A Valentine’s Win!

My goodness, life has been crazy since Christmas…..which is why you haven’t heard from me for over a month! As well as socialising and work, I sold an apartment in Adelaide and have bought an apartment here in Perth. I’ve moved temporarily last weekend, as my rental lease was expiring, and I move again in 3 weeks’ time, to the new apartment. Life is full of good things, but with packing, paperwork, moving etc I have actually not done a huge amount of cooking, with very little experimenting of anything new. Most of my kitchen stuff and appliances are currently in boxes, so I am making do with basics. There has been a lot of takeaway pizza and Indian food in my life recently!

I am really looking forward to moving in to a new place, hopefully for a longer time than I’ve lived in any one place in the last 11 years, and unpacking ALL of my gorgeous dinnerware, baking dishes, gadgets etc – a lot of which has actually stayed in the box during the last 2 years and not seen the light of day. My partner and I are hanging out to do some real entertaining, once we’ve moved in, unpacked and worked out what new pieces of furniture will suit the apartment. It is also conveniently located close to the Swan River, and 5 minutes walk from our favourite pub!

Anyway, I did have some Valentine’s Day excitement on Friday. About 2 weeks ago, I entered one of those Facebook competitions where you have to like the page and make a comment. The comment question was, describe your favourite picnic spot. The prize was a salmon picnic “hamper” from Huon Aquaculture, a premium salmon company in beautiful Tasmania.

I described my favourite picnic place as Mt Franklin in Victoria – it is a beautiful, serene spot in the middle of an extinct volcano bowl. Haven’t been there for a few years as I live on the opposite side of the country these days, but it will always be somewhere I love going back to.

Imagine my surprise last Wednesday when I saw on fb that I had WON! Not only that, but as it was a Valentine’s Day prize, the intention was that I receive the hamper by the 14th – no mean feat considering the mail between the East and West coast of Australia is generally not know to be super fast. The team at Huon, however pulled it off, and on Friday afternoon I was delighted to have a parcel delivered to the door:

Inside was two packets of smoked salmon, salmon pate, a packet of crackers, some gourmet chocolates, a bottle of Tasmanian Home Hill bubbly, and a picnic rug. All my favourite things and all for ME!

My day had started with roses and chocolates in bed, and I was also taken out for a surprise Valentine’s dinner at The Naked Fig, where we enjoyed a delicious 3 course meal and of course some champers.

All in all, a pretty special day with me being totally spoilt from start to finish. And I still have my yummy picnic goodies to enjoy 🙂

Happy Fooding!

Zucchini Slice

I know there are a LOT of versions of this yummy quiche dish. It’s such a great standby recipe to whip up when zucchinis are plentiful – lovely cold or hot, cut into squares as an appetizer or in larger serves as a main course. I’ve made versions with carrot or pumpkin in as well, coriander instead of parsley, and I’ved used polenta instead of flour, for a gluten-free version.

This is my “basic” recipe, which comes from my aunt and is the one I’ve been making since Zucchini Slice became trendy about 20 years ago (or longer – don’t know where all those years went).

Zucchini Slice

2 cups grated zucchini

3 spring onions, finely chopped

1 cup grated tasty cheese

1 cup SR flour

1/3 cup olive oil

4 eggs

cracked pepper, to taste

3 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Spoon into a 20 x 30cm dish lined with baking paper, and level the top. Bake in 200C (190C for fan forced) for 20-25 minutes, until a light golden colour on top and just firm to touch. Cool in the tin and cut into squares.

Makes 24 appetizer-sized squares.

Happy Fooding!

Still on the Vegetable Crusade….

Chopped veg

With my mountain of vegies to play with, I found this easy Pumpkin & Lentil Curry dish from the 4 Ingredients website – I mean you can’t get much simpler than this really – but I decided than rather than just pumpkin, I’d throw in a variety of vegies, because, well, why the hell not?!!

I was also feeling very lazy, so didn’t even peel the skin off the pumpkin…..

The result was okay, nothing too flash – actually it doesn’t look so great but it tasted better than it looks. A bit stodgy, but healthy and filling.

I’m off to an ANZAC Day picnic today, and yes I probably should have made Anzac biscuits, but I just couldn’t be bothered. I made olive tapenade and a zucchini slice, homemade bread and coleslaw instead.

Happy Fooding!

Wonderful White Stuff

Sometimes, you can go literally years in between making something, and then you suddenly rediscover it. That’s what happened with this recipe – I was looking for an easy dip to make, to take to a cheese-&-wine-by-the-river evening, so that I wouldn’t be just taking a lump of cheese and a packet of crackers. I wanted to flesh it out a bit, to make my little cheese platter contribution amongst 25 people, a little less plain.

Rummaging around in my recipe e-files, I saw this dip and thought hmmmm why haven’t I made this in so long?! A trip to the supermarket post-dentist (I am funding my dentist’s retirement at the moment, with all of the work I’m having done!) to buy a can of cannellini beans, and 5 minutes later the dip was sitting in the fridge alongside a Wensleydale-with-cranberries block of cheese and a bottle of Yellow, all ready to go.

The texture and flavour of this dip is similar to a chickpea hummus, only minus the garlic. It’s great spread on toast too.

White Bean Dip

425 gm can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup low-fat Greek yoghurt

1/4 cup hulled tahini (sesame paste)

2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp paprika

cracked pepper, to taste

Mix all ingredients together in food processor until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to eat, then serve with crackers, squares of fresh bread, triangles of pita bread, or carrot/celery sticks. And wine and friends of course 🙂

My city at dusk

Happy Summer 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!

Roast Veg Frittata

This frittata was SO easy, I was very impressed. It is based on a recipe from the new River Cottage Veg cookbook, and this particular recipe was recommended to me by a work colleague.

The vegies you use are completely up to you, and I didn’t have the right size baking dish as most of mine are currently still packed (and will remain so while I am living where I am at the moment – no room to put them anywhere!). This is a very forgiving dish though – you could make it in a dish of any shape or size I reckon and it would still come out fine.

 I do love roast beetroot and it was perfect in this; I was thinking maybe I’d make one just with beetroot and pumpkin next time, as the two go well together and the colours look great too.

Roast Veg Frittata

~600 gms mixed Winter veg (I used beetroot, pumpkin, carrot & potato), cut into 2-3cm chunks

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tbsp olive oil (or use olive oil spray)

7-8 eggs

3 spring onions, chopped

1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 tsp dried thyme

cracked pepper, to taste

30 gms parmesan cheese, finely grated

Preheat oven to 190C.

Toss the vegies in a bowl with oil and garlic, then spread out on a baking tray. Roast for about 40 minutes, until vegies are all tender and starting to caramelise in places.

Beat the eggs together with the herbs and cracked pepper.

Transfer the vegies to a 23cm square ovenproof dish, and pour the egg mixture evenly over. Scatter the parmesan cheese over the top and return to the oven for 20 minutes, until the egg is all set and the top is puffed up and starting to colour.

Serve warm or cold.

Serves 6

The original recipe called for the vegies to be roasted in the ovenproof dish, and then the egg mixture simply poured over the top; however, I wanted to spread my vegies out more, so I have cooked them on a separate oven tray first and then transferred to the final dish. I do think this would be a great party or picnic dish, as you could quite easily double it and make it in a large lasagne type dish, and cut it into small squares. A good one to make ahead too, as it’s yummy cold (I should know, I had a leftover bit for brekky the next day!).

Don’t forget to enter the Poachies giveaway, by liking my previous post!

Happy Fooding!

Smokin’ Potato Pie

A delicious, light meal, this smoked salmon and mashed potato quiche-type dish is great for a lunch or to make the day before a picnic and slice up cold. This comes from the AWW Potatoes cookbook from 2003, out of print and replaced by more recent potato cookbooks from AWW, from what I can find. I did see it in the National Library’s catalogue here, but couldn’t find any secondhand copies out there anywhere. As with all of AWW’s cookbooks, it is chock full of “real” recipes that work!

I’ve only ever made this as a large pie shape, as directed, but I was thinking this morning that it would also work well as individual serves, baked in a muffin pan, or shallow-fried as little potato cakes, a la blini. Worth experimenting with.

Smoked Salmon Pie

1 kg potatoes, peeled and chopped roughly

40 gms butter, softened

1/4 cup (60 gms) light sour cream

200 gms smoked salmon, chopped roughly

2 eggs, separated

2 spring onions, finely chopped

cracked pepper, to taste

Boil, steam or microwave potatoes until tender. Drain and mash in a large bowl with the butter and sour cream.

Stir in smoked salmon, one of the egg yolks, both egg whites and the spring onion.

Spoon the mixture into a deep, 22cm-round springform flan or cake tin (lined with baking paper first), smooth the top with a spatula and brush with the remaining egg yolk.

Bake at 180C for about 25 minutes, or until pie is heated through and browned lightly.

Serve warm or cold, cut into wedges.

Happy Fooding!

Healthy Tuna

For someone who adores all things salmon, with tuna coming a close second, you’ll be surprised to know that I’m NOT a big fan of the canned varieties. I do love freshly seared or sashimi tuna, but the canned stuff just doesn’t do it for me I’m afraid. I rarely use it in anything, but this slice dish is one exception.

Originally this quiche was made in a pie dish, but in recent years I’ve been making it in a rectangular tin and cutting it into squares to serve cold. Quite delicious, good for you and super easy. Don’t worry if it looks a bit separated when you first mix it and put it into the tin – it all comes together as it cooks. I did overcook it a bit this time, hence it is a bit dark on top – I forgot how quickly it cooks and my oven is quite a hot one.

Tuna Slice

125 gm pkt water crackers

185 gm can tuna (in springwater or brine, not oil), drained

1 cup tasty cheese, grated

1 small brown onion, finely chopped

3 eggs

1 cup milk

fresh herbs, to taste (I usually use parsley or chives)

cracked pepper, to taste

Crush the crackers with your hands, into a mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Place in a greased or lined rectangular baking tin (or a pie/quiche dish if you want to serve it cut into wedges).

Bake at 190C for about 20 minutes until cooked and browned on top (note: if using a pie dish it will take a few minutes longer, depending on your oven).

Serve warm or cold.

Happy Fooding!