Tag Archives: quick

Pear & Avocado Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing & Caramelised Walnuts

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A perfectly ripe pear and an avocado sitting next to each other in the fruit bowl provided the inspiration for this healthy week-end lunch. I’ve always liked the sweetness fresh fruit adds to an otherwise savoury salad. You can use any type of blue cheese and pecans instead of walnuts.

Two Pear Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing & Caramelised Walnuts2 baby cos lettuce hearts
1 large ripe pear
1 ripe avocado
2 tsp oil
About 20 walnut halves
2 tsp honey
Dressing:
½ cup vegetable oil of your choice
Juice of ½ lemon or lime
¼ cup cream or sour cream
2-3 Tbs blue cheese
Freshly ground black pepper
To serve:
Finely chopped parsley or chervil

Arrange lettuce on two plates. Peel and halve pear and remove core with a melon baller, arrange on plate. Peel avocado, remove stone, cut each half into slices but not quite to the narrow end, then fan out on the plate. Heat oil and cook walnuts for a minute or two, stirring. Add honey and continue to cook and stir until sticky and glazed then turn off the heat – be careful, they burn easily. Place all ingredients for dressing in food processor and process until smooth. Start with 2 Tbs cheese, then taste and see if it needs more. Drizzle some of the dressing over the salads, sprinkle with walnut halves and herbs.

Serves 2

Salmon in Pastry with Currants and Ginger

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Once it’s been passed on a few times, the origins of a recipe are often lost. I haven’t made this recipe for quite some time, but I remember it was given to me by my dear friend Maggie about 15 years ago. We started primary school together, so we go back a long way!

My friend Karen recently gave me two cook books by British cook book writer and critic Simon Hopkinson, called Roast Chicken and Other Stories and Second Helpings of Roast Chicken. As I was reading the first volume, voilà, there was Maggie’s salmon. Hopkinson says it’s his version of “a most famous creation by George Perry-Smith, one of the great pioneers who changed the eating habits of an apathetic British public.” Perry-Smith was greatly influenced by Elizabeth David and made his name at The Hole in the Wall in Bath, which opened in the late 1950s.

You can either make this in individual parcels or one large one and cut it into slices, which is what I decided to do this time. Hopkinson likes to serve it with a hollandaise sauce, lightened with whipped cream, but concedes that the dish is very rich and just as nice served with a wedge of lemon. The combination of crisp pastry, salmon, ginger and currants is unusual, but delicious. A simple watercress salad and some buttered new potatoes are all that you need to complete the meal. The potatoes took longer to cook than I thought they would, which meant that the salmon got a bit over-cooked as you can see in the photo. Next time I will put the potatoes on earlier!

I served the reheated leftovers with my Cucumber Salad which went extremely well.

Salmon in Pastry with Currants and Ginger2 Tbs currants
2 Tbs stem ginger in syrup, drained, or glace ginger
110g butter, at room temperature
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
A pinch of ground mace or nutmeg
375g puff pastry, bought or home-made
8-900g salmon fillet, skinned and boned
1 egg yolk, beaten

Pour boiling water over the currants and leave to swell for 5-10 minutes, then drain and pat dry on paper towels. Mix currants and finely chopped ginger into butter, then add mace or nutmeg and season to taste. Roll out pastry to a size which is slightly longer and wider than the salmon fillet. Lay the pastry on a lightly oiled baking tray. Spread the butter over the salmon fillet, then fold it over on itself lengthwise. Place on pastry, to one side. Fold over the pastry and seal all the way around. Press with the tines of a fork then trim off any excess to give a neat edge. Salmon can be prepared ahead to this stage and kept, loosely covered, in the fridge for up to several hours.

Pre-heat oven to 200°C. Brush salmon with egg yolk then bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown – you don’t want to overcook the salmon. Slice and serve with a wedge of lemon, lightly dressed watercress salad and boiled new potatoes, dressed with a knob of butter and some finely chopped parsley.

Serves 6

Velouté of Jerusalem Artichokes with Mussels

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Jerusalem artichokes are fondly known in our house as Fartichokes, for reasons that will be obvious. Once you have them growing in your garden, as we do, you have them forever. They are very hard to eradicate.

When the French explorer Samuel de Champlain discovered this vegetable in South America he sent samples back to France, saying that the flavour reminded him of globe artichokes. The Jerusalem part of the name is a corruption of the Spanish word girasol which means sunflower.

Jerusalem artichokes grow to a height of about two metres and produce a large yellow sunflower. In winter, after they’ve died down, you dig up the tubers which have formed under the plants, like potatoes. They look like very knobbly ginger which makes them a pain to peel, so we don’t bother. Just trim and scrub with a nail brush or similar. Matthew has some Darwinian theory that if he saves and replants only the more uniform tubers, then next year’s crop will be less knobbly. This theory has yet to be proven, but he’s working on it.

This recipe is loosely-based on one by Gordon Ramsey.

Velouté of Jerusalem Artichokes with MusselsSoup:
25g butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 kg Jerusalem artichokes, trimmed and scrubbed
1 litre chicken or vegetable stock, preferably home-made
1 cup cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Mussels:
1 kg mussels in shell, scrubbed and beards removed
25g butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 cup white wine
1 sprig fresh thyme
To serve:
Extra cream
2 Tbs finely chopped parsley

Soup: melt butter in a large heavy-based pan and cook the onion, gently, until soft and translucent. Add artichokes and stock and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until tender. Cool a bit then blend in a blender with the cream, until smooth. Put back into a clean saucepan. Can be prepared ahead to this stage.

Mussels: heat butter in a large heavy-based pan and cook onion, gently, until soft and translucent. Add mussels, wine and thyme, cover and cook for 5-10 minutes until mussels have opened and are cooked. Tip into a colander and reserve the liquid. When cool enough to handle, remove mussels from shells.

To serve, add the reserved liquid from the mussels to the soup and check for seasoning. Reheat and ladle into soup bowls. Arrange mussels on top (reheat 30 secs in microwave if they have got cold) and garnish with extra cream, chopped parsley and coarsely ground black pepper.

Serves 4-6

Roast Chicken with Spaetzle & Burnt Sage Butter

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Made from flour and eggs and cooked in boiling water, spaetzle is the German equivalent of pasta. A bit like gnocchi without the mashed potato. If you like making spaetzle it’s worth investing in a spaetzle-making gizmo. They’re not expensive – I bought mine for about $20 including postage from Fishpond.

I first ate spaetzle in Austria as a delicious dessert called Apfel Spaetzle. The little morsels of cooked dough had been stir fried in butter with sliced apples and spices, then doused with icing sugar. It might even have been stuck under a griller as there were some crispy crunchy bits.

It’s looking a bit wilted and sad, but my sage bush seems to be surviving the winter frosts. Although the recipe says burnt butter, it should actually be nut brown rather than burnt.

Roast Chicken with Spaetzle & Burnt Sage Butter1 whole chicken
25-30g butter
2 Tbs chopped fresh sage
Spaetzle:
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
3-4 Tbs milk

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Roast the chicken for an hour to an hour and a half, depending on size, seasoned with salt and pepper and a knob of butter.

Meanwhile, make the spaetzle. Mix eggs with flour, salt and enough milk to make a sticky mixture. Half fill a large pan with water and some salt and bring to the boil. Push the mixture through an oiled spaetzle maker into the water in batches. Alternatively you can drop small pieces of dough, about half a teaspoon at a time, into the water or push the dough through the holes of a metal collander. When the little dough balls rise to the top they are done. Remove with a slotted spoon to a collander.

When chicken is almost ready, heat butter in a frying pan. Allow it to brown, but be careful it doesn’t burn. Add the sage and cook for a minute or so, then add the spaetzle and cook for another minute, stirring, until they have absorbed the butter.

Divide spaetzle between 4 plates. Carve chicken and arrange on top of each serving. If liked drizzle some of the chicken pan juices over the top. Serve with a steamed green vegetable such as broccoli.

Serves 4

Deconstructed Ice Cream Sundae with Popcorn & Salted Caramel Sauce

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The idea for serving an ice cream sundae with a crunchy cone stuck on top, like a hat, came from the fairly new and very popular Canberra bistro called Eightysix. The idea for making a 2 litre container of bought vanilla ice cream more exciting, by adding halva and other ingredients came from Maggie Beer. I put these two ideas together for a quick and delicious dessert. Matthew said he wasn’t very hungry and would “share” mine. But after a few mouthfuls I knew I wouldn’t be able to leave half, so I told him to get his own.

If you can’t find halva – a Middle Eastern sweet made from nuts and sugar which tastes a bit like nougat – you could chop up a couple of Crunchie bars. The fresh mint really makes a difference, helping to cut through all that sweetness. If preferred you can leave the salt out of the caramel sauce. For an even quicker version of this dessert, just use plain vanilla ice cream.

Deconstructed Ice Cream Sundae with Popcorn & Salted Caramel Sauce

Ice Cream:
2 litres bought vanilla ice cream
125g halva, chopped
2-3 Tbs finely chopped fresh mint
½ cup lightly toasted nuts (pistachios, slivered almonds or pecans)
Salted Caramel Sauce:
½ cup sugar
½ cup cream
60g butter
½ tsp salt
To serve:
1 pkt waffle ice cream cones
1 pkt caramel popcorn

Remove ice cream from the freezer and after 15 minutes scrape it into a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix through. The ice cream needs to thaw just enough to allow you to mix them in but don’t let it soften too much. Put back into container and into the freezer. For the sauce, melt the sugar in a small heavy-based pan until melted and dark caramel colour. Add cream and butter and mix until smooth. Put aside and warm slightly to serve.

To serve, fill ice cream cones generously with ice cream then place upside down in serving dishes. Sprinkle a few popcorn around and drizzle with the warm caramel sauce.

Serves 6 or more

Pork Chops with Orange Sauce

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When we married, Matthew had been surviving as a bachelor for several years. The core of his culinary repertoire was contained in a small notebook with a green cover. It consisted of about 20 recipes, written out by his stepmother and sisters before he headed off to Geneva on his first posting, to make sure he didn’t starve.

Pork Chops with Orange Sauce was one of the recipes in that book and it went on to become a firm family favourite as our kids were growing up. The original version just coated the chops in flour – I added the egg and crumb layer. Fiddling with recipes is, I have to admit, something of an affliction. I don’t make this dish very often these days, but when I do I am reminded that back in the days before Master Chef and the infinite number of recipes available on the internet, we didn’t eat too badly at all. This “retro” dish is simple, straightforward and delicious.

Pork Chops with Orange Sauce4 pork chops or pork Scotch fillet steaks
seasoned flour
1 beaten egg
Dry breadcrumbs
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs oil
Juice and grated rind 2 large oranges (use 3 if smaller)
2 Tbs brown sugar
2 Tbs grated fresh ginger (optional)

Preheat oven to 180°C. Remove bones and excess fat from chops, then hammer them out a little bit with meat mallet. Coat in seasoned flour, shaking off the excess. Then coat in beaten egg, then breadcrumbs, pressing them on well.

Heat butter and oil in a large frying pan and fry chops on both sides until golden. Place in an oven-proof dish in a single layer. Mix orange juice, rind, sugar and ginger and pour over. Can be prepared ahead to this stage and kept in the fridge, covered for several hours. Bake 45-60 mins uncovered at 180°C or until tender and browned. There should still be some sauce left, so if you check halfway and find it has mostly dried up, add few Tbs of water. As you can see in the photo my sauce had virtually disappeared!

Serve with baked potatoes topped with a dollop of sour cream mixed with snipped chives or spring onion tops and a green vegetable. Scrub the potatoes and put them in the oven on the shelf below the pork. Large potatoes will take 15-20 minutes longer than the pork, so stick them in early.

Serves 4

Steamed Monkfish with Ginger & Spring Onions

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You don’t see monkfish much in the shops and when you do it’s usually quite expensive, but I recently bought some at Costco. It’s a firm, “meaty” fish with a texture similar to scallops. I think the best way to serve it is steamed with Chinese flavourings.

350-400g monkfish filletsSteamed Monkfish with Ginger & Spring Onions
2-3 tsp grated or finely chopped ginger
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbs soy sauce
2 spring onions, finely sliced on the diagonal
To serve:
Steamed rice

Cut fish into big chunks. Mix with the ginger and garlic and season to taste. Place on a dinner plate in one layer. Half fill a large saucepan with water and bring to the boil. Place the plate with the fish on top and cover with the saucepan lid. Steam for 7-8 minutes or until opaque and cooked through but not quite flaking. Timing will depend on how close the plate is to the boiling water – be careful not to overcook.

Meanwhile heat sesame oil and soy sauce in a saucepan or in the microwave. Arrange fish on 2 serving plates. Drizzle with the soy sauce mixture and sprinkle with the spring onions. Serve with steamed rice.

Serves 2

Variation: use another firm fish such as barramundi

Salmon with Pumpkin and Almond Pesto

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We had this recipe from Delicious magazine last night and it was just as yummy as it looks in the photo. I made half the salmon and pumpkin – enough to serve two people – but all the almond pesto. The left-over pesto will be nice served with pasta, grilled chicken or steak, or drizzled over home-made wintery soups.

Salmon with Pumpkin and Almond Pesto

1kg pumpkin, peeled, seeds removed
1 Tbs rosemary leaves, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
½ cup olive oil, plus 2 Tbs
1 bunch parsley, leaves picked off
1 clove garlic, crushed
½ cup blanched almonds (whole, flaked or slivered)
4 x 200g skinless salmon fillets, pin-boned
Steamed green vegetable to serve

Preheat oven to 200°C and line a large roasting pan with baking paper. Cut pumpkin into 2-3cm cubes and place on the paper with the rosemary and 1 Tbs oil. Season and toss to combine. Roast for 15 mins or until almost tender. To make pesto place parsley, almonds and garlic in food processor and whiz to combine. Add the ½ cup olive oil, scrape into a small bowl and season to taste. I also added the juice of half a lime, to give it a bit more zing.

Brush salmon with remaining 1 Tbs oil, season and add to the roasting pan with the pumpkin. Bake for a further 10 mins or until just cooked. Divide salmon and pumpkin among 4 plates and serve with the pesto and a steamed green vegetable such as beans, snow peas, brussels sprouts or broccoli.

Serves 4

Stir-Fried Prawns with Asparagus and Ginger

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Asparagus is in season and works well in this quick mid-week stir-fry. Some fresh coriander or a spring onion – sliced very thinly on the diagonal – would have made nice additional garnishes, but I looked in the veggie drawer and found neither! Instead of mixing in the vermicelli you could serve the prawns with steamed rice.

Stir-Fried Prawns with Asparagus and Ginger

350g peeled raw prawns, deveined
1 egg white
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp sesame oil
½ tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch asparagus (5-6 spears)
2 Tbs oil
1 Tbs finely chopped or grated fresh ginger
1 Tbs dry sherry
2 tsp soy sauce
Extra sesame oil and soy sauce, to taste
100-150g vermicelli rice noodles
Fine slivers of red chilli to garnish

Mix prawns with egg white, cornflour, sesame oil, salt and pepper and leave aside for 20 minutes. Slice the asparagus on the diagonal, discarding the tough ends. Cook in boiling, salted water for 3-4 minutes until al dente. Refresh under cold water and drain. Pour boiling water over vermicelli, leave for 2-3 minutes then drain in a sieve.

Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan or wok and when hot add the prawns and ginger. Stir-fry for 2 minutes or until the prawns turn white. Add asparagus, sherry and soy sauce and continue to stir-fry for a minute. Mix in the vermicelli. Add extra sesame oil and soy sauce, to taste and check for seasoning. Serve in bowls garnished with fresh chilli.

Serves 2

Variations: use snow peas or broccoli florets instead of asparagus.

Moroccan Cauliflower Salad with Yoghurt Dressing

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We’re very fond of Moroccan flavours so this recipe caught my eye when it appeared in the latest Delicious magazine. It comes from Mojo, Luke Mangan’s new wine bar in Danks Street in Sydney, which serves “sharing plates” to go with the wine.

Serve it on its own or with grilled lamb cutlets or my Moroccan lamb. As we’re in the middle of winter I served it slightly warm and it was fantastic – definitely a keeper.

Moroccan Cauliflower Salad with Yoghurt Dressing1 whole cauliflower
400g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup olive oil plus extra to serve
2 Tbs Ras el Hanout Spice Mix (bought or make your own, see below)
½ bunch coriander, leaves picked off
½ bunch Continental parsley, leaves picked off
1/3 cup port
1/3 cup currants
2 Tbs white wine
2 pinches saffron strands
2/3 cup thick Greek-style yoghurt
Juice ½ lemon, or to taste
½ tsp Dijon mustard
1/3 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted

Preheat oven to 200ºC. Trim cauliflower removing green leaves and stem. Slice cauliflower into 1cm slices from top to bottom – some will fall off as florets. Place in a roasting pan with chickpeas, oil and spices. Toss with your fingers to coat everything thoroughly. Bake 20-25 mins or until tender and golden. Cool a bit then mix with the herbs.

Meanwhile heat port in a pan or microwave. Add currants and leave to soak for 10 mins or until plump, then drain. The recipe says to discard the port, but why not drink it? Heat wine in a pan or microwave, add saffron and stand 15 mins, then strain into a bowl, discarding saffron. Add yogurt, mustard and lemon juice to taste and mix well.

Divide yoghurt dressing between 4-6 serving plates in a puddle in the middle. Top with cauliflower mixture, garnish with currants and pine nuts and drizzle with extra oil. Alternatively serve in one large serving bowl, drizzled with the dressing.

Serves 4-6

Ras el Hanout Spice Mix
3 Tbs black peppercorns
2 tsp powdered ginger
2 tsp cumin seeds or powder
2 tsp coriander seeds or powder
2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cardamom
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chilli flakes or powder
¼ tsp cloves
2 tsp coarse salt

Grind the whole spices and salt to a powder in a spice mill or mortar and pestle. Add the powdered spices and mix well. Keep in a jar with a lid. Best used within a couple of months.