About a six weeks ago (when Summer was still here) a bunch of my friends and I joined upwards of 2000 other people on the beach for a feeding of the masses. On an incredibly gorgeous late summers evening on the picturesque beach ringed by golden red cliffs that is Port Willunga we were greeted by a long line of old-fashioned striped canvas beach shelters. Each was serving up a different take on seafood stew or soup from an amazing array of chefs. The food was served to each person in their own handmade ceramic bowl designed by Prue Venables (Artistic Director of the Jam Factory) and made by local artists.

Willunga Beach from top car park just outside Star of Greece restaurant

Crowd looking south down the beach

Crowd looking north down the beach

This was part of the Adelaide Film Festival and while the connection to the film festival seemed to be drawing a long bow (do you consider light projections on a cliff to be film?) it was actually a unique event in a broader food related program called ‘Appetite’ – films about people’s relationship to food.

The event was organised by Gay Bilson (renowned for her writing on food and her public feeding events). According to the promo the following chefs were involved: Nigel Rich (D’Arry’s Verandah), David Swain (Fino) , Billy Dohnt (Salopian Inn), Ben Sommariva (Penny’s Hill Winery Kitchen Door), Emma Baxter and Russell Jeavons (Russell’s Pizza), Rebecca Stubbs (The Retreat at Chapel Hill Winery), Kerryn Oates (Hoffman’s Winery’s The Currant Shed), Stephen Schmitz (Jetty Food Store) with Salvatore Pepe (Cibo Espresso), Glenn Worrell (The Victory Hotel), as well as Genevieve Harris (Sumptuous Magazine), and Cheong Liew (formerly of The Grange Restaurant).

Some of the hardworking people serving the delicious food

More hardworking servers - including Cheong Liew!

It was definitely going to be hard to choose which dish to have (we could only choose one) so I decided to have the first dish that I really liked the look of (less choice is best for me). I only got to tent number two before settling on the Asian inspired Fish in Tamarind Broth. It was slightly tangy, slightly sweet and incredibly delicious. The fish was placed in the bowl raw on top of steamed rice, the tamarind broth poured over to cook the flesh and loads of fresh herbs swirled in.

My bowl of deliciousness

Several of our group had the fish chowder which was a rich and sophisticated version of this classic dish.

Fish Chowder

A couple of us chose the Goan fish curry (very popular generally from what we could tell), and were not disappointed.

Many cultural food-ways were represented with dishes such as Flathead and Pippi with ramen noodles, Sicilian Fish Soup with couscous, Bourride with aioli, Lobster Bisque (sold out before we even got near it) and even a Congee by Cheong Liew.

The restaurants/chefs had all ‘styled’ their stalls to show off the fresh, beautiful ingredients being used and they presented a very pretty picture as we walked along deciding what to have.

We did haul chairs down to the beach with us but ended up just sitting on the pure white sand, each cradling a big bowl full of fragrant, fresh, saucy seafood and a glass of wine while we watched the sun set over a perfectly calm ocean. Light projections flickered onto the cliffs as the sun faded and a live guitar trio (Caliente) played as the darkness drew in while we watched, with only a little envy, the yacht sitting perfectly still just offshore.

My only criticism of this incredibly well organised and frankly generous event (food and handmade bowl to take home for only $30) would be that the wine choice was waaaaay too narrow (Yalumba only) and one wine tent (and one beer tent) took waaaaaaaaaay too long to line up and get a drink from. Yalumba was a major sponsor but given the range of chefs and restaurants represented it would have been much more in keeping with the event to have been able to sample wines from some of the other fabulous wineries in the Mclaren Vale region.

Fortunately none of us was in a hurry and we considered ourselves lucky to be there as the tickets had sold out very fast (including a second release – it was only supposed to be 1000 people). Thanks, Lucy for the heads up on buying tickets!

Two of my lovely friends, contentedly full on seafood, enjoying the gorgeous weather.

Belinda and Kasia

Ooh and we saw Poh filming there and couldn’t resist taking a photo (she is very down to earth to speak to in real life – just as she seems on TV).

Picked a fig from the tree in my backyard this morning, sliced it over natural yoghurt, sprinkled with toasted seeds and drizzled with honey mmm….

The Xmas fairy (my Mum) granted my wish for the new Ottolenghi cookbook Plenty and I made the first of the dishes that took my fancy this week. Those of you who know this cookbook and the previous one with the eponymous title Ottolenghi will already be familiar with the rich, creative mix of flavours and ingredients that make really surprising dishes full of colour and flavour.

I posted previously here and here on the dishes I’ve tried so far from Ottolenghi – both excellent. This week I started in on Plenty and made Green Couscous for an early evening family picnic in the garden at Carrick Hill – while watching a play. I do love an excuse for a picnic.

The Green Couscous (recipe found on another blog so I don’t have to worry about copyright), which included fried onion and chopped toasted pistachios as well as a fresh herb paste, was quite rich and totally moreish. It was accompanied by marinated roasted chicken wings (thanks Mum) and was followed by a platter of cheeses (including some Roquefort – my 3 year old loves blue cheese), dips olives and fruit. Due to some kind of catering mix up at the place we were also provided with a free bottle of red wine!

I hadn’t been to Carrick Hill since I was a young teenager and the gorgeous gardens reminded me to go again soon. Carrick Hill was the home of a couple from two of the richest and most prominent families in South Australia. The house and grounds are now a museum open to the public. The house is a fascinating look into a bygone era of gracious luxury (including an extensive art collection). In the garden they have a Story Book Trail that you can take yourself (kids optional) through (including a living maze if memory serves me). The gardens are definitely English and are a mix of  formal gardens and country park. The garden is surrounded by 20 hectares of natural bushland which is home to remnant indigenous species of flora.  There are walking trails through this area – maps available at the museum.  Most importantly to round off your visit they have a cafe with morning and afternoon tea available. This last had me planning a Sunday afternoon visit very soon.

The other dish I made this week was the multi vegetable paella. You can get the recipe here. This was also very tasty with a reasonable amount of poke from the cayenne pepper.  While I confess to adding prosciutto when frying the onion and would have been happy to find some chicken and the odd prawn tucked in to the rice, it was a surprisingly tasty version of this dish. The result of so many bright veggies was eye-popping colour!

I traded  a few of the veggies for others but I think that’s probably fine with this dish. I don’t really like artichokes so I chargrilled some zucchini that  I added in chunks instead (I know they are very different but I thought the zucchini would add a similar feeling of substance). I also used about 150g of peas and 50g of soya beans instead of broad beans because that’s what I had in the freezer. The tomatoes I used were so sweet and juicy they were the star of the dish! The recipe says it serves two generously but I would say it serves 3 (or 4 less generously – perhaps with some crusty bread) as we are not small eaters and still had a hearty serve left over.

Both recipes were more work than I thought they were going to be but were worth it for the richer and more complex flavours in the final dishes.

Just prior to Xmas it was my Mum and Dad’s 50th wedding anniversary. Now that’s a much more impressive 50th anniversary than my 50th blogging post that I wrote about recently – and we went somewhere suitably special to celebrate: Skilogalee Winery Restaurant in the Clare Valley.

Skillogalee vineyards were planted in the early 1970′s and the property had a history of grape growing for dried fruits prior to that. The cottage that houses the tasting area and restaurant was built in 1851 as the home of a Cornish miner turned mixed home farmer John Trestrail whose wife gave birth to 17 children (13 of whom survived)! Skillogalee is named after the creek that runs through the property and is the Irish/Celtic name of an unappetising sounding starvation dish of thin gruel that an expedition party looking for suitable land to settle on in this region (led by John Horrocks after whom another Clare winery is named) was forced to resort to eating after misfortune befell them on their expedition. Nothing could have been further from the delicious food that we were served the day we visited Skillogalee!

While I am no wine buff I can attest to their consistently pleasing wines and  universal approval (we’ve been buying them for years and never miss a visit to buy up when we go to Clare). A constant truck load of awards must tell you something too . According to their website “The vines are hand-pruned and the fruit is mainly hand-picked. The wines are produced exclusively from grapes grown on our own vineyards and styles include crisp dry whites (riesling,gewürztraminer and chardonnay), a full flavoured rosé, rich, full-bodied reds (shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and blends) and some luscious fortified wines.”

For our lunch we had a couple of bottles of the 2010 Riesling and the 2006 basket pressed The Cabernets. Both fabulous! We had to be modest with our consumption given that we all had to drive home afterwards but they do have  three accommodation options within walking distance if you’d prefer to indulge further (and of course this would allow you to do some more exploration and wine tasting at the many other excellent wineries in the Valley).

The restaurant, started in the 1990s out of a desire to provide food to customers who came to try the wines, and has become an attraction in its own right with a reputation that encourages people to readily make the 2 hour journey from Adelaide. We most recently came here in April last year for a delicious afternoon tea (warm home-made scones with jam and cream anyone?) and were provided with soft woollen knee rugs with our pot of Earl-Grey tea that allowed us to sit on the verandah despite the crisp Autumn weather.

It was a rather rainy and wintry day when we left Adelaide (although officially summer) to head north through the Barossa – with a stop at my parent’s place to drop off a cake from Providore in the Central Market (some of the best cakes to be had in Adelaide) that we were to have later that day –  and then on to Clare. Mum had (optimistically) booked an outside table under the gnarled olive tree overlooking the lovely terraced garden with a view that is backed by vines and then native bush rising on the hill beyond – absolutely lovely setting.

Because it was raining pretty heavily the morning of our celebratory lunch the staff helpfully relocated our booking into one of their cosy rooms inside the little cottage. There was a good range of dishes on the menu but our party of eight homed in on three dishes – one entrée and two mains that we just couldn’t go past. Skillogalee has a constantly changing menu and the chef attempts to source as many ingredients as possible locally. They also have some fruit trees and other produce on the property that they feature on the menu when in season, including figs, loquats and artichokes. I had never seen artichokes growing before (they look rather like giant Scotch Thistles) but saw several bushes forming a hedge that were all in flower when we were there with bees busy at work on the intensely bright purple flowers.

For entrée I, along with pretty much everyone else, chose the twice cooked goats cheese souffle served with a rocket salad, walnuts and roasted capsicum (or at least that’s what I remember it being – I was relying on the online menu to remind me but having just checked the menu has already changed – how inconsiderate ). The souffle was a little pillow of light but rich cheesy warmth rounded out perfectly with the peppery salad.

Vying for the most popular order for a main dish was the confit of duck leg (very generous serve of two legs) on a bed of black sticky rice in a coconut milk broth and onion chilli jam (again I can’t be completely confident I’m describing this dish accurately without the menu to look back on). The meat was tender and moist and flavourful and the sticky rice in coconut milk was a lovely surprising, creamy accompaniment. The onion jam added a sweetness (very minimal heat) that brought it all together nicely.

The other  contender for most ordered dish for our party was the thick fillets/medallions of lamb wrapped in prosciutto and served with caramelised onion and a mustard white wine sauce, steamed asparagus and smashed potatoes. Lots of praise for this dish including for the very tender, perfectly cooked meat. Both mains were hearty country sized serves.

As I mentioned earlier we all trooped off to my parents house for cake and coffee after lunch so we didn’t get to sample the dessert menu. However we lingered for quite a while in the garden as it had fined up and was actually quite warm after lunch. Lola ran around like a mad thing, burning off some energy from being cooped up for the car journey and her enforced confinement inside during lunch.

It was a lovely afternoon and it seemed the perfect way to celebrate a long-lasting relationship with great food, great wine and great company in a setting that is good for the soul – my parents certainly deserve such days. Congratulations Mum and Dad!

Pretty revolting weather was forecast in Adelaide for NYE but we decided to press ahead with our planned outdoor soiree regardless, fingers crossed that once the sun dropped so would the wind. However, as luck would have it a cool change kicked in way earlier than expected and we ended up with a perfect balmy evening.

It was a small ‘do’ with just 6 adults and two children (and a baby)  - this was pretty well perfect in my book.

My little girl Lola and her friend Tilly enjoying home-made icecream

My lovely friend Kasia made all the delectable nibbles and brought the Moet to go with them!

Oysters with shallots and red wine vinegar (from: Happy Days with the Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver, p. 142)

Griddled aubergines with feta, mint and chilli (from: Forever Summer by Nigella Lawson, p. 7)

Chicken albondigas with saffron almond sauce (from: Cocina Nueva: The New Spanish Kitchen by Jane Lawson, p. 59)

I made the two main dishes (from Ottolenghi) and both were chosen to cook on the BBQ. The first was Barbecued quail with mograbiah salad which had a really interesting marinade, more like a curry paste with the multitude of spices mixed with garlic, ginger and honey (and a lot of oil – it called for olive oil but I used vegetable oil as I was worried about it burning too easily). It smelled heavenly even before it was cooked. The salad was quite simple with lots of fresh herbs, chilli and a segmented lemon diced into it. I forgot to give instructions to my partner about not putting the quail on a BBQ griddle that was too hot so they came out looking rather more charred than I would have liked but they tasted fabulous anyway.

The second dish was Lamb cutlets with walnut, fig and goats cheese salad. This had a very simple marinade of garlic, thyme, rosemary and oil. Thanks to perfect cooking by my partner and the intense reduced syrup spooned over them after cooking it was amazing!  The huge ripe figs, creamy goats chevre and fresh walnuts mixed with mint and parsley and also drizzled with reduced syrup was truly a divine mouthful – this dish was reminisced over the next day by our guests and was my favourite too.

My other lovely friends Jess and Greg made dessert – heavenly soft and rich Frozen raspberry whip served with macerated strawberries and divine Chilli and Vanilla syrup with fresh mango, served with two sorbets (both dishes from Marie Clare, Zest). No photos of the desserts I’m afraid as I had forgotten about blogging by this stage of the evening

The next morning (there was some sleeping over involved) I made a big fry up to soak up any residual alcohol  - using Barossa Valley Shulz bacon, eggs from Kasia’s chickens and the sweetest red and yellow cherry tomatoes (cooked with a splash of balsamic vinegar) and mushrooms (sprinkled with a little truffle salt) from the Adelaide Central Market.  We continued to sit out under our new verandah until late afternoon sipping the Rockford’s Sparkling Shiraz we forgot to open at midnight and nibbling on the platter of middle eastern inspired sweets we were too full for the night before.

already mostly devoured - turkish delight, chocolate halva, almond flake biscuits, homemade chocolate dipped prunes

Here’s a couple of foodie gifts I made this week – very easy and Xmassy. If you’re keen to do something home made but haven’t quite got there, you still have time for these.

The easiest food gift I’ve ever made is this white chocolate bark with cranberries and pistachios. It looks very festive and provides just the textural interest and slight tang that I think white chocolate needs so that its sweetness isn’t cloying. It helps to use good quality white chocolate. I used Green and Blacks which has vanilla seeds throughout and is an off white colour. The green of the pistachios and the red of the cranberries really stand out against the pale colour of the chocolate. I encourage you to cut the bark (easier to do if you leave it out of the fridge for a while before cutting) rather than break it up (I tried both) because this really shows off the contrast of colours better. You can find the recipe at Brown Eyed Baker who also lists and links to some other ‘bark’ ideas.

The other goodies I made are flavoured salts. Also very easy and relatively quick although if you walk away and forget about the mix when it’s in the oven (like I did) it takes a lot longer to start over and do it again! Also making three kinds takes a lot longer than one. However the trio of bags makes the gift a more complete one I think. The recipe is from Taste although once you get started you could make all kinds of flavour combinations that take your fancy (or you know will appeal to the recipients).

Because I have a collected a reasonable range of books I am becoming rather more picky about which ones I buy than I may have previously.  I also feel that I can start to buy books that are more specific (eg those that focus on one kind of dish such as soups or salads) or don’t have recipes as such but are reference books (like food dictionaries) or are about the history, politics or the science of food, especially as I haven’t taken any formal courses in gastronomy  - maybe one day.

It pays to be a bit choosey and sit down with the ones you like the look of (especially if you can sit and have a coffee while you do it) and have a really good flick through. Often, and especially this time of year, they can be more style than substance.

So here are my 5 top choices of food related books I’d like to receive this Xmas (or any time right up until I get them ):

1) Saraban by Greg and Lucy Malouf. I haven’t picked this book up in person but as soon as I saw the Maloufs were publishing another I knew I needed to own it. Amanda gives a rundown of how lovely it is. Their last book, Turquoise, is a major hit with me. I have cooked nine dishes from that book and each one has sent me to taste heaven. I also love their first book (or at least the first I bought) Moorish (my copy is falling apart). I have all of their others but haven’t yet done them all justice.

2) Plenty by Ottolenghi (I may have mentioned wanting this on my blog recently) which focuses on vegetable recipes. If their first book Ottolenghi is anything to go by the recipes should be amazing combinations of flavours and textures. It comes highly recommended by many food bloggers.

3) Salades by Damien Pignolet. I really need more salad ideas – I don’t give them enough attention. This last winter I have really discovered the winter salad filled with bitter and substantial leaves and shaved vegetables which have drawn me back to the salad as something worth bothering with. I have French, his first book in which I found the recipe for the best chocolate cake ever (Eve’s Chocolate Cake)!  Salades is another lovely looking book too with it’s simple and brilliant white cover and red tomato stamped in the centre.

4) Terrors of the Table is “an absorbing account of the struggle to find the necessary ingredients of a healthy diet, and the fads and quackery that have always waylaid the unwary and the foolish when it comes to the matter of food and health.” Sounds like great bedtime reading!

5) Eating Between the Lines. “Rebecca Huntley embarks on an inquisitive tour of the nation’s food courts, supermarkets and suburban kitchens – and uncovers some startling trends. Join her on a thought-provoking trip through the deep-fried, sun-dried, cold-pressed world of Australian eating.” Another book that sounds like an absorbing holiday read!

Oh and I also had my eye on the Italian Food Safari which I received on the weekend as an early Xmas present from my buddy, Belinda (thanks!).

I realised the other day that I reached my 50th post two posts ago (well three if you count this one). What made me realise it was being honoured by being included in Laws of the Kitchen‘s list of blogs to whom she chose to pass on the ‘One Lovely Blog’ award. Thanks very much Cakelaw! It means a lot to know that others enjoy reading my blog  - especially when I’m quite new to the game.

According to the rules of the award I must pass it on to 15 other bloggers whom I admire/have recently discovered (I’m not totally clear on which of these it is so I’m going to do a mix – some are recent and some I have been following for a while). However I’ve decided to be naughty and only list 10 of my top blogs instead of 15 including a blurb on each blog, rather than just a list of names, with the hope that quality will make up for quantity. So this award goes to (in no particular order)….

Lambs Ears and Honey –  well written, informative, and very supportive of the local food industry in South Australia (including our local book publishers Wakefield Press). Amanda really puts in the time to find out, visit and interview the growers, producers and cooks/chefs and provides great background information on all. She recently did two posts on some of her favourite cook books which is a sound starting point if you’re keen to start a great collection. As well as her normal posting Amanda also does a fortnightly post called ‘what’s in the box’ where she provides cooking tips and recipes for making best use of the locally grown fruit and vegetables people receive who subscribe to the Adelaide Food Connect business. Check it out to learn more. She is also a frequent poster of food tidbits on Facebook (and she tweets too!).

Fig Jam and Lime Cordial – Celia writes from somewhere just outside Sydney and is one amazingly prolific cook and accomplished woman. She makes (and now grows) almost everything her family (and most of the neighbourhood I think) eats. And it’s not basic stuff. She is a baker extraordinaire (you absolutely must read her baking posts), she pickles and preserves, she tempers and makes chocolate, and offers up lovely thoughts on life now and then –  and her partner makes all sorts of goodies too. She generously provides a number of really useful tabs on her site that take you further into a number of specific produce making topics such as ‘chocolate making’, ‘jams, jellies and sauces’, ‘bread’ etc. A glimpse at her adored chooks is also worth a visit.

Kitchenist – This is an English blog written by a woman originally from Canada and was one of the first I bookmarked and returned to regularly when I was deciding whether to start my own blog. Very well written, lovely, simple photos and great dishes. She also does a weekly rundown of her vegetable market haul and is very vego focussed (although not completely) so particularly useful for vegetable dishes/ideas.

green bean food – a blog from Queensland  that is just lovely. You can get lost in her photos and descriptions of all the lovely places she visits – often in country towns or away from the main city (although she does the city too). Great cook too who creates mouthwatering dishes with lots of colour and punchy flavours (and there’s always really funky laid back music playing on her site – usually I don’t like this but she plays really good mood music and draws you into some  relaxed food surfing). If you don’t know Brisbane (I don’t) I reckon this would be a great guide for a visit.

Eating Adelaide – a well written and useful blog for those of us who live in Adelaide – lots of reviews of all the places you’ve been thinking about trying (and some you didn’t know about), plus some original recipes. Alex also has a wine background so her reviews include very helpful wine type knowledge.

The Hospitality Guru – Anna is a professional chef and caterer (with a penchant for good beer) but writes this blog mainly as an account of her personal food experiences (and some chefing stuff). She is very generous with tips and hints for us less professional foodies (and aspiring or early chefs) and introduced me to OzHarvest (she is an ambassador) which is about to start up in Adelaide. It’s a scheme to ‘rescue’ good excess food from food businesses (such as supermarkets, bakeries etc) and supply them to charity organisations to feed people in need. Really worthwhile cause that’s food related. Supporting this venture sounds like the perfect way for foodies to give back to the community.

he needs food - John (Sydney based, Croatian background) takes the most gorgeous food and associated mise-en-scene photos I’ve ever seen. His blog is worth visiting just to look at the photos – seriously! He’s also a talented, creative and original cook who seems to try making everything from scratch at least once. His tour of Wellington in New Zealand (over several posts) is one that I intend to use when I next holiday there – he’s created a Wellington I really must see  - and taste.

Spice and More - Sydney based home cook with a dry sense of humour who uses spices (as you might guess) to great effect (she has an Indian background) and just generally cooks good food. She recently whipped up feasts in the dark on an open campfire while camping her way around the Queensland coast and most recently has commenced learning and experimenting with gluten free cooking.

Ooh, look… – I started reading this site because of the name – don’t you love it? Bel cooks an eclectic range of food from light and healthy to oh so sinful and junky (see recent post on candied bacon with ice-cream). Written with a light hand and easy humour, you can read Bel’s blog and feel like she’s talking to you as a friend. She also recently started a craft blog.

Ducklicious – this is the brand new blog (just three posts old) of a good friend of mine who is an extraordinary woman. She owns and runs Jagger Fine Foods in the Central Market and is also writing a duck cook book (I can just hear you all salivating now). If you read my blog regularly you will remember me mentioning Lucy here, here and especially here when she cooked a fabulous duck centred feast I was lucky enough to be invited to. Lucy’s blog will have “some travel, some food history, some photos, some information and some recipes. And its all about duck.”

And you should also check out Laws of the Kitchen who gave me this award. Cakelaw is a lawyer by day and an adventurous cook in her down time. I admire her greatly for her bravery and commitment to make a range of foods that she’s never tried and may not even fancy! She follows two baking communities who are each cooking their way through a cookbook by Dorie Greenspan – so she doesn’t get to choose the recipes but bakes along with hundreds of others every week. The results are fascinating, sometimes disappointing (for her) and sometimes surprisingly wonderful (she cooks other stuff too).

After having read about, and drooled over, recipes from the Ottolenghi cookbooks on various of my favourite blogs I finally ordered a copy of their first book from The Book Depository and it arrived last week. This is the first recipe I have made from the book and it was utterly delicious.

Apparently Ottolenghi is an ‘ iconic’ restaurant  in England. The authors believe in ‘unfussiness and simplicity in food preparation’ and ‘don’t interfere with the food too much’. They ‘love real food unadulterated and unadorned’. The photos in the book show a stylish cafe with massive plates piled high of mouthwatering looking, rustic salads and big thick slices of roasted meats along side huge savoury muffins and crusty breads. The baking section in the book is significant and reflects the importance and popularity of their bakery. Very colourful and really, really tempting.

What I already love about this book:

1. The fabulous array of really interesting and tasty vegetable dishes that use creative and often surprising combinations of ingredients (great sounding meat dishes too).

2. The explanatory way the recipes are written – very friendly writing style with no hint of being patronising but at the same time you’re not left wondering over the little details.

3. They season their food really well – no measly pinches of salt or ‘optional’ seasoning!

I had to borrow my friend’s oven to roast the capsicum for the sauce (my oven, which I had expected to return to the kitchen after renovating, has had to go as it won’t fit in the new cupboard space!) but it was actually a much easier way to cook them than grilling – they cooked more evenly and the skins were easier to peel because of this.

I had fresh corn cobs in the fridge so I used one for this recipe but you can use frozen too. Tossing the corn in a hot dry pan to blacken slightly gave them a lovely toasty flavour that also brought out their sweetness.

The meatball mixture is quite wet so I put the balls in the fridge to firm up a bit before frying. Because of the no oven situation I didn’t finish mine off in the oven as suggested but rather made them smaller (ping pong rather than golf ball sized) and cooked them for a bit longer in the pan.

I accompanied the meatballs with a ‘spring cous cous’ from the latest (Oct/Nov) Donna Hay magazine which provided both a vegetable and starch side-dish in one. It was the perfect choice even if I do say so myself. This dish was supposed to be baked in paper but was quite easily adapted to prepare without an oven – I’ve written my version below.

This was a highly flavoursome meal  - rich, deep flavours in the sauce; light , tasty meatballs and a lovely herby, zesty side dish. It was a hit all round.

I’ll be exploring this book with gusto over the next few months and I’ve already put the new Ottolenghi book Plenty (exclusively vegetable recipes I believe) on my Xmas wish list!

Turkey and sweetcorn meatballs with roasted pepper sauce
(adapted slightly from Ottolenghi, The Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi)

Serves four hungry people (or 5 polite people)

100g sweetcorn kernels (fresh or frozen)
3 slices of stale white bread, crusts removed
600g turkey mince
1 free range egg
4 spring onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
2 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 garlic clove, crushed
vegetable oil for frying

Roasted pepper sauce

4 red capsicums (or peppers)
3 Tbl olive oil
1 tsp salt
25g coriander, stalks and leaves
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 small mild chilli, deseeded
2 Tbl sweet chilli sauce
2 Tbl cider or white wine vinegar

Preheat oven to 200C. Quarter, deseed and cut off the white parts of the capsicums, place in a roasting tray lined with baking paper and toss with 2 tablespoon of olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Roast in the oven for 35 minutes or until soft. Transfer to a bowl, cover with cling film. When they are cool enough to handle you can peel them although it isn’t essential for this sauce. Place them in a food processor with any roasting juices and the rest of the sauce ingredients. Process until smooth, then taste and adjust the salt if necessary. Set aside.

For the meatballs, place a heavy, non-stick frying pan over high heat and throw in the corn kernels. Toss them in the hot pan for 2-3 minutes until lightly blackened. Remove and leave to cool.

Soak the bread in cold water for a minute, then squeeze well and crumble into a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the oil, and mix well with your hands.

Test the seasoning of the meatball mixture by frying a teaspoon of the mixture to taste it. Adjust seasoning if desired.

With wet hands, shape the mince mixture into balls, about the size of pin pong balls (makes about 25). Place in fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.

Pour a 5mm depth of oil into your heavy frying pan and allow to heat up well. Fry balls in two batches (or more depending on the size of the pan – don’t crowd) until they are golden brown and cooked through. Test for doneness by breaking one open.

Serve hot or warm with the pepper sauce drizzled over and the spring cous cous on the side. Leave the sauce in a jug on the table for people to help themselves.

NB we had a fair bit of sauce left over which I think would be nice on grilled fish or other grilled meat or as a pasta sauce.

Spring cous cous with broad beans, peas and mint
(adapted from Oct/Nov 2010 Donna Hay Magazine)

1 cup (200g) of cous cous
20g butter
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 cup (120g) frozen peas
1 1/2 cups (225g) broad beans (fresh or frozen) weighed in their skins then peeled.
1/2 cup mint leaves, chopped
1/2 cup flat parsley leaves, chopped

Place cous cous in a 4 cup capacity heat proof bowl and add lemon zest, butter in little chunks, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Cook broad beans and peas in boiling water for 2-3 minutes then drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water. Pour the reserved cooking water over the cous cous, cover with cling film then set aside for 5 minutes.

Remove the cling film , fluff the cous cous and fork in the melted butter. Add the beans, peas and herbs and toss. Serve.

Some of you may remember a post I did on the CSIRO diet and cook books a little while back. Now that spring is here I’ve remembered my number one dish from this book and one that I’ve returned to many times. This was the last thing I made using my oven before we started camp cooking while waiting for the new kitchen to be installed (seems like a distant memory now but was actually only a few weeks ago).

The main components of the dish are pretty basic (although a particularly nice combination) – roasted pumpkin pieces, steamed asparagus and pan fried fillets of salmon. Not really what you’d call a recipe. However it’s the relish that is a little spoon-full of intense, delicious flavours that makes this dish hum in your mouth. Anchovies and capers minced up with the freshness of lemon and parsley – it really is a remarkable marriage that produces an incredible flavour.

The recipe makes enough to have this three times (for two people) so I freeze the remaining amount in two little take-away dipping sauce containers to whip out for another day so turning the dish into an easy weeknight meal. I’m sure the relish would go well with all types of fish, chicken or a nice steak and would be pretty good just with roast vegetables.

The last time I made this I was inspired by the two bunches of baby asparagus I hadn’t been able to resist buying at the Central Market – can you see how tiny and just-formed they are? You get about 20 to a bunch instead of the standard 8-10.

Chargrilled Salmon with parsley relish, asparagus and pumpkin
CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet, Cook Book 1

Serves 4

600g butternut pumpkin, (peeled or not to your liking) and cut into (thinnish) wedges
1 Tbl olive oil
4 x 200g salmon fillets (skin on or off)
16 spears of asparagus
4 Tbl of Parsley Relish
lime wedges

Preheat oven to 180C

Place pumpkin in a roasting tin in a single layer, toss with a little oil and season. Bake for 20 minutes (I roast mine for longer as I like to get some chargrilled edges) or until soft and golden.

Meanwhile, heat a non-stick grill plate or barbecue grill to high. Lightly brush salmon fillets with remaining oil. Place salmon on grill flesh-side down first and cook for 4 minutes each side. Remove from heat and set aside, covered.

Bring a saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil. Add asparagus and blanch for 2 minutes, then drain. Arrange salmon on pumpkin wedges, then top with parsley relish and add asparagus spears. Serve with lime wedges.

Parsley Relish
Makes about 1 & 1/2 cups

1 bunch of flat leaf parsley
6 anchovy fillets
2 Tbl salted baby capers
grated zest of two lemons
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
freshly ground black pepper

Place all ingredients except oil and pepper in the bowl of a food processor. Lightly process, then, with the motor still running, add enough oil to form a thick paste. Season to taste with pepper.