Smokin’ Risotto

Here is the recipe for the risotto I mentioned, that I made the IKEA bread to go with. It is adapted from a recipe in Woman’s Day magazine, that I came across whilst flicking through mags at the hairdresser recently. I still had the Huon hot smoked salmon from Tasmania that I won on Valentine’s Day, so the recipe caught my eye.

If you haven’t got access to hot smoked salmon, just poach/steam some fresh salmon fillets in the microwave instead, and flake them into the rice mixture.

This risotto is amazing! I mean it. Complete and utter melt-in-your-mouth perfection that just comes together in a moment of pure food delight.

Salmon & Pea Risotto

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 brown onion, finely chopped

2 small red chillies, finely chopped

2 cups arborio rice

½ cup white wine

5 cups chicken stock

¾ cup frozen peas, thawed

¾ cup fresh sugar snap peas, trimmed

3 tbsp fresh tarragon leaves, chopped

1 lemon – zest and juice of

250 gms hot smoked salmon fillet (or equivalent cooked fresh salmon fillet, skinless)

cracked pepper, to taste

optional – shaved fresh parmesan cheese

In a large, deep pan (a wok is good), heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and chillies and saute, stirring, for 2 minutes until softened.

Add rice, stirring to coat, and saute for 1 minute.

Add the wine and then the chicken stock, gradually, stirring constantly as the liquid absorbs into the rice. When all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked (15-20 minutes), add remaining ingredients and fold through until gently heated.

Top with a sprinkling of shaved parmesan if desired, and serve with fresh bread.

Serves 4-6 depending on what you have with it – it is quite filling.

Happy Fooding!

Anyone For Bröd?

I went to IKEA last week. This was a momentous occasion for me, because despite 4.5 years living here in Perth, and driving it past it frequently, this was my Very First Visit at the only WA IKEA store. I have been to IKEA in Victoria and South Australia, but many years ago.

Although I didn’t actually buy any furnishings, we did take a lot of photos with our phones, of things we want to go back and get when we move in to the new apartment shortly. It was exciting! Also very, very crowded – 5 minutes before opening time when we arrived, there were about 200 people waiting outside for the doors to open. Lots of people with kids too. Ugh. Once the place opened, however the crowds thinned out pretty quickly (yay for childminding and a ball pit!), and moving through the store was actually fairly painless.

I bought a silicone pot stand thing, a jar of herring roe (mmmmmmm) and at the last minute picked up a carton of Brödmix Flerkorn to try. I am a sucker for all things bread-related, especially dense, dark, chewy, thick, grainy chunks of bread, that have soooo much more flavour than dreary white bread.

I can’t believe how simple this bread was to make! It’s like pancake mix – just add water, shake it all up, pour, let it rise and then pop it into the oven. I really expected it to be a bit of a flop, although online searching turned up a LOT of big fans of this bread mix, all over the world.

The loaf came out quite heavy, and the edges were very crunchy – I thought it might taste very dry – possibly I left it in the oven for 5 minutes too long I think – a lesson for next time but of course it depends on the oven, and shortly I will be trying to get used to my lovely new one 🙂 Inside, however it was perfect – nutty, moist and VERY moreish!  It was perfectly suited as an accompaniment to risotto, made with the Huon hot smoked salmon that I won on Valentine’s Day 🙂

I have to go back to IKEA soon (yes, I HAVE to, right???) to buy a couple of the things that we earmarked the other day……I shall definitely be going back to the Swedish food market section, for more delicious Brödmix.

Happy Fooding!

Damper / Soda Bread

I felt like soda bread one day this week, and decided to see if the recipe I’ve had for years worked in the bread machine, because things are so easy that way. It did work, really well, and made great open sandwiches with olive/feta dip, jarslberg cheese, roast beef & alfalfa sprouts on top.

For something different I added a small can of corn kernels and some caraway seeds – you can add lots of things to bread recipes to jazz them up a bit – sun-dried tomatoes, chopped olives, walnuts, poppy seeds, herbs etc.

Soda Bread

3 cups plain flour

1 1/2 tsp bi-carbonate of soda

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp caraway seeds (optional)

125 gm can corn kernels, drained (optional)

1 1/2 cups buttermilk or low-fat Greek yoghurt

Regular Method:

Mix dry ingredients, seeds & corn (if using) together with a whisk.  Make well in the centre and add 1 cup of buttermilk/yoghurt.  Mix with a fork then gradually add more of the remaining buttermilk/yoghurt until a soft dough is formed.

Knead dough lightly on floured surface for 1 minute. Form into an oval shape and place in a greased/lined loaf tin or on a greased/lined baking tray.

Bake at 190C (170C fan forced) for 45 minutes.

Bread Machine Method:

Place all ingredients in machine. Cook on Damper setting. After the first five minutes, scrape down the sides of the mixture with a spatula to make sure it all gets mixed in properly.

Yummy Lunch!

As with all quick breads, this is best eaten on the day of baking. Use leftovers for great toast!

Happy Fooding!

Zucchini Bread (Cake?)

It’s interesting that carrot cake is always cake, but banana cake and zucchini cake are often called breads. The ingredients for all of these are very similar, but we never say carrot bread (or beetroot bread!) do we! I think they’re all really cake, because bread in my view is generally a savoury thing. But who am I to argue with the masses…….

Anyway I came across this great looking zucchini “bread” recipe a couple of weeks ago via a Food.com e-newsletter, and decided to make it for morning tea at work, last week. As I had successfully made my usual carrot cake in the bread machine the week before, I looked at the zucchini bread ingredients and thought hmmmmm they’re very similar in quantity etc. so I’ll do this one in the bread machine too.

It worked, but it was not as moist as the carrot cake, so I think this one would be better eaten straight after cooking (I made it the night before taking it to work). Also it didn’t rise quite as much and I think would have been better on the medium crust setting, which would have baked it about 8 minutes longer. It was good enough to be a “keeper” though, so I will change the baking time slightly next time.

Below is my bread machine version for 1 cake – if you want to do it the original, oven way, here is the website I got it from – which is in fact quantities for 2 loaves.

The Ultimate Zucchini Bread (CAKE!!)

In order, place the following ingredients in bread machine bowl:

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

1 1/4 cups grated zucchini

1 tbsp orange zest, grated

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1 3/4 cups plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp bi-carb soda

1/2 tsp salt

Bake on bread machine’s Cake setting, with Medium crust and 750gm loaf settings.

If you’re feeling like a more savoury bread, try this lemon & dill bread, also in the bread machine. I made this again recently and we had it at work with apricot & almond cream cheese on top – a great combination with the bread flavours.

Happy Fooding!

Restaurant Review: Gurkhas Nepalese

11 of us went to the relatively new Gurkhas Nepalese Restaurant in Highgate for dinner last weekend, following pre-drinks at the Brisbane Hotel, which is only a stone’s throw away.

Four of us chose to have the $38.50 banquet so that we could try a few different dishes. The starter was delicious mo-mos (steamed dumplings), with a meat filling and a bit of spice, and little paneer-filled spring roll type things that were divine.

Service was good, our main waiter was super friendly and very happy to change the listed banquet dish of Butter Chicken to Chicken Tikka Masala instead. We also had goat, cooked on the bone – the meat was lovely and tender, but I’m not so fussed about having to deal with big chunks of bone in my meal when I’m out – and very nice Palak Paneer, one of my favourite Indian dishes.

The Tarka Dal was beautiful, quite an unusual blend of spices and unlike any dal I’ve had before – quite runny in texture, but it tasted really, really good. We had plain and saffron rice, and plain and garlic naan bread.

Serving sizes were not overly big – we ate the lot and I was full, but only just.

We could choose whichever dessert from the menu that we wanted (I didn’t have one, as Indian desserts I do not find appealing at all, but the rice pudding and ice cream was enjoyed by the others).

I like my food very hot and spicy, and these dishes were not particularly so – I guess a banquet is designed to suit a blander palate than mine – but it was very happily enjoyed by the other three, who were not very familiar with Indian style foods. Next time I would order my own individual dishes so that I could ask for things to be made extra hot!

Currently Gurkhas is BYO only, with a corkage charge of $2.50 for each wine-drinking guest (this is VERY cheap for Perth), and we were informed that they have applied for a full liquor licence, but the process takes a long time. There is no bottle shop close by, so being licenced will be a plus for those like me who always forget to take a bottle and then have to rush off to the nearest bottle-o to grab something!

Overall a good value eating place, close to the city, relaxed atmosphere with friendly staff – not stupendously fantastic, but then again not horribly overpriced and pretentious like some Perth restaurants. Gurkhas is certainly worth going back to.

Happy Fooding!

Veg, Veg & More Veg

I have been lucky enough to be given two separate lots of freshly picked vegetables in the last 10 days – from a friend who works for a distribution centre that is the go-between for markets gardens and supermarkets. Wow, it has been great. Above is the first lot I was given – the second lot was slightly different and included Brussells sprouts, sugar snap peas, carrots, apples, pears and avocadoes as well as more of the above!

Of course I’ve made the most of this bounty, looking for new and old veg-related recipes to use everything up. I made a batch of chargrilled capsicum, which has turned out better than usual simply because the capsicums are so uber-fresh and sweet.

I made a big pot of vegie soup, and one night I threw a heap of vegies on to the bbq, basting them with soy sauce and grilling to perfection. OMG the mushrooms cooked like this tasted divine!

I subscribe to an ezine called Weekend Notes, which sends me a daily roundup of what’s happening in and around Perth, as well as fun activities for kids, easy recipes, restaurant/cafe reviews etc. For a morning tea at work last Friday I made Zucchini Hummus, from Weekend Notes, which came out really well, although mine actually looks a slightly different colour and not as smoothly processed, as the original. A great alternative to a chickpea hummus, and low fat as no oil added apart from the natural oil in the tahini. Mmmmm I love tahini! I made a loaf of fresh bread in the bread machine (thanks machine, for waking me at 4.15am with your loud whirring……) and cut this into squares to serve the hummus with, instead of the usual crackers.

I still have plenty of vegies left, so am thinking something quiche-related and something curry-related might be happening in my kitchen later this week. And I need to find something to make with the apples and pears.

Happy Vegetable Fooding!

Dill & Lemon Loaf

Straight out of the machine

Small but delicious, this bread machine recipe is from a new cookbook that crossed my path at work recently, Brilliant Breadmaking in Your Bread Machine, by Catherine Atkinson. The quantities are for a smaller loaf than I usually make, in fact it was less than half the size, but the flavours were really good – the lemon & dill was definitely present, but not overpowering – and the texture was light and fluffy.

I made sandwiches for lunch with some of the slices, but this would make an idea nibbles platter – cut the slices in half so that they are small squares, and top with cream cheese, smoked salmon, capers and a garnish of fresh dill.

To make, just place the ingredients in the bread machine in the following order:

325 mls water

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup wholemeal flour

1 cup white bread flour (or plain flour if you can’t get bread flour – if the flour is good quality it shouldn’t make a difference)

3 tbsp fresh dill, chopped finely

grated zest of 1 large lemon

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 1/4 tsp dried yeast

cracked pepper, to taste

Cook on a basic white loaf setting.

Slices of lemon fluffiness

If you don’t have a bread machine, you should invest in one as they’re awesome!!

Happy Fooding!

Party Nibbles 1

I made a batch of mountain bread rollups on Christmas Day – these little savoury bites always go down well and you can put whatever fillings in you like. In this case I made some with smoked salmon, some with asparagus, and some with both.

These are quite suitable for making the day before and then just slicing up when you are ready to serve – always a plus at party time.

There aren’t really proper quantities here – just make as many as you like. I usually keep going ’til I’ve run out of cream cheese.

Rollups

lavash/mountain bread (you could also use thin tortillas, but you get a fair bit of wastage by the time you trim them into a rectangle/square shape)

cream cheese (I use low-fat)

smoked salmon

fresh asparagus spears (I prefer to use them raw, for a bit of crunch, but if you prefer you can blanch them in the microwave for 1 minute per bunch)

cracked pepper, to taste

Spread each sheet of bread thickly with cream cheese. Lay fillings on the lower half, topped with cracked pepper and then carefully roll the bread up as tightly as you can.

Wrap the “log” in cling wrap and refrigerate for a few hours (or overnight). Thinly slice and arrange on a plate to serve.

Other filling ideas: grated carrot, thin slices of ham or turkey, shredded lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, canned tuna, cucumber (skip things like avocado, tomato etc as they will just go soggy or discoloured by the time you slice them up).

Happy Summer Fooding!

Eggs In a Basket!

Last week I shared with you my (well, not mine, but my friend’s) Italian Bread Baskets, and mentioned that the options for other fillings were endless. Well, I’ve had a go at serving poached eggs in them (using Poachies, which I am totally hooked on) – and it worked really well!

One with smoked salmon (that one’s mine of course) and one topped with red casicum strips – what a great serving idea, and it only took a few minutes to trim/flatten/bake the bread pieces. Don’t they look great!

Happy Fooding!

Italian Bread Baskets

How about this for a delightfully simply but oh so gourmet and tasty, picnic idea……

Flatten 8 pieces of fresh white sandwich bread with a rolling pin, after first cutting off the crusts. Brush lightly with lemon-infused extra-virgin olive oil (or use plain, or another flavour like chilli or basil) and gently press into a muffin tin (oil side up).

Bake at 180C for about 5 minutes or until a bit toasted and brown around the edges (be careful not to burn or over-crisp them).

Let cool and then pack away until ready to serve.

In a bowl, mix together the following ingredients (chopped):

100 gms fresh bocconcini

100 gms roasted red capsicum strips (make your own using my easy recipe, or use stuff from a jar)

2 tbsp capers

a handful of fresh basil leaves

cracked pepper, to taste

Stir these ingredients to blend well, and set aside in fridge (or in your esky if taking to eat al fresco) for at least an hour in order for the flavours to really develop.

When ready to serve, spoon the mixture into the bread cases and drizzle each with a few drops of balsamic vinegar. Enjoy!

The quantities for the mixture are not set in stone, and of course you could add other things. I was thinking a smoked salmon mixture of some kind would work well, or perhaps a Mexican salsa of tomato, onion, corn & avocado….or a mix of chopped, cooked prawns, orange or mandarin and baby spinach leaves. Lots of scope for experimenting. You could serve this on an individual plate as a starter for a dinner party, too – something light and healthy, without being too filling.

This was delicious as part of a picnic lunch, with a local WA cheddar cheese and water crackers, some cold, cooked chicken and a bottle of champers (of course). Beautiful 34C heat, a waterfall and a walk in the hills behind Perth, what more could you want on a lovely Spring day……

Lesmurdie Falls

Happy Fooding!