Shaved Summer Squash with Squash Blossoms
Grilled Halibut with Indian Spices & Yellow Tomatoes
Peaches in Wine
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Shaved Summer Squash with Squash Blossoms
I haven’t had much luck with my zucchini this year. With 2 different attempts at planting a heap of seeds I ended up with only one zucchini plant. I think there was a hungry possum who ate the rest of my seedlings. But stories of the ‘possum wars’ can wait for another day.
Rather than keep with yellow theme and try to find yellow squash at the market, I used our precious home grown zucchini and their blossoms.
We adored the simplicity and freshness of this starter. Finely shaved on my new mandoline and dressed with lemon juice and finished with shaved ricotta salata cheese this was a winner. I’d forgotten how much I love the salty simplicity of ricotta salata – a cheese I’d really gotten into during my pregnancy inspired exploration of the world of hard cheeses.
Grilled Halibut with Indian Spices & Yellow Tomatoes
I’m on a mission to get my fish-phobic Irishman to become more of a pescetarian but we have a long way to go on that journey. So when I mentioned that we were having fish for dinner I a Saturday night, there were the expected grumbles. But these didn’t last long once the fish was sampled.
We both loved this vibrant yellow spice rubbed fish. Teamed with yoghurt flavoured with garlic, ginger and cumin it was super tasty. And a good reminder that adding spice increases the chances of a certain Irishman loving a dish, including fish!
The simple sliced yellow tomatoes were the perfect accompaniment keeping everything light and fresh. And an idea I would never have though of myself.
With the spices, Tannis roasts his own then grinds them freshly, something I hardly ever bother with especially if the spices are going to be cooked in the dish at some point. But I did take the extra time in keeping with the spirit of using the Jules & David project as a chance to get out of some of my lazy kitchen habits. In this case I’m really don’t think the extra roasting was worth it. And in fact I think I cooked the fish on slightly too high a heat so the spices ended up a bit too well done in the finished dish. No a big problem but one of those things as a cook that you know it would have been better with less charring.
And as we don’t have halibut here in Oz, I used blue eyed cod which was a great chunky, white-fleshed substitute.
Peaches in Wine
After years of not really eating fruit, I’ve been really getting back into it of late. The main driver is getting more fresh food and vitamins into a certain toddler. But he’s not the only one who is loving peaches this summer!
My favourite way to eat peaches is to roast them with a little butter and vanilla to intensify their sweetness and soften the texture. So I was a little hesitant about this recipe which marinates raw sliced peaches in white wine with a little sugar.
While I loved the ease of making this dessert, we weren’t blown away. Which was more about the quality of my peaches I suspect than a fault with the recipe. I ended up getting out some double cream because cream makes everything better! And it did.
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For more see: The Jules & David Project