Sicillian Caponata (stew)

1 large eggplant diced
3 celery stalks with leaves diced
1 red onion diced up
10 capers (bottled ones drained)
1 tablespoon of sugar
20 green olives sliced
boiling water (a cup on hand for adding while cooking)
50g (2 tablespoons) of concentrate tomato paste



Place celery and onion in a boiling pot of salted water and blanch for five minutes. Drain and then place in a large frypan with olive oil with the diced eggplant.  Heat on medium heat stirring with wooden spoon.  Add capers, olives, sugar and tomato paste.  Add a little boiling water as you cook to make the mix moist.  Stir well cover and cook for around 25 minutes or so removing lid towards the end of the cooking.

Season with salt and pepper and serve either cold as an antipasto or warm with red meat, chicken or pasta as a sauce (i used this as a sauce for spaghetti)

Moroccan Lamb pie

 Makes one large pie for 4 people

Preparation Time: 45 minutes
Cooking Time around 40 minutes

1/2 large shallot diced finely
500g diced lamb meat
1 tablespoon of Moroccan seasoning
1 handful of chopped rosemary
1 clove of garlic crushed
400g  tomato passata (or crushed)
1/2 cup vege or beef stock
4 small potatoes diced small
1 handful of pitted dates torn in half
Puff pastry for the lid (defrosted on benchtop ready)
one egg beaten in a cup for the glaze
One glass pie baker

Cook shallot onion in a large fry pan with a little olive oil until softened.  Add lamb and stir with wooden spoon until browned.  Then add the seasoning and rosemary. Add the tomatoes, stock, potato and dates.  Simmer on low heat for around 20 minutes until thickening.

Place the meat mix into the glass baking dish and if you like add a little pepper to the top layer.  Then place a piece of pastry on top and press to the sides of the dish.  you can make a small hole in the centre so the heat can escape.  Decorate with sprigs of rosemary.
Now you can glaze with a pastry brush with the egg mixture to make the pie amazingly brown.

Bake in oven around 160 degrees celcius fan forced for 40 minutes. Check as some ovens are different.

Pumpkin Orecchiette

Makes a large amount enough to make 6 or more plates
Preparation Time: 2 hours



400g Pumpkin diced
700g of Farina doppio 0 plain flour (you will need to adjust as you prepare)
Chilled water if needed to make dough more wet
Fresh sage leaves
Salt for water
Pure butter organic is best


Place diced pumpkin in a pyrex dish with lid and microwave until tender. Once cooked let it cool and mash in a large bowl.  Set aside.

Sieve the flour into another large bowl and place eggs in a well in the centre and mix with your hands slightly until blended, then add the pumpkin mash and continue to blend with hands or in a food processor until glossy and smooth.  Roll out onto bench top and keep kneading until smooth and not too dry or not sticky it must be smooth and elastic.  The consistency needs to be managed by if dry more chilled water and if wet and sticky you need more flour.  Place into a large ball and cover with a tea towel for 30 minutes.

To roll out the dough, divide into two or three manageable portions.  Work one portion at a time and keep the other portions covered with a teatowel.  Flatten dough slightly on floured bench top and roll out from the centre to the outer, rotating the dough.  When you have 1/4 inch thick circle of dough  fold in half and roll it out again.

It is easier to use a  pasta machine to roll out the desired thickness and roll it though several times.  Making the setting smaller each time until the dough is around 2 - 2.5mm thick.

To make orecchiette you must almost make a thumb impression into the pasta. It takes quite some time at first to get the desired shape.

When you have prepared a plate of pasta let it dry laid out on a board covered lightly with flour (white cloth if you can find some) for around 24 hours. Place in fridge air tight container. This way it keeps up to 15 days and up to a month in the freezer.


Prepare some butter and fresh sage leaves in a fry pan and melt butter with sage and turn heat off.

Place pumpkin orecchiette in salted boiling water and cook for less than 3 minutes it will cook very fast.

Then drain pasta and toss through the butter and sage mixture.

Serve immediately with crusty bread.

King Island Beef stirfry with cashew and peanut

Serves 2
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 8 minutes

1 piece of Australian King Island Beef sliced in pieces
Rice noodles 1 cake per person
100g florets of Broccoli
100g carrot sliced finely
4 spring onions sliced (white parts and a little light green)
handful of peanuts and or cashews
toasted sesame seeds (optional)
1 small clove of garlic chopped finely
3 tablespoons of sweet and sour sauce
3 tablespoons of oyster sauce
2 tablespoons of soy sauce

Place the rice cake to a bowl of boiling water and safely set aside (safe place like in sink)

Place your beef into a large wok and a little oil.  Add the garlic, peanuts and cashews .

Cook on hot heat briskly until cooked and set aside in bowl.

Add to the wok the carrot, broccoli and spring onion and cook until wilted to your liking.

Add to the wok your remaining ingredients and add the meat.  Then add the vermicelli rice noodle and stir around to blend evenly.

Serve immediately

Baked Potato

Potato washed and cut halfway down diagonally
Little water to steam in microwave for however long your microwave cooks potatoes with lid on ( i used a glass pyrex dish with a lid)

When ready place in a bowl with foil underneath and add your toppings.

Toppings:
Mozzarella cheese grated
Lurpak butter
Spring onions (not dark part) diced up
Tomato with basil leaves (fresh) chopped up
Sour cream with chives
grated carrot
Steamed broccoli
a little egg beaten

Then place the potato with the foil into the oven on a tray and leave the foil open a little and cook for around 10 minutes on 180 degrees celcius.

Delicious meal which the kids will love !

Lemon Macarons

Make sure with this recipe use proper scales
Prepare two baking trays with baking paper on them
Prepare one saucepan with a candy thermometer in it ready

To make macaron shells:

150g  fine almond meal
150g powdered icing sugar
110g egg whites halved into two bowls (55g in one and 55g in another bowl)
150g white caster sugar
drops of yellow food colouring (a few drops)
drops of lemon essence
35g mineral water

Mix together the almond meal with the icing sugar in a blender. Pulse together to make a little finer.

Place into a large bowl and add the colouring and flavor (approx 5 drops) and one of the 55g of egg whites but do not mix in yet.

Remember that the other bowl with egg whites will be beaten on their own in the next step (55g).

Place caster sugar and the mineral water into a saucepan and combine to cook without stirring to 118 degrees celcius (using a proper thermometer for liquids). Once this liquid gets to around 115 you need with the other hand to start mixing the egg whites in the bowl as this will be combined together next step.

Once this liquid it finally at 118 stop the heat and pour very carefully away from yourself into the blending egg whites. Keep mixing until around 50 degrees.  Then stop.  Now you can add the almond mixture mixing with spatula upwards and slow not too  much mixing. Around 30 seconds until shiny.

Then this can be added to a piping bag to pipe out on lined baking tray.  Tap them on the bench top to let any air bubbles out and let sit for a good 2 hours until stiff.

Set oven on fan forced approx 130 degrees celcius.

Place trays in oven and rotate after 6 minutes one top and one bottom.

Cook for approx 12 -15 minutes and opening to oven to rotate them after 6 minutes should help to make them not go brown.

Let cool on paper and remove carefully with metal spatula when ready or even peel them off the paper.

Set aside to cool while preparing the ganache.

This made around 20  small macarons

Lemon ganache filling:

150g unsalted butter diced (room temp)
100g caster sugar
Juice of one lemon
1 egg
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons mineral water
2 drops of lemon essence

Melt 40g of the butter in saucepan over low heat then add the lemon juice with 50g of the caster sugar.  Stir until the sugar is dissolved and then add the 1 egg (keep egg yolks for later on)

Mix well with a hand beater stirring until it begins to thicken and then when thick transfer to bowl and cling wrap it and place in fridge.

Place the 3 egg yolks into another bowl and whip for 10 minutes until thick and creamy. Set aside.

In another saucepan place the 2 tablespoons of mineral water and the remaining sugar and heat up making sure to keep the thermometer on the edge.  When the temperature reaches 120 degrees celcius it is ready to be poured into the creamed yolks. Beat on high for 10 minutes until cooler. Add the lemon essence.

Turn the beater down after 10 minutes and slowly add the remaining butter pieces. Beat on high when all butter has been blended in for 2 minutes and then add the cooled lemon mixture from fridge.

Cover ganache with cling wrap and chill for at least 3 hours until very cold and firm ( i fill them the next day)

Then you can assemble the macarons.  Make sure to place macarons in airtight container in fridge.

Avocado with sour cream chicken sandwiches

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Serves : 1

2 small chicken tenderloins or fillets cut thin
1 small handful of bread crumbs
1 egg beaten in a small bowl
shake of pepper and salt
little pinch of dried chilli (if desired)
1/2 avocado cut lengthwise
premium sour cream ( i also added a little old el paso sour cream seasoning to it)
2 slices of fresh sandwich bread

Place the chicken into the egg mix and roll about, then transfer to the crumb mix with salt and pepper.

Then place coated fillets into a fry pan with a little olive oil.  Cook on low heat until cooked completely. If you prefer a little heat add a little chilli.

Prepare bread with avocado as pictured below

Then you can add a little sour cream if you like and once the fillets are cooked place on top of avocado and sour cream.

Place another slice of bread on top and cut diagonally both ways and serve.

Kids really loved this sandwich and it can be let to cool in fridge and eaten cold (eat within 2 days if chicken is fresh not frozen)

Rib eye beef ragu

1 piece of beef rib eye (400g approx) cut finely into little pieces
750 jar of tomato passata
1 onion small one finely diced
1 carrot peeled and finely diced
1 stalk celery finely diced
1 large clove garlic finely diced
fresh herbs 1 handful of sage, basil, rosemary cut up finely
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons of red wine
olive oil
little bit of dried chilli
salt and pepper

In a frypan place a handful of the beef and some olive oil and cook until brown.  Move the cooked beef into a larger pot with lid and continue to cook all the beef this way a small amount at a time until all done.  At the end add the wine to the pan to deglaze then add this wine to the larger pot with the meat.

Add the sauce, a cup of water, vegetables and herbs.  Add a little chilli if you desire a little more heat and salt and pepper to your liking.  This should be simmered slowly for around 4 hours.  The beef will melt down and be really soft.

Ragu tastes amazing with any pasta.  Pappardelle pasta is a large ribbon pasta that is very tasty with this sauce.

Easy beef strips with snowpeas stirfry

Serves 2
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 8 minutes approx


250g beef strips
1 bunch bok choy or baby bok choy
10 snowpeas with ends trimmed off
2 spring onions whites only chopped
50ml cooking sherry
1 teaspoon of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of cornflower
50g soy sauce
salt, pepper and chilli flakes if desired at end

In a little olive oil cook the beef strips until brown.  Then add cooking sherry mixed with soy, sugar and cornflower.

Place the bok choy, snowpeas and spring onions (chilli flakes if desired) and cook on medium heat until wilted. Stir through.

Serve with rice or fine pasta underneath or on its own.

Potato and leek soup

Serves 2
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes

1 white part of leek cut finely
3 medium potatoes peeled and diced finely
1/4 white onion finely chopped
1 stalk of celery cut finely
1 small clove of garlic diced finely
2-3 large cups of chicken stock
cream to serve
chives chopped finely to serve
approx 50 g butter

Place butter into large saucepan and add the onion, leek, celery and garlic.  Heat on low heat for around 15 minutes stirring with wooden spoon. Make sure not to brown.  Then add the potatoes and the stock and bring to boil.

Lower the heat to a simmer and cover for around 20 minutes.   Let it cool a little to blend with a hand blender or a food processor and return to saucepan.

Bring the heat up again and stir in the cream.  Alternatively you can add a swirl of cream when serving.

Top with fresh chopped chives from the garden.  Season with salt and pepper if desired.

Can be served hot or chilled.

Amazing!

Red lentil, celery and taleggio soup

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour
Serves 4 - 6

1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 onion chopped fine
1 cup of red lentils
2 litres boiled water
1 vegetable stock cube
2 stalks of celery cut finely
3 carrots peeled and chopped
60g taleggio cheese cut into small squares (approx 6 squares per bowl)
1/3 cup of fresh chives chopped fine

Heat oil in saucepan and place onion into pan.  Cook slightly but do not brown.  Then add lentils with boiled water and vegetable stock cube.   Add the celery and carrot and bring to the boil.  Simmer for around an hour.

Turn heat off and use a hand blender or any mixer to blend soup to a puree.

Then heat up again but not until boiling point.  Place a large soup ladle into the soup and place into individual bowls.  Then add the cheese and chives into the centre of each bowl.

Thanks to my local deli cleos  for great advice on the type of cheese to use. Normally a blue cheese is used with lentil soups but this was a great choice as it was not stringy it was smooth and a little salty but perfect!

Serve hot with crusty bread.

Amazing!

Note:  as an alternative for kids i made pasta chicken noodle soup with fresh chicken stock and ladled one ladle of this lentil soup into their chicken soup so they could at least get a little extra flavour!

Spaghetti Broccoli

Thin spaghetti 250g serves 4 (not too much)
Broccoli florets (remove main stalk)
Pinch of dry chilli flakes (if desired)
2 cloves of garlic diced very finely
Extra virgin olive oil (i just love Cobram Estate)
Parsley( if desired)
Shake of pepper
Grana Padano Parmesan cheese finely grated


Steam the broccoli in a steamer or in microwave bowl with lid. Not too soft just so a fork settles into the broccoli (6 minutes or so)

Cook the spaghetti til "al dente" in salted (pinch) boiling water ( this should take if thin spaghetti approx 5 - 7 minutes).

In separate fry pan place some olive oil (approx 1/4 cup) and the garlic, chilli, parsley and pepper. Do a very quick heat and slightly cook but not til brown then turn off heat.

Drain pasta and combine with broccoli, oil mixture and some grana padano parmesan.

Sesame seed barbecued prawns

serves 4 (2 skewers each)

8 skewers ( soak skewers in cold water for half hour before preparing)
large stainless steel bowl
24 prawns (3 per skewer)
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of sherry wine
1/2 lemon squeezed
2 garlic cloves crushed
2 sprigs of parsley chopped finely
Sesame seeds for coating after marinate part
Chopped square mango flesh
Limes quartered (3)
Lemons quartered (2)




Place prawns into sink and take off head and body shell leaving tail end shell. Try to de-vein as much as possible.

Place prawns into a large bowl set aside.

In large stainless steel bowl place the soy sauce, sherry wine, lemon juice, garlic clove, parsley and sugar then the prawns.  Stir through and place in fridge for 30 minutes only.

Take out of fridge after the 30 minutes and skewer 3 on each skewer with a piece of lime, mango and  lemon in between.  Roll them in the sesame seeds.  Barbeque for around 3 minutes on hot.

Delicious with extra lemon and lime quarters or mango slices.

White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies

1 1/4 cups of plain flour (sieved)
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of butter softened
1/4 cup caster sugar or organic sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla bean extract
3/4 cup of white chocolate (haighs is fabulous)
1 cup macadamia nuts chopped

Preheat oven to approx 170 degrees celcius fan forced.  Grease two baking trays with melted butter.

In a large bowl place butter and the sugars and beat with electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Beat in egg and vanilla then reduce the speed to slow and add a little flour.  Blend the rest of the flour in with a wooden spoon.  Then stir in the white chocolate chips with the macadamias.

Drop rounded tablespoons onto the trays 2 inch apart.  Baking should take between 10 and 12 minutes and try to rotate the tray levels at half time. Move one up and one down.

Cool on wire racks completely before storing in containers.

Eclairs amore

Preparation Time: 40 minutes then 1 hour to set ganache

Set ingredients out on table as below first:

approx 4 or 5 eggs ( now crack eggs into a weigh machine until the volume of liquid equals 1 cup or 200 g approx)
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 cup of butter (lurpak or equiv)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 1/4 teaspoon of fine sugar
140g all purpose flour

Preparing the Choux Pastry:

After cracking your eggs keep them in the bowl and place a warm bowl of water underneath to keep them warm while you prepare the following.

In a large mixing bowl place water, milk, salt, sugar and butter.  Bring to boil. As soon as boiling starts remove from heat and mix in the flour.

Move back to the heat and stir over heat for one minute stirring with wooden spatula until liquid evaporates out. Incorporate 2 eggs into the soft dough( from the egg mix warming bowl).  Add 2 more of the eggs and stir briskly again.  Add last egg and stop stirring as soon as blended thoroughly.   Use the pastry immediately or it cracks.

Pipe out shapes on greased baking paper trays.  Bake in oven for around 25 to 35 minutes on 170 degrees celsius. Check on them after 15 minutes to see they are browning. Some ovens may vary in time.

Once cooked the cases should be let cool on wire rack when baked. Then move to an airtight container.

Chocolate Ganache for the centres:

100g dark koko black or equivalent chocolate (54  - 60% dark cocoa range)
3/4 cup of whipping cream
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter in small cubes

Chop the chocolate finely and set aside in a bowl.  In a saucepan bring the cream to the boil.  Pour the cream over the chocolate and leave chocolate to melt without stirring for around 3 minutes.

 Then with a whisk begin to stir gently.  As the ganache thickens stir outwards to get a smooth texture.  Add the cubes of butter slowly until ganache is silky and smooth.

This then needs to be cooled to thicken. The best way to do it is to transfer to small bowl and tightly cover the bowl so skin doesn't form on the top.  Chill in the fridge until it becomes thick but not firm.  This can take around 1 - 2 hours.

Prepare the eclairs by placing some ganache on top of one flat side and sandwiching another on top.

For these eclairs i have used ganache on the top instead of icing.

Chill in fridge and enjoy when ready.

Remember that a quality chocolate like Koko Black or Haighs will make a huge difference with the taste of your eclair.