Roast Beef Salad with Quick Caesar Dressing & Croutons

Posted on 27 November 2024 by Linda Peek

This is a great way to use up leftover roast beef or leftover cooked steaks from last night’s barbecue. It’s so quick and easy. Just make sure that the meat is nice and pink in the middle, otherwise it will be tough.

I haven’t put quantities because this is one of those recipes you do by eye. To make a vegetarian version, use quartered hard boiled eggs instead of beef. Even some people who say they hate anchovies have become converts to this Caesar salad dressing. It really packs a punch and I suggest you make double and try it with other salads.

Once I discovered how easy it was to make croutons in an air fryer I’ve been making them all the time, to serve with soups and salads. Here is a recipe for the crunchiest pork crackling ever, made in an air fryer. Indeed, if you put “air fryer” in the Café Cat search box you will find quite a few recipes. I’m definitely a convert!

A word of advice. If you decide to buy an air fryer, get a cheap basic one which just has a button for time and another for temperature. Don’t buy an expensive model which takes up half the kitchen bench and has so many bells and whistles you’ll be reluctant to use it.

If you want to be fancy, remove the crusts from the bread and make small, dainty croutons. Mine are large and rustic.

Salad greens – preferably something crunchy like cos lettuce
2 slices bread (or more)
Olive oil
Rare roast beef sliced then cut into smaller pieces
Quick Caesar dressing:
½ cup mayonnaise (preferably home made)
3 anchovies (canned in oil)
1 clove garlic crushed
1 Tbs lemon juice
1tsp Worcestershire sauce|
1 tsp mustard (I used hot English)
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1-2 Tbs water

Arrange salad leaves, broken into bite-sized pieces, on individual plates. Cut bread into cubes, mix with a little olive oil, then cook for 7-10 minutes on high in an air fryer – shaking the pan every now and then – or in a hot oven for 10-15 mins, until golden brown.

Process all ingredients for dressing in food processor then scrape into a jar or bowl. It will keep in the fridge for 2-3 weeks.

Arrange beef and croutons over the lettuce and drizzle with some of the dressing. Sit back and enjoy with a glass of wine.

Lobster or Prawn Benedict

Posted on 16 October 2024 by Linda Peek

This recipe makes a breakfast, light lunch or dinner fit for a king.

If you live somewhere you can buy lobster or crayfish for a reasonable price then use that. If not, prawns work well in this recipe. Instead of seafood try using ham or some steamed chopped spinach.

1 brioche bun, split in two or 2 thick slices brioche loaf
150g shelled lobster or prawn meat, roughly chopped
2 large eggs, poached
Snipped chives
Quick Hollandaise sauce:
60g butter
2 egg yolks
Lemon juice to taste (3-4 tsp)
Salt to taste
Pinch of cayenne pepper

While the brioche buns or slices are toasting and the eggs are poaching, make the sauce. Melt butter in a bowl or jug in the microwave. With a hand whisk, mix in the egg yolks, lemon juice, salt and cayenne. Zap in the microwave for 12-15 seconds, then whisk again vigorously. If it’s a bit too thick, whisk in a tablespoon of hot water. Don’t overcook it as you will end up with scrambled egg!

Place the toasted brioche on two warm serving plates. Spread some hollandaise sauce on each, then top with the lobster or prawn meat, divided in two. Arrange a poached egg on each serving, then spoon over more hollandaise and garnish with chives. If liked, arrange the other half of the toasted bun on the side of the plate.

Serve immediately.

Serves 2

Zucchini Ricotta and Basil Tart

Posted on 11 September 2024 by Linda Peek

This quick and easy recipe for a zucchini tart uses bought puff pastry and is delicious served with a mixed salad.

1 sheet of ready-rolled puff pastry
2-3 zucchini (courgettes)
2 Tbs olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
250g fresh ricotta cheese
Finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbs finely chopped basil
2 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
½ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
3 Tbs pine nuts (optional)
1 egg, beaten
1 handful fresh basil leaves
Extra virgin olive oil

Lay pastry square or rectangle on a paper-lined baking sheet and preheat the oven to 200°C. Thinly slice the zucchini lengthwise using a vegetable peeler. Place in a bowl with the olive oil and seasoning and mix well with your hands to coat well.

With a fork, mash the ricotta with the lemon juice and rind and seasoning. If it’s a bit stiff add a drizzle of olive oil. Mix in the chopped basil. Spread the ricotta mixture evenly over the pastry, leaving a border of a couple of centimetres or one inch around the edges.

Layer the zucchini slices on top of the ricotta, overlapping the slices in parallel rows and doing several layers. Arrange the garlic slices over the zucchini before covering them with the last layer of slices. Sprinkle the grated Parmesan over the zucchini. Brush the beaten egg around the edges.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown and puffed. Halfway through the cooking time, sprinkle with the pine nuts, if using.

Place the fresh basil leaves in a food processor and process, adding enough oil to make a thick sauce. Drizzle the basil oil over the tart before serving.

Serves 4-6

Watermelon Sorbet with Olive Oil & Maldon Sea Salt

Posted on 22 May 2024 by Linda Peek

This recipe is easy to make and never fails to impress. Serve it in shot glasses as a palate cleanser between courses or as a very light starter or dessert. The combination of sweet watermelon sorbet, fruity olive oil and salt flakes is amazing.

2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1½ kg watermelon, rind removed, cubed
Juice of half a lemon (or more, to taste)
1 egg white
To serve:
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt flakes

Place water and sugar in a medium saucepan and heat, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and boil for 5 minutes. Cool. Puree the watermelon cubes in a food processor. Push through a fine sieve, pressing hard on the solids. You should have at least 600ml juice.

Add syrup and lemon juice to watermelon juice and mix well. Tip into a shallow plastic container and freeze for 4-5 hours, covered, or until almost solid. Scrape sorbet into a food processor, add the egg white and process until smooth. Return to the plastic container, cover and freeze again.

Serve a scoop or two per person in a shot glass. Drizzle with a good slug of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with a few salt flakes.

Serves lots and keeps for up to a month in the freezer

Ratatouille

Posted on 3 April 2024 by Linda Peek

The end of summer is a good time to make ratatouille. The tomatoes are full of flavour and you may even have some in your garden. We also have zucchini, so I only had to buy the eggplants, onions and peppers. While you can use green peppers, I prefer red or yellow as they’re sweeter. Once made, ratatouille can be frozen for several months. Ifyou have a glut of veggies, this is a good way to use them.

Ratatouille is a delicious Mediterranean side dish to serve at a BBQ or buffet. Serve some with a couple of fried eggs on top and some crusty bread for a satisfying lunch.

500g onions, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
olive oil
500g-600g ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
2 Tbs tomato paste
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
3 large capsicums (peppers) green, red or yellow, cut into strips
500g-600g eggplants, (aubergines) cut into 2cm cubes
500g-600g zucchini (courgettes) unpeeled and cut into fat sticks
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chopped parsley to serve

Heat 2 Tbs olive oil in a large frying pan and cook the onions and garlic over gentle heat, stirring often until soft and slightly golden. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, thyme, bay leaves and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, for 5-10 minutes. Place in a large heavy-based saucepan.

Wipe out the frying pan, heat a little more olive oil and then fry first the peppers, then the eggplant, then the zucchini, adding more oil to the pan as necessary. As each vegetable is ready, add it to the casserole.

If you have an air fryer you might find it easier to “fry” each vegetable in there rather than in a frying pan, which is what I did. Just place the chopped vegetable in a bowl and mix with a drizzle of olive oil, then tip it into the air fryer and cook on high for about 10 minutes, stopping and shaking every few minutes. When they look sufficiently fried, tip them in with the tomatoes and onions. Using an air fryer allows you to use less oil.

Simmer on low for about an hour, stirring from time to time. If it starts to stick add a little water.

Check seasonings, remove bay leaves and serve at room temp, garnished with parsley and a drizzle of olive oil.

Salmorejo with Seafood Medley & Goat Cheese Mousse

Posted on 20 March 2024 by Linda Peek

Salmorejo is a Spanish soup, made from tomatoes, bread, olive oil and garlic. It’s served cold and is best described as a smooth Gazpacho. My son-in-law, who is a fabulous cook, served it when we were visiting earlier this year. I had never tried it before and thought it was delicious, so he sent me his recipe.

Having decided to use it as a base for a medley of seafood, I was concerned that when I heated it up in the microwave the Salmorejo might split, but it didn’t. It behaved perfectly.

Salmorejo relies on good quality tomatoes, so if it’s the middle of winter and the tomatoes in the supermarket are looking pale and unloved, use a couple of tins of good quality Italian tomatoes. As you can see from the photo, I didn’t do a very good job of making the goat cheese mousse into a beautiful shape with two spoons. The pressure was on to get the plates on the table for our guests before it got cold, so I ended up just putting rustic blobs. It still tasted good though.

Salmorejo:
600g ripe tomatoes
1 baguette
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 Tbs sherry vinegar (or red/white wine vinegar)
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste
Fish:
1 small piece of skinless white fish per person (I used Ling)
1 small piece of skinless salmon per person
1 large scallop per person
1 large green (raw) prawn per person
50g butter, melted
1 clove garlic, crushed
Salt and pepper, to taste
Basil oil:
½ cup fresh basil leaves
Olive oil
Goat Cheese Mousse:
1 cup whipping cream
100g soft goat cheese

Skin tomatoes, remove cores and place the rest in a blender. Remove the “guts” from the baguette. You should have 2-3 cups. Keep the outer crusts for another use.

Add 2 cups of the bread, vinegar and garlic to the blender. Blend until smooth, adding the olive oil through the chute with the motor running. Add salt to taste. Add more bread if necessary, to achieve desired consistency. Refrigerate till serving time.

Remove shells from prawns, leaving the heads and tips of the tails intact. Melt the butter with the garlic and season to taste. Use it to brush all the seafood on both sides. Can be prepared ahead to this point and kept in the fridge.

Make basil oil by blending the basil with enough oil in a blender or food processor to make a thick sauce. For the goat cheese mousse, whip cream with electric beaters until thick then add the goat cheese and continue to whip until combined. Keep in the fridge.

At serving time, grill or pan fry the seafood. I cooked the prawns and scallops in the air fryer and the fish on a paper-lined tray in a hot oven. They took about 10 minutes max.

To serve, heat the Salmorejo in a microwave, ladle into 8 serving bowls and top with the seafood. Place a blob of goat cheese mousse in the centre and drizzle some basil oil around the edge. Serve with crusty bread and follow with a green salad – we had fresh rocket from the garden with toasted pine nuts.

Serves 8

Scotch Eggs in the Air Fryer

Posted on 7 February 2024 by Linda Peek

A hard boiled egg, wrapped in sausage meat, coated in breadcrumbs and deep fried becomes a Scotch egg.

There are various explanations regarding the origin of the name of these traditional British snacks. They were first mentioned in Britain in publications from the early 1800s, so they have been around for quite some time.

The advent of the air fryer makes cooking them so much easier and healthier. Instead of deep frying, just give them a quick spray with a can of oil before they go into the air fryer.

Served at room temperature they make a perfect addition to lunch boxes, summer buffets and picnics.

Serve with Spicy Tomato Sauce (recipe below) for dipping.

6 large eggs, hardboiled and peeled
600g pork sausages
1 very small onion, grated (optional)
1 tsp mixed dried herbs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup (or maybe a bit more) panko breadcrumbs (or ordinary breadcrumbs)
Fresh herbs or thinly sliced spring onion to garnish
Spicy Tomato Dipping Sauce:
½ cup tomato ketchup
1 Tbs Worcestershire Sauce
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 Tbs vinegar
1 small onion, grated
1½ Tbs honey
½ tsp hot English mustard
2 tsp grated fresh ginger

While the eggs are boiling, remove the casings from the sausages and discard them. Mix the sausage meat with the onion, herbs, salt and pepper. Divide the mixture into six and flatten each portion into a circle about four inches (10cm) in diameter. Place an egg on each, wrap the sausage meat around the egg and pinch to close any holes an make a nice oval ball. Roll each one in beaten egg then breadcrumbs, patting them in to cover evenly. Can be made ahead to this point and kept refrigerated for up to several hours. My eggs were not very big so I hardboiled 7 rather than 6.

Place the Scotch eggs in an air fryer in one layer and preferably not quite touching. Spray lightly with oil then cook at 200°C for about 20 minutes. After 10 minutes turn them over and spray again.

Remove from air fryer when cooked and leave to cool. Serve cut in half, garnished with herbs or spring onion and with the sauce for dipping.

Makes 12 egg halves

Sauce: heat ingredients together in a saucepan, then cool. Use as a dipping sauce for Scotch eggs, sausage rolls and empanadas.

Salmon with Shaved Beetroot & Avocado

Posted on 24 January 2024 by Linda Peek

This colourful salmon dish will appeal to beetroot fans. Serve it as a light but satisfying main course for two or a starter for four.

2 portions salmon (350-400g)
1 rounded Tbs each salt and sugar
1 medium beetroot
2 small avocados (or one large one)
Olive oil, Lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbs snipped chives
Balsamic glaze

Place salmon in a plastic container with a lid. Add the salt and sugar and turn to coat. Cover with the lid and refrigerate for a day or two, turning 2 or 3 times. Drain and pat dry with paper towels. Salmon can be wrapped in plastic wrap at this stage and frozen for up to a month. Thaw to use in this recipe. Remove and discard skin and cut salmon into 1cm dice. Add olive oil and lemon juice to taste.

Peel beetroot then shave thinly using a mandoline slicer, or the thin slicing attachment on a food processor. Season with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, separating the slices so each one is well-coated. Arrange beetroot on 4 individual serving plates in an overlapping circle, leaving a space in the middle for the avocado.

Peel avocado and mash with a fork, adding salt, olive oil, lemon juice and pepper to taste. Divide between the four plates, piling into the middle. Top with the salmon, then garnish with the chives, balsamic glaze and freshly ground pepper.

Serves 4 as a starter or 2 as a light main dish

Grilled Steaks with Board Dressing

Posted on 17 January 2024 by Linda Peek

This dressing to serve with grilled steak is prepared on a chopping board, while the steaks are cooking. It comes from a website called Certified Angus Beef and takes an ordinary steak to another level.

I have heard several well-known chefs say that steaks should be seasoned with salt and pepper a good hour before cooking. Since I adopted this advice I have found that it really does make a difference to the flavour of the meat. If you only have time to make it half an hour, so be it, anything is better than nothing.

4 rib-eye steaks each weighing 200-250g
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
½ cup fresh parsley
8 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
2-3 leaves fresh sage
2 small sprigs fresh rosemary
2 cloves garlic
1 spring onion or shallot
3 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs balsamic vinegar or glaze
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp soy sauce (optional)

Season steaks on both sides with salt and pepper at least an hour before cooking. Preheat grill or barbecue to medium high.

Place the herbs, garlic and spring onion or shallot on a chopping board and chop very finely, adding a little salt and pepper and one Tbs of the oil.

Cook steaks to desired doneness then place them on top of the herb mixture, turning to coat. Cover loosely with a piece of foil and leave for 5 minutes while you mix the sauce. In a small bowl mix the mustard, balsamic vinegar or glaze, soy sauce (if using) and 2 Tbs olive oil.

Slice steaks downwards, while they are on the herb mixture and arrange the meat on 4 serving plates or one large platter. Scrape the herbs and any pan drippings into the bowl with the dressing and whisk to combine. Spoon dressing over the steaks and serve.

Serves 4

Salmon Poke Bowl

Posted on 10 January 2024 by Linda Peek

According to Google, poke bowls (pronounced pokee) originated in Hawaii but are now deeply-rooted in Japanese cuisine. Poke means “cut into pieces” and refers to the slices or cubes of raw fish that are served in a bowl, along with rice, vegetables, dressing and seasoning.

A poke bowl is usually an individual serving, with the various ingredients arranged in groups. In this version, which I created as part of a buffet lunch where I had been asked to bring a plate, I made one large poke bowl, with the ingredients evenly layered in the serving dish.

I have always made my own salad dressings but this roasted sesame dressing is an exception. I buy it from Woolworths and we always have a bottle in the fridge. If you have never tried it I should warn you that it’s addictive. Guaranteed to perk up any salad!

1 cup sushi rice
2 Tbs rice wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar, or to taste
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
300g fresh salmon
1 Tbs olive oil
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 finely chopped birds-eye chilli (optional)
1 Lebanese cucumber, half the peel removed, sliced
1 carrot, peeled and shredded into fine julienne
1 avocado, sliced
3 eggs, hardboiled and quartered
½ red onion, thinly sliced (or spring onions)
Coriander leaves
Black sesame seeds
1 Tbs pink peppercorns (optional)
Kewpie Japanese roasted sesame dressing (see note below)

Cook the rice in boiling salted water then rinse, drain thoroughly and mix in the rice wine, sugar and seasoning to taste, while it’s still warm. Spread over the base of a large serving dish. Remove skin and trim any stringy bits from the salmon, then cut it into 1cm cubes. Mix it with the olive oil, grated ginger and chilli if using.

Arrange the ingredients evenly over the rice, in the order they are listed. Finish with a sprinkle of black sesame seeds and some pink peppercorns if you have them. Lastly drizzle with the dressing and serve immediately.

If preferred serve the ingredients in 3 or 4 individual bowls.

Serves 6-10 as a side dish

Note: Kewpie Japanese roasted sesame dressing is available in Australia in the Asian aisle of most supermarkets. Here is a photo of the bottle so you know what it looks like and a recipe to make your own if you can’t buy it where you live.

Variations: add baby tomatoes, halved. Use raw tuna instead of salmon.