Smoked Trout Salad with Tamarind Dressing

Posted on 15 April 2026 by Linda Peek

Whole smoked trout are sold in supermarkets in Australia in vacuum packs. The use by date allows you to keep them for a week or two in the fridge before they need to be eaten. Handy for those occasions when you peer into the fridge thinking “What can I make for dinner with what I’ve got?” One smoked trout is enough to make a light meal for two or three people.

Carefully remove the flesh in large chunks, discarding the skin and bones. Mix with freshly cooked pasta, adding a splash of cream and a few capers or chopped dill. Some halved baby tomatoes or rocket leaves are optional additions. Or try this delicious risotto.

Or make this Asian salad which is perfect as a starter for four or a light main dish for two.

Tamarind Dressing:
3 spring onions or small shallots
1 clove garlic
½ small red chilli, seeded and chopped
2 Tbs roasted peanuts or cashews
1 Tbs fish sauce
1 Tbs tamarind paste (sold in jars)
3 Tbs water
3 Tbs palm sugar, chopped, or substitute brown sugar
1 Tbs grated fresh ginger
Salad:
1 smoked trout, flesh removed, bones and skin discarded
2-3 cups small salad leaves or rocket
1 Tbs finely diced fresh lime (skin and flesh) (optional)
2 Tbs roasted peanuts or cashews, coarsely chopped
½ cup coriander leaves
Extra virgin olive oil

Dressing: Place spring onions or shallots, garlic, chilli and peanuts in food processor and process until you have a paste. Add remaining dressing ingredients and process, stopping to scrape down the sides halfway. Place paste in a saucepan and simmer for 3-4 minutes. It should be thick and a bit sticky. You may need to add a bit more water to get the right consistency. Cool.

Meanwhile arrange salad leaves on two plates. Top with the trout pieces, lime, peanuts and coriander leaves. Top each piece of smoked trout with some of the sauce, then drizzle a little olive oil around the edge of the plate.

Any leftover dressing is delicious served with cold roast meats.

Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a starter

Note: some supermarkets sell smoked trout fillets without skin or bones.

Variation: to serve as finger food, separate the leaves of 2 heads of chicory (witloof or witlof) and top each with a piece of smoked trout, the remaining toppings and some of the dressing.

Crispy Pork Dumpling Pancake

Posted on 8 April 2026 by Linda Peek

If you like crispy pork dumplings – called Gyoza or Pot Stickers – you will like this recipe for one big one. Variations have been going viral on social media, so I decided to give it a try and it was indeed delicious.

Instead of folding and sealing the pork filling into wonton or gyoza wrappers, everything just goes into the pan in layers, so it’s very quick. The flour and water mixture is a clever trick to make everything stick together.

This pancake was enough for two adults with a side salad, but I’m sure one of our hungry teenaged grandkids would have no trouble polishing off a whole pancake.

Can be served as a pull-apart finger food with the dipping sauce in a bowl on the side.

250g pork mince
2 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
½ tsp salt
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 Tbs grated fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 Tbs vegetable oil
12-16 gyoza or wonton wrappers
2 Tbs cornflour
1 Tbs plain flour
¾ cup water
Dipping sauce:
2-3 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs rice wine vinegar
2-3 tsp Crispy Chilli oil, to taste
To serve:
1 spring onion, finely sliced on the diagonal

Mix pork mince, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, spring onions, ginger and garlic. Heat vegetable oil in a medium sized non-stick frying pan which has a lid. Using a small ice cream scoop or a spoon, arrange scoops of the pork filling over the pan – using about a tablespoonful for each and leaving a little space between each one. You should have 12-16 little meatballs.

Cook for a couple of minutes until they are starting to brown underneath then lay the gyoza wrappers, one on each meatball, pressing down around the edges so they stick in place. The wrappers will overlap at the edges.

In a small bowl mix the cornflour, flour and water with a fork. Pour this mixture all over the dumplings, then cover with the lid and leave to cook for 5-7 minutes or until most of the liquid has gone.

Mix dipping sauce in a small bowl.

Remove the lid and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes or until the edges of the pancake are golden and crispy. Lift the edge with a spatula to check.

Turn off the heat, run a spatula around the edge, then invert the pancake onto a serving plate. Drizzle dipping sauce over the top or serve separately. Garnish with the spring onion and serve immediately.

Serves 2

Eggplant with Soy-Garlic Mince

Posted on 1 April 2026 by Linda Peek

I’ll definitely be making this eggplant dish again. It’s delicious and very quick to make.

I used pork but you can use any minced meat, such as chicken, turkey or beef. While it’s surprisingly filling on its own, for hungry people serve it with steamed rice and a side salad.

1 medium to large eggplant (aubergine)
2 Tbs olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the filling:
1 Tbs olive oil
1 small onion, halved and thinly sliced
250g pork or chicken mince
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 Tbs soy sauce
2 tsp honey
2 tsp rice wine vinegar
A pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
To serve:
Extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbs snipped chives
2 heaped Tbs thick Greek-style yoghurt

Preheat oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with baking paper. Cut eggplant in two lengthwise. Make parallel cuts through the flesh, about 1cm apart, almost down to the skin. Make parallel cuts in the other direction so you have a diamond pattern. Brush both sides of the eggplant with olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper. Bake for 35-40 minutes, turning halfway, until eggplant is soft and light golden.

Heat the 1 Tbs olive oil for the filling in a medium sized non-stick frying pan and cook the onion, stirring for 4-5 minutes or until soft. Add a pinch of salt and the chicken mince and continue to cook, breaking up the mince as you go. Add remaining ingredients and continue to cook, stirring, until the liquid has been absorbed.

Place eggplant halves on two serving plates. Spoon over the mince, then garnish with a drizzle of olive oil, some snipped chives and a dollop of Greek yoghurt.

Serves 2

Crispy Chicken Wings in the Air Fryer

Posted on 25 March 2026 by Linda Peek

Chicken wings are popular with all ages.

The secret ingredient in this recipe is a little baking powder, which makes them go nice and crispy. If you don’t have an air fryer you can of course make them in the oven, but I highly recommend investing in an air fryer. It’s really more like a mini fan-forced oven than a fryer. It doesn’t heat up the kitchen on a hot day, the way an oven does, and it’s quick and easy to clean. Ours gets a lot of use and I’m a big fan.

Chicken wings are much easier to eat with your fingers, so don’t forget the paper serviettes. I served them with coleslaw made from finely shredded white cabbage, grated carrot, a handful of sultanas and a dressing made with mayonnaise, a little sour cream and the juice of half a lemon.

1 kg chicken wings (about 10 wings)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp garlic salt or chicken salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Sauce:
1 Tbs BBQ sauce
1 Tbs tomato ketchup
2 tsp honey or maple syrup
1 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp hot sauce or chilli sauce (eg Sriracha – optional)

Remove ends of the wings and discard. Cut the wings into two and place in a bowl. Add the baking powder, garlic or chicken salt and pepper and mix well with your hands.

Cook the wings in a single layer on high in an air fryer for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Turn them over and cook for another 8-10 minutes.

Place ingredients for the sauce in a bowl and mix well. Add the chicken wings and turn to coat thoroughly. Tip them back into the air fryer and spread them out in one layer. They can be fairly crowded so long as they’re not on top of each other. Cook on high for 10 minutes or until nicely glazed.

Makes about 20 pieces.

Sweet & Salty Cheesecakes with Cherries & Crumble

Posted on 18 March 2026 by Linda Peek

Adapted from a recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi, these Sweet and Salty Cheesecakes with Cherries and Crumble are delicious. The saltiness of the feta cheese and the final drizzle of olive oil gives this dessert the sophisticated Mediterranean flourish I have come to expect from recipes by this innovative chef.

Two other recipes you can find on this blog which use olive oil as the secret ingredient are Watermelon Sorbet with Olive Oil and Maldon Sea Salt and Labneh with Summer Berries, another great Ottolenghi recipe.

The three components can be made in advance and the dessert put together at the last minute, making it perfect for entertaining. Leftovers will keep for several days in the fridge if they’re not polished off sooner by family members foraging for sustenance.

Instead of cherries you could use any fresh or poached fruit, such as sliced strawberries, poached rhubarb or peaches. For maximum impact serve in Martini or tall parfait glasses, although Ottolenghi just serves it scooped onto small flat plates.

Choose your best, fruity Extra Virgin olive oil to drizzle on top. You may be thinking “Olive oil, on a dessert?” Just give it a try.

Cream Cheese Mixture:
200g feta cheese
250g cream cheese (at room temp)
Grated rind and juice 1 large lemon
2-3 Tbs caster sugar, to taste
250ml thick cream (1 cup)
Cherry Compote:
680g jar Morello cherries in syrup (see note below)
1 Tbs sugar
Juice 1 large lemon
4 whole star anise
3 Tbs Grand Marnier or Cointreau (optional)
1 rounded Tbs Arrowroot + 3 Tbs cold water
Crumble:
125g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 cup Plain flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup slivered or flaked almonds
1 Tbs sesame seeds (preferably black ones)
Good pinch salt
To serve:
A few fresh berries (optional)
Extra Virgin Olive oil

Place feta, cream cheese, sugar, lemon rind and juice in food processor and mix till smooth. In a small bowl, whip cream with electric beaters until soft peaks form. Scrape cream into food processor and mix for a few seconds, just enough to thoroughly combine with the cheese mixture, stopping to scrape down the sides. Scrape into a container with a lid and refrigerate till serving time.

Drain and reserve cherries. Place juice in a small saucepan with sugar, lemon juice and star anise. Simmer for 5-10 mins then strain and discard the star anise. Put back in pan with the cherries. Add combined arrowroot and water and cook, stirring, until thickened. Add liqueur, pour into a container with a lid and refrigerate till serving time.

Pre-heat oven to 180ºC. Place flour, butter and brown sugar in food processor and process until it starts to clump together. Add nuts, sesame seeds and salt and process briefly to combine. Line a biscuit tray with baking paper. Tip out the crumble and spread out evenly, breaking up the larger clumps. Bake for 10-20 minutes or until evenly golden brown. After 10 minutes move the crumble around with a fork, bringing the more cooked sides into the middle. Cool then store in a container with a lid.

To serve, place a dollop of the cream cheese mixture in 8 Martini glasses. Top with some of the cherries, a few fresh berries (optional) and lastly sprinkle with crumble. Drizzle with olive oil and serve immediately.

Serves 8-12

Note: I used a jar of cherries from Aldi, but in season you can use fresh cherries, stoned and cooked with a little more sugar, or frozen ones if you can find them. The fruit will probably make enough juice as it cooks, but if not add a dash of water. Arrowroot is sold in the baking section of most supermarkets.

Variation: instead of using cherries slice a couple of punnets of strawberries and put them in a bowl. Add sugar to taste and a splash of white balsamic vinegar and leave to macerate for an hour or so.

Onion Jam

Posted on 11 March 2026 by Linda Peek

This onion jam (or you might prefer to call it onion chutney) goes well with cold meats such as beef, chicken, ham or pork and makes a tasty addition to beef or cheese sandwiches.

3 Tbs olive oil
1½ kg onions, peeled and thinly sliced
300g brown sugar
200ml red wine or cider vinegar
3 Tbs balsamic vinegar
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 Tbs wholegrain mustard
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp crushed chillies
½ tsp salt

Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan (I used a preserving pan) and gently fry the onions over a medium-low heat for 25-30 mins, stirring regularly. The onions should be softened but not browned, and reduced by about half in volume.

Stir in 3 Tbs of the sugar, increase the heat, and cook for 7-10 mins, stirring occasionally, until the onions are just starting to colour. Lower the heat, then add the remaining sugar and all the other ingredients.

Simmer, uncovered, on a medium-low heat for 30-40 mins, or until the jam has reduced and thickened to a dark caramel colour. Stir occasionally to make sure it isn’t sticking to the bottom of the pan.

To test if the onion jam is ready, drag a wooden spoon across the bottom of the pan. It should take a few seconds for the juices to re-cover the bottom of the pan.

Heat several small clean jars in the microwave for 2 mins on High. Fill them with the hot jam, then go around the edge pushing down with a knife, to remove any air pockets. Seal with the lids while hot. Label and store in a cupboard.

Makes 3-4 small jars

Longbench Couscous Salad

Posted on 4 March 2026 by Linda Peek

My daughter Catherine gave me this recipe way back in 2009 from her favourite lunch time cafe in Newcastle. It was called Longbench and was located in Darby Street, but sadly it has been closed for some years.

1 cup couscous
½ cup orange juice
½ cup boiling water
1 Tbs olive oil
Handful of baby rocket
Handful of mint leaves
1 medium eggplant
Handful of cocktail tomatoes
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup toasted almond slivers or pine nuts
½ red onion thinly sliced
½ cup dried currants
Tomato chutney
Halloumi cheese cut into 8 thick chunks
Dressing
1 cooked beetroot or 2, depending on size
¼ cup orange juice
Pinch cinnamon
1 Tbs. your favourite vinegar
1 Tbs sugar
2-3 Tbs olive oil

Mix couscous with the orange juice, boiling water and 1 Tbs olive oil. Cover and leave for 15 minutes then fluff it up with a fork.

Preheat oven to 200° C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Slice the eggplant about one cm thick and arrange on the tray with the tomatoes. Brush them all over with some olive oil and season to taste. Bake for 25 minutes or until the eggplant is evenly browned on both sides. Cut the eggplant slices into long strips.

To the bowl of couscous add the tomatoes, eggplant, rocket leaves, mint leaves, almonds or pine nuts, onion and dried currants. Divide amongst 4 serving plates. Top each with a dollop of tomato chutney and two pieces of halloumi cheese, panfried until golden. Finish with some beetroot dressing.

Dressing
Place all ingredients in food processor or blender and mix. Add enough olive oil to make a nice consistency.

Serves 4

Lamb and Fennel Ragu

Posted on 25 February 2026 by Linda Peek

This recipe uses two lamb shanks to make a delicious dinner to feed a family of six. Any leftovers freeze well. The crunchy topping is optional but it adds a lot to the dish.

This is a one-pot dish which doesn’t really need any sides, but you could always serve some steamed green beans or broccoli.

1 brown onion, peeled, halved and sliced
1 bulb fennel, trimmed, halved and sliced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1x400g can chopped tomatoes, or whole ones and cut them up
¼ cup brown sugar
1½ cups water
1 beef stock cube
2 tsp chilli sauce or paste (optional)
2 bay leaves
2 lamb shanks
1 can baked beans in tomato sauce
2 or 3 sheets of fresh lasagne, torn into 3cm pieces
Topping:
1 slice bread
1 Tbs butter or oil
2 Tbs fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
50g Parmesan cheese, grated
Extra virgin olive oil to serve

Preheat oven to 160°C. Place onion, fennel, garlic, tomatoes, brown sugar, water, stock cube, chilli paste and bay leaves in a heavy casserole dish with a lid. Mix then arrange the lamb shanks on top. Cover and cook for 3 hours or until the meat is falling off the bones. Stir from time to time during cooking time.

Remove lamb from the casserole, cut off the meat and put it back. Remove and discard bay leaves. Stir in the baked beans and add a little water if it’s looking too dry.

Cook lasagne in boiling salted water for 4 minutes or until al dente. Drain and mix into the casserole. Can be made to this stage and reheated later at serving time.

For the topping, make breadcrumbs with the bread by blitzing it in a food processor. Fry in the oil or butter in a small frying pan, stirring, until crisp and golden. Cool then mix with the rosemary and parmesan.

Serve casserole topped with the crunchy bread mixture. Drizzle a little EVOO around each serving, if liked.

Serves 6

Coconut Pudding

Posted on 18 February 2026 by Linda Peek

Serve this easy dessert, hot or cold, for a real coconut hit. Matthew doesn’t like coconut so I made it to take to my monthly lunch where we all speak French.

4 eggs
1 can condensed milk
1 can coconut cream
1 cup milk
250g desiccated or more coarsely shredded coconut
To serve:
Fresh berries
Cream

Preheat oven to 170C. Place eggs in a large mixing bowl and thoroughly break up with a hand whisk. Slowly add the other ingredients. Lastly mix in the coconut. Grease a baking dish. Mine is a square 9″ (22cm) lasagne-type dish. Scrape the mixture into the baking dish and smooth the top.

Bake for 25 mins or until evenly risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. I cooked mine for 35 minutes and I think it was about 5 minutes too long. You want it to be set but nice and moist. I got 16 portions out of mine, but as you can see, they are quite small.

Serve hot or cold with cream and berries.

Serves 12-16

Deux Baguettes S’il Vous Plaît

Posted on 11 February 2026 by Linda Peek

When he was eleven I asked our eldest son James to go into a bakery in a ski resort in France and buy “Deux baguettes s’il vous plaît” while I was double parked outside. I had been round the block twice and there was absolutely nowhere to park.

We sat outside the bakery for what seemed like a very long time with me saying come on you can do it and James saying he really didn’t want to. His more outgoing younger sister wanted him to hand over the money so she could go. But she didn’t need a confidence booster and I wanted him to do it. Eventually James went into the bakery and came out, beaming from ear to ear, one baguette under each arm.

I had completely forgotten this incident until James (now married with kids of his own) reminded me. He said he remembers it whenever he has to do something challenging, like public speaking.

A couple of weeks ago I decided to use the No Knead Bread recipe to make deux baguettes instead of the usual round loaf you make in a Le Creuset pot. I wasn’t sure if it would work, but decided to give it a go. Well the baguettes were amazing and I’ve made them three times since. Crisp and crunchy on the outside, soft and tender on the inside, the recipe makes two small baguettes or one very large one, which probably wouldn’t fit in my oven.

3 cups plain flour
1 heaped tsp salt
1 Tbs olive oil (optional)
¼ tsp dried yeast
1½ cups hot (not boiling) water from the tap
Extra flour
Sesame seeds (optional)

Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly with the blade of a knife. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or a tea towel and leave for a few hours. The amount of time you can leave it is flexible and varies a bit according to the weather. In the middle of summer it will be ready to go to the next stage in about three hours, but it’s okay if you leave it longer. When ready the dough will have doubled in size.

Sprinkle extra flour on work surface and scrape out the dough. Using a little extra flour as necessary, form dough into a non-sticky round, then cut in two and form each into a sausage shape about 30cm or 12″ long. Place side by side on a lightly greased oven tray, sprinkle with sesame seeds if liked, then leave aside while the oven heats up.

Heat the oven to 220°C. Bake bread for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and crisp all over. Cool on a cake rack. It freezes well.

Makes 2 small loaves or 1 large