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.

Soft Polenta with Wine Lamb

This week my new experience for my mum & dad was polenta which they again had never tried before. I used this recipe from Marie Claire’s Cooking, which had parmesan, butter & mascarpone added to it to provide an irresistible, creamy & cheesy polenta. This topped with the gorgeous lamb cutlets & rich red wine & quince sauce was a match well made & they were very impressed so I’m happy to have turned them on to another exciting food staple.

Soft Polenta with Wine Lamb

4 cups hot water
1 ¼ cups polenta
sea salt & pepper
65g butter
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ cup mascarpone
cracked black pepper
8 lamb cutlets
½ cup red wine
½ cup beef stock
2 tablespoons quince paste

To cook polenta, place water in a heavy based saucepan over medium heat. Allow water to come to a slow simmer. Slowly pour polenta into water while whisking to combine. Reduce heat to as low as possible. Stir polenta occasionally with a wooden spoon for 40-45 minutes. Polenta is cooked when it comes away from the sides of the pan. Stir salt, pepper, butter, parmesan, mascarpone & extra pepper through polenta & keep warm.

Place a frying pan over high heat, add cutlets & cook for 2 minutes on each side or until they are cooked medium. Remove from pan & keep warm. Add wine, stock & quince paste to pan & simmer for 5 minutes or until sauce has thickened.

Serve lamb on polenta with sauce spooned over. Serves 4.

Fresh Tomato Pasta

I picked up some fresh organic tomatoes from my local health food shop this week to make this fabulous pasta dish, Using the finest ingredients means the sauce doesn’t even need cooking, the hot spaghetti is enough to heat it through a little. The recipe comes from Bill Granger’s Sydney Food & is superb.

Fresh Tomato Pasta

1kg vine ripened tomatoes
1 tablespoon sea salt
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
juice & zest of 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 small red chilli, finely chopped
freshly ground black pepper
300g spaghetti
1 cup lightly packed basil leaves, torn

To serve
Parmigiano Reggiano

Score a cross in the base of each tomato. Place tomatoes in a large bowl & pour boiling water over them. Drain after 10 seconds, then peel the skin away from the cross. Halve the tomatoes, and press halves to squeeze out seeds & excess juice. Chop tomato flesh roughly, place in a sieve over a bowl & sprinkle with sea salt. Leave to drain for half an hour.

Place drained tomatoes, olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice & zest, garlic, chilli and pepper in a bowl & stir. Leave for 20 minutes, for flavours to combine.

Cook the spaghetti in rapidly boiling salted water according to packet instructions. Drain well. Toss through tomatoes with freshly torn basil leaves, and serve with freshly shaved Parmigiano Reggiano. Serves 4.

Italian Sausages with Lentils

What to do with leftover uncooked sausages from the Barbie when you’re not a snag fan? Flicking through my books I have earmarked a few recipes using snags so hopefully they will work well & be a bit more inspiring than plain old bangers & mash. The first is from Nigella Lawson, Nigella Bites. This was my first Nigella book & funnily the one I have cooked the least from for no particular reason, I am making a mental note to pick it up a bit more often in the next few months. Apparently this dish is what Italians serve traditionally on New Years Day, the lentils symbolizing prosperity that is hoped for the coming year. Of course my sausages are not Italian but beef & red wine flavoured which seemed to do the job just fine. A lovely dish though a word of warning, I halved the recipe for 2 & there were still way too many lentils & I also did the full measurements for the gravy & felt there wasn’t enough so I would actually double that next time. Other than that, the gravy was rich & delicious & it all went together perfectly.

Italian Sausages with Lentils

3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
sprinkling of salt
500g puy lentils
1 fat clove of garlic, squashed with the side of a knife, & skin removed
8 Italian sausages
100ml red wine
50ml water
flat leaf parsley

To cook the lentils, put 2-3 tablespoons of the oil into a good sized saucepan (and one which has a lid that fits) on the heat & when it’s warm add the chopped onion. Sprinkle with salt (which helps prevents it browning) and cook over low to medium heat till soft (about 5 minutes). Add the lentils, stir well & then generously cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, then cover & let simmer gently for half an hour or so until cooked & most, if not all, the liquid’s absorbed.

When the lentils are nearly ready, put a heavy based frying pan on the stove, cover with a film of oil & add the bruised garlic. Cook for a few minutes then add & brown the sausages. When the sausages are brown on both sides, throw in the wine & the water & let bubble up. Cover the pan, with a lid or foil & cook for about 15 minutes. Using a fork, mash the now soft garlic into the sauce & taste for seasoning, add more water if too strong.

Remove the lentils to a shallow bowl, top with sausages & pour over the garlicky, winey gravy. Sprinkle with parsley. Serves 4.

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.

Potato Cakes with Smoked Salmon & Mustard Dressing

Another breakfast from Bill Granger, this one from Bill’s Food. As I absolutely love potato pancakes of any description, even the ones from Macca’s when I have a hangover though of course it has been a long time since one of those was present, ahh those were the days! Anyway I thought that I would try this recipe of Bills even though I thought it sounded like an odd combination, you never know until you try right? The pancakes were good but I hate to admit that I don’t think they worked too well with smoked salmon & most of all not with the mustard dressing but who knows some of you might love these 3 together, all elements were great alone, they just didn’t do it for me as a mix, you decide.

Potato Cakes with Smoked Salmon & Mustard Dressing

3 large potatoes (about 700g)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
60g butter, melted
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
60ml (1/4 cup) olive oil

Mustard Dressing

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
60ml (1/4 cup) canola oil

To serve
8 slices smoked salmon

Preheat oven to 150c. Grate the peeled potatoes & squeeze out any excess liquid. Put the potato in a bowl & add the chives, butter & a little salt & pepper.

Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan over a medium to high heat. For each potato cake, spoon 1 ½ tablespoons of mixture into the pan & fry until golden on both sides. Drain on paper towels & keep warm in the oven until all the potato cakes are made.

Meanwhile to make the dressing, whisk the mustard, sugar, salt & vinegar together in a bowl until the sugar has dissolved, then whisk in the oil in a thin stream.

Put two potato cakes on each plate, top with salmon & drizzle with dressing

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.

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.

Pears baked in red wine and vanilla

After my wonderfully light & healthy tuna salad for dinner the other night I was left wanting more, can you blame me? So to not entirely spoil my good intentions I steered away from cakes or anything stodgy & instead tried out a new recipe for baked pears. These were sensational, the best I have ever made & maybe even eaten! The red wine sauce goes all sticky, sweet & syrupy which is perfect with the soft juicy pears & tiny dollop of cream on the side. The recipe also comes from Ben O’Donoghue and Curtis Stones’s Surfing the Menu.

Pears baked in red wine and vanilla

4 ripe pears
55g unsalted butter
100g caster sugar
2 vanilla pods, split in half lengthways
grated zest of ¼ orange
500ml red wine (Cabernet)
4 tablespoons crème fraiche, cream or ice cream to serve

Preheat oven to 150c.

Wash & dry the pears, then cut a small slice from the bottom so each can stand upright. Smear the butter all over them & sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the sugar.

Mix the remaining sugar with enough eater (1-1/2 tablespoons) to make a paste. Place in a heavy based flameproof pot large enough to hold the pears upright. Heat until the sugar paste turns a light golden color. Add the vanilla pods, zest & half the red wine. Place the pears upright in the pot & transfer to the oven.

Bake, spooning the red wine sauce over the pears at frequent intervals until the pear is soft and the syrup is reduced, about 45 minutes. Add more wine if the liquid reduces too much.

The pear is cooked when the flesh is soft & the outside slightly wrinkled. Remove from the oven & cool in the pot to room temperature. Serve drizzled with syrup & a dollop of crème fraiche, cream or ice cream.

Crispy Duck with Spiced Plum sauce

Duck is one of my favourite meats, some hate it, I can’t get enough of it & whenever it’s on a menu when I’m out I find it hard to go past & usually end up ordering it with no regrets. This recipe from Allan Campion & Michele Curtis ‘Food with Friends’ is a winner, the aroma of the spices while cooking is amazing & the plum sauce is really good with its combination of sweet & sour flavours. Quite easy to put together too though there are a few steps & pots to use!

Crispy Duck with Spiced Plum Sauce

Master Stock (below)
4 duck breast fillets
110g caster sugar
2 star anise
2-3 cinnamon sticks
4-6 plums, halves, stones discarded
80ml (1/3 cup) fish sauce
80-125ml (1/3-1/2 cup) lime or lemon juice
oil for cooking

Bring Master stock to the boil. Add duck, cover & cook for 10 minutes at a gentle simmer. Remove from heat & allow duck to cool in master stock. Once cool, remove duck from master stock & refrigerate.

Make sauce by putting 2 cups of the master stock in a saucepan over a medium heat. Bring to the boil, add sugar, stir to dissolve, then add star anise & cinnamon & cook for 10 minutes or so to infuse the flavours. Add plums and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove saucepan from the heat.

Preheat oven to 180c. heat a large frying pan over a medium heat, add a splash of oil & cook duck filets for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown. Place on a tray, cook in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove, cover & rest for 5 minutes.

Reheat plum sauce, adding fish sauce & lemon or lime juice to taste, so the sauce is tart, sweet & sour. Carve each duck fillet into 6-7 slices. Arrange duck pieces on a platter and pour hot sauce & plums over.

Serve with steamed rice & garlic Stir Fried Greens (below)

Master Stock

1.5 litres (6 cups) water
250ml (1 cup) soy sauce
125ml (1/2 cup) Chinese rice wine
3-4 slices fresh ginger
1 lemongrass stem, sliced
2-3 pieces tangerine peel, optional
2 star anise
75g (1/3 cu) caster sugar

Put all ingredients in a large saucepan & bring to the boil.

Garlic Stir fried Greens

2 bunches gai laan (or bok choy, wonga bok, etc)
oil for cooking
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tablespoons grated ginger, optional
125ml (1/2 cup) chicken stock
1-2 tablespoons soy sauce

Wash greens well, discard big old leaves, thinly slice, chop up.

Heat a wok over high heat, add a splash of oil, the garlic & ginger and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often, making sure the garlic doesn’t burn. Add gai laan, toss for 1-2 minutes, add stock & cover with a lid. Cook for 3 – 4 minutes, tossing occasionally to ensure greens cook evenly. Remove lid & season with soy sauce.

Ricotta Dumplings with Orecchiette, peas & prosciutto

For dinner the other night, we had visitors all afternoon & the as soon as they were out the door & I was about to start dinner, Missy wanted a feed so Michael was stuck cooking dinner again. I was a bit worried as the recipe I had chosen to attempt was a bit more complicated than his usual efforts so I thought I could step in and take over as soon as Chloe was done but Michael was happy to keep going so I left him to it & got some other stuff done in my few moments of freedom. The recipe comes from a recent Delicious Magazine & was delicious, a really tasty yet simple combination, it was so yum that I hadn’t even intended on blogging it yet after a couple of mouthfuls I felt I couldn’t not post about it so I tried to rearrange the dish & snap some photos. Great dish though not sure if I will make it again as it seemed a bit fiddly, quite a few dishes & a hell of a mess (Michael hasn’t yet learned the art of cooking & keeping the kitchen relatively clean as he goes!), anyway I have kept the recipe so will wait & see.

Ricotta Dumplings with Orecchiette, peas & prosciutto

2 cups Orecchiette pasta
¼ cup (60ml) olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
1 cup freshly podded or frozen peas
½ onion, thinly sliced
¼ cup (60ml) dry white wine
4 thin slices prosciutto or ham, sliced
2 tablespoons mint leaves

Ricotta Dumplings
250g fresh ricotta
2 tablespoons grated parmesan, plus extra to serve
1/3 cup (50g) plain flour
1 egg, plus 1 extra yolk
2 tablespoons finely chopped flat leaf parsley
Large pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

For the ricotta dumplings, briefly process all the ingredients in a food processor with salt & pepper until smooth. Chill until needed.

Cook pasta in a pan of salted water according to packet instructions, adding peas for the final 2 minutes of cooking time, then drain. Rinse briefly in cold water to cool slightly, then drain again. Toss with 1 tablespoon of the oil.

Heat remaining oil in large pan over medium-low heat. Add onion & cook for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the wine, prosciutto, peas & pasta & lightly toss for 1 minute or until pasta is heated through. Strew the contents of the pan with its juices in a single layer over a large serving platter.

Meanwhile bring a pan of salted water to the boil. Drop the ricotta batter by the teaspoon into the boiling water, cooking 6 at a time, and simmer for 2 minutes. Drain on paper towel while you cook remaining dumplings, then scatter over the pasta. Season well with sea salt & freshly ground black pepper, scatter with mint & a little extra parmesan, then drizzle with extra oil & serve warm.

Spicy Roast Pumpkin, Feta & Olive Salad

This is a gorgeous salad to make for lunch or you could even stretch it to dinner as we did by adding a steak or the like on the side. It is another winner from Bill Grangers Bills Food. I know I’ve said it before but I really am loving everything I make from his books & this is no exception. The pumpkin is fantastic with the spices & the dressing really just makes the whole dish & pulls it all together.

Spicy Roast Pumpkin, Feta & Olive Salad

3 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
800g pumpkin, cut into 2cm cubes
100g baby spinach leaves
150g marinated feta, drained & crumbled
20 Kalamata olives, pitted

Dressing
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
60ml extra virgin olive oil
1 French shallot, finely sliced (optional)

Preheat oven to 220c. Place olive oil, cumin, cayenne pepper, salt & pepper in a bowl & stir to combine. Add the pumpkin & stir to coat. Transfer to a roasting pan & bake for 30 minutes, or until the pumpkin is tender & slightly caramelized.

Whisk all the dressing ingredients together in a bowl until combined.

Divide the spinach between four serving plates & scatter pumpkin, feta & olives over the top. Drizzle each with dressing.

Lamb with Quince Glaze

For a really quick & easy & very tasty mid week meal this week I turned to the Marie Claire ‘Food Fast’ book for inspiration & found this yummy lamb dish which seriously takes no time at all to put together. As you can see I served it with sweet mash potato & asparagus. Note - you could also make your own quince paste as Another outspoken female did this week but then it wouldnt be as quick would it, very impressed with the effort though?

Lamb with Quince Glaze

600g lamb backstrap or eye of loin
1 tablespoon oil
3 tablespoons quince paste
2/3 cup dry white wine
cracked black pepper

Trim lamb of any fat or sinew. Heat oil in a frying pan over high heat. Add lamb & cook for 1-2 minutes on each side or until well sealed & browned. Remove lamb from pan & place on a plate. Reduce heat to medium and add quince paste, wine & pepper to pan and simmer for 2 minutes or until glaze has thickened slightly. Simmer lamb in the quince glaze for an extra minute on each side or until cooked to your liking. Slice lamb into large pieces & serve with the quince glaze.

Lamb Cutlets & Greek Salad

This dinner is a week late, I had the lamb sitting in the fridge all nicely marinated when I went into labour last week. My mum suggested freezing them, marinade & all so that’s what Michael did & now we have finally cooked them up. From Nigella Lawson’s Forever Summer. The freezing did no harm & the lamb was beautifully tender & the marinade provided great flavour. The Greek salad on the side was yum too with a nice twist on the traditional.

Lamb Cutlets with Yoghurt & Cumin

450-500g Greek yoghurt
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 large onion
1 head garlic
1 teaspoon Maldon salt
20 lamb cutlets

Empty the yoghurt into a large shallow dish (big enough to fit all of the chops in) & then stir in the cumin. Peel & roughly chop the onion and add it. Break the head of garlic into cloves, peel them & squash them slightly just by pressing on them with the flat of a heavy

The Ultimate Greek Salad

1 red onion
1 tablespoon dried oregano
black pepper
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
200ml extra virgin olive oil
5 good tomatoes
1 teaspoon caster sugar
pinch of maldon salt
1 large cos lettuce
1 bulb fennel
125g pitted black olives
400g feta cheese
juice of half a lemon

Peel & finely slice the red onion then sprinkle over the oregano and grind over some black pepper. Pour in the vinegar & oil & toss well, cover with cling film & leave to step for at least 2 hours. Cut the tomatoes into quarters, then cut each quarter into quarters (always lengthwise) again, so that you have a collection of very fine segments. Sprinkle with the sugar & a pinch of salt & leave while you get on with the rest. Wash the lettuce, tear into large pieces & place in a salad bowl. Slice the fennel & add that, then the olives & feta cut or crumbled into large chunks & toss well. Now add the tomatoes, the red onion in its dressing & the lemon juice. Toss gently so that everything is well combined.

knife, then stir into the yoghurt along with the salt. Add the cutlets & stir well. Cover with cling film & put in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Heat a ridged grill pan & then take the cutlets out of the marinade, wipe with some kitchen towel. Fry for a few minutes each side until cooked to your liking.

Woodstock, North Fitzroy

The other night the family were off to the movies & we needed a simple & quick bite to eat beforehand. My suggestion was Woodstock which is a family run little Italian place on Nicholson street. The menu consists entirely of pizza’s – Italian style, thin crust with lovely toppings, such as prosciutto & porcini, and it’s all in Italian too which the staff are happy to translae for you. There is always a specials board that has a couple of home made pasta’s of the day plus some fish & maybe some meat dishes. Last night for example there was roast goat, crumbed veal, calamari, garfish, a pesto filled agnoletti & a linguine marinara to name a couple of the specials. There is a limited wine list & byo is $10 corkage a bottle.

The few times I have been there, there are always crumbed, stuffed olives on the specials too & being a huge fan of these delectable morsels I always order some to start with. The rest of the family were a bit dubious but were soon won over & loved them as much as I do. I chose the marinara as I wasn’t in a pizza mood, the serve was huge, lots of pasta with a couple of mussles, a few prawns, some scallops & squid thrown into a tomato based sauce, very tasty though a bit on the salty side so beware if you're not a salt fan. There was also so much that Michael got half of mine, he ordered the agnoletti which was fantastic but in contrast to mine the serving was really quite small & definitely not enough to fill a grown man. We didn’t go for dessert as we were in a hurry so not sure what was on offer though there was a gelati bar at the counter so at the least one could expect a bowl of ice cream to finish off. All in all a great Italian place for a quick & simple feed though the prices are a bit on the highish side for such simple fair, ie pizza’s about $20 each & you do need one per person so if you can live with that give it a go.

Woodstock
612 Nicholson street
North Fitzroy
Ph: 9481 8122

Proper Blokes Sausage fusilli

Michael cooked me my first meal from the new Jamie Oliver book – Cook with Jamie, the cooking is part of this Christmas gift from him – brilliant idea! So of course it stands to reason that he chose a dish that was in Jamie’s words ‘blokey’. It was really yum, the fennel flavour was fantastic & it all had just the right amount of zing to lift the flavour but not burn. Here is Jamies description…

Proper Blokes Sausage fusilli

This is a real blokey, gutsy yet simple pasta dish – but saying that, girls tend to like it as well! It hasn’t really got a sauce of any description because all the flavour that comes out of the ingredients will stick to the pasta and that’s enough. I will even go so far as to say that this is one of my top ten pasta dishes! Remember to buy the best sausages you can afford – if you get cheap, dodgy sausages it just won’t work. Thanks Michael & looking fwd to more of your ever improving cooking skills!

Serves 4

2 heaped teaspoons fennel seeds
2 dried red chillies, crumbled
olive oil
600g/1lb 6oz good quality course Italian or Cumberland sausages (used Lamb and Rosemary)
1 tablespoon dried oregano
a wineglass of white wine
zest and juice of 1 lemon
500g/1lb 2oz good quality fusilli or penne
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a couple of knobs of butter
a handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
a small bunch of fresh flat-leaf Parsley, leaves picked and chopped

Bash up the fennel seeds and chillies in a pestle and mortar or Flavour Shaker until coarsely crushed, then put to one side. Heat a splash of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan. Squeeze the meat out of the sausage skins and put into the pan, really breaking it up using the back of a spoon. Fry for a few minutes until the meat starts to color and the fat has rendered slightly, then crush it once more so it resembles coarse mince. Add the bashed-up fennel seeds and chillies and cook on a medium heat for around 10 minutes until the meat becomes crisp, golden brown and slightly caramelized.

Stir in your oregano, then pour in the white wine and allow it to reduce by half. Add the lemon zest and juice. Turn the heat down to low while you cook your pasta in a large pan of salted boiling water according to the packet instructions. When the pasta has cooked al dente, drain it in a colander, reserving some of the cooking water, and toss it in the pan with your sausage meat. Coat the pasta in all the lovely flavours then add the butter, Parmesan, chopped parsley and a few spoonfuls of the reserved cooking water. This will give you a lovely, shiny sauce. Taste and check for seasoning, then serve immediately with a little extra grated Parmesan sprinkled over the top.

Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova

My contribution for the family Christmas lunch yesterday was Nigella Lawson’s fabulous Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova from Forever Summer. Raspberries are so Christmassy & around for such a short time that I have been trying to make & eat as much as possible with them for now. This pav is a winner, I’m not normally a Pavlova lover but add the chocolate & raspberries & it is sensational & to prove it there was definitely none left over after the day despite the abundance of desserts on offer.

Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova

For the Meringue base
6 Egg Whites
300g caster sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa powder, sieved
1 teaspoon balsamic or red wine vinegar
50g dark chocolate, finely chopped

For the topping
500ml double cream
500g raspberries
2-3 tablespoons coarsely grated dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 180c & line a baking tray with baking paper.

Beat the egg whites until satiny peaks form, then beat in the sugar a spoonful at a time until the meringue is stiff & shiny. Sprinkle over the cocoa & vinegar & the chopped chocolate. Then gently fold everything until the cocoa is thoroughly mixed in. Mound onto the baking paper in a fat circle approximately 23cm in diameter, smoothing the sides & top. Place in the oven, then immediately turn the oven down to 150c & cook for about 1 – 1 ¼ hours. When it’s ready it should look crisp around the edges & on the sides & be dry on top, but when you prod the centre you should feel the promise of squidginess beneath your fingers. Turn off the oven & open the door slightly & allow to cool completely.

When ready to serve, invert onto a big flat bottomed plate. Whisk the cream until thick but still soft & pile on top, then scatter over the raspberries & the chocolate shavings on top.

Bar Lourinha - Spanish Tapas in Melbourne

Bar Lourinha is a wonderful newish Spanish/Portuguese style bar tucked away in Little Collins street run by Matt McConnell, ex Berardo's Noosa, Diningroom 211, Hairy Canary. The bar is tiny, with a couple of communal tables and a bar surrounded by tall bar stools to sit & while away the night on. There’s also a little couch area at the frnt area which is where we chose to sat, being preggers I didn’t fancy houts on a ba stool this time! The décor worked for me, an odd mix of paintings, a lit up reindeer on the wall, and odd bits & pieces, not overly crowded.

The drinks menu had plenty on offer, though sadly I didn’t get to sample any of the promised delights, no cocktails, no apertifs, etc, just a bottle of wine for us to share, which was very nice indeed though I cant remember what it was as the girls did the choosing tonight assisted by our very friendly & knowledgeable waitress. The food menu consists of maybe 15 or so sharing dishes which all sound mouth watering, very hard to choose really. There were 3 of us gilrs eating last night & the dishes we chose were more than enough to satusify our appetities. While choosing our fare we had a plate of cracked grren olives which were very good. Then we started with the yellowtail kingfish "pancetta", salt cured and dressed with lemon oil, fresh thyme and slivers of red onion, a great melt in your mouth dish with the onions & dressing proving just ther ight amount of flavour for the delicate fish slices. Next was a plate of vine grilled sardines over a fennel salad, followed by a great salad of buffalo mozzarella with crispy jamon – how can you go wrong with these two ingedients – it was superb. This was followed by some delicious roasted mushrroms in a creamy garlic sauce.

To finish off with we had the par-cooked, whole smoked chorizo sausage finished over brandy spirit flamed at the table. A couple of minutes on the flames (which sadly my photo hasn’t picked up very well) and our sausage is done & ready to eat, it was fabulous, nice & spicy & love that flame grilled taste & quite a produciton really!

After all of this we still had a little room for dessert of course, there was no way I was missing out on churros. So we shared the churros (long sugar coated Spanish doughnuts which have to be sampled if you have never tasted these delights before), they were served with a caramel type flavoured dipping sauce rather than the usual chocolate I have normally seen, fantastic & I could have had the whole serve to myself. We also tried a dish of pomegranate crema (? Think this is what it was called) with a pistachio praline, again delightful.

All in all this place highly impressed me & is one to keep card handy for.

Bar Lourinha
37 Little Collins Street
Melbourne
03 9663 7890
Mon-Wed, noon-11pm; Thu and Fri, noon-1am; Sat, 4pm-1am
www.barlourinha.com.au

Shanghai Ling, East Brunswick - Another great local

I finally got around to trying out Shanghai Ling, one of my local restaurants that I’ve heard many good things about. The place is much like any local Chinese, nothing flash to look at, yet the menu is much more inspiring than just the usual lemon chicken & beef & black bean. They specialise in Shanghai & Si Chuan cuisine & it is recommended that you try the specials rather than sticking to the ordinary menu, do this & you will be highly rewarded.

To start with we had the fried pumpkin cakes, I cant remember what’s in these exactly, though sure as well as pumpkin they contained some sort of sticky rice, any way they sound strange yet absolutely yummy & moorish, we also had the freshly steamed Shanghai-style pork dumplings served with a soy dipping sauce, very fresh & delicate & as you can from the photos the serves were very generous especially considering the price (think about $4.00 & $7.00 respectively). Next we had some Red Hot Chilli Beef which wasn’t red hot at all so the name was a bit deceiving, though the taste was very fresh, the beef melted in your mouth which is a nice change to what I usually seem to get in these type of dishes, that is very chewy meat. Alongside this we had the sweet & sour barramundi fillets in a tomato & pine nut sauce, a huge serving & the fish & batter was nice & light & cooked to perfection, the sauce nice & tangy with out the sickly sweetness you would expect form a dish like this. Unfortunately this is all we could fit in tonight but cant wait to go back & try out some more of there specials. Oh and a tip for you, they do take away but the take away menu is printed with only the standard dishes so would suggest you really try eating in.

Shanghai Ling
180 Lygon Street
East Brunswick
Tel +613 9381 0644
Open Mon-Sat 6.00-10pm
Licensed and BYO (wine only)

Spaghetti Tetrazzini (Chicken & Mushroom Pasta Bake)

I made this dish from Jamie Oliver’s Italy a couple of weeks back & have hesitated in posting it. Frankly it was quite average, a bit on the oily side & not up to the standard that I expect from his recipes. It was still ok but nothing special. I don’t know if I did something wrong or not so would love to hear of anyone else out there who has also tried this one out & what they thought of it. Pretty much the only real difference between mine & the recipe below was that I omitted the porcini having none handy.

Spaghetti Tetrazzini (Chicken & Mushroom Pasta Bake)

20g/a small handful of dried porcini mushrooms
Olive Oil
4 Chicken Thighs, boned, skinned & cut into bite sized pieces (I bought thigh fillets)
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, peeled & finely sliced
350g handfuls mixed mushrooms, cleaned & torn
200ml white wine
455g Spaghetti
500ml double cream
200g parmesan cheese grated
a sprig of fresh basil, leaves picked

Preheat oven to 200c. Put your porcini in a bowl & pur over just enough boiling water to cover them. Put to one side to soak for a few minutes. Heat a saucepan big enough to hold all ingredients, and pour in a splash of olive oil. Season the chicken with salt & pepper & brown gently in the oil. Strain the porcini, reserving the soaking water, and add them to the pan with the garlic & fresh mushrooms. Add the wine, with the strained porcini water & turn the heat down. Simmer gently until the chicken pieces are cooked through and the wine has reduced a little.

Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling salted water according to packet instructions & drain well. Add the cream to the chicken, then bring to the boil & turn the heat off. Season well with salt & freshly ground black pepper. Add the drained spaghetti to the creamy chicken sauce & toss well. Add ¾ of the parmesan and the basil & stir well. Transfer to an ovenproof baking dish, sprinkle with half the remaining cheese & bake in the oven until golden brown, bubbling & crisp. Divide between your plates & sprinkle with the rest of the cheese before serving.