Sweet Potato, Sage and Hazelnut Ravioli

Oh you poor neglected blog! True to 'bear' type when the cold dark days set in I went into hibernation mode. I had all the best intentions of warming slow cooked dinner's and crumbly baked desserts... unfortunately this was combined with the lethargy of black bear who had gorged on pine nuts and found a warm den to curl up in. 

Pistachio, Orange & Fennel Salad

Sometimes you need to remind yourself to slowdown, to sleep more, to eat better, to appreciate the simple things like warm doonas and cuddling cats on a cold morning, or piles of yellow ginkgo leaves in the park. Whatever you are doing - or overdoing - it's almost the middle of the year and it's time to have a break, not take on so much and just say no to things to free up time for you. This recipe is simple, super quick to prepare, good for you and delicious. We have just had the first day of winter so to stave off a cold, and generally keep you feeling fit, pistachios are ideal as they are energy rich with mono-unsaturated fat, antioxidants, vitamin E, B-complex vitamins and full of beneficial minerals like copper, zinc and selenium. Combine this wonder nut with the vitamin C in oranges and fennel, your vitamins A and K (among many others) from spinach and you have energy in a bowl.

Pomegranate & Preserved Lemon Couscous Salad

Last week we were in Perth visiting family, it was 27 degrees, blue skies,  sunshine, walks on the beach, lots of amazing food and an introduction to my new beautiful niece. My parents have a great garden with mandarin, lemon and lime trees, olives, roses, chillis, herbs, nasturtiums cascading and a pomegranate tree, its branches heavy with deep red fruit. This morning back in Melbourne its raining but I have several pomegranates filled with crimson arils, each one a little burst of sunshine as a pick me up. This salad is a wonderful mix of flavours and textures, the slightly warm robust pearl couscous, lots of fresh herbs, spiced sweet potato that's crisp on the outside and soft in the middle, the depth of the preserved lemon and then that pop of pomegranate seeds, all topped off with a nutty, tart, creamy mix of yoghurt, tahini and pomegranate molasses. All in all a beautiful and delicious autumn salad.

Roast Garlic and Butter Bean Dip

For a few weeks now I have had two beautiful bulbs of organic garlic sitting in what is meant to be a fruit bowl but instead has become some sort of bowerbird nest of seasonal bibs and bobs, only the bowerbird is colour blind and eschews the brilliant blues for the brown and autumnal. Russet leaves snatched up before they are sullied by the drizzle only to be crushed in my pockets. Dried leathery seed pods whose satisfying rattle amuse for two blocks then are absentmindedly shoved into my bag. Tiny conifer cones, seeds dispersed, gathered with notions of never to occur craft projects involving silver spray paint. Only remembered when I reach into my pocket on returning home and discover the rumpled (and lets be honest, suddenly drab) remnants of autumn... then I throw them in the bowl and forget about them once more.

Heavenly Caramelized Garlic and Goats Cheese Tart

If you do not already own an Ottolenghi cookbook - buy one today, any of them, all of them, it doesn't matter so long as you have one to inspire your own cooking. They are filled with recipe after recipe that you just want to make, each one such a perfect pairing of flavours and textures you wonder why you aren't eating them right now. If I am stressed I like to go to a foreign supermarket where I am so quickly distracted by the unknown ingredients with their exotic possibilities I relax immediately. If I am exhausted I have a hot bath and either read the New Scientist starting with the "feedback" page, or flick through a cookbook, not really reading recipes but absorbing the pictures and letting ingredients lodge themselves in my psyche. Recently I was  neck deep in hot water, holding Ottolenghi's "Plenty" aloft so as not to turn it into a soggy mess and this recipe caught my attention - caramelized garlic, soft goats cheese AND mature goats cheese in a flaky pastry shell, I was instantly relaxed... to the point of drooling.

Nasu Dengaku: Japanese Miso Glazed Eggplant (Aubergine)

On a cool summer's night wandering deep in an ancient cedar grove through a Japanese Buddhist cemetery we followed the faint light emanating from stone lanterns through the advancing mist. As we walked on from a place of deep calm and contemplation I turned to my husband and absentmindedly said, "Do you know... I really love eggplants". From that day forth in moments profound and solemn, in the middle of serious conversations about life or the future he turns to me with the greatest (feigned) sincerity and utters those words...

Yes, it was a little absurd to be pondering eggplant while walking through Koyasan, an extraordinary place of religion, history and beauty. In my defence we had just had dinner at the Shubuko temple lodging we were staying at and it was an extraordinary meal both simple and complex, thoughtful and thought provoking. Central to Koyasan cooking is the non-use of meat (including fish), garlic or onions, allowing you to really taste the ingredients, and the idea of balancing the food with the seasons so as to incorporate the flavours, presentation and colours of the season in the food being eaten for a holistic approach to food and your environs. Each dish is artfully prepared and arranged.

Zaalouk: Moroccan Smokey Eggplant (Aubergine) Salad

First it's hot and muggy, now its cold and raining, there is so much humidity that anything crisp becomes chewy in a matter of minutes, not to mention that if I hear the whining of one more mosquito I may actually throw more than the latest issue of New Scientist at the wall. Such is the sleep deprivation that comes with February weather and an old house with gaps under every door. Thick soupy weather calls for full flavours and this smokey, spicy, warm eggplant salad has flavour by the truckload. In Morocco lunch is usually the largest meal of the day and can stretch out for hours starting with the more than substantial mezze course before moving on to the tagine and finished with a cinnamony flaky pastry bastilla... and a nap to escape the heat. Very civilised. The mezze is always generous and consists of several small salads, often of cooked vegetables, served with fresh crusty bread. My favourite is the silky Zaalouk which it is closer in texture to a chunky dip and while it isn't the prettiest of salads it doesn't sit around long enough for anyone to notice.

Corn & Black Bean Salsa

Oh Melbourne, while I do love your idiosyncratic weather, sometimes... let's just say the Australia Day public holiday... I wish you were a little more consistent. After all it is summer, and summer in the 'sunburnt country', so one might reasonably expect sunshine, warmth and a lazy day around a BBQ wearing a hat and heaven forbid, shorts! Instead I ventured out for my morning coffee (to wash down a vitamin D) in long sleeves...

 

Today's current lack of sunshine aside, the long days and fresh ripe produce make "cooking" easy, for me summer food is all about colour, flavour and sharing. Salsa in its innumerable forms can make a great accompaniment for BBQ'd meats and fish, or on top of quick quesadillas toasted on the grill. Above all else it is a healthy, easy to assemble, flavour packed grazing food that can fill the gap between lunch and twilight on those summer days that feel dreamy and endless.