Spring Vegetable Soup

For some cleansing this week I made yet another soup, this one chock full of fresh veggies & even using my very own vegetable stock, the recipe is from Bill Granger’s Sydney Food. The home made stock does make a big difference, especially as this one is full of extra flavour including such ingredients as garlic, parsnips & spring onions. Now that I’ve been good I can safely make some more cookies!

Spring Vegetable Soup

25g butter
½ cup sliced keels, white part only
1/3 cup diced celery
1/3 cup unpeeled, diced red potato
1/3 cup diced turnip
3 cups vegetable stock (recipe below)
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup freshly shucked corn kernels
1/3 cup diced zucchini
1/3 cup chopped green beans
½ cup ripe, chopped tomatoes
1/3 cup peas
1/3 cup parsley, chopped, to serve

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add leek, celery, potato and turnip 7 cook, stirring frequently for 5 minutes. Add vegetable stock, salt & pepper & bring to the boil. Lower heat & add remaining ingredients. Simmer gently for 5 minutes until vegetables are just tender. Ladle into bowls & top with chopped parsley. Serves 2.

Vegetable stock

2 tablespoons olive oil
500g onions, chopped
500g carrots, chopped
250g parsnips, chopped
2 celery sticks including leaves, chopped
6 cloves garlic, crushed
2 leeks, white part only, sliced
4 spring onions, chopped into 6cm lengths
1 bunch parsley, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
4 bay leaves
1 tablespoon salt

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, parsnip, celery & garlic & stir fry for 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and 2 litres of water, and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to a simmer & cook for 1 hour. Allow to cool, then strain. Makes 2 litres. Leftover keeps well in the freezer.

Cherry Tomato, Herb & Chilli Fish

For my birthday this year, Megan gave me this great little cookbook that I had never heard of, The Hungry Girls cookbook. It is a small collection of recipes put together by 3 Melbourne friends, each of the limited 200 copies are stamped, lined with cloth & sewn together by hand & it is truly a special gift. The recipes all look delicious & here is a look in, last night I made my first attempt which was seriously good & so very simple. I used flathead which cooked up perfectly, I was worried it would break up but no chance of that. The flavour of the tomatoes really penetrates the fish & along with the simple herb sauce went well with a simple baked potato & salad. The book was released In April so I’m not sure if there are any left but if you can get to any of the stores that stock it, pick up a copy, it is a real treat & I love something unique, especially when produced by local girls.

Cherry Tomato, Herb & Chilli Fish

1 whole white fleshed fish weighing 1.5kg, filleted & skinned, each fillet cut into 2 pieces
or
4 x 150-200g white fish fillets
salt & pepper
75g butter
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1-2 red birds eye chillies, finely chopped
2 punnets cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons chopped basil
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped chives

Pat the fish dry & rub with a little salt. Heat the butter & oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat until the butter foams, then add the garlic & chilli, frying until the garlic begins to color. Add the tomatoes & fry for 30 seconds, then add the herbs & season with salt & pepper. Stir to combine, and make sure the tomatoes cover the base of the pan fairly evenly. Lay the fish fillets on top & gently press them into the tomatoes. After 2-3 minutes, when you can see the fish turning opaque up the sides, turn the fillets. Try to pick up some of the tomatoes underneath so they end up on top. Cook for another 2 minutes then serve. Serves 4.

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.

Chicken Tagine with Green Olives & Preserved Lemon

Every week my mum comes over to my place for a day to spend time with Chloe & to help me out. To thank her for her help I cook up a big dinner for both my mum & my dad & I try to cook up dishes that they have never tried & would not try without my prodding. This week was the fancy sounding tagine which is really quite simple, I served it with couscous, another ingredient they have never tried. This recipe is from Gourmet Traveller & was a big hit, I loved it as I usually love all tagines & surprisingly my parents both loved it too, even the couscous which they thought they would hate. Next week polenta has been requested so I hope they love that just as much.

Chicken Tagine with Green Olives & Preserved Lemon

2 tablespoons Ghee
6 chicken marylands, thighs & drumsticks separated
2 large onions, coarsely grated
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
¼ teaspoon (firmly packed) saffron threads
1 teaspoon ground ginger
4 black peppercorns
½ teaspoon sweet paprika
1 stick of cinnamon
2 cups chicken stock
50gm preserved lemon (about 3 pieces), flesh discarded & rind thinly sliced
150g queen green olives (about 12) pitted
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped coriander
Couscous & crusty bread to serve

Heat ghee in a tagine or heavy based casserole, add chicken pieces & cook over high heat, turning, until golden. Then add onion, garlic & spices, and cook over medium heat, stirring to coat chicken pieces for 3 minutes or until fragrant. Add stock & 1 ½ cups water, turning chicken pieces once during cooking, for 40 minutes or until chicken is tender & meat almost falling off the bone.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer chicken to an oven tray & discard cinnamon. Bring sauce to a boil, and simmer for 12 minutes or until reduced by a quarter. Return chicken to pan, add preserved lemon, olives & herbs, and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes or until chicken is heated through, then season to taste with sea salt & freshly ground black pepper. Serve with couscous & crusty flat bread.

Ribollita

This week’s soup is a classic Italian dish, Ribollita from the river Café Cook Book (Blue), I’ve never made or eaten this before so was looking forward to seeing what it is like. Note that I couldn’t find any Cavolo Nero & don’t know if you can even buy it here at all, so according to the book I have substituted with silverbeet but I am no longer authentic.
Also I used beans in a can so you can see I am a real cheat, sorry but I just cant be bothered with all of that soaking when the tins taste pretty good to me & can cater to my sometimes lazy streak. I halved the quantities & still got 6 good sized servings jam packed full of veggies – I left mine quite thick with not much liquid at all. Oh and one other thing, you will need a bloody big pot even if making only a half serve! In the end you have a good hearty soup for a cold Winters night, the silverbeet gives it a particular earthy flavour & the bread a nice and unusual texture.

Ribollita

Serves 10

250g cannellini or borlotti beans, soaked overnight with 2 tablespoons of bicarb of soda (or use a tin & cheat as I did)
1 large tomato
½ bulb garlic
a handful of fresh sage leaves

1 large bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled & chopped
2 whole heads celery, chopped
450g carrots, peeled & chopped
4 medium red onions, peeled & chopped
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 x 800g tin peeled plum tomatoes, drained of their juices
2kg cavolo nero, stalks removed, leaves coarsely chopped (or sub with swiss chard/silverbeet, savoy cabbage, kale, broccoli or rape leaves)
2 loaves stale ciabatta bread, crusts removed, sliced or torn
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil

Drain the beans well (and rinse if from a tin), place in a saucepan, cover with fresh cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 minutes, then drain again. Pour in enough fresh water to cover by about 5cm, then add the tomato, garlic bulb & sage. Return to the boil & simmer, covered, occasionally removing any scum that comes to the surface, until tender, which can very from 40 minutes to 1 ½ hours (or considerably less if from a tin). Keep the beans in the water they’re cooked in.

In a large saucepan fry the parsley leaves, garlic, celery, carrot and onion in the oil for about 30 minutes until the flavours combine. Add the tomatoes & continue to cook on a gentle heat for a further 30 minutes, then add the cavolo nero and half the cannellini beans with enough of their liquid to cover. Simmer for 30 minutes.

In a food processor, puree the remaining beans and return to the soup with just enough boiling water to make the soup liquid. Add the bread, a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil, and season well with salt & pepper. As exact amounts are not possible, you must balance the amount of liquid to bread so that the soup is very thick.

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.

Puy Lentil Soup

Well with the cold weather setting in it’s time for me to start making my usual pot of soup per week. Today I felt like I needed some fiber so it was this very hearty soup from Bill Granger’s Sydney Food. The soup was very tasty & didn’t require any extra seasoning, I think this is because my vege stock was very salty. It was also quite thick with almost no liquid remaining, bordering on a stew I guess, no complaints from me there, served with some crusty fresh bread it was the perfect lunch.

Puy Lentil Soup

50g butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup chopped carrots
½ cup chopped Spanish onion
½ cup sliced leek, white part only
½ cup chopped celery
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small red chilli, finely chopped
400g tin chopped Italian tomatoes
1 litre vegetable stock, or water
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
½ cup lentils du Puy
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
½ cup finely chopped parsley

Melt butter and oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add carrots, onion and leeks & cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add celery, garlic & chilli and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes, stock (or water), bay leaves, oregano & lentils & bring to the boil. Reduce heat & simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Season with salt & pepper if needed & stir through parsley.

Garlic Prawns

One of my favourite ways to eat prawns is simply cooked with olive oil, garlic & a bit of chilli, nothing else needed, here is Bill Granger’s version from Bills Food.

Garlic Prawns

20 raw king prawns, peeled & deveined, tails left on
250ml (1 cup) olive oil
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 fresh small red chillies, split lengthways but intact at top
1 teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

To serve
Lemon wedges
Crusty bread
Green salad

Preheat oven to 250c. Cut a slit down the back of each prawn & place the prawns in an ovenproof dish that will hold them snugly in a single layer.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Add half the garlic and all the chillies & cook for 1 minute or until the garlic starts to change colour. Pour over the prawns, then sprinkle with the remaining garlic. Season with salt & pepper, cover with foil & bake for 10 minutes, or until the prawns are pink & cooked through. Don’t overcook – remember that the prawns will continue cooling after being removed from the oven. Sprinkle with parsley & serve with lemon wedges, crusty bread & a green salad. Serves 4.

Lynda’s Lemon-rub Steak with Charred Tomato Salsa

For my bbq on the weekend, as well as various snags, including some gorgeous kransky & some lamb chops I made some steaks with a gorgeous rub & salsa from Ainsley Harriott’s Ultimate Barbecue Bible. The rub was easy, just bash everything up in the mortar & pestle & it made the steaks lovely & tender & gave them a great flavour, they weren’t too hot either despite the extra hot cayenne pepper in the rub. The salsa went well alongside & the green chilly surprisingly packed quite a punch. I also made up some garlic bread to thrown on the Barbie after seeing a recipe for it in his book too, I know its daggy & old fashioned but what boy doesn’t like a bit of garlic bread & they all did, it was very well received indeed & the barbecue gave it a nice smoky flavour (and the house too, so much smoke came in that the smoke alarms even went crazy – Michael does it every time). We also had a few salads & as usual went way overboard with everything so guess what’s for dinner this week most nights?

Lynda’s Lemon-rub Steak with Charred Tomato Salsa

2 x 175g Sirloin Steaks ( I used Rump)
grated rind of 1 lemon
2 garlic cloves
½ teaspoon black peppercorns
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon coarse sea salt

Salsa
3 plum tomatoes
1 small bunch fresh coriander
1 small bunch fresh mint
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 fresh green chilli, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
juice of half a lemon
rock salt & freshly ground black pepper

Using a mortar & pestle, grind the lemon rind, garlic, peppercorns & cumin seeds together until well blended. Add the oregano, cayenne & salt & grind again. Run the mixture into the meat & set aside for an hour or two.

Meanwhile, halve the tomatoes lengthways and place on the barbecue, cut side down, for 5-8 minutes until softened & a little charred. Slip off the skins & roughly chop the flesh. Finely chop the herbs & mix with the tomato, onion, chilli, olive oil & lemon juice. Season well to taste.

Barbecue the st4eaks for 3-4 minutes on each side for a nice medium to medium rare cooked steak. Serve with the salsa.

Traditional Garlic Butter Bread

1 long fat French stick
3 garlic cloves
75g slightly salted butter, softened
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
salt & freshly ground black pepper

Cut the bread diagonally into 2.5cm thick slices without cutting right through. Peel the garlic& crush in a mortar & pestle with a little salt until you have a smooth paste. Mix the butter with the garlic, parsley & some pepper. Spread both sides of each slice of bread with the butter & place the loaf on some foil. Wrap well & place on the side of the barbecue for 1012 minutes, turning regularly until crisp & hot.

Good Friday - Three Fishes with Three Herb Salsa

Dinner for Good Friday called for fish, not that I am religious (even though I was brought up a Catholic), it just seems to be the thing to do. So I tried out this simple dish from Nigella Lawson’s Forever Summer. The recipe feeds 6-8 so I reduced the quantities for the two of us. A very simple dish for when your feeling very lazy yet so much better & quicker than fast food any day, my favourite was the salmon.

Three Fishes with Three Herb Salsa

2 Salmon fillets, approx 150g each
2 swordfish fillets, approx 150g each
2 tuna fillets, approx 150g each
3 tablespoons olive oil for frying

Herb Sauce
125ml extra virgin olive oil
zest of 1 lemon, juice of half
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons capers preserved in vinegar, drained but not rinsed
half teaspoon dried oregano
half teaspoon dried mint
salt & pepper

Make your herb sauce by combining everything in a bowl, whisking together & leave to macerate for at least 15 minutes for the flavours to develop.

Cut each fillet of fish into three pieces so that you have longish strips. Fry them in the olive oil beginning with the salmon as it will need the longest, then the swordfish, then the tuna.

Arrange on a large flat plate so that the different fish intermingle, and drizzle the herb sauce over the top. Serve the remaining sauce in a bowl alongside.

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.

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.

Lemon and parsley crusted fish with garlic mashed potatoes

Continuing my obsession with all things Bill Granger & wanting to cook every recipe in my two books of his, last nights dinner was this fantastically fresh fish recipe. The flavours in the coating were really good, especially the lemony tang & perfect with the mash & spinach, another easy winner, this time the recipe is from Bills Food. Also to tell you how easy this is, Michael did the cooking & a fantastic job at that, I had good intentions but went you have a screaming hungry baby the cooking has to be handed over unfortunately.

Lemon and parsley crusted fish with garlic mashed potatoes

80g (1 cup) fresh breadcrumbs
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
15g (1/2 cup) roughly chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 thick (about 3cm) white fish fillets such as mahi mahi or blue eye

to serve
50g English spinach leaves
4 lemon wedges
Preheat oven to 220c. Place the breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley, lemon zest, salt, pepper, and half the olive oil in a food processor & pulse to just combine until you have pale green breadcrumbs.

Place the fish on a baking tray lined with baking paper & press some crumbs over the top of each piece of fish. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil & bake for 10 minutes, or until the crust is golden & the fish is just cooked.

Serve with baby spinach, lemon wedges & garlic mash.

Garlic Mash Potatoes

800g potatoes, suitable for mashing, such as Pontiac or desiree
250ml (1 cup) milk
75g butter
3 garlic cloves, bruised
1 teaspoon sea salt

Cut the potatoes into quarters & cook in boiling water until tender. Remove from heat, drain, then mash in the pan.

Meanwhile, heat the milk, butter & garlic in a small saucepan over a medium heat until hot, making sure you don’t let the mixture boil. Remove from heat.

Discard the garlic cloves & mix the milk mixture into the potatoes with a wooden spoon until smooth. Season with salt, to taste.

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

Ravioli with fresh herb dressing

Another goodie & quickie for mid week no fuss dinners from Bill Granger, Bills Food
Hope to get back to more elaborate cooking with time but as you all keep pointing out, I do need some sleep time now too!

Ravioli with fresh herb dressing

A handful of green beans
1kg fresh ricotta ravioli
a handful of fresh basil leaves, for serving
shavings of parmesan, for serving

Fresh Herb Dressing
20g (1 cup) fresh flat leaf parsley leaves
30g (1 cup) fresh basil leaves
25g (1 cup) English spinach
1 garlic clove
125ml (1/2 cup) extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, add the beans & cook them for 2 minutes. Scoop them out, refresh in cold water & slice them all in half lengthways. Add the ravioli to the saucepan & when the ravioli float to the top, scoop them out with a slotted spoon & put them in a large bowl with the herb dressing. Stir lightly to combine, then divide among 4 serving bowls. Top with basil leaves & parmesan.

To make dressing, place all ingredients, except the salt & pepper, in a blender & pulse briefly until just combined & smooth. Season with salt & pepper.

Baked Risotto with zucchini, tomato & parmesan

For our first home cooked meal in a while we had this lovely Risotto from Bill Granger’s Bill’s Food. Up until now other people have been feeding us or we have lived off food I cooked & froze in the last couple of weeks. I have to admit that Michael actually made it & not me, I have turned him into quite the chef it seems as this was delicious & the fact that it is baked rather than having to stir continuously for ages while it cooks makes it perfect for when there is not much time or energy to be found.

Baked Risotto with zucchini, tomato & parmesan

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
180g (1 cup) Arborio rice
275ml (1 ½ cups) chicken stock or water
400g can chopped roma tomatoes
3 zucchini, finely sliced
60g freshly grated parmesan
freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
shavings of parmesan, for serving

Preheat oven to 200c. heat a 3 litre (12 cup) capacity oven proof dish (with a lid) over a medium heat. Add the olive oil, onion & sea salt & stir for 5 minutes or until the onion is soft & translucent.

Add the rice to the dish & stir for another minute. Add the stock or water and the chopped tomatoes and bring to simmering point. Stir in the zucchini & sprinkle with parmesan & black pepper. Cover the dish & bake for 30 minutes or until the rice is cooked. Scatter parsley over the top, sprinkle with parmesan shavings & serve.

Spaghetti with Spicy Meatballs

To please my man on Valentines Day I made this hearty dish of spaghetti & meatballs, what man doesn’t like this dish? The recipe came from Bill Granger’s Bills Food and was a big hit with Michael. I used the oven method of cooking the meatballs & they held together perfectly as well as using less oil & being less fiddly, ie no turning, standing over the pan watching them cook.

Spaghetti with Spicy Meatballs

80ml (1/3 cup) milk
1 slice of bread, crust removed
500g beef mince (or pork or veal)
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
1 egg, lightly beaten
25g freshly grated parmesan
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 fresh red chillies, finely chopped
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
60ml olive oil
2 x 400g cans chopped roma tomatoes
50g (1/2 cup) fresh basil leaves
500g spaghetti

To serve
A handful of fresh basil leaves
freshly grated parmesan cheese

Put the milk & bread in a small saucepan and place over a low heat. When the bread has absorbed the milk, remove from the heat & mash with a fork. Allow to cool.

Combine the meat, onion, parsley, thyme, egg, parmesan, garlic, half of the chilli, the bread mixture & lots of salt & pepper in a large bowl. Gently mix with your hands, then shape into small balls. I find wetting my hands makes this easier.

Heat the oil in large frying pan over a medium heat & when hot, add the meatballs. Brown the meatballs on all sides, turning carefully. Alternatively, you can toss the meatballs in oil in a roasting tin & bake them at 220c for 10-15 minutes. You may find this easier because the meatballs wont break up. Drain off any excess oil (if you’ve baked the meatballs transfer them to a frying pan) and add the tomatoes, remaining chilli, basil & salt & pepper. Stir the meatballs carefully to coat with the tomatoes, then simmer for 20 minutes.

While the meatballs are cooking, bring a large saucepan of water to the boil over a high heat. Add the spaghetti & cook according to packet instructions.
Serve meatballs over drained spaghetti with extra basil leaves & freshly grated parmesan

Ricotta & Tomato Tart

For brunch with the girls the other day I made this tasty Tart from Bill Granger’s ‘Bill’s Sydney Food’. To save time I made the pastry the day before & even though when I took it out of the fridge the next day it was rock hard & I thought an absolute disaster, after leaving out for quite some time I was finally able to roll it out, it did break up a bit & needed some squishing back together but in the end it was light & buttery & fantastic, not bad for my first attempt at puff pastry I must say. As you can see mine was a very rustic looking pie indeed. The filling was really yum too & the tart made for a nice morning/afternoon with some salad, bread, prosciutto & cheese to accompany it.

Ricotta & Tomato Tart

Filling
2 ripe tomatoes, finely sliced
sea salt
2 cups ricotta
2 eggs, lightly beaten
¼ cup cream
¼ cup finely grated parmesan
a pinch of ground nutmeg
freshly ground black pepper
1 cup finely shredded rocket
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten, for glazing
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

Rough Puff Pastry
200g plain flour
½ teaspoon salt
200g chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons chilled water

Place flour & salt in a bowl, add butter & rub through with fingertips until the mixture resembles large breadcrumbs. Add enough cold water, cutting in with a knife, to form a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap & refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Roll out dough into a 30 x 15 cm rectangle. Fold in the two short ends to meet in the centre, then fold in again. Roll the pastry into a 30 x 15cm rectangle again, then repeat folding process. Refrigerate as a small rectangle for a further 30 minutes before using.

Preheat oven to 200c. Place tomatoes in a colander, sprinkle with salt & leave to drain. Place pastry dough on a lightly floured surface & roll out to a circle about 35cm in diameter & 3mm thick. Place dough on a lightly floured baking tray.

Place ricotta, eggs, cream, parmesan, nutmeg, salt & pepper in a bowl and mix well. Add rocket & stir to combine. Place this mixture in the centre of the dough, and spread filling over the dough leaving a 5 cm border around the outside. Using your hand, lift & push the border onto the filling. Arrange tomato slices over the top of the filling. Brush pastry with egg yolk & bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until golden. Serve sprinkled with chopped parsley & freshly ground black pepper. Serves 8

Summertime Tagliarini

More pasta cooked up by the wonderful Michael who no doubt is looking fwd to me finishing work at the end of this week so I can take on some of the cooking again, at least for 3 weeks or so until it all becomes impossible again! This dish is from the new Jamie Oliver ‘Cook with Jamie’, light, easy & lovely tangy tasty.

Summertime Tagliarini

115g pinenuts
juice & zest of 2 lemons
a large bunch of flat leaf parsley, half finely chopped & half whole
215ml extra virgin olive oil
150g parmesan cheese, finely grated plus extra for serving
50g pecorino cheese, freshly grated
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
500g tagliarini or tagliatelle

Smash up half of the pinenuts to a paste, then put into a big heatproof bowl with the rest of the whole pinenuts, the lemon juice & the zest, the finely chopped parsley and the olive oil. Stir & add the parmesan & pecorino. Season with freshly ground black pepper, taste & if the balance isn’t to your liking add more oil and or parmesan.

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil for the pasta. Sit the sauce bowl on top of the pan while the water’s heating up – this will take the chill out of the sauce & warm it through slightly. When the water boils, remove the bowl, add the pasta & cook accordingly to packet instructions. Drain & reserve a little of the cooking water. Toss the pasta with the sauce & some of the water to loosen it up a little. Serve with extra parmesan & parsley.