Red wine and sausage risotto

Hello everyone, I have just returned from three days in Mount Gambier, South Australia, and have two completely different food experiences to relate. (I was very thankful that the second was so different to the first).

On the first night I was there, with the around 60 or so other conference delegates I went to dinner at a local Italian place. My alarm bells had started to ring early as we were informed we were starting with tapas, to be followed by pizza and pasta. Quite a cultural mix, but I guess at least it was all European. For dinner we were presented with quite a wide choice of pizzas and pastas. Frankly none of them really appealed but I picked one and put in my order with everyone else. We then waited, and waited, and waited for our food. No garlic bread or salads to sustain us. Eventually the food started to arrive. I think my neighbour on my right was just finishing hers when my neighbour on my left received her dinner. And lucky me, I just continued to wait! Finally, when everyone else was ordering coffee my pizza arrived. I looked at it, politely thanked the waiter who had brought it to me, then pointed out that in fact it wasn't the pizza I had ordered. Hands on hips she declared "Sweetheart, that's all there is. I suggest you eat it. It will fill you up." Which is just hilarious to be told that in a restaurant! I have laughed my head off every time I have told someone the story. And not only was it the wrong pizza, the base was only half cooked! So, it will be one of my memorable meals but not for the usual reasons!

Thankfully the next nightwas much better. We were treated to a wine tasting at Balnaves of Coonawarra Winery http://www.balnaves.com.au/. It was lovely. We were welcomed into a beautiful room at the winery which felt like being in someone's very tasteful home, and feasted on delicious cheeses and fruit pastes while tasting various wines. We then moved on to dinner at a wonderful place, Pipers of Penola http://www.pipersofpenola.com.au/ which was outstanding. The restaurant was beautiful, the service was very charming and the food was excellent. Perhaps best of all was the luscious chocolate pudding for dessert. Mmmmm, it was good.

This week's recipe is one I remembered because I did a very similar thing during the week with pork sausages and red wine. In that case I made a delicious pasta sauce, but this recipe is for a very easy risotto. It comes from the very reliable Take Three by Jill Dupleix.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx

Red wine and sausage risotto

Serves four

What you need:

• 3 Italian pork and fennel sausages
• 300g Arborio rice
• 115ml good red wine
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 750ml chicken stock, heated
• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving

What you do:

1. Heat a non stick frying pan.
2. Squeeze the meat out of the sausages and add the meat in small lumps to the frying pan, frying until lightly crusty and golden. Set aside.
3. Melt the butter in the same pan and add the onion, cooking over a moderate heat until translucent.
4. Add the rice and stir until well mixed with the onion.
5. Add the red wine and allow to bubble for a couple of minutes, until absorbed.
6. Add the sausage and stir thoroughly.
7. Add all of the chicken stock and bring the mix back to the boil.
8. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for about 15 minutes, until the rice has absorbed the stock and is tender. If the rice starts to dry out and isn't yet cooked, add some water.
9. Stir in the Parmesan and serve with additional Parmesan served at the table.

Warm salad of roasted pumpkin, apples and rocket

Hello everyone, I have enthused in previous winter time blogs about winter salads and was very happy to find another good one this week. It's a recipe that I cut out of the Good Living section of the newspaper and have had stuck on my fridge for weeks so it was good to finally try it. I chopped up the pumpkin into tiny pieces so that it cooked all nice and crispy, and I used a really lovely pomegranate balsamic vinegar that worked well with this mix of fruit and vegetables.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx

Warm salad of roasted pumpkin, apples and rocket

Serves four

What you need:

• 500g butternut pumpkin, peeled, seeded and chopped into chunks the size you like
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for serving
• 3 tablespooons balsamic vinegar, plus extra for serving
• 2 medium pink lady apples, cored and cut into wedges
• 80g walnut halves
• 2 cups wild rocket leaves
• 2 cups watercress sprigs
• 100g marinated (or plain) fetta

What you do:

1. Preheat oven to 210C.
2. Combine pumpkin, olive oil and vinegar in a baking dish you have lined with baking paper (best to do this - I didn't and am still scrubbing out my baking dish) and roast for 15 minutes.
3. Add apples and roast for another 15 minutes.
4. Make sure the pumpkin is pretty well done and then add the walnuts and roast for a final 5 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and set aside for 5 minutes.
6. Combine rocket and watercress in a large bowl.
7. Add roasted pumpkin mix.
8. Season to taste and toss gently.
9. Divide salad among four bowls.
10. Crumble fetta over salad and drizzle additional olive oil and balsamic and serve.

Black-bottom cupcakes

Hello everyone, last night I was very lucky to be invited to dinner at the home of my friends Kirsten and Frank. They are both excellent cooks and they created this beautiful feast for me. While Frank was busy in the kitchen Kirsten and I had a drink at one of their fabulous local Balmain pubs, which was a nice way to start the evening. We then came home to Frank's fabulous rolled roasted pork, stuffed with apricots and ginger, with some beautiful glazed baby carrots and (they know the way to my heart), a lush dish of sliced potato with chopped bacon and brie cheese melted through it. Then this was followed up by a stunning orange tart that Kirsten made. It was all so good and I felt really special having this luscious dinner cooked for me.

This week's recipe is (literally) a really good party trick. I was looking for a cake recipe that I could do ahead and freeze as I wasn't going to be able to bake something fresh. I perused my Belinda Jeffery Mix And Bake and found this cupcake recipe, which I had actually seen Belinda demonstrate at a class some time ago. The cupcakes froze well and in serving them I went one better. I warmed them through in the microwave so that the chocolate melted, and served them with cream, announcing that I had made chocolate puddings. They were very pudding like and a great success for morning tea on a cold and frosty morning, so if you want to go one step beyond cupcakes, this is the recipe for you.

Have a lovely week. Love from Jane xx

Black-bottom cupcakes

Makes 10-12 medium sized cupcakes, or 6 larger ones if you use a 6 hole muffin tin

What you need:

• 1 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon bicarb soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup Dutch processed cocoa (the better quality cocoa you use, the richer and more velvety your cupcakes will be)
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup light olive oil
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar

Topping

• 250g cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 200g good quality chocolate buttons or chocolate chopped into chunks

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Line either a large 6 or regular 12 hole muffin tin with paper cupcake cases (I didn't, and had some difficulty getting out the cupcakes, hence the whole pudding inspiration to hide their battered appearance).
3. To make the topping, using electric beaters beat together the cream cheese and sugar for two minutes or until light and fluffy.
4. Add the egg and beat until thoroughly mixed in.
5. Stir in the chocolate and set aside the bowl.
6. To make the cupcakes, combine the flour, bicarb soda and salt in a bowl.
7. Sift in the cocoa and whisk using a balloon whisk for a minute.
8. In another bowl, whisk together the warm water, vanilla extract, oil and vinegar.
9. Make a well in the dry ingredients, pour in the wet mix and stir together thoroughly but only until just mixed. If you over stir your cupcakes will be very chewy.
10. Spoon the batter into the cupcake cases so they are about two thirds full.
11. Scoop spoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture on top of each cake.
12. Bake the cupcakes for 30-35 minutes (longer if you have done six large ones), or until a skewer inserted into the dark part comes out clean.
13. Cool the muffins in the tin before removing and leave on a cake rack to cool completely.

Crispy cumin and paprika wedges

Hello everyone, I had the joy of attending a class conducted by Alex Herbert of Bird Cow Fish http://www.birdcowfish.com.au/ this week. BCF is one of my favourite restaurants (yes, I know I have a long list) and I love Alex's approach to food. I made sure that I arrived in plenty of time so that I actually scored a seat in the front row which made it very easy to pepper Alex with questions. She started us off with a lovely little winter salad made with venison. I don't really eat meat outside the mainstream ones with which I grew up, so it was my first taste of venison. I don't think it's something I'd order in a restaurant but it worked well in the salad. Next up was roasted salt marinated duck with potato and apple galettes. Delicious. For me (you won't be surprised) dessert was the highlight - steamed ginger pudding served with creme anglaise. Mmmmm, I love puddings, especially steamed ones. It has really tempted me to buy a steamer although where I would store it I don't know. Alex had these two massive old steamers into which she was able to stack 35 puddings. It was a very delicious and fun demonstration.

And yesterday my beautiful Iranian volunteer, Sara, presented me with a dainty container of Iranian saffron, which her parents had brought with them when they arrived in Sydney during the week. She was stunned that I knew what it was and queried "Do you know how to use it?" I assured her that I do and use saffron regularly. Later in the day one of the IT boys came past, and he is also Iranian. I proudly showed him the saffron (and nougat) that Sara had given me. Same question! Same doubtful face! Clearly Australians haven't impressed with their use of saffron!!!

Today's recipe for potato wedges is just perfect for this cold time of year. You cook them in the oven so they are guilt free and just the most divine flavour. If I have nigella seeds handy sometimes I sprinkle them on as well. The recipe comes from Belinda Jeffery's Tried And True Recipes.

Have a lovely week. Love from Jane xx

Crispy cumin and paprika wedges

Says it serves four, I'll leave that to your judgement

What you need:

• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 1 kg Desiree potatoes, peeled and sliced into generous wedges
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 220C.
2. Line a large baking dish with foil and then a layer of baking paper. This will save on a really hard to clean dish later.
3. Sprinkle the cumin seeds into a small pan on top of the stove and warm them over a medium heat until they are fragrant. Do stir them constantly as they burn easily.
4. When the cumin seeds are ready, pour them into the baking dish and add the potato wedges.
5. Drizzle the oil over the potatoes and sprinkle them with the salt, pepper and paprika. Mix everything together so that the wedges are well coated.
6. Spread the wedges into a single layer and put in the oven.
7. Roast the wedges, turning once or twice, for 50 to 60 minutes, or until they are a lovely golden colour with crisp edges (of course you will need to try one or two to check).
8. Devour!

Spanish Minestrone

Hello everyone, I haven't been doing so much cooking this week as I have been quite immersed in the Sydney Film Festival. I managed to get to eight films overall and saw some really good ones. My most outstanding award goes to a film shot here in Sydney called Cedar Boys, which is about three young Lebanese men who get caught up in the drug trade. It is the most fascinating story and held the attention of the entire cinema right up to the end. It has gone straight to the top of my list of best films and I really recommend it - it's due for a general release on 30 June.

This week's recipe is another lovely warming soup that I made when winter was just starting to set in and I had some chorizo kicking around in the fridge. It comes from that wonderful book I always have to hand, 3 Ways With Stale Bread... by Ross Dobson, and is very yummy and filling.

Have a fabulous week. Love from Jane xx

Spanish Minestrone

Serves four

Heat a generous splash of olive oil in a saucepan and stir-fry 1 chopped onion with 1 finely cubed chorizo for a few minutes on a medium heat, to soften the onion and bring out all the spices in the sausage. Add 500ml chicken stock, 400g chopped tinned tomatoes, 400g tinned chickpeas (rinsed and drained) and one cubed potato.

Bring the soup to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes, until the potato is nicely soft. Stir through a handful of roughly chopped flat leaf parsley and serve topped with some crumbled feta or manchego cheese.

Lemon curd bread and butter pudding

Hello everyone, I was lucky enough to have two group get togethers during the week over dinner at two restaurants I love, both of which have a multiple dishes to share style of dining, so I was able to taste lots of different things! On Wednesday night I went back to Kika Tapas in Darlinghurst. There were eight of us and it felt as if we ordered a huge number of dishes, but we managed to eat it all (and fit in dessert!) and still pay a reasonable amount.

Then on Thursday night I organised my book club to meet at Kuali, a Malaysian restaurant in Lane Cove, to meet my friend Fiona Higgins and discuss her recently published memoir, Love In The Age Of Drought. Fiona brought along the main character, her husband Stu, and we enjoyed a fabulous banquet with the best roti bread I have ever eaten. These two feasts can make up for this weekend when I will be immersed in the film festival instead of being out eating.

Now that it's winter we have the perfect excuse to consume puddings, and this recipe is luscious. I can't remember what prompted me to try it the first time because I am phobic about mass produced white sliced bread, and have never been a huge fan of lemon curd. I think I actually tasted it at a cooking demonstration by Valli Little and loved it, so tried it out at home myself. You can get really beautiful lemon or passionfruit curds these days, and the bread, well, it just works. Try it and see.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx

• Lemon curd bread and butter pudding
  
  Serves 6-8
  
  What you need:
• 14 slices Tip Top white bread, crusts removed
• 50g softened unsalted butter
• 1 jar lemon or passionfruit curd
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 6 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups thin cream
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
  
  What you do:
  1. Butter the bread and then spread with curd.
  2. Cut each slice into halves and layer, overlapping, in a large baking dish.
  3. Beat together the eggs, cream, sugar and lemon zest.
  4. Pour custard over the bread and leave to rest for half an hour. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 170C.
  5. Place the pudding in a roasting tin and pour in enough water to come half way up the sides of the baking dish.
  6. Cover the pudding loosely with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
  7. Remove the foil and cook a further 5-10 minutes or until the top turns golden and puffed.
  8. Dust with icing sugar and serve with cream, icecream and berries.
  
  The leftovers are really yummy warmed up for breakfast!

Hummus soup

Hello everyone, I was lucky enough earlier this week to get along to the opening night address of the Sydney Writers Festival www.swf.org.au. It was given by a Nigerian woman called Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She spoke so beautifully about how she wrote as a child in the style of the English story books she read (complete with lashings of ginger beer), even though this reflected a world completely different to what was around her. Over time, as she grew up, she encountered people who had one view about Nigeria and its people (which was all negative), and how through her writing she has worked to portray the many different stories there are about Nigeria. She was completely captivating.

From a slightly different part of the world comes inspiration for this soup. The recipe is from the book Faking It, by Valli Little, one of my favourite food writers, and it's an outstanding book. There are so many different, inspirational recipes in it and as the name of the book implies, they don't involve tricky techniques or hard to find ingredients. I made a big batch of this soup to put in the freezer so that I could take it to work for lunches and I was very sad when it was all gone. If you can get your hands on some labne, the thick Middle Eastern yoghurt, it would taste great swirled into the soup just before serving.

Have a lovely week. Love from Jane xx

Hummus soup

Serves four

What you need:

• 1 litre chicken stock (or vegetable if you want to keep the soup vegetarian friendly)
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped into a few pieces (it will all be blended later)
• Grated zest and juice of a lemon, plus wedges to serve
• 800g canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 tablespoon chopped mint leaves
• 1 tablespoon chopped flat leaf parsley leaves
• Natural yoghurt (or Greek, or labne), to drizzle
• Extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle
• 2 tablespoons dukkah, to serve
• Flatbread, to serve

What you do:

1. Place the stock in a saucepan with the garlic, lemon zest and chickpeas.
2. Bring to the boil over a medium-high heat.
3. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for five minutes. Cool slightly.
4. Add the mint, parsley and lemon juice and puree in a blender until smooth.
5. When you are ready to serve, season the soup to taste with salt and pepper and then reheat over a low heat.
6. Ladle the soup into bowls, then drizzle with the yoghurt and olive oil.
7. Serve with dukkah for sprinkling on the soup, lemon wedges and flat bread.

Lentil and pumpkin salad

Hello everyone, I was at a friend's fortieth on Friday night and they hired my friend Anna who is a caterer to do the food. It was gorgeous! She did such a great job, it was all home cooked food presented beautifully. We started with a heap of finger food while everyone was standing around having a drink. There were all sorts of choices, and I am still tossing up as favourite the huge, lovely and sweet peeled prawns, or the Moroccan lamb mince triangles. Then there was a buffet for the main course that included all sorts of salads, meat and vegetable dishes. Then to top it off, Anna baked a really moist, fudgy chocolate cake (decorated with forty candles) and served it with creamy raspberry icecream. It was all so good and I was so happy that everyone loved the food. Definitely my caterer of choice!

Last night I cooked this lovely salad to go with my dinner and thankfully had the foresight (and so much pumpkin) to make enough for Monday's lunch as well. It comes from my Marie Claire Comfort cook book from which I have made quite a few good things. I hope you like it too, it's a great one for winter.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx

Lentil and pumpkin salad

Serves four or six as a side dish

What you need:

• 1 kg jap or kent pumpkin, peeled and chopped into quite small pieces so they roast up all nice and crispy
• 1 large red onion, halved and thinly sliced into half moons
• 2 tablespoons light olive oil
• 120g puy lentils or tiny blue lentils (I don't think you can easily find puy lentils any more, but I found some Australian blue lentils at my local health food store)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspooon whole grain mustard
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 handful flat leaf parsley, chopped roughly
• 50g wild rocket leaves
• 100g goats cheese

What you do

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Place the pumpkin pieces into a baking tray, scatter with the sliced onion and toss with the light olive oil, then season with salt and pepper.
3. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the pumpkin is looking crispy.
4. Meanwhile, place the lentils in a saucepan with the half teaspoon of salt and 2 cups of water.
5. Bring the lentils to the boil, then simmer for 30 minutes or until tender. Keep an eye on them and top up the water if needed.
6. When cooked, drain the lentils of any excess water, then stir in the mustard, vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and parsley.
7. When you are ready to serve, arrange the rocket on a serving plate, top with the pumpkin and onion, then spoon over the lentils.
8. Crumble the goats cheese over the top and serve.

Orange, hazelnut and goat's cheese salad

Hello everyone, this week I have had the luxury of a bit more time on my hands and I have been looking at other blogs written by food lovers. One of the most impressive is Grab Your Fork http://grabyourfork.blogspot.com/ which details the author's eating adventures, and my, she does a lot! I also came across Not Quite Nigella http://www.notquitenigella.com/ when trying to find the name of a new chocolate shop I had visited recently. I was a bit overwhelmed for a while looking at some of the other blogs as they are so beautifully done with photos and links to other sites, but in the end I figured that I only ever intended to stick up a few helpful recipes and don't think I'm going to let this mission take over my life!

As my contribution to the restaurant reviewing game however, I must report that I enjoyed an excellent meal with the most charming service at Kika Tapas Bar http://www.kika.com.au/ (the website is still coming but it's a handy reminder) in Darlinghurst during the week. Yes, my Spanish passion continues unabated and if anything it was further fired here with the most luscious jamon and crispy churros. Definitely a must-return.

This week's recipe offers something a little lighter - back to a nice winter salad now that the days are a little shorter and cooler. I made this for dinner one night and loved it. It's from my Growers Market book, a never ending source of inspiration for seasonal goodies.

Have a wonderful week. Love from Jane xx

Orange, hazelnut and goat's cheese salad

Serves four

What you need:

• 1/4 cup hazelnuts, toasted and rubbed in a clean teatowel to remove the skins
• 1 tablespoon orange juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 250g watercress, rinsed and dried
• 1 cup baby English spinach leaves, rinsed and dried
• Segments from two oranges (peeled)
• 300g firm goats cheese, sliced into 4 equal portions

What you do:

1. Make the dressing by combining the nuts, juices, and a pinch of salt in a food processor.
2. With the motor running, gradually add the olive oil a few drops at a time. When about half the oil has been added, pour in the remainder in a steady stream.
3. Pick the leaves from the watercress and combine in a bowl with the spinach, orange segments and two tablespoons of the dressing.
4. Toss to combine and season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
5. Arrange the salad on four serving plates.
6. Heat a small non stick frying pan over a medium-high heat and brush the pan lightly with olive oil.
7. When the oil is hot, carefully press each slice of goats cheese firmly into the pan and cook for a couple of minutes, or until a crust has formed on the cheese.
8. Carefully remove the cheese from the pan and arrange on top of the salads, crust side up.
9. Drizzle over the remaining dressing and serve.

Spaghetti with chunky tomato, olive and chilli sauce

Hello everyone, I decided last week that I was going to defrost my freezer as it hadn't been done for some time. Of course, this entailed emptying the freezer, so instead of my usual recipe driven approach I chose recipes based on what was there. Two of the highlights were a fabulous chicken and vegetable pie that I made to use up some puff pastry and a gorgeous Spanish style minestrone into which went some chorizo I had picked up on my Spanish Safari a few weeks ago. So now I have a clean, ice-free, empty freezer. This week I'm going to fill it up with three different kinds of soup which will provide lunches for weeks and a great Moroccan style chicken dish that I love. It's so good having ready cooked food in the freezer, especially with winter coming on!

Now this week's recipe is for an absolutely luscious pasta sauce from Belinda Jeffery's Tried-And-True Recipes and I can tell you that when I made it I wished that I had done at least the full quantity so I could store some in the freezer to enjoy later. As it's a chunky style sauce you'll find it's really substantial and probably only needs some good bread to be served with it. I know it looks like a long list of ingredients but really once you have chopped the vegetables you are half way there.

Have a lovely week. Love from Jane xx

Spaghetti with chunky tomato, olive and chilli sauce

Serves four

What you need:

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 large onions, finely chopped
• 2 medium sized carrots, cut into smallish dice
• 2 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 2 small red chilllies (seeds and all), finely chopped (use your judgement - I used half this quantity and it was just right for me)
• 1 heaped tablespoon tomato paste or sun dried tomato pesto
• 800g can diced tomatoes
• A big pinch of sugar
• Sea salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 500g spaghetti
• 150g pitted olives (use whatever olives you like, I love green olives so I used them and they were sensational)
• Large handful of basil leaves, roughly torn
• 4 scoops of fresh ricotta
• Finely grated Parmesan, to serve

What you do:

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium to high heat.
2. Tip in the onions and carrots and cook them, stirring occasionally, for ten minutes or until soft.
3. Add the garlic and chilli and stir again, cooking for a further two to three minutes.
4. Mix in the tomato paste or pesto, and cook, stirring, for one minute until fragrant.
5. Pour in the tomatoes and their juice and sprinkle on the sugar, salt and pepper.
6. Bring the sauce to the boil, then turn down the heat to low and leave to bubble away gently for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is quite thick.
7. Cook the pasta while the sauce is cooking.
8. Just before the pasta is ready, add the olives and basil to the sauce.
9. Drain the pasta and stir it into the sauce, mixing well so that all the strands are coated.
10. To serve, add a scoop of ricotta to each pasta bowl, and pour the spaghetti with sauce on top. Serve with the Parmesan.

Roast pork with soy roasted pumpkin

Hello everyone, today I took my nieces to see Artexpress for the second year running. I remember that last year they just walked from art work to art work wide eyed, completely overwhelmed by it all. This year they interacted with it a lot more, darting off to various pieces that caught their attention, analysing some of them, completely ignoring others, and making lots of comments. Last year when I suggested we all nominate our favourite piece they politely said they couldn't choose (which I interpreted as code for "no idea what any of this is about"), but this year they were very quick to make up their minds and give reasons. It was fun! Then we took ourselves off to Woo-mi, a very good sushi train in Mosman, where they put away more sushi than I thought was possible. I guess a good balance for all the Easter eggs to come!

This week's recipe is for a luscious roast pork which I cooked last week, out of my Marie Claire Comfort book (it's such a beautiful book). The butcher very kindly cut a smaller piece for me so I roasted it for dinner and then had some for sandwiches during the week. Just enough. It is the easiest thing in the world to do - you literally put everything in the oven and go away and let it cook itself. It will fill the house with a beautiful aroma as it cooks and provide comfort on these rapidly cooling autumn evenings.

Have a happy Easter! Love from Jane xx

Roast pork with soy roasted pumpkin

Serves 6

What you need:

• 1.5kg piece of pork shoulder (ask your butcher to score the skin)
• 4 sage leaves
• 1 kg kent or jap pumpkin
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 220C.
2. Pat the pork dry with paper towels (very important to get the crackling nice and crisp) and rub the scored skin with a generous amount of salt. Season with freshly ground pepper.
3. Scatter the sage leaves over the base of a roasting tin, then place the pork on them, skin side up.
4. Cook the pork for 25 minutes, then reduce the heat to 180C and cook for a further hour.
5. While the pork is cooking, peel the pumpkin and cut into small chunks.
6. Place the chunks in a large bowl and add the oil, soy sauce, chilli and five spice.
7. Toss well, then transfer to a baking tray and add to the oven 30 minutes before the pork is due to finish cooking. By then the pumpkin should be cooked and golden.
8. Remove the pork from the oven and reduce the heat to low to keep the pumpkin warm.
9. Test if the meat is done by inserting a sharp knife into the centre - the juices should run clear. Transfer the pork to a warm serving platter and rest, covered with foil, for 15 minutes.
10. Carve the pork and serve with the pumpkin.

Potato and gruyere gratin

Hello everyone, last week I was having dinner at Young Alfred in Customs House with my American friend Chris and I commented to him that despite this being about my twentieth visit to YA, I had not yet persuaded any of my companions to choose the Surprise pizza on the menu (and I have certainly never been brave enough to try it myself). Chris being the courageous and daring person that he is promptly replied "Well, let's order it as a starter". Now up until then I hadn't realised that if you order it, although they won't tell you what is on it, you can declare any items you don't like and if by chance that day's surprise pizza does happen to be covered with your unfavourite ingredients the staff will steer you away from it. So we ordered it with the proviso no mushrooms (me) and no anchovies or mussels (Chris). Well, was I glad we took the plunge! It was beautiful. YA make the best pizza bases, they are very thin and crispy, and our surprise pizza had a lovely garlicky tomato sauce, thinly sliced ham, caramelised onion, goats curd and flat leaf parsley. I was so glad we did it! Now I'm going to order it whenever I go there! (Although who knows what the combination will be next time, I think it's whatever takes the chef''s fancy that day).

Now I know that I gave you a vegetable gratin dish last week and here is another one. This one is far more decadent and is an ode to my favourite vegetable, the potato. With a dish like this I tend to be quite generous with the quantities - if you think you need more cheese, for example, use more cheese. Or potato, or cream. Now that the evenings are getting cooler it's excusable to eat potatoes with cream.

Have a fabulous week. Love from Jane xx

Potato and gruyere gratin

Serves four as a side dish

What you need:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 100g gruyere cheese, grated and divided into two portions
• 1 1/2 cups hot chicken stock
• 1 cup cream

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C.
2. Grease a medium sized baking dish with the butter.
3. Cover the base with the potato slices and season well, then sprinkle on some of the cheese.
4. Gradually build up layers of potato and cheese until you have used all of the potato slices and one of the portions of cheese.
5. Pour the hot stock over the potato and cheese and bake for 40 minutes.
6. About ten minutes before the potato is due to come out of the oven, gently warm the cream but don't allow it to boil.
7. Remove the potato from the oven and pour the warm cream over it.
8. Sprinkle on the other half of the cheese and bake for a further 20 minutes, or until the cheese topping is lightly browned.

Fennel, tomato and garlic gratin

Hello everyone, I seem to be going through one of those times where I am eating out nearly every day. In the last two years I caught myself in the habit of going back to just a small number of really good reliable places, which is always good, but this year I'm trying to actually go to all the places I read about and think "That sounds good, I should try there some time". Thankfully I have friends willing to be bossed around and told where we are eating!

So this week just gone I finally got to La Locanda in Bronte which has been on my list for about three years (not that Bronte is that far away, it was just a matter of finding an occasion to go out with my Eastern suburbs dwelling friends) (and it was beautiful, well worth the wait), and then I was lucky enough to be taken to Cafe Sydney the next day, where I had the most luscious home made gnocchi. It was heaven. Tonight I do get to go back to an old favourite (Young Alfred, Customs House) as I'm going to see a play at the Opera House, and then next Friday I'm lucky enough to be going to lunch at my current absolute favourite, Catalonia in Kirribilli! So I guess I haven't completely let go of the old reliables....

Of course all this restaurant gallivanting does mean less time for cooking. And no matter how good someone else's cooking is, it does calm me down to cook something for myself. This week's dish is something I did just recently and was beautiful. I love fennel and it's really just coming into the best time of year for it. The recipe comes from my lovely Growers Market book.

Have a great week, love from Jane xx

Fennel, tomato and garlic gratin
Serves 4, and you can either serve it as a side dish to a main or with something simple like some good bread and cheese.

What you need:

• 2 bulbs of fennel, halved and thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup good olive oil
• 1 large red onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 450g ripe tomatoes

Gratin topping:

• 60g fresh white breadcrumbs (you get a really good effect if you keep the crumbs large and chunky)
• 65g grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspooons grated lemon zest
• 1 garlic clove, crushed

What you do

1. Preheat the oven to 200C.
2. Grease a 22cm square gratin dish.
3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan.
4. Cook the onion for a few minutes until softened.
5. Add the garlic and cook briefly, then add the fennel and cook for seven minutes, stirring frequently, until softened and golden brown.
6. Cut a cross at the base of each tomato and place them in a bowl. Pour over boiling water and let stand for 20 seconds and then cool with cold water. Peel the skins off the tomatoes and discard.
7. Chop the tomato flesh roughly and add to the fennel. Cook, stirring frequently, for five minutes, or until the tomato is softened.
8. Season the vegetables well and pour into the gratin dish.
9. Mix together the gratin ingredients, sprinkle over the vegetables and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.
10. Serve immediately.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.