Warm winter salad of radicchio, wild rocket and feta

Hello everyone, this week I am wondering if you can do something for me. My beautiful cat Bellatrix has gone missing and I am trying to do everything I can think of to find her. She disappeared on Wednesday 11 August from our home in Cromer. I have searched the surrounding streets, calling her name, and done a letter box drop with a flyer with her photo asking for assistance. My brother in law has searched under the house and I have scoured surrounding bushes, surveyed the roof and called her name until I am blue in the face. If you happen to know anyone at all who lives in Cromer, I implore you to direct them to this photo of Bellatrix and ask them to look out for her. Her name, my mobile number and her Vet's details are on a tag on her collar and she is microchipped so any Vet who scans her could contact me. All help very much appreciated!!

This week's recipe comes from the July edition of delicious magazine. It is a Jamie Oliver recipe.

Jane

Warm winter salad of radicchio, wild rocket and feta

Serves six

What you need:

• 3 radicchio lettuces, outer leaves removed


• 3 slices good quality bread


• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced


• A large handful of pine nuts


• A large handful of raisins


• Olive oil


• 200ml balsamic vinegar (I'd recommend using half this quantity, and taste and adjust if you think it needs more)


• 75g wild rocket


• 200g feta cheese

What you do:

1. Cut radicchio into quarters.


2. Grill in a dry, very hot pan on top of the stove for 3-4 minutes until nicely charred on all sides. Remove to a large bowl.


3. Chargrill the slices of bread.


4. To make the dressing, fry the garlic, pine nuts and raisins in a little oil over a medium heat.


5. When the garlic starts to colour, take the pan off the heat and pour in the balsamic. Most of the liquid will evaporate when it hits the pan, so you end up with a sticky dressing. Leave to cool a little.


6. Roughly tear up the radicchio and bread, then place back in the bowl and toss with the dressing.


7. Divide the radicchio and bread among serving plates.


8. Top with rocket, any pine nuts and raisins left in the bowl and crumble over the feta before serving.

Spicy meatballs on toast

Hello everyone, I was lucky this week to visit a fairly new restaurant, Neutral Bay Bar And Dining, at which I had an absolutely luscious meal. I was a little tenative, as the owners of this place have another restaurant in Glebe where I was left very unimpressed some years ago with the difficulty in booking, the sittings policy and a lost order. That one was not a great night.

NBBAD was (happily) a completely different experience. It was easy to book and you could arrive any time you liked. The fit out is lovely, with comfy, roomy booths; you don't feel as if the next table is sitting in your lap. The service was charming and efficient, but best of all (again, happily) was the food. It was outstanding! I had the most beautiful roast pork, which had I not known better I would have sworn was cooked by my Mum or my Nana. To follow I departed from my habit of ordering the chocolate dessert (enticing as it sounded) and plumped for the pear and raspberry souffle. Again, absolutely outstanding. I did muse later that it's a funny thing when I am excited about going out and spending a decent amount of money on a meal that I loved because it tasted so home cooked. Maybe because it's more common that you would want to get ordinary food. Anyway, NBBAD has gone straight on to my list of favourite restaurants and I can't wait to go back.

This week's recipe comes from the July edition of delicious and I loved it. You can make the full quantity and freeze portions if you aren't cooking for an entire family. It really works with the toast.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xxx

Spicy meatballs on toast

Serves four

What you need:

• 2 garlic cloves, chopped, plus 1 halved
• 4 slices pancetta
• 2 teaspoons chopped rosemary
• 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley, plus extra to serve
• 600g beef mince
• 1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 egg
• 250g punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
• 750ml tomato passata
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• 8 slices ciabatta bread
• 1 cup grated parmesan

What you do:

1. Place chopped garlic in a food processor with the pancetta, rosemary and parsley and pulse until finely chopped. (If you are not that fussed about having everything really finely choppped, you can just do the chopping and mixing by hand).
2. Place the garlic mix into a bowl with the mince, chilli, tomato paste and egg and mix well with your hands.
3. Roll into 3cm balls and chill for 30 minutes if you have the time (don't worry if not).
4. Preheat the oven to 180C.
5. Heat some oil in a pan over a medium-high heat.
6. In batches, coook the meatballs for 4-5 minutes until well browned.
7. Place on a baking tray with the cherry tomatoes; drizzle with oil and season.
8. Bake for 10 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through and the tomatoes are tender.
9. Meanwhile, heat the passata, sugar and vinegar in a pan over a medium heat.
10. Season, then place the meatballs and tomatoes in the sauce and warm through.
11. Toast the slices of bread, then rub with the halved garlic clove.
12. Serve the meatballs and sauce on the toast, scattered with parmesan and extra parsley.

Not-for-the-faint-hearted hot chocolate

Hello everyone, with the freezing cold weather this week I have been drinking more than my fair share of hot chocolate. I have found a source of quite good chilli hot chocolate close to my office, and there really is no better way to defrost early in the morning! I am also enjoying the luscious hot chocolate from Mitra's Chocolates in Mosman. They do a chilli hot chocolate that really packs a punch, and their milk chocolate is very good too.

This week's recipe shows you how to make incredible hot chocolate at home, just perfect for cold winter nights. It is a recipe I cut out from Good Living a few years ago, created by Matthew Evans, and I think it is in his new book, The Real Food Companion.

(Greg, this one is for you!)

Have a happy week! Love from Jane xxx

Not-for-the-faint-hearted hot chocolate

Could serve either one or two - up to you!

What you need:

• 150ml milk
• 100ml cream
• 100g dark chocolate, broken into smallish bits (generally I prefer milk chocolate, but in this recipe dark is definitely preferable; milk is just too sweet)
• 1 tablespoon really good quality cocoa powder, sifted
• 1-2 tablespoons brandy, cognac or whisky

What you do:

1. Heat the milk and cream carefully in a small pan until warm.
2. Whisk in the chocolate and sifted cocoa.
3. Bring to just near the boil, remove from the stove and whisk in the alcohol.
4. Serve in front of a fire or the heater.

Red cabbage salad

Hello everyone, this week's recipe is something that I have copied from one of my favourite Italian restaurants. It's very simple and you can work out the quantities to suit your tastes.

Combine finely shredded red cabbage with raisins (which you may wish to plump up ahead of time in some verjuice), walnuts and chunks of gorgonzola dolce. Dress with your best extra virgin olive oil and balsamic. Toss together the ingredients, transfer to a deep bowl and serve with pizza, pasta, lamb, fish...whatever you are having for dinner.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx

Gnocchi with gorgonzola, spinach and walnuts

Hello everyone, I had such a piece of luck today. About six months ago I was out shopping with my friend Anne in Lane Cove and we spent some time in a small local art and craft gallery. A gorgeous brood of crackled pottery hens had just arrived and I was enormously tempted to buy them. I resisted at the time, although I really loved them, as there was something about the chickens that made me keep picking them up and stroking them. Today we went in there again and guess what, there were two chickens left, sitting on a shelf as if they were waiting for me! Of course I snapped them up straight away this time and they are now happily adorning my home.

This week's recipe is one of my favourite combinations of ingredients. It's a recipe from Good Living from a few years back, a good one for winter. It's definitely time for me to cook it again as I happen to have all of the necessary ingredients laid in, to be used in a couple of other dishes.

Have a lovely week! Love from Jane xx

Gnocchi with gorgonzola, spinach and walnuts

Serves four

What you need:

• 500g good quality gnocchi
• 100ml chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 100g gorgonzola, crumbled
• 75g baby spinach
• Freshly cracked black pepper
• 1/3 cup fresh walnuts, lightly toasted and chopped
• Freshly chopped flat leaf parsley, to serve (which is code for optional)

What you do:

1. Cook the gnocchi in a large saucepan of boiling water until tender. Drain well.
2. Place the chicken stock and butter in a large pan over a medium-high heat.
3. Stir the stock until the butter has melted, then simmer for 2-3 minutes or until reduced by half.
4. Add the gorgonzola and stir until the cheese has just melted.
5. Toss the gnocchi with the gorgonzola sauce and baby spinach, and season with pepper.
6. Serve sprinkled with the walnuts and parsley if using.

Herb baked fish on saffron and tomato potatoes

Hello everyone, well, my annual Sydney Film Festival immersion finished on Saturday with three films. The absolute highlight of the Festival for me was the first one I saw that day, a documentary called Bill Cunningham New York http://billcunninghamnewyork.com/, which was an absolutely charming and fascinating film about this man who cycles around the city, documenting New York fashion, both on the street and at charity galas. It was funny and moving and visually captivating. If you saw the Valentino film last year, or The September Issue, it's a film in the vein of those ones. If it gets a general release, it's another one I highly recommend. The snippets with some obscure diplomat who has a wardrobe full of custom made suits in the most bizarre designs and fabrics is one of the most hilarious things I have ever seen.

This week's recipe is another dish combining two of my favourite things - fish and potato. It is from the June 2010 edition of delicious magazine. In it they use blue-eye. I substituted salmon as I am not huge on blue-eye, but I'm sure you could use whatever fish takes your fancy. I'm not convinced that the inclusion of the tomatoes adds anything so if you can't be bothered with the peeling and seeding, you won't lose anything by leaving them out. The potatoes work really well done this way - they are luscious!

Have a great week.

Love from Jane xx

Herb baked fish on saffron and tomato potatoes

Serves four

What you need:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 250g vine ripened tomatoes, peeled, quartered and seeds removed
• 900g floury potatoes (such as coliban), peeled and cut into 1cm slices
• 300ml vegetable stock
• A good pinch of saffron threads
• 50g unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon chopped flat leaf parsley leaves
• 4 x 200g thick fish fillets

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 220C.
2. Heat the oil in a deep frypan over a medium heat.
3. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for one minute, then add tomato if using, and cook for two minutes until the tomato starts to soften.
4. Reduce the heat to low and add the potato slices, stock, saffron and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
5. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the potato is almost tender.
6. Transfer the potatoes and tomatoes to a baking dish, with the liquid, and season.
7. Stir together the melted butter and chopped herbs, then coat the fish with the herb butter.
8. Place the fish on top of the potatoes and pour over any remaining herb butter.
9. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the fish is cooked to your liking and the potatoes are tender.
10. Spoon the potatoes into warmed bowls and carefully arrange the fish on top and serve.

Apple crisp

Hello everyone, this week I launched into the Sydney Film Festival on Opening Night with a really, really beautiful film called South Solitary. It stars Miranda Otto and I highly recommend it when it has its general release. It was a great story, very funny at times, and the location, scenery, clothes and settings were gorgeous.

Thankfully it was such a great film as the opening night speeches were endless and boring. I really don't know why they had to be inflicted on those of us at the public event - they should have been confined to the opening night party afterwards. The Minister for the Arts and the Lord Mayor both gave blatantly political speeches, so I enjoyed the irony of the Minister who received a completely irrelevant and inappropriate special acknowledgement from the Minister for the Arts being sacked two days later!

Anyway, to calm me down, another fruit crumble, as this is just the right time of year for them. This one is a really simple one that comes from my beloved book Heart Of The Home.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx

Apple Crisp

Serves four to six

What you need:

• About 4 Granny Smith apples
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup oats
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 teapoon nutmeg
• 1/3 cup softened butter

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Butter a baking dish.
3. Peel and slice the apples.
4. Arrange the apple slices in the baking dish.
5. Mix together the remaining ingredients and sprinkle over the apples.
6. Bake for 30 minutes or until the apples are tender and the topping is golden brown.
7. Serve it hot or cold with thick cream and/or icecream.

Maple glazed roast potato and apple

Hello everyone, I've had a lovely week off work these last few days and seem to have spent a lot of time in the car driving all over Sydney running endless errands that have been piling up. One advantage is that on several occasions my trips took me close to specialty food shops that I have wanted to try but which aren't normally on my way anywhere. I was particularly fortunate to strike two specialty chocolate shops on one day. One was Adriano Zumbo's chocolate shop in Balmain, at which I had heard there was very good hot chocolate to be had. So I stopped there to sample it and it was really quite good. Not as good as Koko Black in Melbourne, but good enough to make me think about going back to try the various flavours of hot chocolate on offer. Then later that day I noticed a shop called "Christophe...Ses Chocolats", a chocolate maker, which is in a suburb called Russell Lea. On my way back I stopped in and bought a handful of chocolates and they were delicious! So nice and fresh and there were so many beautiful sounding flavours it was hard to choose! I think it will be a good thing to go back to work and remove myself from all these temptations.

This week's recipe is a great winter time dish and just luscious. The original recipe uses kumara, but being the potato lover that I am I substitute potato. You can use either or even both. It's from the Autumn/Winter edition of SOS and a very good dish to have in your cold weather repertoire.

Have a wonderful week. Love from Jane xxx

Maple glazed roast potato and apple

Serves six

What you need:

• 1.5kg potato and/or kumara, peeled and cut in chunks
• 2 large Granny Smith apples, cored and quartered
• 100g unsalted butter
• 180ml orange juice
• 125ml maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• Sea salt and cracked pepper

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 175C.
2. Place the potato and/or kumara and apple into an earthenware dish which will hold them snugly.
3. In a small saucepan over a medium heat, make a syrup with the butter, orange juice, maple syrup, ground cloves, salt and pepper.
4. Pour the syrup over the potato/kumara and apple.
5. Cover the dish with foil and roast in the centre of the oven for an hour, basting every 15 minutes.
6. Remove the foil and continue to cook for about a further 30 minutes, or until caramelised, basting as necessary.

Spicy potato tagine with olives

Hello everyone, I was prompted to share this particular recipe today following two different conversations this week. On Tuesday a friend was telling me about the tagine he'd made on the weekend and as soon as I arrived home I started searching through my cook books for some lovely tagine recipes I remembered cooking previously. I love a good tagine and they are so warming and comforting in winter. Then this morning I heard an interesting early morning discussion between Angela Catterns on local radio and a potato grower, who was setting up his stall at the Penrith markets. I think he reeled off the names of about ten different varieties of potatoes he had brought to market for sale and they all sounded very enticing.

Hence another recipe indulging my love of potatoes. This recipe is a different take on the usual tagine as there's no meat, so it works for vegetarians, as a side dish or just as a dish on its own for anyone who likes potatoes and olives! I found the recipe in Spectrum in the SMH and it says that it is adapted from Paula Wolfert's book, The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx

Spicy Potato Tagine With Olives

Serves 4-6 when served with couscous or rice

Peel and thickly slice 900g of yellow fleshed potatoes and place them in a bowl of cold water. In a heavy saucepan (or well seasoned tagine), heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil and fry a finely chopped onion for 3-4 minutes, stirring. Add a chopped tomato, 1/4 teaspoon each of paprika, ground ginger and cumin, and 2 crushed garlic cloves. Stir for two minutes.

Add the drained potatoes, a bay leaf and a quarter of a lemon (whole). Toss, then add a handful each of chopped parsley and coriander (or you could substitute mint if like me you don't like coriander) and a couple of good pinches of salt. Toss, then add 5 saffron threads and 1 1/2 cups of hot water.

Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 40 to 50 minutes. Transfer the potatoes to a warm serving dish and discard the lemon. Add 24 pitted green olives to the liquid remaining in the cooking pot and boil until the juices have reduced to a thick sauce. Pour over the potatoes and garnish with half a preserved lemon, chopped.

Bill's Creamy Semolina With Bay Leaf And Parmesan

Hello everyone, last night I was lucky enough to have dinner at Barrenjoey House at Palm Beach. I've been wanting to go there for a while and was really looking forward to it, although somewhat disappointed that Darren Simpson was such a recent departure from the head chef role. It turned out to be just the kind of place I like - large and airy, with a real "by the seaside" feel to it. The food was gorgeous. They had fish and chips on the menu and I just knew it was the sort of place that would do it well, which was the case, and then I followed up with chocolate souffle which was divine - all warm and melting chocolate. The only downside was that just before I left home to go there I realised that the shops wouldn't be open this morning, being ANZAC day, and I still had a few items to buy for the lunch I was serving today that I had planned to buy fresh! So at 11.00 last night I was wandering around a supermarket snatching up herbs and croissants.

Now today's recipe is another from the ever reliable Bill Granger. It dates from the time he used to do a breakfast segment on Angela Catterns' breakfast show on local radio (yep, 2005). I loved listening to that slot, and obviously the sound of this particular recipe appealed as I printed it from the ABC website and have made it a few times now. I really love semolina (very similar to polenta) and this is a good one for dinner on cooler nights.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx

Bill's Creamy Semolina With Bay And Parmesan

Serves about four

What you need:

• 1 litre of milk
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons of sea salt
• 170g semolina
• 60g freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Freshly grated nutmeg, if you have it

What you do:

1. Place milk, bay leaves and salt in a large saucepan and bring to the boil over a moderate heat.
2. Reduce the heat and slowly add the semolina in a thin, steady stream, stirring constantly with a whisk to prevent lumps forming.
3. When all the semolina has been added, adjust the heat so the mixture bubbles, and stir constantly until the semolina pulls away from the side of the pan, which will take about 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Stir through the cheese and a sprinkle of nutmeg if you have it.
5. Remove the bay leaves and serve.

Apple and almond crumble

Hello everyone, well, although summer is not entirely gone, it is definitely cooler in the mornings and evenings, and around this time of year my thoughts always turn to fruit crumbles. They are so delicious and warm! During the week I made the crumble recipe given by Jamie Oliver in this month's delicious magazine, an apple and plum one with lovely dried fruit and nuts through it. It tasted great but I must say involves a huge amount of peeling and slicing and cooking fruit. The crumble I'm giving you is another one from delicious magzine, but from quite a while ago, May 2002 in fact. It's a Delia Smith one and one of my reliables for when I have friends coming for a meal. Raw almonds, as used in this recipe, are really good right now.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx

PS How excited was I to see that there will be a session called "The Secrets of Bourke Street Bakery" at this year's Sydney Writers Festival www.swf.org.au on 15 May? I've already booked my tickets!

Apple and almond crumble

Serves 6-8

What you need:
· 700g Granny Smith apples
· 225g Golden Delicious apples
· 25g brown sugar
· 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
· ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

For the crumble:
· 110g whole almonds, skin on
· 75g chilled butter, cut into small pieces
· 175g self raising flour, sifted
· 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
· 110g demarara (or caster) sugar

· Pouring cream and/or custard and/or ice cream, to serve

What you do:
1. Preheat the oven to 200C.
2. Peel, core and slice the apples into thickish slices.
3. Toss the apple slices in a bowl with the sugar, cinnamon and ground cloves
4. Arrange in a baking dish and set aside.
5. To make the crumble, place butter, flour, cinnamon and sugar into a food processor and process until you have crumbs.
6. Add the almonds and process again until the almonds are finely chopped (it’s OK to have a few chunky bits).
7. Sprinkle the crumble mix over the apples, spreading it right to the edges of the dish. Using the flat of your hand, press it down quite firmly all over – the more tightly packed the crumble the crisper it will bake. Finish by lightly running a fork over the surface of the crumble.
8. Bake the crumble in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes.
9. Leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving warm with cream, custard and/or ice-cream.

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.