Broccoli Soup With Grilled Haloumi

A week of feasting lies ahead with the brief trip home of my US-based brother, and the birthday of my ten year old. Between the two, I can count off at least five meals that I know could well be a little bit indulgent. Quite possibly a lot indulgent. So today's abstemious choice will start the week with restraint even if it does not finish that way. Broccoli is always my first pick as a vegetable when I want a solid dose of nutrition with next to no wickedness.

I found this recipe in an old Donna Hay magazine (Issue 14, Autumn). I subscribed to the magazine from launch, and now have a shelf groaning under the weight of Donna. Until a couple of years ago, it was worth hanging on to all the old copies because an index to each year's recipes was published. This made it easy to do a quick search for whatever I was looking for, and lay my hands on any recipe I needed. Infuriatingly, Donna doesn't publish indexes any more which apart from making me very cranky, makes my new mags a lot less valuable to me than the old ones. After all, no one has the time or inclination to go through 20 magazines to find a recipe that they think they remember. So what to do? Something for me to contemplate as I have a bowl of soup. The haloumi gives a lovely salty kick and a textural contrast to the smooth broccoli flavours.

Since this is Sunday, I will be sending this soup over to Deb at Kahakai Kitchen for her weekly Souper Sunday round-up. Go take a look at her offerings - thee is always something that will take your fancy on offer.

Broccoli Soup With Grilled Haloumi

adapted from Donna Hay

2 tsps olive oil

1 small onion

4 cups chicken stock

1 potato peeled and chopped

650g broccoli florets

100g haloumi, cut into slices and grilled in a non stick pan for 1 min

Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add oil and onion and cook for about 5 mins or until the onion is translucent. Add stock, potato and broccoli and simmer until the potato is tender. Pour the mixture into a blender, and puree until it is smooth. Season to taste. Garnish with cubes of haloumi.

Lemon Cake - A Reason To Be Cheerful

Ten reasons to be cheerful:

1. Darling husband returned home today

2. Elder daughter is nearly out of quarantine

3. The sun is shining

4. My car will be fixed by Tuesday

5. Brother will arrive from the US on Wednesday

6. School holidays start in 10 days

7. A leisurely bath is ahead of me this afternoon

8. A long chat with an old friend

9. Younger daughter is turning 10

10. I loved this lemon cake

The lemon cake was born because I had some yoghurt in the fridge that I wanted to use up. I remembered that I had seen a yoghurt cake recipe on Pioneer Woman's website, and once I realised that I had all the ingredients on hand, I had no excuse not to get baking. For those of you who have not yet discovered Pioneer Woman, off you go quick smart! There are lots and lots of wonderful blogs that I love, but Pioneer Woman is among my favourites because she is a very talented writer and photographer as well as cook. She has the ability to make me laugh out loud at the same time as dazzling me with an incredibly beautiful photo of something as spare as an egg and a chopping board. I thought this recipe was great, although I skipped the marmalade glaze as I was trying to appeal to the younger members of the tribe and they were never going to fall for something covered in marmalade. One day perhaps, but not this day. In fact they didn't like the cake (too lemony) so I gave most of it away, but it still made me happy......

Lemon Yogurt-Marmalade Cake
from The Pioneer Woman

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 heaping cup of plain, lowfat yogurt

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Zest of 1 lemon

1/2 cup Canola oil

1/2 cup prepared orange marmalade

1/4 cup yogurt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a loaf tine. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix together yogurt, sugar, eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, and canola oil until just combined. Pour over dry ingredients and mix until just combined; do not overbeat.

Pour into loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes. Remove and allow to cool slightly. Remove from pan.

While cake is cooling, pour marmalade into pan. Heat until melted, stirring occasionally. Add yogurt to pan and turn off heat. Stir to combine, then pour slowly over the top of the cake, allowing icing to pool around the sides.

A Photo for Friday

Our dog Angus

Tomato and Goats Cheese Tarts

It's nearly the end of March, and it's time for the last of our Barefoot Bloggers recipes. I love being part of this group because it is making me attempt things that I would not otherwise try, and I am discovering recipes that I will return to over and over again. Today's recipe, Tomato and Goat's Cheese Tarts (and last week's Brownie Pudding) will be among the few things about this month that I am keen to revisit. My elder darling daughter has been diagnosed with whooping cough / pertussis, so we are in quarantine again... (as an aside - it is starting to feel a little biblical around here with all the plagues visiting our house - I'll let you know if frogs or locusts appear). The up side of this is lots of time in the kitchen.

I halved the recipe as a lunch for the two of us. And luckily for me, this is my kind of recipe. It is the sort of thing that I always order when I am out at a cafe. Tasty, and big on flavour, the crunch of the pastry is offset by both the creaminess of the goats cheese and the slippery cooked tomato. It is also endlessly modifiable according to your tastes and preferences (mushrooms, smoked salmon, provencal vegetables, pesto, etc are all possible additions / substitutions). Next time, I make this combination, I will throw some pinenuts into the goats cheese mix for an extra bit of texture and nuttiness. This recipe would also be wonderful for entertaining because it looks and tastes great, and plates so easily. You could also make tiny bite-size tasrts as an hors d'oeuvre.

The Barefoot Bloggers are a group of blogging cooks who whip up a couple of recipes each month from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. This week's choice was from Anne Strawberry - who is clearly a woman with tastes similar to mine. Merci beaucoup chere Anne! If you want to see how the other Barefoot Bloggers found this recipe check out the blogroll here.

Tomato and Goat's Cheese Tarts
From Ina Garten: Back to Basics

2 sheets puff pastry, defrosted
Good olive oil
4 cups thinly sliced yellow onions (2 large onions)
3 large garlic cloves, cut into thin slivers
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons dry white wine
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan, plus 50g shaved with a vegetable peeler
120g garlic-and-herb goat cheese (I could only get plain, so I mixed in an Italian spice mix)
1 large tomato (or 2 small), cut into thick slices
3 tablespoons julienned basil leaves

Using an 18cm saucer or other round object as a guide, cut 2 circles from the sheet of puff pastry, discarding the scraps. Repeat with the second pastry sheet to make 4 circles in all. Place the pastry circles on 2 sheet pans lined with parchment paper and refrigerate until ready to use.
Preheat the oven to 210F.

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium to low heat and add the onions and garlic. Saute for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are limp and there is almost no moisture remaining in the skillet. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, the wine, and thyme and continue to cook for another 10 minutes, until the onions are lightly browned. Remove from the heat.

Using a sharp paring knife, score a 1/4-inch-wide border around each pastry circle. Prick the pastry inside the score lines with the tines of a fork and sprinkle a tablespoon of grated Parmesan on each round, staying inside the scored border.

Place 1/4 of the onion mixture on each circle, again staying within the scored edge. Crumble 1 ounce of goat cheese on top of the onions. Place a slice of tomato in the center of each tart. Brush the tomato lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with basil, salt, and pepper. Finally, scatter 4 or 5 shards of Parmesan on each tart.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. The bottom sheet pan may need an extra few minutes in the oven. Serve hot or warm.

Parmesan Crusted Fish With Braised Vegetables

The most common question I get about this blog is: "What do I make for a family dinner that everyone (ie kids and parents) will eat?" Tough question. The whole issue of a family dinner is a little vexed, especially if your kids are still in that tricky eating phase where they seem to subsist on a very limited rotation of two or three different meals. This leaves the rest of the family with two choices - either eat spaghetti bolognaise every second night for years, or slowly try and expand the boundaries a little.

About a year ago, I decided that I had spent enough time as a short order cook making different meals for kids and adults. It was time for us all to start eating the same food i.e. it was time for the kids to move beyond the spag bol / schnitzel / sausage / pasta rotation, and start enjoying meals that the darling husband and I also wanted to eat. When I discovered this dish, it felt like a personal gift from Bill Granger (thanks Bill!), via his Bill's Food cookbook. It seemed familiar enough to the kids for them to try it, while also delicious for the adults. It also opened the kids up to different soups. This fish and vegetable braise now makes regular appearances at our place. It feels like the sort of homemade comforting food that everyone wants to eat, regardless of whether it has been a tough day at the office or the playground. Incidentally, Bill's Food has at least six or eight recipes that worked for us while bridging that kids' food / adults food divide. In some cases you need to modify seasonings or drop the parsley or adapt the vegetables, but for me, it was a good starting point on the road to single meals at night.

Parmesan-Crusted Blue-Eye and Braised Potatoes With Peas
from "Bill's Food" by Bill Granger
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
45g grated parmesan
2 eggs
1 cup flour
4 blue eye fillets or other firm white fish
2 tbls olive oil
25g butter
4 potatoes, steamed or boiled until tender
1 onion sliced into thin rings
1 cup frozen peas
2 cups chicken stock

Slice potatoes. Heat 1 tbl olive oil in a pan, and fry onions until they are translucent not brown (about 5 mins). Add the peas and toss well. Add the chicken stock and simmer for 5 mins. Add the potatoes and cook for another two mins. Set aside, keeping vegies warm.

Meanwhile, mix breadcrumbs and parmesan in a bowl and season to taste. Crack the eggs into another bowl and beat lightly with a fork. Place the flour in a third bowl. Dip a fish fillet in the flour then the eggs then the breadcrumb mix. Repeat until all the fish are coated (you can do this up to two hours ahead, just keep the fish in the fridge once it is crumbed.

Heat 1 tbl olive oil and butter in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium to high heat. Add the fish and cook gently for about 2 mins on each side or until the fish is golden and cooked through (do it in batches if your pan is small). Divide the vegetables among the serving bowls, and serve the fish on top.

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.

Goats Cheese, Potato and Rosemary Tortilla

Among the myriad of cooking blog events is the Blog Party run monthly by Stephanie at Dispensing Happiness. She is a very welcoming hostess - anyone happy to cook an appetizer and arrange some drinks is welcome to drop in. This month's theme was Brunch: Worth Getting Up Late For...Again, and I decided to turn up with this goat's cheese tortilla. For me, brunch = eggs, so it wasn't too hard to decide what to make. And as for drinks, I took the easy way out with a nice crisp glass of French champagne. Thanks for having me Stephanie.

This recipe is easy and endlessly variable depending on what mix-ins you want. Goat's cheese and rosemary were the perfect choice for a night at home alone (which was all the more reason to head along to a cyber party.) Husband would have found the rosemary a bit much, but I thought it was fabulous - judge for yourself where your preferences lie and adjust the recipe accordingly. And in case you slept really late today - this recipe isn't just a brunch - it is just as good as a supper.


Goat's Cheese, Potato and Rosemary Tortilla
adapted from Alex Kearns of Glebe Point Diner in Vogue Entertaining

2 tbl olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic thinly sliced
350 g potatoes cooked, peeled and sliced
3 sprigs of rosemary, chopped
6 large eggs
100g goats cheese fetta

Preheat oven to 190C. Heat oil in a 22cm oven proof fry pan, then add onion. Cook onion over medium heat until it becomes translucent. Add garlic and continue cook for another 2 minutes. Stir in potatoes and rosemary. Crack eggs into a bowl without stirring, then tip into the pan. Use a wooden spoon to break the yolks and fold the eggs into the mixture. Press cheese into the tortilla. Transfer to the oven for 5-8 minutes or until the egg is set (if you are using a cast iron pan this will take longer). Cool for five minutes then remove and serve.