Sunday, January 27, 2008

Polenta pizza

I've always loved cooking and spend a lot of time poring over cook books and magazines, planning my next meal.

It's amazed me over the years how many people don't like cooking, or can't find the time, or think it's difficult, or are just uninspired. I have worked with numerous people (generally parents of young children) who go into a panic every afternoon at around about 3.00 pm, wondering aloud "What am I going to cook for dinner tonight?" So I started sharing recipes from dishes that I had cooked that I thought my cooking challenged friends might find useful.

Then people started urging me to do something more with my recipe advice. I didn't want to write a book because I don't actually create the recipes I cook - I use the inspiration that is already there. So in 2007 I started an email recipe service, sending a recipe a week to a small group of friends. The recipe was always something I had tried out during the previous week, and loved, or a dish I had made many times because I had marked it as a winner. Gradually my subscription list grew as more people heard about it and all of a sudden one of my subscribers had created this blog for me! So now anyone can access the recipes that I love and hopefully be inspired to cook luscious meals for themselves, their families and friends.

Thank you to Gabrielle for so generously creating this blog for me, and to all my early subscribers who have been so encouraging and given me feedback about the recipes I have shared. When I first came up with the idea I only thought it would be of interest to about five people, so I have been amazed at how it has taken off!

This week's recipe is great for summer, it's easy and allows your imagination to run wild! It's a pizza made with a polenta base and you can top it with whatever ingredients you like. If you haven't cooked polenta before now is the time to become familiar with it - it's one of my favourite comfort foods. I think this recipe comes from a 2006 edition of delicious magazine - another feature of the cooking world with which you should become familiar if you aren't already. I use the recipes from delicious all the time as they are outstanding.

Enjoy this week's recipe, and have a look around the blog. Not all of the recipes and emails I have sent previously are posted yet, so hopefully I'll get around to adding them during the year.

Polenta Pizza

Serves four

What you need:
  • 1 cup instant polenta
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 crushed garlic clove
  • Tin of chopped tomatoes
  • Pizza toppings of your choice (best to keep it simple - let a few good ingredients shine)

What you do:
  1. Bring the milk and water to the boil in a saucepan.
  2. Add the polenta in a steady stream and stir until it thickens and is coming away from the sides of the pan (if you don't have the energy to go on you can just add whatever grated cheese you have to hand at this point and eat it as is. Be careful because cooked polenta is always so hot!)
  3. Lightly grease a 25cm x 30cm baking tray and line with baking paper, extending the paper over the two long sides by 2cm.
  4. Pour the polenta onto the tray and cool it until it's set, or cover and refrigerate until you are ready to continue.
  5. Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat and cook the garlic, stirring, for one minute.
  6. Add the tomatoes and cook uncovered over a lower heat for 25 minutes until thick.
  7. Preheat the oven to 180C. If you are using your pizza base straight out of the fridge bake it for ten minutes before adding your toppings. Spread the tomatoes over the polenta base, add your chosen toppings and bake for about 25 minutes, until any cheese you use is melted and the base is crisp.
  8. Cut the polenta pizza into squares to serve. Next time you can use entirely different toppings!

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Ricotta trifle with cherry chocolate sauce

Hello everyone,

I was about to enthuse about what a lovely sunny day we are having in Sydney when I remembered that we have subscribers to this service from Perth and Melbourne who have all been sweltering of late! I hope wherever you are when you read this email you are cool and comfortable.

This week I have a lovely dessert for you that comes from one of my favourite sweets chefs in Sydney (I have a few favourites in that category). I often make this trifle to take to BBQs in summer as the cherries are plentiful, you can make half of it the night before and just finish it off the next morning, and because it travels well. It is rather rich, but it’s such a yummy blend of flavours that I’m sure it will go down well with those you are feeding!

Have a happy week.

Love from Jane xx

Ricotta trifle with cherry chocolate sauce

(A recipe from Lorraine Godsmark, fabulous pastry chef who is currently at Yellow Bistro at Potts Point – well worth dropping by for a slice of her cheesecake, it is stunning!)

Serves 4-6

You should start this recipe the night before.

What you need:
· 500g fresh ricotta
· ¼ cup caster sugar
· ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
· 125g sour cream
· 200g biscotti, plus extra to serve
· 100ml amaretto or marsala
· 250g fresh cherries, halved and pitted
· 1/3 cup Demerara sugar (really, just use plain old caster sugar if that is all you have)
· Icing sugar for dusting

Chocolate sauce
· 100ml thin cream
· 250g chocolate

What you do:
1. Whiz ricotta, caster sugar, rind and sour cream in the bowl of a food processor until smooth.
2. Break up the biscotti and soak in the liqueur.
3. Line the serving bowl you intend to use (looks beautiful in a glass bowl if you have one) with the soaked biscotti and spread the biscotti with half of the ricotta mix. Repeat so you have two layers of biscotti and ricotta cream. Leave in the fridge overnight.
4. The next day, toss the cherries and Demerara sugar in a pan on top of the stove over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes until the sugar melts and the cherry juices start to run. Remove the cherries from the pan and cool.
5. To make the sauce, bring the cream and 100ml water to the boil (watch this very carefully, and remove the pan from the heat as soon as it comes to the boil).
6. Drop the pieces of chopped chocolate into the cream and stir until the sauce is smooth. Allow to cool.
7. Serve the trifle by pouring the chocolate sauce over it and then adding the cherries to the top. Serve the extra biscotti on the side, dusted with icing sugar.

Blue cheese quesadilla

Hello everyone, happy new year! I hope your celebrations were fun and safe and included lots of delicious food. This week’s recipe is perfect for lazy summer evenings when you don’t want anything heavy. I know that some people don’t like blue cheese, so you could substitute any other cheese, but really, some of the creamy blue cheeses that you can buy at supermarkets are lovely and it works really well in these sort of toasted sandwiches.

If you are still on holidays, have a lovely week and if you are back at work, console yourself by planning some nice dinners so you know what you have to look forward to at the end of a long day.

Love from Jane x

Blue cheese quesadilla

Serves four

What you need:
· 750g English spinach leaves
· Sea salt and pepper
· 400g fresh mozzarella balls
· 200g creamy blue cheese
· 8 flour tortillas

What you do:
1. Wash the spinach leaves well and shake dry.
2. Heat a dry, non stick pan and add the spinach. Cook quickly, wilting the spinach as the water evaporates.
3. When the spinach is wilted, squeeze it dry, finely chop it and toss with salt and pepper. Keep the pan on the stove on a medium heat.
4. Slice the mozzarella balls finely and roughly chop the blue cheese.
5. Arrange slices of mozzarella over one tortilla, scatter with chunks of blue cheese and strew with spinach. Top with the second tortilla, pressing down lightly.
6. Cook the tortilla sandwiches in the heated fry pan (you don’t need any oil), over a medium heat for about two minutes until lightly browned underneath. Turn the sandwich to cook on the other side.Slide the tortilla sandwich onto a plate and cut into quarters and eat quickly. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

Warm turkey salad with potatoes and figs

Hello everyone,

Are you getting into the Christmas spirit? I had to go out earlier today and my errands involved visiting a major shopping centre on Sydney’s northern beaches, which I dreaded. To my surprise it wasn’t too busy on the roads or in the shops and I parked easily everywhere I went. Hmmm, not sure why – perhaps everyone is saving themselves for next weekend?

This week’s recipe is something you might want to serve at Christmas or to use up leftover turkey afterwards. It is sensational and very easy to do and looks fabulous. It has several yummy things in it and you can substitute ingredients if you wish.

Have a good week!

Love from Jane xx

Warm turkey salad with potatoes and figs

Serves 4

What you need:
· 800g kipfler potatoes, either peeled or washed well
· 4 fresh figs, quartered
· 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
· 1 tbsp lemon juice
· ¼ cup finely chopped chives
· 8 slices cooked turkey, torn into large pieces
· Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Dressing
· 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
· 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
· 2 tsp Dijon mustard

What you do:
1. Place the potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with cold salted water. Bring to the boil and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or until tender. Drain and set aside.
2. Drizzle a little olive oil over the figs and place them under a hot griller for five minutes, or until tender.
3. Cut up the potatoes into chunks then pour over the combined olive oil and lemon juice. Toss to coat.
4. Add the figs, chives and turkey. Whisk together the dressing ingredients, pour over the salad and toss gently. Season to taste.

Chicken with lemon and honey

Hello everyone,

Hands up everyone who is glad the election campaign is finally over? At long last we can return to our lives without being besieged by “vote for me” messages. Mind you, I spent a couple of hours today at a polling booth helping out a friend who is running (I’m confident unsuccessfully) and do you think I saw any candidates? Not one.

Anyway, the more important things in life are cooking and I think you will really like this week’s recipe for chicken in a lemon honey sauce. I can personally attest to its popularity with children as I have trialled it on a real live child and it was very popular – even spoken about the next day with great relish. It might be a good one for the summer holidays, which aren’t too far away for those who have a break in January.

Have a great week.

Love from Jane xx

Chicken with lemon and honey

Serves four; children love it

What you need:
· 1 tablespoon olive oil
· 8 pieces of chicken (it’s great with wings; you might want to use 12)
· 1 red onion, sliced
· 12 whole garlic cloves, peeled
· 1 lemon, cut into chunks
· ¾ cup chicken stock
· ½ cup honey
· Small handful of fresh oregano leaves

What you do:
1. Heat a large, deep frypan over a high heat, add the oil and chicken and cook for 5 to 8 minutes (turning once) until golden. Remove and set aside.
2. Reduce heat to medium, add onion and cook for one minute. Add garlic and cook for a further minute.
3. Return chicken to the pan with the chopped up lemon (yes with the peel on), chicken stock and honey (I find this quantity of honey a wee bit too much so I use a little less).
4. Reduce heat to medium low, cover the pan and simmer for twenty minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
5. Lift out the chicken and place on a baking tray.
6. Increase the heat of the sauce to medium and simmer, uncovered, for 5 to 8 minutes until thickened.
7. Place the chicken pieces under a hot grill for 3 to 4 minutes until crisp.
8. Arrange the chicken pieces on a platter, pour over the sauce and sprinkle with chopped oregano.

Little peach tarts

Hello everyone,

I had a minor panic with my computer yesterday when the screen wouldn’t come on. All I could think was that I wouldn’t be able to get out this week’s recipe! Fortunately with a good night’s sleep the computer came back to life so all is well.

I’m sending you a recipe for dear little peach tarts that I love using at this time of year when the peaches are all rosy and juicy. You can serve these very elegantly at home with cream and icecream, but they are also very portable and easy to take on picnics. Don’t be put off by the pastry – you don’t have to make it yourself, all you have to do is roll it out and cut it. These tarts are surprisingly simple for the effect they have.

Enjoy!

Best of luck to Dan, one of those who inspired this recipe service and whose first baby is due very soon!

Love from Jane xx


Little peach tarts

(from Simple Food by Jill Dupleix)
Serves 4 or 8, depending on how much people want to eat.

What you need:
· 4 large, firm, ripe peaches
· 500g packet ready rolled puff pastry
· 1 egg, beaten
· 2 tablespoons runny honey
· 1 tablespoon butter, softened
· 1 extra tablespoon runny honey, to serve

What you do:
1. Heat the oven to 200C.
2. Peel the peaches by cutting a small cross at the base of each peach, sitting them in a bowl and pouring over boiling water. Leave them to sit for about two minutes then drain and the skin will peel easily. I do this during the week so I can have fresh peeled slices of peach on my breakfast yoghurt.
3. Halve the peaches, cutting around the side of the stone.
4. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface (if you don’t have enough bench space you could do this on a tray) and cut out eight circles, about 10cm in diameter. Place on sheets of baking paper on baking trays and brush with beaten egg. Whatever you do, don’t use foil as the honey will stick like glue.
5. Place a peach half, cut side down, on top of each pastry round.
6. Drizzle the peaches with a little honey and dot with butter.
7. Bake for around 20 minutes until the peaches are soft and the pastry is risen and lightly scorched.
8. Using a warm spoon, drizzle the extra honey over each peach, which will glaze it beautifully.
9. Serve warm or at room temperature with cream and/or icecream (or even on their own they are lovely).

Ricotta and caramelised onion frittata

Hello everyone,

When is this rain going to go away? I know we are meant to embrace it, but I have to confess that grey skies and rain do not make me feel cheery. Quite the opposite. Anyway, I think we have had enough to fill the dam for now so hopefully it’s blue skies all the way from here....

I had a shocker of a day one day this week (the weather not helping) and got home quite late. I whipped up this frittata in no time at all and it was delicious – just the easy, comfort food I needed. The key is really fresh ingredients – fresh free range eggs and fresh ricotta really enhance the flavour. This is one of those recipes I cut out of the newspaper some time ago, from one of my favourite food writers, Matthew Evans, who always has sensible recipes. Hope you like it too!

Have a great week.

Love from Jane xx

Ricotta and caramelised onion frittata

Serves 2

What you need:
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 sprig thyme
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons wine vinegar
• 6 eggs
• 20g grated parmigiano cheese
• 50g fresh ricotta cheese (buy your ricotta fresh from a good deli on the day you are going to use it, don’t use supermarket ricotta)

What you do:
1. Heat half the oil and fry the onion and thyme over medium heat until the onion is starting to brown.
2. Add the sugar, and, stirring constantly, allow the sugar to darken slightly as it caramelises.
3. Add the vinegar and remove from the heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. If it’s too wet, return to the stove and allow to cook until thick and jammy.
4. Heat the remaining oil in a medium-size omelette or non-stick pan over a medium high heat.
5. Whisk the eggs with the parmigiano and some salt and pepper.
6. Pour the eggs into the pan, stirring to make sure they don’t burn.
7. As the omelette starts to thicken, top with the onion and dollop the ricotta over the top.
8. Remove from the stove top, place the pan under a hot grill and brown the top of the frittata.

Chinese Vegetable Stir-fry

Hi everyone, for those of you in Sydney, didn’t the weather turn out beautiful today? I was hoping to take my niece to Sculpture By The Sea, and put it off as it was pouring when we woke up this morning, but then it turned into the most beautiful day you can imagine as the morning wore on. I’ll have to try to get there after work one evening.

Now last week I know I boldly proclaimed that vegetarians/vegans don’t have to settle for bread and salad when they are at a BBQ, and to prove myself I have a great recipe for stir fried Chinese vegetables. It comes from my Backyard Barbecue Cookbook – one of those books purchased from those people who drop off books in workplaces for people to look at and buy. It is invaluable and I use it all year round. I have done this BBQ version of a stir-fry several times and love it.

Have a great week and good luck with the Melbourne Cup!

Love from Jane xx

Chinese Vegetable Stir-fry

Serves 4 to 6

What you need:
· 1 red capsicum
· 425g can corn kernels
· 500g Chinese cabbage
· 2 tablespoons olive oil
· 250g fresh bean sprouts (entirely optional)
· 5 spring onions, cut into 3cm pieces
· 2 cloves garlic, crushed
· 2 teaspoons sesame oil
· 2 tablespoons teriyaki marinade
· ½ teaspoon sugar
· Sweet chilli sauce, to taste

What you do:
1. Prepare and heat the BBQ.
2. Cut the capsicum in half and remove the seeds and membrane. Slice into thin strips.
3. Cut the cabbage into thick slices, then crosswise into squares.
4. Brush the BBQ hotplate with one tablespoon of olive oil.
5. Stir fry the capsicum, corn, cabbage, sprouts, spring onions and garlic for four minutes, tossing and stirring to prevent burning and sticking.Pour over the combined remaining olive oil, sesame oil, teriyaki marinade and sugar and stir thoroughly to coat. Cook for one minute longer and serve immediately, drizzled with the sweet chilli sauce.


Chocolate coconut cake

Hello everyone,

I hope you all had a great week. I was out every night last week, including two evenings at the Night Noodle Markets which are on as part of Good Food Month, so I didn’t do any cooking at all! But I did promise you that great chocolate cake recipe so here it is. I made it a couple of weeks ago and it was a hit. It is so easy, as you will see when you read the recipe, that I think I will be whipping up this one fairly regularly. It comes from a book I absolutely love, called Epicure Chocolate. If you like cooking, or if you know someone who does, you should definitely snap up this book if you see it. It is quite difficult to get so I now buy a copy whenever I do see it to give to friends. I have cooked heaps of things from it and every one has been a winner. I’m sure you are going to love this cake.

Have a good week!

Love from Jane x

Chocolate coconut cake

(from Epicure Chocolate, edited by Kylie Walker)

What you need:
· 250g butter, melted
· ½ cup Dutch cocoa powder
· 1 1/3 cups castor sugar
· 3 eggs
· 1 ½ cups desiccated coconut
· 1 ½ cups self raising flour
· ¾ cup milk

What you do:
1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Place all the ingredients into a bowl and mix well until smooth. You can mix by hand, you don’t need to use beaters. Don’t panic when you add the milk and the mix seems too runny, as you stir the ingredients together it will be alright.
3. Pour the mixture into a lined 24cm round cake tin and bake for 50 minutes or until cooked through. I must have a really, really slow oven because I ended up cooking it for probably another 30 minutes on top of this – so keep testing it and keep baking till you are sure it is cooked through. (It will be lovely and moist from the coconut).
4. Cool on a wire rack.
5. To serve the cake you can spread it with chocolate icing, serve it with thick cream and a dusting of cocoa powder, or even serve it with lovely thick Greek yoghurt and raspberries.

World’s Greatest Salad Dressing

Hello everyone, as it’s so late at night (for me anyway), I won’t dilly-dally. This week’s recipe is the best salad dressing I have ever made and is something that I whip up very regularly when I am throwing together a salad to take to a party or even just making something simple to eat at home. It’s a really good one to have in your repertoire.

I must mention before I go that I went to High Tea yesterday with my friend Rebecca J (we have had a High Tea theme this year). This time we tried out the Lenotre tea at the Sofitel Wentworth and it was outstanding – we agreed the best we have had this year (and we have done quite a few!) If you have a special occasion on the horizon then you should think about celebrating over their stunning French pastries and beautiful big pots of tea (or coffee if you must). If you just eat salad all week with this great dressing you can then afford to indulge in the Lenotre!

Have a good week.

Love from Jane

World’s Greatest Salad Dressing

You can use this dressing on salad leaves, potatoes, beetroot, meat, rice salads – pretty well anything you can think of.

What you need:
· 2 free range eggs
· ½ cup red wine vinegar
· 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
· 1 teaspoon paprika
· Salt to taste
· 1 teaspoon sugar
· 1 cup of your favourite oil

What you do:
1. Place eggs, vinegar, mustard, paprika, salt and sugar in a food processor and blend.
2. Continue to blend while slowly pouring oil into mixture.


That’s it.This does make a very big quantity and over the years I have cut down the amount of oil that I use (keeping the same quantities of other ingredients). You should experiment and get it to the taste and thickness that you like. Of course you can halve/quarter the quantities to make a smaller amount of dressing.

Zucchini, feta and mint pie

Hello everyone,

It’s the end of another weekend. How do they fly by so quickly? I think we should have a third weekend day mandated that must be free from chores or work. A day just for fun.

I tried out a new chocolate cake recipe today and it was sensational. It’s really easy too, so I’ll give it to you in a few weeks time. But this week’s recipe is one of my favourites, a really good zucchini slice. It tastes delicious and freezes beautifully. I often make it on a Sunday afternoon and slice it up and freeze the portions. Great for work lunches if you have access to a microwave to heat it up. You could also slice it into dainty little squares and serve with toothpicks with drinks at a party. Keep that in mind for all the pre-Christmas parties!

Have a lovely week.

Love from Jane xx

Zucchini, feta and mint pie

Serves 6-8

What you need:

Polenta or breadcrumbs, to dust
700g (about 8) zucchini, coarsely grated (use the food processor)
5 eggs
½ cup olive oil
1 cup chopped chives (2 bunches is fine)
½ cup roughly chopped mint
220g feta, crumbled
150g freshly grated parmesan
1 cup self raising flour
10 cherry tomatoes, halved

What you do:

1.Preheat oven to 180C (or 160C fan forced). Butter a 5cm deep, 18cm square cake pan and line with baking paper. Butter paper and dust with polenta or breadcrumbs, then tap out excess.
2.Place grated zucchini in a colander, weigh down with a plate and drain for ten minutes.
3.Whisk eggs in a large bowl, then whisk in olive oil, chopped chives and mint.
4.Press down firmly on the plate over zucchini to squeeze out liquid, then stir zucchini into eggs. 5.Add most of the feta (reserve some for the top) and the parmesan, then season with salt and pepper. Add flour and mix until combined.
6.Spread batter into prepared pan and sprinkle with reserved feta. Gently press the cherry tomato halves, cut-side up, onto the surface.

7.Bake for 45-50 minutes until the top is springy when pressed and it looks set when you insert the point of a knife into the centre.
8.Cool in pan for 10-15 minutes, then invert the pan onto a chopping board or large plate. Peel away paper, then sit your serving platter on top and re-invert the pie onto it.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Minted chicken and pine nut salad

Hello everyone,

For those of you who have a long weekend this weekend I hope you are doing something that makes the most of this gorgeous warm sunny weather we are having. Like making this very summery salad with chicken, mint and pine nuts. It’s super easy to throw together (you can cook the chicken ahead of time) and is perfect for a light lunch with friends.

Don’t forget that if you have a friend who you think would like to join this email service, just send me their email address and I’ll happily add them to the list.

Have a great week.

Love from Jane xx

Minted chicken and pine nut salad

Serves six

What you need:
· 4 chicken breast fillets
· Chicken stock
· ¼ cup lemon infused olive oil (you can substitute just a light olive oil if you don’t have lemon infused)
· ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
· 2-3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
· 1-2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
· Freshly ground pepper and sea salt
· ½ cup pine nuts, either roasted in the oven for 7-8 minutes or toasted in a dry pan on top of the stove
· Leaves from one bunch of mint

What you do:
1. Gently poach the chicken in a pan with stock to cover just until cooked.
2. Drain and cut the chicken into chunks.
3. Whisk together the oils, vinegar and mustard and season.
4. Place the chicken and pine nuts in a bowl.
5. Add the mint and dressing and toss gently to combine before serving.

Hot fudge sauce

Hello everyone, I hope you have had a good week. I was excused from jury duty (“for now” were the ominous words) so that was a big plus in my week. But I fear that they will not let me go until I have done my civic duty, so I guess this will hang over me for a while!

Anyway, this week’s recipe is a fantastic and super easy chocolate fudge sauce that is really yummy over icecream. It’s sensational if you use it straight away or warm it in the microwave just before serving.

I also thought that I would include my list of top 10 hot chocolate providers for you this week. I am happy to say that after extensive research I have expanded the list to 15! After number 6 they are in no particular order, they all meet my standards, but the top 6 are in order and are outstanding!

Have a lovely week.

Love from Jane xx

Top 10 hot chocolate providers

1. Koko Black, Melbourne CBD
2. Bathers Pavilion, Balmoral
3. Jellyfish, Manly
4. Bourke Street Bakery, Surry Hills/Broadway/Chippendale
5. Bill’s, Woollahra/Darlinghurst/Surry Hills
6. Salon, Sydney CBD
7. Max Brenner (many places)
8. Young Alfred, Sydney CBD
9. Bellefleur at Flower Power, Warriewood/Terrey Hills
10. Gelato Messina, Darlinghurst
11. Danks Street Depot, Woollahra
12. The Source, Mosman
13. Jones The Grocer, Woollahra

Hot fudge sauce

Serves 8 over icecream

What you need:
· 2 tablespoons butter
· 2 tablespoons golden syrup
· ¾ cup sweetened condensed milk
· 150g good chocolate, chopped


What you do:
1. Combine butter, golden syrup and condensed milk in a saucepan and stir over a low heat for 2-3 minutes, until the mixture thickens and is light golden.
2. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until smooth.


That’s it!

To reheat the sauce, put it in the microwave on medium for 1-2 minutes, until warm and melted.


Another hedgehog slice and Roasted vegetable couscous with lemon hummus

Hello everyone,

Sometimes I am reminded that not everyone is as into food and eating as I am. I heard two comments this week that really stopped me in my tracks. One was from a guy who said "I'm not really a cafe kind of person. I don't go to cafes." Does he exist on take away coffee?

The other one was from a woman in her mid fifties who had me over for lunch. She commented "I've never had anyone over for lunch before. I wasn't really sure what to do." I assured her that putting food on plates and taking the plates to the table pretty much covered it.

This week's recipe is a fabulous roasted vegetable dish. Great way to make sure you are eating lots of vegetables, and non-vegetarians could serve it with meat or fish (it's fabulous on its own though, I can eat this in buckets). Of course, use the vegetables you like, you don't have to stick to what is specified in the recipe.

By special request I am also including a recipe for a hedgehog slice that I made earlier this year for our community dinners in Narraweena. I realised that I already had one hedgehog recipe on my files,so I have called this one "another hedgehog slice". You can rename it however you wish!
Have a good week - hopefully we will see the sun soon.

Love from Jane xx

Another hedgehog slice

(From the Epicure Chocolate book, published by The Age – if you like chocolate you should have this book in your collection, it is excellent).

What you need:
· 2 x 250g packet of plain sweet biscuits
· 1 cup walnuts
· 300g butter
· ¾ cup Dutch cocoa (much better than normal cocoa powder – you can find it in delis and speciality food stores. The “Dutch” refers to the way the cocoa is processed, not country of origin)
· 1 ¼ cups castor sugar
· 3 eggs
· Icing
· 250g good chocolate
· 2 tablespoons of a light tasting oil (not extra virgin)

What you do:
1. Put biscuits and nuts in a food processor and whiz until roughly chopped.
2. Melt the butter, then add the sugar and cocoa and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
3. Remove from the heat and when cooled a little (so it’s warm, not hot), beat the eggs into the mix with a whisk or a Bamix type implement until thick and glossy.
4. Mix in the nut mixture and press into a lamington tin (about 19cm x 30cm). Cover and refrigerate.
5. Make the icing by melting the chocolate and oil in a saucepan on a very low heat and then pour on top of the cooled hedgehog. Tap the tray on your kitchen bench to get all the air bubbles out. Refrigerate again until set and then cut into fingers or squares.

Roasted vegetable couscous with lemon hummus

Serves two

What you need:
· 1 red and 1 yellow capsicum, seeded and cut into squares
· 1 large zucchini, sliced
· 1 small eggplant, sliced
· 1 large red onion, sliced
· ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
· Handful of fresh basil leaves
· 120g hummus
· ¼ cup Greek yoghurt
· Juice of 1 lemon
· 200g couscous

What you do:
1. Preheat the oven to 220C. Place a large roasting pan in it as it gets close to temperature to warm up.
2. Place the vegetables in a large bowl and drizzle over half the oil, tossing to coat them evenly, then tip the lot into your heated roasting pan. Season generously with salt and pepper and roast for about half an hour, until the vegetables are completely tender and lightly caramelised.
3. From time to time toss the vegetables around to ensure they cook evenly.
4. About five minutes before the vegetables are ready, scatter the chopped basil over them, tossing to combine, then return the pan to the oven to finish cooking.
5. While the vegetables are cooking, place the hummus in a bowl and stir in the yoghurt and half the lemon juice. Season to taste and chill until needed.
6. Place the couscous in a large bowl and drizzle over the remaining oil and lemon juice, stirring to combine. Pour over one cup of boiling water, stir well, cover and leave for five minutes. When ready, fluff up the couscous with a fork.
7. Serve the roasted vegetables on top of the couscous with the hummus and yoghurt drizzled over the top.

Pear And Ginger Tart

Hello everyone,

Running late this morning. The traffic was at a standstill on Military Road. Then the train sat outside Central Station for ages. Have I mentioned how much I loathe working in Redfern??

Anyway, friends had me over for dinner on Saturday night and I made this really yummy dessert, which comes from the delicious magazine calendar for June 2005. I love pears and this one is easy to make and looks impressive. For best results it looks great in a long rectangular tart tin, but you could make it in a round one if that is all you have. Make sure you use a tin with a removeable base to make serving the tart easier.

Have a good week!

Love from Jane

Pear And Ginger Tart
Allegedly serves four but I'd say whoever thinks that didn't serve a main course first. More like six to eight in my experience.



What you need:

250g packet ginger nut biscuits
125g unsalted butter, melted
175g caster sugar
3 firm pears (Beurre Bosc if available)
450ml thickened cream
1 tbs Poire William liqueur (optional)
1 tbs icing sugar
3 tbs good quality caramel sauce, to serve
6 almonds, skin on, sliced

What you do:

Crush the biscuits in a food processor and mix with melted butter.
Use the biscuit mixture to line the base and sides of an 11cm by 25cm rectangular, loose bottomed tart tin, pressing down firmly.
Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes (or overnight).
Place the sugar in a saucepan and add 2 cups of water. Stir over a low heat to dissolve the sugar.
Peel the pears and add to the sugar syrup, topping up with enough water to cover them.
Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and poach for ten minutes or until the fruit is cooked. Allow to cool in the syrup.
When ready to serve, remove the pears from the syrup. Drain and pat dry with paper towels.
Remove the cores and slice the pears thinly lengthways. Lay the slices on the biscuit base, slightly overlapping.
Beat together the cream, icing sugar and liqueur if using. Spread over the pears and drizzle with caramel sauce. Sprinkle over the almonds.

Mixed rice salad with creamy tomato dressing

Hello everyone,
I will be honest and admit that I didn't do a lot of cooking last week because I was away for a few days in Albury, attending the annual community foundations forum.

So, this week I am giving you one of my great stand by recipes for when you are asked to bring a salad to a picnic or a BBQ. I have made it heaps of times and it's always popular. It also makes a big quantity, so you can adjust quantities as you wish. You can also change the ingredients according to what you like!

I hope you like it! Have a good week.

Love from Jane

Mixed rice salad with creamy tomato dressing

Serves 10 – good for a party or a BBQ

What you need:

· 1 cup brown rice
· 1 cup white rice
· 4 bacon rashers, chopped
· 2 onions, chopped
· 3 cups (375g) frozen corn and peas
· 1 cup sultanas

Dressing
· ½ cup oil
· ¼ cup white wine vinegar
· 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
· 2 tablespoons tomato sauce
· 2 cloves garlic, crushed

What you do:

Make the dressing by combining all the dressing ingredients in a jar and shaking well.

Add brown rice to large pan of boiling water and boil, uncovered, for 15 minutes; add white rice and boil for a further 15 minutes (do check cooking instructions on rice packaging as you can buy quicker cooking rice these days). Ensure that rice is tender but not soggy. Drain and cool.

Cook the bacon and onions in a pan until the onion is soft and the bacon crisp. Drain.

Boil, steam or microwave corn and peas until tender; drain, rinse under cool water and drain again.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl with the dressing and serve. It’s best to add the dressing just before serving.

Pasta with yoghurt, Parmesan and mint

Hello everyone,
Well, there was a great response to the recipe service last week with a number of new people being added to the list. I have also had a report from one subscriber who cooked last week's recipe for dinner last night. It sounded as if it went down well.

People who know me well know that I don't often cook the same thing twice as there are so many new recipes to try. However, I do have a few absolute favourites that I really love. This week's recipe is one of those. I was thinking about it with the lovely warm weather over the weekend. It is so quick and easy and tastes fresh and light.I hope you like it too. (It's vegetarian friendly - although not pregnant woman friendly sorry Dan).

Have a good week.

Love from Jane xx
Pasta with yoghurt, Parmesan and mint

Serves four

What you need:

· 1 cup plain yoghurt (use Greek yoghurt if you want a really rich flavour)
· 2 egg yolks
· 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
· 2 tablespoons freshly chopped mint
· Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
· 500g pasta

What you do:

1. Cook the pasta in boiling water until al dente.
2. While the pasta is cooking, combine the yoghurt, egg yolks, Parmesan cheese and mint in a large serving dish.
3. Stir until smooth and season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Drain the pasta and add to the serving dish. Toss thoroughly so that all the pasta is coated well with the sauce and serve immediately.

Lamb cutlets with nectarines

Hello everyone,


I hope you have had a good weekend. I think there are still a lot of people on holidays, so they will be savouring this last week before they re-join those of us who have been back at work for a while. Thank goodness we have a long weekend next week! A perfect opportunity to try this week's recipe, which would work really well on the BBQ if you are a BBQ kind of person.


As some of you know, once a month I cook for a local community dinner, and in planning what I'd contribute this week, I remembered a really simple pasta dish that I cooked years ago - it used to be quite a regular when I wanted something quick and easy. However, that recipe is contained in a collection of magazines so old (the source magazine dates from Summer 2000 in fact) that they are piled on the floor of one of my wardrobes. I went hunting through them this morning and came across this week's recipe that I'm sharing with you. I have had thoughts of this dish at the edge of my mind all summer, so it was great to find it again. It is delicious.


It's a continual dilemma for me as to whether to keep cooking something new every time I cook, or to re-visit dishes I've cooked in the past. I actually toyed with the idea of making 2008 the year I would go back and cook dishes I have done before, but in the end decided to keep forging ahead and trying new things. Maybe 2009...


Have a fabulous week. Love from Jane

xxx

This recipe comes from a magazine that as far as I know, only ran for a few years and then disappeared, which is a shame, because I used it extensively. It was a Women’s Weekly magazine called Simply Lite and I treasure my copies of it.


Lamb cutlets with nectarines

Serves four

What you need:
· 4 ripe nectarines
· 2 tablespoons of orange juice
· 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
· 8 lean lamb cutlets
· 1 tablespoon olive oil
· 1 tablespoon chopped lemon thyme
· Freshly ground black pepper
· 2 tablespoons fruit chutney

What you do:
1. Pre-heat your BBQ or a griller to high.
2. Halve and stone the unpeeled nectarines.
3. Combine them in a bowl with the orange juice and brown sugar.
4. Brush the cutlets with oil and sprinkle them with lemon thyme and pepper.
5. Grill the nectarines carefully, cut side up, until golden brown (keep a close eye on them).
6. Grill the cutlets on a high heat for about two minutes on each side, or until done to your liking.Spread the cutlets with the chutney and serve with the grilled nectarines on top.