Dinner Party Ideas

Who doesn't love a good dinner party?
I love them and I especially love them when I don't spend half the night in the kitchen cooking!
Champers or a good dry martini sets the mood for a soirée at the Bakers' house. Of course, there must be something super delicious to whet the palette before moving over to the table for dinner.

Home-made bread usually does the trick and if you serve it with a delicious dip, I find you usually have set the mood for a fabulous evening ahead.
I recently made a yummy eggplant dip that blew my mind along with those of our friends. It was simple, made the day before and looked impressive. Feast magazine provided me with this recipe and it is one I'll use again and again. The combination of smoky eggplant, grilled haloumi and pomegranate molasses is an absolute winner.

Once the martinis have dried up, the flat bread is all eaten and conversation flowing, we usually move over to the dining table, and this is when I like to make my first entry into the kitchen. I mean, if you can't sit down and enjoy the company of your guests with your first martini then when can you?

The entree will set the tone for the night's feast. If it is sparse then guest will wonder if they have to pick up KFC on the way home. If it's too heavy then they won't finish main course, and only pick at dessert, so in my opinion the entree has to taste fantastic making your guests wanting more!
On this occasion I decided to go with an old favourite of mine -- gnocchi. I hardly ever make it any more, hardly ever eat it out (I hate the disappointment of it being served all watery, or with a creamy sauce) and so I decided to make it to see if I still had the magic touch. I pan-seared the gnocchi in a little butter then portioned it up and melted Raclette cheese over the top and served it with a citrus, tomato and basil salsa.

Thankfully the potato gnocchi was fluffy, light and moreish! Having the citrus salsa with the buttery gnocchi really helps even out the richness of the dish. 

With wine flowing and conversation in full swing, this allows me time to pop into the kitchen and give the main course a bit of attention. I was serving pork fillet that I'd marinated in a chili, brown sugar and porcini mushroom rub. The pork fillets needed to be thrown on the grill while I reheated the baked Jerusalem artichokes and green beans. The pork is rich and sweet and the hit of chili really works well with the mushrooms. You know you have a winning dish on your hands when all you can hear is the background music!

At this stage of the evening everyone is feeling extremely good. The happy food fog is wrapped around everyone, a good debate is usually underway and that 3rd, 4th or 5th bottle of wine you saved just in case it was one of those 'fun' nights has just been opened. Really by this stage you could serve a bowl of seasonal fruit and everyone would be happy.....alas, you know everyone is really dying for a sweet little something and dessert is usually the course that everyone remembers when they wake up in the morning.

I love citrus so I like to keep dessert light, fun with a hint of tart. Small bites are also a great way to serve dessert after the previous three courses. To wrap this dinner party up I served a trio of citrus that started with a lemon mousse; pistachio shortcake with fresh strawberries and a lime curd and finished with a sherry glass of limoncello -- what isn't there to love about that?

Just before the boys went off to bed they whispered in my ear "can you please make sure there is some dessert left for us?" and I think I remember saying the same thing to my mum many moons ago!

Rocky Road is a great after school snack

When the temperature drops, the rain settles in and the kids can't run all their energy off I retreat to the kitchen. I was trying to think of something to have in the fridge for when the boys get home from school this week. We have done popcorn to death, smoothies aren't so popular now it is cooler and Vegemite crackers are getting a little repetitive. I told them that when I was an exchange student living over in New Zealand my host mum use to lay out a tin of sardines, alfalfa sprouts and dry crackers for our after school snack, as surprised as I am (not) they didn't want to try it.

A few weeks ago I started making my own trail mixes with pistachio nuts, peanuts, marshmallows and sultanas and they went down a treat along with their hot chocolate. Taking this on board I decided to go one step further and combine the two which makes.......rocky road!

You may be thinking that is a bit full on for a after school snack but I beg to differ. You see all the nuts that I used were raw (peanuts, almonds and walnuts), yes marshmallows are all sugar but at the rate they flip around, it is burnt off by dinner. To bulk it out I added dried cranberries and raisins then melted a 70% cocoa dark chocolate block to combine it all together, not forgetting a hefty sprinkle of shredded coconut.

OK, it is decedent and totally delicious but it is also packed full of energy. The boys have always been given small serves of cakes, brownies etc so they never get upset when I cut a good bite size piece of rocky road, they are to busy focusing on the pink marshmallows! One small piece with a glass of milk and after school snack is done and dusted. The boys are off practicing dance moves in their bedroom while trying to slay each other with light sabers.

It won't be on the after school snack list every week but this week is covered, there is no winging about something to eat and if there still hungry then there is always fruit.
Rocky road, the Oh so yummy treat adults and kids love.....and it's even better if you don't eat all the pistachio nuts before making it!!

Carrot Cupcakes

I'm taking that look on his face as pride!

It has been school holidays here in NSW for the past two weeks. Nic has been able to look after the boys while I keep on feeding the masses at work, however, yesterday I gave myself an early mark to come home and knock up a few ideas for my new website. I have decided to embrace kids classes and perhaps even do a kids 6 week cooking course for term four........work in progress!
Anyway Alex was at a mate's house for a good chunk of the day and when they came to drop him home I sat to have a cup of tea with his mate's mum while the kids went a bit manic. The two older siblings were bored, hungry and, well, looking for something to do without really talking to each other (10 year old boy and girl). What better way to keep the noise down and them occupied- bake a cake.

Straight out of the oven

I was going to make a carrot cake at some stage and then thought this would be a great way for them to test out a recipe for me. I wanted to see if it was going to be a good one for me to teach the kids in my up-and-coming classes. They were eager, excited and, before we knew it, talking to each other about how they were going to do this (I told them I wasn't going to help and that they needed to read the recipe and figure it out).

You can understand why the older kids wanted to get into the kitchen

I have to say the kitchen looked like a bomb (actually 3 bombs) had gone off in there, but the carrot cupcakes actually looked and smelt fabulous! They were proud as punch that they made them from scratch, by themselves and even more excited that they worked. Now I just have to get them to test about 10 more recipes and I'll be good to go!

Salted brownie with cashews

Last year I mastered the art of the red velvet cake. I feel I have made enough to do them in my sleep. I've made red velvet layer cakes that blew peoples minds, turned them into cupcakes, mini cupcakes and even got asked if I'd make a few wedding cakes. In my mind, I have mastered the red velvet cake and that pleases me no end.

This year I have been playing around with chocolate, to be more specific a classic fudge brownie.
While visiting in Chicago this January I noticed salted caramel was all the rage, so when I saw a tub of it in WholeFoods I picked up a tub to see what all the fuss was about. YUM! Bite size pieces of caramel coated in chocolate and then sprinkled with flaked salt. I'd eat one...then two, you can see the pattern I'm sure.

Salty sweet is one of my favourite combinations, however, I knew I didn't want to whip up a batch of caramels on a regular basis so I thought about putting the chocolate and salt combo together in something that is a popular sweet treat and that is how I came up with a brownie.




I first tried my idea out using salted pistachio nuts.

I have to tell you that this is the only photo I took because it got gobbled up faster than I could snap a pic! The smell drove me wild while baking, I had my neighbour over for dinner the night I made it and she went back for seconds while sipping a glass of red (perfect partnering!).

A few weeks later (I mean let's face it, if you bake chocolate brownie you eat it and there is only so much chocolate I want in the house due to my lack of self control!) I found a bag of unopened raw cashews in the cupboard and decided to give them a go with my favourite brownie recipe. The salt idea came once the raw cashews were on top of the brownie mix looking kind of plain and boring. I sprinkled on some sea salt, popped them in the oven and waited.....

These are my end result!

I cut them into bite size pieces and took them off to a meeting I was attending that evening. To my relief they were a massive hit. Not being a real nut lover, I have to say I am happy with the result and so are the boys. Nic and Alex gobbled them down in seconds while Max and I picked off the nuts and eat them slowly, enjoying the salty sweet flavours. Maybe this is the winning combo? or is there another nut I have missed?

Paella the kids love

How can you not love a good paella?
Easy to whip up, full of yummy seafood, chorizo and spice not to mention it's excellent for filling my growing boys hollow legs!

I sometimes forget how simple and quick it is to cook a paella at home, and then once I make it I vow to do it at least once a month.......OK this doesn't happen but seriously it should. I mean, my youngest hates risotto. Won't eat it and curls his lip up at the sight of it, however, when I made a beautiful big pan of paella the other night bursting with mussels, pippis, prawns, chorizo and chicken- he was the fist to dig in!

I have a feeling it had something to do with the fun shellfish aspect of a paella. It's interesting to look at, you can pick up pieces of shellfish in your fingers and then eat a spicy piece of sausage with rice afterwards.....what's not to like about that?

 But then again, I wonder if it was the promise of double choc ice cream that really sealed the deal?

I like to think it really was the seafood but photos do speak a thousand words...right?

Lamingtons--Max's first batch

It has been a busy this week. The kids are back at school and straight back into homework, trumpet practice and complaining about all the homework- yep, just as I remember!

Max is in grade five this year and Nic and I can hardly believe where the time has gone. It only feels like yesterday that he was learning to walk and now he is wanting to learn how to make lamingtons.

This year in the 5th grade the kids have weekly projects to complete. They have a grid of several options, and get to choose a project they would like to work on that week and then talk about it on Friday in class. Monday just past, Max informs me he MUST make lamingtons because it was one of his school projects. It didn't sound unreasonable so I didn't bother checking the sheet and it also bought on a wave of excitement in the homework hour and who was I complain about that?

Max ended up making his first batch of lamingtons from scratch over two days (on my advice of leaving the cake to dry out a little so the icing would hold better, much to his annoyance) and did a great job. When I went to refer to his sheet about something I spotted that in fact you didn't actually have to make the lamingtons only find a recipe and write it in the homework book!

I love the idea of getting older kids to read an assortment of miscellaneous documents, such as we all read everyday and the fact that he actually wanted to make the lamingtons and take them into class and share them around make me really proud of him....now I just need him to learn how to clean up after himself and he would be perfect!

What's the first step when you cook something Max?

Oh, read the recipe! Ok now weigh out all the ingredients and make sure you have everything....

two eggs...yep, sounds right but you tell me? What does your recipe tell you?

That's right, sometimes you have to use your muscles when baking...

Ok in the oven to bake and make the whole house smell yummy.

Day 2 and the fun begins with chocolate coating and.....

rolling the lamingtons in coconut. After the first five were done, I jumped in and gave him a hand as he was a bit overwhelmed with doing the whole 26 of them!

I hope your class enjoys all your hard work tomorrow Max, well done x.

Holiday safety....

A terrible, terrible month it has been for me. I have been snapping away with the camera and waiting for that one night when I get a chance to write about a few yummy meals we have eaten. Alas, it is December and the busiest time of the year for any caterer I am sure.

I know it sounds like an excuse but I can assure you I am not happy with my blogging performance!
Another thing I'm a little miffed about would be the fact that I made a fabulous chocolate cake for a clients champagne breakfast last weekend and didn't even get a change to nab a photo due to my stupidity.

That's right, I didn't take the festive seasons safely course (I know it doesn't exist but maybe I should do one every year just to remind myself I am not really capable of working EVERY job I can). OK I will let you in on why I am unable to blog at the moment...you see I was helping out a friend of mine who needed a server/waiter to make her last evening of dinners a roaring success. I said 'yes' knowing I had the breakfast the next morning but I was confident I really wasn't over doing it.

Before we could even get all the entrees out I was opening a guests champagne bottle, got distracted and popped the cork straight into my eye!! As the ER eye doctor commented, 'Ouch, corks and eyes DON'T mix very well- WOW look at that mess!" (not the type of conversation you want to have with an eye doctor on a Saturday night in the ER). Anyway I was put on total bed rest with the hope that my eye will stop bleeding (behind the eye FYI). Sadly it was still bleeding on Monday and I really can't see straight so I'm hoping tomorrows appointment will be full of good news and festive joy when I go back for another look.
Staring at a computer screen is a nightmare, so please excuse the errors in this post- I'm doing the best I can with one eye open. Please, please, please take care around all corks but especially champagne ones and have yourself a fantastic holiday season. I will leave you with the chocolate cake recipe because it really was a delicious looking cake!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Moist chocolate cake

250 grams unsalted butter

200grams dark chocolate

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup boiling water

1 cup perculated coffee

1 1/2 cups self raising flour

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Preheat oven to 150 degrees.

Melt butter and chocolate in a bowl over simmering water until it has melted then remove from heat.

Add sugar and stir until well mixed.

Add cocoa powder and boiling water together to make a paste then add to the chocolate mixture along with the coffee then stir to combine.

Add flour and lightly beat until mixed then add an egg one at a time followed by the vanilla essence.

It is a very wet mixture so line your tin with baking paper.

Pour in mixture, place on a tray and into the oven for 1 and half hours. Check with a wooden skewer that it is cooked.

Cool on a wire rack and cover with chocolate ganache.

Pikelets- An after school snack

The kids came out of school today with rumbling tummies. It is true, they always seems to be rumbling after the school bell rings but today Max was particularly grumpy and broody. I was contemplating a sticky bun at the bakery but didn't have the energy to walk up and down the big hill and I also didn't have the head space for all the huffing and puffing I would of had to listen to on the way down the hill!

I give them popcorn at least three days a week and thought maybe I should try something else for a change. Alex was in the mood to help out while Max lay on the couch with a book in his hand and a rumbly tummy- the world did not look good in his eyes!

As Alex and I were sifting flour and cracking eggs, I realised I was short on milk. I put it to the boys as to what added flavour they would prefer- apple or orange juice? Apple it was for the last 1/4 cup of liquid and with that said our batter was whipped up in a matter of seconds (no really, it took all of 3 minutes to make!).


The boys were munching their way through the first batch in no time. Alex pulled down every spread he could think of while Max just stood in the kitchen and ate (he is not even into double digits and he is eating me out of house and home!)
A regular batch makes about 35 pikelets so I'll be able to keep some for tomorrows after school feasting. Now I have to go and be the big meanie who makes them do homework and trumpet practice...if only they realised I hate homework time as much as them!

Pikelets
2 cups self raising flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup apple juice (if you run out of milk!)

Sift flour into a bowl then stir in the sugar.
Drop in the egg (unbeaten) and then mix in the liquid until you have a thick batter, beat for a few minutes.
Heat frying pan or griddle, drop in a tablespoon of mixture and wait for bubbles to appear before turning.

Once bubbles appear, flip and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Remove from heat and spread with jam, peanut butter, nutella or what ever else tickles your fancy.

BBQ pizza

This was not the blog I thought I would be writing today. As I downloaded a few images from the camera, I have realised I really need to find time to get talking about some of the meals we have been eating this week, however, like most things in life we were thrown a curve ball.
Last night Nic and I went out to dinner at a wonderful little French restaurant in Surry Hills with a good friend of ours. We have been meaning to catch up for ages but the universe never seemed to co operate with our previous arrangements. Anyway, the sitter was booked and the boys excited because they were going to finished watching their movie and have pizza for dinner.......even the sitter was looking forward to some homemade pizza.

Half way through the day Nic noticed our oven clock wasn't on- weird. He then tried to turn the oven on- still nothing. Our brand new oven had decided to stop working which is not good, especially considering it took the landlords about 8 weeks to replace the old one!

Now not one for encouraging a melt down from the boys I was determined to have pizza on the menu, after all the dough was already made and proving on the bench.  I remembered one of my friends telling me they eat pizza when camping and I have always wondered how good it would be, so I decided to wonder no more and give it a go.

I made a pita bread dough so I knew it would cook quickly on the base but didn't know how good the toppings would be. I am happy to report it was baby Q to the rescue. I popped the pizzas on grease proof paper and a thin tray then turned the temperature to medium heat on the BBQ, put the pizzas in the middle and closed the lid.

The pizzas were ready in a flash (aprox. 8 min) and so I hear, tasted awesome. Alex was very happy that they cooled down a lot faster than regular pizza and Max loved the crispy thin base. I have to admit I was keen to have a piece when I pulled them off the grill plate but decided to keep myself hungry for the feast ahead (turned out to be a very wise decision as I ate way to much pate and cheese!)

Anyway, if you happen to be struck down with a broken oven or in the bush with your barbie, don't despair because I am here to tell you BBQ pizza is the way to go. In fact I am tempted to make the next one in the BBQ because it did look so yummy but you be the judge.

As you can see, the bottom was perfect and the top dripping with soft melted cheese, what more could you ask for?

Pita bread
3 teaspoons dried yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
375ml warm water

Place the above ingredients into a measuring jug and let the yeast ferment for 5 min.
In a mixing bowl with a dough hook (or big bowl and your hands) add the following

625 grams plain flour
2 teaspoons salt

Mix in the yeast mixture then add in
1/4 cup olive oil

Kneed into a soft ball of dough then cover and place in a warm spot to let the dough double in size.
Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down, cover and prove again. Continue this step at least 4 times for a light dough.

Roll out as needed for pizza.

High Tea to You

Look I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, nor have I been eaten by aliens or had surgery to my hands.
 No, I have been on a path trying to find a new direction for my life. More importantly, I have been trying very hard to start living my life the way I actually want to, instead of my work life ruling me.

As most of you know I have been working in the corporate catering sector where I spend most of my days feeding people in suits lovely sandwiches, rolls and salads. If I get really lucky I get to cook hundreds of homemade beef, lamb and chicken pies, sweet chili sausage rolls and even cupcakes. I shouldn't complain as I have also been known to feed the odd celebrity on their trip to Sydney. Only the other day I made Hugh Jackman's steamed veggies with bye eye cod (which I am happy to report he loved), but believe it or not it just isn't ticking all the food boxes for me. I have met so many wonderful people in the two years I have had Sydney corporate catering but it has also been a toll on my family life. The boys know way to much about my work kitchen and not so much about their mum....that is unless I am telling them 'in a minute' 'No, don't touch that, don't eat that...' blah,blah.

Sydney corporate catering has been SOLD to a wonderful, young, energetic and blissfully single lady who cannot wait to take it on and I couldn't be happier. For these past few weeks I have been thinking of what I am to do with myself in between a few really busy days in the kitchen. If the past few weeks are a sign, I'll be flat out until handover at the end of the month.

Not being one to sit back, relax and wait for things to come to me. I have been wondering what it is that I really would like to do. What do I love about cooking and the hospitality industry?

One of my favourite past times is High tea. For my 18th birthday I went to the ex Hobart Sheraton with my mum and dad and enjoyed the delights of small pastries, cucumber sandwiches and hot floral tea.

Every year I turned another year older in Chicago, my good friend Sara use to spoil me and take me to high tea spots around Chicago. The last time we were seen out eating divine cakes and pastries was just after Alex was born and it is a memory I always turn to when I need a pick me up.

  When I decided I would like to bring a bit of glamour, flare and happiness to others the art of a good high tea was first on my list.

A few weeks ago I bought the name "High Tea to You" and within a week I had my first booking- a bridal shower, how perfect! It is a business in progress but a business I cannot wait to grow. Because my family have put up with my 12-15 hour days, cooking until all hours of the night and extremely early starts I have decided to keep the high teas to weekends and very special events. Now all I need to do is find a day job where flexibility is the key and the working day ends after 8 hours.......shouldn't be to hard, right? Pity I haven't worked out how to blog for a living :)

And just in case you are thinking you would like your own high tea at your house, a beautiful park or special place then give me a buzz at camillabaker.com and let it happen!

 Jansz on ice with chicken and cucumber sandwiches, prawn cocktails and mini berry brioche....

Not to mention the lemon curd tarts, scones jam and cream and red velvet cakes that were the biggest hit.

Bride to be Nicky going in for a scone with her cup of tea.

Pulled pork from the neck of the beast

I was at the butcher the other day asking for something inspiring. The lovely Aaron just looked at me, muttered something about indecisive cougars and told me to just pick something.

'What did you say? back up the truck my friend, you called me a what??!'

After a tongue lashing from me and stating a few facts (being number one that I am NOT yet in my forties so out of cougar range and secondly happily married so strike two buddy boy!).
Aaron is a lovable 20 something lad with a devilish twinkle in his eye; a tongue lashing from a regular is just what he needs, mind you I have got to find a way to stop him calling me mum in front of other customers...he's ageing me terribly with the locals!

I walked away that day with a lovely piece of pork neck so I forgave Aaron and promised to make something delicious that he may taste if he stops calling me mum!

 Pork neck isn't really a popular piece of meat; maybe it is the name that puts people off or the fact that it isn't a common cut used in recipes. It is a pity because it is a beautiful, flavoursome cut perfect for pulled pork or cut into steaks and BBQed! The piece I had was frozen, reserved for mincing which is the norm.

Of course I really wanted to do BBQ pulled pork, however, when the day finally came for me to start cooking I was short of hickory chips for the BBQ and time- I am always short on time! With this thought in mind I decided to dust off my slow cooker once more and put it to use.
This recipe was made up with two different ideas in my head. I was still wanting to BBQ the slab of meat because I wanted that lovely smoky flavour but I also had a lot of fennel seeds in my pantry and love the combination of pork and fennel. Finally I decided to combine ideas I picked up from other bloggers and see how that turned out.
Most rubs I looked at had brown sugar in them which is totally fine but the problem I had was I knew I wanted to sear off the piece of pork before adding it to the slow cooker and if I rubbed in the brown sugar it would of burnt before I could get a nice colouring on the meat. In the recipe you will see I added the sugar at the end as this dish really needs the depth of sweetness to really pull it together.

Slow cookers are perfect for slabs of meat (I have never been a fan of cooking smaller cuts in the slow cooker as I find it overcooks the meat and it has a funny after taste to it). Arriving home after a big day out to a fantastic smell of braising meat is pure heaven!

What's even better is pulling the pork apart while still warm then reducing the sauce slightly (with added sugar) before pouring the juices all over the meat and having heavenly soft tacos for lunch the following day. Especially since we spent the morning at the footy field watching Max's team play a great game of football on a sunny winter's morning here in Sydney.

OK so I didn't quite manage to make the BBQ version, however, if you're after a delicious braised pork dish and don't have hours to hang about the house- pull out the slow cooker!

Braised pork neck
1 kg piece of pork neck (your local butcher should have this cut, however, it maybe in the freezer so just ask)
3 teaspoons sweet paprika
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon salt flakes
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon whole fennel seeds
For the dry rub: place whole peppercorns and fennel seeds into a mortar and pound into a powder or pop in a spice grinder to blend.
Add remaining spices together then pour on to your piece of meat and rub it into the flesh and fatty bits until evenly coated.
Leave outside on the kitchen bench for 1 hour.

For the braising liquid:

2 bay leaves

1/2 cup red wine (I used Shiraz)

1 tin whole peeled tomatoes (strained)

1 cup chicken stock

2 large cloves garlic, smashed

1/3 cup brown sugar

Putting it all together:
Turn on your slow cooker to HIGH and add bay leaves, wine, tomatoes, stock and garlic and leave to warm.
Heat up a frying pan to sear the pork neck. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of salt and rub in 2 tablespoons of rice bran oil then sear until all sides are nicely browned.
Place pork neck into your slow cooker, pop the lid on and leave for 5 hours.

After you've gone out for a lovely day, come home lift off the lid, gently pull out the piece of pork neck and it should look like the picture below.

While it is still hot, get two forks and begin pulling the meat apart. While you are doing this, add the brown sugar to your sauce and put in on a medium heat to simmer for about 5 minutes or until it slightly thickens. Strain the juices over your pulled pork while it is still hot and cool the meat in the sauce for best results.

Paella with friends

About a year ago I met a lovely lady at Max's AFL club (Australian football league). We had just moved into our new neighbourhood and was on the look out for like minded people. I have to admit I didn't have much luck with group gatherings. I wasn't sure it if was due to the fact that I hadn't been back long in Australia or if it was me entirely who didn't fit into theses somewhat clicky groups? To tell you the truth, I am still not sure, however, each week we turn up and watch Max play the game he loves and each week I wonder if I'll ever fit in?

A year ago I met Natalie. She looked like someone who liked a bit of a chat...so I chatted. We hit it off, made plans to see each other socially, however, it never eventuated. I was always working, she had things going on in her life etc, etc.
It wasn't until the second year of our kids playing footy that we finally sat down and made a proper date to do lunch.

This date was today. It was decided last week that we would get together after footy and have lunch, catch up and open a bottle of vino. This weekend also happened to fall on a long weekend and a rainy weekend at that. The day was planned, after footy we were to go around to Nat's (thankfully she only lived up the road) and I would cook a paella. I know she invited us over to her place but me being me I wanted to cook and had paella on the brain.

It didn't take much to convince Nat that it was a good idea for us to come over and let me cook.
I was excited,  I had just found a fabulous local deli that sold traditional Spanish paella rice (bomba), paprika and chorizo sausage. All I needed to do was take a trip down to the fish markets and buy the rest of the ingredients for a feast.

The boys blitzed their footy match while it poured with rain (rain seems to help them?).  I couldn't think of anything better than sitting through the rest of the day slowly sipping on a glass of Shiraz while cooking paella and talking with friends.

I made myself comfortable in Natalie's kitchen while I cooked lunch. Even though it took a little longer than I thought (shouldn't of had a glass of wine first!) the end result was fantastic!!

When cooking a paella, you really need to go as traditional as possible. I bought authentic rice, chorizo and paprika which made the whole process that much easier. Seeing as I wanted a seafood paella, I made my own prawn stock the night before. I peeled about 250 grams of prawns, sauteed the heads and shells, poured in about a litre of water with a teaspoon of salt and then simmered it for 30 minutes before straining.

We weren't sure how the boys would react to paella seeing as it was a first for all the boys. I am happy to report they were just as excited as the adults. As we found out, it was a great way to introduce them to pippi's and mussels. They were excited by the shells and eagerly slurped down the pippis and just so happened to like them!
A wonderful afternoon was had, great food and wine was consumed and I am happy to report a wonderful friendship has blossomed, it's just a pity it took a year to finally organize.
Thanks Nat and Baz and we look forward to another lazy Sunday afternoon!

Seafood and chorizo Paella
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 red capsicum (pepper), diced
pinch saffron threads
1/2-1 teaspoon smoked paprika (Spanish variety best)
250 grams fresh calamari cut into rings
2 chorizo sausage, sliced
1 litre prawn stock (or chicken)
500grams Bomba rice
1 cup sliced cherry tomatoes
salt and pepper
8 mussels (I used green lips)
2 cups fresh pippis (or clams)
12 peeled prawns
1/3 cup frozen peas

Get out your 40cm paella pan and add oil on a medium high heat.
Add onions, saute for 1-2 minutes then add garlic, red capsicum, salt and pepper and saute for 3-4 minutes.
Add saffron and paprika, saute for 3-4 minutes then add calamari rings and chorizo slices. Cook until calamari turns white and sausage smells fantastic!
Add stock and bring to the boil. Once simmering shake in the rice and cover completely with liquid. Add tomatoes, shake to cover (DO NOT STIR).
When paella is boiling, reduce to a light simmer and leave for 20 minutes, giving the pan a shake every 5 minutes to make sure even cooking.
After twenty minutes, add mussels, pippis, prawns and peas. There is no need to stir in, just cover with a lid (or another paella pan) and continue to cook for 5 minutes or until mussels open.
Remove lid, check that all liquid has been absorbed, if there is a little remaining, turn up the heat and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
Serve piping hot.
Note: You should have a lovely crust on the bottom of your pan and that is what you want. The rice caramelises, this only happened on one side of my dish, I think I needed a bigger burner but it was still a fantastic flavour.
This feeds 3 adults and 3 hungry kids very well