Great Food Fast" by Martha Stewart

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tbl extra-virgin olive oil

1 tbl honey

3/4 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

500g raw beetroot, peeled

3 carrots, peeled

1/3 cup torn continental parsley leaves

Whisk together lemon juice, oil, honey, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cayenne plus 3/4 tsp salt. In a food processor, shred the beetroot and then the carrots. Add to the bowl along with the parsley and toss all the ingredients together.

Kylie Kwong's Lively Tomato Salad

One day when my eldest was about six, she was unwell and convinced me that she was too ill to go to school. I can't remember what was wrong exactly, but I didn't feel she was so sick she had to stay home. You see, I had a ticket for a Kylie Kwong cooking class that I wanted to go to. I also reasoned that exposing my daughters to smart, successful women, especially those working in non-traditional fields, was a good thing. My daughter sat very quietly and absorbed the whole thing, tasting along with me, kingfish sushi served with pickled vegetables, soft-boiled duck eggs (with prawns?), and a fantastic fried rice. Apart from the delicious tidbits, there was hopefully a bit of life education for her there as well. If nothing else, a fond memory for me.

So I like Kylie Kwong for more than just her great recipes. This tomato salad comes from her book "Heart and Soul" - which also features the world's most fabulous fig and raspberry cake. The tomato salad is easy and incredibly tasty - just the thing for a summer side salad. I love that it is called a "lively salad". Kylie (can't imagine calling her Ms Kwong) serves it with fried fish. I serve it with just about anything through the summer months. It is the sort of salad that is perfect to make after a trip to the farmer's market or when you have been seduced by a gorgeous selection of tomatoes at the greengrocers. And it tastes even better the next day - an amazing juicy mixture of tomato and citrus flavours, so definitely hang onto the leftovers. And one apology - sadly, I couldn't get a green tomato today or the colours would be even prettier.

Lively Tomato Salad

adapted from "Heart and Soul" by Kylie Kwong

NB - The tomatoes listed here are suggestions only - play around with whatever you can get locally.

1 vine-ripened tomato chopped roughly

1 ox-heart tomato chopped roughly

2 tbls extra virgin olive oil

2 tbls lemon juice

2 tsps lime juice

10 yellow pear tomatoes halved

10 cherry tomatoes halved

1 green tomato roughly sliced

Mash the vine-ripened and ox-heart tomatoes gently until you see juices starting to appear. Season generously with salt and white pepper. Pour in olive oil, lemon and lime juices and mix well. Stir in remaining tomatoes. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.