Spinach and Fetta Ravioli

I read a book recently called The Love Goddess' Cooking School written by Melissa Senate, it revived a love of Italian cuisine inside me that had lay dormant for some years and I just had to make ravioli....it would appear I need more practice on the fundamentals of pasta as mine was not perfect but the filling was delightful and I would try it again.

I made a basic (she says as if she is an expert) egg pasta which is usually around 600g of flour to 6 eggs I think. The first error I made I fear is that I used any old flour I had in the pantry. You should try to source some Durum Wheat flour. You just mix the two ingredients in a large bowl or on a wooden board until they have come together, then you knead the dough until it is nice and smooth. Rest the dough for about ½ an hour (second mistake I made was not resting the dough) then roll it out making sure it’s nice and thin.

For the filling I used some spinach, leek and mint from the garden with some marinated fetta and lemon rind. The quantities worked out to be roughly what i have listed below.

Ingredients:

½ a leek

1 bunch of English spinach

1 hand full of fresh mint

The zest of one lemon

2 generous tablespoons of marinated fetta

Method:

Sautee of the leek until softened then toss in the chopped spinach and allow it to wilt down. Turn off the pan and grate in the lemon zest and toss through the mint. Allow the mixture to cool a little then add the fetta and mix together.

Use a round cutter to cut out circles in your pastry sheets, flouring the board as required. Place a little mound of the filling into the centre of half of the circles of pasta then brush the edges with an egg wash or just a bit of water. Then cover your ravioli piece with another pasta circle and pinch the edges together, making sure they are sealed and no filling is peaking out.

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Gently lower your ravioli pieces into the bubbling water and watch them patiently. They are cooked when they float to the surface. When they are done scoop them out and serve them immediately with a rich tomato sauce, I made a tomato and caper sauce.... bellissimo

Quail Egg Nicoise Salad with Crispy Skinned Trout

I came across these beautiful quail eggs in the supermarket recently and just had to use them. I thought I would make an old favourite of mine, nicoise salad, and these tiny eggs proved to be the perfect size. I served the salad with a crispy skinned trout fillet, it was all round lovely. Handling the quail eggs made me feel as though some fairies had secretly delivered magical ingredients to my kitchen, they are just so pretty.

Ingredients:

2 Potatoes

2 handfuls of Green beans

10 Quail eggs

1 cup of olives (usually kalamata but I used a mix)

½ a bunch of Dill

1 Lime

Olive oil

A pinch of chilli flakes

A pinch of salt

Method:

Boil potatoes until they can be easily pierced then set them aside to cool.

The beans need to be blanched so and easy way to do this is but them in a bowl or saucepan, boil the kettle and pour the boiling water over them, let them sit in the boiling water fro about 30 seconds then drain them and rinse them under cold water.

Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil then gently lower your quail eggs in and cook them for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes rinse the eggs under cold water and peel them.

Finely chop the dill.

Get a large mixing bowl and start putting the salad together. Chop your potatoes into bite size squares and pop them into the bowl, throw in the dill, olives and green beans. Drizzle a generous slurp of olive oil over the salad, sprinkle a pinch of sea salt and chilli flakes over the lot. Give it all a gentle mix up.

Pile a mound of the salad onto each plate then cut your quail eggs in half and arrange them around the salad.

Now my trick to a crispy skinned salmon or trout fillet is to get your pan nice and hot, cover the fish in olive oil (don’t pour oil into the pan) and place the fish skin down into your hot pan. Cook the fillet until you can see about one centimetre of the fish has changed and is cooked then pop the whole pan (use a frypan with a metal handle) into a preheated oven at 180°C for about 5-6 minutes depending on how well cooked you like your fish. To get the fish off of the pan use a metal spatula.

Spring Asparagus with Tuna Risotto

Forgive the blurry photo but I had to share this meal. I made a tuna and lime risotto and served some wonderfully fresh blanched baby asparagus on top of it with a generous dollop of my spicy tomato sauce. A very satisfying meal

Passionfruit Cake

As I still have my friends KitchenAid mixer in my possession, cake for dessert was naturally on the menu. My boyfriend's daughter and I made this cake last night and by all accounts it was hailed a success. I didn't write quantities down but I think this is about right.

180g butter

1 ½ cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

2 cups flour

2 heaped teaspoons of baking powder

¾ cup milk

¾ cup passionfruit pulp

Cream the butter and sugar until thick and pale then add the vanilla and the eggs one at a time while beating.

Add flour and baking powder and beat on a low speed until mixed through.

Add milk and beat until batter is formed.

Fold the passionfruit through the batter and pour it into a greased and lined cake tin

Bake 1t 160°C for about 45 minutes or until skewer comes out clean

Pan Fried Fish with Thai Eggplant and Coriander Salsa

I saw these little eggplants in my local fruit and veg shop the other day and just had to have them. I decided to cook them by cutting little slits in the side and steaming them, this allowed me to flatten them out a bit when I later wanted to give them crispy bottoms by finishing them in the frypan.

I served them with some lightly floured and pan fried fish on a bed of coriander and cherry tomato salsa. I didn’t write down exact quantities but it was heavy on the coriander and lime with a light seasoning of salt and chilli.

Victorian Sponge

I have in my possession at the moment my friends KitchenAid and it has to be said .... I'm in love. I thought it best to use this fleeting time I have with my new lover to make a Victorian Sponge that without a decent mixer would be almost impossible for a mere mortals such as myself.

so here is my recipe for vanilla sponge

Ingredients:

6 eggs separated

¾ cup caster sugar

100g butter (melted and cooled)

1 cup plain flour

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Method:

Grease and line a 26cm cake tin and preheat your oven to 190°C.

Melt your butter then add the vanilla and set aside to cool.

Beat the egg yolks with ½ cup of the caster sugar until thick, pale and creamy. In a separate bowl beat the eggwhites until they have formed mountainous peaks then add the sugar a little at a time while continually beating until the mixture is very stiff.

Add ¼ of the egg white mix into the yolks and fold in until combined.

Add the rest of the whites into the mix and gently fold through.

Sift the flour on top of the eggs and gently fold it through. Pour the cooled butter and vanilla down the side of the bowl and fold it into the mix until you have a rich glossy batter.

Bake at 190°C for about 25 mins or until the centre of the cake springs back when touched and the sides of the cake have started to come away from the tin.

The vanilla is optional in this cake and traditionally would be left out, I wanted a vanilla and strawberry flavour when serving this cake.

Slice the cake in half and fill with whipped cream and your favourite jam or as I have done with whipped cream and fresh strawberries. 

My Nanna's Pavlova

This dessert came to be at out table after some reminiscing of favourite Nanna treats. I was telling my friends how I loved when Nanna grated the peppermint crisp over the mountains of whipped cream on her wonderful pavlova. Much to my disgust, not one of my friends knew what a peppermint crisp was. If you find yourself in this unfortunate category then please do yourself a favour and go to the supermarket, head straight for the chocolate isle and look for the bright green wrapper marked "peppermint crisp".

I couldn't have people I know and love going their whole life not experiencing such a treat so I called in the big guns...... I called my Nanna.

Below is my 88 year old Nanna's recipe for pavlova.

Ingredients:
4 Egg whites
1 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon corn flour
1 teaspoon white vinegar

Method:
Beat the egg whites until stiff then gradually add the sugar while beating, add the corn flour with the last bit of sugar.

Stir the vinegar in last.

Mound the mix onto a baking tray covered with foil.

Bake at 100° C for about an hour.

It was a hit and more importantly now everyone knows what a peppermint crisp is

Morning tea

I often like to spoil my workmates with a little treat for morning tea. Today it was treacly banana muffins.

Prawn and Garlic Wonton Soup

Well it's soup again from me, the weather has insisted on this craving of mine.........

Ingredients:

250g prawns (raw)

2 cloves raw garlic

4 shallots

1 egg

2 teaspoons of soy

25 won ton wrappers

Mince up the prawns with the garlic, the whites of the shallots and the egg.

Slice the green of the shallots and stir it through the mixture with the soy sauce.

It is very hard to explain how to fold the wontons so I have included a link for a great quick demonstration. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wUiwMOa-BI&NR=1

For the broth you can just use a fish stock or any stock really but I made a broth with:

1 tablespoon of fresh ground Thai spices (something I always have in my fridge)

1 tablespoon of Thai style chilli jam

1 tablespoon of fish sauce

1 teaspoon of palm sugar

Juice of one lime

1 teaspoon of sesame oil

Cook all of these ingredients off in a saucepan together then top with about 3 cups of water. Poach your wontons in the broth; they will float to the surface when they are done.

Serve your soup with some slithers of raw carrot and a handful of fresh coriander.

Spicy Tomato Soup with Spinach and Herb Dumplings

Well Mother Nature sure is confusing my senses at the moment. How is it that in the first month of spring I am again making piping hot soups to warm my family? Whatever the reason, I will embrace it as should you because this is a truly delicious recipe. This recipe is for two so just double or triple as required.

Ingredients:

Soup:

8 large tomatoes

½ knob of garlic

½ bunch of sage

Pinch of salt

Drizzle of olive oil

1 hot chilli

1 onion finely diced

Dumplings:

6 leaves of silver beat

½ bunch of mint

½ bunch of continental parsley

1 egg

Flour for dusting

Basil and olive oil to serve

Method:

Soup:

The soup is incredibly easy first you pop the tomatoes, chilli and garlic cloves with the bases cut off) into a baking dish and drizzle olive oil over them. Bake them in a preheated oven for about ½ hour to 45 minutes or until the skins of the tomatoes are splitting and slightly scorched, do this ahead of time and enjoy the aromas that fill you home. When the tomatoes are ready take them out of the oven and allow them to cool, once they have cooled peel the majority of the skin off of the tomatoes and squeeze the garlic out of its skin (discard all the unwanted skins). Once your tomatoes and garlic are peeled and ready to go, finely dice your onion and roughly chop the sage heat a heavy base large saucepan and sauté the onion and sage until onion becomes translucent. Once the onion is pour in the contents of your baking tray and start squashing down your tomatoes. Use about one cup of water to wash out the baking tray and pour the liquid into the soup mix. Let the mix cook for about 10-15 minutes on a low heat with the lid on. Once everything has reduced down give the soup a rough blitz with the stick blender (don’t make it too smooth though).

Dumplings:

These dumplings are really quite simple but they take quite a bit of explaining. Just wash and destalk and roughly chop all of your herbs and silver beat. I have a metal colander I use for the next step but any strainer should work. Put all of your washed spinach and herbs into the colander and boil your kettle. Pour the boiling water over the herbs and watch them wilt down, keep pouring until you have used all of the water in the kettle then rinse the herbs with cold water from the tap. Now all you need to do is separate them ix into about 6 portions, squeeze each potion out in your hand forcing the entire liquid out and forming a little ball of spinach and herbs, do this for all of the portions. Crack the egg into a bowl and give it a quick whisk with a fork then pour some flour into another clean bowl. Dip each spinach and herb ball into the egg first then into the bowl of flour making sure the entire ball is covered with both egg and flour. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and gently lower each dumpling into the boiling water and cook for about 1 ½ minutes, making sure that the dumpling have all risen to the top of the pot before you take them out. Pop your dumpling onto a baking tray and coat them with olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. Pop them into the oven until they start to brown slightly then they are ready.

Serve the soup with a few dumplings each, some fresh leaves of basil and a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of sea salt. Enjoy