Roast salmon salad with marie rose dressing

Hello everyone, for about eighteen months I have been trying to book a table at the Tea Room Gunners Barracks https://www.thetearoom.com.au/ for high tea. Every time I called to make a booking I was put off - they were fully booked for the next six Saturdays; they had stoppped taking bookings; there was a new reason every time for why I couldn't book a table. Every time I hung up the phone I would be so cross and think "Well I'm just not going to go there, clearly they don't want my business." But in fact it just made me more and more keen to go there. The last time I called I was told that they no longer do high tea on weekends as they have so many weddings, so I would have to come during the week. Well, being on holidays this week it was my top priority. On a gorgeous sunny day during the week my very appropriately dressed friend Aviva (teacup adorned skirt and all) descended on the place and enjoyed a splendid high tea. Perhaps not quite the best I have had in terms of the food, although it was very good and plentiful, but the fit out of the place and the breathtaking views made the whole experience worth waiting for all that time. And best of all? The cheeky kookaburras who suddenly swoop in to snaffle a sandwich from the tiered stands. We were warned it could happen so ate quickly, but saw it happen to another table.

This week's recipe is a fantastic summery salad, a Jamie Oliver recipe which comes from the November edition of delicious magazine. I loved it when I made it and last night I had word that my brother in law and nieces were road testing it on my recommendation. The verdict? Possibly the best salmon they have ever had. See what you think.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx

Roast salmon salad with marie rose dressing

Serves four

What you need:
· 600g salmon fillets
· Light olive oil
· 4 tablespoons good quality mayonnaise
· 2 tablespoons tomato sauce
· 2 lemons
· Tabasco sauce
· 2 baby cos lettuces, broken into pieces
· 2 handfuls watercress
· 300g cooked prawns, peeled (keep on the tails)
· Extra virgin olive oil

What you do:
1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Place salmon on a baking tray, sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with a little olive oil.
3. Place in the hot oven for about ten minutes.
4. Meanwhile, mix the mayonnaise and tomato sauce in a small bowl.
5. Add the zest and juice of one lemon.
6. Season well with salt and pepper and a dash of Tabasco sauce. The sauce should be a loose dressing you can drizzle over the salad.
7. Check the salmon and when it’s done to your liking, remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
8. Mix the lettuce and watercress in a large bowl or on a platter and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil.
9. Break the salmon into nice large chunks and place them in and around the salad.
10. Scatter with prawns.
11. Spoon the dressing over the top.
12. Serve with the remaining lemon cut into wedges.

Champagne ice cream

Hello everyone, I had a lovely day yesterday wandering around the shops in Lane Cove with my friend Anne. There were so many gorgeous things in different shops that we visited, things that you really don't see in the big shopping centres. It was a very good reminder that when you want to do fun shopping, not the boring things on your list, local "High street" shopping really is the way to go. I actually managed to snap up a couple of things for which I had been looking for ages and could never quite find what I wanted. In Lane Cove I was dazzled for choice! Lunch was at the Longuie, the local pub, and it was lovely. We sat out on the verandah to have a drink, catching a nice cooling breeze, and then enjoyed a shared platter in the very smartly fitted out dining room. A very good way to spend a summer Saturday!

With the onslaught of meltingly hot days, my thoughts turn to ice cream. This is one that I have made to take to a friend's place to serve with my peach tart. It is so easy and goes down very well with the punters. I have an ice cream machine which gets a fair bit of use in summer. If you don't have one and you like ice cream it's a good investment as the texture of the ice cream you produce is so creamy. If you don't have an ice cream machine, when you make this you will need to take it out of the freezer periodically in the first few hours to run a fork through it, so that you can break up the ice crystals. The recipe comes from SOS Summer.

Have a great week! Love from Jane xxx

Champagne ice cream

Serves 12

What you need:

• 12 egg yolks
• 750ml sparkling wine
• 220g caster sugar
• 80ml liquid glucose (you should be able to buy this at the supermarket; if not, a health food shop or a pharmacy)
• 600ml cream

What you do:

1. Beat the egg yolks, sparkling wine and sugar until pale and thick.
2. Cook in a double saucepan over a low heat, beating constantly.
3. When hot, stir in the glucose until dissolved, then cook until the mixture is thick and coats the back of a spoon.
4. Remove from the heat.
5. When completely cold, stir in the cream.
6. Churn in an ice cream maker.
7. Store in the freezer until ready to serve.
   

Parmesan ricotta on toast

Hello everyone, it's definitely party season and getting busier and busier every day. Usually around Christmas time I start to feel a little overwhelmed by all the alcohol and party food but for some reason it seems to have started earlier this year and I already feel I've had way too much wine to drink and desserts to eat. I met some friends for a quick sandwich yesterday and found I was enjoying the iceberg lettuce the most!

So I'm just going to have to squeeze in some simple meals with lots of vegetables whenever I can. Thankfully I made a bucketful of a very vegie-rich pasta sauce from last month's delicious magazine so I can always dig a container of that out of the freezer when it all gets too much.

I thought I'd give you this recipe this week because I had an email a few days ago from a reader who declares that she is not a cook but did the baked ricotta I posted earlier for guests and it was a hit! I adore good, fresh ricotta and love this very simple little dish, which is a Brigitte Hafner recipe I found in Good Living four years ago.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx

Parmesan ricotta on toast

Serves four

What you need:

• 500g really fresh ricotta
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 4 slices of sourdough bread
• 1 bunch of rocket
• 2 lovely ripe tomatoes, sliced

What you do:

1. In a bowl, mix together the ricotta, Parmesan and oil.
2. Season to taste.
3. Toast the bread.
4. Drizzle with a little oil and spread a thick layer of the ricotta mix.
5. Top with rocket and tomato.
6. Season with a little salt and pepper and drizzle with a little more oil.

Crostato Di Riso

Hello everyone, this is one of those recipes about which I wasn't enormously excited, but found the finished dish was delicious! I think it's yet another example of a simple dish that when made with good quality ingredients really shines. It comes from a book called "Italian Rice Dishes" by Diane Seed. I also have two books of pasta recipes that she has compiled. They are very good books that I have been using for years!

Have a lovely week. Love from Jane xxx

Crostato Di Riso

Serves four

What you need:

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 litre light stock, or water
• 2 1/3 cups arborio rice
• 2 cups fresh tomato sauce (make yourself or buy at a good deli, or use Savion tomato dip if you can find it, I've seen it most recently at Coles at Chatswood Chase in Sydney)
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped flat leaf parsley
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 1/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan
• 6 basil leaves, torn
• 300g fresh mozzarella, sliced
• 30g butter

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 175C.
2. Lightly oil a large round oven proof dish
3. Heat the oil in a large pan and gently cook the onion until soft.
4. In another pan, bring the stock to the boil and pour in the rice.
5. Simmer for ten minutes, then drain and stir the rice into the onion.
6. Cook for five minutes and mix in three quarters of the tomato sauce with the parsley, salt and pepper.
7. Stir in three quarters of the Parmesan and the basil.
8. Spoon half of the rice mix into the ovenproof dish, levelling the top.
9. Cover with the mozzarella slices and top with the remaining sauce.
10. Make another layer with the remaining rice and sprinkle over the remaining Parmesan.
11. Dot with butter and bake for 35 minutes.
12. Remove from the oven and allow to stand for ten minutes before serving.

Chicken Koftas

Hello everyone, earlier this morning I was listening to a segment on Simon Marnie's program in which he had three food bloggers in talking about their experiences with the Sydney International Food Fair which has just concluded. I didn't go to anything this year, largely because I just didn't have the time or the energy to plan anything, but listening to these three definitely fired me up to immerse in it next year. I think for me there was an element of "overwhelmia" as there were so many events. It sounds like they were a lot of fun and those who went learned a lot too, so it is definitely in my diary for next year.


Also this morning I made the lemon curd ice-cream in this month's edition of delicious. It looks beautiful - a gorgeous delicate creamy yellow. I can't wait to try it!

And just as it is ice-cream weather, so too I have been firing up the barbecue and cooking all sorts of things. Just recently I made these chicken koftas which were really lovely. They are the easiest thing in the world to make and can be served with all sorts of accompaniments - whatever you have to hand. The recipe comes from my fabulous Backyard Barbecue Cookbook - one of the best cook books I have ever been given. I have been cooking from it regularly for ten years now and there are still heaps of recipes to try! I hope you like this one.


Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx


Chicken Koftas


Serves eight (or maybe four, depending on how hungry everone is)


(If you use wooden skewers, soak them in water for about an hour before using so that they don't burn).


What you need:

• 500g minced chicken
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander or mint, whichever you prefer
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cornflakes, crushed
• 2 teaspoons chilli sauce

What you do:

1. Mix all of the ingredients together and form into eight long koftas on flat metal or bamboo skewers.
2. Place on a rack on a heated barbecue.
3. Cook for about eight minutes, turning regularly to avoid charring, until golden brown and cooked through.
4. Serve with bread rolls, salad and a good tomato sauce (or any other nice sauces you might have to hand).