Anzac Day Biscuits

How did you spend your Anzac day?
I had grand ideas of seeing the dawn service.....then read it was at 4.15am in Sydney, so I respectfully stayed in bed.
I was going to join friends in the park for a picnic, alas, quotes needed to be written, functions needed to be organised and food needed to be made....so I stayed in the kitchen.
The only thing I did that I wanted to do today was buy alcohol for the Footy Fundraiser I was organising on Friday night.......I know how to have a good time on a public holiday!
All was not lost, as I came in from the car I could smell the all familiar smell of baking biscuits. Nic and Alex had whipped up a batch of Anzac cookies while I was out. Now our afternoon is set- a cup of tea, warm Anzac biscuits to dip in my tea while watching the Essendon/Collingwood football game on the telly.

GO THE BOMBERS!!!!

Nic works his magic....again

My sister rang me the other day. We don't talk much toward the end of the months because it's the busiest time for her at work...she practically lives there until months end is finished (some accounting term I have gotten use too over the years).

I have to say I haven't called her in a few weeks myself due to a couple of massive weeks at work. You know that feeling of - please, just let me make it through to the end of the week before falling apart, please!
 Well that is how I have felt. I even rang my mum and asked if she would fly up to help me cook for a few days. Sadly the airlines of today love to make up these ridiculous price tags for last minute bookings- I was back to praying.

I am happy to say I have finally managed a day off, and on Mother's Day never the less!

Anyway, back to my phone call with Tarsh. She was telling me The D-man was as fabulous as ever. She was oozing happiness when she told me he sent her a beautiful bunch of flowers yesterday to cheer her up after a massive week at work.
Wow! I said, young love doesn't it rock! The next sentence to come out of my mouth was, 'I can't remember the last time Nic sent/gave me flowers'.......I guess that is what happens 10 years on? and then I stopped myself and remembered the past week.
 It was in the middle of the week. I'd risen at 5am to get morning tea out for 100 people, plus the rest of my bookings for that day. I didn't manage to finish everything before I picked the boys up from school, so I dashed out grabbed them and had them come back to work with me while I tied up a few loose ends (something they loathe more and more these days).
 I finally finished up at around 4.30 and remembered Max had footy practice at 5pm. we made a mad dash for home, I threw a packet of rice crackers and a mandarin at the boys before jumping back into the car and heading out to football training where I spent the next hour on the phone with last minute clients trying to book in for the following day (I mean seriously, you know the meeting is going to happen so WHY leave your catering to the last second??)

We finally arrive home at 6.30pm and I'm trying to think about dinner, yet all I can think of is how sore my feet were and wondering if I have enough food to feed all these extra clients (a bad habit of mine, I fine it hard to say no!).
As I put the key into the door, I notice the smell of lamb cooking from the hallway was in fact coming from our apartment. Could this be true? Nic was already home?
It was music to my ears and heaven to my nose. Nic ordered us to the table, he had made a fabulous dinner of grilled lamb chops and a delicious Greek salad with pan fried haloumi instead of feta- I was in heaven!

I am so happy for my sister to have The D-man to spoil her and treat her as she deserves, I have never seen her happier. I however, really don't need flowers as much as I think I do- after all I have a husband who knows just when to have dinner on the table, pour me a glass of wine and listen to my endless conversations about flour less chocolate cakes; why do I have to make a billion sandwiches and when can I retire??
I think my Mother's Day came early this year and that was perfect for me.

Baby Q has landed

 Well the time finally came when Nic and I brought last years Christmas present to ourselves- a BBQ. It's not that we couldn't agree, or that we are not very excited about it- quite the opposite.
It has taken all of three months for us to find a spare hour on a weekend where were could go and select one. I guess having me rocking around on one good leg and one booted one does have advantages!

We are smitten with our perfectly sized Weber baby Q, that we christened it straight away.  In my mind I was going to cook the chook as soon as Nic assembled the Q. Nic, had other ideas!

Your right, I shouldn't complain. It is great to have a partner who is as excited about cooking on the grill as I, but as you all know it is always cool to have the 'first' go with anything new and I think we both felt the same way. This is why, in my mind he had the chicken stuffed with onion, basil, lemon and butter before I could hobble my way over to the kitchen. By the time I'd turned around and began hobbling back toward the balcony, the chicken was cooking away. Oh well not to worry, I have 'dibbed' cooking the steaks Nic bought for sometime during the week and the whole family is getting excited about the other delights we can throw on the barbie.

I am also ecstatic to be able to FINALLY use the cedar paper my good blogger friend Bryan sent me all of about 6 months ago. There is a blog about BBQing salmon coming very soon!

Nic's delicious roast chicken did not disappoint. He served it with roast potatoes and lemon drizzled steamed broccolini. A very simple and flavour packed dinner that was effortless to throw together which gave us more time to eat blue cheese and crackers while sipping a refreshing gin and tonic.

I'm thinking the month of March is going to be dedicated to BBQing- Max has already put in his orders for ribs, pork belly and burgers!

My birthday trifle

I was supposed to write this and say, "it was my birthday yesterday....."
That was seven days ago.
What can I say, November/December is the time of year when people like to eat/party/celebrate and generally have fun. This is a good thing seeing as I have built a business around it, however, it also means a lot of early mornings and late nights rolled into one. This is my excuse for having my Thanksgiving turkey post up for over two (or is it three?) weeks.

A tradition in our family for whoever happens to be having a birthday, is for them to choose whatever cake he/she desires. Nic usually goes for gold and I have to spend at least two days in the kitchen putting it all together while I love a good lemon, orange or chocolate cake with rich frosting and not much else.
This year however, was a bit different and I blame it on this months issue of Saveur!
That's right, when you put a photo that yummy and delicious on the front cover I had no other option BUT to say "I want that for my birthday cake".

Nic was taken aback, he could almost have thought I'd been abducted by aliens instead of spending all those hours at work- I NEVER, EVER want whipped cream, chocolate custard (and this sweet, sweet dessert had white AND dark chocolate custard!). I was quite surprised myself but it was my gut feeling and I went with it.

I am happy I gave him a few days notice because it wasn't a day job. The trifle was made over two days and Nic even came home early on my birthday to finish it. To say it was a mission would be an understatement!

I don't think our photos do it justice; we don't own a see through trifle bowl like the one in the photo above, but if the one on the front cover of Saveur tasted anything like the one Nic made then it would of been outstanding.
 Biting into the ginger cake soaked in sherry was pure delight. Adding the blueberry white chocolate custard kicked it into third gear, while the dark chocolate and raspberry custard blew it out of the park!!

We all loved this divine invention, Alex has asked for it next year and we all wrapped our spoons around the final crumbs. Nic had totally out done himself and impressed me to no end.
I am a year old, a little greyer and so, so happy.

Nic's barra and quinoa dinner

Apparently Nic's fans are missing him and apparently I have been pretending to cook meals when in fact Nic is the one cooking (he tells me this but I cannot remember the meal in question?). So today's blog is NOT about me but my other half.
I have to admit I know I am one lucky lady who has a husband that cooks,  enjoys cooking and will knock up a family meal when he takes one look at me after a long and tiring day in the kitchen knowing I couldn't think of anything worse then turning on the gas burner at home!
If was Friday afternoon, I had a late delivery and he texted me with the best text ever "I bought fish...I'll cook tonight"
YES!!
Friday night is the end of our shopping week, so it can be a bit hit and miss in the pantry. We were out of potatoes, rice and couscous so not off to a very good start.
Anyways after reaching into the depths of the cupboards, Nic pulls out a bag of red quinoa and asks
"what's this?"
Oh yes, I said....use that as I have been wanting to try them for ages.

Nic not being very trusting of me with new ingredients (I don't know why?) decides to confer with his all time kitchen diva- Stephanie Alexander.
"Well Stephanie doesn't write about it so it can't be that good" was his comment.
(I am still wondering if he wants to live a long and healthy life or just here for a good time not a long time?)

In the end I left Nic to his own devices and sat on the couch reading the boys a story while he whipped up this delicious meal.
Being the first time we have eaten quinoa we were very happy with the end result. The nutty texture complimented the barrumundi in thyme and lemon butter sauce beautifully. The boys weren't over joyed with our new find but I think it has something to do with them overhearing me tell Nic how good quinoa is for you!
I'll be coming back to it again for sure and using it even when we do gather the rest of the staples back in the pantry.

Fish kebabs with polenta chips

I don't know if you remember, but last week I was suppose to serve fish kebabs with my lemon and pea risotto, however I kinda forgot to buy the polenta!
This week I was on top of the shopping and decided to pair the kebabs with chips. Usually I would never have served these two together, seeing as they are both long, and, well long. It doesn't seem right to serve kebobs with chips, but, I got over my hangup and began cooking the polenta so I could get on with it.
Polenta doesn't really take that long to cool so I was able to start from scratch, BUT, if I was a more organised person (when I wrote this recipe I was hoping I'd become this way), I would of made the polenta base the day before and had it ready, then all I should of done was cut and shallow fry. Alas, that didn't happen and yet I managed to get all the preparation ready for when Nic came home and pulled it all together.

It was late in the evening, kids were tired, hungry and I had lots of paper work to catch up on, so Nic came to the rescue. Once the polenta chips were cut, he threaded the fish on sticks, sprinkled with thyme and then whipped up a tomato and basil salsa drizzled in balsamic oil. I always think if you are making dinner and you know one part takes a little time (chips) then do yourself a favour and make the rest really easy.
So, as the last batch of polenta chips hit the oil, Nic cooked the kebabs while Alex set the table.

Such a simple yet novel idea threading fish onto a stick! The thyme really gave the fish (he used ling) a beautiful aroma, especially when char grilled and then biting into hot, crunchy, yet soft polenta was so, so good- especially if you managed to fit a dob of salsa on your fork.

Roasted quail salad

All holiday guests have hopped on planes back home, the rain has settled in on Sydney and I think it is a perfect time to reminisce about our Christmas lunch. Of course it would of been better to blog on the evening of the 25th but that was not possible- one too many glasses of plonk, a tummy full of fabulous food, not to mention all the star wars lego that needed to be fixed and re built.
If I am cooking Christmas day Nic always likes to fix a course for us to start with. He usually makes a delicious salad of some sort and this year was no exception. He came across a recipe in Stephanie Alexander's 'Cooks Companion' for a pigeon and fig salad.
 "Why don't you see if you can pick up a pigeon while your down the street shopping".
 Sure I thought and perhaps if I can't manage to pick one up at the local butcher I'd shoot one from the sky, pluck it and have it ready for you to cook! This is when I suggested quail as a good substitute.
As Nic is accustom to my sarcasm he shot back with "what ever is easier for you".

I took Tarsh (my sister) along with me on the day before Christmas food shopping expedition as I thought it might get a bit ugly- people pulling and grabbing for the last punnet of strawberries, people standing on other peoples toes at the fish market vying for the best oysters, prawns and crayfish... I was happily surprised at how relaxed and normal everyone was. We were able to buy 90% of ingredients needed, managed to pick up a packet of fresh quail (a little disappointed I didn't get to knock off one of the rats from the sky myself) and make it home in time for a cuppa and a slice of December cake.

The beauty with Nic's version of Stephanie's salad was minimal prep allowing you to get it all ready while the quails are roasting in the oven. So we weren't without food for half a minute I whipped up some oysters Kilpatrick for Tarsh (she can't stand a-la-natural) and we began our Christmas feast with fresh prawns drizzled in lime, Sydney rock oysters and some pistachios while we waited for the quail to roast.

If you are wondering, my kids like many other kids and think oysters are disgusting! I have managed to get Max into eating prawns however Alex is still unsure and just likes to rip the heads off and make loud YUCK! noises as he is doing so. I am in no hurry for them to enjoy the delicate flavour of an oyster, it is bad enough I have to share the blue cheese with Alex, I don't think I could stand handing over an oyster seeing as I still only have them on special occasions.

Ok back to the salad, once quails have roasted on 210 degree for about 15 minutes they need to be 'rested' in foil. This is when you wash the baby endive, cut the fresh figs into halves or quarters and whip up your dressing. (Nic used a good red wine vinegar, e.v.olive oil with a good pinch of sea salt and cracked pepper).
Now the quails are rested and cooled a little you need to pick all the meat from their little bodies. When you have all the warm meat, toss it in with the baby endive and sprinkle with a little sea salt and cracked pepper followed with a good feta cheese. Drizzle on a bit of your dressing, toss and then place figs on each serving plate. Place quail mix in the middle and drizzle on a little extra dressing.

Such a simple and clean salad. The figs are a perfect match with the rich quail meat and creamy, salty  feta. Endive is quite bitter which is an acquired taste (one the kids decided rather quickly they didn't like) however when combined with everything else you just didn't want it to end. A perfect salad for summer and goes beautifully with a cold glass of semillon.
Nic set the bar high as per usual so I had a bit of sweat on the collar when it was my turn to head toward the kitchen and begin the next course, however I'll leave that for another day.

Ethiopian Chicken

I have been a bit behind in my blogs and I do apolagise. There seems to be an awful lot going on these days and sometimes I wonder how I can fit it all in. I usually look at other blogs and read about so many other

peoples cooking/life experiences but lately I haven't even had time to look at my favorites which I am not to happy about. How do bloggers do it? How do they continually keep their blog updated on a daily schedule, fit everything else into the day and then proceed to blog about the most fantastic meal they happened to whip up in the dinner hour- I don't know?

What I do know is I am trying to keep pace but am slipping! I feel like I haven't cooked an exciting meal in weeks and now I am going to blog about a meal Nic cooked about three days ago when mum was still here because-

a) it was dam fine and

b) it is from my most favorite cooking magazine- Saveur.

As most of you know my hubby is non to shabby in the kitchen. He likes to read a few cookbooks and then try out his version of the recipe at hand. When the April '08 issue of Saveur came out it was the beginning of his best chicken dish yet!

Nic first cooked this for me in April of '08 and I nearly fell off my chair. The flavour was intense, heart warming and I remember feeling duped when I licked my plate clean and there was nothing left but bones sucked dry.

I suggested to Nic he should make it for mum when she was over and he was happy to oblige. The real name for this killer dish is Doro Wot. The only time Nic wasn't really happy with his end result was of course when mum was here. Due to my heavy use of paprika there wasn't as much in the jar as he thought so the above dish was lacking it's usual deep potent redness. I thought the flavour was still wonderful and when you blend in the hard boiled egg with the chicken and sauce you really do feel like you are eating in someone else's home (another reason why I love Saveur so much).

I would love to re write this recipe for you, however when I flip to the page it is filled with handwritten notes in Nic's handwriting and if you have ever had the pleasure of reading Nic's handwriting you'd know it is a no go zone unless you have studied ancient scripts! I will however advise you to find a copy of Saveurs no: 110 issue, flip to page 76 and give it a go. The recipe is not hard and you will be over joyed with the results I promise.

Nic's roast dinner

On Saturday night I was tired from my working weekend, so when it came around to dinner time I was so excited to hear Nic say he was going to cook a 'roast chook with all the trimmings' and all I had to do was sit back with a glass of vino and relax!

Nic makes a very good roast, he tells me stories of him coming home from school when he was a kid and popping on the roast for dinner when his mum was home late from work; rubbing the beef with mustard, sticking in cloves of garlic and rosemary in the leg of lamb or as he did on this occasion, shoving lemon and thyme up the cavity of a chicken. I often think of this and remind myself to get Max in the kitchen more so when he is a little older he can do the same for us.

Because Nic knows me so well I didn't even have to ask him to snap a photo of the chook before carving, instead he took it upon himself to not only take one shot but document his chook from beginning to end. I thought why waste his pictures so below is a photo/commentary of our Saturday roast.

When Nic cooks he does not believe in low fat, or using anything sparingly therefor I knew he was going to use all my thyme and stuff a big lemon up the chooks cavity,

and knowing all of this I am also aware of his favorite flavour optimizer- BUTTER!

Even though I know he loves the stuff and uses more than I, I am still trying to pick myself up off the floor as to the amount of butter that got stuffed under this little birdies skin- no wonder I kept commenting on how juicy the meat was!

Along with chunks of butter (and I hope you noted the chunk squeezed next to the lemon) we had a feast of pumpkin, our home grown pots and roasted onions. I haven't eaten roasted onion in ages, I had forgotten how soft, juicy and sweet onions become when blasted with a hot oven. Now that Nic had all his bits and bobs in the oven he was left to saute some fennel with even more butter. Don't get me wrong I love butter but at this stage I am starting to wish I didn't go back for seconds; if I keep this caper up random people will be pointing out Jack Sprat and his wife whenever we go out!

At the stage of pulling the chicken out of the oven and resting the meat I always get a call to come into the kitchen and make the gravy. I have to thank my grandma for passing down her method to mum and then mum passing it on to my sister and I. Draining off a lot of the fat (again I was thinking to myself what a lot of fat this bird had whilst draining) I then heat some of the juice and fat over a stove top and add about a tablespoon of flour, then stir to form a paste. With the paste thickening I just add more juices from the chicken and any water left from boiling veggies...alas we didn't boil anything this time so I just used water; continually stirring the sauce until the lumps go and you are left with a thick yummy gravy.

So there you have it, Nic's roast chook was absolutely delicious. We all ate way to much as per usual and there were left overs but I'll tell have to tell you all about that meal tomorrow!

Carbonara

I'm devastated, absolutely guttered.

Last night I was sitting on the couch with Nic talking about something......he'd just finished making a beef lasagne and it smelled fabulous (he really does make a yummy lasagna right down to rolling out the pasta sheets), we were talking about food and I casually commented that the carbonara I made the night before was pretty yummy; to which he replied

"Yeah but mine is better"

My mouth fell open and I of course said "What!" Nic looked at me with a devilish grin and a twinkle in his eye and said it again. What is a girl to do? Of course I took the obvious path and took it all out of proportion. I told him I was guttered, how could he say such a thing, blah, blah. I must of put on a great performance because when I looked over at Max he was sitting staring at us, grinning like a madman and wondering where this was going to go, hand twitching at his face in anticipation.

Now at this point I have to tell you Nic loves ALL things Italian, and over the years he has perfected the art of Italian cuisine, especially pasta making and pasta eating and at this point I have to admit I LOVE his carbonara. It is the classic Roman version with egg, parmesan and parsley all thrown in at the last minute, just before serving.

I wasn't however going to ASK him how he does it because I just don't have that ability and I knew the process so I thought I'd give it a go. If I was to be totally honest I was going to make a tomato sauce but due to the lack of ingredients in the fridge I then decided to make the carbonara, oh well I guess the truth had to come out sooner or later. When cooking the onion, garlic and bacon I sweated it down with the lid on, keeping all the flavour and sweetness in the pot instead of doing what Nic does and cooking it down so the bacon and onion get crispy. I also didn't add two whole eggs as I thought that was to excessive, so I added one whole egg and one yolk (this Nic tells me was my downfall!).

So that is pretty much it, once the eggs were in a bowl I finely grated in some parmesan cheese, mixed in the chopped parsley and loaded up on freshly ground pepper. After the pasta was cooked I left a small amount of pasta water in the pot just to help with a sauce (I hate dry pasta), poured in the bacon, onion and garlic mixture then added the egg and cheese, gave it a good stir and was happy with the result- I didn't realize my beloved was criticising the meal and doing a comparison all though I should of known really. Even the boys devour his version in seconds! With that said, dinner WAS yummy (even better when chilli freak hear grinds on some chilli flakes) but if I had to be truthful Nic truly has mastered the art of a bloody good carbonara; giving credit where credit is due I'll say OK his is extremely good...hows that professor of all things Italian?

Nic cooks

I have had a couple days off due to my sister coming to stay for the weekend. I love the fact we now live in the same country and we can see each other more than once ever 3 years. I think Tarsh can agree that we have supplied her with some fantastic holiday destinations- Florence, Chicago, and now Sydney.

The boys get so excited when anyone comes to visit however when Tarsh arrives I end up having 3 kids and the oldest (my sister) always manages to get the boys worked up into a very loud and giggling cyclone of stupor- bring it on Tarsh!

The first night of her arrival, Saturday, I had worked a massive day at the cafe- people kept on pouring in all day wanting eggs Benedict, breakfast wraps and coffee by the gallon. Usually the crowd dies down around 2 and it gives me an hour to straighten things up for the dinner chef, also leaving me plenty of time to pick Tarsh up from the train station. But- it is always the way when you have arrangements that things don't go according to your plan- People kept pouring into the cafe at 5 to three wanting burgers, steak sandwiches etc... In the end I got out at 3.15, flew to the station to find Tarsh waiting patiently for my arrival.

Back at home Nic pops the kettle on for a cuppa, I sit down for the first time since I woke up at 6am and that is pretty much where I stayed until it was time to put the boys to bed. I was exhausted!

I always feel like I should show visitors a 'good time' however the way our life is these days I know I fall short of a standard 'good time' so I try to make up for it with food! For the next few posts I'll share our weekend delights with you from the delicious chicken, corn and potato pot pies, to the rum and raisin slice and finishing with the whole fish I smothered in garlic and pepper.

Nic knew I wasn't going to move into the kitchen and secretly I think he was quite happy about that. I have been cooking so much these days he hasn't even had a look in when it comes to dinner so he nominated himself to cook. Me being me, offered up a few suggestion where I was met with a stern look from the man and given a glass of red to keep me occupied (it really doesn't take much!).

While Tarsh and I were catching up on life events Nic was setting the bar for the food for the weekend. Inspired by a recipe in a magazine he made a fantastic ricotta and spinach pasta bake with hits of lemon thyme to tantalize our senses. It was a delicious meal and we polished off every last bit. I forgot how good he can be in the kitchen and now that he has jogged my memory I will back off and let him in more!

Nic used a smooth ricotta which worked beautifully with the spinach and acted as a wonderful binding agent for the dish- see you must always experiment with food, just because you usually use a smooth ricotta for desserts, it doesn't always mean it can't be used for anything else.

Thanks for a great weekend Tarsh and I can't wait to see what else Nic has up his sleeves!