Copycat Trout

This is a favourite dish of Hannah's which I only had recently from Ripples cafe at Milson's Point. (Of course I always had a few bites off Hannah's plate!) It's a great dish of Ocean Trout served on coriander rice with a saffron coconut sauce with an asian herb salad. It's great...and even though the menu changes with the seasons this is a dish that always features.


So one night, I decided to try and replicate it at home (daggy I know!) but we both think it came pretty close! No recipe, just going with the flavours we could remember. It really was quite simple and looked amazing...and very cheffy on the plate.

The trout, was pan seared then left in a moderate oven to roast away (Hannah's pregnant - so wanted to well done). While the rice was cooking, I made a coriander and thai basil pesto like concoction, with some sesame oil and bit of salt. This was delicious and stirred that through the rice once cooked. The coconut sauce was made with 100% coconut cream and some saffron threads and a touch of soy sauce, which simmered away while everything was ready. Hannah whipped up a simple asian salad. This all came together so well. The trout was well done but still juicy, and the coriander rice was great!

No Luna Park views from our Petersham kitchen, but this was a memorable dinner nevertheless!

Penne from Heaven

With the lads coming around for Grand Final Day...wanted to have something hearty that could be whipped up quick and left in the oven while the game was on. With some bolognese sauce in the freezer this dish was a winner even if the game was a bit of a fizzer.

Penne layered with fresh leg ham, buffola mozzarella, ricotta and parmasen cheese, basil and the delish bolognese sauce. This has always been one of my all time favourite dish my mum makes...but this was my first go giving it my own spin. Oven roasted pasta is delicious...a must with an leftover pasta and sauce.

While I was layering it, the Billie Holiday version song came on the ipod spinning randomly...and so the pun was born.

Tagliatele with Rabbit & Artichoke Ragu

A delicious slow cooked dinner to go with some fresh tagliatele from Haberfield and a few heads of fresh artichoke.

Browned some rabbit pieces, seasoned with fennel seeds, chilli, salt and pepper in a caserole dish. Took out the browned rabbit, then threw in diced carrot, onion, celery and fennel and cooked off slowly in the sticky pan after the rabbit browning.

Added some garlic and the rabbit pieces and cooked together for a bit. Then added a good lug of white wine and about a few cups of stock. While the wine cooked off a bit, I prepped the artichoke, by removing the outer leaves and cutting the hearts in half. Through these in...put the lid on, then placed in a oven (about 150 degress) to slow cook for a few hours, giving it a stir every hour.

By the end, the rabbit fell of the bone and the artichokes were all soft and mushy creating a delicious thick artichoke flavoured sauce...with enough leaves for texture. Shredded the rabbit meat while the water boiled.

Stirred a few ladels of the ragu with the cooked tagliatele with a heap of parmesan and chopped parsely, drizzled generously with extra virgin olive oil. A lighter ragu that was delicious! An addition of pancetta or bacon in the frying would have added a good kick!

Berlotti Beans in Tomato Sauce with Flatbread

My dad had picked a heap of fresh berlotti beans and I had never cooked this dish before, but was one of my favourite dishes my mum cooks up.

Very simple, a simply browning of onions, carrotts, celery and bacon, then added the beans and cooked for a bit. Then added diced tomatoes and some passata and a touch of chicken stock and cooked for a few hours.

This was some leftovers we re-heated and simply at with some warmed Greek pita bread and freshened with coriander. Delicious!

Salmon Brocolini and Red Pepper Quiche

This was my first go at a quiche...for a quick saturday lunch. Hannah prepped the base, blind baking some short crust pastry. And the filling was just what I usual do for a fritata. I cooked off some red peppers, then sliced stalks of brocolini, then left to cool for a bit while the base cooked.

Then I whisked eggs, parmasen cheese and a splash of milk and a few tablespoons of self raising flour and added some tinned salmon slices and dill. When the base was ready I scattered with the veggies and the brocollini tops (reserving some for the top) then poured over the egg mix which filled it too the brim. Then I placed the remaining veg on top with some extra salmon slices and dill.

Wasn't quite sure how this would turn out, thought it might just all overflow in the oven, but it puffed up beautifully and tasted great. Had this with a raddichio, quinoa, orange, cranberry and walnut salad & and some green beans with slow roasted tomatoes and pine nuts.













All this done with what was on hand in the pantry and fridge!

Strawberry stuffed Brioche French Toast

Saw Bill Grainger do this with nectarines and thought strawberries would be a great subsitute in winter.

So I headed around the corner to Sweet Belem who have brioche and fresh portugese bread on weekends. Hannah stuffed the thick brioche slices with sliced strawberry and left them to coat and soak in the egg, milk and a dash of vanilla extract.

Slowly fried off with a lid on, then left to cook in an oven for about 10 minutes to really cook through and the strawberry to stew a bit.
This was amazing! served with fresh strawberries and a drizzle of maple syrup. More a dessert than a breakfast...but who's complaining!

Paella!

I have been cooking a few paella's this year and am loving it. It's not as hard as I thought and actually much quicker and easier than risotto.

This was the first I tried in a new paella pan...so I had never cooked one this big before, so the rice got a bit burnt in the middle. But the flavours were fantastic!

This was with chicken, chorizo, and topped with fresh prawns. I can't wait to try this again and get it right!

Served this with a side of grilled haloumi with pear and mint!