apple chocolate & hazelnut crumble

On the road this week and having some technical difficulties…. tune in wednesday for the recipe to this tasty winter dessert.

chocolate hazelnut birthday cake with frangelico poached prunes

There has to be something to be said for hosting a house party in your own place. Sure there is the downside of having the mess to clean when the guests do depart, but to my mind the positives far outweigh that little inconvenience. I mean there’s no need to worry about traffic or taxis or getting there on time. And with easy access to your own wardrobe you can adjust your outfit accordingly if you find that you’re too cool or too warm. Or for that matter if you happen to be like my flatmate Dr Kate and find yourself to be a little indecisive when it comes to choosing from your recent shoe purchases (8 pairs on a recent trip to San Francisco) you have the option of mixing things up with a regular shoe change.

There is also the fun of planning and transforming your home into a more open and party appropriate space. But for me the best thing about hosting a party is the buzz you get when your house is filled with that warm noise that only comes from having a lot of people laughing, chatting, drinking and generally misbehaving in a small space.

While there has been many a dinner party with the dining table maxed to 12 people in the last year since I moved into my current place. There’s been the turducken, a singles Valentine’s Day celebration and even a Bastille day cassoulet feast to name a few, but there hasn’t been a proper stand up party. The type where you clear the furniture out of the living room and get a couple of eskys filled with ice to serve as a bar.

So when the 30th Birthday of the gorgeous Dr Kate came on the horizon, we both agreed that it would be silly, if not downright negligent not to host a party. With Kate in charge of the invite list and ambience, I somewhat predictably volunteered to look after the food.

While I did initially think about baking the largest salmon I could get my hands on, the numbers quickly overtook that idea and I moved on to an old Christmas favourite for feeding a crowd: rosemary & marmalade glazed ham. With a whopping 8kg leg of prime pork, plenty of crusty bread, and a few old favourite salads I was sure we’d be able to feed as many people as we needed and still have enough for ham sandwiches during the week.

Dessert at a Birthday party was also a no-brainer: birthday cake and chocolate - a tried and true combo. I did toy with my current fav the chocolate mousse cake, I was a little worried about how it would perform on a larger scale so decided to try something a less fiddly. I’d forgotten how good and how simple Jamie Oliver’s two nuts chocolate torte was. Just whiz your nuts and chocolate in a food processor, cream butter and sugar, whip egg whites and then fold it all together and into the oven. It’s delicious on it’s own but even better when served with boozy prunes poached in frangelico and honey…Happy Birthday Dr Kate…. all good things.

dr kate’s 30th birthday bash
rosemary & marmalade glazed ham
smoky paprika potato salad
raw beet salad
rocket & radicchio salad
chocolate hazelnut birthday cake with frangelico poached prunes

chocolate hazelnut birthday cake with frangelico poached prunes
serves approx 24

Based on Jamie Oliver’s two nuts chocolate torte.

This is one of those great chocolate cake recipes that is really forgiving. The nuts keep it super  moist even if you do overcook it a little and they add a lovely fudgey texture. Jamie uses almonds and walnuts so feel free to experiment with your choice of nut.

If you don’t happen to be catering for a crowd feel free to halve the recipe and bake in a 24cm springform cake tin and adjust the cooking time to 40-50mins.

300g almonds
300g hazelnuts, roasted & peeled
600g dark chocolate (I use Lindt 70% cocoa solids)
500g butter
200g sugar
12 eggs, separated
pinch salt
poached prunes (recipe below) to serve
vanilla icecream, to serve

Preheat oven to 180C and grease and line a 25cm square cake tin. Whizz nuts in a food processor until finely ground, remembering that this is the main contributor to the final texture of your torte. Place ground nuts in a large mixing bowl and whizz chocolate until also finely ground and transfer to the bowl with the nuts. Beat butter and sugar in the food processor until pale and fluffy. Add egg yolks one at a time mixing well between each addition (I did this in 2 separate batches so as not to overload my little machine). Fold butter mixture through the nuts and chocolate.

Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until firm peaks form. Fold through chocolate mixture not being too pedantic. You want some air to lighten but not as much as you would for a soufflé. Transfer to the prepared tin and bake for 55mins to 1hr or until the center feels firm to the touch and a skewer inserted comes out mostly clean.

Allow to cool for 5mins in the tin before turning out onto a cake rack to cool completely. Decorate with poached prunes and serve with icecream and extra prunes and their cooking juice passed separately.

frangelico poached prunes
serves approx 24

These prunes are great on their own with icecream or marscapone or even as a more decadent breakfast with yoghurt and muesli.

1.5kg pitted prunes
1C (250mL) frangelico
1C (350g) honey
2C water
2 cinnamon sticks

Combine liquid ingredients in a large saucepan and add cinnamon and prunes. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10mins then allow to cool.

the pizza love salamino

As a girl who tends to move house on a regular basis and a girl who seems to attract kitchens in the more shoe box end of the size range, over the years I’ve developed a policy of avoiding kitchen appliances that only have a single use. OK so I do have a  kettle and a toaster and I am the proud and loving owner of an icecream machine and there is a shiny Italian pasta maker but pretty much everything else can be used for a number of purposes. When it comes to making kitchen acquisitions, I’m wary of anything that doesn’t multi task.

When my good mates Ades and Robbie both splashed out on a ‘Pizza Pronto’ each and started hosting pizza nights where they would team up with two ovens on the go, I was thrilled that they were getting into cooking. And while I have been lucky enough to have had some seriously good pizza at the hands of these two Italianophiles, I was always hesitant to follow suit and get myself an electric pizza oven.

For years I’ve just been contented to crank my conentional oven up to the highest setting and hope for the best. Avoiding tomato sauced based toppings did help to get a passable crust but if the truth were to be told there was a lot of room for improvement in my pizza making.

Then back in February when I was being wooed by a charming and pizza loving Irishman, he introduced me to one of his heros: Heston Blumenthal and the search for perfection. As we watched Heston try all manner of approaches for mastering the pizza, possibilities started to open up in my mind. Maybe there was a way of getting a lovely pizza crust without acquiring another gadget or building a wood fired oven in my non existent back yard?

In the end Heston’s solution was to use the grill for the top heat and a heavy cast iron pan for the bottom heat. Just heat your pan on the stove top until it is super hot then turn upside down under the grill so you have a nice hard hot surface to cook your base and there you have an oven that will cook a pizza in under two minutes. This got me thinking, why not take the grill and the heating idea one step further? So down to Bunnings I went in search of a terracotta paver and just $8 later I was lugging home my new pizza oven base.

With a bit of tweaking in the form of removing the shelves, my new terracotta friend fitted in the base of my grill like a glove. And while, sure, it takes a while for it to heat up, there’s nothing like having a few mates over for a leisurely Saturday dinner when you sit around chatting and sharing some vino and pizza one after the other….. all good things

pizza love dough
makes 4-5 pizzas

Strong four contains a higher protein content than standard plain flour which helps to give pizza and bread their lovely texture. Most supermarkets now stock bread flour but if you get stuck regular plain flour will be OK.

I like to make small pizzas no more than 25cm in diameter as I find them easier to handle and easier to cook through but by all means play around to find a size that works for you.

400g strong flour
100g semolina
300mL warm water
2 sachets dried yeast
2t sugar
1t sea salt
2T extra virgin olive oil

Place flour, semolina and salt in a large bowl. Combine sugar and water in a smaller bowl and sprinkle over yeast. Allow to stand for a few minutes then make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in liquid and the oil. Stir to create a sticky dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and sprinkle over more flour. Knead adding more flour as rquired until you have a smooth dough that is just past being sticky.

Divide dough into 4-5 smaller balls approx 150g each and place on an oiled oven tray leaving enough space in between. Cover and stand in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, about an hour. If your dough has doubled before you’re ready for it pop it in the fridge to slow the yeast down. You could also freeze the balls individually at this stage for later use.

On a worksurface dusted with semolina and a little flour flatten balls into rounds about 25cm in diameter. I like to make them nice and rustic thciker at the edges. Transfer to a pizza peel dusted with semolina and you’re ready to top.

pizza love tomato sauce

I pinched the idea for this sauce from Molly over at Orangette. By leaving the onion in large pieces you get the lovely compexity of its flavour while keeping the texture smooth. The butter in this sauce makes it lovely and rich and balances the acidity.

690g tomato passata
1 large brown onion, peeled & halved
75g unsalted butter

Place all ingredients in a a large saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook slowly over a low heat until sauce has thickened and reduced by about half which will take around an hour. Discard onion or reserve for another use. Sauce will keep in the refrigerator for about a week or you can freeze along with your dough so you’re always ready for pizza.

pizza love rosemary & potato
makes 1 pizza approx 25cm

This simple pizza ‘bianco’ has been one of my favourites for ages and is a great place to start as the absence of sauce makes it a lot easier to cook through.

1 x 25cm pizza love base (see above)
1 medium potato, desiree or Nicola scrubbed
2T extra virgin olive oil
1 large sprig rosemary, leaves picked
pinch chilli flakes, optional

Preheat your grill or oven to the highest setting (see note*). Finely slice potato using a mandolin or a sharp knife and a steady hand. In a small bowl combine potato, oil, rosemary and chilli if using and season well. Arrange potato slices over pizza overlapping only slightly. Season well with sea salt & pepper and bake until golden and the potato is cooked through.

the pizza love salamino
makes 1 pizza approx 25cm

This more unusual combo of fresh ricotta and salami was inspired by the good old boys down at Pizza Mario in Surry Hills. My Irish sources tell me that when U2 were last in town it was the personal favourite of none other than Bono  - not a bad claim for a simple combo.

Feel free to experiment with you choice of salami. I like to get the pizza cooking and then just add the salami for the last half so it starts to brown but doesn’t get to frazzled and crispy but it’s up to you.

1 x 25cm pizza love base (see above)
100g full fat ricotta
6 slices of hot sopressa
olive oil for drizzling.

Preheat your grill or oven to the highest setting (see note*). Scatter chunks of ricotta over the base and season well. Bake until half done (about a minute in my oven) then layer over sopressa. Continue to cook until the base is cooked through and the top starting to brown up. Serve hot drizzled with a little extra virgin olio.

pizza love margarita
makes 1 pizza approx 25cm

There’s something about a classic margarita that’s hard to resist. The simplicity of tomato cheese and basil really is hard to top. Just be sure to use the freshest buffalo mozzarella you can get your hands on, it really is worth the extra expense.

1 x 25cm pizza love base (see above)
2T pizza love tomato sauce
1/3 to ½ a 250g ball buffalo mozerella
small handful basil leaves

Preheat your grill or oven to the highest setting (see note*). Spread sauce over the base leaving a small boarder. Tear cheese into chunks and scatter over. Season with s&p. Bake until the cheese is sizzling and the base is cooked through. Scatter over basil and enjoy.

*Note: If your oven doesn’t have a grill you can always use the terracotta paver idea in your oven or you could spash out on a pizza stone. It’s all about being like Heston and experimenting to find the right solution for your circumstances.

bread & butter pudding 

Short on time this week folks, so just dropping in to quickly tell you about my latest favourite mid-week dessert. Yep good old bread & butter pudding. It has to be up there as one of the most comforting sounding foods. I mean there aren’t too many other desserts that have such a warm, cosy feel to them. A dessert that combines the classic partners in crime: bread and butter in the form of a custardy pudding… .what more can I say but all good things…..

little bread & butter puddings
serves 6

 

raw beet salad Well there’s no secret around here that I love beetroot. A quick scroll through the stonesoup recipe index bears testament to that: From roast beet soup with dukkah and yoghurt, to a beetroot puree to accompany a salt baked leg of lamb, to the ever versatile beetroot pesto which to my mind is a strong rival to the traditional basil based version, to a simpler spiced beet puree this time partner to crispy skinned duck, to a shaved beet and pear salad, to a warm salad of golden beets pancetta and pecans, to roast baby beets with yoghurt, I’m definitely a beetroot girl.

Last weekend I had made my raw beet salad as an accompaniment to a slow roasted leg of home grown lamb when I was at my Dad’s farm with some mates from Melbourne town. Something colourful to serve on the side of cut-it-with-a-spoon, tender tender lamb sitting atop a bed of sweet, nutty celeriac puree. And as I mentioned above, the salad was so good, it really stole the show.

This weekend my original thought was to serve my new favourite winter salad as an accompaniment to BBQ dry aged rib eye steak, but alas my butcher had already pre-sold all this dry aged meat, so I had to come up with plan B. Feeling like something classic, roast chook was the winner with a lovely bread sauce and not one but two types of crispy roast spuds (sebago and nicola if you’re wondering and the jury is still out on which was the best), kindly provided by my favourite Irishman (more to come on that). The salad again worked a treat bringing the twist of a fresh earthy crunch to our classic Sunday roast. So while the photos here haven’t done it justice, and I’m blaming the poor winter light, if you’re at all a fan of beetroot, I urge you to give this salad a go… all good things…

raw beet salad
serves 8
Inspired by Maggie Beer in Maggie’s Harvest.

This salad has a lovely earthy flavour and crunch texture and actually improves with a few hours standing, making it a great prepare ahead dish. It is a lovely accompaniment to slow roasted lamb or your classic roast chook or even to serve as a bed for crispy skinned pan fried salmon. Or if you wanted to turn it into the main event, you could toss in an extra handful of nuts and serve with goats cheese crumbled over.

zest ½ orange
2T lemon juice
2T red wine vinegar
1t wholegrain mustard
8T extra virgin olive oil
1 bunch medium beets (3-4)
½ bunch flat leaf parsley, leaves picked
large handful toasted walnuts, chopped

In a large bowl combine zest, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, and oil and season well. Scrub beets and remove tops. Peel beets and cut in half. Grate finely using the attachment on a food processor. Toss grated beets in about half of the dressing then taste and add extra dressing as you think is required. Allow to stand for at least 15mins or up to 4 hours.

When ready to serve, toss through parsley and scatter over walnuts.

fig & walnut pavlova with yoghurt sour cream 

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my brother and his life long obsession with that classic dessert lemon meringue pie and well it got me reminiscing about all the great desserts from my younger years: cheesecake, rice pudding, baked custard, apple crunch (Mum’s version of your classic crumble), fruit salad, baked apples stuffed with dried fruit, busy day pudding, strawberries with marsala and cream, and the dangerously boozy chocolate log. All comforting sweet treats in their own right, but none that got me anywhere near as excited as that great New Zealand / Australian creation: the pavlova.

Call it alchemy, I really can’t put my finger on it but there must be some sort of magic at work when it comes to turning beaten egg whites and sugar into such a deliciously light crunchy-on-the-outside yet gooey-on-the-inside cloud of a dessert. A dessert that is the perfect base for a generous topping of marscarpone and your favourite fruit of the moment, say a mixture of berries. A dessert that is just crying out to be named after a ballerina.

While there are very few desserts that can top a pavlova as the perfect end to a summer BBQ with the family, as the days shorten and the winter months roll in, I find myself thinking less and less about meringue. But this weekend when I was looking for something to complement a hearty Saturday night dinner at the farm of pot roasted leg of lamb with celeriac puree, there was something about Maggie Beer’s creation of meringue with figs and walnuts that just struck the right chord.

Now Maggie actually calls hers a tart, I guess since it’s cooked in a tin but I think pavlova is closer to the mark. The light airness of meringue is still there but where a classic pav offers up a contrast of textures from the middle to the shell, this new take has textural contrast in every mouthful. Think crunchy nuts and chewy figs that lend a slight Christmassy feel. Then team it with the rich tartness of sourcream lightened and sharpened with yoghurt and you have yourself the perfect winter pav….all good things.

fig & walnut pavlova with yoghurt sour cream
serves 8-10
Adapted from the ever smiling Maggie Beer in her latest offering Maggie’s Harvest.

With all the fruit and nuts this far far richer than your traditional pavlova but equally effortless to prepare and just as great as a do ahead dessert when you have a crowd to feed.

Feel free to play around with your fruit and nut combinations, while I’m yet to try it out am thinking that a prune and almond version would be a winner or if you were after more of a middle eastern vibe maybe apricot and pistachio. No limits really.

If fruit and nuts aren’t really your thing, think about adding a twist to your favourite pav recipe by keeping the brown sugar idea and serving with the sour cream yoghurt mixture and a hot chocolate sauce.

6 egg whites
pinch salt
250g soft dark brown sugar
375g dried figs
200g walnuts, toasted & roughly chopped
250mL (1C) sour cream
125mL (1/2C) natural yoghurt

Preheat oven to 180C and grease and line a 24cm springform pan. Beat egg whites with salt until firm peaks form then gradually rain in brown sugar and beat until sugar is dissolved and mixture is glossy. Place figs in a heatproof bowl and pour over boiling water. Allow to stand for a minute then drain and roughly chop, discarding stalks.

Fold nuts and fruit through the meringue mixture and gently spoon into prepared tin and smooth top. Bake 45 - 55 mins or until top is well browned and the pav feels firm. It won’t feel as crunchy as a regular pavlova or meringue. Allow to cool.

Whisk together yoghurt and sour cream and serve slices of pav with cream mixture passed separately.

_______________________
ps. If you are doubly lucky and happen to have some fig & walnut pav leftover as well as someone willing to make Sunday breakfast, am highly recommending milky porridge made the old school way on the stove top with a sliced banana or two stirred in for the last few moments of cooking. Serve piping hot topped with some crumbled leftover fig & walnut pavlova and a dollup of yoghurt, or better yet some of the sourcream mix.

Enough to gladden your heart that Winter is finally here.

 

roast mushroom ragu with soft polenta & marscarpone

There are times when I am just so glad I love to cook. Times when it gives me an opportunity to bring people together, times when it relaxes me, times when it allows me to indulge my creative side, times when it comforts me, times when it allows me to nurture and spoil my loved ones and times it helps get me out of a scrape.

A couple of months ago on a perfect Sydney Autumn afternoon I found myself dashing out the door of my apartment, all dolled up in my sparkly-est shortest dress running late for the wedding of my dear friends Sam & Felicity. As I closed the door I had that dreaded ‘I’ve forgotten something’ feeling. And after the usual quick mental check of wallet, keys, phone it dawned on me: the wedding gift. But alas said gift was decidedly unwrapped and cardless so I made a quick mental note to wing it.

After a touching & personal ceremony at Wylies Baths in Coogee with the beach and wedding cake island as a backdrop, we had a lovely evening of catching up with old mates. Now a very high proportion of my university mates are now in the married-with-children phase of life so it’s not often that we get a night out on the town with both mums and dads with their dancing shoes on, which makes nights like that all the more special.

So as we chatted and danced to dodgy 90s numbers, I realized that we needed to get together again a bit more frequently. And what better than a post honeymoon celebration dinner for the newly weds? A chance for me to deliver my wedding gift. and an excuse for a bit of baby sitter action and a good old get together. Throw in the Birthday of the lovely Fel, one of my favourite vegetarians and choc-a-holics and you’ve got a damn fine night on your hands…..all good things…

a vegetarian feast for fel & sam the newlyweds
antipasto:
italian salami* with shaved pear and parmesan
baked ricotta with grapes and thyme
olive bread
roast mushroom ragu with soft polenta & marscarpone
wilted Italian greens
chocolate mousse cake** with pomegranate & vanilla icecream

*a concession to the carnivores at the table.
** for the chocolate mousse cake follow the recipe HERE and serve with the seeds of one pomegranate tossed in 2T pomegranate molasses. I know Pomegranate & chocolate?? But trust me, match made in heaven.

roast mushroom ragu with soft polenta & marscarpone
serves 10-12

4kg mixed mushrooms (I used portabello, swiss brown, shiitake, shemeji, button and field)
150g butter
3T extra virgin olive oil
2 large brown onions, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled & finely sliced
½ bunch thyme
2C chicken or vegetable stock
40g dried porcini mushrooms
1C red wine
2T tomato paste
4T red wine vinegar or to taste
soft polenta see recipe HERE (you’ll need to increase the batch size) to serve
100g parmesan, grated
extra parmesan, to serve
250g marscarpone, to serve

Preheat oven to 200C. Wipe mushies clean and slice into chunks about 5mm thick. Place in 2 baking trays and dot with butter. Bake for 40mins to 1 hour or until mushrooms are cooked through.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large saucepan or flame proof casserole dish and cook onions over a low to medium heat, stirring occasionally until soft and slightly golden. Add garlic and thyme and cook for another few minutes. While the onions are cooking bring stock to the boil in a small saucepan and add porcini. Allow to stand and infuse.

When the onions are cooked add wine, tomato paste, soaked porcini and stock and bring to a simmer. When mushies are cooked add to the onion mixture along with any mushroom juices. Simmer stirring occasionally for about an hour or until sauce has reduced. Season with salt, pepper and vinegar.

Stir grated parmesan in with polenta and divide polenta between warmed pasta bowls. Top with mushroom ragu and a dollup of marscarpone and serve with extra parmesan passed separately.

wilted Italian greens
serves 10

I had planned on serving cavalo nero, the black tuscan cabbage with the polents, but unfortunately they were all out when I was at the greengrocers so I decided to brave trying a new type of green. Not sure what they were called exactly but they worked a treat and had a lovely fresh sharp slightly mustardy flavour. 

1 very large bunch miscellaneous greens
large knob butter
2 cloves garlic, peeled & finely sliced
juice ½ lemon

Wash greens thoroughly. Shake dry. Cut stems into 2cm thick slices and when you get to the leaves leave them a bit more chunky. Preheat a large saucepan then add butter and allow to melt over a high heat. Add garlic and thick stems and stir fry for 5mins or until the stems are starting to soften. Add leaves and allow to cook, stirring frequently until leaves are just wilted. Season with s&p.

Transfer to a serving plate and squeeze over lemon juice.
 

ps. If you’re interested in reading about the engagement celebration dinner I cooked for Fel & Sam click HERE.

shaved cabbage salad with parmigiano reggiano & aged balsamic

If it is true that imitation is the highest form of flattery, then chef Andy Bunn of Café Sopra at Fratelli Fresh in the inner city Sydney suburb of Waterloo should consider himself well and truly flattered. You see it was Andy, or more specifically his to-die-for shaved cabbage salad that kick started my current cabbage obsession.

Now I know what you’re thinking. Cabbage?? An obsession?? And I know that they aren’t two words that you often see together in a sentence, let alone next to one another. But just humour me for a minute and put aside your thoughts of sulphurous overcooked boiled mush, or stinky fermented sauerkraut. You see I’m talking fresh as fresh crunchy veg, delicately shaved to give a lovely light texture that forms the perfect carrier of your dressing of choice: an entirely different beast indeed.

I still remember my first encounter with Andy’s salad with vivid clarity. I was at Sopra for lunch with a dear friend and felt like something light but flavoursome. The salads there are always good so I limited my search to the salad section of the menu. To be honest I think I ordered the shaved cabbage with reggiano & aged balsamic more out of a perverse curiosity than desire.

So you can imagine my pleasant surprise when I was presented with a little mound of shoestring cabbage ribbons supplemented by the superbly intense cheese, so finely grated that it was almost invisible, and highlighted with a crowning drizzle of the slightly sweet but punchy ancient balsamic. Perfect lunchtime fare.

Since then, whenever I see cabbage salad on a menu, I just have to order it. There’s been the gorgeous shaved red cabbage salad with gorgonzola, walnuts and raisins at my current fav Italian joint, a tavola. And then there was the white cabbage and mint salad with shaved grana padano and a fresh zesty lemon dressing at Love Supreme. On the home front I’ve dabbled with Karen Martini’s version with fresh mint and caraway seeds as a side to rich roast pork belly and while each of these salads have had their charms, they don’t have a patch on the original…..all good things..

shaved cabbage salad with parmigiano reggiano & aged balsamic
serves 4.

Inspired by Andy Bunn of Café Sopra.

As with anything as simple as this dish, you really are relying on the quality of your ingredients to shine through so it’s worth while splashing out on the best quality cheese and aged balsamic vinegar you can afford.

And of course a wilted old cabbage isn’t going to do you any favours. Andy uses baby Savoy cabbage which is why he gets such a delicate fine texture to his salad. While I am on the lookout for a baby Savoy, I found that a regular white cabbage works pretty well.

The only other thing to keep in mind is your choice of olio. I prefer to go for a mid range oil with a good depth of flavour but not so super intense in it’s grassiness that it clashes with the cheese.

The only other secret to this salad is to make sure your knife is sharp and your hand steady. We want the finest shavings here not chunky ribbons. I tend to be pretty ruthless at discarding any chunky bits that are going to mess with my salad texture but it’s up to you.

½ white or Savoy cabbage
¼ - 1/3 C extra virgin olive oil
125g finely grated parmigiano reggiano
aged balsamic vinegar (preferably >8 years old)

Discard outer leaves of your cabbage and then get to work shaving as finely as you can with a sharp knife, discarding any thick ribs as you go. Place in a large bowl, drizzle over 1/4 C oil and toss. If the salad seems a little dry, toss through some more oil. Allow to stand for at least 15mins or up to a couple of hours.

Toss though cheese and season with s&p. Arrange on a serving platter or salad bowl and drizzle over a sparing amount of balsamic. Great as a side dish to pasta especially if it happens to be served alongside fresh tagliatelle al ragu cooked by a cute Irishman.

cafe sopra
7 danks st
waterloo
+61 2 9699 3174

a tavola
348 Victoria St
Darlinghurst, NSW
Australia
+61 2 9331 7871

love surpeme pizza
180b Oxford St
Paddington, NSW
Australia
+61 2 9331 1779

bbq tuna steaks with pretty pomegranate & coriander

They say that often when one door closes, another opens and I’m thankful that in my experience this does seem to be the case. You see in the weeks leading up to Mother’s Day last Sunday, I’ve found my thoughts turning to my own beautiful mother who passed away back in August last year. There have been some sad moments but mostly I’ve just been thinking about how much I miss her and wish she was still here.

So rather than us all feeling sad and sorry on the day set aside for spoiling mothers with flowers and breakfast in bed, my sister had the great idea for us all to get together and have a little celebration lunch for our mum. With two of my siblings also based in Sydney, we managed to persuade the two country mice to travel to the big smoke for lunch on arguably the best balcony in Sydney.

As it turned out, there was no shortage of mothers at our little luncheon. A few weeks before I had a call from my newly-wed sister Sas who out-of-the-blue asked if it would be OK if we kept shellfish off the menu. Not one to let such things go unnoticed, I queried her as to whether we should also give the soft cheese a miss, and that possibly she mightn’t be up for any Champagne??

‘Gee Sas, are you trying to tell me that I’m going to be an Aunty….YAY!’

But that wasn’t all on the new family members front. My youngest sister, Nao had also recently enjoyed an addition to her family in the form of a cute-as-a-button beagle puppy, complete with massive ears and an inquiring nose. Talk about puppy love.

So what to serve for a lunch to celebrate the mothers in our midst, both old and new? A few of Mum’s favourite things: Champagne and fish of course. BBQ yellowfin tuna steaks with a pretty crowning of pomegranate seeds and coriander leaves served with a nutty, zesty wintery take on tabouli with roasted cauliflower, burghul and shaved fennel …all good things.

a luncheon for mothers old & new
dukkah with olive oil & sourdough
bbq tuna steaks with pretty pomegranate & coriander
winter tabouli
mum’s passionfruit slice, made by Sas.

bbq tuna steaks with pretty pomegranate & coriander
serves 8
Adapted from Casa Moro the Second Cookbook by those clever Londoners Sam & Sam Clark.

I’ve included the drizzle of pomegranate molasses here because that’s what I had in the photo but to be honest, if you are serving with the winter tabouli there’s enough sweet pomegranate punch from the marinade and tabouli to complement the fish.

This also works well with chicken if you happen to be catering for a newly acquired
non-pescatarian brother-in-law.

8 tuna steaks, approx 150g each
for the marinade:
1 clove garlic, peeled & finely chopped
6T pomegranate molasses
1t ground cinnamon
2T extra virgin olive oil
to serve:

8t pomegranate molasses
8t best quality extra virgin olive oil
handful fresh coriander, leaves picked.
pretty seeds of 1 small pomegranate

Combine marinade ingredients and season. Add fish and allow to stand for 10mins to an hour. Preheat bbq on high. Sear tuna for a few minutes each side or until cooked to your liking. I like to leave mine pink in the middle, but if you’re catering for a pregnant lady probably best to cook hers through.

To serve, place a steak each on warmed dinner plates and drizzle each with a teaspoonful of oil and pomegranate molasses. Scatter over seeds and coriander leaves.

winter tabouli
serves 8

Adapted from Casa Moro the Second Cookbook by Sam & Sam Clark.

I just love the flavours and textures in this salad. The shaved fennel adds lots of lightness and crunch so if you were in the mood for something a little more substantial, you could leave it out. Great with grilled fish or chicken or even lamb and I wouldn’t mind trying it with some gently pan fried haloumi.

1 small cauliflower
2T olive oil
1t baharat (see here for recipe)
1 bunch mint, leaves picked & torn if large
1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley, leaves picked
200g burghul, soaked in warm water for 10mins then drained
1 medium bulb fennel, shaved lengthwise with a mandoline
2 handfuls almonds, roasted & chopped
seeds 1 small pomegranate
for the dressing:
½ clove garlic, peeled & finely chopped
4T pomegranate molasses
2T water
8T extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 200C. Cut cauliflower into bight sized florettes. Place on a baking tray, drizzle with oil and sprinkle over baharat and salt & pepper. Roast for 30-40mins, stirring occasional until cauliflower is golden and cooked though.

Combine remaining salad ingredients in a large bowl except almonds and seeds. Toss together dressing ingredients in a separate bowl or cup. Season the dressing and dress your salad. Serve with seeds and almonds sprinkled over.

My glamorous mum (centre) having fun in Acapulco

mum’s legendary lemon meringue pie
 

Mention that classic dessert, Lemon Meringue Pie and my thoughts turn instantly to my gorgeous not-so-little brother. For as long as I can remember Dom has been fanatical about his pie, think Homer Simpson and his devotion to beer or doughnuts and you’re not even in the same ballpark as to how much Dom loves LMP.

From when he was little, whenever Mum would give Dom the option of what to have for dessert there was only one answer. I can’t remember him ever having a normal Birthday cake, it was always LMP.  One year, I think it was around his 21st, when Mum asked Dom what he would like as a birthday present he somehow convinced her to make him one pie a day for 21 days. So she did and not even that sort of over exposure was enough to dampen his love for the pie.

It’s a bit of family legend that Dom was so good at asking for his favourite dessert that he was able to get it out in just one syllable ‘lemeringuepie’. No mean feat for a small boy, try it yourself.

A few weeks ago when I was at the farm we had a bit of a belated Birthday dinner for my favourite (and only) brother and there was no question when it came to the dessert decision. It was my second attempt a recreating my Mum’s legendary LMP, using the recipe she had lovingly hand written into her little cook book. And while it came nowhere near close to looking like my Mum’s creation, I’m pretty sure for Dom it was better than no pie at all. Think rich lemony goodness in the filling balanced by light-as-air-sweet sweet meringue and you’re there….all good things

mum’s legendary lemon meringue pie
serves 1 if you’re my brother or approx 6 normal people

I’ve copied this across from my mum’s recipe book and this is exactly as she had it written down. Apologies if it seems a little confusing but it felt wrong trying to re-organise it.

I was always impressed that my mum went to the effort of making her own pastry, and one of my strongest memories is of her is how clever I though she was balancing the pie on hone hand while trimming the pastry edges with a knife. The sound of the knife rubbing down the ceramic pie edges still reminds me of her. 

 It seems a little sacrilegious to admit it, but I have always thought of the pastry as the weak link in her pie.  If you’re looking for the crunch of a more of a classic short crust try my favourite sweet pastry recipe HERE. And bake blind for abour half an hour before filling.

Sift together 1C plain flour, pinch salt.
Rub in 2oz (60g) butter until like fine breadcrumbs. Add 2T water and mix well. Roll dough to fit and 8” pie plate.
Prick base lightly with a fork.
Bake in a moderate oven for 15mins only, cool.
Combine:
1 400g can Nestles condensed milk
1/2C lemon juice
grated rind of 1 lemon
3 egg yolks
Place in shell
Beat egg whites until stiff. Gradually add in 1/4C castor sugar. Beat until dissolved.
Place meringue on top of filling.
Bake in moderate oven 15 minutes, or until golden.

lemon meringue pie in mum’s pie dish… it used to be all bright orange