Saturday, December 27, 2008

Blue cheese and sage pasta

Hello everyone, I hope you had a happy and peaceful Christmas. On Christmas Eve I went to Melbourne for the day with one of my sisters so that we could take out our aunt to lunch. I anticipated it as the day from hell. I was quite sure that the flights would be massively delayed, the traffic to and from the airport would be horrendous and the time spent with my aunt consequently telescoped into about twenty minutes. I armed myself with a good breakfast and plenty of reading material.

Well, to my surprise, the flights were running pretty close to time (and in fact we made up time on the way down and landed ahead of schedule) and the traffic was extremely light. We were astounded at how polite Melbourne drivers are - there we were, driving along, being VERY mindful of sticking to the speed limit on an unfamiliar route, with a great big map spread out and visible to everyone who drove past, vigorously pointing and waving our arms around every time we stopped at traffic lights and had a minute to consider how to proceed. And to top off it all, the restaurant we visited in Yarraville was lovely! Very Melbourne (my code for dark and enclosed) with a nice fit out and great food. Sadly I was unable to squeeze in dessert, not having a lot of time to sit around and let my main settle before we took off back to the airport again.

So, with all that rushing around in the lead up to Christmas and of course a busy day on the 25th, I am put in mind of this soothing pasta dish that is the easiest thing in the world to whip up - perfect for lazy summer evenings. Now I know that lots of people think they don't like blue cheese, but really there are so many different varieties and you can get some really nice creamy ones. There is a very nice King Island blue you can buy at the supermarket which comes in a roll, and Milawa Blue is also one of my favourites. I also love the flavour of sage but find it's best used carefully as it can be a little overpowering if you use too much. This recipe comes from my SOS Spring/Summer book.

Have a happy new year! Love from Jane xx

Blue cheese and sage pasta

Serves any number of people - the quantities are flexible

Toss any pasta (gnocchi works well) with some cultured butter, grated parmesan or pecorino, crumbled blue cheese and chopped sage. Let the heat from the pasta melt the butter and cheese. It's divine.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Lamb cutlets with mint pesto

Hello everyone, well here we are the week before Christmas and I am going to be up to my elbows in chocolate today as I am making various chocolate slices, sauces and ice-creams (yes, last week's Christmas bombe) to take to parties and to give as gifts to people. I am actually dangerously close to never wanting to see chocolate again I am using so much of it but I'm sure that will pass.

This week's recipe is prompted by a discussion with my sister this morning about the menu for Christmas day. To my delight we are all having all my favourite things on the BBQ, including lamb cutlets. Not this recipe, but one that has been around in the family for years. This one is a great summertime lamb recipe and you do the cutlets on the BBQ. The pesto is made with mint which is really refreshing. I often do these when I have people over, they are a great one for a group. Having said that, I am not a fan at all of serving lamb cutlets as finger food as there is just no way you can eat them gracefully and I always decline them regretfully in that situation, but who wants lamb and pesto all over their face at a party? So serve them when guests have plates and cutlery, OK?

Have a very happy Christmas, eat well and enjoy the festivities in whatever form they take place. Love from Jane xxx

Lamb cutlets with mint pesto

What you need:
  • 20 lamb cutlets
  • Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Pesto
  • 2 bunches mint
  • 1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley
  • 1 tablespoon pine nuts
  • 1 tablespoon grated parmesan
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 100ml extra virgin olive oil

What you do:
  1. Remove the bulky stems from the herbs.
  2. Lightly toast the pine nuts in a preheated 200C oven, taking care to not let them burn.
  3. In a food processor blend the herbs with the nuts, parmesan and lemon juice and, with the motor running, slowly add the oil. Season to taste.
  4. Season both sides of the cutlets and grill on a BBQ for a few minutes on each side, to the way you like them.
  5. Rest the cutlets for a few minutes, then arrange on a platter, drizzle with pesto and serve.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Ice-cream bombe


Hello everyone, I must admit that I haven't done very much cooking at all in the last week as I seem to be eating out for lunch and dinner every day in that final mad whirl in the lead up to Christmas. One of the best meals I have ever had took place on Wednesday night at a restaurant in Surry Hills called Pazzo. My friend Ron is a waiter there and his Italian mum makes a lot of the pasta for the diners there. I had a truly stunning meal and can't wait to go back.

This week's recipe is a great one for Christmas so if you are still wondering what you are you going to serve for dessert on the big day, this could be it. I found this recipe in the 2006 delicious calendar (and can't wait to hang up my 2009 calendar and see what recipes it contains!) and made it two Christmases ago and it was such a hit I am planning to do it again. You make the bombe in a pudding bowl so that it is the perfect shape - just a bit cooler than the usual pudding, and so pretty!

Have a great week. Love from Jane xx

Ice-cream bombe

Serves 6

What you need:


  • 75g dried cranberries

  • 1/3 cup orange juice

  • 500g mascarpone

  • 100g caster sugar

  • 300ml thickened cream

  • 2 slices candied orange peel, chopped into small pieces

  • 100g nougat, chopped into small pieces

  • 120g good quality chocolate drops (or chunked up chocolate)

  • 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier (optional)

  • Rosemary sprigs dusted with icing sugar, to decorate

  • Silver cachous, to decorate (you can buy these at the supermarket in the cake decorating section)

What you do:


  1. Spray a 1.5l pudding basin with oil and line with plastic wrap.

  2. Place cranberries in a saucepan with the orange juice and simmer over a low heat for five minutes, then cool.

  3. Beat together the mascarpone and sugar until the sugar has dissolved.

  4. Add the thickened cream and fold into the mascarpone, then add the cranberries, orange peel, nougat, chocolate and the Grand Marnier, if using.

  5. Spoon the mixture into the pudding basin and freeze overnight.

  6. Thirty minutes before serving, transfer the ice-cream to the fridge to soften.

  7. Turn out the ice-cream and decorate with the cachous and icing sugar dusted rosemary sprigs.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Buttered spinach with pine nuts and sultanas

Hello everyone, I am having a lovely annual leave day today. I am going to be apartment- and cat-sitting in the inner city for the next five nights, so thought it would help to have the day at home today to all my housework so I can then enjoy my weekend kind of away. I must say it was a great relief waking up and knowing I didn't have to go to work - it's so ridiculously busy right now!

I'm happy with the timing of my weekend away as it's the weekend that the Growers Markets are on down at Pyrmont and I'll be within walking distance, so I can stock up on all sorts of lovely goodies there. I'll also be close to the fish markets, so can have a wander down there as well.

This week's recipe is one of those great little vegetable ones that you can cook up and serve with roast meat, lamb chops, tossed through pasta, on top of a pizza or even just by itself. It's very good with gnocchi. The way you use it will determine how many servings you get from it. It is quite luscious and every time I cook it I wonder why I don't make it more often. I hope you like it too.

Have a great week, love from Jane xx

Buttered spinach with pine nuts and sultanas

Blanch 400g of spinach in boiling water for 2 minutes (you know that frozen spinach is perfectly fine). Drain the spinach and while still hot, press as much water as you can out of the spinach, through the sieve.

Transfer the spinach to a warm mixing bowl. Add 80g of butter in pieces, 50g grated parmesan, 3 tablespoons of toasted pine nuts, 2 tablespoons of sultanas and salt and pepper to taste.

Mix well - the butter and cheese will melt in the heat of the spinach and the warmth of the bowl.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Really fabulous pesto

Hello everyone, I am very excited to reveal that I have been published twice this month! One contribution appears in a book called "One Thing In Common" which is published by Cansupport, a support service for cancer patients and their carers at Royal North Shore. Until earlier this year I volunteered with Cansupport, and as part of that wrote a piece about my experience of both my darling Dad's cancer and that of my youngest sister. The book was a VERY long time in production so they are quite old stories now and certainly experiences I am glad to have behind me.

My second contribution (funny how both have been published at the same time) is in a book by the ABC called "Homecooked Feasts". It is a recipe for my Nana's afghan biscuits, which most of you who know me have sampled. I have to say that I feel quite disappointed with the book - there clearly wasn't much of a budget for production and it's very ordinary looking. They have also cleverly but annoyingly packaged it up with a similar book and you have to buy both, which put me off buying multiple copies for everyone for Christmas! I decided to just buy a copy for Mum instead. If you see the book and just want my recipe, let me know and I'll email it to you.

This week's recipe is inspired by the life saving pesto I found in my freezer on Friday night when I arrived home late and wanted something soothing for an easy supper. I had forgotten that I had this pesto made by my middle sister using her own home grown basil! I am convinced that you can't buy a decent commercial pesto and have to make your own, so this is the recipe I use which is from Matthew Evan's book "Kitchen Basics" - it's easily the most delicious pesto I have ever made.

Have a lovely week, Jane xx

Really fabulous pesto

Makes three mustard jars

What you need:
  • 80g pinenuts (even better if you toast first in a 180 oven for about 8-10 minutes)
  • 2-3 cloves garlic
  • 70g (about 1 1/2 cups gently pressed) basil leaves
  • 1 cup extra virgin olive oil (use your judgement, I never use this much)
  • 80g really good Parmigiano-Reggiano parmesan, finely grated (Matthew uses 40g plus 40g mature pecorino - if you don't mind having that much cheese hanging around in the fridge you can do so too)
  • Salt and pepper

What you do:
  1. In a sharp bladed food processor, blend the nuts and garlic until paste like.
  2. Add the washed and carefully dried basil leaves, then pulse, scraping down the sides regularly to make a paste.
  3. Add half the oil, then continue pulsing.
  4. Add the cheese and as much more of the oil as you please to just combine. You want the pesto to remain bright green.
  5. Season with salt and pepper.
  6. Scrape into sterilised jars and store in the fridge. You should make sure that the surface of the pesto is always covered with oil. Best eaten within a few days.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Prawn and mango salad with maple creme fraiche

Hello everyone, every Saturday morning I listen to Simon Marnie's program on ABC radio while I'm doing my weekend chores. My favourite segment is when he has three providores talking about the best meat, seafood and fruit and vegetables that are in season. Then a chef comes up with a three course meal using the ingredients suggested. They are all great recipes that are given, but as dessert is always based on the fruit that is listed, there is never a chocolate dessert, and in my view if there's no chocolate then it's not a proper dessert. So in desperation this morning I sent Simon a text pointing out this omission and guess what? Today's chef came up with a gorgeous sounding Black Forest confection using cherries AND chocolate. Now, that's a real dessert!

This week's recipe is not dessert, but a sensational prawn and mango salad that is perfect for hot Summer nights (I am pretending that we are experiencing fabulous Summer weather and hoping that eventually it will come good). It takes no time to whip up this one. It is the November recipe from the 2006 delicious calendar which had some really good recipes.

Have a great week. Love from Jane xxx

Prawn and mango salad with maple creme fraiche

Serves four

What you need:

  • 50ml olive oil
  • Grated rind and juice of 2 limes
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1/2 long red chilli, seeded, finely chopped
  • 100ml creme fraiche (you can buy this most places now) or sour cream
  • 4 cups baby salad leaves
  • 1 mango, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 500g cooked prawns, peeled and with tails intact

What you do:
  1. For the dressing, whisk together the oil with 2 tablespoons lime juice, then season with salt and pepper.
  2. For the maple creme fraiche, in a small bowl whisk together the remaining lime juice and rind, maple syrup, chopped chilli and creme fraiche/sour cream.
  3. Toss the salad leaves with the dressing and divide among four bowls.
  4. Top with mango slices and prawns and serve with a dollop of the maple creme fraiche.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Jam cake

Hello everyone, I was inspired to make this cake because I had a big jar of jam sitting in the pantry and I knew it would take some very dedicated toast eating to get through it otherwise. I made this cake when I got home quite late one night. It's so easy as you just throw everything into the food processor and then whack it into the oven. I tried out the cake on the boys in the office the next day (always willing to be my guinea pigs!) and they loved it. It doesn't have an icing, but I'm sure served with a big dollop of thick cream it would only be enhanced. The recipe comes from a very handy book called "3 Ways With Stale Bread" by Ross Dobson. It's a really handy book, I do recommend it.

Have a fabulous week. Love from Jane xx

Jam cake

Serves 10 very generously

What you need:
  • 185g softened butter
  • 185g brown sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 250g sour cream or creme fraiche
  • 2 cups self raising flour
  • 1 cup any jam you like

What you do:
  1. Preheat the oven to 180.
  2. Butter or oil spray a bundt tin (they are the ones that have fluted sides and a kind of column in the middle so you get a doughnut shaped cake).
  3. Place the butter and brown sugar in the food processor and blend till smooth.
  4. Add the eggs, one at a time, and blend for a few seconds between each addition.
  5. Add the sour cream or creme fraiche and the flour to the food processor and blend until you have a thick batter.
  6. Transfer the batter to a big bowl (it makes a big quantity) and stir through the jam.
  7. Spoon the batter into the cake tin and bake for about 40 minutes. Do watch it - all the sugar in the batter makes it cook quickly so keep an eye on it from 30 minutes onwards.
  8. Serve warm or at room temperature with cream, icecream, custard or all three.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Green olive and almond tapenade

Hello everyone, last night I attended a cocktail party at Government House, which was lovely, of course. The finger food was spectacular - all these tiny little morsels that were beautifully made and arranged. I think my favourite was the crispy parmesan shell that contained a goats cheese and parmesan flavoured mousse. It was all spectacular. They did feature heavily the Chinese spoons containing miniature dim sims. I really don't think there is a place for the Chinese spoons in finger food as you just can't eat from them elegantly. Still, obviously lots of people don't agree with me as they seem to feature at every cocktail function.

Today's recipe is a really nice mix that can be used in all sorts of ways. I love green olives and if you buy them from a good deli you will be bowled over by the spectacular taste. You can serve this as a robust kind of dip, or spread it on crusty bread, either toasted or not, or use it to accompany grilled chicken or fish. It would also be good with roasted vegetables or even on a pizza - it's very versatile!

Have a fantastic week, love from Jane xx

Green olive and almond tapenade

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

What you need:
  • 250g whole green olives (to yield about 170g when pitted)
  • 1 cup blanched almonds
  • 2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 1/2 clove garlic
  • 2 anchovy fillets
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt and pepper

What you do:
  1. Cut the olive flesh so that you can discard the pits.
  2. Toast the almonds in a 180 oven until golden brown (around 5-8 minutes, watch closely).
  3. Blend the olives, almonds, parsley, lemon juice, garlic and anchovies in a food processor.
  4. Drizzle in the olive oil and blend again until combined but still coarse.
  5. Season to taste.
  6. Serve at room temperature.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Pink grapefruit, avocado and watercress salad

Hello everyone, in the last couple of weeks I have made lots of salads. Regular readers will know that I did quite a few winter salads too, using roasted vegetables. Now with the warmer weather there's a whole new range of vegetables and fruit to use, and when I spotted this recipe in the October edition of delicious I just had to try it as it contains lots of different ingredients that I love. I made it for dinner on Sunday night last week. It really only took five minutes and looked and tasted stunning. Non vegetarians might like to add a few slices of prosciutto. I might add that when I was shopping for the ingredients that morning I must have tested every avocado in the shop and they all felt too firm, so I selected one and put it out on the windowsill for the day. By night time it was fine.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xxx

Pink grapefruit, avocado and watercress salad

Serves four

What you need:

  • 16 macadamia nuts
  • 1 pink grapefruit
  • 1 ripe avocado
  • A bunch of watercress, sprigs picked
  • 8-12 slices prosciutto (optional)
  • 8-12 wafer thin slices pecorino (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped flat leaf parsley

Dressing
  • 1/2 tablespooon Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar (or whatever you have to hand)
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons hazelnut oil, if you have it, otherwise use more of the extra virgin olive oil


What you do:
  1. For the dressing, combine the mustard and vinegar in a small bowl with a pinch each of salt and pepper.
  2. Whisk in the oils, then set aside.
  3. Preheat the oven to 180 and then toast the nuts until they smell nice, about ten minutes.
  4. Peel the grapefruit, removing all the pith, then cut into segments over a large bowl to catch the juice.
  5. Halve, stone and peel the avocado, then cut into slices of a similar size to the grapefruit slices.
  6. Add the avocado to the grapefruit with the watercress and toss very gently to mix.
  7. Drizzle half of the dressing over the salad and toss lightly, so you don't break up the avocado or grapefruit slices.
  8. Arrange the salad on a plate, interleaving the prosciutto and pecorino slices, if using, with the watercress, grapefruit and avocado.
  9. Sprinkle with the parsley and drizzle over the remaining dressing.
  10. Scatter over the macadamias and serve.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Mixed cress, zucchini and raw salmon salad

Hello everyone, last night I made this divine salad for dinner. I adore sashimi, so when I saw this recipe that uses it I just had to try it. It is from my Spring/Summer SOS book. It is light and summery, and best of all, you can whip it up in just a few minutes. Mind you, I was making some rocky road at the same time as I was making the salad, so made sure I was really concentrating when it came time to tip the sliced salmon into one of the bowls I was using! It shouldn't be difficult to find the sashimi - I bought mine from a suburban fish shop - but make sure you use sashimi quality salmon that is ultra-fresh. The fishmonger cut it fresh for me and it was beautiful.

Have a lovely week, love from Jane xxx

Mixed cress, zucchini and raw salmon salad
(Serves four as an entree or two as a main)

What you need:
  • Four handfuls of mixed leaves, preferably a mix of watercress, curly cress and lamb's lettuce (you can usually buy these sorts of leaves at farmers markets; if you are relying on your local greengrocer then just use a mix of what you can find)
  • 2 trimmed zucchini
  • 500g sashimi quality salmon
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons mirin
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon of any light oil you have to hand
  • Juice of a quarter of a lime
  • 2 tablespoons chopped chives

What you do:
  1. Place the leaves in a serving bowl.
  2. Using a vegetable peeler, slice thin strips from the zucchini and add to the leaves.
  3. Thinly slice the salmon and add to the leaves.
  4. Combine the remaining ingredients and mix well.
  5. Pour the dressing over the salad, toss gently and serve immediately.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Nat's Best Ever Brownies

Hello everyone, I went to Sculpture By The Sea yesterday and as usual it was fantastic. Splendid even, particularly as it was a gorgeous sunny day and there was a whale frolicking just off the coast. Unlike other years, there wasn't one sculpture that I thought particularly outstanding and which will stay with me for years, but lots of really good pieces, particularly ones that sculpted single pieces of silver or glass.

On the way over there, with no relevance to the conversation at the time, my niece piped up "Jane, we really like chocolate brownies" which reminded me of this recipe I have made countless times now and for which people always ask. It is so easy as you throw everything into a mixing bowl (not all at the same time) and just keep mixing. As a result, you get a great, smooth texture. This is yet another recipe from my Epicure Chocolate book, and the recipe was contributed by someone called Natalie who is herself a baker.

Enjoy. Love from Jane xxx

Nat’s Best Ever Brownies

What you need:
· 4 large eggs
· 360g castor sugar
· 320g salted butter
· 130g chocolate
· 120g plain flour
· 80g Dutch cocoa
· 160g cream cheese, chilled
· 180g raw walnuts or pecans, chopped roughly (about halves)
· Optional flavours: 2 tablespoons strong espresso or grated zest of one orange

What you do:
1. Preheat oven to 160°.
2. Line an 18cm x 28cm lamington tin with baking paper.
3. Using a hand held electric beater, beat the eggs and sugar for two minutes on a low speed.
4. While it is mixing, melt the butter and pour over the chocolate and stir to melt.
5. If you are using the coffee or orange, add to the chocolate butter mix at this point.
6. Scrape the chocolate butter mix into the egg mix and continue to beat on a low speed for two minutes.
7. Sift together the flour and cocoa.
8. Add the flour mix to the mixer bowl and mix for two minutes. At this point the batter should begin to look matte and creamy – if it is still dark and glossy, mix it for longer.
9. Drop marble sized pieces of the cream cheese into the mix and continue to mix. Beating in all of the cream cheese makes a rich, gooey brownie; gently folding in larger pieces gives a slightly different texture but it will still be moist.
10. Stir in the nuts.
11. Pour the mixture into the lamington tin.
12. Bake for about 30 minutes or until fine cracks begin to appear on the surface and the edges are starting to puff a little.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Pomegranate salsa

Hello everyone, I was part of a funny conversation in the office during the week. An email came around to a group of us who sit together, advising that one of the group is having a significant birthday this weekend and the sender thought it would be nice to have a cake. Did we all agree? Of course I didn't hesitate to vigorously agree that a cake would be a very good thing. Then came the next question: what sort of cake should we have? So the three men in the group entered into a great discussion about what sort of cake they would like. Eventually, being the service delivery kind of person I am, I interrupted them by saying "Why don't we ask the birthday boy what kind of cake he likes?" Great consternation. How on earth could we extract that information? (And the subtext was "why on earth...") So, birthday boy walked back into the office and I engaged him in a conversation about cooking, family recipes, our favourite cakes....to discover that he likes all kinds of cakes! Very easy to please. So we have settled on orange poppyseed.

This week's recipe is something that I made last weekend to go with some garlic chicken that I barbecued. The two went together beautifully, and it would also pair well with fish or roasted vegetables. I think one of the best things about it is how pretty it looks. I am unsure whether pomegranates are available at Christmas, but it would be perfect then as the dish is red and green. It's great for entertaining as it is something a little bit unusual and tastes great.

Have a fantastic week, love from Jane xx

Pomegranate salsa

Serves 4-6

What you need:

  • 2 ripe tomatoes
  • 1/3 cup mint leaves
  • 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 pomegranate
  • Salt

What you do:
  1. Cut the tomatoes into quarters, discard the seeds and chop the flesh into small dice.
  2. Roughly chop the mint leaves and add to the tomatoes with the pomegranate molasses, lemon juice and oil (taste as you go and adjust the quantities to taste).
  3. To extract the seeds from the pomegranate, cut off the crown at the top. Cut the fruit into quarters. Put the quarters in a bowl of cold water, then carefully bend back the skin to open up the membrane, prising out the seeds. The membrane and skin will float to the top of the water while the seeds will sink.
  4. Sprinkle the seeds into the salsa base.
  5. Season to taste with salt , stir to mix and serve.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Spanish Omelette

Hello everyone, those of us living in NSW are lucky enough to be having a long weekend. I love being at the start of this slightly extended break, thinking of all the things I am going to do. I have been planning to sell a whole lot of stuff on e-bay for a year now and am determined to get around to doing something about it this weekend. I keep putting it off because I think it's hard, but I'm sure once I start I'll get into it. The longer I put off starting the more time I have to find things around the house that I don't want so my e-bay pile is growing every week! Any opportunity to de-clutter is a good thing.

I am also hoping to do a bit of cooking this weekend of course. In a happy coincidence, when I was choosing recipes to cook over the next fortnight, one I selected was for some garlic chicken that I am going to do on the BBQ (I can't wait to get the barbie fired up again) and another was for a pomegranate salsa, which the author recommends serving with barbecued chicken. How good is that!

This week's recipe is from a Belinda Jeffery book, Tried And Trued Recipes, through which I am currently making my way. I like this book because she has arranged the recipes according to her favourite ingredients, so there are chapters on cheese, chicken, tomatoes, bread, chocolate and others. And every one I have cooked so far has been delicious, in fact one of them that I cooked a couple of months ago has become the best dish I think I have ever made! It's a beautiful saffron and cinnamon chicken casserole. Fortunately I had the foresight when I made it to do the full quantity which gave me a number of meals over the next weeks. Anyway, the recipe I'm giving you here is a simple Spanish omelette, just the thing for a light lunch or supper when you don't want something too big.

Have a fabulous week! Love from Jane xx

Spanish Omelette

Serves 3-4

What you need:
  • 1 cup extra virgin olive oil (seems like a lot but it is used for flavouring the potatoes as well as cooking them and the excess oil is drained away)
  • 750g potatoes, peeled and sliced to about 5mm thick
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 6 eggs
  • Sea salt, to taste
  • Small handful of chopped flat leaf parsley

What you do:
  1. Heat the oil in a deep frypan over a medium heat.
  2. Add the potatoes to the pan and cook them gently (you will probably have to do in batches).
  3. Turn the potatoes regularly for 20 minutes or until they are cooked through (but not coloured or crisp). Don't worry if they break up a bit.
  4. Half way through cooking the potatoes add the onion.
  5. When the potatoes are cooked, gently move the mix to a sieve set over a mixing bowl and allow the oil to drain through. (You can save the oil to cook other savoury foods).
  6. Whisk the eggs lightly in a large bowl, then add the salt and parsley.
  7. Tip the drained potato and onion mix into the eggs and stir everything together.
  8. Wipe out the pan and reheat a couple of tablespoons of the leftover oil over a medium heat until it is hot.
  9. Pour in the omelette mixture, reduce the heat to low and spread out the potatoes evenly.
  10. Stir with a fork for the first 30 seconds, then leave it to cook, shaking the pan occasionally to prevent the mixture sticking.
  11. Cook the omelette gently until it's set and golden underneath.
  12. Very carefully, flip the omelette onto a flat plate so it's cooked side up, then slide it back into the pan to cook the other side.
  13. Continue to cook until the omelette is pale gold underneath and firm but still moist. It will take up to five minutes.
  14. When the omelette is cooked, slide it onto a serving plate and allow to cool a little.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Warm salmon and green leaf salad

Hello everyone, I don't know where the last week went. It feels as if the end of the year is racing towards us. Not a bad thing, as we move closer to Melbourne Cup day you just know that party season is right around the corner....All the blue sky and sunshine we are experiencing in Sydney makes me think of weekends at the beach, BBQs and hanging out with friends.

This week's recipe is a great one for Spring, combining salad and fish. It comes from my Spring/Summer copy of SOS, which is always one of the first books to which I turn at this lovely time of year. If you can get some watercess and keep it looking sprightly it makes the salad look so pretty. This makes a nice lunch if you are having friends around, and is also quick and easy for dinner after work.

Have a great week. Love from Jane xxx

Warm salmon and green leaf salad

Serves four

What you need:
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons almond oil (or you can use all olive oil)
  • 1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses or juice
  • Sea salt flakes
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • Juice of 1-2 limes (or 1 lemon, limes are very expensive right now)
  • 4 x salmon fillets
  • 300g mix of rocket, baby spinach and watercress
  • 2 Lebanese cucumbers, sliced crosswise
  • 1/3 cup blanched almonds, toasted in the oven for about 6 minutes

What you do:
  1. Preheat the oven to 200.
  2. Combine the oils, pomegranate molasses, salt, pepper and a teaspoon of the lime/lemon juice. Taste the dressing to make sure it balances as the pomegranate molasses can sometimes be a little tart.
  3. Season the salmon and drizzle with the remaining lime/lemon juice.
  4. Roast the salmon, skin side down, on a lightly oiled baking tray (I would line the tray with baking paper as well) for 8-10 minutes or until the salmon is moist and just cooked.
  5. Break the salmon into chunks, discarding the skin.
  6. Place the mixed leaves in to a serving dish, place the salmon chunks on top, scatter with cucumber and the toasted almonds and add the dressing.
  7. Toss gently to combine and serve.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Maple and pecan croissant pudding

Hello everyone, I spent a few days in Canberra this week for work. Unlike a lot of people I really like Canberra, not least because one of the cafes that features on my list of top places for hot chocolate can be found there! It's a bakery in Kingston called Silo and as well as using good quality chocolate in this drink, it's served in a dainty cup and saucer, which in my view makes hot chocolate taste even better. I am delighted to report that I achieved a personal best of five hot chocolates in three days from this cafe - I figured I might as well make the most of it as I don't anticipate being in Canberra again in the near future.

I was also lucky enough to catch up with my good friends Ray and Clare and their beautiful daughter Rosa Grace for breakfast at the cafe at Old Parliament House. I had never been to OPH before so didn't know what to expect (I was suitably impressed). However, what really struck me was that I could have happily ordered pretty well anything from the breakfast menu - it was easily the most enticing list of breakfast dishes I have ever seen! If I lived in Canberra I think I would be there very regularly so I could work my way through them.

Anyway, today's pudding is a recipe that I cut out of Good Living in the SMH nearly four years ago (yes, that's how many recipes I have in my scrapbook - it's taken me this long to get up to it!) It was a story about using claypots for cooking. I have a claypot, which I originally gave to Dad and which he used a lot, particularly for Asian cooking. I use it a fair bit too for all sorts of things, especially dishes that are slow cooked. I tried out this pudding on a group of people recently and it went down very well. I made it again today for my sister and her husband and they seemed to enjoy it too. There are quite a few steps to it, so I work out my timing ahead of time and write it all down so that I know when to do each task. You'll notice as it cooks the pudding has the most gorgeous aroma.

Have a wonderful week. Love from Jane xxx

Maple and pecan croissant pudding

Serves four

What you need:
  • 1/2 cup sultanas
  • 45ml brandy
  • 4 large croissants
  • 50g butter
  • 40g pecan nuts, roughly chopped
  • 3 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 300ml milk
  • 150ml thin cream
  • 120ml good quality maple syrup
  • 25g demerara sugar (if you only have caster sugar, that's fine)
  • Maple syrup and thin cream to serve

What you do:
  1. Place the sultanas and brandy in a small pan on the stove and heat gently until warm. Leave to stand for one hour.
  2. Soak a claypot in cold water for 15 minutes, then drain. Leave for 2-3 minutes then lightly grease the base and sides of the pot.
  3. Cut the croissants into thick slices and butter on one side (I know this sounds incredibly indulgent, and it is, it's really worth it).
  4. Arrange the croissant slices, buttered side up and slightly overlapping, in the claypot.
  5. Sprinkle the sultantas and pecan nuts on top.
  6. In a large bowl combine the beaten eggs and milk, then gradually beat in the cream and maple syrup.
  7. Pour the egg mixture through a sieve on to the croissants, sultanas and nuts. Let it stand for 30 minutes so that the custard soaks into the croissants.
  8. Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the top, cover the dish and place it in an UNHEATED oven. Set the oven to 180C and bake for 40 minutes.
  9. Remove the lid and continue to bake for another 20 minutes, or until the custard is set and top is golden.
  10. Leave the pudding to cool for about 15 minutes. Serve with cream and extra maple syrup.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Walnut taratoor

Hello everyone, last night I made this interesting combination. I'm not quite sure what to call it, other than by its rightful name, a taratoor, but as I had never heard this term before and am guessing that most of you haven't either, that's not very helpful. I suppose you could consider it a very thick sauce, or a dip perhaps. According to the writer of the recipe it can be served with seafood, salads, fried vegetables or bread. I saw this as a fantastic opportunity to roast some potatoes of course and I served the taratoor with them. It was very, very nice and even though I only made a quarter of the given quantity I still have some left, so guess what? More lovely roasted potatoes tonight! (It's my Irish heritage). I think the taratoor would also go well with roast meat, or you could serve it as a dip with bread and/or vegetables, and it would probably work well swirled through some freshly cooked spaghetti with some parmesan cheese on top!

The recipe comes from my lovely Growers Market cookbook which is the only book from which I select randomly. That is because it is about cooking with seasonal produce, so I choose something that is in season right now to make my selection. I'm so happy that Spring is here, I feel as if Winter depresses me slightly more every year, so I'm hoping that the lovely warm conditions we have had in Sydney today will set the standard for Spring and Summer this year.

Have a great week. Jane xx

Walnut taratoor

Serves 8

What you need:
  • 250g fresh walnuts (it is so much better to use fresh nuts than packet nuts - in Sydney you can buy them at Harris Farm)
  • 80g fresh white breadcrumbs
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 60ml white wine vinegar (or if you have an apple cider vinegar in your cupboard I think that would be nice)
  • 1 cup olive oil (I reduced this quantity by three quarters as I wanted a thick texture)
  • Freshly chopped flat leaf parsley, to garnish

What you do:
  1. Finely chop the walnuts in a food processor. Set aside a teaspoon for the garnish.
  2. Add the breadcrumbs, garlic, vinegar and 3 tablespoons water and blend well.
  3. With the motor running, gradually add the olive oil in a thin but steady stream until smooth. Add a little more water if the sauce appears to be too thick. Season to taste.
  4. Transfer to a serving bowl and refrigerate.
  5. When you are ready to serve the taratoor, sprinkle the reserved nuts and parsley on top.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Broad bean and white wine risotto

Hello everyone, I am running very late with my blog this week as my computer and I had a dispute on Friday afternoon. Needless to say the computer won and sulked all weekend, presenting me with a black screen that refused to light up with all the usual features and the photo of dashing Adam Gilchrist which forms the centrepiece of my screen. Thankfully gizmo.com.au came to the rescue yesterday afternoon so I'm back in business.

I love broad beans. Have I mentioned that before? I'm not a lover of most green beans, but there is something about broad beans, which is partly about the shelling of them, partly about their beautiful colour and partly about their texture. They are very seasonal, so now whenever I see a recipe using broad beans I mark it and as soon as I see them at the greengrocers I buy some and choose the recipe to try. This is one I cooked during the week. I substituted verjuice for the wine as I no longer drink white wine, and it was sensational. It is another recipe from my other favourite recipe writer, Matthew Evans.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx

Broad bean and white wine risotto

Serves four

What you need:

  • 30g butter
  • 1 medium leek, pale part only,washed and chopped finely
  • 400g risotto rice
  • 400g double peeled broad beans (pod them first, then quickly blanch in boiling water, cool in cold water, then slip off the pale, coarse skin)
  • 500ml white wine or verjuice
  • About 1 litre of good stock (if not available use boiling water)
  • About 50g good Parmesan cheese, finely grated

What you do:
  1. Heat the butter in a large pan and fry the leek well to soften.
  2. Add the rice and continue to fry over a gentle heat until it starts to stick slightly (don't allow the rice to brown).
  3. Add half the broad beans and the wine/verjuice.
  4. Turn up the heat and stir constantly as the wine/verjuice evaporates.
  5. Keep adding stock as needed, until all of the stock is absorbed and the rice looks creamy.
  6. Add the remaining beans and half the cheese.
  7. Turn off the heat and allow to sit for a few minutes.
  8. Serve with the remaining cheese sprinkled over the top.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Paprika lemon chicken wings

Hello everyone, I cooked this recipe for dinner last night and it made me think a lot about old and new and how things change. I don't even know the providence of this recipe - it is a handwritten one out of my own little book of recipes. I suspect that it's one I might have picked up when my mother sent me off to the very popular cooking schools AGL used to run for children and teenagers in the school holidays. I gathered quite a few good recipes from that course which have come in handy over the years.

This dish is something that I used to cook regularly at home, particularly when I was left in charge of my sisters when Mum and Dad went out to dinner. In a sign of changing times, I note in my cook book that I amended the recipe for cooking in the microwave! Weren't they exciting times when microwaves entered our kitchens. I remember that Mum went off to TAFE with a bunch of her friends and they did a whole course in microwave cooking! Suddenly we were cooking everything this new, super-fast way, using the broadband of the kitchen. Of course, now most of us have abandoned our microwaves and only use them for defrosting food and warming up wheat packs to put in bed in winter.

And so it is with these chicken wings. I have gone back to baking them in the oven. I did them last night in a beautiful claypot that I have had for years and pulled out from the back of a cupboard the night before. It cooks beautifully. Another reason why I like making this recipe is the coating of the wings in flour - it reminds me of how my Nana used to cook. And in another sign of the times, I reduced the amount of butter in the recipe quite dramatically. I don't know what they were thinking in the late 70s using the quantities they did!

Have a happy week, love from Jane xx

Paprika lemon chicken wings

Serves four

What you need:
  • 12 chicken wings
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 20g butter, melted

Lemon sauce
  • 2 teaspoons soy sauce
  • Pepper
  • 2 tablespoons light olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
  • 1/3 cup lemon juice
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped

What you do:
  1. Combine flour, salt, pepper and paprika in a large bowl.
  2. Toss the wings in the flour to coat evenly.
  3. Arrange wings in a claypot if you have one (soaked in cold water for a few minutes first), or arrange in a flat baking dish.
  4. Pour the melted butter over the wings.
  5. Bake, uncovered, in a 200 oven for 30 minutes.
  6. While the wings are baking combine the ingredients for the lemon sauce. Make sure you zest the lemon while it's still whole as it will be a lot easier that way.
  7. After the first 30 minutes of baking spoon the lemon sauce over the wings and return to the oven for about another 20 minutes, or until cooked through and the tips are nice and crisp.
  8. Serve with boiled rice and a green salad. Or whatever you like really, that is just a suggestion.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

My cat Sennen


Hello everyone, today I wanted to tell you about my beautiful cat Sennen.


Sennen came to live with me in about 1993. She had previously been the animal companion of my friend Sue, who named her Sennen for the town in Cornwall in which Sue grew up. Sue was heading overseas for six months, and knowing that I was a cat lover, asked me to take Sennen while she was away.


Sennen wasn't happy at first - she kept walking up to the front door and wailing as if to ask if she could go home now. After a couple of days she accepted that she was living in a new home and spent the next few days buried under the doona on my bed, emerging only for meals. Gradually she settled down with me and over the next fifteen years, lived with me in a further three places. For a while we lived in a first floor flat which fortunately had cars parked underneath the balcony. She used to love launching herself off the balcony on to the roof of a car underneath and from there could make her way out to explore the great outdoors.


Sue eventually returned from overseas after about four years away, but by this time Sennen had definitely become my animal companion and I'm sure she thought of me as her companion too. There was no way she was being returned!


Over the years Sennen has given me so much company and companionship. She has seen me through lots of sad times, like when my Dad was dying, and has been a great friend to come home to every night. Like all cats she has a talent for finding the most comfortable spots in which to sleep all day, and many's the time I have come across her curled up in a patch of sunshine, either in the kitchen or outdoors, contentedly snoozing away the day.


Earlier this year Sennen was diagnosed with kidney failure. Miraculously, the Vet treating her got her on to a drip - to this day I and her colleagues don't know how she did it, as Sennen has a reputation for being a feisty little thing who usually needs to be held down by one person while another treats her. The drip worked wonders and gave Sennen a few more months of quite good health.


Sadly in the past ten days her health has started to fail. She had some blood tests during the week that didn't hold happy news, and in the last few days she has given up all pretence of eating. Thankfully I am now on holidays for two weeks, so can spend time at home with her. I don't know how much more time my darling girl will last, but I know she is really enjoying the sunshiny days that are seeing out Winter.


So, no recipe today I'm sorry as I just want to sneak back to the heater and curl up with Sennen as we probably don't have too many afternoons together left. I am so lucky for all the time that I have had with her.


Jane xx

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Spaghetti with ricotta and radicchio

Hello everyone, I have been lucky enough to go to three really good places in the last two days with three of my favourite people. It has made it an outstanding weekend! On Friday I had a friend here from Victoria and he was staying in Mosman, so what better excuse to take him to Source for a quick lunch. I then met a friend for drinks at The Ivy. It was the first time I had been there and I have to confess with the steamroller of publicity accompanying the opening of this complex I was a little cynical about the whole thing. I have to say though that the bar we chose was lovely, the service was great and the wine delicious. I am now quite intrigued about what else is in The Ivy and want to go back and try out all the bars it contains!

Then last night I went to a restaurant called Rocket, at Chatswood, and it was fantastic! Not a great location as it is right next to the train station and the outlook over the western side of the station uninspiring. But once you are inside you forget where you are. It looks great, the service is very good and the food was divine. I know this is a big call but I think the lamb I had was the most luscious lamb I've ever had! It was a really impressive place.

This week's recipe is something very quick and easy and warming for winter. I adore ricotta so am always keen to use it. I also really like using breadcrumbs with pasta - they add a really nice crunch. Of course, the better your bread, the better the breadcrumbs,so if you can use a nice sourdough you'll get a great result. It comes from one of the SOS books published by Vogue Entertaining that I have quoted before - an endless source of great ideas for the kitchen.

Have a great week, Jane xx

Spaghetti with ricotta and radicchio

Serves four

What you need:
  • 150g fresh breadcrumbs
  • 80ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 500g spaghetti
  • 1/2 cup stock or water
  • 1 head radicchio, tough outer leaves discarded, remaining leaves torn into small pieces
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
  • 350g really good, fresh ricotta
  • 150g parmesan, grated

What you do:
  1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
  2. Spread the breadcrumbs in a baking dish and pour over half the olive oil.
  3. Bake the crumbs for 10 minutes, until golden brown. Keep an eye on them, stirring once of twice, so they don't burn. Allow to cool.
  4. Cook the spaghetti and drain well.
  5. Bring the stock/water and remaining olive oil to a simmer in a large pan.
  6. Toss in the pasta, then the remaining ingredients, and season with salt and pepper if you wish.
  7. When the radicchio is wilted and the mixture hot, remove from the heat and serve sprinkled with the breadcrumbs.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Chickpea feta salad

Hello everyone, I was very excited this morning as I had finally earned enough points on my Mastercard to redeem a gift. I had picked out a particular gift voucher, so that I could use it to buy a bottle of my favourite perfume, of which I ran out some time ago. I anticipated a quick turn around, so had hopes of wearing my new perfume by the end of the week.

Silly me, thinking it would be so easy.

As I have never redeemed points before I stumbled at the first block - don't know my pin number. So I had to call the card provider, which is always painful as their call centre is located in the US and their call centre staff are painfully polite - I hate speaking to them so much that I actually considered forgoing the perfume for a few minutes. I really, really want it though so I steeled myself, figuring they could give me the new pin number and assist me to redeem the points over the phone. Again, no such luck. I have to wait a week for my pin number to turn up, then go through the whole palaver of registering and trading in my points. It can then take up to 28 days for my gift voucher to arrive!

So sadly I will remain unperfumed for a while yet.

This week's recipe is so good that I searched my blog twice to make sure I hadn't already supplied it. I can't believe I have held it back all this time! I enjoyed this salad for lunch this week (with the addition of some of my left over bastourma you'll be glad to know), but first made it to accompany some chicken wings over Christmas. It is a Bill Granger recipe - I first saw it in Good Living but it is also in one of his many books. I make it regularly and sometimes add different ingredients to it that I happen to have. If you have really good extra virgin olive oil and a homegrown lemon to make the dressing, you will find it sensational.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx

Chickpea feta salad

Serves four

What you need:
· 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
· 2 tablespoons lemon juice
· Sea salt
· Freshly ground pepper
· 1 x 400g tin chickpeas, rinsed and drained
· 15g baby spinach
· 1 lebanese cucumber, sliced into four lengthways and diced
· 100g yellow grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, halved
· 50g goat’s or sheep’s milk feta, crumbled

What you do:
1. Place the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper into a bowl and whisk until combined.
2. Combine the chickpeas, spinach, cucumber and tomatoes in a bowl.
3. Just before serving, toss the salad with the dressing and crumble the cheese over the top.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Dukkah rolled poached egg with haloumi

Hello everyone, I am so glad to get to the end of this week. We had our annual audit at work this week and it was a very testing and rigorous time! The auditors had me jumping all week. I think we have done well though as everything seemed to match up. It is very good to have these last five days behind me.

I am also convinced that Spring is around the corner with the lovely sunshiny blue sky days we have been having (most days) so that makes me feel much happier.

Today I went to see the most beautiful exhibition of Japanese art from the Art Deco period with my friend Aviva, who is the best eating and shopping companion you could want. The art was absolutely stunning and I wanted to acquire nearly all the pictures and scrolls. I had to satisfy myself with a card displaying one of the pictures from the exhibition instead.

Now this week's recipe is (I think) quite unusual. It is written by my equal favourite cooking writer, Matthew Evans, and comes from one of his columns in the Good Weekend sometime. I have often looked at the recipe and thought I'd try it one day and last night I did. I have to say it was nicer than I had anticipated. There was one drawback: it requires bastourma, a Middle Eastern air dried beef, of which I was hoping I could buy a few slices, but had to buy a packet containing about 50 slices so I'll be eating bastourma till Christmas (I have put packages in the freezer). It also uses dukkah and I thought I'd make my own, which was very easy but again I ended up with enough to keep me going for a very long time. But, it was a quick and easy dish to make, very unusual and very yummy so I thought a good one to share.

Have a happy week, love from Jane xx

Dukkah rolled poached egg with haloumi

Serves two (or four as an entree)

What you need:
  • 8 slices haloumi cheese
  • Olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons or thereabouts of dukkah
  • 4 large eggs
  • 12 slices bastourma (buy from a Middle Eastern deli)

What you do:

  1. Arrange the slices of bastourma on serving plates.
  2. Bring water to a simmer for the poached eggs.
  3. Just before it reaches that point, heat a non stick pan and add some olive oil.
  4. Lightly fry the slices of haloumi on both sides until golden.
  5. Remove from the pan and keep warm.
  6. When the water is simmering, gently drop in the eggs and poach.
  7. When the eggs are cooked, lift them out of the water with a slotted spoon and carefully roll in the dukkah (this is surprisingly easy).
  8. Lay the slices of haloumi on the bastourma and place the poached eggs on top of the haloumi to serve.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

One pan chocolate cake

Hello everyone, I am baking a cake tomorrow to take to work on Monday for the birthday of someone in the office. I thought it would be a good one to share with you as you can never have too many chocolate cake recipes and this one is so easy, plus its yummy. I think of it as my stand by chocolate cake as it's so reliable. Every time I have made it people ask for the recipe. I think its because it's so chocolatey and very moist. It comes from one of my favourite cook book writers, Belinda Jeffery, from her first book called Belinda Jeffery’s Tried-And-True Recipes. I really recommend this book, I have cooked nearly every recipe in it and never been disappointed.

I hope you have the opportunity for a yummy morning tea some time this week too!

Love from Jane xx

One pan chocolate cake

Serves 8-10

What you need:

· 1/3 cup cocoa powder (preferably Dutch processed)
· 75g cultured unsalted butter
· 1/3 cup light olive or vegetable oil
· 2/3 cup cool water
· 90g good quality chocolate (dark or milk), finely chopped
· 250g castor sugar
· 1 large egg
· 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
· 1 ¼ cups plain flour
· 2 teaspoons baking powder
· 1/3 cup buttermilk (or you could substitute yoghurt or sour cream)

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C.
2. Butter a 24cm round cake tin. Line the base with buttered baking paper then dust the tin with flour. Shake out the excess flour and put it aside.
3. Put the cocoa, butter, oil and water into a fairly large saucepan.
4. Bring the mixture to the boil over a medium heat, stirring regularly until it’s smooth, then take it off the heat.
5. Add the chocolate and sugar and whisk them in until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Leave it to cool.
6. Once it has cooled, add the egg and vanilla and whisk them in thoroughly.
7. Now sift the flour and baking powder into the mixture and stir them in until they’re just combined.
8. Whisk in the buttermilk.
9. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and give it a gentle shake to even it out.
10. Bake the cake for 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the tin on a rack for 5 minutes. Then invert the cake onto the rack, remove the paper and leave it to cool completely.

When you’re ready to serve the cake, transfer it to a serving dish. You can ice it with chocolate ganache, or fresh cream and grated chocolate or berries or crushed praline.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Gruyere custards

Hello everyone, we have had a very exciting week in Sydney with World Youth Day coming to town. There have been pilgrims everywhere and they all look so happy and excited. Their presence has brought some cheer to the cold winter days, and we have been blessed with beautiful clear blue skies and loads of sunshine this week for our visitors. Having said that the nights and early mornings are freezing, so I'm glad I'm not joining the pilgrims to sleep out at Randwick Racecourse tonight. It will be bitterly cold there by about 3.00 tomorrow morning!


This morning I met a friend for a late breakfast at Balmoral, which again, with the clear blue sky and the sparkling water, was the perfect setting. Afterwards I went up to one of my favourite delis in Mosman to buy an Italian cheese for a risotto I'm making tonight. They had the cheese I was after, cut into wedges. All of the wedges were two or three times bigger than I wanted and consequently two or three times more than I wanted to pay. When I asked them if they could cut me a slice of the quantity I wanted I was told that wasn't possible as the cheese is too soft. This is not the first time I have had this experience at this deli. So I went straight across the road to a speciality cheese shop who had the same cheese and happily cut the quantity I was after. Really and truly.

So, all this cheese buying put me in mind of these gruyere custards which are not difficult at all - you really just mix and then cook in a warm bath in the oven. They are perfect for winter, whether as an entree or a light something at night if you have had a big lunch. They are from another of my favourite books, the Autumn/Winter edition of the Short Order + Seasonal book produced by Vogue Entertaining several years ago.

Have a great week, love from Jane xxx

Gruyere custards

  1. Mix together 600ml full cream milk, 80ml cream and 185g grated gruyere in a saucepan.
  2. Cook over a low heat just until the cheese melts.
  3. Mix in 6 lightly beaten eggs and season.
  4. Pour into buttered ramekins.
  5. Place the ramekins in a baking dish and pour boiling water around the ramekins, about half way up their sides. This makes a nice bath for the custards in which to cook.
  6. Bake in a 180C oven for 15 minutes until set.
  7. If you are feeling extravagant, serve with slices of baked pear drizzled with honey.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Pasta in a creamy tomato sauce with lemon

Hello everyone, I had some fun earlier today shopping for a soup I am planning to make tomorrow afternoon. I am making pea and ham soup, which I have never done before. It seems like such an old fashioned (in a good sense) thing to make. Both my Nana and my Mum used to make pea and ham soup every winter and finally I am doing so too. So because it is a first, I was a little uncertain of some of the ingredients I was purchasing, namely the peas and the ham. I needed to buy 500g of split green peas, and although I have a good sense of what 500g looks like, I had a mental image of struggling home with a sack bursting with split peas. Of course it was quite a modest sized packet I found. I then went to the butcher to inquire about ham hocks, having no idea at all what I would be buying. The butcher brought out an enormous bone with lots of ham on it, so big he suggested chopping it in two for me. He assured me it would give the soup a lovely flavour. So I did struggle home with the great big ham hock, but am very much looking forward to having some lovely warming soup for dinner tomorrow night.

This week's recipe is what I think of as a slightly unusual combination of flavours, but it works well and I have marked it in my cook book as "very nice". Regular readers will know that I love the flavour of lemon, and I also love creamy sauces, which is probably why I like this one so much. It is yet another recipe from one of my favourite books, Trattoria Pasta by Loukie Werle.

It will be interesting to see how this week unfolds in Sydney with the long anticipated World Youth Day upon us. Have a great week yourself. Love from Jane xx

Pasta in a creamy tomato sauce with lemon

Serves four

What you need:
  • 1/2 cup thick cream
  • Peel of one lemon, preferably in one piece if you can
  • 3 ripe, medium sized tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
  • 500g pasta
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese


What you do:
  1. Combine the cream and lemon peel in a large pan.
  2. Slowly bring to a boil, then add the tomatoes.
  3. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the sauce starts to reduce and thicken, which will take about five minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in plenty of boiling water.
  5. Remove the lemon peel from the sauce.
  6. Drain the pasta and add to the sauce, stirring well to coat all of the pasta.
  7. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Chicken breasts stuffed with cheese

Hello everyone, in the office where I work I sit with four men who all love food and really appreciate any cooking I bring in. I made some chocolate brownies for one of them this week for his birthday and just glowed when they all exclaimed about my cooking! It is so nice to have an appreciative audience; it makes me want to bring in something freshly baked every day. Of course I would have to be up at 4.00 am to fit in all this baking, so it's not really something I'm going to do. Still, it does make me feel good!

This week's recipe is something I made during the week for dinner and it was scrumptious! It is from a beautiful book that I have cited before called "Heart Of The Home". The book is really American and I was puzzled about the instruction to use "jack cheese" - I asked a few of my American friends what this was and none of them could tell me, so I just used a cheese that melts well and it was fine. I'm usually not big on big pieces of chicken type dishes, but the blend of flavours in this one was so yummy that I loved it.

Have a wonderful week - hopefully for us in Sydney there will be a return to blue skies during the week! Love from Jane xx

Chicken breasts stuffed with cheese

Serves six

What you need:
  • 3 double chicken breasts, halved
  • 500g of a cheese that you like that will melt
  • 4 eggs
  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped flat leaf parsley
  • 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1/2 cup plain flour
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • Juice of half a lemon

What you do:
  1. Preheat the oven to 190.
  2. Carefully cut a slit in the side of each single chicken breast with a sharp knife.
  3. Fill with as many slices of cheese as you can fit. Fasten tightly with toothpicks to stop the cheese oozing out while cooking.
  4. Mix together the eggs, Parmesan cheese and parsley.
  5. Dip the chicken pieces in the flour, coating well, then the egg mix.
  6. Heat the oil in a large pan over a moderately high heat.
  7. Add the chicken pieces to the pan (you might have to do a few at a time - don't overcrowd the pan) and pour the rest of the egg mix over the chicken pieces. Fry very lightly to just brown the coating.
  8. Place the chicken pieces in an oiled baking dish and if you have any cheese left, layer it on top of the chicken.
  9. Bake for 25 minutes or until cooked through.
  10. Remove the toothpicks, squeeze over the lemon juice, sprinkle on a little more chopped parsley and serve.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Caramel yoghurt

Hello everyone, sorry, another very quick blog today as I am on the way into work. Not really how I had anticipated spending this weekend but there are things that just have to be done. I can't wait for a whole weekend entirely to myself - it has to happen sometime! Happily I am in the countdown now to a couple of weeks holidays at the end of winter.

This is the most luscious creation which I have been meaning to add to the blog for some time. It is a really rich kind of cream, which you can serve with poached fruits, pies and tarts, chocolate cake or anything else with which you would serve cream. I often serve it with fudgy little individual serve chocolate cakes. It comes from Simple Food by Jill Dupleix, and is yet another example of how sometimes the simplest recipes can be the most effective!

Caramel yoghurt

What you need:
  • 200ml whipping cream
  • 200g thick Greek yoghurt
  • 3 tablespoons brown sugar
What you do:
  1. Whip the cream in a bowl until peaks form.
  2. Lightly fold in the Greek yoghurt, using a spatula or a wooden spoon, then pour the mix into a wide shallow bowl.
  3. Scatter the brown sugar evenly over the surface.
  4. Cover and chill for an hour - this will allow the brown sugar to melt and form a caramel syrup.
  5. When ready to serve, swirl the caramel sauce through the yoghurt.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Layered potato and apple bake

Hello everyone, this is a very quick post today. I am helping out with a fundraiser tonight and earlier in the week I offered to wrap up the eight or ten prizes that had been donated. I planned to go up to where we are holding the event 15 minutes early. Apparently an avalanche of prizes has come in during the week so I'm now going up hours earlier to start wrapping and sticking! Who knows what I will find.

This week's recipe is absolutely luscious. It comes from the book "Growers Market" by the appropriately named Leanne Kitchen. I made it last Sunday afternoon when it was cold and miserable outside. It took no time at all to slice the different components, layer them in a deep baking dish and whack into the oven, and I was rewarded with a beautiful bake later that night. The apple in the dish gives it a lovely sweetness; it would go really with roast pork or pork chops.

Have a wonderful week, love from Jane xx

Layered potato and apple bake

Serves four

What you need:
  • 3 large potatoes
  • 3 green apples
  • 1 onion
  • 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese (or if you had some other cheese in the fridge that melts well you could substitute)
  • 1 cup thin cream (or thick cream if that is what you have in the fridge)
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

What you do:
  1. Preheat the oven to 180.
  2. Grease a large shallow baking dish.
  3. Peel and thinly slice the onion.
  4. Peel the potatoes and slice thinly.
  5. Peel, halve and core the apples and slice thinly. (If you are not super quick at peeling and slicing, just drop the slices of potato and apple into a bowl of cold water and a little lemon juice as you work, to prevent them browning; drain and pat dry with paper towels before using).
  6. Layer the potatoes, apple and onions in the baking dish, finishing with a layer of potatoes.
  7. Sprinkle evenly with the cheese and then pour over the cream.
  8. Sprinkle with nutmeg and black pepper to taste.
  9. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown (make sure the potatoes are cooked through when pierced with a knife).
  10. Remove from the oven and stand for five minutes before serving.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Tomato soup with tortellini

Hello everyone, as I said I would in last week's blog, I did lots of lovely cooking over the long weekend. I made a chocolate mousse on request for my niece for her birthday cake, and also tried out a recipe I mentioned some time ago for a pear and chocolate crumble. I thought the crumble was average, so will play around with the recipe to see if I can make it more to my liking.

I was given some beautiful finger limes before the weekend, so made a few winter salads using the lime juice in the dressing and they were beautiful! Such a great flavour. Good to know I have a lime supplier sitting just four desks away from me at work.

I also made this beautiful tomato soup, which features in the May edition of delicious magazine. My favourite section in the magazine is a feature called Tuesday Night Cooking. It always has really quick and easy yummy recipes in it. I actually had quite low expectations of this soup as it's so simple, there is nothing to it. I was happy to find that the flavour was stunning and I enjoyed it all through the week for lunch as well.

Have a fantastic week, love from Jane xx

Tomato soup with tortellini

Serves four

What you need:
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 6 sundried tomatoes, drained and chopped
  • 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
  • 300ml vegetable stock
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 teaspoon caster sugar
  • 400g cheese and spinach tortellini

What you do:
  1. Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat.
  2. Cook garlic for 30 seconds until fragrant.
  3. Add all of the tomatoes, stock and bay leaf.
  4. Bring to a boil, then simmer over a medium-low heat for 15 minutes until thickened.
  5. Cool slightly then blend until smooth.
  6. When ready to serve, cook the tortellini in boiling water until cooked. Drain and place in bowls.
  7. Heat the soup through and season with sugar, salt and pepper.
  8. Ladle soup over tortellini and serve.

As an alternative to the tortellini, when you heat up the soup you can have some coucous sitting in the serving bowls. When you pour over the hot soup it will quickly cook the couscous and your soup will thicken up.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Pasta with fresh salmon and peas

Hello everyone, what a relief for those of us in Sydney that the rain has gone away and we can finally see blue sky! I am particularly pleased for my cat, whose twenty year old bones really like having the sun on them. I used to think she was old when I was under the impression she was four years younger than she actually is, but now that I know her real age I realise she is very old and needs all the comfort she can get. Such as sharing the salmon I cooked last night for this week's dish.

The recipe I'm giving you is based on one in my Heart Of The Home book. They used smoked salmon, of which I'm not a fan, so I substituted fresh salmon. And although the thought of the cream in it was VERY appealing, given my ever present quest to lose just a few kilos, I used evaporated milk instead, which worked well, surprisingly. You can use cream if you prefer!

Have a great week and enjoy the long weekend. I'm planning to do lots of long, slow baking and hope to test another crumble recipe to share with you.

Love from Jane xxx

Pasta with fresh salmon and peas

Serves four

What you need:
  • 500g fresh salmon
  • 3/4 cup frozen peas
  • 3/4 cup dry white wine or verjuice
  • 4 tablespoons shallots, finely sliced
  • 1 1/4 cups thickened cream or evaporated milk, depending on the state of your waistline and whether you care!
  • 400-600g pasta, fresh or dried
  • 4 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

What you do:
  1. Cook the salmon, either in a pan on the stove or baked in the oven.
  2. Set aside and allow to cool slightly.
  3. Drop the peas into a pan of boiling water until thawed; drain and set aside.
  4. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and cook the pasta while preparing the sauce.
  5. Put the wine/verjuice and the shallots in a pan on the stove and bring to the boil.
  6. Allow the wine/verjuice to reduce by about a tablespoon.
  7. Lower the heat and add the cream/evaporated milk; simmer for about five minutes. (Keep an eye on it as it can separate if overheated).
  8. Gently break up the cooked salmon into chunks and add, with the peas, to the sauce. Warm through.
  9. When the pasta is cooked, place it in a serving bowl and pour the sauce with the salmon over it.
  10. Sprinkle with the pine nuts and toss gently before serving.

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Rhubarb and strawberry crumble

Hello everyone, I took my nieces to the Sydney Writers Festival last weekend which was fun. It was a freezing cold day though and we were right on the water, so when we came out of the first session we headed straight to the cafe to order three hot chocolates. I'm often wary of cakes and sweets on offer at big events as they invariably taste mass made, but this place had beautiful plates and tiered stands displaying what looked to be very home made goods - as if it was a fete! The girls quickly settled on a moist and chewy looking square of chocolate brownie to share (they are very small eaters), and I was particularly intrigued to see a plate of afghans, the chocolate biscuits that my Nana used to make and which I make regularly too. They were enormous, much bigger than I make them, and delicious. Very authentic and home made. So well done to that little cafe at Wharf 2/3!

Now I was going to give you a completely different recipe today but I heard on the radio this morning that there are some beautiful strawberries about, and rhubarb is very good at this time of year too. Early subscribers to my recipe service already received this recipe last year, but it didn't come over in the transition to the blog so here it is for everyone. I'm not quite sure from where I found the recipe - it is one that I cut out and stuck into my recipe scrapbook. It could well be from Good Living in the SMH. If you have never cooked rhubarb before, now's the time to try it. It's easy and delicious and is also great cooked up with pie apple or apricots to have with porridge and yoghurt for breakfast.

Have a lovely week, love from Jane

Rhubarb and strawberry crumble

Serves 4 to 6

Admittedly when I first made this luscious crumble I quadrupled the quantities as I was cooking for a crowd, but I was a little alarmed at just how much butter and sugar there was and I did find the crumble quite sweet. I have kept the original quantities from the recipe I used here but will probably reduce the butter and sugar next time I make it. So bear that in mind when you cook it for the first time.

What you need:
· 75g butter
· 165g caster sugar
· 1 large bunch rhubarb (about 600g), leaves chopped off, stems chopped into 3cm pieces and washed
· 1 punnet strawberries, hulled and halved

For the topping:
· 75g self raising flour
· 100g brown sugar
· 45g rolled oats
· 40g flaked almonds
· 100g butter, chopped

What you do:
1. Melt the butter and caster sugar in a large, heavy based saucepan.
2. Add the rhubarb and cook over a low heat for five minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Remove from the heat, stir in the strawberries and cool.
4. Combine all the topping ingredients except for the butter in a bowl.
5. Rub the butter into the mixture until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
6. Spoon the rhubarb and strawberries into a medium, lightly oiled ovenproof dish and spread the crumble mix evenly over the top.
7. Bake at 180C for 20 to 30 minutes or until the crumble is golden and bubbling.
8. Serve with homemade custard or thick cream or icecream. Or all three.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Pasta with fennel, ham and potatoes

Hello everyone, my friend Rob mentioned to me recently that he loves a good pasta. I was really happy that he said this because I adore pasta and eat it several times a week, so I have been very, very conscious of not putting up too many pasta dishes on this blog (and looking back I think I went to the other extreme). Anyway, I was pleased because I thought good, that's a good reason to go back and cook one of my favourite winter pasta dishes during the week and share the recipe with you.

The recipe comes from one of my most used and treasured cook books, which used to belong to my darling Dad, and he cooked lots of recipes out of it too. It's called "Trattoria Pasta" and it's by Loukie Werle. I haven't ever spotted it in a book shop but if you do ever see it I suggest you grab it - I have never had a failure out of it, and I have made three quarters of the dishes in it!

This is a great dish for winter as it's quite hearty. I love potatoes in pasta dishes as I find the combination very soothing. I usually substitute verjuice for white wine and did when I made this dish this week. Verjuice has the same effect in cooking as does white wine, but I prefer the flavour, I think it can really lift a dish. You can buy verjuice pretty well anywhere these days, certainly in delis and good green grocers that have deli items.

Have a fabulous week. Love from Jane xx

Pasta with fennel, ham and potatoes

Serves four

What you need:
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 medium fennel bulb, finely sliced
  • 185g ham (preferably in chunks rather than the usual thin slices)
  • 2 medium waxy potatoes, boiled in their skin, and cut into cubes
  • Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine (or verjuice)
  • 500g pasta
  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped flat leaf parsley
  • 4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

What you do:
  1. Put the water on to boil for the pasta.
  2. Heat the oil over a medium heat and add the onion and fennel.
  3. Cook until the onion is soft, stirring frequently, for about five minutes.
  4. Add the ham and potatoes, season with salt and pepper, and cook for another five minutes, stirring frequently.
  5. Add the wine or verjuice, cover and simmer for five minutes.
  6. Meanwhile, cook the pasta.
  7. Have a heated serving dish ready.
  8. Drain the pasta, turn into the heated dish and add the ham and vegetables.
  9. Sprinkle over the parsley and Parmesan.
  10. Toss well and serve immediately.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Bill Granger's dhal

Hello everyone, I had dinner at one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to during the week. It is a tiny jewel of a bar/restaurant in Darlinghurst called Almond. The fit out is so pretty, and for people like me who love detail there are endless bits and pieces to catch your eye, like the beautifully made menus, the lights and the plates. The food is also stunning and comes with a smile so what more could you want?

I am giving you a Bill Granger recipe this week. I love Bill's cooking (who doesn't?) as it's easy, tasty and imaginative. I particularly like this one as it is great comfort food and gives me an excuse to pick up some naan bread from my local Indian restaurant as an accompaniment. You could serve it on its own or alongside meat or vegies.

Have a wonderful week - if you are in Sydney make sure you experience the Writers Festival which starts this weekend!

Love from Jane xxx

Bill Granger's dhal

Serves four

What you need:
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 red onion, finely sliced
  • 2.5 cm piece of fresh ginger (seriously, who measures these things?), peeled and grated
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
  • 1 large green chilli, finely chopped (as little or as much as you like)
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 cup red lentils (really, I use whatever lentils I have to hand)
  • 1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice, to serve
  • Chopped mint, to serve
  • Naan bread, to serve

What you do:
  1. Heat a heavy based saucepan over a medium heat and add oil.
  2. When the oil is hot, add the onion, and cook, stirring, until translucent.
  3. Add the ginger, garlic, chilli, some sea salt and the cumin.
  4. Cook, stirring occasionally until the onion is soft.
  5. Add the lentils and three cups of water and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes over a medium to low heat until the lentils are nice and soft.
  6. Remove from the heat and stir through the lime or lemon juice.
  7. Serve topped with the mint and accompanied by the naan bread.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Ocean trout winter salad

Hello everyone, I was so excited this week as I had cleverly arranged to eat at my two favourite pizza restaurants in Sydney in one week! I can never decide which one I prefer, as I adore the pizza at both of them. They are both run by Italians and have slightly different styles of pizza. In the end I was saved from making a choice as I only went to one of them. The pizza was as sensational as ever, although I suspect that the wine and the company may also have enhanced the experience, making it the clear winner!

This week's recipe, which was written by Lynne Mullins in Good Living a few weeks ago, is a great example of one of my favourite food concepts, the winter salad. It is also proof that it is possible to get home late from work and (as long as you have had time to pick up the ingredients on the way home) still whip up a fabulous dinner for yourself that tastes a lot better than take away. It combines many of my favourite salad components, except potato, although now that I re-examine it I think potato would go very well in it. I made this while I was also cooking up some sweet onions and some chocolate truffles to give to my Mum, it is that easy.

Have a lovely week, lots of love, Jane xx

Ocean trout winter salad

Serves four

What you need:


  • 500g cooked ocean trout fillets, skinned, boned and flaked (just throw in a 180 oven for about 15 minutes or until cooked to your liking; allow to cool a little as you don't want the fish to be hot in the salad)
  • 1 red grapefruit, peeled and segmented
  • 1 bulb fennel, halved, cored and thinly sliced
  • 1 avocado, peeled and sliced
  • 1/2 bunch watercress, leaves picked
  • 1/3 cup light tasting oil
  • 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • A pinch of sugar
  • Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

What you do:

  1. Gently combine the trout, grapefruit, fennel, avocado and watercress in a large bowl.
  2. To make the dressing, whisk together the oil, juices, sugar, salt and pepper. I usually find the quantity of dressing given in a recipe is way too much and so it was with this one, so I actually halved the quantities and it was just fine. Up to you.
  3. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently.
  4. You can top the salad with some salmon roe if you wish.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Carrot cake

Hello everyone, I've had some interesting chats with people during the week about restaurants. Yesterday over afternoon tea with my friend Simon he told me about a restaurant that he had been to last year (which had been very well reviewed) and at which he had an absolutely appalling experience. I was very interested to hear this, as I had been to the same restaurant and similarly, was very unimpressed with the food and the service. Unlike me, Simon did something about it, firing off a letter to the manager of the restaurant the next day setting out his complaints. In return, he received a very apologetic letter from the manager with a voucher to spend on his next visit and encouragement to give them another go. He did, used the voucher, and found the experience the second time round much improved. Just goes to show that it pays to complain!

When I have a bad experience in a restaurant, I go the other way - I badmouth it to everyone I know and then never go back. Of course, if it's somewhere I like (like Catalonia at Kirribilli, where the food and wine are incredibly delicious, the service is outstanding and the fit out beautiful), I tell everyone and go back repeatedly. Which led to another conversation last night in which I suggested to another friend that we have dinner at a place in the city where I have been about ten times. He asked if I'm not sick of it, but the food is so good there that I don't think I'll ever tire of it! If you can find somewhere you love, it's great to be able to keep going back and enjoying it.

I made this cake just the other day for a birthday. It's one I have been making for years and years - I was given the recipe originally by my friend Clare, in 1989! It has stood the test of time. One of its best features is that the pineapple in it keeps it really moist, so you can make it the night before it is eaten.

Have a great week, love from Jane xx

Carrot cake

Grate young fresh carrots to give one full cup. (I throw the carrots into the food processor and process until very finely chopped).
Strain the juice from a 200g can of crushed pineapple.
In a bowl, mix one cup of plain flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon each of cinnamon and salt and ¾ cup of caster sugar.
Add two eggs and 5 tablespoons of a light tasting oil.
Mix very well.
Stir in the grated carrot, crushed pineapple and ¼ cup chopped walnuts.
Bake the cake in a moderate oven (180) for 35-40 minutes or until cooked right through (it is a very moist cake, so depending on your oven, might take quite a while to cook).
Cool before covering with topping.

To make the cream cheese topping, place in a bowl 3 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons cream cheese, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract and 250g icing sugar and beat well. If it is too thick, add a small amount of milk to give a smooth consistency.

When I made the cake just recently I did think you could probably cut down the amount of icing sugar used as it is quite sweet and you end up with more icing than you can possibly get on the cake. So you might want to experiment with the quantity - just remember to write down the quantity you use so you know for next time!

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Goats curd crostini with walnut pesto

Hello everyone, I mentioned the book written by my friend Virginia Lloyd recently, The Young Widow's Book Of Home Improvement (A True Story Of Love And Renovation). I started reading it during the week and really I can't put it down. I think I will finish it this weekend. I highly, highly recommend it, Virginia is a beautiful writer and the story, about the early death of her husband and the aftermath for her, is fascinating. Nearly enough to tear me away from the kitchen....

I could spend hours poring over my recipes and there are just so many that I want to cook. If only I had a house full of people for whom to whip up all these lovely roasts, crumbles, soups, pies, pastas...I have spotted a recipe for a pear and chocolate crumble which sounds irrestible, so I'll have to find someone on whom I can unleash that and report back via this blog.

Anyway, this week's recipe, which I cut out from the SMH's Good Living supplement a couple of years ago, is something that I do very regularly to take to parties or picnics. In fact, it would also go well with soup, just like the ricotta toasts with last week's recipe. Ordinarily I don't approve of any kind of deviation from the traditional ingredients in pesto, but this works. Do bother to make your own pesto, I have only ever tried one commercial one that I liked, and that was in fact home made by someone to sell through their shop.

Have a great week, love from Jane xx

Goats curd crostini with walnut pesto

What you need:

  • 1 baguette, thinly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled and halved
  • 150g goats cheese curd (or cheese if you can't get curd)

Walnut pesto
  • 1 cup walnuts, lightly toasted and chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
  • 2 tablespoons freshly chopped flat leaf parsley
  • Olive oil
  • Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

What you do:
  1. Preheat the oven to 180.
  2. Lightly brush each side of sliced baguette with oil and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
  3. Bake for 10 minutes, turning once during cooking time, or until golden and crisp.
  4. While the toasted bread is warm, rub one side of each slice with the cut garlic clove.
  5. To make the pesto, process the walnuts, garlic, parmesan and parsley until well blended.
  6. With the motor running, add the olive oil a little at a time until the pesto reaches a smooth consistency.
  7. Season to taste.
To serve, pile the crostini on a serving platter. Place the goats curd and pesto in serving dishes and allow guests to top the crostini with curd and a little pesto.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Spicy tomato and fennel soup

Hello everyone, with all the rain and cold weather around in Sydney my thoughts have been turning to soup. I love soup chiefly because it's so comforting, but also because it's such an easy way to eat lots of vegetables. And then I can justify having some chocolate to follow!

Every winter I make several batches of this soup, it is such a favourite of mine. It freezes really well so you can make a big batch to take to work during the week. The first time I made it I realised that vegetable soups work very well without the addition of stock - you just get the beautiful strong flavour of the vegetables. The recipe comes from Bill Granger, it is in his book Bill's Food.

Have a good week, love from Jane xx

Spicy tomato and fennel soup

Serves four

What you need:
  • 2 kg vine ripened tomatoes
  • 6 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 1 small carrot, diced
  • 1/2 small fennel bulb, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
To serve: (optional, probably not practical if you are taking small containers of soup to work)
  • A handful of fresh basil leaves
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Slices of bread spread with fresh ricotta and grilled

What you do:

  1. Preheat the oven to 200.
  2. Place the vegetables in a roasting tin.
  3. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  4. Cover with foil and roast for 1 1/2 hours, then remove the foil and roast for another half hour, or until the vegetables are well cooked.
  5. Allow the vegetables to cool slightly, then transfer to a food processor or blender and blend until well combined. It is up to you whether you want a completely smooth texture or to leave it slightly chunky.
  6. Return the soup to a saucepan to heat and then serve in soup bowls, topped with basil leaves, a drizzle of olive oil and the ricotta toast if you wish.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Cold salmon with watercress aioli

Hello everyone, it's been a very eventful week. On Tuesday night I attended the launch of the first book by my friend, Virginia Lloyd. It's called The Young Widow's Book Of Home Improvement - A True Story Of Love And Renovation. Virginia is a fantastic writer and I highly recommend this book.

As many of you know, I have been hosting a colleague from an American community foundation at the SCF for the last four weeks. Sadly and all too soon we are at the end of his visit, so to mark the occasion, he very generously took me to dinner at Rockpool (fish) last night. It was sensational! We had a really beautiful meal, the service was excellent, and it's such a lovely restaurant. I felt very lucky to have this treat and now I can't wait to return!

So, inspired by the gorgeous seafood at Rockpool (fish), this week I have a cold salmon recipe to share with you. It's maybe a little unseasonal now that the weather is cooling down, although the watercress is good right now. I found the aioli was just beautiful, really pairing well with the flavour of the salmon. I hope you enjoy it too. It's from a very sweet American cookbook I have had for years called Heart Of The Home. I'm suggesting a particular way to cook the salmon that I find works perfectly every time.

Lots of love, Jane xx

Cold salmon with watercress aioli

Serves six

What you need:
  • 1 egg
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1/4 cup good quality olive oil
  • 1/4 cup vegetable/sunflower/nut oil (macadamia oil works nicely)
  • 1/2 cup picked watercress leaves
  • 1/4 cup fresh dill (I substitute mint as I prefer it to dill)
  • Freshly ground pepper and sea salt, to taste
  • 6 fresh salmon fillets

What you do:
  1. Place the egg, yolks, lemon juice, mustard and garlic into the bowl of a food processor and blend for one minute.
  2. Combine the two oils, then, with the machine running, pour the oil in a slow but steady stream into the egg mix.
  3. Add the watercress and dill/mint and whiz one final time to blend well to a pretty light green shade.
  4. Add the salt and pepper to taste and chill the sauce.
  5. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees (yes, I know that is very high but this works brilliantly, trust me).
  6. Brush the salmon fillets with a little olive oil and place in a baking dish, skin side down. Season with a little salt and pepper.
  7. When the oven comes to 250 degrees, place the salmon in it and turn off the heat.
  8. Leave the salmon in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes and they will cook perfectly.
  9. Remove the salmon from the oven and leave to cool, then chill until you are ready to serve.
  10. Serve the salmon with the aioli spooned over each fillet.