Chocolate Cappuccino Mousses

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Ever since our daughter Catherine decided that the plural of chocolate mousse should really be mice, the name has stuck.  In our family everyone loves chocolate mice.  I make them in small glasses and if they’re not for a special occasion I put them in the fridge in a flat dish with a shower cap over the top.  Over a few days they quietly disappear.

I usually make them with dark or white chocolate, but decided to create one with a cappuccino flavour.  Nigella Lawson makes a chocolate mousse using marshmallows instead of eggs, so I used her recipe to develop one with a coffee layer on top of a dark chocolate layer.  The 250g packet of marshmallows I bought had both pink and white, so I divided them in half.  There were uneven quantities, so I had to put a few pink ones in with the white ones.  I think using mainly white ones for the coffee layer you end up with a nicer colour.

Chocolate Layer:
125g pink or white marshmallows
½ cup boiling water
75g unsalted butter
250g dark chocolate, broken into squares
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup (250ml) cream, lightly whipped
Coffee Layer:
125g white marshmallows
½ cup boiling water
2 Tbs instant coffee powder
75g unsalted butter
250g white chocolate, broken into squares
1 cup (250ml) cream, lightly whipped
To serve: whipped cream and grated or piped chocolate

Place all ingredients for chocolate layer, except the cream, in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat gently, stirring until melted.  You don’t want the mixture to get too hot, so once the mixture is hot but not boiling, turn the heat off and let everything continue to melt in the residual heat.  By the time the marshmallows and chocolate has all melted the mixture should be fairly cool and beginning to thicken.  If not, wait until it is then thoroughly fold the lightly whipped cream into the mixture and divide between about 10 half-cup glasses.  They should be about two thirds full.

Dissolve coffee in the boiling water, then place all ingredients for the coffee layer, except the cream, in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat gently.  Again turn off the heat before the mixture boils and let the ingredients melt in the residual heat.  When mixture is fairly cool and thickening, thoroughly fold the lightly whipped cream into the mixture, then divide between the glasses.

Refrigerate several hours.  Serve decorated with some extra cream, whipped, or grated chocolate.  In the photo they are decorated with piped melted chocolate in the shape of a treble clef, as they were for a musical evening.

Serves about 10 or 12, depending on the size of the glass

Dukkah

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Dukkah is a quick and easy Middle Eastern snack to serve with drinks.  It’s basically a mix of roasted then ground nuts and seeds, served with fresh bread and olive oil.

You can use any mixture of nuts you have available.  Sesame seeds are essential and while I’ve seen recipes which use fennel seeds, I prefer coriander and cumin.

Dukkah
125g shelled nuts (pine nuts, skinned hazelnuts, almonds or a mixture)
2 Tbs sesame seeds
2 Tbs whole coriander seeds
2 Tbs whole cumin seeds
salt (preferably Maldon flakes or similar) and freshly ground black pepper
chilli powder (optional)
To serve: extra virgin olive oil and fresh bread

Place nuts and seeds in a heavy frying pan.  Stir over moderate heat for several minutes or until nuts start to brown and seeds start to pop.  Cool then blitz in a food processor until finely ground.  Don’t over-process or mixture will become oily and sticky.  Add salt and pepper to taste and a little chilli powder if using.  You will need to add between one and two teaspoons of salt.  Store in a sealed container in the fridge and serve with olive oil and fresh bread –  the idea is to dip the bread in the oil first, so the dukkah sticks.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

In the photo you can also see balsamic vinegar and sundried tomato pesto, which also go well with the oil and dukkah.

Healthy dinners

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I’m always looking for healthy but tasty dishes to serve during the week. Low in carbs and calories, but appetising and quick.  On Monday we had baked salmon with lentils – sauté a chopped onion in a little olive oil until soft, then add a drained and rinsed can of lentils, a tablespoon of vinegar, a couple of tablespoons of chopped herbs (I used dill), salt and pepper and cook, stirring for 2-3 minutes.  Meanwhile place the salmon portions on an oven tray lined with a piece of lightly oiled foil (great way to save on washing up!), season then bake in a preheated hot oven (200C) for about 7-8 minutes – we like it fairly rare inside.   Serve salmon on a bed of lentils with a lemon wedge to squeeze on top.

Last night we had zucchini (courgettes) with pork burgers.  The burger recipe came from one of Bill Granger’s books which I flicked through while we were in Newcastle last weekend, staying with our daughter and her family.   The zucchini recipe I cut out of a magazine some time ago.  The zucchini were from the garden, so of course they were even more delicious!

Pork Burgers

500g pork mince
½ cup fresh breadcrumbs
½ onion, grated
1 Tbs chopped parsley
1 egg
1 tsp fennel seeds, toasted and crushed with a mortar and pestle
S and P

Mix all together in a bowl then form into four burgers about 10cm in diameter.  Cook on an oiled griddle pan over moderate heat for 5-7 minutes each side, or until cooked through.  Serve as Bill suggests, in a toasted bun with rocket, red onion and roasted red capsicum and sweet potato fries on the side.  Or as we had them, just as they were, with a green vegetable.

Serves 4

Lemon Zucchini with Pine Nuts

3-4 medium zucchini (courgettes)
2 Tbs olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
Pinch of crushed dried chilli, or some fresh chilli, or chilli paste
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 Tbs roughly chopped parsley
2 Tbs pine nuts, toasted
S and P

Wash and dry zucchini, cut off the ends then quarter lengthwise and cut into 3-4cm sticks.  Heat oil in a large frying pan.  Add zucchini and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes.  Add garlic and chilli and continue to cook until zucchini is starting to colour and soften.  Add lemon juice and zest and continue to cook, stirring, until the liquid has been absorbed.  Season with S and P, stir through the parsley and serve sprinkled with the pine nuts.

Serves 4 as a side dish

A mid-week BBQ

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Some neighbours have sold their house and are moving, so we invited them round for a farewell BBQ dinner. With drinks I served Tuna and Avocado Spoons, drizzled with a Wasabi dressing. Invented by my daughter Catherine, these delicious mouthfuls make the most of sashimi grade tuna and are made in a jiffy.

For the main course we barbecued some Chicken and Chorizo kebabs and served them with Crispy Potatoes with Bacon and Rosemary (Delicious magazine February 2012) and Shaved Fennel and Zucchini Salad topped with crumbled feta – another winner from Catherine. For dessert a crustless Lemon Tart with cream. The weather has suddenly turned wintry so we had to eat inside. A week ago we were able to sit outside until eleven when some other friends joined us for dinner. It’s been a very strange summer weather-wise.

Tuna and Avocado Spoons with Wasabi Dressing

200-250g piece of sashimi-grade tuna
1 or 2 avocados, halved and thinly sliced
Fresh Coriander leaves
Lightly toasted sesame seeds to garnish – black ones look good
Dressing:
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs soy sauce
1½ Tbs sesame oil
2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
1 Tbs brown sugar
¼ tsp wasabi paste, or to taste

Slice tuna thinly. This is easier to do if the tuna has been frozen and is only partially thawed. Arrange a piece on Chinese spoons, top each with a slice of avocado and a coriander leaf. Drizzle with dressing, sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve when the tuna has thawed – it will only take a few minutes.

Dressing: Place all ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake vigorously.

Makes 16-20 spoons

Chicken and Chorizo Kebabs

1kg boned and skinned chicken thighs
About 1.5kg raw chorizo sausages
Marinade:
1 Tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp smoked paprika (or ordinary paprika is fine)
1 Tbs lemon juice
2 tsp brown sugar

Soak about 16 wooden skewers in cold water for 20 mins or so. Place marinade ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine. Trim chicken to remove any fat or gristle and cut into 2.5cm cubes and add to marinade. Stir to combine – chicken will pretty much absorb it. Cut the sausages into 1cm slices. Thread chicken and chorizo onto skewers, alternating them. Leave aside in a dish to continue marinating. Can be made ahead and kept covered in the fridge for several hours or overnight.

Cook on a medium-hot barbecue for 8-10 minutes each side or until cooked through.

Makes about 16 kebabs

Shaved Fennel and Zucchini Salad with Dill and Feta

1 or 2 zucchini depending on size, sliced very thinly
1-2 bulbs of fennel, depending on size, sliced very thinly
2/3 cup fresh dill, roughly chopped
½ cup toasted pine nuts
100g feta cheese
4-5 handfuls rocket leaves
Dressing:
¼ cup lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil
salt to taste
1 tsp honey

The quickest way to cut the zucchini (courgettes) and fennel is through the slicing blade of a Magimix or using a mandoline. Place in a bowl with dill and rocket. Place dressing ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake vigorously. Mix dressing with salad then pile into a shallow flattish serving dish. Sprinkle the pine nuts and crumbled feta over the top.

Crispy Potatoes with Bacon and Rosemary

1 kg potatoes cut into 3cm cubes (I used kipfler from the garden)
2-3 sprigs rosemary, leaves picked off
1/4 cup + 1 Tbs olive oil
3 rashers bacon, finely chopped
2 onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 Tbs chopped parsley

If liked peel the potatoes or just scrub them well and cut into cubes. Line a roasting pan with baking paper and set the oven to 180°C. Mix potatoes with 1/4 cup olive oil, rosemary leaves, salt and pepper to taste. Tip into the roasting pan and roast for about 40 minutes, or until golden, stirring once or twice during cooking time.. Meanwhile heat 1 Tbs olive oil in a frying pan and cook bacon for 2 minutes, stirring, then add onion and garlic and continue to cook for 8-10 minutes until soft. Add onion and bacon to the potatoes, mix through then continue to bake for a further 10 mins. Mix in the parsely and serve.

Crustless Lemon Tart

120g butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
4 eggs, separated
250ml cream
1/2 cup lemon juice
finely grated rind of 2 lemons
120g self-raising, sifted

Preheat oven to 170°C. Lightly butter a ceramic quiche or similar round dish and line the bottom with baking paper. With electric beaters, beat the egg whites until they hold soft peaks. In another bowl with the same beaters, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg yolks, cream and lemon juice and rind. Fold in the sifted flour and lastly the egg whites, in two batches. Tip into the dish and bake for about 25-35 minutes or until set to the touch and golden. Turn off the oven, open the door and leave the tart to cool in the oven.

When cool, refrigerate until serving time. Dust with icing sugar and serve with thick cream.

Serves 8-10

Note: the reason for whipping the egg whites first even though you add them last is simply to save having to wash the beaters. Egg whites must be whipped with clean beaters.,

Chocolate and Orange Gateau

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Friends hosted a New Year’s Eve party where everyone brought a plate.  I’ve heard lots of funny stories about new Australians not understanding this concept and turning up with just a plate.  Indeed my Greek teacher Michael Kazan told me that when he first arrived in Canberra from Athens and someone asked him to bring a plate, he thought to himself that if his hosts didn’t have enough plates, they probably didn’t have enough cutlery or glasses either.  So he took those as well.

As my contribution to the New Year’s party I took an Orange, Almond and Chocolate Dessert Cake – another recipe from the December edition of Delicious magazine.  I’ve renamed it Chocolate and Orange Gateau and made my own chocolate-covered orange slices rather than buying them.  My fan-forced oven is too hot at 180C for some cakes, especially ones which require longer cooking, so I set it at just under 170C which worked perfectly.

Chocolate and Orange Gateau

Chocolate-covered orange slices:
2 oranges
2 cups water
3/4 cup sugar
150g dark chocolate
Cake:
2 oranges
150g dark chocolate
5 eggs
400g caster sugar
350ml sunflower or canola oil (just under 1 1/2 cups)
1 cup almond meal
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup orange liqueur
Ganache:
1 cup thickened cream
350g dark chocolate broken into squares
To serve:
Whipped cream (optional)

For the chocolate-covered orange slices, cut oranges into 1/4 inch slices, discarding the ends which have no flesh in them.  Heat sugar and water in a large frying pan, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Add orange slices, then simmer for 30-40 minutes, turning them from time to time, until the syrup thickens and disappears.  You will need to pay attention towards the end so they don’t stick or burn.  Remove orange slices with tongs to a cake cooling rack.  You can either leave them as whole slices or cut them in half.  They are best made the day before or several hours before serving so they have time to dry out a bit.  When they are dry enough, melt chocolate and dip half the orange slices into the chocolate, then leave to set on baking paper.

For the cake, place oranges in a large saucepan, cover with water, bring to the boil then simmer for about 30 minutes or until tender when pierced with a knife.  Drain and process to a smooth puree in a food processor, then cool.  Preheat oven to 170C.  Grease and line a 24cm spring form cake pan with baking paper.  Place chocolate in a bowl over simmering water (don’t let bowl touch water) to melt, then cool a bit.

In a large mixing bowl whisk eggs, sugar and oil then gradually mix in the orange puree, almond meal and melted chocolate.  Add flour, baking powder and cocoa through a sieve and fold in thoroughly by hand. Pour into cake pan and bake for an hour and 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.  Cover top loosely with foil if it’s browning too quickly.  Cool for 10 minutes in pan, then invert onto a wire rack.  Drizzle with liqueur then cool completely.

For ganache heat cream to boiling point in a saucepan, then add chocolate, turn off the heat and stir until smooth.  Allow to stand at room temperature until thick enough to spread over the cake, stirring from time to time.  Spread ganache over top and sides of cooled cake with a palette knife and decorate with chocolate-covered orange slices.  If liked serve with whipped cream.

Serves 16

Note: if you don’t have any almond meal you can make your own by blitzing some blanched almonds in the food processor.  If you don’t have any almonds you can substitute walnuts or even pine nuts.  You could substitute self-raising flour for the plain flour and baking powder.

Lamb on the BBQ

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With a growing family, we had two Christmas lunches this year.  With visitors from overseas, it was simply impossible to do everyone on one day.

For the second family gathering I decided to barbecue a boned leg of lamb, using a recipe from the December edition of Delicious magazine.  It’s one of the best food magazines on the market and I have a subscription.  Always full of inspiring ideas.  Here is my slightly adapted version which was delicious.  Boning a leg of lamb is not as hard as it looks – just keep cutting the meat away from the bone at one end, then start on the other end and eventually you will meet up and be able to pull it out!  The magazine suggested serving the lamb with a cucumber, tomato and spinach salad, with a lemony dressing, topped with toasted sesame seeds, which went very well.  The recipe called for Harissa, which I didn’t have, but Sambal Oelek was a perfect substitute.

Chermoula Lamb with Yoghurt Dressing

1 large leg of lamb, boned
Marinade:
4 cloves garlic
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
A handful of fresh coriander
A handful of fresh mint
2 Tbs Harissa or Sambal Oelek (both are chilli pastes)
Grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbs olive oil
Dressing:
250g thick Greek-style yoghurt
A handful of chopped fresh mint
2 preserved lemon quarters
Garnish:
A few fresh coriander sprigs
A few slivers of preserved lemon, extra

After removing the bone from the lamb, cut through the part where it’s still joined, so you can open the meat out flat.  Place in a ceramic dish.  Place dressing ingredients in food processor and process until smooth.  Pour over lamb, turn to coat thoroughly.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate several hours or overnight.

Next day remove meat from marinade and cook on a medium to hot BBQ until done to liking.  If you leave the meat spread out some parts will be quite thin, so they will be rather well done by the time the thicker bits are cooked.  So if you prefer your meat medium-rare, use some kitchen string to form it back into a round shape with the skin on the outside.  As the meat is cooking, baste regularly with remaining marinade.  If the meat has been left spread out it will take 15-20 minutes each side.  If reformed into a round shape with string, it will take about an hour.  A meat thermometer is a good investment for getting it right.

Let the meat rest, covered loosely with foil, for about 10 minutes then slice thinly and arrange on a serving platter.  Garnish with the coriander and a few slivers of preserved lemon.  Serve yoghurt dressing separately.

Dressing:  Rinse the lemon quarters, discarding the pulpy part.  Finely chop the skin, then mix into the yoghurt with the mint.

Serves 8-10

Roast Fillet of Beef with Fresh Herb Dressing

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Last week my friend Ferne asked me what we were having for Christmas lunch.  I said we were having a cold buffet and mentioned a recipe for roast beef with a fresh herb dressing that I was thinking of doing from an old Women’s Weekly cookbook.   It’s perfect for a summer buffet.

I haven’t made it for quite some time but said I would dig it out.  Ferne said if you find it, please send it to me.  I have about 30 Women’s Weekly cookbooks – they were all the rage in the 70s and 80s – and typically it was in the last one I opened, called Celebration Cookbook.  Here is my slightly adapted version.

Roast Beef with Fresh Herb Dressing

1 whole beef eye fillet, weighing 1.5-1.8kg, trimmed of fat and sinew
 1 Tbs whole black peppercorns, coarsely crushed
30g butter
2 Tbs vegetable oil
Whole flat parsley leaves to garnish
Dressing:
1 Tbs chopped parsley
1 Tbs chopped fresh chives
3 green (spring) onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
2 tsp chopped fresh tarragon or 1 tsp dried
1 Tbs capers, chopped if large
2 tsp drained canned green peppercorns
1 tsp hot English mustard
1/2 cup tarragon or white wine vinegar
1/2 cup vegetable oil or olive oil
1 tsp sugar

Preheat oven to 180°C.  Trim beef, tie into a neat shape with string. Roll in peppercorns and press them in.  Heat butter and oil in a roasting pan.  Add beef and cook briefly all over until sealed.   Place beef in the oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes for medium-rare, or until cooked to liking.  A meat thermometer is useful for getting it right and should read 55°C for medium-rare.  Remove from the oven, cool to room temperature, remove string.  Slice beef thinly and arrange on serving dish in overlapping rows.  Top with dressing, garnish with parsley leaves.  Serve remaining dressing separately.

Dressing: Place all ingredients in a jam jar with a lid and shake vigorously.

Serves 10-12 as part of a buffet.

Note: Beef can be cooked and dressing made the day before serving.  Store both in the fridge well covered.

Saturday lunch in the garden

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In the warmer months we like to have Saturday lunch in the garden, under the shade of our olive tree.  With a red and white check tablecloth and a bottle of chilled Sauvignon Blanc, you can almost imagine you’re in a little bistro in the south of France.

When you have time it’s nice to have something a bit more exotic for lunch than the usual weekday sandwich, so today I made some potato cakes and served them with smoked salmon and a mustard sauce.

Smoked Salmon with Potato Cakes, Mustard Sauce and Chives

4 medium to large potatoes
1 tsp salt
2 Tbs plain flour
1 egg
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 or 8 slices smoked salmon (depending on appetite!)
1-2 Tbs snipped chives or dill
50g butter
2 Tbs olive oil
Mustard Sauce:
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp hot English mustard
3 tsp grainy mustard
1 tsp honey (optional)

Coarsely grate potatoes, place them in a sieve and sprinkle with salt.  Leave for 20 minutes or so, mixing with your hand from time to time.  Place potatoes in a clean tea towel then use it to squeeze out as much liquid as you can.  In a bowl mix potatoes with flour, egg and pepper. In another small dish, mix all the ingredients for the sauce together.

Heat half the oil with half the butter in a large frying pan.  Use about half the potato mixture to make four pancakes.  Cook over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes each side or until golden brown and cooked through.  Drain on paper towels.  Heat remaining butter and oil and repeat with the rest of the mixture to make another 4 pancakes.  Place two pancakes on each of four plates, slightly overlapping.  Top with smoked salmon, folded decoratively into the rough shape of a rose and concealing any darker parts underneath.  Top with a dollop of sauce and sprinkle with chives or dill.

Serves 4

Curry in a Slow Cooker

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When it comes to cooking I’m always looking for short cuts.  Not because I don’t like it – quite the opposite – but I just don’t seem to have as much time to devote to the kitchen as my paternal grandmother Jessie did.  I know she managed without a washing machine or a dishwasher and kept her own chickens.  But most of her supplies were delivered to the door (actually I don’t think she could drive) and she didn’t do emails, Facebook or a blog.

I’ve always been a great fan of slow cookers.  Perfect for days when you want to come home and find something ready for dinner which has been looking after itself for hours.  You hardly even have to stir the food – just once in a while to see how it’s going.

I’ve had my slow cooker – which is called a Crock Pot – for over 30 years and wouldn’t part with it for quids. If you keep your eyes open you can sometimes pick one up for a song in a secondhand shop. I often convert recipes intended for conventional cooking and make them in the slow cooker.  The main rule is to cut down drastically on the amount of liquid – start with very little – you can always add more.

This beef korma is adapted from a recipe by Michael Pandya in his Complete Indian Cookbook first published in 1980.  My grandmother Jessie, who gave me my first cooking lessons when I was eleven, always put a teaspoon of salt into anything sweet and a teaspoon of sugar into anything savoury, to bring out the flavour, so I always do the same.

Beef Korma

2 large onions
4 Tbs ghee or vegetable oil
50g blanched almonds
50g fresh ginger, peeled
1 tsp salt
1 Tbs coriander seeds, ground in a mortar and pestle, or use ready-ground
1 Tbs cumin seeds, ground in a mortar and pestle, or use ready-ground
8 whole cloves, ground in a mortar and pestle, or use 1/2 tsp ground
8 black peppercorns, ground in a mortar and pestle, or use 1/2 tsp ground
1-2 tsp chilli powder, to taste
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp garam masala
1 kg stewing beef, such as chuck steak, trimmed and cut into 2-3cm cubes
1 cup thick plain yoghurt
1 cup water
Fresh coriander, chopped and 2 Tbs extra plain yoghurt, to garnish

Peel onions, halve then slice.  Fry gently in a large frying pan in half the oil.  When soft place in the slow cooker.  In a food processor, process remaining ingredients except meat, yoghurt, water and coriander.  Add remaining oil to frying pan and when hot fry the meat, stirring constantly, until browned.  If your pan is not sufficiently hot it’s better to brown the meat in two batches.  Add the spice mixture and stir to coat thoroughly.  Keep cooking and stirring until the spices smell fragrant.  Place meat in slow cooker with yoghurt and half the water.  Turn the slow cooker on high, cover and cook for 4 hours or until meat is tender, adding the remaining water if necessary and stirring from time to time.  If preferred you can cook for about 7 hours on low.  If you have to go out it’s a good idea to turn it to low as it can look after itself for hours at that temperature.  Before serving, taste to see if it needs more salt.

Garnish with a swirl of yoghurt and the coriander and serve with steamed rice, Indian bread and maybe an Indian chutney or pickle.  A side dish of Cucumber Raita (cucumber and plain yoghurt) goes well.  There are plenty of recipes online.

Serves 8-10

Preparing ahead

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The secret to stress-free entertaining is having as much as possible prepared before the guests arrived.  Last night two couples we hadn’t seen for some time joined us for dinner, so I chose a menu which involved a couple of hours of preparation, but would leave me free to enjoy their company.

We started off with Prawn, Avocado and Tomato Tian with Green Shallot Dressing, adapted from a recipe by Curtis Stone which uses crab rather than prawns.  Crab is expensive and often difficult to find, whereas cooked prawns are readily available and often on special.  I had all the elements ready in the fridge and just had to assemble the tians before we sat down.  In Curtis Stone’s recipe he used beefsteak tomatoes and managed to cut circles for the tops of the tians.  My tomatoes weren’t big enough, so I had to use several pieces.

Prawn, Avocado and Tomato Tian with Green Shallot Dressing

Prawn Layer
1 kg cooked prawns, shelled and deveined (about 500g shelled weight)
Juice of 1/2 a lemon or one lime
2 Tbs mayonnaise, preferably home-made
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Avocado Layer
3 ripe avocados
1/2 red onion, very finely chopped
Juice of 1/2 a lemon or one lime
2 Tbs mayonnaise, preferably home-made
1 small red chilli, seeded and finely chopped (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Tomato Layer:
6-8 large ripe tomatoes
Salt flakes, such as Maldon
Olive oil
Green Shallot Dressing
4 spring onions, mostly the green tops
1 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup white wine or white balsamic vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place prawns in food processor.  Pulse a few times to chop roughly but still leave some large chunky bits.  Mix with remaining ingredients for prawn layer, cover and refrigerate until serving time.  Peel and dice avocados and mix with remaining ingredients, cover and refrigerate.  Cover tomatoes with boiling water for 1-2 minutes.  Refresh under a cold tap, then cut a cross on the bottoms and remove skins.  Cut tops off the tomatoes – just far enough down so you get rid of where the stalk was – then remove all seeds and pulp and discard.  It’s easier to do this if you make a cut down the side of the tomato.  You should be left with just the outer layer of each tomato in one large piece which you can flatten out.  Place on a plate lined with paper towel and refrigerate.  Place all ingredients for dressing in food processor, process until smooth, then place in a small jug or a bottle with a squirty top.

Just before serving time use stacking rings to assemble the tians – prawn layer, then avocado layer.  If you’re only making six servings you will have some prawn and avocado leftover.  Lastly cut pieces of tomato to cover the top – doesn’t matter if it’s like a jigsaw puzzle.  Brush tomato with a little olive oil and sprinkle with a few flakes of salt.  Drizzle some dressing around each tian, lift off the rings and serve.

Serves 6-8

For the main course I served lamb cutlets with mint pesto.  Crunchy roast potatoes and pea puree went down well with this.  Boil the halved potatoes until they are almost done, then drain, place on baking paper on an oven tray and spray with oil.  You can do them ahead to this stage, then just bake for about half an hour or so in a hot oven until brown and crispy.  For the peas boil half a kilo of frozen peas in salted water.  When tender blitz in the food processor with a lump of butter and about 2 Tbs of cream.  Season to taste then push the puree through a sieve.  This can also be done ahead and reheated in the microwave in a covered bowl.  For each serving put a circle of pea puree in the centre of the plate, then arrange two potatoes (propped up against each other looks good) and two lamb cutlets on top,  with a blob of mint pesto on each cutlet.   You will have to cook the cutlets at the last minute but they don’t take long.  Just season then pan fry in a tiny amount of olive oil for 2-3 minutes each side.

Mint Pesto

1 bunch mint, washed, leaves removed
2 Tbs grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup pine nuts
2 tsp honey
1 clove garlic, crushed
Between 1/4 and 1/2 cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 Tbs white balsamic vinegar or lemon juice

Place mint, Parmesan, pine nuts, honey and garlic in food processor and process until chunky, stopping once to scrape down the sides.  Add oil through the feed chute with the motor running.  Stop when you have a thick spoonable pesto, then lastly add vinegar or lemon juice and seasoning to taste.  It should be slightly chunky, not completely smooth.  Place pesto in a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.  The top with darken, but if you give it a quick mix it will be a nice bright green when you serve it.

We finished off with individual Pineapple and Pepper Tarte Tatins – the usual butter and sugar caramel, but the pineapple rings were seasoned with coarsely ground black pepper – served with vanilla icecream.