Engagement cupcakes

Made these for some dear friends' engagement party. The recipe is here. 

Taco night

Crunchy taco shells

Soft tortillas

Mexican spiced rice

Fresh tomato and coriander salsa

Refried beans with cumin and roasted capsicum

Lettuce

Buttered corn cobs

Avocado, jalapenos and lime

Tabasco

Strawberries, raspberries, apple, grapes and white cherries

Cheeses (baked ricotta, blue-vein, semi-hard goat's cheese, vintage tasty)

Lindt chocolates

Liqueur shiraz

Mushroom pizza

The recipe for the pizza and dough is here. Yeastalicious.

Emma's pear tart

Lovely autumn lunch

My friend Emma made this lovely lunch for us. Out on the back deck, surrounded by tall trees, native birds and grumpy gardening husbands. Wonderful. Rocket leaves dressed with shaved parmesan and balsamic vinegar, warm savoury tart with chorizo, pumpkin and feta, and for dessert, little date bites with chocolate. All very beautiful.

Easter lunch 2011

For my Greek Easter lunch this year, I made grilled haloumi with chili and garlic oil, thyme tomato salad, green salad, tzatziki, roast spiced lamb shoulder, crunchy lemon potatoes and a Catalan Easter cake (totally not Greek, but whatever.)

We nommed all of it. It was especially nice, because Easter Sunday was a lovely cool day that was perfect for sitting outside on the deck with wine.

Geni's roast spiced lamb shoulder

• 1 whole lamb shoulder, boned by the friendly local butcher (we actually used half a lamb shoulder, unboned: was OK but next time I'll go the full boned)

Spice rub

• 2 tablespoons sea salt, or Maldon
• 1 tablespoon black pepper, crushed
• 1 tablespoon cumin powder

Marinade

• rind of 1 lemon and juice of 4
• 125ml olive oil
• 6 crushed garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons each of continental parsley, mint, thyme and rosemary, chopped
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano

Massage the spice rub ingredients into the meat. Mix together the marinade and pour over the meat. Marinate it in a covered bowl or container overnight.

The next day, roast the lamb in a very hot oven or covered barbecue for ten minutes then lower the heat to 150C and continue to roast for two hours. Ours was quite rare and tender, and the meat came away from the bone easily. Do it a bit longer if that suits you, but give it a baste now and then.

Lemon potatoes

• New potatoes or small chat potatoes
• Half a cup of olive oil
• Juice of two lemons
• 2 bay leaves
• Few sprigs each of fresh rosemary and thyme
• 1 head of unpeeled garlic cloves
• Salt and pepper

The night before, parboil the potatoes for five minutes. Next day, put them in a dish with all the other ingredients and toss, then roast for 9o minutes in a 180C oven.

Catalan Easter Cake

• 6 separated eggs and 1 whole egg
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 lemon, zested
• 2/3 cup plain flour
• 2 tablespoons cornflour
• 2 tablespoons ground almonds (almond meal)
• 1 tsp baking powder

Syrup

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon brandy

Buttercream

• 1 cup caster sugar
• 4 yolks
• 250g unsalted butter, chopped
• 1 tsp orange flower water

* I didn't actually make this buttercream, because I didn't want to use raw yolks. I made a normal buttercream with the 250g butter and icing sugar to taste, then added the syrup and orange flower water as usual. It was great.

To serve

• 200g apricot conserve
• 60g flaked almonds, toasted
• chocolate eggs to decorate

* In my opinion, the only nice eggs in town that aren't covered in foil or aren't revoltingly ugly are the Cadbury ones in the yellow packet called Mini Eggs. Obviously everyone agrees with me, because I went to four supermarkets and Big W to get them and they were all sold out. The only reliable place to get them is the Confectionery Warehouse, where there were two different sizes of bag and also some generic ones that were also very lovely, pale and softly pastel-coloured. I went with a mix of the bright Cadbury ones and the generic.

Preheat oven to 180C, and grease and line 2 shallow round tins. About 22 or 23cm. In the mixer, whisk the 6 yolks, the whole egg, 1/3 cup of the caster sugar and the zest on high speed until the mixture is thick and tripled in volume.

Whisk the whites to soft peaks, then gradually add another 1/3 cup caster and whisk to stiff peaks. Fold this into the yolk mixture carefully, without reducing the volume too much. Sift the flours, baking powder and almonds over the top and gently fold in.

Split the batter between pans, level it, then bake for 20 mins or until tops are springy. Cool in tins for 5 minutes and then invert onto a wire rack covered with baking paper.

Make the syrup by stirring the last 1/3 cup of caster, the juice and the brandy in a small saucepan over medium heat until all is dissolved. Boil for about 3 minutes, then cool.

For the buttercream, stir sugar and a quarter cup of water in small pan over medium heat: dissolve, boil 3 minutes. In a mixer, whisk the yolks for 2 minutes, then gradually pour hot syrup down the side while motor is running and whisk 5 minutes, or until super thick, white and nearly cool. Whisk in the butter, piece by piece, till combined, then add the orange flower water.

Place one cake upside down on a platter. Brush it with syrup, then spread with the apricot jam. Put other cake on top, right way up. Spread buttercream all over top and sides. (Refrigerate it first if its too soft.) Press the almonds over, then add eggs. Refrigerate for half an hour, then serve.

Home Japanese cooking

My friend showed me how to make a simple Japanese meal at home. As far as I can see, the only specialist equipment I need is the little rectangular frying pan for making the omelette roll. I have done it with a normal frying pan, but it's just not the same. Everything else can be done with Western equipment, although a rice cooker would be handy. This was enough for three or four.
We made:
Egg roll
Daikon salad
Soy potatoes
Rice
Fish with ginger
Miso with tofu


For the egg roll: crack three eggs into a bowl and beat with 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon sake, 1 tsp salt and 2 drops soy sauce. In a small rectangular frying pan, heat a bit of rapeseed oil over low heat. Pour in 1/3 of the egg mixture and cook until it can be lifted in one piece. Use a spatula to fold it into thirds at one end of the pan. Pour in the next third of mixture. Lift the first third to let the egg flow under. Cook and then fold the whole lot into thirds again at the other end of the pan. Repeat with the last third of mixture. Sesame seeds or nori strips can be added to form additional layers, if you like. Good for breakfast or for bento lunches. When roll is cooled, slice into fat pieces to serve, with soy sauce if you like.
For the daikon salad: place iceberg lettuce leaves whole or sliced on the bottom of a serving plate. Cover with julienned daikon, carrot and cucumber, tomato quarters and shiso leaves if you can find them. Use a good Japanese dressing.


For the soy potatoes: Peel and cut potatoes into thirds or halves. Put them into a saucepan with 200ml water and half a teaspoon of dashi granules. Cover and bring them to the boil, then simmer ten minutes. Add 2.5 tbsps of soy mixed with some water, 1.5 tbsps mirin and 1 tbsp sake. On a medium heat, uncover and cook down for a few minutes or until potatoes are tender and a little mushy around the edges.



For the rice: Using about 2 cups of short grain rice for three people, wash the rice several times very thoroughly in three or four changes of cold water. Rub the rice in your hands until the water is white and cloudy, then drain and repeat. When the water is almost clear, put the washed rice into a rice cooker or saucepan. Add cold water to the same depth as the rice. Use rice cooker as directed. If using the absorption method, bring the rice to a simmer in a covered saucepan and then switch off the heat. Let the rice stand for 15 minutes or until tender and fluffy. Use a rice paddle to lift and turn the rice.


For the fish with ginger: We used a side of skinned ocean trout. Any good white or pink-fleshed fish is fine. Put the fish on 2 sheets of alfoil with some grated raw ginger, and a couple of drops of sesame oil if you like. Wrap the fish thoroughly and cook the parcel on both sides over a medium heat on a BBQ plate or in a frying pan. Ten minutes should be fine. Rest for 3 minutes before serving.


For the miso: Use a bought miso paste: shiro miso (white) or awase miso (mixed red and white). Bring to a simmer with water: approx 1 heaped teaspoon of paste and 1 cup of water per person. Add dried wakame and simmer until hydrated. Add cubes of silked tofu and sliced shallots to serve.

Lightly Asian birthday dinner

This was really lovely. Light, delicate flavours, great company, simple quality food.

Ginger fried prawns

Whole steamed coral trout with soy, ginger and shallots

Jasmine rice

Thai salad with peanut chilli dressing

Raspberry lime pavlova

The pav was interesting. See how tall and round it is? Yeah, it's basically hollow. I thought the deadweight of the cream and berries would implode it. Originally I made another pav, one whose recipe I followed off the interweb and mindlessly set the oven to the temperature stated. Forty minutes later, I smelt brown. The oven was too high, too soon, and the outside was caramelised and crispy. Still good, but NOT GOOD ENOUGH. So I cried for a while and went through the seven stages of grief in about twenty minutes, then went for Attempt 2. This one was tall, smooth and completely white in an unashamedly Aryan dessert mindset. The toppings were inspired by something in last weekend's paper which I forgot to keep. Whip some cream and then smash a punnet of raspberries through it: pile on pavlova. Sprinkle more fresh raspberries on and then grate some lime zest, and dust with icing sugar.

Originally I wanted to also add lychees (for the Asian theme) but they were grey and ugly against the whiteness. Also wanted to add fresh pink rose petals and intended to purloin them from next door's rose garden, but she must have read my mind because all the roses were cut when it was fence-sneaking time.

The candles are set into balls of tinted fondant around the edge of the platter.

The sharpness of the berries and lime, the unsweetened cream and the melting shell-like pavlova all combined beautifully. It was said that this was the best pav/fruit combo EVER. Perhaps I agree.

My Cookbooks Online

A good idea... this site searches the cookbooks that you already own, works out which recipes you can make and in what quantity, then gives you a personalised shopping list so you can hit the shops.

You need to sign up for it, but I think that if you are the kind of person who really can't be arsed trolling through your cookbook library for every little thing (preferring instead to search online...like I do) then this could be a godsend. Just tell it what books you have and it will make your life easier. Can't argue with that.

Chicken and mushroom tart

My friend Claudie made this tart from scratch for lunch one day. She whipped up a quick plain shortcrust pastry, lined a dish, added some leftover roast chicken pieces and fresh mushrooms. She then made a batter from soy milk and egg, poured it over the tart and baked it for about half an hour.

We ate the tart at room temperature, out on the back deck, on a long French summer afternoon.