Fruit Loaf

Now that I have sworn off baking & the making of all things sweet temporarily I managed to sneak in this lovely fruit loaf this weekend telling myself it was bread & not a cake so allowed. I don’t make bread very often but every now & again I get a hankering for it, especially after Megan dropped in for lunch the other day & brought along a fabulous loaf that her husband had baked that morning, very impressive & not something Michael would ever do or most husbands/boyfriends I know of for that matter! The recipe comes from Jamie Oliver Return of the Naked Chef & was delicious, its quite a heavy loaf as I find most fruit breads are, but slathered with a little butter it is perfect for breakfast or a snack & I can imagine in a couple of days will go well in the toaster too, it makes a massive loaf which will last for ages.

Fruit Loaf

30g fresh yeast or 3 x 7g sachets of dried yeast

30g sugar or honey

625ml tepid water

1kg strong bread flour

30g salt

extra flour for dusting

Fruit Mix

a pinch of ground cinnamon
1 clove, ground
200g dried apricots
100g dried dates
200g dried raisins

Firstly you need to get your fruit mix ready. Put all ingredients in a food processor & chop very finely.

Now to make the bread

Stage 1. Dissolve the yeast & sugar in half the tepid water.

Stage 2. On a large clean surface or in a large bowl, make a pile of the flour & salt. With one hand make a well in the centre & pour in all of the dissolved yeast & sugar mixture, with your fingers make circular movements, from the centre working outwards, slowly bringing in the dry ingredients until all yeast mixture is soaked up. Then pour the other half of the tepid water & the fruit mix into the centre & gradually incorporate all the flour to make a moist dough. If needed add a little extra water & also note that you may not need to use all of the water as the dried fruit retains water too, you will have to watch the dough carefully & be the judge. For mine I used the exact quantities.

Stage 3. Knead for 5 minutes & if any sticks to your hands just rub together with a little extra flour.

Stage 4. Flour both hands now & lightly flour the top of the dough. Make into a roundish shape & place on a baking tray. Score the dough with a knife. Leave the dough covered in glad wrap to prove in a warm, moist, draught free place, it needs to double in size, about 40 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200c.

Stage 5. Take the proved dough & bash the air out, then shape into a round & place on a floured baking tray to double in size again, about 40 minutes.

Stage 6. Bake in a preheated oven for 50 mins to 1 hour. Loaf will be cooked when it sounds hollow when tapped. Allow to cool for 30 minutes before eating.

Sicilian Roasted Fish with lemon, anchovies, capers & rosemary

Last night we had this delicious fish from Jamie Oliver’s Happy Days. The recipe called for Brill, turbot or halibut steaks which I’m not sure if you can even get here in Australia, certainly not at my local fish shop anyway so I used some lovely Blue Eye fillets instead. All of the flavours give the fish a beautiful flavour & I found no additional lemon or seasoning was required at all, it was perfect the way it came out of the oven. Also for the fist time ever I actually really enjoyed the anchovies, these being one item I was never that fond of when whole & only coped with when incorporated into sauces, stews, etc, amazing how your taste buds change over time. I served it with a simple baked potato & some salad.

Sicilian Roasted Fish with lemon, anchovies, capers & rosemary

1 handful of fresh rosemary, leaves picked
extra virgin olive oil
4 x 200g brill, turbot, halibut or blue eye tranches/steaks
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 large unwaxed lemons, finely sliced
1 large handful of salted capers, soaked
8 good anchovy fillers
a splash of white wine or prosecco

Preheat the oven to 200c. Bruise your rosemary in a pestle & mortar to bring out the flavour. Add 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil & scrunch together. Pat half of this flavoured oil round the fish, season well & put into an earthenware dish or roasting pan. Lay 4 or 5 thin slices of lemon over each steak, sprinkle over your capers & drape over the anchovies. Drizzle with remaining flavoured oil & bake for around 15 minutes off the bone or 25 minutes on the bone. Now you could splash the wine in if you like. Remove from the oven & allow to rest, like a steak for 5 minutes.

Mushroom Pizzetta

Friday nights used to be take away night in our house until I turned into a stay at home mum, now I usually cook for 2 reasons, a) as you know I love it and b) – a bad pizza a couple of months ago put me off take away. As Michael used to love take away night & the most common food was pizza I decided to make my own using this unusual recipe from Delicious provided by Jamie Oliver. The pancetta is actually chopped up & forms part of the base which I haven’t seen before. You couldn’t really taste pancetta itself though I do think the dough definitely was improved by this, it was salty (not too much) and the overall flavour was enhanced, of course you could just put it in top! One tip, make sure the oven is really, really hot before you put the pizza in or the base will not crisp up, mine was a bit on the soft side but I know for next time to just pump the oven right up. In the end I would much rather eat this than a take away & it really wasn’t all that difficult or time consuming either.

Mushroom Pizzetta

1 garlic clove
A sprig of fresh thyme, leaves picked
Extra virgin olive oil
2 handfuls (200g) mixed mushrooms, wiped & sliced thinly
250g Taleggio cheese, thinly sliced
A few handfuls of rocket

Pizza Dough
100g sliced pancetta
500g plain flour
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp (10g) dried yeast

For the dough, pulse the pancetta in a food processor until finely chopped. Add the flour & pulse to combine. Add 350ml lukewarm water, sugar & yeast in that order & stand for 10-15 minutes until the yeast starts to foam. Pulse once again to mix, then cover the feed tube of the processor & leave the dough to prove for 20-30 minutes until doubled in size.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220c. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

Bash the garlic, thyme and a pinch of salt in a pestle & mortar. Stir in 3 tablespoons of olive oil.

Pulse the dough gently in the food processor to break up a little. On a floured surface, knead the dough briefly until smooth. Cut the dough into 6 or 8 small lumps or 2 big ones, using a rolling pin, roll out into circles & place on the baking trays. Brush with the garlic & thyme oil, scatter with the sliced mushrooms & top with the cheese. Drizzle with more garlic oil, sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper & bake for 15-20 minutes until the bases are puffed & cooked through. Toss the rocket in a little olive oil & the lemon juice & scatter over the top of the pizza before serving.

Caponata (Sicilian Eggplant Stew)

Since my mum started growing eggplants & doesn’t really use that many herself, I am always on the lookout for new ways to cook them. This is a lovely recipe from Jamie Oliver’s Italy, he says it can be eaten as a cold starter or a warm side, we served it along side some meat & mash. I also tried out the leftovers from the fridge cold as suggested but I think the lovely warm wintery flavours are lost & I will continue to heat it up to eat nice & hot. The eggplant is lovely & creamy & as always the tomatoes are lovely with it. The olives, capers & vinegar all blend in nicely to give it a slightly sour flavour which is nice for something a bit different.

Caponata (Sicilian Eggplant Stew)

Olive oil
2 nice large purple eggplants, cut into large chunks
1 heaped teaspoon dried oregano
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 small red onion, peeled & finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled & finely sliced
a small bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley, leaves picked & stalks finely chopped
2 tablespoons salted capers, rinsed, soaked & drained
a handful of green olives, stones removed
2-3 tablespoons herb vinegar
5 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
optional: 2 tablespoons slivered almonds, lightly toasted

In a large frying pan, pour in a couple of glugs of olive oil & place over heat. Add the eggplant & oregano, season with a little salt & toss around so the eggplant is evenly coated with oil. Cook on high heat for about 4-5 minutes, giving the pan a shake every now & then. When the eggplant is nice & golden all over, add the onion, garlic & parsley stalks & continue cooking for another couple of minutes. Feel free to add a little more oil to the pan if it’s getting too dry. Throw in the drained capers and the olives & drizzle over the vinegar. When all the vinegar has evaporated, add the tomatoes & simmer for about 15 minutes or until tender. Taste before serving & season if needed with salt & pepper & a little more vinegar. Drizzle with some good olive oil & serve sprinkled with the chopped parsley leaves & almonds if you like.

Salmon fillet wrapped in prosciutto with herby lentils, spinach & yoghurt

Here is a simple dinner for when you’ve been running around all day & don’t have much energy left, it comes from Jamie Oliver’s Return of the Naked Chef. The prosciutto gives the salmon a lovely salty kick.

Salmon fillet wrapped in prosciutto with herby lentils, spinach & yoghurt

255g lentils
4 x 225g salmon fillets, skinned & pin-boned
salt & freshly ground black pepper
8 slices of prosciutto
olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
2 good handfuls of mixed herbs (parsley, basil, mint), chopped
3 large handfuls of spinach, chopped
200ml natural yoghurt

Preheat the oven to 220c. Put the lentils into a pan, cover with water, bring to the boil & simmer until tender. Season the salmon fillets with a little pepper before wrapping them in the prosciutto slices. Leave some of the flesh exposed. Drizzle with olive oil & roast in the oven for around 10 minutes until the prosciutto is golden. Drain away most of the water away from the lentils & season carefully with salt, pepper, the lemon juice and 4 good lugs of olive oil. Just before serving, stir the herbs & spinach into the lentils on a high heat, until wilted. Place on to plates with the salmon & finish with a drizzle of lightly seasoned yoghurt.

Slow Cooked Shoulder of Lamb with Roasted Vegetables & Shepherd’s Pie

Yesterday I made this slow cooked roast from Jamie Oliver’s Jamie’s Dinners & turned it into a pie as suggested. The aroma in the kitchen all afternoon, not too mention the lovely warmth filling the house was wonderful. When it came out of the oven though I was a little disappointed to find that even after 4 hours my lamb was a little tough & wasn’t the greatest cut of meat – may have to rethink my butcher. Apart from that, the flavours were wonderful & the roasted veggies had that sweet, garlicky flavour from all of the juices, much nicer than the traditional mince meat, bland shepherd’s pie of old.

Slow Cooked Shoulder of Lamb with Roasted Vegetables & Shepherd’s Pie

1 x 2.25kg shoulder of lamb, bone in
olive oil
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 whole bulb of garlic, broken into cloves
a handful of fresh rosemary sprigs
2 red onions, peeled & quartered
3 carrots, peeled & roughly chopped
2 sticks of celery, cut into pieces
1 large leek or 2-3 baby leeks, trimmed & cut into pieces
a handful of ripe tomatoes, halved
2 bay leaves
a handful of fresh thyme sprigs
2 x 400g tins of good quality plum tomatoes
1 bottle of red wine
Potatoes (For Mashing)

Preheat oven to 200c. Rub the lamb with oil, salt & pepper & put it into a roasting tray. Using a sharp knife, make small incisions all over the lamb & poke rosemary leaves & some quartered cloves of garlic into each one. Add the rest of the garlic cloves, the onions, carrots, celery, leeks and fresh tomatoes to the tray, then tuck the remaining herbs under the meat. Pour the tinned tomatoes over the top, followed by the wine. Cover the tray tightly with a double layer of foil & put it into the oven. Turn down the oven to 170c & cook for 3 ½ to 4 hours, until the lamb is soft, melting & sticky & you can pull it apart with a fork. Gently break up the meat, pull out the bones & extract any herby stalks. Squeeze the garlic out of the skins & mush it in. Shred the lamb, and check the seasoning.

To turn this into a shepherd’s pie, transfer the lamb & veggies to a casserole dish, cover with mash potato, add a sprig of rosemary & bake in the oven at 200c for 35 minutes until golden.

Spring Minestrone with Pesto

This weeks soup is Jamie Oliver’s Spring Minestrone from Jamie’s Kitchen – I’m sure he would forgive me for making this in Autumn! The pesto on top is a nice touch which boosts the flavour wonderfully. As you can see from the photo it is not the most photogenic of soups but it is packed full of fresh healthy veggies & I think I can safely say I have now filled my fiber content for the week!

Spring Minestrone

6 heaped tablespoons fresh pesto (see recipe below)
1.5 litres chicken, ham or vegetable stock
1 bulb fennel
100g fine asparagus
2 Romanesco or 1 large cauliflower
6 baby courgettes
6 plum tomatoes
extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 bunch of spring onions, finely chopped
100g green beans, finely sliced
100g yellow beans, finely sliced
100g peas, podded
100g broad beans, podded
100g spaghetti, broken up (or other small soup pasta)
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 small handful of green or purple basil
1 small handful chives

Bring a pot of stock to the boil. Then prepare all of the vegetables & put to the side. The fennel has to be halved, sliced & finely chopped, the asparagus needs to have the woody ends removed, the stalks finely sliced & the tips left whole, the cauliflowers need to be divided into small florets, the courgettes need to be quartered lengthways & finely chopped & finely the tomatoes need to be blanched. Cut them in half, remove the pips & finely slice.

In a casserole type pan (quite wide but not very deep) put 5 tablespoons of olive oil & heat the pan on medium heat. Add the garlic, spring onions & fennel & gently fry without coloring at all for about 15 minutes. Then add the rest of your prepared vegetables, the pasta & your boiling stock. Bring to the boil, simmer for about 10 minutes, season & serve in big bowls with a dollop of fresh pesto in the middle & a sprinkling of chopped basil & chives & a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Pesto

¼ clove of garlic, chopped
3 good handfuls of fresh basil, leaves picked & chopped
1 handful of pinenuts, very lightly toasted
1 good handful of grated parmesan cheese
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
optional: small squeeze of lemon juice

Pound the garlic with a little pinch of salt & the basil leaves in a pestle & mortar: or pulse in a food processor. Add a bit more garlic if you like. Add the pinenuts to them mixture & pound again. Turn out into a bowl & add half the parmesan. Stir gently & add olive oil – you need just enough to bind the sauce to get it to an oozy consistency.

Season to taste, then add the rest of the cheese. Pour in some more oil & taste again. Keep adding a bit more cheese or oil until you are happy with the taste & consistency. It may need a squeeze of lemon juice at the end but it’s not essential.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Happy Birthday to me! To celebrate I had my friends over for an afternoon bbq, the sun was out, the rain stayed away (Not that we want the rain to stay away forever but it was nice just for the day!) & it was a beautiful afternoon. To fulfill everyone’s sweet tooth’s I made up this batch of brownies from Nigella Lawson’s How to be a Domestic Goddess. They were very nice though my favourites are still the cherry brownies from Jamie Oliver’s latest book. Also they weren’t quite cooked after the specified 25 minutes & even after leaving them for a few extra minutes I think I still took them out too early as the recipe put the fear of God into me that they would turn out crumbly & horrible if left too long. This was definitely not a problem with the center being almost gooey rather than chewy although they did hold their form so maybe this was how they were supposed to turn out, who knows, I have just discovered brownie cooking & am no expert as yet, will have to keep experimenting.

Brownies

375g soft unsalted butter
375g dark chocolate
6 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
500g caster sugar
225g plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
300g chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 180. Line a 33 x 23 x 5.5cm tin with baking paper. Melt the butter and chocolate together in a large heavy based pan. In a bowl or jug, beat the eggs with the sugar & vanilla. Measure the flour into another bowl & add the salt.

When the chocolate mixture has melted, let it cool a bit before beating in the eggs & sugar, and then the nuts & flour. Neat to combine smoothly then scrape out of the pan & into the lined tin.

Bake for about 25 minutes. When it’s ready, the top should be dried to a paler brown speckle, but the middle still dark & dense & gooey. And even with such a big batch you do need to keep alert, keep checking: the difference between gungy brownies & dry brownies is only a few minutes, remember they will continue to cook as they cool. Makes a maximum of 48.

Roast Leg of Lamb with Rosemary & Garlic.

This is what happens when you need to feed your baby just as the roast needs carving & you forget to yell out ‘Take a photo!’, you end up with a photo of bones. Yes, for Michael’s birthday I had the family over for dinner which meant 10 people, so what is the easiest & most delicious thing to cook for those numbers, especially when you have a 10 week old baby not letting you spend much time in the kitchen? That’s right, the good old Aussie favourite, Roast Lamb. I used Jamie Oliver’s recipe from the original Naked Chef for a simple Rosemary & Garlic flavouring, I think this combination is probably the best you can do to a lamb roast. So easy too, bash it all together, whack it in the oven, follow with some veggies, whisk up a gravy at the end & walla, a magnificent birthday feast (at least I hope they all thought so).

Roast Leg of Lamb with Rosemary & Garlic.

1 leg of lamb (about 2kg)
½ lemon
1 handful of picked fresh rosemary
salt
1 clove of garlic
olive oil
some extra bunches of rosemary

Slice of small pieces of skin about the size of a 5 cent piece at random around the leg of lamb. Lightly rub with the lemon. With a knife, follow the bone down about 10-12 cm. Do this from the top end and the bottom end. Using a mortar & pestle, smash up a small handful of picked rosemary with 1 teaspoon salt. Add the garlic & ½ tablespoon olive oil and pound again. Rub this mixture on to the exposed flesh & push into the gaps you have made with the knife next to the bone. Season the skin with salt, and then sprinkle it with rosemary. Tie lots of branches of rosemary around the meat. Put a little oil in a hot roasting tray, add the lamb, & roast it in the oven at 225c, turning every 30 minutes.

Cooking times
Pink – 10 Minutes for every 450g plus 20 minutes
Medium – 13 minutes for every 450g plus 20 minutes
Well Done – 20 minutes for every 450g plus 20 minutes.

Always rest the meat for at least 10 minutes before carving.

Spaghetti con Gamberetti e Rucola (Spaghetti with Prawns & Rocket)

This is a lovely version of one of my favourite combinations, prawns, chilli, garlic & spaghetti. The addition of lemon juice & sun dried tomato puree gives it an extra nice tangy taste. The recipe comes from Jamie’s Italy.

Spaghetti con Gamberetti e Rucola (Spaghetti with Prawns & Rocket)

455g dried spaghetti
sea salt & freshly ground black peper
extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, peeled & finely chopped
1-2 dried red chillies, crumbled
400g peeled raw prawns
1 small wineglass of white wine
2 heaped tablespoons of sun dried tomato puree or 6 sun dried tomatoes blitzed in a blender
zest & juice of 1 lemon
2 handfuls of rocket, roughly chopped

Cook your spaghetti in a large pan of salted boiling water according to packet instructions. Meanwhile, heat 3 good glugs of olive oil in a large frying pan & toss in the garlic & chilli. As the garlic begins to colour, add the prawns & sauté them for a minute. Add the white wine & tomato puree & simmer for a couple of minutes. When the pasta is ready, drain & reserve a little of the cooking water. Toss the spaghetti with the sauce, squeeze in the lemon juice, add half the chopped rocket, adding a little of the reserved water if the sauce needs loosening a bit. Correct the seasoning & serve sprinkled with lemon zest & remaining rocket.

Jam Roly Poly & a letter from the past

Yesterday my mum was over for the day to help out & hangout with Chloe. To amuse me she brought over some of my old school essays & other mementos that I hadn’t seen in years, in fact I can’t even remember writing any of them. They all had me in stitches, stories of running away from home, robbing the town snobs & setting up house in the Hilton Hotel to a plane crash in Columbia where I met Scott Carne (for those of you who remember he was the lead singer of Kids in The Kitchen & my first love!) & lived happily ever after with him. Amongst these treasures was this letter to my parents declaring what I wanted for Christmas, I found it hysterical & had to share it, I was in about grade 5 or 6 when I wrote it, I hope you find it amusing too.

Anyway all of this reminiscing reminded me of the Jam Roly Poly that I learned to make in home economics in Year 7 & which I used to cook up for dessert all of the time when I was a teen, I don’t think I’ve made it since I left home 15 or so years ago so of course it had to be done, with some adjustments – I added fresh strawberries which gave the syrup a berry flavour & changed it quite a bit, either way is great. And as you can see I did start my love of cooking early, in fact in one of the papers my mum brought over I declared cooking to be my favourite subject at School & she also had my old primary school black & white photography license & what do I do in my spare time now, funny how things end up isn’t it?

Jam Roly Poly

Scone Dough
1 cup self raising flour
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon of butter
½ cup milk

Syrup
1 Cup water
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon golden syrup
juice of half a lemon

Strawberry Jam
Strawberries, hulled & cut in half (optional)

Sift the flour & salt into a bowl & rub in the butter with your fingertips until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the milk to form a dough & roll into an oblong.

Meanwhile bring to the boil all of the syrup ingredients.

Spread jam on the dough & top with fresh strawberries if desired. Roll up lengthways & place roll into a cake tin. Pour over the syrup & bake in the oven at 200c for 35-40 minutes. Serve with custard.

Chicken & Sweet Leek Pie with Flaky Pastry

This is another dish from Jamie Oliver’s Jamie’s Dinners in his top ten. It’s a pretty good pie, I’m a pie fan loving any type of pastry dish so this was a winner for me, a good combination including lots of veggies & the filling was not too runny as I find a lot of pie recipes are. One note however, the recipe is to serve 4, once you add the mash & any other sides you will get at least 6 very generous serves out of it & that’s saying something as Michael & I are pretty big eaters (I hate to admit it but its true, can you tell?)

Chicken & Sweet Leek Pie with Flaky Pastry

Olive Oil
2 knobs of butter
1kg boned & skinned chicken legs (cut into pieces) – I used thigh fillets
2 medium leeks, trimmed, washed & sliced into 1cm pieces
2 carrots, peeled & roughly chopped
3 sticks of celery, finely sliced
a small handful of thyme, leaves picked
2 tablespoons flour
1 wineglass of white wine
285ml/1/2 pint milk
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
255g good pork sausages
1 x 500g pack of all butter puff pastry (or a couple of sheets of ready rolled as I used)
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 220c. Take a large casserole pot & add a lug of olive oil & the butter. Add the chicken, leeks, carrots, celery & thyme & cook slowly on the hob for 15 minutes. Turn the heat right up, add the flour, and keep stirring for a couple of minutes before adding the wine, a wineglass of water & the milk. Season with a little salt & pepper, then cover with a tight fitting lid & simmer very slowly on the hob for about 30-40 minutes until the chicken is tender. Stir it every so often so it doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pan. The sauce should be loose but quite thick. If it’s too liquid, just continue to simmer it with the lid off until it thickens slightly.

Pour the mixture into a pie dish. Squeeze the meat out of the sausage skins, roll it into balls, brown then in a little oil & sprinkle them over the stew. Roll out your pastry to about 0.5cm thick. Egg wash the rim of the dish & drape the pastry over the edges & trim. Egg wash the top, crimp the edges & cut criss crosses into the top to allow the pastry to go crisp & flaky. Cook in the oven for about 30 to 40 minutes, until golden on top. Serve with sweetcorn & mash.

Not so Purple Potato Salad

Another potato salad from Jamie Oliver, this one from Jamie’s Kitchen. I made this for my Barbie on the weekend, it is supposed to use purple potatoes which of course I couldn’t find, if anyone has seen any in Melbourne please enlighten me & let me know where. The salad was nice though I have to say it wasn’t anything special, some of his others are much tastier. I think the trick is the purple potatoes, they would make it look great so next time I find some I will give them a go.

Purple Potato Salad

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1-2 lemons, to taste
255g crème fraiche or fromage frais
500g baby new potatoes
500g purple potatoes
sea salt 7 freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch radishes, finely sliced
1 handful of fresh mint leaves, chopped
1 handful of chives, chopped

Make the dressing by mixing together the olive oil, lemon juice and crème fraiche. Cook the potatoes in plenty if boiling salted water for around 20 minutes until tender & drain well. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle rub off the skins with a knife and slice into bite size pieces. Mix with the dressing, then add the radishes and herbs & season well to taste.

Salmon with Horseradish & Beets

This recipe comes from Jamie Oliver’s Happy Days with the Naked Chef, under the chapter, Quick Fixes which is exactly what I needed last night being busy prepping some stuff for the bbq we’re having today. It was very quick apart from boiling the beets, I had giant ones as no babies in the shops & they took quite a while so you need to get them started pretty early on. The beets were fantastic, this was a lovely way to serve them & I loved the marinade, the marjoram really stood out & has a lovely & unusual (to me) flavour, I have some growing on my herb shelf so nice to find good uses for it. If I had known how nice they would turn out I would have bought heaps & made a bowl for the Barbie today! Also the horseradish cream brought it all together, going very well with both the salmon & the beets.

Salmon with Horseradish & Beets

2 x 225g Salmon fillets, pin boned & scored ½ cm deep
salt & freshly ground black pepper
6-8 baby beetroots, cooked until tender then sliced
1 small handful of marjoram, leaves picked
extra virgin olive oil
balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons crème fraiche
2 tablespoons creamed horseradish
juice of 1 lemon
a handful of rocket or watercress

Add your salmon fillets, skin side down, to a hot non-stick pan. Lightly press them with a spatula so they don’t curl up. After a minute they should be lightly golden. Turn the salmon over, sprinkle with salt & then place under a grill for 10-15 minutes until just cooked. While cooking, marinate your beetroots with the marjoram, a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar & seasoning. Mix the crème fraiche with the horseradish & season to taste, carefully, with salt, pepper & lemon juice. Place the beets & salmon on your serving plate, sprinkle over the rocket & drizzle with the horseradish sauce.

Carrot Cake with Lime Mascarpone Icing

The other day I had people in and out so I baked this pleasing cake from Jamie Oliver’s Cook with Jamie. Whilst it turned out very nice in the end it wasn’t without some drama. Firstly I have an electric fan forced oven that usually cooks perfectly as per recipe instructions or if anything faster so I was surprised when after cooking for a bit over the recommended 50 minutes and a skewer coming out clean, I left it for 10 minutes then went to turn it out & it started dripping out!!! Maybe I should have left for 5 seconds as recommended, I thought he was just being fussy in the recipe. I was not happy so I quickly turned the oven back on & stuck it in for another 20 minutes or so by which time it was finally cooked. After all of that fussing it did break in half when turning out but I managed to patch it back together with the very yummy icing which tasted just like cheesecake & a not too sweet one at that. I also had heaps of icing left over & I iced the sides too.

Carrot Cake with Lime Mascarpone Icing

285g unsalted butter, softened
285g light brown soft sugar
5 large eggs, separated
zest and juice of 1 orange
170g self raising flour, sifted
1 slightly heaped teaspoon of baking powder
115g ground almonds
115g shelled walnuts, chopped, plus a handful for serving
1 heaped teaspoon cinnamon
a pinch of ground cloves
a pinch of ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground ginger
285g carrots, peeled & coarsely grated
sea salt

Icing
115g Mascarpone cheese
225g full fat cream cheese
85g icing sugar, sifted
zest & juice of 2 limes

Preheat the oven to 180c. Grease and line a 22cm square or round cake tin with greaseproof paper. Beat the butter & sugar until light & fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks one by one, and add the orange zest & juice. Stir in the flour & baking powder & add the ground almonds, walnuts, spices & carrot & mix together well.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff, then gently fold them in the cake mix. Scoop the mixture into the prepared cake tin & cook for about 50 minutes until golden & risen. Check to see if cooked by poking in a cocktail stick, remove after 5 seconds & if it comes out clean the cake is cooked. If sticky it needs a bit longer so put back in the oven. Once cooked, leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn onto a wire rack to cool for at least an hour.

Mix all the icing ingredients together & spread generously over the top of the cake. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts & serve.

Pasta e Ceci (Pasta with chickpeas)

This soup/pasta dish is a hearty warmer for those chilly autumn nights that we are now having, nice & thick & full of goodness yet still light enough not to be too much to handle. From Jamie Oliver’s Italy. Note that the recipe at the end says if the soup is a little thick add some boiling water, mine was so thick it needed heaps of water added & it still remained nice & thick.

Pasta e ceci (Pasta with chickpeas)

1 small onion, peeled & finely chopped
1 stick of celery, trimmed & finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled & finely chopped
extra virgin olive oil
a sprig of fresh rosemary, leaves picked & finely chopped
2 x 400g tins of chickpeas
500ml chicken stock
100g ditalini or other small Italian ‘soup’ pasta
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
optional: a small handful of fresh basil or parsley, leaves picked & torn

Put the onion, celery & garlic into a saucepan with a little extra virgin olive oil & the rosemary & cook gently with the lid on for about 15 to 20 minutes, until all the vegetables are soft, without any color.

Drain your chickpeas well & rinse them in cold water. Then add them to the pan & cover with the stock. Cook gently for half an hour then using a slotted spoon, remove half the chickpeas & put them to one side in a bowl.

Puree the soup in the pan using a handheld blender. Add the reserved whole chickpeas & the pasta, season with salt & pepper, and simmer gently until the chickpeas are tender & the pasta is cooked.

At this point, if the soup is a little thick, pour in some boiling water from the kettle to thin it down & add more salt & pepper if needed. Serve drizzled with good quality extra virgin olive oil & sprinkled with some freshly torn basil.

Fifteen Chocolate Brownies

Wow, I can’t believe I’ve never made brownies before. These are such an intensely good chocolate hit & so easy to make, not even one electrical appliance needed, need I say more. The recipe is from Cook with Jamie, I skipped the nuts as Michael is a bit allergic & I need him to help me eat them or I’ll end up eating the entire tray myself. Also I used glace cherries as for the life of me I couldn’t find any type of dried cherry out there, if anyone knows where in Melbourne I can pick these up please help as I have a couple of recipes that call for them though the glace cherries seemed to work quite well & I didn’t want to go without as Michael loves a cherry ripe & therefore anything chocolaty that uses cherries too. Yum!

Fifteen Chocolate Brownies

250g unsalted butter
200g dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids, broken up
optional: 150g dried sour cherries
optional: 150g chopped nuts
80g cocoa powder, sifted
65g plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
350g caster sugar
4 large free range eggs
optional: zest of 1 orange
optional: 250ml crème fraiche

Preheat oven to 180c. Line a 30cm rectangular baking tin with greaseproof paper. In a large bowl over some simmering water, melt the butter & chocolate & mix until smooth. Add the cherries & nuts (if using) & stir together. In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa, flour, baking powder & sugar, then add this to the chocolate & stir well together. Beat the eggs & mix in until you have a silky consistency.

Pour your mixture into the tray & place in the oven for around 25 minutes. Don’t overcook them, the skewer should not come out clean. The brownies should be slightly springy on the outside but still gooey in the middle. Allow to cool in the tray then transfer to a large chopping board & cut into chunky squares. Serve with a dollop of crème fraiche mixed with orange zest or eat them as they are.

Roast Chicken with Lemon & Rosemary Roast Potatoes

Now that we are having some lovely cool autumn nights I thought it was the perfect time for a Sunday night roast. Jamie Oliver lists this as one of his top 10 recipes in Jamie’s Dinners, and who wouldn’t, a roast definitely has to be on everyone’s favorites lists, doesn’t it? This one differs from the norm in that the chicken is stuffed with lemon, garlic & herbs & the potatoes are parboiled with the lemon & garlic before roasting to make them nice & crisp. It was a beautiful roast, juicy & tender & the potatoes were gorgeous & crispy on the outside even though they didn’t brown up that much & they were fluffy & soft on the inside, as you can see I also added pumpkin which I cant go without when doing a roast & it was delicious also. Mmmm, looking forward to more roasts in the coming cooler months.

Roast Chicken with Lemon & Rosemary Roast Potatoes

1 x 2kg free range organic chicken
sea salt& freshly ground black pepper
2kg potatoes, peeled
1 large, preferably unwaxed lemon
1 whole bulb of garlic, broken into cloves
a handful of thyme
olive oil
a handful of fresh rosemary sprigs, leaves picked
optional: 8 rashers of smoked streaky bacon

Rub the chicken inside & out with a generous amount of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Do this in the morning if possible, then cover the chicken & leave in the fridge until you’re ready to start cooking it.

Preheat oven to 190c. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Cut the potatoes into golf sized pieces, put them in the water with the whole lemon & the garlic cloves, and cook for 12 minutes. Drain & allow to steam dry for 1 minute (this gives you crispier potatoes), then remove the lemon & garlic. Toss the potatoes in the pan while still hot so their outsides get chuffed up & fluffy – this will make them nice & crispy when roasted.

While the lemon is still hot, stab it about 10 times. Take the chicken out of the fridge, pat it with kitchen paper & rub it all over with olive oil. Push the garlic cloves, the whole lemon & the thyme into the cavity, then put the chicken into a roasting tray & cook in the oven for around 45 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate. Toss the potatoes in the pan with the rosemary in the fat that has cooked out of the chicken, then make a gap in the centre & put the chicken back in. If using the bacon, lay the rashers over the chicken breast & cook for a further 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked & the potatoes are nice & golden.
Remove the bacon & crumble over the potatoes. Remove the lemon & garlic from inside the chicken, squeeze the garlic flesh out of the skin, mush it up & smear over the chicken, discard the lemon & rosemary & serve

Apple Pie

After all my apple recipes I’ve tried this season thks to the tree out the back I cant believe it has taken me so long to get to the good old classical apple pie. With nearly the last of my Granny Smiths I made this superb version from Jamie Oliver’s Jamie’s Dinners. The recipe suggests a mix of both cooking & eating apples however I stuck to the Granny Smiths & it was excellent, my mum proclaimed it was about the best she has eaten & was amazed at how easy the pastry was to make from scratch & of course the result no comparison to the frozen variety at all.

Apple Pie

Pastry
225g flour
140g butter
85g caster sugar
finely grated rind of 1 lemon
2 egg yolks

Filling
A small knob of butter
Flour, for dusting
1 large Bramley cooking apple
4 eating apples
3 tablespoons Demerarra or muscovado sugar
zest of ½ a lemon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
a handful of sultanas or raisins
1 egg yolk mixed with a splash of milk

Preheat oven to 150c. To make the pastry, in a food processor, whiz up the flour, butter, caster sugar & lemon rind, then add the egg yolk & a tiny drop of water to bind the mix together. Butter a 20cm inch metal pie dish (metal is supposed to conduct heat better & cook the bottom at the same time as the top – I used a ceramic dish with no ill effects).

Divide your pastry dough into two & roll half of it out on a flour dusted surface until 0.5cm thick. Lay the pastry in the metal dish & gently push it down into the sides. Don’t worry if it tears or breaks, just patch it up. Pop the pie dish & remaining half of the pastry into the fridge, peel your apples, core & cut into eighths. Toss them into a pan with the sugar, lemon zest, ginger, sultanas or raisins & a tablespoon of water. Simmer gently for 5 minutes or until the apples are just tender. Remove from heat & allow to cool completely.

Remove the pie dish from the fridge & pack the apple mix tightly into the dish. Egg wash the pastry rim & then roll out the remaining pastry & drape over the top of the pie. Roughly pinch the edges together & trim any excess pastry. Egg wash the top, make a couple of small incisions & bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes. Serve hot with ice cream, cream, custard or whatever takes your fancy.

Amazing Potato and Horseradish Salad with fine herbs & Bresaola.

Having a Polish & Lithuanian background I absolutely love the humble potato salad & am always on the lookout for new recipes using them. This salad from Jamie Oliver’s new Book ‘Cook with Jamie’ took my fancy right away & the other night I got around to making it made it. I didn’t serve it with bresaola as per the recipe, instead I served it along side a nice juicy steak for a bit more substance. The salad was delicious, I also am a huge fan of horseradish & sour cream so it was the perfect combination for me & one that will definitely be made again & again. I have included the entire recipe for those of you that want to serve as suggested.

Amazing Potato and Horseradish Salad with fine herbs & Bresaola.

680g new potatoes, scrubbed
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
juice of 2 lemons
½ a celery heart, yellow leaves only reserved & rest finely sliced
a bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley, leaves picked & chopped
2-3 teaspoons of grated horseradish
3 heaped tablespoons of crème fraiche or sour cream
24 slices or bresaola or cold roast beef
a bunch of fresh tarragon, leaves picked
extra virgin olive oil

Boil the potatoes in a pot of salted water until nicely cooked. Drain them & allow to cool for 5 minutes while making the dressing.

Pour most of the lemon juice into a large bowl and add a good pinch of salt, some pepper, the celery, parsley & horseradish. Mix in the crème fraiche or sour cream. While they’re still hot, cut the potatoes in half or quarters & add to the bowl. Season carefully with more salt & pepper & toss everything together. Have a taste & add more lemon juice if needed.

In the meantime, overlap 6 slices of bresaola in a circle on each plate, pile the salad in the middle & then draw up the edges of the meat. Sprinkle over tarragon & celery leaves, drizzle with a little olive oil & serve.

Serves 4