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 Crumbed Chicken

The last 2 weeks have been busy with proof reading and exhibition organisation at work and international visitors at home, with no time to cook let alone blog. It's been very frustrating having lots of ideas and ingredients and no time to spare to cook so finally this weekend I caught up on some much needed sleep, washing and cooking and now my freezer is full of yummy things to eat for lunch and dinner for the coming week and I actually have clean clothes to wear. A couple of weeks ago was the farmers market and there was a great little stand selling pistachios - fresh, dry roasted, and roasted and salted. I bought bags of each and have been leaving great piles of pistachio shells in my wake ever since. (Don't add your dry roasted or fresh shells to the ever increasing landfill, instead add them to compost or mulch, they take around a year to start to break down and help stop the soil compacting).

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.

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.

Nashi Pear Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing

About a month ago on a roasting hot day I was driving back from a day in Healesville and stopped at one of those roadside fruit stalls, enticed by the promise of local stone fruit direct from the tree. I went straight past the apples and pears and was fondling the nectarines when the stall owner cut into a Nashi pear and offered me a slice. It was perfect - cold, crisp and unbelievably juicy. I left with a big bag of Nashi's and nothing else. 

Autumn Pork with Pear, Potato and Fennel

Autumn is here and while I always imagine crisp mornings and clear days will ensue with big piles of crunchy brown leaves in the streets Melbourne is not, nor has ever been, one for clear concise seasons (nor is Australia known for its deciduous trees). Last week it was baking hot with wild winds, this weekend has been cold with rain turning any leaves on the ground to mush and prompting a thorough sort out of of my clothes in preparation for whatever may come this week. All I know for sure is that pears will be involved. Pears personify the colours of Autumn with Beurre Bosc in cinnamon tones, Red Sensation Bartlett's with orange sunset hues and the Nashi all green tinged with yellow. Good enough to eat!

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.

Lamb & Eggplant (Aubergine) Moussaka

I have been wanting to do a series of eggplant (aubergine) posts for a while now as there is something so appealing about the glossy purple black form of the globe eggplant that I am drawn to them whenever I see them. It must be something deeply seeded in my brain as growing up we always had an eggplant growing soft in the back of the fridge as my mum too could not go past them without acquiring one. As it happens, this week when I decided it was finally eggplant week - could I find all the different varieties of eggplant I wanted? No, of course not. I did get some lovely glossy globe eggplants though and am holding out hope that there will suddenly be an influx of different eggplant varieties at my local fruit and veggie store by the end of the week...

When I canvassed my friends on what they thought of as quintessential eggplant dishes moussaka came up every time. I very rarely order Moussaka out as I have had too many disappointingly bland huge portions topped with gelatinous béchamel that do not do justice to eggplants, or cooking in general for that matter. I also very rarely make moussaka as it is a dish that is not for a 'quick' dinner as each component is made separately then layered together and cooked further. That said, you can make most of the components the night before then just assemble and bake... this recipe is rich and flavourful, perfect with a zesty salad and glass of wine. 

Buckwheat 'Galettes' with Asparagus and Gruyere

Happy Pancake Day! If you think you have missed the boat on celebrating with a breakfast pancake, fear not... you have the whole day ahead of you. Years ago when I was still young enough for mum to cook most of our meals, she happened to be away and dad was left in charge of dinner. We all dutifully ate grown up food along the 'meat and three veg' lines every night, except one night when mum called just as we were sitting down to dinner and asked what we were having... pancakes with golden syrup. Sigh, we really should have just had pancakes every night.

 

In France beautiful savoury crepes made with buckwheat flour are called 'galettes', and are filled with cheese and/or ham and sometimes come with a cracked egg on top, the whites just set and the yolk all runny. Anyone who has ever had breakfast with me knows I cannot abide runny yolks. I would rather cook an egg until it doubles as a bouncy ball than chance softness of any sort, such is my loathing of oozing yolk. As such, I have not gone down the egg route, instead opting for a simple combination of asparagus, béchamel sauce with nutmeg and lots of gruyere topped with freshly cracked black pepper.
 

Cranberry Christmas: Cranberry & Cumquat Glazed Ham

Not only have we survived the end of the working year, we have also survived the end of the world as the Mayans knew it! I for one am thrilled that I am still here to enjoy a Christmas ham with my family, my two favourite things of Christmas. Everyone has their own traditions, in our family we have our main meal on Christmas Eve, there is always a glorious glazed ham, golden roast turkey with stuffing on the side, a collection of colourful salads and at least three desserts, the selection of which is one of the most important decisions of Christmas. Then Christmas day we get up and head to the fridge for leftovers - salty ham slices, creamy potato salad with a dollop of chocolate mousse on the side (accompanied by a cup of good coffee), bliss. We then relax all day, nibbling at food, playing board games and opening presents...

 

This is my last post of the year as today we run around packing and cleaning then catch a plane home to spend time with my family. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and am looking forward to coming back next year full of ideas and recipes to try out here. Merry Christmas!

Peanut Butter: Satay chicken

One of the girls from work has just come back from 3 weeks of sunshine and satay sticks in Bali looking brown and relaxed... meanwhile it rained overnight in Melbourne and I am still very Vitamin D deficient! While I have to wait for the warmer weather, and even then it can be unpredictable, I can make satay sticks as aromatic and moreish as those found in Bali so at least that's something...