BBQ Squid with Tostas.

This was the first of our New Years eating, where we were planning to fire up the BBQ (yet again!) for dinner, but we got peckish around 4 , so we decided to re-live some spanish tapas memories. Grilled this squid quickly, which was marinated in garlic, parsley, lemon and salt and pepper. Just when they were nearly done, threw some slices of crusty bread on the grill to toast. With fresh lemon squeezed over and drizzled with olive oil, this was an great beer snack to kick off the New years festivities.

BBQ Pork Rolls

Pork is the meat of the festive season, so we just had to fire up the barbecue to make these delicious rolls. Marnated some delicious lean pork steaks, with heaps of freshly grated ginger, hoisin sauce and sesame oil, then grilled them on the flame til close to done. While hannah chucked rocket, cucumber, grated carrot on fresh rolls, I threw the steaks onto the hot plate and sliced them up and gave em a good toss around and sizzled with more of the marinade. When they were nice and crisp, I chucked it on top of the rolls. They were so tasty, with a fresh zing of asian flavours. Can't wait to put these on again!

Brekky Zuchini Fritata

This was one of those late brekkies we whipped up, when we had slept in and had a bit of an appetite.

A simple zucchini fritata, fried the zuch, then added the whipped eggs with parmasen and salt, pepper and basil and parsley. Finished the top off under the grill.

Served on seeded toast with olive oil, and topped with rocket (from the yard) and cherry tomatoes.

(Spot the perfectly Atomic frothed milk in the background!)

Risotto with Prawns and Peas.

We hadn't made a Risotto for ages. Had a seafood stock in the freezer, so this came together very easily.

Once the risotto was about one ladel full away from ready, I threw in the prawns and peas, saving a few prawns which I browned in a pan to throw on top at the end.

I broke away from Italian tradition and threw in heaps of parmasen cheese, (cheese and seafood a no no...but I think it goes so well with risotto). This was creamy and dam tasty. One of my favourite ways to have risotto!

Hannah Crokettas

These really are becoming Hannah's speciality, which we became addicted to in Spain. Croquetta's, one of the best tapas you can get, if you get a good fresh one! Hannah's are delicious, made with mashed potato, proscuito and seasoned with parmesan cheese. Rolled up and crumbed, then shallow fried, there really is no better snack to have with a drink!

Zucchini Flower Fritters

With some fresh zucchini flowers picked up at the Norton St Italian Festival, we cooked these up to have with some Campari and soda's. A simple batter with flour, water, seasoning and parmesen cheese, they were crunchy and moorish. We even threw some olives in the leftover batter too which were just as good!

Thai style egg rolls with chicken

With the days getting longer and grazing season upon us we sat on the porch watching the sun go down with These were absolutely delicious creations Hannah made recently.

Stay tuned for the process, but I just had to get these up here! With the salty soy kick from the chicken and the fresh coriander, these are the ultimate summer beer food!

The next dish was even better!

Chicken on Lemongrass Skewers

This was the second instalment of a night of great summer thai dishes! This followed on perfectly from the egg rolls and were absolutely delicious.

The way the minced chicken became infused with the lemon grass skewer was delicious!!

These would be great on the barbie too. We're thinking of trying a version with minced prawn.

Stay tuned for the recipe!

Ginger Roasted Rainbow Trout with Fennel and Peppers.

My favourite fish to cook at the moment is whole rainbow trout. This time around I marinated it with heaps of grated ginger, soy, honey and sesame oil. I heated a roasting dish over the stove and seared the fish and removed it. In the juices, I tossed around the sliced fennel and peppers and placed the fish on top to roast away in a moderate oven for about half an hour.

At the last minute we threw sliced cucumber on top and all of sudden if felt like a great japanese dish. The fennel went so well with the asian flavours which I hadn't tried before. The sauce was very light and fresh with a good kick of ginger that went beautifully with the rich trout.

Grilled Tuna Steaks with Pine Nut Chilli Crust and Braised Fennel

We have been cooking fennel recently and this dish was absolutely delicious. I lightly fried sliced fennel (quite big chucks) with salt and pepper. When it was starting to moisten I threw in some white wine and chucked it in the oven. Then I got working on the rest. I chopped up pine nuts, garlic, chilli and parsley. When the fennel was looking pretty tender (after about 20 minutes) I grilled the tuna steaks, aiming for medium rare. Then when they were resting I threw in olive oil and fried the pine nut chilli mix til crunchy. This came together so easily and sounds pretty posh but it's still humble home style food to me!

Grilled Baby Squid Salad

This I made for my sister before she flew off back to London recently. Currently on a strict gluten, yeast, dairy free diet and heading back to the UK where good seafood is tough to find I thought this would be tasty. Dead simple and healthy. A huge mixed green and purple cabbage salad was mixed with some roasted cherry tomatoes (which I seasoned with salt, pepper and fennel seed). I grilled the baby squid, marinating them with white wine and parsley, salt, pepper and a bit of chili. Everyone ended up piling their plates with the salad then topping it with the freshly grilled squid. Delish! But I must admit I wish the squid was grilled on a barbie for that smokey flavour, a griddle pan just aint the same.

French Toast with Grilled Tomato, Avocado and Rocket

A delicious savoury take on french toast. This I made with a soft rye loaf which I soaked in a whipped egg mix, which was seasoned with salt and pepper. While I fried the eggy bread in a wee bit of olive oil, I grilled tomotoes. By the time Hannah brewed the atomic coffee and frothed the milk to perfection it was ready. Topped with chopped avo, rocket and a good drizzle of olive oil - a delicious and light take on French Toast. Of course crumbling ricotta and strips of fresh proscuito on top of this would be breathtaking, so I highly encourage that kind of behaviour.

Roast Pumpkin & Pine Nut Pasta

Hannah cooked up this delicious pasta last night. After roasting pumpkin that had been tossed with garlic, parsley, salt and pepper, she simply tossed it through some spelt pasta, with heaps of basil, grape tomatoes, olive and topped with pine-nuts and extra basil! So simple, healthy yet hearty!

Best Sausage Sanger!

O.K, this is really in here cause I love the photo, but this was delicious. Made on a great rustic barbie on Yonderfield (Hannah's family farm) these were good ol Italian pork and fennel sausages from A.C Butcher in Haberfield (yes I got them especially, the farm isn't in Haberfield, I just take sausage seriously). With grilled onions, fountain tomato sauce and rocket on a crusty baguette, I think it was the best sausage on a roll I'd ever had!

Breakfast Pasta

This is a take on a classic cabonara pasta - and we've started calling it a 'breakfast pasta' as its central ingredients are bacon and egg. It's very un-italian to go savoury for breakfast but this really is the best of both worlds I say! We had this on our last morning at a great farm house in the Hunter Valley. I don't know why you don't see this more often on breakfast menus, as it really is simply bacon and eggs, but mixed through pasta instead of on toast! I lightly fried some lean bacon, just when the pasta was nearly cooked. Then once I drained the pasta, I added the beaten egg and bacon and stirred through til the hot pasta cooked the egg and was nice and creamy. Drizzled with olive oil, heaps of cracked pepper and I mixed through rocket and some chunks of roma tomatoes just before serving, to add some freshness. Who says you can't have pasta for breakfast!

Apple Berry Crumble

Hannah has been whipping up some great crumbles lately, going easy on the sugar and butter so not to make them too dangerous, and they are still just as delicious. Adding extra oats in the crumble mix hits the spot, but we couldn't resist scooping some vanilla ice-cream on top of this one! With a pot of mixed berry tea...a perfect winter dessert.

Curry Baked Snapper

Now we are in the middle of winter, we are craving warm, comfort food but trying to stay healthy at the same time - so satisfying those cravings can be tricky. But this dish tonight was delicious, comfort food, perfect for a chilly night. It came together in no time. I seared the snapper in a big wok, seasoned it with salt, pepper, cumin and tumeric, then took it out of the wok and chucked it in a roasting tin. Then in the wok, I quickly whipped up a light tomato based curry sauce. Lightly fried, onions, garlic, ginger, red pepper, coriander stalks, chilli, tumeric, cumin, garam masala, a few cardarman pods and because this wasn't going to stew for ages, I chucked in some fish sauce, oyster sauce a cup of vegie stock to help it along. Then once that was all simmering nicely, I poured it over the fish and chucked it in the oven to stew for bout an hour. We had this with brown rice and a great refreshing, cucumber and mint salad Hannah whipped up with a great asian dressing and dry fried sesame and sunflower seeds! This was a memorable winters meal!

Sunday Spaghetti Marinara

Keeping with our Sunday pasta tradition, we were craving a rich tomatoey seafood pasta. We quickly chucked on a simple tomato sauce, with a mix of peeled and pasata. Just a heap of onions, garlic, parsley stems, diced carrot and thin slices of red pepper and a sprinkling of chilli flakes. As this simmered we jumped into the car and headed to nearby fish market in Marrickville off Sydenham Rd. We got a few handfuls of green prawns, baby calamari and a big fillet of gem fish. Stopping to pick up some fresh basil and some white wine on the way back. By the time the water boiled, the seafood, white wine and basil had flavoured the sauce beautifully! We had it with our new favourite spelt pasta and it was one of the best pastas we had eaten in ages!

Teriyaki Style Roasted Chicken

Hannah whipped this up recently with a marinade we had only used for grilling and barbecues, but I think roasting these chicken marylands in the formidable marinade of garlic, ginger, chilli, soy, honey, sesame oil and lemon juice was brought it to new heights! Served up with steamed choy sum and oyster sauce, on a bed of healthy brown rice. Good hearty healthy meal.

One-Pot Baked Snapper with Pine Nuts, Zucchini and Potatos

This is a great one pot dish that takes about 15 minutes to prepare and then you just let it do its thing.

I prepped the veggies first, thinly sliced potatoes and zucchini. I laid a bed of these on a roasting tin, row of taters, then zucchini, then again. Topped this with dill and diced tomato, salt and pepper and a good lug of extra virgin.

I scored the snapper on both sides, then rubbed it with a marinade of chopped parsley, garlic , anchovy and a splash of white wine. I then stuffed the cavity with the leftover marinade and placed it on a baking rack from the roasting dish. I placed the rack on top of the veg, then crumbled pine nuts on top of the fish, 4 dried chillies and seasoning. I then baked it at 180 for bout an hour.

The result was creamy delicious veggies with a tasty roasted snapper. Great winter meal!

Goats Cheese Tart with Rocket and Grape Tomatos

Hannah and I were craving a pizza , so looking in the fridge we discovered the ingredients for this unexpected winner.


We took a sheet of puff pastry from the freezer, let it go wobbly, then lightly score a square frame around the edges. Topped this with crumbled goats cheese (or any bitey creamy cheese you want really) , grated parmesan , grape tomatoes halved and scattered, pepper and and drizzle with olive oil. Throw in the oven for about 15 minutes until crispy and the cheese looking goey and golden. Top it with fresh rocket and it will disappear in minutes!

Home made Ravioli!

We have been getting into the habit of cooking pasta for lunch on Sundays and this one we had bit of time on our hands so Hannah was inspired to make some ravioli from scratch. I worked on the filling while Hannah cranked up the pasta maker.

The filling was a Jamie inspired recipe. Caramelised spanish onions with balsamic, roasted pumpkin, goats cheese and thyme.

This got a bit fiddly, but was well worth it, plus we had heaps leftover for another meal the following sunday!

We kept is simple for the sauces. The first time, we melted butter with olive oil and sprigs of time and roasted pine nuts. Drizzled this over the ravioli and crumbled some extra goats cheese on top. Very rich and absolutely amazing.


Round 2, was just as delicious, with the simplest of toppings, lightly fried grape tomatos (halved) with heaps of olive oil (that the skins of the tomatos turned a golden red!), topped again with goats cheese and rocket! Some of the simplest meals are the most delicious!

The Bolognese Mission

I have given myself a mission, to perfect the bolognese sauce!

This may seem ridiculous, as most people probably think the humble bolognese is the easiest sauce of them all. But I am not content with mine, it just doesn't seem to have the flavour and perfect balance of spices I would like. Well it just doesn't taste as good as my Nonna's!

So,this was one I whipped up recently, that was pretty good and probably the best I had made in sometime...but please post your Bolognese tips and techniques!

My process is simple...the most important ingredient to making a delicious bolognese is time. Not the herb, but the ticking variety. The longer you can let the sauce simmer and rest the better its going to taste! This one I cooked on a Sunday arvo...let it simmer into the night, then let it cool and rest over night. It's getting chilly now so you can get away with it.

Ok, back to the sauce, my cooking process is; sweating the onion, garlic, finely diced carrot, celery and the stalks of the basil (this time I added thin slices of red capsicum too) for as long as possible...about 20 minutes. Don't rush to get the meat in there or skimp on the good olive oil. I then added the meat; an equal mix of pork and veal mince (about a kilo and a bit). I find beef mince, is way too heavy and overpowers the sauce. I cooked this through, turning til lightly browned, then added about half a bottle of red wine. I stirred this for a bit, then put the lid on, my logic being this lets the meat absorb the wine and not let the wine evaporate, I could be wrong. Once the wine reduced a bit, I added a big jar of passata and a tin of diced tomatoes. Given it a big stir to mix all together and bring to the boil.

Now, the spices which I am experimenting with to get a unique full flavour. I chucked in about 5 to 6 cloves, 2 dried chillies, a good punch of salt, cracked some pepper and a sprig of cinnamon. Once it came to the boil, I turned it down low, put it on the backburner and went back to the paper. After about an hour, went for a taste, Hannah spotted the cinnamon flavour was well and truly present so we fished out the sprig and left it for few more hours to do its thing.

The next day I heated up a small saucepan of it, and had it with some great new pasta we came across. An organic wholemeal spelt trofie style pasta. I'm not a huge fan of packet wholemeal, but this was really tender and tasty.

My thoughts on the sauce. It was very tasty, I liked the subtle cinnamon and clove flavour. It had a vibe of my Nonna's sauce but not as red and with more vegies. For this first phase of the mission, it was a good step forward, but I have a long way to go. Next time, I'm gonna try experimenting with some nutmeg and oregano and majoram. Perhaps adding more tomotoes or some paste and a wee bit more chilli. Eventually I will like to go old school and not use mince, but get some veal shoulder and stew that til it falls apart into bite size pieces.

The saga continues...

Perfect Pumpkin Soup

Marco: You just gotta love winter comfort food!

Hannah whipped up a delicious pumpkin soup the other night.

I can never have pumpkin soup again if it's not topped with crumbled fetta, toasted pine nuts and sesame seeds and fresh rocket! Delicious!

Hannah: I love pumpkin soup, but find that too many recipes are either just boiled pumpkin with loads of cream or so many things added, you hardly taste the pumpkin. So as I wanted to make something healthy and delicious my plan was: heaps of pumpkin, a good stock and some onion and garlic for flavour. The added fetta, pine nuts and rocket at the end were just inspired at the last minute from looking in the fridge!

Roast pumpkin is my absolute favourite – it makes the pumpkin super sweet and gives it a nice rich flavour! So, after drizzling some good olive oil in a roasting tray, I cut a whole butternut pumpkin into 1-2 inch chunks, chucked in 2 whole cloves of garlic (peeled – these also go super sweet) and roughly chopped up a whole onion. Everything can be rough, because it’ll all be blended up in the end.

So, while that was roasting away (I think I did it for about 1 ½ hours on 180deg), I made a simple chicken veggie stock. I love making stocks, because if you have a good one, it will make your meal amazing! So, considering that I put garlic and onion in with the pumpkin, I only used one clove of garlic and half an onion in the stock, I slowly caramelised these together. Then I just chucked in what I had in the fridge (too lazy to walk to the shops on such a cold day) which was: one carrot, one celery stick (with leaves) and one tomato. I kept the quantities small because it’s all about the pumpkin after all! I fried these off for just a minute or two with the onion and garlic then poured in about 1 ½ litres of boiling water and a teaspoon of powdered chicken stock. Then I just let this sizzle away until the pumpkin was finished roasting.

I let both the pumpkin and the stock cool down for about 20 mins then chucked it all in the blender. But, because I like it thick, I ended up not over doing the blending or the stock quantity, so it was smooth but nice and thick. Then, when we were ready to eat, I heated up the blended mixture in a big pot – do this slowly though, because otherwise it boils and plops everywhere (I made quite a mess). I quickly dry-fried some pine nuts, crumbled a little bit of fetta and a small handful of rocket on top – and it was yum! Perfect for winter!

Cheers,
Hannah

Rainbow Trout Sicilian Style

Roasting is just the easiest way to cook, you spend about 15 minutes preparing, then chuck it in the oven and walk away while the house fills with delicious aromas!

Here's something I quickly whipped up last night. I had stocked up on fish recently at the local fish marked in Marrickville. Grabbed some amazing looking local ocean rainbow trout.

I had never cooked it before, so I decided to keep it simple, knowing its a rich fleshy fish. So I just seared it in a pan with salt and pepper on both sides and then added a glass of white wine. Put a lid on it for a bit, then chucked it in the oven to slowly roast away. Served it with some roasted egglant with diced tomato, garlic, basil and pine-nuts. (Should've added anchovy) Had crunch cos and rocket salad on the side. Felt pretty posh on these big plates, but the fish just wouldn't fit on out other ones. This was way too easy and the kind of thing you would get charged a mozza for in restaurants.

Hand made Spaghetti with Pesto and Grape Tomatoes

Fresh from getting soaked at the Addison Rd Growers Market, (every sunday at the Addison Rd, Community Centre in Marrickville - near Reverse Garbage) we whipped up some fresh spaghetti, cranking up the pasta maker for the first time in our new kitchen. At the markets, we grabbed some delicious grape tomatoes, and the biggest bunch of basil and without even planning it we had the makings of delicious pesto on our hands!

Hannah worked her magic on the spaghetti. We hadn't tried this before, only making tagliatelle so far, so it was a bit fiddly and got a bit mushy, but still it was delicious. Nothing better than freshly made pasta! The pesto was so easy and being a classic Genovese sauce, it's not something I have grown up eating or seeing made. But with a good whizz and loads of good parmesan, olive oil and toasted pine-nuts you can't go wrong really!

Stay tuned for a recipe shortly.

It went down beautifully with a glass of of our favourite white wine, from Willow Bridge which is usually around the $11 mark!

Marco.

Mmmm burgers.

How good to these look? Wholemeal bread rolls (only 30cents each), with fresh tomatos, mixed lettuce, a slice of cheese, caremalised onions and of course home made patties! Oh, and don't forget the tomato saunce and mustard! Served with a pint of lemon, lime and bitters and it made a perfect lunch for a big hunger!

Dan's Bega Dinners

No doubt to become a regular feature on Pot Belly, here is the first installment of some awesome meals being whipped up down south, note well the cast iron cookware!




Marco, this is beautiful. i'll keep up to date with ya scoffings.

Tonight I couldn't help but photograph what I whipped up. Spiral and Penne pasta handled with macadamia and extra virgin olive oil topped with cherry tomatoes from the garden, fresh home made pesto (basil from the garden), olives and grated cheese. so simple yet oh so delicious.

And then there is a very famous photo from a few years back at the cave. WAS a fettucini neopolitana with corn and tuna. Went down a treat as does almost all meals when cooked on an open fire with nothing but fresh air, vitalised water from the Colo River and a rock to call home.

will keep the pics coming from the Bega Bounty.

Willi

Hot but healthy Brekky

Big breakfasts don't have to be filled with bacon, snags and hash browns, (not that there's anything wrong with that!), creamy avocado, poached eggs, fresh leg ham, wilted spinach drizzled with olive oil can hit the spot too. On delicious crusty bread, freshly grilled tomotoes and the perfect Atomic cappuccino, well its best way to spend a Sunday morning really.

Soba Noodles with Chinese Style Pork

A very delicious rip off of a classic northern chinese noodle dish from classic noodle houses, like Shanghai Nights in Ashfield. But served with loads of coriander too!

Stay tuned for recipe. Served with David Mazzolo's home brew!